Dear Mr. And Mrs. Mikagami, It is my duty to inform you, as the principal of the school, that your daughter, Yuri, is to be involved in a duel tomorrow. Although I would not normally be notifying you of this, it is also my duty to inform you that this is a Tradition of Dark Heart High- the Blood Duel. This is a standard method of dealing with disputes within the school, but, in this particular case, this is a dispute between her and the School Rules themselves. It is due to this that she will find herself in combat with myself, the Principal. It is not my intention to kill your daughter; however, due to the nature of the tradition, this is a factor that must be considered. It is unfortunate, but, as you know, this schoolis for training in the Arts of the Evil Overlord; and, as such, ruthlessness is a quality that must be encouraged. Therefore it is only right that you know all the facts, and are prepared for the worst. I hope that this does not lower your opinion of the school. Yours Faithfully, (Signed) Principal Amakusa The time was six A.M. The post was amazingly early. Troi Mikagami and his wife shared a concerned glance. "YURI!!!" ***************************************************** Dark Heart High Educational Establishment for the Universal Propagation of Evil Started By Mads This Chapter By Doctor Nightfall ***************************************************** Yuri came downstairs, yawning. It was much earlier than she normally woke up- but then, she normally woke up minutes before she had to leave. "Whassup, Dad?" This was not, it must be noted, any attempt at 'coolness', but mouthed around a yawn. Troi was sitting down, shaking the letter in a shadowy pseudopod. "Why didn't you tell us you had a Blood Duel?" Yuri froze in mid-yawn. "Um... I didn't want to worry you. And besides, it's not as if he's going to kill me, is it?" Yuri read her father's expression. "Oh." "The blood duel is a long-established and frequently lethal tradition of the school. You are likely to be impaled or worse!" Troi calmed a little. "Still, Amakusa used to be my classmate. He'll probably go for first blood, knockout, submission, or mutilation..." Yuri sat down with a thump. "So what should I do?" "Well, dear," her mother said, "You can start by taking this." She'd just come in, carrying a large box. Actually, as Yuri came to look at it, 'box' really didn't do the thing justice. It was a blue chest with brass fittings, and looked like it cost a lot. Her mother opened the lid, and lifted out a wad of crumpled newspapers. "Now, I haven't used this in years... well, come on over here then, Yuri!" What was in the box looked like- well, the best description was an explosion in a candy factory. Yuri's mother frowned. "Oh dear... the colours have reset again. Let's get it on you..." ***** Yuri looked at herself in the mirror. All in all, she was not happy about the colour scheme, but it fit pretty well. It was a suit of armour. "Your mother was wearing this when we met for the first time. I didn't know her so well then... it was about six months later that we fell for each other." She looked like the offspring of Sailor Moon and Magneto, should such a thing be possible- and, assuming that such a thing happened, that their daughter was colourblind. It was neon pink, for the most part. The inlay, which was a wonderful neo-pagan pseudo-tribal ('load of crap', according to her father) knotwork that rippled down in a teardrop shape from her collarbone to her kidneys, was a fluorescent yellow. The trim on the edges of the armour, including the scalemail skirt, was a lime green. It was hideous. "There's one more piece to go..." And so saying, Yuri's mother placed over her shoulders a final light metal piece, and it connected with a final click. Inside the visor, a hum started. And then an animated aardvark walked into view. "Hello, Enter Name Here! You are the proud owner of the Myrmidion 3 Magical Girl Battle Armour! Please state your name now!" "Errr... Yuri." "Welcome, Errr Yuri! I'm going to take you through the customisation options we have. Firstly, do you want a cape?" "No!" "Okay then! Let's look at the colour schemes. Presently, you're in Highlighter Heaven colour mode. Would you like to change this? Yuri, unfortunately, nodded at this, and this threw the controls into a little tizzy. "Wonderful choice! You have now chosen Flashy Goth colour scheme." The armour changed to a dusty forest green colour, with a charcoal grey inlay and a silver trim. It looked much better; the helmet looed particularly nice. Looking at herself in the mirror, she could see that the armour looked much nicer like this. It was something that she could actually get used to like this. "Finally, Errr Yuri, Would you like a Symbol?" "Yes." "Alright then!" Yuri watched as a small shield formed at the front of the armour. On it formed a silver snake on a charcoal background, the border of the shield being green. The suit now looked rather snazzy, if she thought so herself. The symbol... she'd change it later. The Aardvark spoke up again. "Please wield your weapon, so it may have its 'Fit-and-Fight' options installed." Yuri's mother pressed her sword into her hand, and the blade rippled for a minute, broadening slightly. Now it was not just a stabbing sword, but quite a practical cutting weapon as well. The armour twitched, now, and the right arm whirled through a complex set of maneuvers. On the final sweeping stroke, the boiled eggs on the table were suddenly decapitated. Yuri now felt that she might just have a chance... a small chance. "You're going to be late, Yuri... I'll write you a note. Take your time." ***** "...and finally, Mr. Malfoy, I don't care if you're the Dark Lord's Lover, The President of the Hellspawn Glee Club and the Knight of Abaddon all rolled into one. Your son cannot attend Dark Heart High for the simple reason that there are establishments for the upbringing of your son- possibly the best of which he is already attending. I do not care one jot if you feel he is being bullied by this Plotter boy or whatever he is called, as it is quite likely that he would be bullied here. "Also,this establishment prides itself on the quality of the students it graduates, and I feel that your son would both lack quality and not graduate, in my honest opinion. "Therefore I have no other things to say to you but this: Futue te et caballum tuum. "Yours Faithfully, Principal Amakusa." He turned to his secretary. "Have that dispatched within the hour. And Akurei should be outside by now. Send him in." The ratlike secretary squeaked as she left, leaving the door open for Akurei. "I see the Malfoy family is bothering you again. Why don't you let his son attend?" Amakusa glared. "Have you ever met the man? He's vile stain on the name of Evil. His son is a weak-jawed aristocratic fool who wouldn't know a decent plan if it bit him on the balls. And," he held up a finger to halt what Akurei was about to say, "Although he may have kept together the Death Eaters in one form or another prior to Voldemort's return, I will have no truck with pseudo-Nazi master-race theories. Yes, they're evil. Yes, they've come close to dominating their world. But there is no place in evil for STUPIDITY! They would completely erase the good from the world, and they would dominate those who didn't use magic. We are a non-racist school. We are a non-racist group. We do not educate in bigotry. Whether someone is inferior to you depends not on the colour of their skin, their ability to use magic or whether they can do matrix calculus in their heads without thinking about it- it's attitude and behaviour. And he," he spluttered, "by his actions, attitude and behaviour, proves himself to be below contempt in my eyes. He's... ludicrous." "A nice little speech. However, I was going to say that maybe you could let his son in to try and teach him to be better than his father?" "The boy has a room temperature IQ. He wouldn't learn." "I see. Aside from that, will you be needing any help to prepare for your duel this afternoon?" "My duel? Oh, yes, the Duel. Has Miss Mikigami turned up yet?" "No, but we recieved a phone call saying that she would be late in today. Nerves, apparently." "I see. Well, I'm not intending to kill her." "You're not?" "No. Why should I antagonise someone I consider to be a friend?" ***** Yuri got into the school in time for morning break. The classes were out, and she, Balabalalde and Leilei were sitting in a small group. "I'm so worried about the duel. I'm sure he'll kill me... or at leats seriously hurt me..." *blink* "Look, Yuri- If he was going to kill you, he would be making it plain. And the school does not get any good reports for killing it's students. He won't kill you." *Blinkblink* "Thanks, Leilei." "He'll just hack a leg off and call it quits." "Um." "Anyways, we've got to get to Ancient Runes... And you have to get to...?" "Chemistry. See you at lunch. Um... Leilei?" "Yes?" "Would you help me put on my new armour before the duel?" "Sure!" The overly peppy little girl smiled brightly. "Baibai, now!" ***** In one corner, two very unlikely people were plotting. "The way I see it, Yasuko, this is our best chance of getting rid of that little pest for good." "Tish! Our sexy-as-hell principal will kill her anyway!" Craig, for once, was thinking properly about things. "Yasuko... do you remember the fencing match?" "She was lucky. She can't hope to beat Amakusa." "No, but she might.She has a habit of being Lucky, doesn't she? Remember the time that ninja attacked her? AND got me?" "That's still a very fetching scar on your throat, Craig." "Don't remind me. It still hurts to swallow. Now, I bought these yesterday..." And he held up a pouch of marbles. "You intend to play a game with her during the duel?" "No, I intend to spill them toward her feet. She trips, Amakusa has the best chance to kill her." "That... that is actully a good plan. However..." "However what? We get her killed by someone else. End of problem." "I think we ought to enhance this plan a bit." "How?" "That girl- the one who sells stuff- She has some Oil of Slipperyness." Craig nodded slowly. "That's... that's good. We coat the marbles and spill them towards her. She trips, Amakusa skewers her." "So that's agreed?" "Yes, it is." ***** Ki Tamaida managed to end up as Yuri's partner during Chemistry. This week... they were trying to synthesise Tetrodotoxin, as it was something that they might all have a use for. "...And keep below fifty degrees for ten minutes." "Here's the Ice Bath, Yuri. I also have something important to tell you." Yuri looked at him quizzically. "What is it?" "I found out a few things about Principal Amakusa. Things you might want to know about him if you want to win this duel." "Really?" Yuri checked the thermometer and the balance of the flask. "Tell me!" "Firstly, he's a Grand Master of the Eightfold Flowers of Annihilation. His only weak spot is his right shoulder... from behind. He'll keep going for neck strikes, generally from above. However, his sword is very, very heavy, and so it will take him a little while after every swing to recover. That's your opening. As it's so heavy, try to get him to do a straight overhead swing. He'll probably get the sword stuck in the ground if he's not careful. Also look out for his magick. He's very, very powerful, but probably won't use it unless you give him reason to. He may well, though, use his Force Wave spell to knock you over. But..." "But what?" Ki hesitated. "His sword is one that steals souls when it hits you. If he strikes a mortal blow... there's no saving you. You'll have to really be careful." There was a small explosion from the back of the class. Craig, competent as ever, had blown up his flask. ***** The changing rooms, off from the side of the gym, had two very different scenes in them. In the Boy's changing rooms... "Full armour, then?" "Yes. I need to remind people from time to time that I am still in the Black Guard. And the full armour is a good reminder." It was impressive. From the spiked greaves to the inticately moulded breastplate, it was stunning suit of armour. Every inch of it screamed evil. It was matt black with gloss details, and had almost no accessories. Only the two shoulder clips, made of silver, along with the grey cloak, which Akurei was clipping into place , lightened the look at all. Akurei stepped back as Amakusa raised his arms and flexed the fingers of the gauntlets, releasing a huge sigh of contentment. "You know, it's too long since I wore this. I ought to wear it more." "It might be a bit inconvenient, sir." "True. Helmet?" "Here." Amakusa clasped the helmet under his left arm. A Great helm, it looked very inpressive, and seemed to drink in the light. As did his sword. "I'm not going to go out yet. Let her go in first." ***** "That armour is cool, Yuri! "Hmmm... does my butt look big in this?" "No, Yuri, it doesn't." "Oh well... Pass me my helmet, Leilei?" Yuri took the helmet, and gave a little twirl in front of the mirror. Then she started to put on the helmet. "Uh-uh-uh!" Yuri stopped, and turned to look at Leilei. "What?" "It's protocol to walk out with the helmet under your arm, and to put it on just before you start. It's in the school rules." "Oh." Yuri briefly paused to clip the sword to her hip, and then, taking a deep breath, walked out through the doors, to the cheers of the crowd. ***** The Arena was packed. All the bleachers were crowded with pupils, and a small section was set aside for teachers. Aug-Sensei and Coach Truncheon were in the front row, Aug-sensei with a video camera, and the Coach with a bucket of popcorn. What she wasn't expecting was an honour guard of the Fencing team. As she walked out, they raised their weapons, and Yuri found herself walking through an arch of katanas, falchions, khopeshes and other sharp, edged weapons. Kashin winked at her and Ki mouther 'Good luck' as she went past. There was a huge cheer as she emerged from the arch, and she saw a number of banners reading with variants on the theme of 'GO YURI!' and 'CANCEL OUR HOMEWORK, YURI!'. She had no idea she was so popular as a swordsperson. But then, she had defeated the Sakura Art Fencing Team single-handedly... ***** "That girl," Akurei said quietly, "Has managed to acquire quite a following. The betting today was evens, last I heard." "Evens? Really? Maybe I should watch myself..." ***** Coach Truncheon looked over the armour carefully. "Myrmidion 3. Nice armour. You don't see it very often these days... works well, but those damn features make it a bastard to work with. I hope she can cope..." ***** Principal Amakusa walked into the arena slowly. There was almost as much cheering for him as there had been for Yuri. He walked to the centre, and raised a hand to everyone. Yuri, following his example, waved. The cheering increased. Akurei walked between them. "The rules are quite simple. The first one to leave their opponent on the floor for longer than ten seconds, or persuades their opponent to submit, wins. Forfeiting the match without striking a blow is forbidden. Interference from the audience is forbidden! Stand at your marks!" Yuri and Amakusa walked to points facing each other, and donned their helmets. Yuri noticed the aardvark appear in the lower left point of her vision. "Salute!" Yuri copied Amakusa, in raising her sword to her face, as if kissing the blade, and lowered the blade again. The aardvark piped up. "Clenching your fist twice quickly will activate the shield on your left arm." Yuri tried it, and a small shield fanned out from her gauntlet, covering her forearm. Like the rest of her armour, it was green, with charcoal trim. "FIGHT!" ***** And so it began. Yuri leapt to her left as a diagonal stroke from Amakusa's enormous black bastard sword crashed through where she had been standing, and swung, striking sparks off his left shoulder plate. The black sword leapt at her stomach, and she barely knocked it aside with the shield. The impact was jarring, but she pushed forward, thrusting with her sword at his eyeslit. ***** Amakusa was confident that he would win. Yuri had no real formal training with a sword, and so hoped to quickly knock her over and force her to submit. Unfortunately, she was quick, and not too shabby, he realised. This might actually be an interesting fight. He knocked the sword away with a blow from his left arm, and was punched in the face with the side of the shield. ***** Yuri jumped as the sword swished towards her legs, and skipped over it, smacking the top of Amakusa's helmet with the hild of her own sword. It made a dull ringing noise as it connected, and she felt that she might actually win. The aardvark piped up again. "If you hadn't noticed, the armour will give you subliminal commands as to where to strike next. Sometimes, it will provide visual cues as to the appropriate place to strike." ***** Five minutes later, and many, many blows had been exchanged. Amakusa had tried his Force Wave spell, but she'd simply crouched and ridden the blow, striking up at his chest as he came in for another strike. The blow had surprised him, and then a little cherub had appeared in her view, pointing at his left knee, and holding a sign saying 'Kick here!'. The blow had thrown him off balance a little more, and she tried to press her advantage, getting up and slashing at his belly. ***** At the side, Kashin and Coach Truncheon were commenting to themselves. "She's GOOD, Kashin. Haven't you thought of fielding her properly?" "Until a few days ago, she was just our equipment manager. I never realised how good a swordswoman she was. If she survives, I may just field her..." "Yes. IF she survives." ***** Yuri never quite realised how exhausting a fight could be. But here she was, in a position she'd never have thought of a fortnight ago, sword locked with Amakusa's in front of her face, hearing his heavy breathing resounding in his helmet. "I... suggest you... surrender..." Yuri, on impulse, brought her knee up in a blow that made everyone wince. The thing was, she'd been extremely lucky so far, and she didn't want to push her luck. But the other thing was... there was probably a life depending on her. She was not going to let that poor girl down. The blow was deflected by Amakusa's armour, but he still stepped back. Yuri remembered the Power Leap option in her armour. Crouching and clicking her heels together, she jumped, the armour's boosting allowing her to somersault over Amakusa's head and hack at his right shoulder. And then she realised two things. Firstly, her scalemail skirt had flipped right up. Secondly... her panties had ridden RIGHT up. This explained the roars and wolf-whistles. Blushing furiously, she landed badly. ***** Amakusa turned quickly, and saw Yuri scrambling up. His right shoulder had always hurt him since that bad fight in which he'd had it burnt to the bone by a SoulFire spell, and she'd known about it. Clever. That leap had been impressive, but the attack had just annoyed him. He was going to finish this quickly. ***** "Now!" Hissed Craig, and he and Yasuko cast their marbles towards the middle of the ring. This almost went unnoticed- except for Akurei. ***** Scrambling to get up, Yuri stepped backwards. And stood on a slippery marble. ***** Amakusa saw Yuri fall backwards, and strode over, sword extended, pointing at her. As he got close, he slipped on a marble as well. The blade sheared through her gut, and a fountain of blood burst from her mouth, pouring down the inside of her helmet. It gushed over her neck, and down the sides of her armour, puddling on the floor. ***** A scream went up from the audience. Balabalalde closed his eyes, and what looked like a tear slipped out from his one visible eye. Leilei started howling, and buried her face in her hands. Ki bowed his head in grief. There were three people not reacting like the others. Yasuko and Craig cheered, and hi-fived each other. Ryuji... He'd seen Amakusa falling forwards, and knew what to do. One of the specialities of his breed was souls. Being mainly souls themselves, they knew a lot about how to manipulate them. As the blade approached Yuri, he hauled her soul out backwards, so the dark sword couldn't take it. Now he had to wait... ***** Amakusa couldn't believe it. He'd been going to threaten her, make her surrender. But now he'd killed her, due to a bloody accident! But first, he had to acknowledge his victory. Pulling the sword out, he took off his helmet, and turned away from the body, the helmet held at his side, the sword above his head at fourty-five degrees. ***** Once the sword was out, Ryuji could act. He owed Yuri a favour (for showing him how to use makeup) and so he would win this for her. He entered her body, and placed her soul in his. That bit was easy; it was technically dead. As Amakusa turned away, he got up, and walked towards Amakusa. ***** Amakusa heard the gasps and yells, and turned. To get a sword plunged down beside his collarbone. For him the wound would not be fatal, but he'd be very ill for a while. It was, though, going to incapacitate him for quite a while- and so he slumped to the floor, twitching from the pain. ***** Yuri screamed as she saw the state of Ryuji's emergency body. ***** Ryuji now had a new problem. Nurse Sybil was racing inti the arena, weaving a spell to stem the bleeding in both of them. Ryuji knew how to breathe, and make the heart beat. But he couldn't heal. However, with the right spells, this body could survive, and be good as new soon. But he had to get help soon. ***** Akurei raced to the centre. "Are you all right, Yuri?" "I... I'm Not Yuri. Ryuji. Switched bodies... at last minute..." Akurei nodded, and turned to the audience. "One Irregularity cancels another! Yuri Mikagami wins, by defeat!" And the crowd cheered. All except for Craig Maimsworth and Yasuko. ***** Amakusa, heavily bandaged, met Troi Mikagami and his wife by the Sick Bay. "Your daughter will live, don't worry. But her body will have to remain here for the next few days. We have the best possible medical care ongoing for her. She can, however, go home with you." "What do you mean?" "Ummm..." Amakusa looked embarrassed. Then Yuri stepped forwards. Peeling and deliquesing, in the body of what had been a sandy-haired young man. "Hi, Mom, Dad..." ***** End part 18. Author's notes: Well, this ought to prove interesting. Yuri's in a Boy's body for a while, and Ryuji's laid up in hospital. Yuri has become better with a sword, and Amakusa embarrassed. Have fun! I hope that this isn't too odd, or going to throw anyone else's ideas off too much. By the way, the latin Amakusa uses translates as 'Screw You and Your Horse'. ***** Akurei looked at the two delinquents in front of him. "You interfered with a match. You nearly got a student killed, and the Principal by the same act! You've broken the rules seriously, kids. Eight hours of detention. Each." Both looked suitably shocked. Akurei turned away, and looked out the window. "The principal also wants to add something to your punishments. I, myself, am going to reccommend that we revert to corporal punishment for you two..." "Yes please, Sir!" was Yasuko's response.