Crimson Paradox
Chapter I: Welcome to the Future Part 1
Published: 12-25-2018
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or any of its spin offs. I only own this story as well as any OCs used and any original non-canon cards that are included.
Author's Note: Yes, I will be making extensive use of non-canon cards mostly because I suck at planning Duels that are limited to just real life or anime exclusive cards. Though when it comes to the main characters I like to think that it is justified given that they come from a future that is never shown where some real cards never existed and imaginary ones do, given the assumption that Zexal onwards all take place in alternate continuities from where the main characters of this fic originate (Something which is explicit for Arc-V). Also, while I will typically stick to the anime effects I might sometimes use the real effects if they work better for me and I will occasionally alter the effects of real cards to fit my needs. Every card played in a chapter will have it's full card text listed at the end of said chapter but to prevent it from getting too long I will only be listing cards the first time they are played unless they are monsters played momentarily or spells/traps that are not activated in order to avoid spoilers. Finally, I will be making use of the 5D's era ruleset for Duels primarily due to the nature of this fic though I readily admit that I am not a fan of Link Monsters for how they make the Extra Deck completely dependent upon them thus making Decks like Yusei's practically unplayable.
Twenty-five years have passed since Yusei Fudo defeated Z-one and saved New Domino City in what many consider to be the greatest Turbo Duel ever held, and if the last quarter century has proven anything it's that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Turbo Dueling is still just as popular as ever but recent scientific advancements have resulted in much faster Duels without an increase in the level of risk involved and things like Accel Synchro and Double Tuning, once the domain of Dueling legends like Yusei Fudo and Jack Atlas have now become available to anyone who can afford such ultra high end cards and while most of Team 5D's ended up going separate ways for a time they all found themselves right back in New Domino within ten years of Z-one's defeat.
However, most importantly while the Crimson Dragon may have taken back all of the signer marks and departed, it like the Signers themselves eventually returned to New Domino but much, much, much sooner than anyone could have ever predicted as ten years after Yusei's legendary Duel something happened that as far as anyone knew has never happened before. Two signers, Yusei Fudo and Akiza Izinski got married and had a child. This child by the name of Isabella Rose Fudo or Izzy for short not only inherited her mother's powerful psychic abilities but as the first born child to two signers in the 5000 year cycle she was born with the Crimson Dragon itself infused into her very soul evidenced by her strong magical capabilities and the full mark of the Dragon that has been etched onto her back since she was born, for which she eventually came to be known as the Crimson Avatar. However, since Izzy is for as far as anyone knows the first ever Crimson Avatar her destiny unlike those of her parents is unknown, her future a blank slate, leaving her free to forge her own path into the future, but what would happen if the path she decides to take, the card she chooses to play leads her and her closest friends to discover that their future may in fact lie in the past?
"Come on, hurry it up or we are going to be late." said a young girl as she ran on down a hallway ahead of her older sister.
"I know, but can you slow down a little?" the older girl asked.
The young girl, a five year old by the name of Bella turned to her sister and couldn't help but reply with a little giggle "Really? You are asking me to slow down?". Izzy, the older sister rolled her eyes a little, after all she was a Turbo Duelist who has been taking part in professional Turbo Duels off and on for the last two years, in fact her first ever professional Turbo Duel was the day after she obtained her license against her own father Yusei Fudo, the All Time Turbo Duel World Champion who retired undefeated after that very match. So she could appreciate the irony of her telling someone to slow down especially since she normally considered anything under 200 mph to be slow.
"I know, but I'm not quite the ball of energy you are anymore." Izzy responded "And besides, you have to stick by me, remember?"
"I know that but I just really don't want to miss Dove's practical exam". Dove was their adoptive cousin and one of their closest friends, being the daughter of the famous Crow Hogan and an American Turbo Duelist by the name of Amy. Dove had just recently turned ten and was finally old enough to enroll at the local Duel Academy and in mere moments was about to start the last leg of enrollment, the practical portion of the entrance exam. One Duel that all prospective students are required to win in order to enroll and both Izzy and Bella were on their way to the school auditorium where the practical portion of the entrance exam was taking place in order to root for Dove but they were almost late. So they continued on their way rather quickly though Bella did slow down to allow her sister to keep up.
Izzy was a fifteen year old girl of average height with shoulder length black hair with dark burgundy highlights, the facial structure of her mother and her father's royal blue eyes as well as slightly tanned skin as the result of spending a lot of time in the sun. But her most noticeable feature was the full mark of the Crimson Dragon etched into her back like a tattoo though that tends to get covered up by her clothes and today she, like all female students was wearing the red girl's uniform and on her left wrist was her Duel Disk. Bella, on the other hand looked just like a five year old version of Izzy albeit with fair skin and hair that extended halfway down her back. As for her outfit, it consisted of a simple sleeveless black dress with crimson red accents that went halfway down to her knees, a crimson red belt, waist high crimson red stockings, simple black shoes and even a black chrome tiara with a large crimson red ruby set prominently in the center.
Duel Disks have come a long way in the last quarter century now they were round compact devices with four slots on the sides with both the Deck and Graveyard in their traditional spots, a slot opposite the Deck for the Extra Deck, and the final slot opposite the Graveyard for Spells and Traps. In the center was a touchscreen that could be used to access a number of apps, view and activate cards in your Spell and Trap Card Zone and check all kinds of information relevant to a Duel such as Life Points and card stats. The Monster Card Zone was located on a slightly curved black energy blade with a colored outline, though one could reprogram the shape of the blade to fit their liking, Izzy kept hers mostly standard with a slightly curved crimson red blade and a matching crimson red body.
Anyway, it didn't take them long to reach the auditorium where they saw among the six ten year olds about to take the practical portion of the entrance exam a cute little girl with dark grey eyes, bright orange hair tied back into a simple ponytail wearing a sleeveless white dress that went down to just above her knees, a yellow belt, a pair of white sneakers, laying beside her was a simple white and yellow backpack and on her left wrist was her Duel Disk which was just like Izzy's only white in color with a yellow blade and unlike Izzy's, Dove's was clearly activated and ready to Duel. It was then that they spotted two other familiar faces in the crowd watching Dove and made their way over to them, they were Alice and Erma, a pair of twelve year old green haired identical twins who could normally be told apart by how Erma always wore black while Alice preferred bright colors though since they were both wearing their uniforms one had to rely on their Duel Disks to tell who's who with Alice's being bright pink and Erma's being black.
"Hey you two come to watch Dove's practical exam too?" Izzy asked the twins.
"Yep." Alice replied while Erma added "Wouldn't miss it".
"So where's Aunt Luna?" Bella asked.
"Mom's over there with the teachers overseeing the exams." Erma explained as she pointed towards the thirty-eight year old green haired woman who was not only the twin's mother and an honorary aunt to Izzy and Bella but was also the Chancellor of the New Domino City Duel Academy.
"Quiet it's starting." Alice interrupted as she noticed a Duel Proctor making his way over to Dove and with that the two sets of siblings strained to hear what was being said.
"Alright, Miss Hogan before we begin I must inform you that you will not be getting special treatment just because you are the Chancellor's niece, you will be given the same exam that everyone else takes and whether you pass or fail will depend on how well you play." The proctor stated simply and Izzy expected as much after all neither Alice or Erma ever got special treatment despite being the Chancellor's daughters.
"That's okay this won't last long anyway." Dove replied cheerfully causing the proctor to quirk an eyebrow.
"Someone's confident." Izzy said with a smirk though she had to admit Dove was probably right since in these exams the proctors always go first, their opening hand was always stacked and they always start with one of twelve tricky but simple opening moves and knowing Dove's deck, Izzy was pretty sure she could handle ten out of the twelve possible opening moves without any real effort.
"Anyway, let's get started." the proctor said as he activated his Duel Disk and drew five cards.
"Let's." Dove replied as she raised her already activated Duel Disk and drew her five cards and the Duel began.
Dove vs. Duel Proctor
Turn 1: Duel Proctor
Dove LP 4000, Hand 5
Duel Proctor LP 4000, Hand 5
"As the proctor, I will begin" the proctor said as he drew a card "and I summon Marshmallon in Defense Mode" thus the little marshmallow monster appeared and turned blue indicating its battle position (Marshmallon ATK 300 DEF 500, LV 3) and then he finished his turn by placing a card facedown. With that, Izzy knew that he was playing either opening five or opening six both involve playing the nearly indestructible Marshmallon and ending with a facedown. In opening five, that facedown would be Magic Jammer but in opening six it would be Mirror Force. The question now was did it even matter? Izzy knew Dove could easily handle either of them, if she did her homework and Izzy knew for a fact that Dove did.
Dove vs. Duel Proctor
Turn 2: Dove
Dove LP 4000, Hand 5
Duel Proctor LP 4000, Hand 4
"My turn, I draw" Dove began "and I activate the Spell Whitewing Whirlwind now since I have not Normal Summoned at any point during this Duel I can destroy a Spell or Trap you control and draw a card" and as she picked up a card from the top of her Deck the proctor's lone facedown was destroyed by a powerful wind revealing that it had indeed been Mirror Force. "and again since I have never Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon the Tuner Monster Whitewing - Falcon, Protector of the Future in Attack Mode" and a large majestic white falcon appeared in a flash of light (Whitewing - Falcon, Protector of the Future ATK 2000 DEF 1500, LV 6).
"A 2000 point monster on your first turn, impressive." the proctor complimented.
"Oh, I'm not done yet. I said that my monster was a Tuner and while it's true that my Whitewings mostly keep me limited to one monster at a time my Falcon has a special ability. Not only must he tune with a Whitewing from my hand but that monster is treated as a Level 3 Monster. So now I tune my level 6 Whitewing - Falcon, Protector of the Future with my now Level 3 Whitewing - Torrent the Great Flood and Synchro Summon Whitewing - Solaris the Midday Sun" (6+3=9) and at that the Falcon turned into six green Synchro Rings as a large bird woman with white feathered wings and blue battle armor appeared just long enough to be turned into three bright stars before they were engulfed in a bright light that then revealed another large bird woman with white feathered wings but this one had golden armor and a sword with a glowing blade and sun symbol on the hilt (Whitewing - Solaris the Midday Sun ATK 3500 DEF 3000 LV 9).
"Well, this Duel is over." Bella said simply and the other three couldn't help but agree.
"Now Solaris attack Marshmallon and just so you know since I have not once Normal Summoned not only does Solaris inflict piercing damage but all battle damage she deals to you is doubled!"
"What! But that means!" the proctor exclaimed as Solaris was preparing to strike.
"That's right, you lose." Dove finished for him as her monster sank her sword into the living marshmallow wiping out all of the proctor's Life Points (Duel Proctor LP 4000 - 0) officially ending the Duel with Dove as the victor.
Izzy couldn't help but smile with pride after all it was her coaching that got Dove ready for this and an FTK with 6000 points of damage from a single attack is beyond impressive.
It took 20 minutes to wrap up Dove's enrollment, but soon the group, now joined by Dove who was talking rather animatedly to Bella and the twins were on their way out of the school towards the parking lot where Izzy's runner was sitting, this runner had a simple yet streamlined design being more practical than flashy despite its beautiful crimson red paint job and was able to carry two people, easily get up to the speeds required for Accel Synchro and safely make hairpin curves at those speeds. It was actually built by Izzy herself from a pile of scrap when she was just twelve as her parents told her that if she wanted a runner for her thirteenth birthday she would need to build it herself and to show that it was a serious challenge her father even handed her a wrench.
It was then that Dove asked a question that caught Izzy's ear "Hey, where's Jake? Didn't he come to watch my Duel?" It was a good question, where was Jake, he was supposed to be here but lately had gained a habit of disappearing for hours at a time. Jake was the son of Jack Atlas and his wife Carly, Jack was the current Turbo Duel World Champion having won the title after it was put up for grabs following Yusei's retirement while Carly was a world famous reporter. Jake, who had just recently turned thirteen was the last of Izzy's cousins, the only boy in the group as well as Izzy's chief rival who was constantly remaking his Deck to try and take her down, not that he ever wins, and right now Izzy wasn't sure what kind of Deck he used, he was also the spitting image of his father with his regular outfit consisting of a simple black leather jacket, white t-shirt, black jeans, a pair of riding boots and a black Duel Disk with a purple energy blade.
But before anyone could respond to Dove's question, they all heard an engine approaching and out of nowhere came a runner which pulled to a stop right in front of the group. The runner while shiny and new wasn't anything special just a standard mass production model painted black but it was the rider who caught everyone by surprise. It was Jake and the reason it was so surprising was that no one in their group, not Izzy, Bella, Dove, Alice nor Erma was aware that Jake even had a runner or a Turbo Dueling license for that matter.
"Wow Jake, where did you get that runner?" Alice asked.
Jake smirked, "My father gave it to me for my birthday and it only took me two weeks to get my license." With the way he said that it was obvious to everyone around that Jake was letting the legendary Atlas ego get the better of him. Luckily you could usually count on Dove to deflate him before he started to float from all that hot air and today was no different.
"Jake, the course normally takes two weeks." she said simply causing him to glare at her for a moment but it passed quickly and changing the subject she added "I just passed the entrance exam."
"Yeah, you should have seen her." Bella said, jumping it.
"It was awesome, the best FTK I've ever seen." Erma finished.
"Wish I could have, but I was busy with getting my license" Jake said and then turned to Izzy "and you know what that means."
Izzy smirked "Sure do Jake and I accept your challenge."
The group was now on the school Duel track getting ready for a Turbo Duel that was a long time coming. The last time Izzy and Jake faced off in a Turbo Duel was right before Izzy's thirteenth birthday when they both had to use Duel Boards which normally weren't able to keep up with Duel Runners, though Izzy had secretly modified Dove's to do so, anyway once Izzy got her license she and Jake had to settle for Ground Duels until now.
It took only a moment for Izzy to change into her riding suit, which was identical to the red and black one her mother used to wear before she retired from Dueling to become a doctor minus the heels, leaving her uniform in the locker room while Jake decided to stay in his regular clothes. Meanwhile, Alice and Erma were getting comfortable in the stands and Dove was helping Izzy prep her runner, getting her hybrid Duel Disk installed and making sure Izzy's Deck was ready since she was going to be riding along as Izzy's passenger while Jake was waiting patiently for them to finish as his runner was prepared hours ago.
One might notice however that Bella was nowhere to be seen despite the fact that she is supposed to remain close to Izzy at all times. The thing is she was close by just unable to be seen or heard by anyone other then Izzy and was indeed talking up a storm to her big sister and the equally invisible red fur ball floating beside them. The truth is while the two of them are sisters that title is strictly honorary, everyone just treated the little girl as if she actually was Izzy's sister. Bella is in reality the spirit of a monster called Crimson Princess, one of a number of unique Crimson cards Izzy accidentally created in her sleep at the age of five with her magic powers and brought into the human world with the help of Izzy's psychic abilities and a modification to her Duel Disk that allowed it to project holograms outside of Duel Mode simply by activating a hidden mode and inserting a card or two into the Spell and Trap slot. It was actually rather easy to pass Bella off as Izzy's sister given how similar they looked in fact when Bella was first created she was able to pass as Izzy's identical twin as Crimson Princess was effectively a five year old Izzy as a Duel Monster down to the her personality, in fact that's where Bella got her nickname it's simply an alternative way of shortening the name Isabella which both siblings technically share.
It wasn't until three years later after Izzy had unwittingly used her Crimson cards to win her first semi-professional tournament did anyone realize that the cards weren't made by Industrial Illusions. However, since the cards were created accidentally by a five year old in her sleep and because her father was Yusei Fudo, Industrial Illusions decided to include them in the official card list, though given how powerful most of them were they decided against producing more of them, and Izzy has sworn against using her powers to create cards from scratch unless there is a very good reason given just how much of an unfair advantage something like that is, especially in the middle of a Duel.
Anyway, as Izzy and Dove finished up prepping the runner and moved up to the starting line Jake turned to the pair and asked "You ready for this?"
Izzy turned to look at him with the near omnipresent smirk on her face and replied "Sure am, but are you ready to lose?"
Jake scoffed "You're the one who's gonna lose, but want to make this a little more interesting?"
"Yeah, what do you have in mind?" Izzy responded.
"How about we use the original Speed World from when our parents were young?" Jake suggested.
Despite knowing that Jake had been planning this in an attempt to get the biggest advantage he could, Izzy loving a challenge couldn't help but say "You're on." as they activated their runners' Duel Mode, engaged the autopilot and played the old Field Spell.
"Let's ride." The two of them said together as they set off and given the superior speed and handling of Izzy's custom runner both she and Dove were easily the first around the first bend granting Izzy the opening move and so with that the Turbo Duel began.
Izzy vs. Jake
Turn 1: Izzy
Izzy LP 4000, Hand 5, SPC 0
Jake LP 4000, Hand 5, SPC 0
"Alright let's start this off, I draw!" Izzy said as she picked up a card from her Deck and surveyed the cards in her hand considering her first play, which was a smart move given that she had no idea what Jake's Deck entailed but he knew every card she had. As a side, it should be noted that neither player gained any Speed Counters as it happened to be the first turn, anyway having made her decision as to her opening move Izzy then said "I summon Speed Warrior in Defense Mode." at which point the famous warrior appeared on the field and turned blue signifying its Battle Position. (Speed Warrior ATK 900 DEF 400, LV 2).
Izzy like most duelists these days based her Deck on an archetype, in her case her one of a kind Crimson cards, however her Deck was practically unique in this day and age as it was not entirely reliant on it's primary archetype as she also included a number of her parents' best cards, cards she obtained following Yusei's retirement when both of her parents decided to give her their Decks figuring that Izzy would get better use out of them then they themselves would being retired. Prior to that she actually ran two different archetypes simultaneously, but that's a story for another time as Izzy was not yet finished with her turn.
"Next, I discard Level Eater to Special Summon Quickdraw Synchron in Attack Mode" and with that the cowboy like robot Tuner appeared next to Izzy and Dove floating opposite of where Speed Warrior was dashing alongside them (Quickdraw Synchron ATK 700 DEF 1400, LV 5) "and by lowering the Level of my Quickdraw Synchron by 1 I can summon Level Eater from the Graveyard in Attack Mode." (Quickdraw Synchron LV 5 - 4) and so the ladybug with a yellow star on its shell appeared right beside the Tuner (Level Eater ATK 600 DEF 0, LV 1).
"But I'm not done," Izzy continued "because I activate Quickdraw Synchron's special ability allowing it to borrow the powers of another Synchron and so I tune my Level 4 Quickdraw Synchron with my Level 1 Level Eater" and with that the cowboy Tuner transformed into four green rings of light which surrounded the insect which itself transformed into a single glowing star (4+1=5) "From two come one, and from one will come great power! Watch as they merge their might, combine their courage! To Synchro Summon, Junk Warrior!" and in a brilliant flash of light the monster that had at one time been her father's secondary ace descended (Junk Warrior ATK 2300 DEF 1300, LV 5) smirking Izzy added "Now I think it would be a good time to remind you of Junk Warrior's special ability it gains the Attack Points of every Level 2 or lower monster I control and guess what Speed Warrior is." (Junk Warrior ATK 2300 - 3200) at which point she placed two cards facedown and ended her turn.
"Nice opening Izzy," Jake complimented as the trio rode passed the stands where momentarily they could hear Alice and Erma cheering them on along a number of other students and faculty members who had noticed what was going on and decided to watch, Izzy could even spot her aunt Luna sitting alongside her daughters cheering just as hard as any of the students, the moment swiftly passed and Izzy's mind was brought back into the game when Jake added "but I think it's about time that I show you exactly what my new Deck is capable of, I draw!"
Author's Note: Before I get started with the card list I have to say that shortly after I posted my first story "Phantom of Heroes: Year One" I lost my grandmother to cancer, she lived with me and my mom for most of my childhood so losing her was a massive blow, ever since then I have been dealing with depression and just didn't have the will to write or do much of anything for that matter but lately I wanted to get productive and so I decided that a different story might be a good idea to get going again after so long. I do plan on continuing "Phantom of Heroes" alongside this story but first I have to get my life in order so don't expect regular updates or anything like that for either story but I am planning on getting things rolling after so long so hopefully it won't be too long before you see more for that story and I am currently planning on getting the next chapter of this story out in the near future, however I don't know how long it will be until Chapter III will be available after that so please be patient. Now onto the card list, but remember I will typically stick to the anime effect though at times I may use the TCG effects and I will occasionally modify the effects of real cards to fit my purposes and there will be non-canon cards thrown in, but before that I would like to say thanks for reading this and to everyone who celebrates it I would like to wish you all a very merry Christmas.
Cards Properly Introduced
Marshmallon
LV3/Light/Fairy/Effect/ATK 300/DEF 500
The controller of a monster that attacks this face-down card takes 1000 damage after damage calculation. This card cannot be destroyed by battle. (Damage calculation is applied normally).
Whitewing Whirlwind
Normal Spell
Activate only if you haven't Normal Summoned throughout the Duel. Destroy 1 Spell or Trap card on the field and then draw 1 card from your Deck.
Whitewing - Falcon Protector of the Future
LV6/Light/Winged-Beast/Tuner/Effect/ATK 2000/DEF 1500
Cannot be Normal Summoned/Set. This card can be Special Summoned from your hand if you have yet to Normal Summon during this Duel. While you control this card you may not Summon other monsters. If this card is used in a Synchro Summon the non-Tuner monster must be a "Whitewing" monster from your hand which is then banished, the Level of that monster becomes 3.
Whitewing - Solaris the Midday Sun
LV9/Light/Winged-Beast/Synchro/Effect/ATK 3500/DEF 3000
1 "Whitewing" Tuner + 1 non-Tuner
This card's effects cannot be activated if you have Normal Summoned at any point in the Duel. Any Battle Damage dealt to your opponent by this card is doubled and if this card attacks a Defense Position monster, inflict Piercing Damage to your opponent.
Speed World
Field Spell
If a player activates a non-"Speed Spell" Spell Card, they take 2000 damage. Except during the first turn of the Duel, during each Standby Phase, each player places 1 Speed Counter of their own on this card (max. 12 each). When a player takes damage, remove 1 of their Speed Counters from this card for each multiple of 1000 damage that player took.
Speed Warrior
LV2/Wind/Warrior/Effect/ATK 900/DEF 400
During the Battle Phase of the turn you Normal Summon this card, you can double its original ATK until the end of the Battle Phase.
Quickdraw Synchron
LV5/Wind/Machine/Tuner/Effect/ATK 700/DEF 1400
You can send 1 monster from your hand to the Graveyard and Special Summon this card from your hand. You can substitute this card for any 1 "Synchron" Tuner for a Synchro Summon.
Level Eater
LV1/Dark/Insect/Effect/ATK 600/DEF 0
If this card is in the Graveyard, you can activate its effect by selecting 1 face-up Level 5 or higher monster you control. Reduce that monster's Level by 1. Special Summon this card from the Graveyard.
Junk Warrior
LV5/Dark/Warrior/Synchro/Effect/ATK 2300/DEF 1300
"Junk Synchron" + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters
This card gains ATK equal to the total ATK of all face-up Level 2 and lower monsters you control.