Of Broken Wings and a Broken World

by TrollAWhat

In the distant future, where the worlds of 5D's and ZEXAL co-exist, the meklord invasion that Z-ONE desperately went back in time to stop finally happens, despite Yusei's insistence on having a bright future. With the majority of the world's population devastated, the ultimate battle between the Synchro and XYZ monsters begins, with the fate of the human race on the line.

1. Threshold

Antimony, Aporia, Z-ONE, and Paradox. Each one of these people shared the common goal of saving the future from the inevitable and destructive fate of Duel Monsters. The Synchro summon, a revolutionary power realized through the rapid technological advancements of New Domino City, was an ability whose potential was near limitless. Empowered by the their growing powers of science, the people of New Domino City accepted the mechanics of Synchro summoning with open arms. It was not long before Synchro monsters were appearing in duels all over New Domino, from small, casual duels to major-league tournaments. Synchro summons, the embodiment of knowledge of evolution, ushered in a new era for New Domino City. The ability to change and evolve beyond reality's limitations: this was the true promise of the Synchro summon. But, the obvious question to be asked is how far one can go with such a power. To exceed the boundaries set in stone by nature and reality itself is, in essence, twisting and distorting the world as a whole. Thus, it didn't really matter if Synchro monsters only existed in New Domino City; the whole world would be forced to face the consequences. Indeed, the day did come when, from the far depths of space, enormous mobile weapons of mass destruction known as Meklords descended upon the Earth to leave destruction in their wake. The very existence of Meklords is seemingly absurd, and their origin is a complete mystery. But even the people of New Domino City themselves must have realized that a power like Synchro summoning would have negative repercussions some day. For some, it was only a matter of time.

Of the citizens of New Domino City, only a miniscule number realized that something was coming, and yet, the signs were obvious. Previously unheard of weather patterns began to take place on a global scale, and the stars in the sky would often shift at a moment's notice to be in impossible locations. On one fateful day, storms surged at record strengths throughout the world, and the stars themselves seemed to disappear completely as the endless army of Meklords emerged from the sky. Was it some greater divine force that wished to punish humanity for greedily pursuing change and power? Nobody could truly explain the purpose of the Meklords' massacre of humanity.

However, there had still been a sliver of hope in that dead world. By then, the widespread use of Synchro summoning had caused such damage to the fabric of existence and space that holes could be found in time itself. With this, the few survivors of the Meklord invasion banded together to send people back in time, to a period where the abolishment of Synchro summoning could be done to save the future. The King of Games at the time, Yusei Fudo himself, was one of the brave few who would travel to the past to fix humanity's most terrible mistake. Donning pure white garments and obscuring his famed face with a mask, Yusei became the persona known as Z-ONE as he returned to his hometown of New Domino City before the Meklord catastrophe.

All of humanity's remaining hopes were placed on Z-ONE and his companion Aporia to stop Synchro summoning from ruining the world, but their valiant crusade was met with an ironic end, with the Yusei Fudo of the past opposing and then ultimately defeating Z-ONE. Synchro summoning was not abolished, and the world continued to be twisted and distorted.

No matter what the past Yusei claimed about having a bright future, the reality was that the Meklord invasion was unavoidable. However, having battled against his future self and many other adversaries that he would not have fought otherwise, Yusei acquired the confidence, skill, and experience to become one of the most recognized scientists in New Domino City. When the day of the Meklord invasion grew near, it was not just noticed by a few random individuals, but rather by one of the greatest and most influential people in the city. With Yusei's innovations of the city's Momentum technology, the Meklords were diverted from New Domino City, and the disaster was thought to have been completely averted.

But this was not true.

On the other side of the globe, in the realm of XYZ monsters known as Heartland City, the Meklord invasion continued without interruption. Unlike Yusei, nobody in Heartland City was able to know about the disaster before it struck, and so, the devastation arrived just as it had before Z-ONE went back in time.

However, it was here that fate decided to take a different turn. Yusei's innovations as a result of his heightened experience after the fight against Z-ONE were spread world-wide. Spring-boarding off of Yusei's creations, scientists in Heartland City were able to upgrade the city's inherent technologies to create weapons capable of fighting back against the Meklords. Heartland City was the only region in the world other than New Domino that managed to avoid complete destruction by the Meklords, and the people of the city had believed that there were no remaining human civilizations outside of their own. The conflict in Heartland City became a stalemate for only a matter of days, and it was completely unknown to the people of New Domino City.

It was here that the hands of fate decided to throw yet another turn of events at the world. Only a mere week after the Meklord war in Heartland City began, a meteorite fell from the sky and crashed into a wasteland near Heartland City. It was hard to miss, but only because there were people alive to witness it; had Yusei not fought his future self and changed the world of science, the people of Heartland City would not have invented the technology necessary to survive against the Meklords long enough to see to meteorite. The meteorite was tracked down, and teams upon teams of scientists went to uncover it, desperate to get their hands on anything that could help their city survive. However, upon being touched, the massive meteorite dissipated into miniscule bits of dark dust. Before anyone knew what was going on, the meteorite dust rushed upwards into the sky, instantly tinting the clouds with a deep purple, and the effect spread across the globe, blanketing the Earth under a purple night.

A day passed, and eventually the purple clouds dissipated, but the true effect of the meteorite did not leave with them. Despite the situation, there were still duels going on in both Heartland City and New Domino City, but once the meteorite fell, Duel Monsters changed forever. The dark and evil practice used millennia ago returned to haunt the world once more: the Shadow Games. Only this time, it isn't just a matter of people dueling in ancient Egypt, or even a matter of people dueling in the original Domino City. Now, the Shadow Games have returned on a global scale after having thought to have been lost decades ago. Now, every single duelist in the world has the ability to turn an ordinary duel into a Shadow Game, and every single duelist in the world runs the risk of losing his or her soul. Like the Meklords before it, the origin of the meteorite remains largely unexplainable.

The war in Heartland City continued for months upon months without showing any progress for either side. Realizing that the Meklords were not going to stop emerging from the sky, the scientists of Heartland City decided to change their focus to studying the Meklords in much finer detail in order to determine their origin and then hopefully stop them from coming. What they found was that the energy that Meklords run on is a unique, unstable energy form that causes instantaneous mutation and evolution to living organisms. The scientists then decided to create devices that would locate other sources of this energy elsewhere in the galaxy, determined to do whatever it took to destroy wherever the Meklords came from.

To their surprise, an enormous source of that energy was found on Earth itself.

And that place was New Domino City.

…

"Hold it! Stop right now! We are placing you under arrest under the New Domino Empire! Stop!"

"Tch. Security found me again…"

The boy on a green and black D-wheel shook his head in disappointment as he sped past another corner, with two Security officers hot on his trail.

"Stop!"

Things just didn't seem to be going his way today.

"Sir, if you do not co-operate, we will have to resort to forceful detainment!" shouted the first officer.

"…Fine. Duel me. I've been too rusty recently anyway," replied the boy in a nonchalant manner.

"What are you so confident about? There's two of us, and only one of you! You don't stand a chance!"

"Duel Mode. Auto-pilot, Standby."

"Speed World 3, set!"

The desolate rubble in their surroundings instantly transformed into a slick, purple corridor with metallic walls.

DUEL

? VS Security 1 / Security 2

"I'll take the first turn then!" exclaimed Security 1. "Draw!"

?
LP: 4000
Speed Counters: 1

Security
LP: 4000
Speed Counters: 1

"I summon Solar Flare Dragon in attack mode!"

Solar Flare Dragon
LV 4
ATK: 1500

"Then, I'll set two cards face-down, but that's not all! During each of our End Phases, Solar Flare Dragon deals 500 effect damage to your life points!"

?
LP: 3500
Speed Counters: 1

Security
LP: 4000
Speed Counters: 1

"How's that?! Your turn, kid," sneered Security 1.

"My turn. Draw."

?
LP: 3500
Speed Counters: 2

Security
LP: 4000
Speed Counters: 2

"I normal summon Gusto Gulldo."

Gusto Gulldo
LV 3
ATK: 500

"Hah! What's that puny little chicken gonna do to my Solar Flare Dragon? 500 ATK isn't nearly enough!"

The officer's remarks go by completely ignored.

"I activate the quick-play spell Emergency Teleport. This lets me special summon a LV 3 or lower Psychic monster from my hand or deck. I summon Winda, Priestess of Gusto from my deck!"

Winda, Priestess of Gusto
LV 2
ATK: 1000

"I'm tuning my LV 3 Gusto Gulldo with my LV 2 Winda!"

Gulldo dispersed into three glowing rings as Winda transformed into two shining spheres.

"Searing winds shall evoke the minds of the future! Take to the skies with your unparalleled grace! Come forth, Daigusto Gulldos!"

Daigusto Gulldos
LV 5
ATK: 2200

An adult version of Gulldo emerged, with Winda riding atop of him with a staff brimming with energy.

"I activate Gulldos's effect! By shuffling Gulldo and Winda from my graveyard back into my deck, I can destroy one face-up monster that you control. I target Solar Flare Dragon!"

Winda's staff glowed a bright blue as she launched a massive wave of energy at Solar Flare Dragon, wiping it out instantly.

"Go, Gulldos! Direct attack!" yelled the boy.

"Not so fast, kid! I'll admit you've got some funny little tricks there, but they aren't enough! Trap card activate! Dimensional Prison! When your monster declares an attack, I can target it and banish it from the field!"

A purple rift emerged in front of Solar Flare Dragon.

"Chain! I activate the quick-play spell Forbidden Lance from my hand! By decreasing Gulldos's ATK by 800 until the End Phase, I can make her immune to other spells and traps for this turn!"

"Haah?!" cried the officer in dismay.

A long, silver lance materialized in thin air. Winda grabbed it in her hands and slashed the purple rift apart before continuing towards Security 1.

?
LP: 3500
Speed Counters: 2

Security
LP: 2600
Speed Counters: 2

"I'll set two cards and end my turn," said the boy.

"My turn! Draw!" said Security 2.

?
LP: 3500
Speed Counters: 3

Security
LP: 2600
Speed Counters: 3

"Huhuhu… You may think you've got the upper hand now kid, but you haven't seen anything yet! I set a monster in face-down defense position!" said Security 2.

Set Monster
LV ?
DEF: ?

"Then I'll set five cards face-down and end my turn!"

"Five cards?! What did he draw into?" wondered the boy.

"My turn. Draw," he said.

?
LP: 3500
Speed Counters: 4

Security
LP: 2600
Speed Counters: 4

"That back row… he's got traps laid out for my attack, I'm sure of it."

"I chain my face-down quick-play spell Mystical Space Typhoon, which lets me target and destroy one spell or trap card on the field! I target the second card my partner set!" exclaimed Security 1.

"What? You're destroying your own partner's card?" asked the boy.

"Ha! I chain the card he targeted! Go, Secret Barrel!" shouted Security 2.

An array of colourful turrets began to rise out of the floor in front of the boy.

"This card deals 200 points of effect damage for each card you control and in your hand! You've got two cards in your hand and three on the field, so that's 1000 damage! But that's not all!" shouted Security 2.

"Before that, I chain another card! Scapegoat! This card special summons four Scapegoat tokens to my side of the field in defense position!"

"Those five set cards… they weren't there to counter my attack after all?!"

"Chain again! I activate Aegis of Gaia! This card causes me to gain 3000 life points! Then, finally, I activate Chain Strike! This card deals 400 damage times the number of its chain link. Since it was the fifth card in this chain link, it deals 2000 damage!"

"WHAT?!"

A huge mass of flying chains suddenly appeared and struck at the boy's D-wheel, almost causing him to lose control.

?
LP: 1500
Speed Counters: 4

Security
LP: 2600
Speed Counters: 4

"Now I recover 3000 life points and special summon my tokens!"

Scapegoat Token x4
LV 1
DEF: 0

?
LP: 1500
Speed Counters: 4

Security
LP: 5600
Speed Counters: 4

"And now you take the damage from Secret Barrel!"

The turrets lined up across the road launched massive shells at the Gusto duelist.

?
LP: 500
Speed Counters: 4

Security
LP: 5600
Speed Counters: 4

"Hrraaaghh!" cried the Gusto duelist as his life points were reduced to dangerous levels in a single instant.

"Hahaha! This duel is settled! You know Speed World 3's effects, don't you? By removing five speed counters, I can deal 200 points of damage for every card on our field. We've already got two cards on the field, so once we get to my turn, you're finished! This is what you get for messing with Security, kid!" shouted Security 1 as he moved right beside the boy.

"Go on! Squirm! You can't escape the grasp of the New Domino Empire! Not you, not the other petty kids, and not the Heartlanders either! Nobody will escape our dominance!"

And then, in an instant, something seemed to change within that boy. His eyes became sharper, more focused, with an adamant, determined look on his face.

"You're wrong. New Domino Empire is not my home. It's not your home. Not anymore. It's no longer the city of bright futures… Now it's just a twisted shell of its former self. But I guess pawns like you would never understand."

Security 1 was taken aback. "You… you useless trash! Know your place! You sure know how to talk for someone who's got no way of winning this duel!"

"I wouldn't be so sure about that."

"Are you insane? You're gonna take at least 600 damage on my turn, and that's more than enough to finish this duel! The only way you can win is to defeat us in this one turn!"

"…Then I'll do just that."

"Hah!?"

"I activate a spell card from my hand, Swords of Revealing Light! This card prevents you from declaring attacks for three turns, but more importantly, it flips all face-down monsters!"

The set monster placed by Security 2 is forcefully flipped to show itself.

Marshmallon
LV 3
DEF: 500

"Marshmallon… When it's attacked while face-down, it deals 1000 damage to the attacker. By setting it, you were hoping that I would attack it with Gulldos because I can't target face-down monsters with her effect. I would have lost."

"You… yeah, you're right! So what? I activate my last face-down card, Fiendish Chain! By targeting your Gulldos, I negate its effects and prevent it from attacking! Now, even if you dump more monsters into your graveyard, you still won't be able to use Gulldos's effect, and Marshmallon can't be destroyed by battle! You're still hopeless!" retorted Security 2.

The boy remained completely undeterred.

"I activate my first face-down card, Foolish Burial! This allows me to send one monster from my deck straight to the graveyard, and I choose Esper Girl!"

A little girl with a staff appeared briefly before being sealed by a coffin and dragged underground.

"Now, I normal summon Silent Psychic Wizard!"

Silent Psychic Wizard
LV 4
ATK: 1900

"When he's summoned, I can banish one Psychic monster from my graveyard, and I choose none other than the Esper Girl that I just sent. Next, I'll activate my second set card, which was another spell, Lightning Vortex! By discarding one card from my hand, I destroy all face-up monsters you control! I discard Gusto Griffin from my hand!"

An enormous mass of lightning materialized in the sky and annihilated Marshmallon in an instant.

"That's not all! When Gusto Griffin is sent from my hand to the graveyard, I can special summon one Gusto monster from my deck! Return to me, Gusto Gulldo!"

Gusto Gulldo
LV 3
ATK: 500

"I'm tuning my LV 3 Gusto Gulldo with my LV 4 Silent Psychic Wizard!"

The golden frame of Silent Psychic Wizard's body and his four level stars passed through Gulldo's three rings.

"Existence contorts to your infernal creation! Become the cold heart of life and death! Rise, Psychic Lifetrancer!"

Psychic Lifetrancer
LV 7
ATK: 2400

The boy's demeanor completely changed. He had decided to go full-out.

"Silent Psychic Wizard's second effect activates! When he's sent to the graveyard, I can special summon the monster I banished with his effect! Come, Esper Girl!"

Esper Girl
LV 2
ATK: 500

"When Esper Girl is special summoned while it was banished, I can banish the top card of my deck face-down, and then add it to my hand once Esper Girl leaves the field!"

"This kid…" whispered Security 1 under his breath.

"I'm tuning my LV 2 Esper Girl with my LV 5 Daigusto Gulldos!"

Esper Girl burst into two golden rings which slipped over Gulldos's level stars.

"Wings of wisdom give rise to arcane nightmares of destruction! Soar through our future of evolution! Emerge, Daigusto Eguls!"

A enormous green bird, somewhat similar in appearance to Gulldo, appeared with a man riding on its back.

Daigusto Eguls
LV 7
ATK: 2600

"Your monsters still don't have enough ATK to win in one turn!" said Security 2.

"We'll see! The card banished by Esper Girl will now be added to my hand!"

"This is it. The whole duel rides on this one card now. I can't afford to lose here!"

The boy drew his arm back in a wide, dramatic arc as he took the decisive card. He turned it slowly in his hand as he cautiously turned his head to see it-

"I activate the spell card, Monster Reborn! This lets me special summon one monster from either graveyard! I summon Solar Flare Dragon!"

Solar Flare Dragon
LV 4
ATK: 1500

"Why? Why do you serve Neo Domino Empire? Can't you see?! This is not what our city is supposed to be! Go, Psychic Lifetrancer, Daigusto Eguls, Solar Flare Dragon! Direct attack!" cried the Gusto duelist.

"Hraahhhh!"

?
LP: 500
Speed Counters: 4

Security
LP: 0
Speed Counters: 4

? WINS!

Each of the Security officers' D-wheels shut down and came to a stop as the boy continued on, leaving them behind. The duel had used up a sizeable amount of time, and he appreciated the shortened road trip. He eventually came to a stop in an apparently desolate slum littered with damaged, dirtied buildings that could barely hold their own weight. Getting off his D-wheel, he began to walk down the single road into what used to be a town. Then, amazingly, tens of little heads began to poke out from the strangest places, from behind dark alleys between buildings, from above signs on abandoned store shelves, and even from below sewer grates. They all glared at the boy with a mix of both stark fascination and unsuppressed curiosity. The boy continued down the road, walking past the peeking little heads, until he could make out the shape of a girl, perhaps of the same age, running towards him in the distance.

"Kazemu-kun! Kazemu-kun!"

At the sound of the girl's voice, the children suddenly became more active, some of them beginning to whisper to each other, and others even stepped out of their hiding places.

"You're finally back! Where on Earth were you?" asked the girl as she reached Kazemu, the Gusto duelist.

"I brought food. Lots of it. It's all tied to my D-wheel," he replied, as he motioned back to where he came. "Go get some if you want."

He didn't need to say it twice. With those words, each and every one of the little heads emerged from their hiding and ran as quickly as their tiny legs could carry them back to his D-wheel and the food.

"…Kazemu-kun," whispered the girl, with a hint of worry in her voice. "Where did you get that food from?"

Kazemu's eyes lowered. He thought back to the two Security officers chasing him to place him under arrest.

"From… a number of places, actually-"

"Kazemu-kun! Don't tell me you stole again…"

….

Once Heartland City found an energy signature matching those found in Meklords within Neo Domino City, there was no hesitation. Under the stress, anxiety, and fear of being among the very few survivors in the world, the hatred the people of Heartland City had against the Meklords and Neo Domino was fierce and unrelenting. Heartlanders flew over what was left of their planet in enormous battalions set on the complete and utter destruction of Neo Domino City.

As for the Meklords, the initial Heartland invasion of Neo Domino City alerted the Meklords of its existence, causing them to attack New Domino as well. By this point in time, despite the fact that the city managed to avoid being caught in the initial invasion like the rest of the world, the social impacts were terrible. Extremist beliefs and campaigns became exceedingly widespread, with people believing that the people of New Domino were destined to be the founders of the new world. And, truly, in their situation, they couldn't have been be blamed. When the Meklords finally arrived in Neo Domino, the people were capable of fighting back. However, they developed an instant hatred for the Heartlanders, who they saw as beings who seek to spoil New Domino's reign and defile its supremacy. It was inevitable, then, that a war broke out between humanity's final surviving members, the greatest and final war of humanity's history, a war of Synchro and XYZ, of pride and vengeance.