Ugly smoke grayed the sky and the lights of Heartland Tower. All Koji could see around him was fire and smoke and darkness. The only people remaining in this area were him and his two opponents. Everyone else had fled from the train station and the attackers had followed them.
Eiji Marufuji
Life Points: 2500
Hand: 3
Monsters: 1 (Barbaroid the Ultimate Battle Machine)
Spell/Traps: 3 (Set)
Active Effects: Extra Fusion: Turn 2/5
Hitomi Marufuji
Life Points: 1800
Hand: 4
Monsters: 0
Spell/Traps: 2 (Cyber Network, Set)
Active Effects: Cyber Network: Turn 2/3
-VS-
Koji Tenjo
Hand: 5
Life Points: 3000
Monsters: 0
Spell/Traps: 2 (Set)
Active Effects: None
He drew himself in, ready to defend this place. He had programmed the controls on the train to not function unless a player using his disk was defeated. If they gained access to the train, they could bypass the defenses around Heartland Tower, and his comrades there were under enough pressure as it was. He could not lose, no matter the caliber of his opponents.
"Thanks to my Photon Escape, by banishing my Neo Galaxy-Eyes the Battle Phase is at it's end! That monster's massive attack strength is useless to you without a Battle Phase to use it in!" Yelled the blonde boy, green bangs and black coat fluttering in the shockwave of Photon Dragon's removal. Koji smirked across the battlefield at the blue-haired boy whose scarlet monster had just had its attack brought to a screeching halt.
He spat through his teeth in frustration. "So the little cockroach still has some fight left in him... We'll see how long that lasts. I end my turn! At this moment, the effect of Roid Berserker ends, which means my monster's Attack points and effects return to normal. Also, Extra Fusion's turn count ticks up one."
Koji clenched his fingers around the top card of his deck. He only had one shot at winning this thing. He needed to make this card count. "My turn!" He called, pulling the top card of his deck. Almost reluctant to look at such high stakes, he checked the card. Accellight. He smirked covertly. He might have a chance with a top deck like that. "I activate the Spell Card Accellight! With this, since I control no monsters, I can Special Summon a Level 4 or lower Photon or Galaxy monster straight from my deck! The thing is, I can't Normal Summon for the rest of the turn after Accellight is used!" Koji's deck shuffled itself in his disk, dispensing one card which he drew and showed to his opponents. "The card I choose is Galaxy Wizard!" Koji yelled, placing the card into his Duel Disk. Galaxy Wizard, a small figure with a large blue helmet and billowing cloak, appeared on his side of the field. It didn't look like much compared to Barbaroid, but Koji had a plan.
[Galaxy Wizard - Level 4 - ATK: 0 -DEF: 1800-]
"Then, I activate Wizard's effect! With this, I can increase Wizard's level by 4 until the end of the turn, making it 8!" Wizard glowed with a sky blue aura, its level jumping all the way to Koji's desired 8.
"Then, the Spell Card Galaxy Expedition kicks in! With Expedition, since I control one Galaxy monster already, I can Special Summon an additional Galaxy from my deck! The one I choose is Level 8 Galaxy Tyranno!" Galaxy Wizard pointed his staff and a wormhole opened next to it. Roaring, a large, glowing T-Rex stomped its way out of the hole.
[Galaxy Tyranno - Level 8 - -ATK: 2000- DEF: 0]
"I construct an Overlay Network between Galaxies Wizard and Tyranno!" The two monsters transformed into balls of light and disappeared into the rift that had formed between the players.
"Rank 8! Appear, Ultimate Galactic Dragon, Numbers 62! Darkness and light wandering the universe. Sorrowful dragon who sleeps in the interstice! Its powers of creation open the door to Truth! Galaxy-Eyes Prime Photon Dragon!"
Light erupted from the galactic rift. The blinding light changed from pure white to sky blue and Prime's familiar silhouette appeared in the light. The dragon roared and absorbed the remaining light into itself, solidifying and gaining the stylized number 62 on the left side of its body.
[Numbers 62 - Galaxy-Eyes Prime Photon Dragon - Rank 10 - -ATK: 4000- DEF: 3000]
"But I'm not done! Prime Photon! Join your brothers in form and purpose, and use your power to reconstruct the Overlay Network!"
Prime roared mightily and glowed. Its body turned translucent, leaving behind a glowing Overlay Unit in its belly. Then, the dragon's body dissolved to create the same galactic hole that spawned Prime. Prime's Material as well as the others flew in. "Xyz Change! Galaxy-Eyes Full Armor Photon Dragon!" The glowing form of a winged dragon rose from the hole, gaining pieces of armor one by one until the glow was completely encased in a layer of grayish metal. Three glowing Materials circled it.
[Galaxy-Eyes Full Armor Photon Dragon - Rank 8 - -ATK: 4000- DEF: 3000]
"Now, Full Armor! Mow down her Life Points!" Koji yelled, pointing at the silver-eyed girl, "Full Armor Photon Burst!"
Galaxy-Eyes roared mightily, launching a massive laser beam at the unprotected girl. "I activate the effect of Cyber Network! With it, I remove one Cyber Dragon in my deck from the game! My target is Cyber Dragon For! With For's effect, when it's banished I can reduce one instance of Battle Damage to 0, but can no longer activate that effect for the rest of the turn!"
A red and silver serpentine machine wound around the girl, creating a barrier against Full Armor's attack.
"Full Armor has another effect! By removing an Overlay Unit, I can target a card on the field and obliterate it!" Koji assessed the field. Barbaroid was the obvious choice, no doubt about it. But that dead Cyber Dragon that represented Cyber Network would be all powered up during the girl's next Standby Phase the way it was going... He decided not to risk it. "Full Armor will destroy Cyber Network!"
Full Armor roared and launched one of its overlay units at Network, sending up a massive cloud of smoke.
Koji smirked, confident in his decision until he heard laughter from inside the cloud. When it finally cleared, his eyes widened in horror. Instead of destroying the card, the sparking circuits had made their way to the serpent's head and activated the scarlet eyes.
"You fell right into my trap! When Cyber Network is destroyed, I can Summon any number of cards removed from the game by it's effect! In exchange, they cannot attack or activate their effects and I lose my Battle Phase for the turn Network is destroyed, but that's hardly a cost now!" Yelled the girl. The now-repaired Cyber Dragon turned into white light and shattered, sparking into icons representing Cybers in her Banished Zone. "I summon two Cyber Dragons, two Cyber Dragon Dreis and a Cyber Dragon For!"
Two of the first white serpents, two gold accented versions, and a fifth with scarlet accents and a more Eastern looking head appeared under the silver-eyed girl's control.
[Cyber Dragon - Level 5 - -ATK: 2100- DEF: 1600]
[Cyber Dragon Drei - Level 4 - -ATK: 1800- DEF: 800]
[Cyber Dragon For - Level 4 - -ATK: 1600- DEF: 1000]
Koji spat through his teeth on seeing the results of his handiwork. "I set one card and end my turn!" Koji called out.
Eiji Marufuji
Life Points: 2500
Hand: 3
Monsters: 1 (Barbaroid the Ultimate Battle Machine)
Spell/Traps: 3 (Set)
Active Effects: Extra Fusion: Turn 2/5
Hitomi Marufuji
Life Points: 1800
Hand: 4
Monsters: 5 (Cyber Dragon, Cyber Dragon Drei, Cyber Dragon For, Cyber Dragon Drei, Cyber Dragon)
Spell/Traps:
Active Effects: None
-VS-
Koji Tenjo
Hand: 2
Life Points: 3000
Monsters: 1 (Galaxy-Eyes Full Armor Photon Dragon)
Spell/Traps: 3 (Set)
Active Effects: None
"My turn!" Called the girl. She drew the top card of her deck, looked at it, and flipped it to show Koji. "I activate the Spell Card Power Bond! With Power Bond, I can Fusion Summon a Machine-type Fusion Monster using monsters on my field and in my hand as material! I fuse all five of my Cyber Dragons!" The five silver serpents swirled together and shone with bright light. "Ultimate Machine and aspects thereof, guided by the light and mechanical hum, combine your strength into a single raging beast! Fusion Summon, Level 5! Rise up, Chimeratech Rampage Dragon!" The girl chanted, pulling the card from her Extra Deck and placing it onto the field. A purple cubist central core with red accents appeared on the board, then, popping from holes in the central unit, came two, three, four, five silver mechanical heads. A single strong silver tail dropped out of the bottom of the torso and Rampage roared a symphonic roar.
[Chimeratech Rampage Dragon - Level 5 - -ATK 2100- DEF: 1600]
"Since Rampage was summoned by Power Bond, its attack power doubles, but I take damage equal to Rampage's original attack at the End Phase of this turn!" The mechanical beast roared again as its attack power shot to 4200. "Then, when Rampage is Fusion Summoned, I can destroy a number of Spell or Trap cards on the field up to the number of monsters used to Summon Rampage! Right now that number is five, but I'll just be eliminating your face-down cards! Go, Rampaging Burst!" The girl yelled, pointing at Koji. Three of Rampage Dragon's mouths opened, spewing white light which destroyed his Traps on contact. The light blew one of the shards up into his face and it cut his cheek on the left side. Full Armor roared in defiance, though Koji knew the dragon was doomed.
"I activate Rampage Dragon's effect! By sending up to two Light Machines from my Deck to the scrap heap, I can use Rampage to attack a number of additional times equal to the number of monsters sent to the grave this way! I send two cards!" The girl called out, placing Cyber Zero and Cyber Dragon Drei into the Graveyard. Rampage roared as the two dragons were absorbed into it's core, further increasing the heads extruding from the center.
Koji's eyes widened. Not only would he lose his 4000 attack point Full Armor, at this rate he'd lose the rest of his Life Points along with it. He took a step back and felt his heel clip onto open air. He looked back and saw he was at the edge of the tracks. He checked his hand. He had an option, but taking it would be difficult at best in this situation.
"Rampage, go! Destroy Full Armor!" The silver-haired girl yelled, "Rampaging Evolution Burst!"
Rampage roared it's symphonic roar and launched white lightning at Full Armor. Full Armor took it full in the chest for several moments before it exploded. The shockwave caught Koji, who stuffed the cards in his hand into his pocket, and sent him flying into the tracks. The tracks wouldn't have been a problem if they weren't open air. He bounced off the metal guiderail and fell into the lights and fires of Heartland City. He grabbed onto the side of the rail as he fell and hung desperately from it. He stared up, helpless as the dragon loomed over him. He faintly heard the girl call for a second attack. Too fast! He had to reach his hand. Had to get Kuriphoton... He twisted his body to reach into his pocket...
Suddenly, he was no longer holding desperately to the light rail, but instead floating among gentle, colored lights. Koji wondered if he had actually fallen, and the moments before now he had been falling to the ground and had imagined grabbing the rail - but he dismissed that notion when a flash of bright white light brought him back to reality. Koji was now standing on a highway overpass, paved but thankfully not in use, with a few others he recognized. Though Full Armor no longer stood by him, Hope floated around above the motley group, plus Numbers 102: Holy Lightning - Glorious Halo and a few non-Numbers he didn't recognize. Yuukine was in a defensive posture, scarlet and ebon hair settling around his head after being disturbed by the shockwave of a failed attack. A group of non-Duelists were huddled behind him and a few other Xyz fighters. Quattro and Kiyomi stood shoulder-to-shoulder to protect a young girl cowering behind them.
"You're welcome, losers!" Yelled Kozuki Akira from behind Koji. She took off her goggles and set them behind her flipped bangs and pulled off the hood of her jumpsuit to reveal her scarlet and pink striped hair; then unzipped her jumpsuit, tying the excess material around her waist to reveal a black strapless top.
"That took forever! I almost got beaten!" Yuukine yelled to her, pretty angry about it, "Do you even know where we are?"
"Away from those Fusion freakazoids!"
They glared into each other's eyes at what, for everyone else, was an uncomfortably close angle.
Koji decided to break up the quarrel. "So, you two gonna kiss or..." he trailed off. Anna turned bright red and spun away immediately. Yuukine gave him a murderous look. "Good to know you two still have so much energy. We have company." On the other side of a large golden arch, white light blazed and Fusion warriors appeared. The duo that Koji had fought earlier were joined by a dark-skinned, well-muscled man Yuukine recognized, judging by his sharp intake of breath. There were three of the blue-clad "Obelisk Force" foot soldiers with them, each with an Antique Gear Hound Dog on the field. The blue-haired boy still controlled his massive red monster, and the older, silver-eyed girl had retained her powered-up Cyber Dragon, but the huge beasts had been joined by a huge monster Koji thought looked like some dragon he'd seen in Heartland Dueling History Museum... Osiris the Sky Dragon? The Xyz warriors crouched into ready positions, prepared to battle.
"Turn Time-Out Due To Inactivity. It Is Now The Turn Player's End Phase" announced the system.
"I activate Damage Oil!" called out the blue-haired boy, "when another player would take effect damage, I can negate that damage, then select a Machine-type monster on my field and give it attack points equal to the damage that player would have taken until the end of the next turn! I negate the damage from Power Bond and give the attack power to Barbaroid!" Barbaroid glowed scarlet and whirred ominously as its attack jumped to 6100.
"Right, 'cause he needed more Attack Points." Koji muttered.
Eiji Marufuji
Life Points: 2500
Hand: 3
Monsters: 1 (Barbaroid the Ultimate Battle Machine)
Spell/Traps: 3 (Set)
Active Effects: Extra Fusion: Turn 2/5, Damage Oil (next End Phase)
Hitomi Marufuji
Life Points: 1800
Hand: 4
Monsters: 1(Cyber Rampage Dragon)
Spell/Traps: 0
Active Effects: None
Alexander O'Brien
Life Points: 1500
Hand: 4
Monsters: 1 (Uria, Lord of Searing Flames, 4 Traps)
Spell/Traps: 0
Active Effects: None
Obelisk Force x3
Life Points: 1600 x3
Hand: 2 x4
Monsters: 1 (Antique Gear Hound Dog) x3
Spell/Traps: 2 (Antique Gear Spark Shot, Antique Gear Booster) x3
Active Effects: None x3
-VS-
Koji Tenjo
Hand: 4
Life Points: 2800
Monsters: 0
Spell/Traps: 0
Active Effects: None
Tsukumo Yuukine
Hand: 4
Life Points: 1800
Monsters: 1 (Numbers 39: King of Wishes, Hope)
Spell/Traps: 2 (Xyz Change Tactics, Set)
Active Effects: Onomatopia (2 Kattobingu Counters)
Quattro
Hand: 2
Life Points: 2200
Monsters: 0
Spell/Traps: 1 (Set)
Active Effects: None
Kazumi Kiyomi
Hand: 5
Life Points: 2000
Monsters: 1 (Numbers 102: Holy Lightning - Glorious Halo)
Spell/Traps: 3 (Set)
Active Effects: None
Shark
Hand: 2
Life Points: 1500
Monsters: 1 (Chaos Numbers 32: Shark Drake Veiss)
Spell/Traps: 2 (Set)
Active effects: 0
Hurriedly, Akira activated her Duel Disk.
"New player joining. Turn prioritized." Akira's Disk lit up.
"I draw!" Akira yelled. She put on a strong face, but Koji could see her trembling hands. She added the card to her hand, then took another out of it and held it above her head. "Field Spell, Revolving Switchyard, go!" A slot opened up around the raised dome of the display in her Disk, and she dropped the card into it without hesitation. From the water behind them, an industrial switchyard rose up, cranes roaring to life. "I can now Normal Summon Night Express Knight! When Night Express Knight is summoned by this effect, his attack points become 0!"
A yellow train engine with a mechanized knight's upper body on the front like some kind of modern-day centaur raced out of one of the tunnels into the switchyard. The central dial, upon receiving the engine, tilted upward to give Night Express access to the battlefield.
[Night Express Knight - Level 10 - -ATK: 0- DEF: 3000]
"Next, when a Level 10 EARTH Machine-type monster is Summoned, Switchyard allows me to Summon a Level 4 EARTH Machine-type and make its Level 10! In exchange, I can't deal battle damage for the rest of the turn! I summon Ruffian Railcar!" A red, beaten-up car with an angry face on it appeared behind Night Express on it's track.
[Ruffian Railcar - Level 4 - 10 - -ATK:1800- DEF: 1000]
"With Railcar's effect, at the cost of my Battle Phase, I can deal 500 damage to one player! I choose... You! Blue-Hair!" Railcar shot lightning into the blue-haired player Koji had fought earlier, dropping his life points to a measly 1800.
"Now I use level 10 Railcar and Night Express to construct the Overlay Network!" Akira yelled. Railcar and Night Express' track arced down into the rift in space Xyz Summoning opens, followed shortly by the train itself. "I Summon Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Gustav Max!"
Out of the rift came twin sets of tracks which arced around behind Akira to position her card next to her. A tank the size of an average house trundled onto the battlefield and rolled up next to Akira. Gustav Max's cannon readied for use. Two Materials floated near the base of the massive tube.
[Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Gustav Max - Rank 10 - -ATK: 3000- DEF: 2000]
"Now I activate Gustav Max's effect! By removing one Overlay Unit, I can deal 2000 damage to one opponent!" Akira yelled. She pointed down at the blue-haired boy. "Gustav Max! Fire Gustav Rail Cannon!" One of Gustav's Materials flew into the cannon. The cannon angled to strike the blue-haired boy directly and fired, pale blue light blasting from the cannon.
"I activate the effect of Cyber Zero in my Graveyard! When a player's Life Points would be lowered, I can remove Zero from play to negate the damage!" Yelled the silver-eyed girl, pocketing the dispensed Zero. A lanky, winged form appeared around the blue-haired kid, shielding him from the blast.
One of the children tugged on Four's jacket. "Are they going to...?" He asked, eyes wide with terror.
Four looked down on him. "Not if I can help it." he said, reaching down and patting the boy's head. The boy grabbed a handful of Four's jacket and began to cry into it.
Akira looked at the floor. "Ruffian Railcar adds me a copy of Derricrane in the End Phase."
"New Player Joining. Turn Prioritized." Came the system's announcement. Shocked, Koji looked around, to no avail. The white, walled cities on each side of them stood, shining and unfeeling, watching the Xyz warriors suffer and die. Then he heard a loud whooping from above them, near the ring they stood under.
A/N: Dun Dun DUNNNNN.
Well, that's that. Uhm, I don't wanna spoil anything for everyone, but I think my lore checks out. The fic is basically an altered timeline/general AU of Arc-V. As for the suicidal -3 play Hitomi made, well, the other Cybers weren't of use to her anyway and I dunno. Maybe she's high. I'm just the writer. Also, I know that Cyber Network does not work like that, however, I am taking some creative license with cards, same as the writers of the actual show. Since I debuted two custom cards this time, I'll post those here:
Cyber Dragon For
LIGHT/Machine-type/Effect
Level 4 (heh heh)
ATK: 1600
DEF: 1000
Effect: This card is treated as "Cyber Dragon" while it is face-up on your side of the field or in your Graveyard. When your opponent declares an attack: you can banish this card from your Hand or Graveyard. During the turn this card is banished, the next damage you would take from your opponent's card becomes 0. You can only use each effect of "Cyber Dragon For" once per turn.
Cyber Zero
LIGHT/ Machine-type/Effect
Level 1
ATK: 0
DEF: 0
Effect: When you would take damage while you control a LIGHT Machine-type monster: you can banish this card from your Graveyard instead. You can only use this effect of "Cyber Zero" once per turn.
I should be doing one chapter a week pretty consistently, mostly on Sundays, so stay tuned!
