Chapter 2: Defending the Dream!
Episode Basis: Power Insect Deck! Trap of the Ant Lion
Flashback: Two years ago
Yusei and Jack were facing each other in a duel, Junk Warrior on Yusei's side and Mad Demon (TCG name: Mad Archfiend) on Jack's side, and Lua, Rally, Nerve, Blitz and Taka watching the duel.
"You cannot beat me." Jack commented. It caused Yusei to narrow his eyes.
"Because you're the King?" Yusei asked. Then Jack smirked. "That's right. Because I'm the King. Come! Let's battle."
Yusei signalled, "Junk Warrior, attack!" but chains suddenly came out of nowhere and ensnared Junk Warrior just when it started to attack. Jack revealed why, "The trap card Curse of Darkness (TCG name: Shadow Spell). As long as I have this, your monster can't move! Finish him, Mad Demon! Bone Splash!" Mad Demon was able to destroy Junk Warrior because Curse of Darkness also made it lose 700 attack points. The attack caused Yusei's life points to drop down to 0.
Yusei dropped to his kness and punched the ground in frustration. As the others looked in shock, Lua said "Yusei lost..." A shadow loomed over Yusei. "Yusei." The person of that shadow was Jack when he looked up. Jack said "In a duel, you can't win just with monsters." Yusei looked angry while Lua looked confused.
In his penthouse at Neo Domino City, Jack observed the view through the window jacket-less, with his right arm revealing something that looked like a birthmark. In the hand of the same arm he held 2 cards. One with a white dragon, clearly a synchro monster by the white background, its name barely visible with the sunlight over but the word 'Stardust' clear enough in the card name. The other card hardly visible at all because of it being behind the first one. But bit of the card background showed it was also a synchro monster.
"So even the King gets lost in his memories?" a voice spoke out, revealing an older man to be with Jack. His name was Rex Godwin. He was the director of Neo Domino City and Public Maintenance Department.
Jack glanced at him, then lowered his arm and said "I used to live in that garbage dump." He was talking about Satellite which can be seen from that view. The truth is Jack used to live in Satellite, but for some reason, he left Satellite in order to get to Neo Domino City. Godwin said, "You are the one chosen by the stars. You should forget about that dark hell." Just then, Jack threw the cards he held in one single move, and they flew together as they were one single card right into his deck, almost perfectly in place, just one corner barely sticking out. "There's no way I can forget." Jack answered. "I'm so humiliated about the days I spent at Satellite that I can't breathe. That land should be destroyed." "Do you really feel that way?" Godwin asked, "Or are you saying that because you regret leaving someone you cared about behind?" Jack responded by narrowing his eyes and turned his back on Godwin. "Because I'm afraid that cannot be done." Godwin continued, "Neo Domino City cannot exist without Satellite."
At Satellite, garbage was being flowed out onto a conveyor belt into a factory, where people picked up pieces and placed them into boxes, as Godwin explained, "Satellite is a world that supports the prosperity of the chosen ones. The people who live there are only kept alive so that they can recycle all the garbage we throw away." And we return to Jack's penthouse. "In an ideal world, no one is useless. The fact that the King used to live in Satellite is a test given to you by god. That is what I believe." Godwin said in his opinion. "A test." Jack muttered as he looked down at his birthmark. Godwin continued, "In Neo Domino City's history, the only person who succeeded in coming here from Satellite was you, King. That is why you are the one chosen by the stars."
At Yusei's hideout, Rally and Lua were timing Yusei's D-Wheel on its speed with a stopwatch. Just as it whizzed past them, they braced themselves and Yusei stopped his D-Wheel. Rally and Lua checked the stopwatch and were amazed by the number of minutes the run took. It was less than three minutes. They ran to Yusei in excitement. "Incredible! This is your best time so far!" Lua said in joy, "You'll be able to get through the pipeline easily!" "Yeah." Yusei answered. "Tonight's the night, huh guys?" Rally asked. "Yeah." Lua answered. "It's my turn now, right?" Yusei nodded. Lua ran over to get his D-Wheel in place, then put on his helmet and got into position. "Could you time me, Rally?" Lua asked. "Sure. I'm ready when you are." Rally answered. Lua started the engine, and he sped off.
Meanwhile, at the factory, "I can't believe the people in the City dump this much garbage everyday." Blitz complained while he, Nerve and Taka each carried three boxes filled with garbage. "Don't complain." Nerve said, "We need to do this to eat." "Whoa." Taka muttered when he nearly slipped, out of balance. "Hey! Be careful!" Nerve reminded him. "I know." Taka responded. Just a short distance from them, three guys were sitting on a bench, grinning about something. Blitz and Nerve passed them, but then the guy in the middle extended his leg and Taka tripped. A crash sounded as garbage was scattered from the boxes he carried. "Taka!" Nerve and Blitz said as they dropped their load to check on him. "Are you okay?" Blitz asked. Taka grimaced in pain but answered, "Yeah..." "Sorry. You tripped over my leg." The middle guy on the bench said. "You have long legs, Uryu." the guy on the right said. Uryu was the guy in middle with blue hair. On his right was the guy wearing sunglasses named Dojima, and on his left, Shizaki. "He should have been more careful." Dojima continued. Shizaki snickered at that remark. "I thought I smelled the stench of garbage approaching," Uryu said, "but it turned out to be Satellite people." "So then what's up with the markers on your cheeks?" Nerve asked. Uryu got angry from that. He, Dojima and Shizaki each have a marker on their cheek, which means they were criminals. Uryu responded, "I'll tell you." Then, he grabbed Nerve by the shirt collar and made his move.
Sometime later, Nerve, Blitz and Taka were being treated with band aids by Rally at Yusei's hideout. They were injured from Uryu punching them multiple time in the faces. "You were beaten up pretty badly." Rally said as he put the last needed band aid on Nerve's right cheek. "Uryu was recently sent here after causing an incident in the City." Nerve said clearly angry with Uryu. "He keeps bragging that he's originally from the City and getting into scrapes with the people of Satellite." "He just likes to say that he's different from us." Blitz said. Taka decided to change the subject by asking, "Hey Yusei, Lua, how are things going over there?" "It's going extremely well." Lua answered. "Yeah." Rally added "They both achieved the best time ever today!" "Hey, well done guys." Nerve said. "It was all thanks to Rally, really." Lua responded. "I should also thank you guys." Rally said to Lua and Yusei then told the others, "Since that incident, Security hasn't been chasing after me." Lua chuckled embarrassingly and said, "That was Yusei's doing actually." "You did help by jamming the marker." Yusei reminded him with a smirk on his face. "Yeah, but you're the one who defeated that Security guy." Lua responded. "If that's the case," Rally said, "Yusei, I promise. I'll never steal again!" Yusei nodded in approval. "I guess there are reasonable people in Security after all." Said Nerve. Blitz answered, "It's a fact that a duelist always obeys the outcome of a duel." Yusei objected, "I wouldn't call him a duelist. However, for a dog in a position of authority, he accepts it when he loses."
In an office at Security headquarters, a base of operations for Security where they can plan their missions and have data of all known criminals according to their markers, "So it's a special pursuit deck." Ushio said as he looked at the new deck he was given by a Security chief. "An interesting creation." The chief explained, "Recently in Neo Domino City, there have been many cases of people misusing D-Wheels and driving wildly. To oppose them, a mobile squad known as the Duel Chasers has been formed. That is the deck specially customized for their use." "And you're giving it to me?" Ushio asked. The chief said, "I hear that you recently lost to a D-Wheeler and paid for the stolen item out of your own salary." "That is the moral code of a duelist." Ushio answered as best as he could. "It turned out fine because they accepted it." the chief said then reminded him, "But before you're a duelist, you're a Security agent." "Understood." Ushio said, "But the next time I meet him, things will end up differently now that I have this." "Which reminds me..." the chief continued, " I heard you encounter another D-Wheeler as well, one that is a child. Is that true?" "Yes sir." Ushio answered. "In that case," the chief said then, "I want you go after him first before the other one." "That won't be a problem." Ushio said, "Wherever that punk is, the kid's sure to be with him. Then I'll teach him what happens to those who ride D-Wheels under-age." He finished the discussion with a salute, and turned a clerk working on the monitor. "If any of those D-Wheels show up again, tell me!"
Back at the hideout, Yusei was still working on his computer, this time on Lua's D-Wheel, while Lua was checking one of his decks, most likely the one he'll use for riding duels since at least one speed spell was seen among the cards. "I wonder what the expression on Jack's face will be." Taka said out of curiosity. Rally then asked, "Are you guys going to duel Jack?" "We'll make him give back our cards. That's all." Yusei answered. "Yeah. Those cards do belong to all of us after all." Lua mentioned. "You're right." Nerve agreed, "Every one of us was looking forward to seeing your dragon as much as we did see Yusei's." "The Riding Duel that Yusei showed us when he hacked into the City was amazing." Taka remembered. "We learned that in the City, the Duel Disk was developed further into the D-Wheel." "We were all deeply moved when Yusei created the D-Wheel." Rally said. "Yeah." Blitz agreed, "And when his dragon flew, I was trembling with excitement." In a flashback, they along with Jack were in the streets when Yusei tested out a D-Wheel he built two years ago, and played his his monster revealed to be a white dragon named Stardust Dragon. "It felt like our dreams came true." Rally said. "And we were hoping to see Lua play his dragon too." Taka said, "But Jack was already planning to steal his card along with Yusei's D-Wheel and card." It turns out Stardust Dragon was one of the cards Jack took when he rode on Yusei's old D-Wheel and sped through the pipeline in order to get to the city.
"These D-Wheels are also incredible." Rally said to cheer the others up, "They can go through that pipeline in two minutes." "Only two minutes?" Taka exclaimed in surprise for the others. "Is that true?" "We ran a simulation." Yusei answered. "You hacked them again?" Nerve asked. "Security's network isn't guarded well." Yusei said. "Kinda funny that they call themselves Security when they couldn't even protect their own network." Lua joked. "Lua." Yusei said in a disciplinary tone of voice. "Right. Sorry." Lua apologized. After entering a few command keys, the computer displayed a diagram of a pipeline that connected between Neo Domino City and Satellite, mainly used for garbage, then zoomed in on the pipeline itself. "Once a month at midnight, the pipeline is stopped for maintenance." Yusei explained, "It takes three minutes for the automatic maintenance to finish before garbage starts flowing again. If Lua and I can get through the maintenance hatch before then, we can escape to the outside." "Yusei, Lua..." Blitz started but changed his mind, "No, I won't say anymore. I'll pray for your success." Suddenly, "We found you." a voice spoke out followed by a snicker. It was Uryu and his two companions. "We've come to give you our thanks." Uryu said. Seeing them made Yusei's eyes narrow. "Due to the commotion this afternoon, we were punished!" Dajima yelled, "Furthermore they docked our pay!" Shizaki snickered angrily. "We really wanted to thank you." Uryu said as he stepped forward and cracked his knuckles. Nerve stepped forward, blocking Uryu and the others from the D-Wheels. "Are those D-Wheels?" Uryu asked in a nasty way. "This doesn't concern you." Nerve answered. "It's a waste for a few D-Wheels to be in the possession of a bunch of Satellite punks." Uryu said. Dajima voiced mockingly, "That treasure's going to waste." Shizaki snickered at that, then Uryu said "Well, the yellow one's obviously too small but we can't let the other one go to waste. Give it to me and I'll forget about the trouble you caused." Yusei stood up and spoke, "I refuse." "Oh, so you're the D-Wheeler?" Uryu asked, "Do you know how to duel?" Dajima and Shizaki laughed at that. "Or do you want me to teach you?" Uryu continued. "How about you wager that D-Wheel?" He then held out his left arm, where Dajima placed on a duel disk and it was activated. "Yusei, don't battle him." Nerve suggested. But Yusei took out his riding deck and placed it in a deck holder before switching to his ground one. "Yusei!" Nerve protested before Yusei placed the deck in the slot. At that the D-Wheel responded, "Momentum out." then prepared Yusei's duel disk to be attached. "A hybrid." Uryu remarked while his companions looked in amazement. Taka tried to help by saying, "Yusei, we don't have time for this!" "They mocked our dream." Yusei said firmly. Uryu scoffed, "Dream? Don't you realize you're just a bunch of Satellite losers? Come, over here."
In an area not too far from the hideout, Yusei and Uryu were in position to start their duel. "Duel!" they announced, signifying the start of the game.
Yusei: 4000, Hand size: 5
Uryu: 4000, Hand size: 5
"I'm going to go first!" Uryu announced. "I draw."
Uryu: 4000, Hand size: 6
Turn number: 1
"From my hand, I summon Chainsaw Insect!" Uryu said as his monster appeared.
Chainsaw Insect
Level 4
Insect/Effect
Earth
ATK: 2400; DEF: 0
Besides Lua, Yusei's friends gasped in surprise. "It's only Level 4 but 2400 attack points?" Taka asked. "He's applying pressure from the very beginning." Blitz voiced out loud. "Then I activate the Continuous Spell, Retribution of the Ant Lion!" And in place of the card displayed, a giant ant lion hole appeared. Uryu the explained, " When a monster is destroyed and sent to the graveyard, the controller takes 800 points of damage!" "That means..." Taka started. "When either Yusei or his monster is destroyed, it takes away life points." Blitz finished. "It's a spell that's very risky even to himself." "Yeah, but that makes up for Chainsaw Insect's effect." Lua spoke. Rally asked, "Its effect?" "Yeah." Lua answered, "Whenever Chainsaw Insect battles another monster, the controller of that monster gets to draw one card. Playing a spell like that to make up for its effect could mean that he's confident."
"I end my turn." Uryu announced, "I'll show you how scary my Power Insect Deck is."
"Uryu, you're the best!" Dajima cheered while Shizaki snickered in a cheerily way.
"My turn." Yusei announced as he drew for his turn.
Yusei: 4000, Hand size: 6
Turn number: 2
Yusei looked at the card he drew and the cards in his hand and decided his move, "From my hand, I summon Shield Warrior in defense position."
Shield Warrior
Level 3
Warrior/Effect
Earth
ATK: 800/ DEF: 1600
"Then I set one card and end my turn." Yusei then said as a holographic set card appeared on his field.
"You chicken." Uryu mocked, "You pathetically placed it in defense position." Dajima added, "It makes me laugh!" Lua got miffed from it but held himself.
"Then it's my turn!" Uryu said as he drew his next card.
Uryu: 4000, Hand size: 5
Turn number: 3
"I summon Pinch Batter!" he announced.
Pinch Batter (TCG name: Pinch Hopper)
Level 4
Insect/Effect
Earth
ATK: 1000/DEF: 1200
Uryu said, "Then I send one Insect-Type monster in my hand to the graveyard to activate Insect Disguise! (TCG name: Insect Costume)" The card he sent was Insect Knight. "Showtime is about to start!" he shouted in excitement and his cohorts cheered him on.
"Due to the effect of Insect Disguise, I add one Insect-Type monster to my hand. Afterwards, one Insect-Type monster on the field is destroyed!" he explained as the new insect was added to his hand, destroying Pinch Batter in the process.
"He destroyed his own monster?" Taka exclaimed in surprise just as the ant lion spell card activates, with the hole spinning and then a blast hit Uryu dealing him 800 points of damage.
Uryu: 4000-3200
Uryu stood dumbfounded after that, then shouted in shock, "Why did my life points decrease?" The spectators on Yusei's side looked at him like he was an idiot. Nerve did face-palm when he said, "C'mon now. It's due to the effect of your own Continuous Spell." Uryu turned to look at him then looked at his cards on the play field as he remembered, "Oh yeah! You're right!" He regained his composure when he also said, "But, that didn't hurt me at all! Watch! Pinch Batter's effect now activates!" The card form of the mentioned card appeared then glowed purple. "When this card is sent to the graveyard, I can Special Summon one Insect-Type monster from my hand."
The card he special summoned was, "Metal Armored Bug! It has 2800 attack points!"
Metal Armored Bug
Level 8
Insect
Earth
ATK: 2800/DEF: 1500
"Even though I suffered the effect of Retribution of the Ant Lion, it's worth it because I summoned a powerful monster!" Uryu as he rubbed his nose. "It's profiting from loss!" Dajima added while Shizaki snickered. "It's huge!" Taka and Lua shouted. "He's brought out another incredible monster." Nerve remarked. Blitz summarized, "In order to take advantage of Pinch Batter's effect, he intentionally destroyed it using Insect Disguise."
"I'm not done! The fun is only beginning!" Uryu said. "I remove two Insect-Type cards in my graveyard from play." The mentioned cards were Pinch Batter and Insect Knight. "This allows me to Special Summon Devil Dozer from my hand!"
Devil Dozer (TCG name: Doom Dozer)
Level 8
Insect/Effect
Earth
ATK: 2800/DEF: 2600
"The insect monster army is now going to battle!" Uryu claimed as he moved to the Battle Phase, but Yusei remained stern. "First, Chainsaw Insect attacks Shield Warrior!" Uryu announced, then his Chainsaw Insect moved in for the attack. "Due to its effect, you draw one card. But that won't matter now!" Chainsaw Insect grabbed Shield Warrior with its mandibles and destroyed it. "Shield Warrior..." Yusei muttered as he drew his next card. The ant lion card activated as Uryu says, "Here it comes! Due to the effect of the Continuous Spell Retribution of the Ant Lion, you lose life points!" Then the beam shot out and hit Yusei.
Yusei: 4000-3200
Uryu then announced, "Devil Dozer, attack him directly!" Yusei responded, "I activate the trap Scrap-Iron Scarecrow!" The scarecrow stopped the attack making Uryu exclaim in surprise. "This can negate your monster's attack once a turn. Then Scrap-Iron Scarecrow is once again set." Yusei explained as the scarecrow went back to its set position. Uryu grunted and said, "You survived this one, but I have one more! Metal Armored Bug, attack him directly!" Metal Armored Bug rammed Yusei. "Yusei!" Rally and Lua shouted as Nerve, Blitz and Taka looked on in shock. Yusei stood his ground but his life points dropped down.
Yusei: 3200-400
"This is bad. Yusei's life points decreased in an instant." Nerve commented while Dajima complemented, "Impressive, Uryu!" Uryu said then, "You may have stopped Devil Dozer from inflicting damage so it could send the card at the top of your deck to the graveyard, but no matter! Try to counter-attack me!"
Yusei announced, "My turn." and drew for the turn.
Yusei: 400, Hand size: 7
Turn number: 4
After looking at the card, he made his move. "From my hand, I summon Speed Warrior." Speed Warrior appeared in attack position. "Then from my hand, I activate the spell card Dual Summon." (TCG name: Double Summon) Yusei explained, "Due to this effect I can Normal Summon again this turn. I'll use this card." He held out the mentioned card. "I summon the Tuner Monster Junk Synchron!" Junk Synchron came out onto the field. Nerve, Blitz and Taka had joyous expressions while Lua and Rally cheered, "It's here! It's Junk Synchron!"
"I tune Junk Synchron with Speed Warrior!" Yusei announced and said the chant, "The stars come together to call forth a new power! Become the path that lights the way! Synchro Summon! Come, Junk Warrior!" Junk Warrior appeared in attack position, ready for battle. "What?" Uryu exclaimed, "What's with him? He can do Synchro Summons?" He looked worried in an angry way but Dajima and Shizaki cheered him on, "It's nothing to worry about, Uryu! You still have a huge lead!" As if responding to that remark himself, Yusei said, "Then from my hand, I activate the Equip Spell Fighting Spirits." (TCG name: Fighting Spirit)
Junk Warrior's right arm then glowed with power as Yusei explained, "For every monster that you have, Junk Warrior's attack points increase by 300 points!" The others looked on in excitement as Taka said, "The opponent has three monsters!" Lua said, "Then, that means Junk Warrior's attack points will increase 900! Incredible Yusei!"
Junk Warrior ATK: 2300-3200
"What? It's stronger than the power of my insect army!" Uryu said. Dajima responded, "Is this really possible?" while Shizaki snickered in an unsure way. Yusei continued, "Then I activate the Continuous Spell Domino." (TCG name: Domino Effect)
"Domino? What's that?" Uryu asked. "The card you let me draw with Chainsaw Insect's effect." Yusei answered shocking Uryu even more, then went to the Battle Phase. "Junk Warrior attacks Chainsaw Insect! Scrap Fist!" Junk Warrior punched Chainsaw Insect causing Uryu to lose 800 life points.
Uryu: 3200-2400
"Then..." Yusei said, "I send the two cards Scrap-Iron Scarecrow and Fighting Spirits to the graveyard." After sending the mentioned cards to the graveyard, he announced, "Now for Domino's effect." Chainsaw Insect suddenly toppled in Devil Dozer, who then crashed into Metal Armored Bug, like they were dominoes and then all three monsters were destroyed. Yusei explained, "With Domino, when a monster on your field is destroyed and sent to the graveyard, for every card on my field that I send to the graveyard, one of your monsters is destroyed." "I see!" Lua noticed, "By sending two cards to the graveyard, Devil Dozer and Metal Armored Bug were destroyed due to Domino!" Yusei then said, "Now take the effect of your own Retribution of the Ant Lion." A blast came out of the ant lion hole, hitting Uryu as he braced for impact.
Uryu: 2400-0
"Alright!" Blitz cheered then Taka said as he jumped up and down, "Yusei won!" "Alright! Alright!" Lua cheered in the same motion. Uryu dropped to his knees as he said, "No way..." "A long time ago, my friend told me something." Yusei spoke up causing everyone else to look at him in question. "'In a duel, you can't win just with monsters. You can't win with just traps or spells either'" Lua the gasped in surprise and thought, 'These are the words Jack said.'
Flashback: resuming end of the duel two years ago
"The true meaning appears when everything becomes one." Jack said. "And the most important thing you need to achieve victory is right here." as he placed his fist on his chest.
Yusei continued, "My friend didn't tell me what it was. But I know. It's the soul of a duelist that believes in all his cards!" 'So that's what Jack was talking about.' Lua thought then his hand on his chest. 'The soul of a duelist that believes in all of his cards.'
"Well said." Uryu complemented then stood up, "Sorry to bother you. But this isn't the end. Next time, I'll win!" Yusei knew it was a challenge to a rematch and answered with a smirk, "Fine."
At the top of the building, outside Jack's penthouse was a swimming pool, a helicopter pad and a practice course for when Jack rides on his D-Wheel, which is what he was doing at the moment until he looked up and stopped. He took off his helmet and looked back up. Godwin, who was watching the practice run, approached Jack and asked, "Do you need anything?" Jack said, but mostly to himself, "When I arrived in this city... It was on a moonlit night like this." What Jack was looking at the full moon shining among the stars. That same moon could be seen through the crevasse that Yusei and Lua were looking through at the moment.
As mentioned a few times within the chapter, you might get the idea for the duel of the next chapter. Don't worry, my version of the story will be based more on the original version of the anime itself. I am watching the subbed version available on crunchyroll in order to make the chapters but the help I need the most will be more or less starting with the Fortune Cup tournament chapters, so I'd appreciate reviews or private messages on what to do for changes.