Battle Royale Rules: In his review of the last chapter, my friend DragonKnight15 pointed out that I didn't explain why Hitomi didn't take a life point penalty for initiating that Battle Royale and intruding on Rua and Ruka's duel. We talked about it a little, and it occurred to us that the ARC-V anime never really explained what the conditions for a life point penalty on a Battle Royale duel were. Or at least it didn't seem that way to us. So I thought I'd take a moment to explain a little bit about how Battle Royales are going to work in this story.
~When another player enters a duel before each of the current players have taken a turn, the intruding player does not take a life point penalty.
~If another player enters a duel after all of the current players have take a turn, that player takes a life point penalty of 2000 points.
In the last chapter, Hitomi had entered the duel before Rua had a chance to make his first turn. Therefore, she didn't take a penalty. I apologize for not explaining that before. Anyway, now that we've gotten that cleared up, on with the next chapter!
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V.
Chapter 4: Collective
By the time Yugo reached the building where he had seen the girl he thought might be Rin, she was gone. It quickly occurred to Yugo that she had probably gone inside the building. The young turbo duelist dismounted his D-Wheel and rushed inside without a second thought. Upon entering the building, Yugo saw several more young people about his age roaming the halls, each with the same sort of blank expression that he had seen on people in the City. He ignored every single one of them though and dashed down the hallway, keeping a sharp eye out for the girl he had seen earlier.
After running down at least four or five hallways, Yugo finally spotted the girl he had seen facing a large window at the end of a corridor. Without a moment's hesitation, Yugo ran down the hall towards the girl.
"Rin!" Yugo called as he placed a hand on the girl's shoulder.
The girl turned around upon being grabbed, and it was then that Yugo finally got a good look at the girl's face. Yugo didn't know who this girl was, but she clearly wasn't Rin. The girl's eyes were violet, while Rin's eyes were a stunning golden orange. Not only that, the nose of the girl standing before Yugo was just a tad too big she had a freckled face. The only physical feature that Rin and this girl had in common was the same green hairstyle.
"It was foolish of you to come in here after this unit," the girl told Yugo. "Because of your actions, that boy Rua is about to be eliminated."
"What the heck?" Yugo spoke as he backed away. "How do you know about Rua?"
"It is too late for you to do anything now," the girl continued. "The boy will either be eliminated or he will become one of us. Nothing you do now can change that."
"Crap!" Yugo cursed as he ran off back down through the halls to the front door.
Yugo realized that he had indeed made a very critical mistake. He had gotten so caught up in finding Rin that he had somehow forgotten all about Rua. Now it seemed as though Rua had landed in some kind of trouble. Yugo could imagine the chewing out that Rin would give him if she knew about this blunder. Whatever kind of bad spot that Rua had landed himself in, Yugo was going to do everything he could to get him out of it.
"For her first move, Unit Ruka plays the Field Spell, Meklord Metropolis," Ruka announced.
In an instant, the area surrounding the duel was totally transformed into a giant futuristic city that looked even more advanced than what the Commons had become. The buildings were all colored chrome, and most of them had glowing multicolored circuit paths running up the sides of them. The sky above had become grey and overcast, and in the distance Rua could see a massive skyscraper with a black infinity symbol decorating the top.
"Due to the effect of Meklord Metropolis, each Meklord Emperor monster gains 200 ATK points for every other Meklord monster on the field other than itself," Ruka continued. "Which means the ATK of Meklord Emperor Skiel rises from 2200 to 3000."
"Additionally, the ATK of Meklord Emperor Wisel rises from 2500 to 3300," Hitomi added.
"Unit Ruka now summons Meklord Controller of Skiel in Attack Mode," Ruka announced.
Materializing on Ruka's part of the battlefield was a floating blue sphere with a red circular eye on the front and two light-blue blade-like wings on the sides. Mounted underneath the sphere were two silver blasters, and on the front of the machine just above the eye was rectangular blinking green light.
"The effect of Meklord Controller of Skiel allows other Meklord its user controls to attack regardless of Meklord Emperor Skiel's effect," Ruka continued.
"Furthermore, the presence of Controller of Skiel on the field causes the ATK points of Meklord Emperor Wisel to rise to 3500," Hitomi added. "And for the ATK points of Meklord Emperor Skiel to rise to 3200."
"Unit Ruka now activates another effect of Meklord Metropolis," Ruka announced. "Once per turn, each player can special summon a Meklord Army monster with the same name as another Meklord Army monster they control. Unit Ruka special summons the Meklord Army of Skiel monster returned to the hand earlier by the effect of Meklord Factory."
A hatch opened up near the top of one of the surrounding skyscrapers. A Skiel Army monster emerged from the hatch and flew down to Ruka's part of the battlefield.
"Oh great! Now those two Meklord Emperors are even stronger," Rua realized.
"Correct. The ATK of Meklord Emperor Wisel is now 3700," Hitomi confirmed.
"And the ATK of Meklord Emperor Skiel is now 3400," Ruka added. "And those ATK points shall now rise even higher. Unit Ruka now activates Skiel's effect. Once per turn, Mkelord Emperor Skiel can equip itself with a Synchro Monster the opponent controls. Skiel equips itself with Morphtronic Warrior Gamebon."
Skiel's chest opened up, and several cables made of blue-green energy flew out and snared Gamebon. Gamebon struggled in vein as he was turned into a ball of blue-green energy and pulled into Skiel's chest.
"Meklord Emperor Skiel gains the ATK of each Synchro Monster equipped to it, meaning its ATK points are now 5200," Ruka continued. "Yet those ATK points will still continue to rise. Due to the effect of Meklord Metropolis, each player can equip a Meklord Emperor monster they control with a Synchro Monster twice per turn instead of once per turn. Unit Ruka now equips Skiel with Morphtronic Warrior Micron."
The bird-like Meklord Emperor opened its chest again and snared Micron with its energy cables. The microwave robot struggled uselessly as he was turned into energy and pulled into Skiel's chest.
"With the added ATK of Mircron, the ATK points of Meklord Emperor Skiel are now 7300," Ruka continued. "But now, as a demonstration of our power, Unit Ruka activates the secondary effect of Meklord Emperor Skiel. By sending a Synchro Monster equipped to Skiel to the Graveyard, Meklord Emperor Skiel can attack the player directly this turn. Unit Ruka sends Morphtronic Warrior Gamebon to the Graveyard."
At that moment, the large blaster on Skiel's underside began to power up.
"An ATK value of 5500 is more is more than enough to finish you off," Ruka declared. "Meklord Emperor Skiel makes a direct attack."
"Crap! I activate my Trap card, Negate Attack!" Rua quickly announced as Skiel opened fire. "This card stops Skiel's attack and ends the Battle Phase!"
Just as the intense beam of blue light from Skiel's cannon was about to hit Rua, a large vortex appeared in front of the green-haired boy and sucked the energy in. When Skiel's attack finally ended, the vortex disappeared. Rua let out a heavy sigh of relief.
"Your trap was a futile maneuver," Ruka declared. "Unit Ruka now activates the effect of Meklord Controller of Skiel. Once per turn, Controller of Skiel can inflict 200 points of damage times the number of Meklord monsters on the field. Because there are seven Meklord monsters on the field, Controller of Skiel's effect does 1400 points of damage. However, because Unit Ruka controls Meklord Emperor Skiel, the effect of Meklord Metropolis doubles the damage inflicted using card effects."
The Skiel Controller drone fired a barrage of blue energy balls across the field at Rua. Rua cried out in pain as the attack knocked him to the ground and his life points plunged from 4000 to 1200.
"You have only made things harder on yourself," Ruka told him. "On the next turn, Unit Hitomi will eliminate you."
Just as Rua got back to his feet, he suddenly heard the engine of a D-Wheel coming from behind. Rua and the others looked as Yugo's motorcycle flew off the steps that Rua had run down earlier to get to Ruka.
"My turn!" Yugo declared as he drew a card from his deck.
"Intrusion penalty," spoke a computerized voice from Yugo's D-Wheel. "2000 life points will now be deducted."
Suddenly yellow bolts of electricity from his D-Wheel shocked Yugo, reducing his life points to 2000.
"Yugo! What're you doing here?" a surprised Rua asked.
"Well I heard you needed help, so here I am," Yugo told him. "Now let me handle this! For my first move, since I have no monsters on the field, I special summon Speedroid Terrortop!"
The small train of red mechanical tops materialized on Yugo's part of the battlefield.
"Because Terrortop was just summoned to the field, I use its effect to add Speedroid Red-Eyed Dice to my hand!" Yugo announced. "Now I summon Red-Eyed Dice in Attack Mode!"
Yugo's giant yellow metal die appeared on the field next to Terrortop.
"Now because Red-Eyed Dice was summoned to the field, I use its effect to change Terrortop's level from three to six!" Yugo announced. "I tune the level one Red-Eyed Dice into the level six Terrortop for a level seven Synchro Summon!"
Red-Eyed Dice flashed orange before changing into a single ring of green light. The ring encircled Terrortop and changed it into six white stars.
"Spread those wondrous and beautiful wings and strike down your enemies at the speed of light!" Yugo chanted. "Synchro Summon! Appear now! Level seven! Clear Wing Synchro Dragon!"
The stars flash and became a pillar of white light that shot up into the sky as it expanded outward. The pillar of light soon faded and Yugo's cybernetic dragon emerged with a roar.
"I set one card on the field and end my turn!" Yugo announced.
"Your intrusion in this duel is irrelevant," Hitomi declared. "Your dragon will not help you the way it did before."
"What the heck is with all the people around here?" Yugo asked. "Not only are you two girls using the same kind of decks as that robot I dueled yesterday, you're all acting like that robot too."
"It seems you and the boy, Rua have still failed to comprehend just what we all are," Ruka observed.
"The two girls who you see before you are merely extensions of a single mind," Hitomi added.
"We are as one, as is everyone in this city," Ruka and Hitomi said together in unison.
"What the heck is that supposed to mean?" Rua asked. "Ruka, you haven't been making any sense at all since this duel started!"
"It seems you still do not understand," Hitomi and Ruka said all together with all of the people who had been watching the duel, almost as if they were some kind of chorus. "There is no Ruka. That girl is only part of a much larger being. We are Iliaster. We are the people of this city. We are of one mind and one thought. There is no individuality among us. Each of us is part of a single consciousness."
"Wait a sec! So… you're saying that the brains of everyone in the city are connected together like some kind of computer?" Yugo realized.
"At last you comprehend us," the chorus confirmed. "The minds of every man, woman and child in this city are now as one. We are the ultimate solution to the problems that once plagued Neo Domino, and the key to humanity's salvation."
"I'm totally lost again," Rua spoke. "What do they mean that they're the solution to the problems of this city?"
"Because of us, the division between the Tops and the Commons has been totally erased," the chorus explained. "In time, the unchanging conflict between those two social casts would have continued to escalate until it destroyed the city. Now that chaos has been replaced with harmony."
"I get trying to unit the Tops and the Commons, but couldn't there have been some other way?" Yugo asked.
"There is no other solution besides this collective," the chorus told him. "The fact is that human beings each have a natural desire to compete and dominate one another. The division between the Tops and the Commons are the most extreme example of how destructive these desires are. The competitive nature of this city's society would've eventually led to an uprising that would've cause more destruction. The wars among countries are also examples of how destructive these human desires are. In the end, we will erase all those desires and replace destruction and chaos with harmony."
"Wait, are you guys saying you're going to take over the world or something?" Rua asked.
"A rather childish description of our goals, but an accurate one," the chorus confirmed. "For the moment this collective is limited to this city, but in time after our resources grow we shall assimilate all other societies in this world into our collective. All will be one with Iliaster."
"But that's nuts! Ruka didn't ask to be part of this collective of yours!" Rua pointed out. "And I'm sure that girl, Hitomi never asked either!"
"That's right! You didn't give anyone in this city a choice!" Yugo told them. "You just captured everyone and plugged them into this collective of yours against their will! Now they're just a bunch of mindless robots! I don't know who it is that's pulling the strings behind this collective or whatever it is, but you had no right to do this!"
"Choice is irrelevant," the collective declared. "What we are doing is for the greater good of humanity. This existence is the only way that the human race can survive. Otherwise, humanity's competitive desires will lead to mutually assured destruction."
"What a load of crap!" Yugo declared. "Listen up, you mind controlling bastard! Once Rua and I finish this duel, I'm gonna find where you are and punch your lights out!"
"You will not have that chance," Hitomi declared as she drew her next card. "Unit Hitomi summons Meklord Controller of Wisel in Attack Mode."
A one-eyed white probe materialized on Hitomi's part of the battlefield.
"Due to the effect of Controller of Wisel, all of Unit Hitomi's other Meklord monsters besides Meklord Emperor Wisel can make attacks," Hitomi announced. "Furthermore, Controller of Wisel raises the ATK of all Meklord Army montsers by 500 points, meaning that the ATK points of both Army of Wisel monsters rise to 3000."
"And the ATK of both Army of Skiel monsters rise to 3100," Ruka added. "In addition, the ATK points of Meklord Emperor Skiel rise to 5700 due to the effect of Meklord Metropolis."
"And the ATK points of Meklord Emperor rise to 3900," Hitomi announced. "Unit Hitomi now activates the effect of Meklord Emperor Wisel to equip it with Clear Wing Synchro Dragon."
"Nice try, but I activate Clear Wing's effect!" Yugo announced. "When a level five or higher monster is targeted by a monster effect, Clear Wing negates that effect and destroys the monster! Dichromic Mirror!"
"That tactic will not work this time," Hitomi declared. "Unit Hitomi activates the Trap card, Meklord Domination. When the effect of a monster is activated in response to the effect of a Meklord Emperor's effect, Meklord Domination negates that monster effect and deals 500 points of damage. The effect of Clear Wing Synchro Dragon is canceled."
"Not so fast! I activate the Counter Trap, Crosswind Counter!" Yugo announced. "When the opponent activates a Spell or Trap card in response to the effect of a Synchro Monster I control, I can banish a Speedroid from the Graveyard to negate that card's effect and destroy it! I banish Terrortop from the Graveyard to negate the effect of Meklord Domination!"
The large representation of Hitomi's Trap card shattered into particles of gold light as Wisel's chest opened up. As the white machine emperor fired its energy cables at Clear Wing, the cybernetic dragon's wings lit up with circuit paths before firing an intense blast of energy. Wisel's cables were repelled and the blast kept going and entered Wisel's chest. In an instant, Wisel exploded with a blast of fire and smoke.
"Clear Wing gains the original ATK points of whatever monster it destroys with his effect until the end of the turn," Yugo announced. "Meaning Clear Wing's ATK is now 5000. Not only that, the ATK of all the Meklord Army monsters drop by 500 now that Wisel is no longer on the field. I activate the second effect of Crosswind Counter! By banishing Crosswind Counter from the Graveyard, I can target a Wind monster I control and one of my opponent's monsters. The monster with the lowest ATK is destroyed and my opponent takes the difference in those monsters' ATK points as damage! I target Clear Wing and one of your Meklord Army of Wisel monsters!"
Clear Wing roared and a twister of green wind formed around his body. The twister expanded outward and struck one of the Wisel soldiers, causing it to explode. Hitomi's life points dropped from 600 to zero as a result of the attack. Suddenly the device covering Hitomi's left ear began to let out sparks and she let out a chilling scream before collapsing to the ground. The pinkette's body did nothing but twitch as the monsters she still had out on the field all vanished.
"Holy crap!" Rua exclaimed. "What the heck just happened?"
"I guess beating her caused her to short circuit, just like when I beat that robot yesterday," Yugo assumed.
"So… does that mean that the same thing will happen to Ruka if we beat her?" Rua asked.
"Due to Unit Hitomi's monsters no longer being on the field, the ATK of Meklord Emperor Skiel drops to 4900," Ruka announced. "Furthermore, the ATK of both Army of Skiel monsters drop to 1800. It is now your turn, Rua."
"Yugo… I'm not sure if I can do this," Rua told him. "I mean I think I can beat her, but if I do… Ruka could end up seriously hurt."
"Don't back down now, Rua," Yugo told him. "I'm sure you can save your sister if you just have faith in yourself. I know you can do this, so don't start doubting yourself now!"
"Okay… here it goes," Rua declared as he took a deep breath and drew his next card. "First I play the Spell card, Spellbooks from the Pot! With this card, all players draw three more cards from the deck. Next I summon Morphtronic Remoten in Attack Mode!"
As soon as Rua's giant iPod appeared on the field, its eyes appeared on its screen and its limbs extended from the sides of its body.
"Get ready, Ruka. I'm gonna summon your best monster," Rua announced. "I tune the level three Remoten into the level four Stereon for a level seven Synchro Summon!"
The word, Tuning appeared on Remoten's screen before its body changed into three green rings of light. The rings encircled Stereon and transformed the stereo robot into four white stars.
"Divine light of creation, shine forth and bring new life to the land!" Rua chanted. "Synchro Summon! A regale birth! Level seven! Ancient Fairy Genesis Dragon!"
The stars flashed into a pillar of white light that shot into the sky and expanded outward. After a few moments the light faded to reveal a blue serpentine dragon with orange eyes and long very well developed arms. The feminine dragon had two golden fins on the sides of her head, and covering her forehead was a golden crest with a red gemstone. Long white hair with small pink flowers tied in it grew from the back of the dragon's head. Growing from the dragon's shoulders were two large insect-like wings colored like a stained glass window. Covering the dragon's chest was a piece of golden armor styled to look like an ankh with a purple gem fitted into the top.
With the appearance of Rua's new dragon, Clear Wing let out a roar that echoed across the field. Ancient Fairy Genesis Dragon roared back in reply, and suddenly Yugo's heart began to race. At the same time, Yugo felt a painful burning sensation on his back.
"When Ancient Fairy is Synchro Summoned, she raises my life points by 500 times the number of specially summoned monsters on the field other than herself!" Rua announced. "Right now the other specially summoned monsters are Meklord Emperor Skiel, one of your Army of Skiel monsters, and Yugo's Clear Wing Synchro Dragon. That means I gain 1500 life points!"
Ancient Fairy flapped her wings and sparkles of light rained down on the field. The sparkles of light caused Rua's life points to rise up to 2700.
"You remember Ancient Fairy, don't you Ruka?" Rua asked. "You lost this card when you were taken, but I managed to save it for you. And now I'm going to use it to bring you back!"
"The presence of that dragon… is… irrelevant," Ruka declared, though her left eye seemed to twitch because of Ancient Fairy being on the field.
"I activate Ancient Fairy's other effect!" Rua announced. "Once per turn, Ancient Fairy can destroy a Field Spell card on either player's field, then let me special summon a monster from my Graveyard for every Synchro Monster on the field! I destroy Meklord Metropolis to summon Morphtronic Remoten and Morphtronic Videon from the Graveyard in Attack Mode!"
Ancient Fairy let out another roar as her body gave off an explosion of multicolored light. The builds that made up Meklord Metropolis suddenly dissolved and rays of sunlight burst though the dark clouds above. In moments Yugo and the others were back in the schoolyard, only a field of grass was growing from the concrete ground. A pair of giant flowers sprang up from Rua's part of the battlefield, and as they bloomed Remoten and Videon emerged from the blossoms in their robot forms.
"I tune the level three Remoten into the level four Videon for a level seven Synchro Summon!" Rua announced.
The word, Tuning once again appeared on Remoten's screen before its body turned into three rings of green light. The rings encircled Videon and changed it into four white stars.
"Abandoned guardian from a forgotten age! Be revived here and now to defend world peace!" Rua chanted. Synchro Summon! Awaken! Level seven! Junkyard Power Tool Dragon!"
The stars flashed and became a pillar of white light that expanded outward. In moments the light faded to reveal Rua's battered mechanical dragon. Clear Wing let out another loud roar as soon as Power Tool appeared. Ancient Fairy let out another roar as a reply and Power Tool's broken eye began to blink rapidly. Yugo's heart suddenly felt like it was going to explode. Rua glanced over at Yugo and finally noticed that the young turbo duelist was clutching his chest. The green-haired boy also noticed that a crimson light seemed to be coming from Yugo's back, though he couldn't get a clear look at what was causing it.
"Uh, you okay Yugo?" Rua asked.
"I'm fine… don't worry about it," Yugo told him. "Just focus on saving Ruka."
"Despite the loss… of Meklord Metropolis… the ATK of Skiel is still at 4300," Ruka announced. "Furthermore… despite having zero ATK points, Meklord Controller of Skiel cannot be attacked while Meklord Emperor Skiel is on the field."
"None of that matters, Ruka. I activate the Spell card, Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy the Synchro Monster that's still equipped to Skiel!" Rua announced.
A large twister of wind suddenly appeared around Skiel and caused explosions to go off inside the bird-like robot's chest. Black smoke rose from Skiel's chest as the twister finally disappeared.
"Now Skiel's ATK is back to 2200, which means that Power Tool is now a hundred ATK points stronger than it," Rua announced. "Power Tool, turn Skiel to scrap metal! Crafty Demolition!"
Power Tool flew across the field and used his backhoe claw to tear off Skiel's head. Both pieces of Skiel exploded as a result of the attack and Ruka's life points fell to 1600.
"Now that Skiel is gone, Controller of Skiel is wide open for attack," Rua announced. "Ancient Fairy, attack Controller of Skiel and end this! Everlasting Sunlight!"
Ancient Fairy let out another roar and fired a beam of golden light from the gemstone on her chest. The Skiel probe was struck by the beam and exploded in an instant. Ruka's life points plummeted to zero, and she let out a scream of pain as the device covering her left ear began to spark. Ruka fell to the ground as the monsters that were left on the battlefield vanished. Yugo's heartbeat returned to normal and the light from his back faded to nothing.
"What the heck was that?" Yugo wondered as he caught his breath. "It felt like my back was on fire for some reason."
"Ruka!" a worried Rua called as he ran over to his fallen twin.
Rua knelt down to pick Ruka up, but to matter what he did he could not wake her. As he had feared, losing the duel had affected Ruka in the same way Hitomi had been affected.
"Your victory is irrelevant," the chorus of spectators declared. "A squadron of security droids has been dispatched to this location. One way or another, you will submit to our collective. Resistance is futile."
"Crap! Now what do we do?" Yugo asked.
"Yugo! We gotta get outta here!" Rua told him. "And we gotta get Ruka to a doctor, or… somewhere!"
"I know, but how are we supposed to do any of that?" Yugo asked. "For one thing, this place is gonna be swarming with robots here pretty soon. Plus I don't think I can carry both you and your sister on my D-Wheel, not to mention that Hitomi girl. I'm not sure there's a way out of this."
"There has to be!" Rua told him. "Come on! You gotta think of something!"
Yugo tried frantically to figure out some path of escape out of their current predicament, but he could think of nothing. The wall around the schoolyard seemed impenetrable, and all of the gates out where about to be flooded with security droids. Just as it seemed like Yugo was about to give up hope, he suddenly heard the sound of a D-Wheel engine. Yugo looked up and saw a black D-Wheel sailing through the sky. The vehicle had what appeared to be large wings on its sides, and the front end of it bore a resemblance to a bird.
The D-Wheel landed a few feet away from Yugo and Rua's location and zoomed right over to them. It was then that Yugo got a good look at the rider. He had on a brown vest with a sleeveless orange shirt and a pair of dark-blue jeans. The rider's face was covered with yellow markings, and he had on a black riding helmet with small wings on the sides.
"No way!" Yugo exclaimed. "Crow! Is that really you?"
"Hi Yugo. Long time no see," the rider known as Crow responded. "Looks like you could use some help."
Author's Note: I'm sure that many of you have realized that the version of Iliaster is basically a ripoff of the Borg from Star Trek. I know that's not very original of me to do that, but I realized having a Borg-like Iliaster really fit what I wanted to do with this story. Part of the concept behind this story was to have Yugo fight a villain who had conquered the city. The villain in question was someone who wanted to end the division between the Tops and the Commons, but went about doing it in a very extreme way. Originally I was going to have the story so that the city was simply conquered and its citizens were merely oppressed, but as I thought about that idea more and more, I realized that it simply didn't go far enough.
That's sort of when it hit me that a hive mind like the Borg would be the most extreme solution to the divide between the Tops and the Commons. Plus it gave the story a much darker atmosphere that I felt it was lacking. Believe it or not, this revelation came to me while I was rereading the fifth volume of the original Sailor Moon manga late last year. Weird, huh?
Please review and let me know what you think.
