Author's Note: If you're reading this author's note, it means that I had to make a tiny correction to the duel that going to take place in this chapter. It seems I made a tiny little mistake and had to go back and correct it. Fortunately it seemed to be an easy fix. I'd like to thank Ulrich362 for pointing out my mistake.
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.
Chapter 5: Duel of Thorns
Yusei worked in the pit area making final adjustments to his D-Wheel. His duel with Aki was in five minutes and he wanted to make sure his ride was in top shape. As Yusei worked he continued to go over his strategy over and over again in his head. He couldn't afford to make any mistakes. Both Tanner and Spanner arrived as Yusei finished making adjustments.
"So you think you're ready for this duel?" Tanner asked. "You know you're not up against just any opponent."
"I'm as ready as I'll ever be." Yusei replied as he put away his tools.
"You don't seem too happy about this duel." Spanner darkly remarked. "But I guess I shouldn't be surprised, since you seem to be such a big fan of Izayoi."
Yusei said nothing and got on his D-Wheel. After putting on his helmet he revved the red cycle to life and drove past his two friends out to the starting ramp.
Divine walked to his private room above the track to watch the duel. But upon entering the spacious stadium box he found that there was someone in there waiting for him. That someone was a young man with very pale skin. His left eye was red with a vertical scar under it, while his right eye was covered with a dark-grey metal eyepiece. The young man's outfit consisted of white rode-like clothing over a tight-fitting black and white bodysuit. On his upper torso he wore grey armor with a large ring-like collar and a circular green gemstone on front. Two more pieces of armor adorned his hips and hanging at his right side was an ornate sword with an infinity motif. On his head he wore a white hood with silver lightning bolt-shaped ornaments peaking out from beneath like a pair of horns.
"Ah, Divine." The young man greeted. "I hope you don't mind that I watch the duel with you here from your little private box."
"Not at all." Divine assured him, though inside he was furious. "It is an honor to have you here, Lord Placido."
Placido made himself at home by sitting on the large green couch that was in the center of the room, stretching his arms out over the back of the piece of furniture. Grudgingly, Divine took the small green chair that was next to the couch.
"I trust Ms. Izayoi is prepared for this duel." Placido assumed.
"You needn't worry, my master." Divine assured him. "This Yusei Fudo doesn't stand a chance against her."
"Good." Placido replied. "I want to see him pushed to his limits before he finally meets his defeat."
Yusei waited silently on the starting ramp for the duel to finally start. It was due to be any minute, but it felt like it was taking an eternity. At last Aki pulled up next to him on her own D-Wheel. The two looked at one another very briefly and said nothing. Yusei found it ironic how the fence normally separating them was gone, yet they were even more cut off.
"Welcome once again ladies and gentlemen to another exciting day of duels here in the pit." The announcer's voice greeted over the intercom. "We have a real exciting match-up for our first duel between prisoner 5341, Yusei Fudo, and eliminator, Aki Izayoi. Both duelists on your marks get set, duel!"
Yusei and Aki took off down the circular ramp and headed up to the track. Yusei knew he had to get onto the track before Aki. If Aki activated her Track Field card his whole strategy would be in jeopardy. The two were neck and neck as they neared the hatch, but at the last second Yusei pulled ahead and got through onto the track.
"Track Field, activate! Junk Town!" Yusei called as he placed the card in the consol of his D-Wheel. In seconds the inside of the arena transformed into a village of junk and scrap under a wide blue sky. "For my first move I summon Junk Armor in Defense Mode!"
Appearing next to Yusei's D-Wheel was a large old bulky grey suit of armor with a pair of small yellow eyes that peered out from inside a pitch-black helmet. Sticking out the top of the helmet was a large screw.
"That ends my turn!" Yusei announced.
"That's it?" Divine asked with a raised eyebrow from up in the skybox. "His first move is a single weak monster with only 1200 DEF points and no effect?"
"Patience Divine. He's obviously building to something." Placido told him.
Aki drew her first card down on the field. "First I summon Phoenixian Seed!"
Appearing on the field by Aki was a large red seed with red-orange leaves sprouting out the top. The front of the seed opened up to reveal a large yellow vertical eye.
"Next I send Phoenixian Seed to the Graveyard to summon Phoenixian Cluster Amaryllis!" Aki announced.
In moments a twister of flames enveloped the large seed. The flames soon subsided to reveal a bouquet of large red flowers growing from a single stem arranged in the shape of a bird. The two leaves of the stem resembled a pair of gold-feathered wings.
"Amaryllis, attack Junk Armor!" Aki commanded. "Flame Petal!"
The bird plant flapped its two wing-like leaves and sent forth a wave of flames. The suit of armor was hit by the flames and shattered into bits of light.
"At the end of a battle when Amaryllis attacks, it's destroyed and my opponent takes 800 points of damage!" Aki announced.
The bird-shaped flowers exploded in a burst of crimson flames. Fiery petals rained down onto the field and hit Yusei as he circled the track. Yusei managed to drive through them, but his life points had fallen to 3200.
"I activate the effect of Junk Town!" Yusei announced. "When a Junk Monster is destroyed in battle I can summon it from the Graveyard to the field in Defense Mode!"
A ball of blue light rose out of the pit in the middle of the arena and circled around Yusei's moving D-Wheel. Soon the ball formed into the suit of armor that was destroyed just moments ago.
"I end my turn, and by doing that I remove Phoenixian Seed from my Graveyard to summon Amaryllis back to the field in Defense Mode!" Aki announced. The bird-shaped flowers reappeared on the field in another twister of flames.
Yusei drew his next card. "First I summon Screwturn, the Apprentice Warrior!"
Appearing next to Junk Armor was a small robot with a head shaped like a large upside-down screw. On its torso it wore a black metal poncho, and in its right hand it carried a long narrow screw like a sword.
"Next I activate the Spell card, Double Summon and bring Lefty Driver to the field!" Yusei announced.
Appearing to Junk Armor's left was a small silver humanoid robot in the shape of a girl. She had a large head with short light-green hair, and mounted on her left arm was a large screwdriver.
"Now I tune the level two Screwturn into the level two Junk Armor and level two Lefty Driver for a level six Synchro Summon!" Yusei announced.
Screwturn flashed orange and turned into a pair of rings made of green light. The rings circled around Lefty Driver and Junk armor, changing them into four balls of white light that formed a straight vertical line.
"Clustering stars come together to signal the arrival of an unstoppable fighter! Create the path its light shines upon!" Yusei chanted. "Synchro Summon! Rise up! Mighty Warrior!"
The balls of light ignited with a blinding flash, and when the light faded standing in their place was a muscular warrior with light-blue skin and clad in a blue tight-fitting bodysuit with gold circuit paths. His left arm was bare and had two think gold rings on his upper arm and forearm, with an even thicker band around his wrist. On his legs he had on knee-high metal boots with long rocket fins at the knees. The warrior's right arm was mechanical and had a large hand.
"Mighty Warrior, attack Amaryllis with Mighty Knuckle!" Yusei commanded.
Mighty Warrior dashed forward and punched Amaryllis with his mechanical fist. The impact caused the bird-shaped flowers to shatter into bits of gold light.
"When Mighty Warrior destroys a monster in battle, the opponent takes damage equal to half the destroyed monster's ATK!" Yusei revealed.
Suddenly Mighty Warrior's metal fist shot off its arm like a rocket and headed straight for Aki. The fist hit Aki and caused her D-Wheel to fishtail. Aki quickly recovered and straightened her course, but her life points had dropped to 2900.
"Because Amaryllis was destroyed, you take another 800 points of damage!" Aki announced.
"Not this time! I activate another one of Junk Town's effects!" Yusei announced. "Once per turn when I would take damage from a card effect, I can banish a Junk monster from my Graveyard to negate that damage! So I banish Junk Armor to block Amaryllis's effect!"
Several flaming petals suddenly rained down from above to strike Yusei, but before they could hit, a ghostly version of Jumk Armor appeared above him. The flames stuck the transparent suit of armor and caused it to explode. When the smoke cleared, Yusei's life points were untouched.
"I set one card on the field and end my turn!" Yusei announced.
Aki drew her next card. "First I summon Lonefire Blossom to the field!"
Appearing next to Aki on the trap was a large yellow and brown plant with a thick twisting stem and purple leaves. At the top of the stem was a large round yellow bud with a spike at the top burning with a green spark.
"I tribute Lonefire Blossom to summon a Plant monster from my deck!" Aki announced. "Descend to earth, Queen Angel of Roses!"
Lonefire Blossom erupted into a pillar of green phosphorous flames. In moments the flames subsided and Aki's white-masked angel descended to the field on her red rose petal wings.
"Next I equip Queen Angel with Rose Lance, increasing her ATK to 3200!" Aki announced.
The Queen Angel's sword disappeared, and in its place was a long ornate lance made of a shining pink metal.
"Queen Angel, attack Mighty Warrior!" Aki commanded. "Rose Petal Spiral!"
Queen Angel thrust her lance and sent a twister of red rose petals at Yusei's cyborg warrior. Mighty Warrior shattered into bits of light and the twister plowed through to hit Yusei. Yusei was nearly knocked off the track and his life points fell to 2200.
"When a monster equipped with Rose Lance destroys a monster in battle, my opponent takes 200 points of damage times that monster's level!" Aki explained.
The Queen Angel thrust her lance again and sent another petal-filled twister at Yusei. This time Yusei was blown off the track out over the wide pit, causing Aki to gasp with horror. But half way over the pit, Yusei straightened out his D-Wheel and jumped his way over to the other side of the track. The red motorcycle landed with a loud thud and resumed its course. Aki breathed a sigh of relief.
"Well, this Yusei Fudo certainly does seem hard to kill." Divine observed from the skybox. "Anyone else hit by that attack would've perished."
"I had a feeling Yusei would survive." Placido smirked. "It'll take more than something like that to break him."
"I activate my Trap, Shock Draw!" Yusei announced down on the field. "This lets me draw a card for every thousand points of damage I've taken this turn!"
"I set one card on the field and end my turn!" Aki announced after Yusei drew two more cards.
Yusei began his turn. "First I summon Dash Warrior in Attack Mode!"
Appearing on the track to run alongside Yusei's D-Wheel was a cybernetic armor clad completely in red armor. His feet were a pair of wheels and on each side of its lower torso were two large pointed rocket boosters.
"Next I discard a card from my hand to Special Summon Jackie Jumper!" Yusei announced.
Appearing on the field next to Dash Warrior was a small somewhat humanoid robot wearing a sort of blue overcoat decorated with light-blue arrows. Its feet were a pair of long narrow skis.
"Now since I have the Tuner, Jackie Jumper on the field, I summon Quillbolt Hedgehog from the Graveyard with its own effect!" Yusei announced.
Emerging to run alongside Yusei's two other monsters on the track was a hedgehog-like creature with light-brown fur. Sticking out of its back was a mass of large dark-grey bolts.
"Now I tune the level three Jackie Jumper into the level three Dash Warrior and level two Quillbolt Hedgehog for a level eight Synchro Summon!" Yusei announced.
Jackie Jumper flashed orange and turned into three green rings of light. The rings encircled Yusei's two other monsters, causing them to change into six balls of white light that formed a vertical column.
"Clustering hopes will become a new shining star! Become the path its light shines upon!" Yusei chanted. "Synchro Summon! Take flight, Stardust Dragon!"
The lights that were Yusei's original monsters exploded in a blinding white flash. The light cleared and flying above the pit in the center of the arena was Yusei's magnificent silvery-white dragon. Sparkles of green light fell from the dragon as it hovered in the air.
"What? The records never showed Fudo playing a card like that!" Divine exclaimed from the skybox.
"Don't worry Divine, I was expecting this." Placido smirked. "It seems that Yusei has finally played his trump card."
At the same time down on the track, Yusei's right forearm began to glow with a burning red light shaped like a dragon's head. He looked back at Aki and saw that the claw-shaped mark on her arm was glowing with the same red light through her long black glove. Then as the both completed another lap around the track, Yusei glanced and saw the Skeleton Knight atop his undead steed next to one of the little scrap iron huts that made Junk Town. But it didn't make sense to Yusei for the Skeleton Knight to be there, because the hut and everything else in the town was merely a holographic projection on a wall.
"So you finally used the card I gave you." The Skeleton Knight chuckled to Yusei. Though Yusei felt as if the voice was speaking inside his own head. "Now let's see if you can use its power to save that girl."
With that, the Skeleton Knight and his horse vanished in a cloud of black mist. Yusei shook off the encounter and turned his attention back to the duel.
"I end my turn!" Yusei announced.
"He goes to all that trouble to summon an elaborate monster and doesn't do anything with it?" a confused Divine asked from up in the skybox.
"It's not like Yusei could've used Stardust Dragon to attack." Placido pointed out. "As powerful as it is, Stardust Dragon only has an ATK of 2500. While Queen Angel's ATK is 3200 thanks to its equip card. But then Yusei didn't summon his wretched dragon to attack, only to get it onto the field."
"What do you mean?" Divine asked.
"Queen Angel of Roses, quite the appropriate card for Ms. Izayoi." Placido remarked. "It automatically destroys the weakest monster on the field at the start of her turn, even itself. And Ms. Izayoi can't control it, just like she can't control her powers. It's almost like a mirror."
"I still don't follow, my lord." Divine told him.
"You shall soon see that Queen Angel's effect is also its greatest weakness." Placido explained.
Back down on the track Aki drew her next card. "At the start of my turn, Queen Angel's effect activates and destroys the monster with the lowest ATK on the field!"
"I activate Stardust Dragon's effect!" Yusei announced. "When a card would be destroyed by a card effect, I can sacrifice Stardust Dragon to negate the effect and destroy the card!"
Just as a mass of thorn-covered vines began to rise up out of the pit to snare Stardust Dragon and pull it down into the abyss, the dragon roared and flew full speed at Queen Angel. The two monsters collided and exploded into a mass of stardust and rose-petals that rained down onto the field. The vines that were about to pull in Stardust Dragon shattered into bits of light.
"I activate a Trap, Angel's bond!" Aki announced. "When Queen Angel is destroyed I can Special Summon her twin from the deck! Ascend from the pit, Fallen Angel of Roses!"
Rising up out of the pit in the arena was another female angel wearing a white mask similar to the Queen Angel's. She had long straight black hair with rose-shaped ornaments in the sides, and her wings had black rose petals for feathers. The angel had on a skimpy black leather outfit with a very short pink skirt with knee-high high-heeled boots and elbow-high gloves. In her right hand, the angel held a long whip covered in thorns.
"It seems that Fudo miscalculated." Divine chuckled up from his and Placido's perch. "He has no monsters and only a handful of life points. One attack from the Aki's monster and he'll be finished."
"Fallen Angel, attack Yusei directly!" Aki commanded. "Rose Whip!"
"Since I have no monsters on the field, I summon Junk Defender from my hand in Defense Mode!" Yusei announced.
Appearing in between the Fallen Angel and Yusei's D-Wheel was a robot made up of a white head with a pointed snout and large rust-brown arms, each with half of a circular shield on the forearm. The Fallen Angel's whip struck Junk Defender as it brought together its shield, causing it to shatter into bits of light.
"I set one card on the field and end my turn!" Aki announced.
Suddenly bits of glowing stardust began to come together out over the pit. The glowing dust formed a shape and in a flash of light Stardust Dragon reappeared with a roar.
"What?" Aki exclaimed.
"At the end of a turn when its effect is used, Stardust Dragon returns to the field." Yusei explained.
"This is infuriating!" Divine declared up in the skybox. "Fudo keeps turning the duel around! What's it going to take for him to lose?"
Back on the track, Yusei looked at his hand. He already had one of the cards he needed for his strategy to work. Everything was falling into place. He just needed one more card to make it work. Yusei closed his eyes and drew his next card. When he looked at the card he smirked. The card he drew was a Trap card depicting a futuristic soldier being caught in the explosion of a robot he had just blown up with a cannon. The Trap was just what Yusei needed. All that was left was to make his move and hope that Aki had set the card he thought she did on her last turn.
"For my first move I equip Stardust Dragon with Junk Barrage!" Yusei announced. Stardust Dragon began to glow with a green aura. "Now, Stardust Dragon! Attack Fallen Angel of Roses with Shooting Sonic!"
Stardust Dragon roared and fired a sparkling blast of sound waves at the Fallen Angels. The angel was struck in the chest and shattered into black dust and rose petals. The blow had reduced Aki's life points to 2800.
"Now the effect of Junk Barrage activates and you take half of Fallen Angel's 2400 ATK as damage!" Yusei announced.
A storm of flaming junk and debris rained down from the sky and hit Aki as her D-Wheel rounded the track. Aki drove through the junk and her life points had dropped again to 1600.
"I activate the second effect of Angel's Bond from my Graveyard and remove it to add Queen Angel of Roses back to my hand!" Aki announced.
"I set one card on the field and end my turn!" Yusei announced.
Aki drew her next card. "I now banish Queen Angel of Roses from my hand and Fallen Angel of Roses from my Graveyard to summon Rosaria, the Stately Fallen Angel!"
The Queen Angel and Fallen Angel reappeared above the pit and flew high up into the sky. As soon as the two faded from view there was a brilliant flash of white light. Descending from the light was a muscular male angel with a body like a white marble statue. On his head he wore a white hood with a jeweled winged ornament on his forehead, and around his waist he wore long white cloth. The angel had two pairs of wings. The two wings on the right side of his body had black rose petals for feathers and the wings on his left side were covered in red rose petals.
"Rosaria, attack Stardust Dragon with Valhalla Harvest!" Aki commanded.
Rosaria brought his hands forward and fired a massive ball of golden light at Stardust Dragon. The dragon was hit and shattered into bits of stardust. And the resulting blast caused Yusei's life points to drop to 600.
"Now I activate my Trap, Blossom Bombardment!" Aki announced. "When one of my Plant monsters destroys a monster in battle, my opponent takes damage equal to that monsters ATK!"
"I activate my own Trap, Fatal Backlash!" Yusei announced. "When my opponent activates a Spell or Trap card that would inflict 2000 or more points of damage while we both have less than 2000 life points, my opponent takes the same amount of damage!"
Two bushes of flowers appeared next to Yusei and Aki's D-Wheels and exploded like landmines, taking both their life points to zero. With the duel over they both stopped their D-Wheels and the inside of the arena resumed its normal appearance. The strange marks on both Yusei and Aki's arms had also stopped glowing. From inside the viewing areas the two could see the other prisoners booing them. They apparently did not like the result of the duel being a draw.
"Well this is certainly a first for us here in the Pit." The announcer's voice said over the intercom. "Still, a draw isn't a win. Which means Yusei will have to win another ninety-nine duels if he wants another shot at freedom."
"This is unheard of!" Divine declared up in the skybox. "Lord Placido, I apologize deeply for this."
"No need, Divine." Placido assured him as he got up from the couch. "This duel has actually been quite enlightening."
"What do you mean?" Divine asked.
"Let's just say I've gained a certain insight into things." Placido replied as he headed out the door. "Until we speak again."
Yusei rode his D-Wheel into his stall in the pit area and shut off the engine. As he took off his helmet he breathed a sigh of relief. Needless to say, it had been a very difficult duel. Upon remember the strange mark that had appeared on his arm when he summoned Stardust Dragon, Yusei rolled up his sleeve. His arm was as bare as it had always been. At that moment, Tanner showed up with Spanner.
"Looks like you did the best you could." Tanner remarked, getting Yusei's attention. "Of course a draw is the best anyone's been able to do against an eliminator."
"Sorry if I didn't think you were going to do your best out there, Yusei." Spanner told him. "But I still stand by what I said before. All those eliminators deserve to die."
"I'm gonna go get some rest." Yusei told them both as he walked off. "It's been a long day."
Aki nervously walked to her usual meeting place with Yusei. She wasn't sure what Yusei was going to think of her after their duel. It was one thing for him to still stand by her after only seeing her powers in action. But Aki was sure that experiencing those powers head on would be too much for even someone like Yusei to handle. When she got to the fence, Yusei was there on the other side waiting for her.
"You made it." Yusei greeted with his usual smile.
"Are you okay?" a worried Aki asked as she came closer.
"I'm fine." Yusei assured her. "I told you I would be, remember?"
"My heart almost stopped when I saw you flying over the pit." Aki told him on the verge of tears. "I didn't think that…"
"It's okay." Yusei assured her as he put his hand to the fence to meet hers.
Aki then completely broke down, putting her head against the fence. At that moment both of them wished that there wasn't fence between them so they could hold one another. But after a few moments Aki finally calmed down.
"Feeling better?" Yusei asked.
"A little." Aki replied. "One of the worst things about this though is that you're still stuck here in the Pit."
"I'm fine with that." Yusei assured her. "In fact that's what I wanted."
"Wait, you mean you were trying to get our duel to a draw?" a surprised Aki asked. "Why Yusei?"
"Because even I won my freedom you'd still be stuck here." Yusei explained. "And I want to find a way for us both to get out."
"I don't think that's possible." Aki told him sadly.
"There has to be a way. And if there is, I'll find it." Yusei declared. "I told you before that I'm not going to abandon you."
"You're a real kind person Yusei." She told him. "I should be going now. Divine isn't too happy about the result of our duel."
"I hope you're not in too much trouble." Yusei replied.
"Actually I'm not in any trouble at all, which is kind of surprising." Aki revealed. "Anyway, I'll see you here tomorrow. Okay?"
"Yeah, okay." Yusei agreed.
The two of them walked away from the fence to go their separate paths. After Aki turned a corner to go back to the mansion, Placido emerged from the opposite adjoining corridor and walked up to the fence.
"I thought there was something going on between them in that duel." Placido remarked to himself with a sinister smirk. "I had almost forgotten about how love can bloom in even the most dismal situations. But now it seems like I've found the perfect way to break Yusei."
Placido laughed as he drew his sword and slashed in front of the fence. A blue portal appeared in midair and Placido walked through, vanishing once he was fully inside.
Author's Note: So the error I made originally was that I had forgotten that Amaryllis would've inflicted another 800 points of damage to Yusei when he destroyed it in battle. As an easy fix, I tacked on another effect to Junk Town that would allow Yusei to negate damage from card effects. It seemed like the best solution at the time. Hopefully there aren't any other duels in this story and the others that I screwed up.
Please review and let me know what you think.