Stardust Shimmer


Eight: Lightning Vortex

"Yeah, and Shooting Star totally made game out of Jack," Robin was animatedly chatting animatedly as a very irritated Nightwing hauled up the last thug that was left of Batman's complete demolition of a person's life and soul. Flash's awe and regret was apparent; the speedster's voice could be heard even at the lowest possible setting of the comm-piece.

"Enough," Batman growled. "We learned that there's some people capable of summoning monsters capable of independent action."

"And skill," Nightwing smirked. "And beauty. That was hot. Er, I mean..."

"..." Batman dropped the next gibbering thug. "Penguin's on the move. We find him after sundown. For now, we have to make an entrance."

With a swift rabbit punch to the temple, the second thug fell over, unconscious.

"So, Bruce Wayne and his wards make an appearance here?" Dick asked. "For what?"

"Get changed," was the wry reply. "A Duel Monster attacks thugs hired by Cobblepot, at a place where Duel Monsters wouldn't be noticed."

"It's too convenient," Robin agreed. "And, we can see the up-and-comers!" He coughed. "I mean, investigate, yeah."

Under his breath he added. "Flash will be green with envy..."


"Lionel Sensei!" Seika waved towards the middle-aged psychiatrist, leaving a blushing Ryuusei running for the Duel field.

"Doctor," Setsuka politely, albeit suspiciously, greeted. "I thought you were in Metropolis."

"I'm here to see my son," The doctor pointed at the dreamy Reginald Mackenzie o stage. "The divorce was messy, but there was nothing to do about it. My son... is the way he is. I'm hoping to find a cure for him."

"A cure would be useful," Setsuka admitted. "He is sponsored by the Elysium Circle?"

"Yes, they've done... well, I'm not quite sure what they did, but he seems more... adjusted near his mother," the doctor sighed as he watched the field. "My ex-wife is rather important within the Circle, I hear. Regina Mackenzie. She was rather notable as a Duellist herself during the times when Duel Academia was just starting off."

"Regina Mackenzie, the holder of a Legendary Planet," Setsuka recalled. "One of few known owners of the Legendary Planet cards... Elemental Hero Terra Firma, The Splendid Venus, The Tyrant Neptune, The Big Saturn, The Supremacy Sun... so your ex-wife held such a card."

"Er, yes," the doctor answered, perplexed as he turned to Seika. "Any headaches, Seika?"

"Just now, but Setsu-chan solved it," Seika wearily smiled up at him. "Why was I getting a headache when Shooting Star Dragon was attacking...?"

"I wouldn't presume to know," Setsuka answered, her eyes never leaving the doctor.

Up on the stands, Fudo Yusei and Fudo Aki turned around as the sounds of a harmonica drifted towards them.

Aki turned her head. "Is that...?"

"Kiryu!" Yusei excitedly greeted his old friend Kiryu Kyosuke, also known as Kalin Kessler in the United States. "Why are you here?"

"Yusei!" the former Dark Signer grinned. "Well, it's my student. Dark hair, bad attitude, named Princeton? He's duelling in this tournament."

"Your... disciple?" Yusei echoed. "When did you tutor?"

"Since he made me an offer I couldn't refuse," Kiryu grimaced. "He's playing Infernity."

"Is he good?" Yusei smiled.

"Considering who's in his family, maybe, maybe not," Kiryu smirked. "I took him in out of pity, nothing more, after he told me why. Can't say that I couldn't sympathise..."

"Everybody listen!" the emcee stood, excitedly announcing again. "This is the clash we've been all been waiting for! The distribution goes like this:

Ryuusei Fudo vs Chase Princeton

Jared Hampton vs Setsuka Shimotsuki

Reginald Mackenzie vs Ru Zhou

Glen Powers vs Flora Ramsay

And, for the first match of the day, we have the first block!" the emcee shouted. "The up-and-coming rider from the fiery depths, Chase Princeton!"

A scarlet skateboard skidded onto the track as Bruce Wayne took his seat, glancing down at the field to wait as the dark-haired boy in a red helmet and black safety gear waited.

"His opponent's tough too, the boy who could well be the next Shooting Star, Ryuusei Fudo!" the emcee continued as a blue and orange skateboard landed next to the scarlet one. "Two famous legacies to live up to here! Chase here is an offshoot of the notable Duellist of the pros, a legend by the epithet of Black Thunder! That's right, the Manjoume Thunder's somewhere next to him! A legacy, or will he break the mold like the Thunder did? Also, will Ryuusei break the tall order his father set before him? Let's find out! Now, to our announcers! There's me, Mark, and we have Chris with us. Chris, a word!"

"Field Magic, Speed World Two Dual Magic, set, on!" the crowd cheered as the signs went up at his words.

"Riding Duel, Acceleration!"

Ryuusei: LP 4000

Chase: LP 4000

The skateboards were clearly mechanised, Bruce could tell, as they took off, the wires attaching the skateboard to the DuelDisk on their arms hanging loosely but not dragging.

"And, with the well-timed swerve, Ryuusei takes the first turn," the announcer started. "He discards Dandylion to special summon Quickdraw Synchron [700/1400] and nets himself two level one Fluff Tokens in defence mode. Normally he'll be tributing but Fluff Tokens can't be tributed the turn they're summoned, and why tribute when you can synch? He synchs a Fluff Token to Quickdraw Synchron, leading up to a Drill Warrior [2400/2000]. A beat-stick on the field and he hasn't even summoned yet. Since he can't attack on the first turn, he discards and banishes Drill Warrior for the turn. He sets a reversed card face down and passes the baton to Chase with that famed Fudo calm.

"Chase takes over with rather less aplomb, with both at one Speed Counter {SPC}. Using the new Dual Magic rules, Chase plays the Spell, Into the Void, drawing an extra card in exchange of discarding his entire hand at the end. He plays the Continuous Spell, Infernity Launcher, and summons an Infernity Mirage [0/0] and sets a card, before ending his turn, and the remaining three are sent to the grave. For any other Duellist, it'd be a huge disadvantage, having no hand, but the Infernity deck really benefits from it.

"It's Ryuusei's turn and SPC clocks to two. He draws, Drill Warrior returns, and per Drill Warrior's effect, he takes back Quickdraw Synchron from the grave. He's debating what to do, the Handless combo created by the Infernity deck is truly fearsome, he's thinking, we can tell... he halves Drill Warrior's attack [2400/2000 → 1200/2000] and goes straight for the direct attack. Does Chase do anything? The attack goes through!"

Chase: LP 4000 → LP 2800, SPC: 2 → 1

Ryuusei: LP 4000, SPC: 3

"That has got to hurt. Chase activates Damage Gate, summoning Infernity Guardian [1200/1700] in defence mode. Undeterred, Ryuusei discards a card, banishing the weakened Drill Warrior again, and summons Debris Dragon [1000/2000]. A famous Yusei Fudo special, he summons Dandylion back using its effect. He's chanting, tuning Dandylion to Debris Dragon for a level seven Synchro again- holy mole-y, it's a signature of Team 5Ds! Everyone, give it up for...!"

"Chilling flames engulf the entire world," Ryuusei murmured, audible throughout and enough to give even Dick the shivers. "Pitch-dark flower, set in bloom! Synchro Summon! Appear now, Black Rose Dragon!"

Red florid wings spread wide, serpentine black neck stretched, maw open as the dragon gave a piercing roar, thorns and wings spread out.

"This monster has only been seen once on the international stage, during Team 5Ds' legendary clash with Spain's Team Unicorn!" the announcer bellowed. "I last heard was in Gotham on the off chance that Yusei Fudo would début back to the Riding world here, but that's not the point! Black Rose Dragon [2400/1800] is here!"

"Black Rose Dragon's effect activates!" Ryuusei called. "When this card is Synchro Summoned, I destroy all cards on the field! Black Rose Gale!"

"Although Aki Izayoi lost that duel, some argue that she did set up the stage for Fudo Yusei's straight three wins against Team Unicorn!" the emcee called as the dragon roared and winds carrying red petals flew about, destroying the cards. "Black Rose Dragon's destructive effect activates! No wonder Ryuusei banished the Drill Warrior; he was going to nuke the field!"

Bruce twitched. "So this is Black Rose..."

"Awesome!" Tim, in civilian guise, yelled from his place in the grandstands.

"And Black Rose Dragon nukes the whole field except for Speed World Two, and Chase's Infernity Guardian, which cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects as Chase has no cards in hand. By the timing, Dandylion gives Ryuusei two Fluff Tokens to defend himself. He sets a card and ends. Beautiful hand management, I daresay, and a stick in Chase's strategy planted all at once.

"Chase draws! He summons Infernity Necromancer [0/2000] in defence mode. Necromancer in turn special summons the tuner monster, Infernity Avenger [0/0] in the grave. That's a level eight staring at us in the face, dears. He tunes Infernity Guardian and Infernity Necromancer to Infernity Avenger!"

"The highway that comes from the depths of the earth, from the shadows rise the terror!" Chase called, also giving his own chant. "Synchro Summon, come, Void Ogre Dragon!"

"That's your student?" Yusei commented mildly to Kiryu. "That's... a lot like certain power oriented Duellists..."

"Sometimes I look at him and I see a mini Jack," Kiryu made a face. "It gives me nightmares, that another Jack Atlas could come about."

"Hey!" Said Jack Atlas protested.

"And we have a huge beat-stick in Chase's field called Void Ogre Dragon [3000/3000] that's dominating the field. Chase has no cards in hand, and there's no point attacking a Token anyway. Maybe it's to prevent the advance summon of stronger monsters, but Chase attacks a token, it goes through, no doubts, but there's one left. Chase calls it a day at that, hopefully his field would hold.

"We go to Ryuusei, who's so far managed to keep his life intact and his hand managed well. He draws, Drill Warrior comes back, he takes Dandylion. We know he's got Quickdraw in his hand and he can get a level seven out pretty quickly. He- he tributes the last Fluff Token to summon Caius the Dark Monarch [2400/1000]. A Monarch in a deck that can abuse Dandylion, with all this tribute fodder, is pretty solid strategy. Caius allows him to banish a monster on the field, and obviously he chooses Void Ogre Dragon. The effect of Caius causes Chase to take damage equal to one thousand points."

Chase: LP 2800 → LP 1800, SPC: 2 → 1

Bruce admired it, this game that was so much more than attack and defence, all the loopholes... it reminded him of crime-fighting in Gotham. Maybe less flashy, but the same underlying message was clear.

"Now, the field is empty, and unless there's a Necro Guardna in Chase's grave Ryuusei will win this turn. Ryuusei attacks with Drill Warrior first and... there's the Necro Guardna. Caius follows up, and that's game for Ryuusei."

Chase: LP 2800 → LP 0

Ryuusei: LP 4000

"Well, Chase put up a good fight, but Ryuusei's a chip off the old block, I guess." the emcee commented. "Chris?"

"Fudo's clearly the better Duellist of the two. There's potential in Princeton, but he'll need a few more years. Fudo's duelling is solid, a lot like the real Yusei Fudo 'cept that there's no real original strategy there, but he'll make it. Solid play at this age just means that there's time for him to develop something. We should keep our eyes peeled for the next generation there, I daresay."

"Right, I'll take your word for it. Anyway, we take a short break, and later will be the match up of Jared Hampton and Setsuka Shimotsuki. Will this punk win, or will the ice princess prevail? Stay tuned."

"Bruce, you're leaning out of your seat," Dick frowned. "Are you okay?"

"It's a nice show," he remarked. "Very nice."

"The holograms are good," Dick slowly agreed. "Bruce, stop being paranoid for a moment, will you?"

The billionaire was more absorbed by the sight of the winged figure standing on the roofs directly across his vantage point, the white-winged figure unlike any in the League or his contacts. The figure raised an arm...

...and disappeared.

Somehow, Bruce felt disappointed.


"Congratulations, Ryuusei-nii!" Seika's beam was the first thing he saw.

"Thank you, Seika," Ryuusei returned the smile. "Good luck, Shimotsuki. Win this for Neo Domino."

"Setsu-chan will win!" Seika pouted with the endearing tendency of one with absolute faith.

"It is too early to tell," Setsuka serenely answered. "Either way, I will try. You keep an eye on Seika, Fudo Ryuusei. Seika-han, thank you."

"Go, Setsu-chan!" Seika cheered as Ryuusei sat beside her. "She'll win, right?"

"I don't know," he honestly answered as a familiar face came up. "Chase?"

"Yo, brat," Kiryu commented as he walked up. "So you're Ryuusei. You really look like your old man, huh?"

"Kiryu," Yusei sighed. "Ryuusei, this is my old friend, Kiryu Kyosuke. He just came from Satisfaction Town to watch his disciple against you. Call him uncle."

"Uncle Kiryu," Ryuusei bowed. "Chase is your disciple?"

"He still has a while to go, doesn't he?" Kiryu gave the sullen boy who was walking up a look. "You did well there, Ryuusei. A right chip off the old block."

"Ryuusei built his deck himself," Yusei answered. "Somehow, he ended up modelling his strategies after my own."

"He's got two regularly visiting godfathers who're pro Duellists, of course he knows the game," Jack boasted. "He'll blow all the competition out of the water." Jack reconsidered. "Perhaps."

"We should watch Setsuka duel," Yusei frowned down as the cheering Seika.

"Oh, right, Dr Lionel's son is participating as well," Ryuusei added. "He's here in Gotham to cheer for him."

"That's nice," Yusei nodded. "Critiquing Duel strategies is a father-son activity as well, isn't it?"

"So, you over-extended your hand, and now you see why," Kiryu nodded. "But you got out a Synchro, that's good... except that there are better choices. We'll be reflecting on this later, but for now we need to critique other decks. 'Kay?"

"Yes, Kiryu Sensei." Chase nodded fiercely. "I hate tiny monsters..." he muttered under his breath.

"Tiny monsters?" Ryuusei couldn't help but ask.

"I grew up duelling Ojama cards," Chase answered as if that explained everything. "I kept losing, but to Ojamas."

Ryuusei twitched. "I feel your pain."

"Me too," Kiryu nodded, his face completely straight.


"The second round of the quarter-finals will now begin! Chris, what's your take on Jared's deck, seeing as this is the first time we've ever seen the guy here?"

"No clue, he'll have to surprise us."

"There's the ice princess, Setsuka Shimotsuki as well. Do you think she'll win?"

"Well, we know that Setsuka plays a lock-down deck, and Jared will have to get his act together to survive her lock. That is, if he can. Hopefully."

Standing on the ice-blue D-Board parked next to the black one, Setsuka took a deep breath.

"Had enough attention, girlie?" Jared smirked.

Setsuka gave him a level look. "Not quite."

"Field Magic, Speed World Two Dual Magic, set, on!" the emcee yelled.

"Riding Duel, Acceleration!" both called as they took off.

Setsuka: LP 4000

Jared: LP 4000

"Aaaand, they're off! With some creative manoeuvring of the board, Setsuka claims the first turn, or Jared's chivalric spirit kicks in. Either way, to start, Setsuka summons Blizzed, Defender of the Ice Barrier [300/500] in defence mode. She sets two cards and claims turn end.

"We turn to Jared now. He's got a Gene-Warped Warwolf [2000/100] out on his field, and he's playing an Ancient Rules. He summons... what the...?"

Even the Bat-clan found themselves at a loss of words. "What is... that...?" Batman spoke as if he had a bad taste in his mouth.

"That's... worse than the Hatter," Dick concluded.

Setsuka frowned as she glanced up at the giant white... fluffy... draconic... rabbit... dragon-thing. "That is disgusting."

"Hey!" Jared yelled. "Anyway, entering battle phase, Rabidragon [2950/2900], tear down the Defender!"

"Oh, her sole defence is torn down, wait, she activates a face-down Broken Blocker to summon two more Defenders from her deck. Due to Defender's effect, she draws a card. Now, Jared has to choose whether to let his opponent have two monsters on the field, or give her a hand advantage. He ends with no reversed cards, maybe he's got a hand of monsters.

"We enter Setsuka's turn, where she draws. She clocks in at two SPC and a hand of six. She tributes both Blizzed to summon- Is that what I think it is?"

"Blue Ice White Night Dragon, summon!" the icy blue dragon roared as it floated over the girl.

"Wow, that's a rare White Night Dragon [3000/2500], known in Japan as the Blue Ice White Night Dragon. Not only is it equal to its namesake, the legendary Blue Eyes White Dragon, but it also has effects to boot! This is gonna be tough!"

"Blue Ice White Night Dragon, attack his... rabbit-thing!" Setsuka pointed. "Ice Fire!"

The dragon let loose a roar of ice shards on command, icing the dragon into tatters.

Jared: LP 4000 → LP 3950

"Having iced the other dragon, she considers the field. She plays Salvage, getting back two of the three Blizzed in the grave, and plays Speed Spell – Moray of Greed. She places one card and declares turn end."

"Jared seems more eager to get on with the play than before. He draws, and then he equips Gene-Warped Warwolf with Amulet of Ambition. We can see now that Jared's running a Vanilla Beatdown deck, which is kinda rare to see around since the defeat of Team Taiyo in the WRGP against Team 5Ds. Still, we're likely to see Zushin summoned only once in our lifetime, aren't we?"

"You said it, Zushin is killer to summon. And even when it's summoned, Team 5Ds put it right back. Still, back to the current duel, Setsuka has a narrow lead on life points, but clearly not field presence. Jared takes the advantage, declares an attack on White Night Dragon. Amulet of Ambition's effect takes place, Gene-Warped Warwolf clocks up to a whopping four grand [2000/100 → 4000/100], and it goes through! Wait, Setsuka activates... Dimension Wall, ow. Like a gentleman, Jared takes the damage she would!"

Jared: LP 3950 → LP 2950, SPC: 3 → 1

"Speed World causes Jared to lose SPC, and he's got to wash his mouth out in front of a lady, that one. He declares turn end, again without setting a card.

"It's Setsuka's move now, and so far the ice princess hasn't lost any life points. She plays Magic Triangle of the Ice Barrier, destroying Gene-Warped Warwolf and summoning General Grunard of the Ice Barrier to her field [2800/1800]."

The armoured warrior in cold armour appeared standing protectively before her as the child's mouth murmured words, seemingly to the monster.

"She summons Strategist of the Ice Barrier [1600/1600] next, discarding an Ice Barrier monster to draw a card. General Grunard allows her another normal summon of an Ice Barrier monster. She gets out Cryomancer of the Ice Barrier [1300/0]. Cryomancer is a tuner, she declares. She's tuning both of them!"

"The chill of frost spread over the land, the arching spear of the lost people," the cold voice she whispered in was enough for the temperature to drop in Bruce's view. "Synchro Summon, Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier!"

The new dragon that appeared was long and serpentine, and as it roared, cold swept through the stadium like the north winds.

"That's one of the three spears of the Ice Barrier deck, the famous Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier [2300/1400]. Kind of a misnomer, really, but ah well. Fans of this freezing deck might know its effect, but if you don't, it's too useful not to... not that Jared has any cards on his field."

"Battle!" Setsuka pointed. "Brionac, Ice Target! Grunard, attack!"

Jared: LP 2950 → LP 0

"And that's game, too bad Jared's hand isn't so great," the emcee sighed. "Well, Chris, what's your take?"

"It's bloody freezing in Gotham, for one."

"Well, it's the home of Mr Freeze, but I meant the duel."

"The Dimension Wall was pretty sneaky, but what else is expected from a deck lock? Even with a monster like the White Night Dragon there, she knew that any Vanilla Beatdown would pack that Amulet. She did her homework, or she specialises in Magic Cylinders or something like that. I mean, people usually pack Cylinder, right?"

"True, but the element of surprise, I suppose. We'll take a short break from the action for the crowd to anticipate the next duel, Reginald Mackenzie vs Ru Zhou. Odd, really. There was a notable American Duellist called Mackenzie as well, right?"

"Chances of that are pretty slim, unless Reggie produces a Splendid Venus... or something unbelievable..."


Please review! Stay tuned for the next turn: Fortune Chariot! Duel, Acceleration!

Whoever it was that requested an appearance of Valkyries... right, here you go.