DREAM Chapter 10: Life or Death! The Knight that Saves All, a yu-gi-oh! 5d's fanfic

Sorry for the massive wait between each chapter recently. I've got a busy personal life, and this is my final year at school before I go to university, so I've got exams, tests and revision galore. School work has to be my number one priority right now, so I won't always get the chance to write for this, but I'll try to not leave it too long =(

Kirei: The main character can't always be invincible, can they? xD Besides, Lightning's lost a few times already, but I suppose not in a duel yet. He's only really won through duel cancellations so far.

Lightning: 7800 (Justice Bringer)
SPC: 3
Duel Assassin: 8000 (Sonic Warrior)
SPC: 3

"Sonic Warrior, a Synchro Monster." Blaze looked down at the magazine, which had a double page spread of the monster in front of them, and paragraphs analyzing the effect, and opinions on what it added to the card game as a whole. "Synchro Monsters are the new type of cards produced this year, alongside Speed Spells, to signal the evolution of Duel Monsters. By utilizing a Tuner Monster, and 1 or more non-Tuner monsters, you can Synchro Summon a Synchro Monster as long as the levels of the card add together to equal the level of the Synchro." he quoted. "Sonic Warrior is the first ever Synchro monster released. It's such a limited edition card, there's said to be only a handful around the world…"

The Duel Assassin smiled, letting go of the D-Wheel's controls as it drifted on auto pilot for a while. "They told me my mark was pretty uncultured, but I'd never have thought you hadn't seen a Synchro Monster before. But I guess that's what you get for living in the Underground. I don't know who you've made such a stir with, but somebody definitely wants your head. The reward they've put up for it is testament to that." Lightning looked at the Assassin, the light of the overhead street lamps reflecting off the tinted visor. Even his true voice was being hidden, manipulated by a voice changer, just like The Director. "So you don't know who sent you?" The Duel Assassin shook his head, but Lightning wasn't convinced. If this man had hired an Assassin, he must have met them face to face. But there was another question on Lightning's mind. "Could it have been someone from Celeste?" The Assassin laughed at Lightning heartily. "Oh, good one kid. Even if you had caused trouble for Celeste, they wouldn't put a bounty on your head. Although they're dirty enough scumbags to do it they'd just get rid of you through their own ways. Efficiency savings and all that, they wouldn't bother wasting money on something they could do themselves."

Lightning looked worried, and rightly so. Somewhere out there, somebody other than Celeste wanted him dead. And he had no idea who or even why. The Assassin could see Lightning was deep in thought about why anybody would want something to do with vermin like him. It caused another smile to creep up upon the Assassin's face. "But now's not the time to be thinking about that, kid. You've got me here and now to deal with, and it looks like you're going to be leaving this world soon. Sonic Warrior's effect activates! When it is Synchro Summoned, I can destroy one card on your field." The dashing Synchro monster's eyes gleamed, and it jumped in the air, descending down on Justice Bringer with a mighty kick. But Lightning's monster parried the attack and thrust the monster backward. Lightning's eyes narrowed and he snapped out of thought, and he held out a hand to explain what had just occurred. "Not a chance! Justice Bringer's effect activates, once per turn, I can negate the activation of an effect of one of my opponent's monsters that was Special Summoned this turn." The Duel Assassin laughed again, as he pressed a button on his D-Wheel. "Good going, you've got to entertain me a little bit at least! Trap card, activate! Synchro Strike!" An aura shot out of the card he had just activated and enveloped his Sonic Warrior, who let out a battle cry. "Synchro Strike adds 500 ATK to my Synchro Monster for each Synchro Material monster used to make it. I used 2, so that boosts its ATK by 1000! Battle!" The monster dashed forward, so quickly that it disappeared from Lightning's view. He was looking up, down and around, but it took him a few seconds to realise that the monster had been standing in front of him the whole time, clutching Justice Bringer by the neck. "Pulverising Crusher!" The monster squeezed down hard, and Lightning's monster exploded, sending a large rush of energy through his duel disk to simulate the large loss in Life Points. The bombs at his feet began to blink violently, almost as if they were linked to his Life Point counter.

Lightning: 7800 → 6100
SPC: 3 → 2
Duel Assassin: 8000 (Sonic Warrior: 2400 → 3400)
SPC: 3

Lightning staggered backwards as the bus swayed from side to side. There wasn't much time left before the driver would lose control, and everyone would die anyway, regardless of if the bombs went off or not. "Before you ask," the Assassin began to speak again. "Your Speed Counters drop by 1 for every interval of 1000 damage you take. Not that you have any Speed Spells to use them with, anyway." He smirked again, as he slowed down slightly to back away from the bus, placing one card face down on the field. Sonic Warrior released the aura surrounding it, its attack points returning back to their original value. The bus continued moving violently in either direction along the roadside, and Lightning could see flashes of distraught faces of drivers on the road next to the bus, but they were keeping clear of the lane that the D-Wheel was in. Everyone behind him was cowering in fear of death. Lightning hoped for a miracle as he placed his hand on the top of his deck. He needed this to be a monster, otherwise he would be completely defenceless. But even then…could he pull it back?

"It's my turn."

Lightning: 6100
SPC: 3
Duel Assassin: 8000 (Sonic Warrior: 2400)
SPC: 4

A pulse of energy rippled through Speed World and pushed the Assassin back. He looked confused, but quickly regained his position. Lightning smiled, as he set all the cards in his hand face down, bar one. "Now, I summon my ace monster! Show yourself, Swift Knight Gaia!" Cars started to drift apart, as a man on a lightning quick horse bolted towards the bus. Weaving in and out of lanes, it kept in line with the duel. "It can be summoned when it is the only card remaining in my hand. Now…I end my turn." Blaze and Myst gasped, even though Lightning had summoned an incarnation of his ace monster…it was all for nothing. Sonic Warrior's attack points were higher by 100 points, and the Duel Assassin still had quite a lot of cards in his hand to use next turn. But Lightning's confidence didn't waver. "Heh…you're a riot, kid. Sonic Warrior, Pulverising Crusher!" Sonic Warrior then ran to the left, heading for the Swift Knight. It jumped on the roofs of cars trying to speed away from the clash, the Solid Vision left imprints on the tops. Using the moon to cover itself, Sonic Warrior descended on Gaia from above. "Reverse card, Jar of Greed!" Lightning drew a card, but the Synchro monster was still headed for Sonic Warrior. Suddenly, Gaia launched itself from it's horse and headed straight for Sonic Warrior, thrusting a spear forward that left a visible silver line in the sky, as if it had ripped the world apart. The Assassin made to activate a Trap card from his Graveyard, but Gaia flew towards him with great speed before he could pull the card out and use it.

"Next, Trap card, Martyr's Flag!" Gaia continued further onward, heading straight for the Assassin. "By sending one monster from my hand, Gaia's attack points double in power!" Gaia shouted a war cry. Lightning could hear a faint whisper in the background, just like the other times he had used Gaia and he felt a bit queezy and groggy. My Master, I will not fail you! Gaia's spear shattered the Assassin's helmet, but he pulled away as soon as he felt the impact was real, which meant no damage was done to his face. There was large thuds on the road as the debris of the helmet began to fall and scatter, smashing into car windows behind the D-Wheel. The Assassin cursed, holding up his hand to cover his face. He turned his D-Wheel around, but not before shouting. "Don't think this is over, scum! Psychic powers or no, I will see you in hell!" He then sped away into the darkness, leaving Lightning, Myst and Blaze with some time to think.

Lightning: 6100
SPC: 3 (Swift Gaia the Fierce Knight: 2300 → 4600
Duel Assassin: 8000 → 5800 (Sonic Warrior: 2400)
SPC: 4 → 2

-DUEL CANCELLED-

Lightning snapped back to reality as Speed World disappeared, and the shrieking of metal and the violent shaking of the bus forced him to think hard and fast. Up ahead through the shattered windscreen, Lightning could see they were heading straight for a building with no way to stop. "Gaia!" I will comply, Master. The Knight dashed forwards on his horse, quickly gaining speed and making his way to the front of the bus. Placing his hands against the bus, the horse disappeared from underneath him, and Gaia was left pushing the bus with his bare hands, while the armour around his feet scorched the road and made even more noise. The bus began to slow down greatly, but it was far too late to stop it completely. The world drifted into darkness. For people standing outside the warehouse in Atire, the sudden fiery explosion was quite a shock. The glass in the windows of neighbouring buildings shattered instantly, spraying harmful fragments on pedestrians in the street. Within a few minutes, the Public Security Maintenance Bureau was crawling all over the place. A rather dumpy man stepped out of the car driven by one of the officers. He folded his hands behind his back, and stepped over the rubble to the scene of the crash. He chuckled as he picked up the Swift Gaia the Fierce Knight card that was lying on top of Lightning's unconscious body. "Hee hee hee…I heard that Psychic duellists were powerful…but to think he managed to cause a crash, such devastation, now that is something. Transport him and his friends to the nearest hospital, then we'll deal with him when wakes up."

One of the officers stopped to salute the man, and immediately ordered a group of other officers with stretchers to place Lightning, Myst and Blaze inside ambulances. The dumpy man flicked open his priceless golden pocket watch, checking what midnight hour it was. "We have 10 minutes to erase all evidence of misconduct before they arrive. And I mean erase." The man pointed to people who had been walking in the street near the warehouse. They had been given shelter in a tent set up by the Bureau. The officers looked at each other, and there were a few hushed whispers, but they had to abide by their superior's orders. For the good of the people, it was better that the few be sacrificed. There were no screams, no gunshots. The fates of those ordinary people who had been touched by Lightning's life, were now extinguished. They dreamt no more.

~Dream a little, and the world shall change.~Dream a little, and the world shall change.~Dream a little, and the world shall change.~Dream a little, and the world shall change.~

"Sir." A tall man in a dark blue uniform gave his boss a handful of photos. The man's faced winced as his eyes fell upon the grotesque scenes of burnt bodies and people crushed under the weight of pieces of rubble. He sighed and handed the photos back to his underling. He took off his hat and pushed his hand through his hair, his eyes downcast on the ground. "Such a sad scene. With no witnesses either, we'll have to put this down to another accident." The younger officer, looked disgruntled and angry. "But sir! This is the third time this week that we've come upon scenes like this, and everything is just…off." The older man raised a hand and silenced the young officer. "I'm sorry, but it's not like we have any evidence of anything else taking place. We can't launch investigations based on hunches from low ranking officers…ah-" The young officer nodded furiously. "I see, so we'll just let the lives of the families of these people be ruined, all because we can't do anything without going by the book. I understand exactly what you mean…Sir." He stormed off and left the old man to contemplate what he said. The old man ruffled his moustache and flipped open a wallet, containing a police officer's badge. His ears picked up the wailing of sirens that he managed to ignore because he was so use to them. "I said too much…" He whispered softly to himself, before travelling across the street to a teary eyed man and his two children. "I'm sorry Mr. Stephens. You're wife…she, she's one of the victims of this crash. She died in the explosion…" The man burst into his tears, grabbing hold of his children as they wept with him too. For all the years that Richard Locke had been in service, this was one of the few times that his heart had truly been so wrenched, that he let a tear roll down his cheek.

"What do you mean you let him get away…?" A shadowy figure sat in a well decorated, ornate room next to a TV screen. The dim light of the TV was all that illuminated the darkness. The volume was muted, but the picture clearly showed breaking news of a major incident in the city, with a toll of death in the bottom corner. The flames from the warehouse that appeared on the screen added an orange glow to the room. Clicks and clacks from a chessboard could be heard, as the man in the leather armchair moved about some of his chess pieces. The chair was facing away from the Duel Assassin who was bending down on his knees and looking sorrowful. "I'm sorry, but he managed to shatter my helmet by dealing real damage, so I wasn't prepared for that. And it even states in the Assassin's Code that those who reveal their faces to marks-" The Duel Assassin jumped up. Chess pieces were strewn along the floor and there was a lone fist lying on the chess board, having just struck it violently and causing the shocking noise. "I don't care about your stupid codes and rules. I. Want. Him. Dead." The Assassin nodded slowly, getting up and beginning to open the giant oak double doors that lead into the study. There was a well dressed footman standing outside the door, arm outstretched with a silver tray. He walked inside, carrying the tray with delicate pieces of china ware that formed a tea set and set them down by the table next to the leather armchair. The Assassin continued walking forward but he stopped and turned around, remember what he had said to his mark just before he had been forced to retreat. "I know I don't really have a right to ask, but…why do you want him dead so badly?" There was a silence, and more clicking and clacking from the chess board. Steam rose up from the cup of tea that the servant was pouring for his master. The cup disappeared from view and the Assassin could hear the sipping of tea, before a reply came to his question. "Because in Death…there is Life."

Sonic Warrior
EARTH/Synchro/Effect/Warrior - 5/2400/1500
1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters
When this card is Synchro Summoned, destroy 1 card your opponent controls.

Reverberating Sonic
Normal Trap
Activate only when an opponent's monster declares an attack. Negate that attack. While this card is in your Graveyard, if a Sonic Warrior you control would be destroyed by battle, you can remove from play this card to prevent it.

Martyr's Flag (this card appears in Aki's Duel in Episode 016)
Normal Trap
Activate only during your opponent's Battle Phase. Tribute 1 monster you control or send 1 monster from your hand to the Graveyard to double the ATK of all Warrior type monsters you control until the End Phase.