YuGiOh! 5D's: Reverse of Arcadia

by americancheeze

Koyou has discovered a grim truth about himself and struggles with identity issues, loss, and a growing darker side of himself. All this as an ancient evil rises to destroy us all. Is his fate to help the Signers or destroy them? Please R&R

10. Chapter 10

Episode 10: Desperate Tag

"Aki! Are you alright? AKI!" Koyou's voice pulled me out from the darkness and I opened my eyes.

I was sore all over and not certain why. For some reason I was covered in dirt, not to mention on the ground. "What happened?" I groaned, taking off the helmet I was wearing. "Last thing I remember you said we were getting close to the-"

Koyou motioned behind me, "They are right over there. They are also what happened."

I noticed the ring of fire around us and reached for Koyou who promptly helped me up. I spotted Jack outside the ring when he starting yelling, "You idiot! Weren't you supposed to prevent this kind of thing by coming with us?"

Koyou fired back, "Stop whining, person outside the trap, and get back to the orphanage."

"And leave you here? Stop with the foolishness already!"

"I'm not being stupid!" Koyou insisted, "One just started moving a little after we got trapped. Whoever it is, this one really wants Yusei. That means he's heading to where he is. Go do something productive. Aki and I are fine. It's two on two."

"Go, Jack, the children are more important!" I insisted.

Jack growled and started away, "Fine!"

"Knaves! Where doth thou think thine attention should lay? Pay mind to the enemy in front of thee, so that I might strike you without dishonor!"

A familiar voice filled me with a bit of dread. I'd nearly forgotten all about him. That guy had be so inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. But as I turned, I saw him. Gil deLauncebeaux, the man who fancied himself a night in shining armor, but this time he was clad in black armor, and bore the marks of the Dark Signers. Next to him was a face I wanted to see even less, Kodo Kinomiya. Both were my opponents in the Fortune Cup, and both had been murdered by the imposter Koyou.

"What?" I uttered in disbelief.

Gil spoke again, "The heavens have raised me from death to strike a righteous blow! I am here to redeem myself, nay avenge myself against the Witch and her assassin!"

Koyou glared at him, "I'd correct you, but I'm too happy that I get the chance to destroy you for what you put Aki through. I'm not your killer, but I'm more than happy to fix that since your both Dark Signers now."

"Knave! Your lies fall on fortified ears! You are both agents of destruction that must be cleansed from this world!"

Kodo smirked, "What he said."

Koyou shook his head, chuckling, "Well, maybe you're right, but you two sure the hell aren't going to cut it or us for that matter." He turned to me, "You ready for this?"

"I'm actually a bit unsettled, I'm not sure." I hesitated, for obvious reasons. They were a reminder of a very dark time in my life. Koyou holding my hand gave me strength however, "But I'll try. I've got your back."

"Let's do this then." Koyou handed me a card, a copy of his Black Brutdrago, "Slip this into your extra deck in case we need to bring it out on your turn."

I did so without hesitiation as we turned to our opponents and I activated my duel disk, as did Kodo. Gil activated his shield disk, and Koyou drew the sword I had wondered about, revealing it to be a duel disk as he locked in it place on his gauntlet, blade pointing out.

"Duel!"

Koyou & Aki: 8000 vs Gil & Kodo: 8000

"As challenger, I shall make the first blow!" the dark knight drew, "I summon Masked Knight LV3! His effect doth activate, dealing forth 400 points of damage to thine life points! Feel the sting of justice, Witch!" The horn atop the diminutive knight's head glowed and shot a beam towards me. Koyou quickly stepping in the way and taking the blow for me.

I was surprised, "Koyou! Are you okay? Why-"

"You're my girlfriend and I have a hero complex, what did you expect?" he didn't seem at all phased, "This is nothing now."

"Then I shall show you something, rogue, as I send forth a holy blessing that anoints my warrior. The spell of Level Up. Sending one knight to the grave doth embolden him, calling forth a greater hero. Masked Knight LV5! His effect doth strike for 1000!"

The larger beam struck, knocking Koyou back into me, but he remaining standing, " not much. A good hit but no worse than a punch in the face. I've lived through near disembowelment and had broken limbs before."

Gil ended his turn with a pair of face downs.

"Sorry about that by the way." I frowned.

He laughed as he drew, "Oh the broken limb wasn't you and I don't really mind getting nearly disemboweled. Now if you had fully disemboweled me..." he let the quip hang there, then went to work, "I'll take the first turn for this team, pitting warrior against warrior." Placing a spell card into his disk he became all business, "But first, let's break out a little Future Fusion, sending Phoenix Gearfried and Tuned Swordsman from my deck to the grave. I'm not done bringin' the magic though, because I activate the continuous spell card Herculean Power! Once per turn when you control a monster and I don't, I special summon a level 4 or lower gemini monster from my hand, in this case Blazewing Butterfly" a butterfly made of fire burst into existence on the field.

"Too weak." the black knight scoffed.

Koyou smirked, "Someone didn't watch the other duels during the cup! You aren't facing Blazewing! I activate it as an effect monster by normal summoning it while it is already on the field. Ignite! Blazewing Butterfly!" the butterfly blazed red hot and then flew into the air, crashing down and forming a pool of lava. "From the ashes of that effect, a phoenix rises! Phoenix Gearfried, treated as an effect monster!" The white and crimson knight rose up from the molten earth. And on command went after the weaker warrior.

But it was not to be, Gill reached for one of his face down cards, "Thou hath set off my trap most cunning: Martyr's Flag. With this I discard a Masked Knight LV5 from my hand and add its strength to that of the one in battle. His might doth ascend to 4600 points until the end of thine battle phase!" The Masked Knight's hand was thrust straight into the heart of its attacker and the shards of Phoenix Gearfried exploding cut into Koyou.

"Gah!" he hunched over a bit, but did not yield, "Two cards face down and I call it a turn."

Koyou and Aki: 4800 vs Gill & Kodo: 8000

Kodo drew, "I'll activate the spell card Cost Down, lowering the level of all monsters in my hand by 2. Thus I can summon Mind on Air without a tribute." a dark, maimed woman appears with only 1000 attack, very low for the level six monster it normally was. I soon discovered why, "While this card is on the field, my opponents must play with their hands revealed!"

Koyou gritted his teeth in annoyance, "With that, he'll know all our face down cards..."

Kodo chuckled, "Not just that. I activate the continuous spell card Convulsion of Nature. While this card is on the field we flip over our decks, resuming play."

We had no choice but to turn over our decks in our disks.

"With this, I also know what card awaits you each turn. Even though it works both ways." he pointed at us and cued the attack, "I'll attack you directly with Masked Knight LV5 and Mind on Air."

Koyou stood firm in front of me, taking Masked Knight's attack, his knee buckling, "AGH!"

"Koyou!"

Mind on Air rushed in, only to run into a trap, "I activate my trap card: Damage Condenser! By discarding Evocator Chevalier from my hand I special summon a monster from my deck with attack equal to or less than the damage I just took. I took 2300, so I special summon Knight of the Red Lotus! Care to run into 2100 attack?"

"I've done enough for now thank you, so I'll end with this card face down." Kodo grinned, "You're a fool though. You're entire hand is gone! You have to play from your deck, which I can-" Suddenly, Kodo (and I) noticed that Koyou was holding his duel disk behind his back. Sure Kodo had seen his top card before, but his deck had shuffled after Damage Condenser activated, so now only Koyou (and me since he was showing me) knew what his top card was, "That's cheating!"

"I don't wanna hear about etiquette from such a voyeuristic duelist." Koyou shot back. "Besides, there's no rule about where I have to hold my duel disk now is there?"

Kodo growled, "Bastard. Like I said, my turn is over."

Koyou & Aki: 2500 vs Gill & Kodo: 8000

I drew and Koyou whispered to me, "His face-down is Covering Fire. Gill's face down from before is Call of the Haunted. He will use it at the end of your turn to revive his discarded Masked Knight LV5 and level up two of them at once."

"How do you know that?"

"I've always been good at that kind of thing remember? I got better recently. Make your move."

I sighed, "You didn't exactly leave me a lot of life to work with. If he pulls off that combination we lose!"

"Check my face down before you judge me."

I did so. Thinking about it, looking at his Knight of the Red Lotus' effect and remembering his next draw, I went to work, "I activate the effect of Knight of the Red Lotus, special summoning Tuned Swordsman from the grave. Next I summon the tuner monster Witch of the Black Rose!"

Gill chuckled, "How fitting."

I ignored him, lookin at my top card, fate was in my favor, "When this card is summoned I draw my top card, if it is a monster I keep it. If not I discard it and destroy Witch of the Black Rose. I drew my top card, "As you see, it's Gigaplant, a monster card. So I tune my level four Witch of the Black Rose to my level four Tuned Swordsman!" I couldn't remember the little poem Koyou used to summon, so I looked to him, "The honor is yours."

I pulled the card from my extra deck as he did a new chant, the one his father had used, "Fires of destruction, flames of creation, an irresistible force denies the advancing doom! Synchro summon!"

I finished it off as I played the card, "Charge on through, Black Brutdrago!" the dragon appeared thunderously and I activated its effect, "Once per turn by discarding a gemini monster I can use Black Brutdrago to destroy one of your spell or trap cards. I destroy the face down card on my right." the card was revealed as it shattered. Sure enough Koyou was right on the money. It had been Covering Fire. If I'd attacked Mind on Air that trap would have given it Masked Knight's 2300 attack on top of its own, enough to destroy any monster in my deck, including the one Koyou lent me. "I'll attack Mind on Air with Black Brutdrago!"

"Gah!"

I wasn't done, going for Koyou's face down card, "I activate Destruct Potion. I destroy one monster I control and gain life equal to its attack points. I select Black Brutdrago." the monster collapsed into a pool of lava and we regained 3000 life, Phoenix Gearfried rose once more from the ashes of another monster, "When Black Brutdrago is destroyed I revive a gemini monster from my graveyard. Phoenix Gearfried is summoned in attack mode, and attacks Masked Knight LV5!"

Gill cried out in despair as Phoenix Gearfried avenged his earlier defeat.

I still wasn't done, "Finally, I attack directly with Knight of the Red Lotus!"

"YAAAHH!"

Koyou & Aki: 5500 vs Gill & Kodo: 3400

With Mind on Air gone, Kodo wouldn't be able to know exactly what cards I was going to set or which were what, "I set two cards face down. Turn end."

Koyou's ability to read his foe continued to be uncanny as Gill reached for a trap, "I activate Call of the Haunted, reviving Masked Knight LV5." He drew at this turn start, "At the start of my turn, I doth send him to the world beyond but he returns with new strength as Masked Knight LV7!" The final level of his series of knights arrived. However, he threw my plan for a loop, "I activate: Giant Trunade, returning all of your foul plots to thine hand as well as my Call of the Haunted to mine own."

Koyou activated a card effect for me, "When you use a spell, Phoenix Gearfried's effect summons a gemini monster from the grave. Gigaplant returns in attack mode."

Even though putting it in attack gave the enemy a bigger shot at our life points, 2400 attack was harder to destroy than its 1200 defense. Risking damage pretty much assured we kept at least one monster.

"What's it gonna be, Sir Knight?" Koyou egged him on, "Which one you gonna kill?"

"That I shall," the dark knight smiled, "I first activate Masked Knight LV7's effect, delivering 1500 damage unto you." Koyou's battered body absorbed the attack for me. "Then I shall strike down your Knight of the Red Lotus! Never again shall you revive your demons from beyond!"

Koyou grinned a shrugged off the minor battle damage as Phoenix Gearfried shattered. Gill ended with a face down card, most likely his Call of the Haunted.

Koyou & Aki: 3200 vs Gill & Kodo: 3400

There was a dark, almost sadistic look in Koyou's eyes as he took his duel disk from behind his back, the top card visible now to all thanks to the effect of Kodo's Convulsion of Nature spell. The two Dark Signers winced as he drew it, "You may have narrowly thwarted my Future Fusion, but I activate Monster Reborn! Black Brutdrago shall rise again!" Koyou relished in reviving his dragon from the grave and enjoyed even more the activation of Gigaplant as an effect monster, "I second summon Gigaplant and use its effect to revive Blazewing Butterfly in defense mode. I attack your Masked Knight with Black Brutdrago!"

The monster shattered, Gill didn't expect it, but even that slight amount of battle damage, from Koyou, left a gouge in his dark armor, "What foul magic is this? Such power from only 100 damage?"

Koyou smirked, "I don't quite have my new strength under control, so you might what to block this direct attack from Gigaplant."

Fearful, Gill activated his trap, "Call of the Haunted revives Masked Knight LV7! You're attack can't get through!"

The attack repelled, and his hand emptied, Koyou ended his turn, "I end. Hey Kodo, I know you were making sure to spot the top card on my deck. That's right, it's a gemini monster. If you don't get rid of him, I can destroy Call of the Haunted with my dragon next turn. Your big shield will be toast!"

Koyou & Aki: 3200 vs Gill & Kodo: 3300

Kodo glared at Koyou as he drew, "Don't mock me!"

"Actually I was distracting you in an attempt at making you forget what Aki's next card is. Did you noticed she started hiding her disk too?"

Kodo froze up.

"So I guess from that look on your face you can't remember what it was huh? That's just too bad. It could be anything. So much pressure on you this turn."

"Be quiet! I'm a psychologist! Do you think mind games will work on me?"

"Yep. Because the King of the Underworld has weird tastes."

Kodo raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, it seems everyone he selects is a coward. Look at Roman, he fled after getting his rear handed to him. Your partner nearly wet himself in the face of an attack that wasn't even big enough to finish the duel."

Gill was enraged, "You dare assault my honor!"

Koyou ignored him, "And you, Mr. Kinomiya, hid behind your books and your logic, and your research. You can't win a duel without delving into your target's past and twisting it against them!"

"It's a perfectly valid tactic!" Kodo, clearly agitated, got defense, "Using your mind to win is a perfectly sound strategy!"

Koyou seemed to be growing more predatory by the minute. The look in his eyes disturbed me, it was had if he was trying to tear apart his opponent from the inside out, "You've always done things like that haven't you Kodo? Using your intellect and your knack for digging up dirt to get ahead. You know why? Because you were always afraid. You always knew that your own merits couldn't get you past even less qualified people in the force. You knew you lacked something even if you wanted to tell yourself you didn't get those promotions because your superiors were idiots. You don't have what it takes to get ahead. You don't have what it takes to beat me."

"Shut up!" Kodo went wide-eyed, his own inner-darkness turned against him. It was really unsettling, "I can beat you easily! I got power! More power than you could ever dream of!"

Koyou seemed to already have his answer for that ready, as if he'd guided Kodo into saying that. Suddenly, Koyou was surrounded by and aura of light of darkness, parts of the ground around him burning as other parts right beside them were covered in frost, "Really? How much power do you think you have?"

"Ow!" I stepped back, my arm burned slightly by the chilling flames. It was terrifying, the fact that the forearm of my glove had been burned off, but my fingers were nearly frostbitten. What had Koyou become? I'd seen him burn before, and been terrified, but this was more... it was awful... heavy.

Gil was frozen in fear, and Kodo backpedaled, "My god! What are you?"

"Death." Koyou grinned.

Quivering, Kodo couldn't think straight. He let at a cascade of profanities, "I don't have any monster destruction, no trap removal... nothing! I've got nothing! Dammit! I set a monster, then end my turn!"

A few moments passed as I starred at Koyou, before he turned to me, one eye black with a white iris, the other the inverse of that. It was inhuman. "Aki, it's your turn."

Unsettled, I drew, "R-right. I second summon Blazewing, revive Phoenix Gearfried. After that, I revive Blazewing with Gigaplant's effect in attack mode. Black Brutdrago attacks Masked Knight." the knight was beaten, "Gigaplant goess after your set monster."

Kodo freaked out, "Dammit!"

I finished the duel, my mind not really on it, "Next I finish this with two direct attacks, one from Phoenix Gearfried, the other from Blazewing."

The two monsters descended on to the two, reducing their life points to zero. "GAHHHHH!"

Koyou & Aki: 3200 vs Gill & Kodo: 0

Gill fell to his knees, cumbling as Kai-sensei had, "I've failed once again. Forgive me, oh lord in heaven!"

Kodo fell as well, "Don't think this is over, you freaks! This is only the beginning! The others with wipe you filthy monsters from the face of the earth! I'll see you in Hell!"

When they were gone, Koyou grabbed the side of his head and started panting. He sounded like he was in pain. Despite the fear I had of him, I moved to help him, but he snapped at me, "Don't come over here right now!"

I backed away, "K-"

"DON'T EVEN TALK!"

I backed away, scared of this side of him I'd seen before. He'd never aimed that anger at me though. I knew he wasn't angry at me, I knew something was wrong, but even so I was too scared to go to him and demand that he let me help him. It sickens me.

Moments passed and that strange aura finally died down. He turned to me and acknowledged my fearful expression with a pained one, "Sorry about that. I'm not angry... I... I'm dealing with some things right now."

"What was that? It's different than before, when you went up against that other Dark Signer."

"Now isn't the time."

"Koyou, talk to me! What's happening to you?"

He ignored my pleas, getting angry again. He swallowed it down before speaking, "That Dark Signer reached Yusei. Worse still, the rest are mobilizing. They are making their move. Now isn't the time for me to explain. This is war."

"Koyou..."

"After this is settled alright? This isn't about me. This is about the whole world. We have to beat the Dark Signers using any means we have to. We need to focus only on ending this, got that?" There was no reasoning with him, especially since he was mostly right.

Elsewhere, Yusei was meeting an old friend face to face, in the worst way you can be reunited: as enemies. Somewhere else, Jack would soon run into a face he himself knew. The war was escalating quickly and soon the final struggle would begin. I didn't realize then that Gill and Kodo weren't the only ghosts from my past that would rise from the grave.

Next Chapter: A Glimmer of Hope

Set in stone events: Mei comes out of her catatonic state, a challenge is issued, and the quiet before the storm.

Countdown to the End of the Arc (not set in stone): 5