Custom cards are marked with a "*" after their first appearance in a chapter only and assume any cards without can be searched on the Yu-Gi-Oh wiki. All monsters are in attack position unless otherwise stated.
Still turn 4:
Yuri: 3650, Ned: 4000
Hand size: Ned 2, Yuri 2
Timmy carefully looked at all of the cards in his hand. It didn't look as if there was anything that could help Lightning Rex escape from the binding chains of the Shadow Spell. It all depended on his next draw. He closed his eyes tightly and drew a card from his deck.
"I...I'm not sure if I can do this," he breathed.
Lightning Rex appeared to roar, unnerving some of the crowd. Most remained unflinching in their chants though. As Fuchsia clasped his hand he took a deep breath. She remained silent, but he whimpered in response. He scanned his hand again, in the hope that a second look would reveal something, a combination of cards that could save him, though it wasn't looking promising.
He just drew a powerful trap – Sakuretsu Armour, but he knew that may not be enough. It would only stop Ned for a turn and it would do nothing to help the cause of Lightning Rex. If anything, it would make things worse for it because if it was destroyed it could be put out of its misery. He set the mirror force he just drew face down and hoped for the best.
Face-down: Ned: 0, Yuri: 1
"Your turn!" he cried.
Hand size: Ned 3, Yuri 2
Ned drew a card and sneered at Yuri, causing him to flinch. He then briefly looked over the cards in his hand. After a couple of seconds he took a card and slammed it onto his spell and placed it into his spell and trap card zone.
"I activate the magic of the Draconnection!" declared Ned.
The magic of the Draconnection makes the user reveal one Dragon-Type monster in their hand. When they do, they add one Dragon-Type monster with the same level from their Deck to their hand. They then shuffle the revealed monster into their Deck.
Ned revealed the Serpent Night Dragon in his hand to Yuri and added one Dark Armed Dragon from his deck to his hand. This was fitting considering Dark Armed Dragon appeared in the artwork of the Draconnection card. Its image showed Dark Armed Dragon protecting White Dragon Ninja. It was fighting desperately to fend off some unseen foe.
Hand size: Ned 2, Yuri 2
Now that Dark Armed Dragon was in Ned's hand it was only a matter of time until Yuri's loss now, as it's amongst the most powerful of Dragon-Type monsters. Many great duellists have been stopped in their tracks by the awesome monster. For the meagre cost of removing from play one DARK attribute monster in its controller's Graveyard, one card on the field could be destroyed.
"Since there are exactly three DARK Attribute monsters in my Graveyard I can summon Dark Armed Dragon," declared Ned as he clenched his fist, "It's time to turn out the lights. Bring forth your darkness! Rise! Dark Armed Dragon!"
The DARK attribute monsters in Ned's Graveyard are Dark Grepher, Infiltration Warrior and Dark Blade the Invicta Knight, exactly three.
A portal appeared directly in front of Ned and from within it walked out Dark Armed Dragon. Dark Armed Dragon is a Level 7 DARK Attribute Dragon-Type Effect Monster with 2800 ATK and 1000 DEF. Dark Armed Dragon was not a usual dragon. Instead of wings two silver scythes protruded its back. Other than those it was all black, apart from the steely grey of its claws. Its tail, long and undulating, smacked into the ground behind as it let out a roar.
Hand size: Ned 1, Yuri 2
"I remove the Infiltration Warrior in my Graveyard from play with Dark Armed Dragon's effect to destroy Lightening Recharge.
Dark Armed Dragon lifted one of its arms and took aim at Yuri's continuous spell card. It unclenched its fist and a dark beam appeared from within the palm of its hand. The beam struck Yuri's card and caused it to explode and disappear.
"I remove from the Dark Grepher in my Graveyard from play to destroy your face-down card."
Dark Armed Dragon took aim once more. When its arm was pointed in the direction of the face-down card it unclenched its fist. As soon as it did, a dark beam appeared from within the palm of its hand. The card immediately exploded and disappeared. Ned then pointed directly at Lightning Rex with his free hand.
Face-down: Ned: 0, Yuri: 0
"Death blast - Dark Armed Dragon, go!"
2800 ATK - 1800 ATK = -1000
Yuri: 3650 - 2650, Ned: 4000
Dark Armed Dragon raised its arm in the direction of Yuri. Like before, a dark beam appeared from within the palm of its hand. The beam struck the ground at the feet of Lightning Rex. When it made contact it exploded and disappeared. For a brief moment a cloud of pitch blast smoke in the Zone previously occupied by Lightning Rex.
"Fuchsia, I'm so sorry! I'm a loser," cried Timmy.
"Yeah, that's right, so you finally admit it."
The crowd echoed Timmy's sentiments as some chanted the word loser. A few went over to Ned to congratulate him, but nobody approached Timmy. He began to sob. The whole reason he changed school was to get away from the abuse, yet it seemed the bullying was only getting worse. It was times like this that showed that the fame of Akiza Izinski to have done nothing to lessen the plight of psychic duellists.
Maybe they were right though? He pondered on his life up to this point. What did he achieve? The chain of events rushed through his head like an express train, each chapter of his life like another carriage. The train didn't stop and with the final carriage came the realization that Ned was fast approaching. Timmy got up and ran towards the road.
"Come back here I'm not done yet!" shouted Ned.
He made it to the café and turned to gaze at Ned. As he turned his head to face the road again he tripped and fell. When he tried to get up he felt a sharp object rip through his body, forcing its way into the side of his stomach. A river of blood poured out of his body and onto the tarmac. The flow of liquid was immense, and the spill seemingly never ending. As Ned removed the knife the bleeding only got worse, and any glimmer of hope Timmy held for a better for a better life dissipated, along with the increasing amounts of blood that formed the various tributaries of the baleful discharge.
Ned looked at the stained ground and pressed his foot on Timmy's back. This further increased the channel of blood. Some of it stained his shirt, but much of it meandered around his other foot and the various irregularities in the pavement. Some of the crowd began to disperse, whilst others watched as Ned slipped the crying knife back into his trousers. Timmy, unable to move, stayed firmly on the ground, the ground unable to move whilst Ned pressed harder on his body with his foot.
Yuri continued to squirm, causing the blood to come out faster. It was only when Ned turned and saw a swarm of bees come out from a nearby tree, the one Yuri and Fuchsia were sitting under earlier, that he removed his foot. As soon as he set eyes on the bees he turned around and ran. The bees were like a large vehicle, honking its horn and hurtling towards him at speed, and he was akin to the small animal in the road about to be wounded. Nobody seemed sure if he'd be able to get away in time, but as he turned the corner onto the main road, the bees were still some distance behind him.
As Fuchsia ran towards Yuri some of the crowd began to disperse. Those that remained started to direct their chants towards her instead of Yuri, shouting the word "Witch". She began to cry too, and many of her tears fused with Yuri's blood to create a watery mess that moved faster along the pavement than his blood on its own. Though they only got to know each other a few days ago there already seemed to be a deep connection between them both, which was strange, and was evident by the way they looked at each other. The sight of such large amounts of blood erupting from his body was a unifying force. The bloody chaos on the ground was symbolic - a symbol of the struggle against the discrimination of psychic duellists. He was not the first, and surely not the last, to endure such pain.
How many more attacks would it take for people to see that psychic duellists were often the victims and not the perpetrators? Ever since psychic powers were first documented, people like Ned have been a thorn in the side of people like Akiza Izinski, who ironically didn't used to have any thorns despite being dubbed 'the Black Rose'. Jealousy used to be the main driving force behind attacks, and still is in some cases, but more recently revenge and suspicion have become major contributors to the violent attacks against people like Yuri.
The remainder of the crowd stood firm and continued their chants, and none of the onlookers appeared to show any sympathy towards Yuri or Fuchsia. Nobody approached them and when Fuchsia raised her hand some edged away from them. Many were like beachgoers who had just seen a shark. In reality there was nothing for them to worry about because sharks are generally peaceful creatures with a bad image, but preconceptions took over.
The shark, when feeling threated, behaved a lot like the average psychic duellist. Only when enraged would it resort to deadly tactics and mass media often distorted to sell a story. The day's events inevitably turned into quick buck at the expense of the victims - a sensationalist half-truth to appear in the local, and perhaps national, news. Today Yuri was clearly the victim, but tomorrow Ned might be seem as another victim of the Arcadia Movement's wraith.
The problem wasn't going to be solved overnight, and it seemed the people in control didn't want the problem to be solved. Psychic duellists – scapegoats designed to divert attention from the real issues. A story about how a psychic duellist saved girl from being run over by a car? No that would never sell, it would be judged to be profane, and destructive flames like Ned would be continue to be given the oxygen they needed to burn healthily. A lie passed down eventually is assumed to be the truth. Those words resonated with the psychic community.
Life could be very cruel and Yuri's wound was testament to that. It was as if the toss of a coin could determine the outcome of one's life. On one side of the coin lived all of the successful people, the ones that fit in, the ones that have the ability to do well – the lucky. And on the other side lived those who are the not so fortunate, the hungry, the homeless, those rejected – the unlucky. The analogy, although simplistic and pessimistic, held true is for so many people.
One's life, greatly affected by choice and chance, could never be perfect yet for some the lives of others appeared to be perfect. What if Yuri never moved school in the first place? Would he be in such a mess? There were people similar to Ned there too, but not with a story like his. They were just people who were washed up on some fantasy island by the media storm surrounding people like Yuri.
Ned was different. He wasn't another random person from the streets who jumped on the bandwagon. He held a personal grudge and was surely greatly influence by his father, who no doubt twisted the story of his brother, Ned's deceased uncle, in places, just like the media. Ned didn't appear to want to question the authenticity of the account as he was bent on revenge. He wasn't an innocent looking child who was yet to make up their mind about the world around them. He was at the age when his views on the world were quickly cementing themselves in his ego.
The teenage years are life's great crossroads, at which one decides which path they want to take. At this crucial intersection some people choose a wrong path, and as some people will tell you, it can be very hard to rectify a wrong turn. Turning back and heading out on a different route is easier said than done. Ned it seemed was already some way down his chosen path and it would be hard for him to find his way to a different path, preferably the straight and narrow path for a change, and not one with lots of twists and turns. Of course, no path was completely straight, and if a path was too narrow there wasn't any room for manoeuvre.
Most people kept to generally straight paths, and only the paths of a select few people ever experienced any drastic turns. Those chanting could well be well-meaning people most of the time, but they saw the duel unfold and got excited. It was like when somebody jumps in half way through a conversation, without considering context, or in other words, the full story. Despite this, they didn't care one bit when Ned thrust his knife into Yuri's side.
They weren't exactly robots, because they showed emotion, but slaves to the tabloid media, with all its fairy tales. Some people are slaves to religion, conducting their duties to exacting standards and often infringing upon the rights of others in the process, with their dress codes and violent actions, others slaves to fashion trends, and others still allowing themselves to be transported to an alternate reality, away from reality, by certain elements in the media.
Reality - a strange word, especially when combined with the word 'alternate'. What is true reality? What is really normal? The events that unfolded in front of the crowd of were certainly out of the ordinary, though to them Ned's actions seemed like perfectly acceptable behaviour, whilst to others their actions would be seen as sickening. Were Yuri and Fuchsia normal?
They were essentially the same as the members of the crowd but at the same time very different. Words such as 'reality' and 'normal' mean different things to different people and are hard to define concisely. Each person has their own interpretations of the words yet society is generally the trend setter.
If it wasn't for stigma attached "abnormal" people like Fuchsia and Yuri then the members of the crowd might have tried to stop Ned before his knife sucked out any remaining hopes from within Yuri. The crowd remained stationary and frozen in emotion, much to the displeasure of Fuchsia. She looked up at the looming crowd and then back at Yuri.
"Go away," Fuchsia cried as she removed the duel disk from his arm.
Yuri turned his head to look towards her. She clasped his hand and he smiled in response. She paused for a moment, and then took out her mobile phone from her handbag. Her hand was shaking violently so it took her a few tries to dial the number she wanted. She called for an ambulance and much to her surprise there was already one in the vicinity. However, after she put the phone down, she became lost in thought. Her sense of optimism was very short lived, as she then began to wonder how the paramedics might react. What if they behaved in the same way as the crowd?
Much more of the crowd was now beginning to disperse, seeing as the action was now over, though some still remained, and others joined, watching in silence as the two shed more tears. Eventually the ambulance arrived, and when it did a few people in the crowd started to chant again. Unswayed by the monstrous shouts, the paramedics quietly went about their job and loaded Yuri into the van.
They didn't say a word; though it was clear the angry yells were having an effect on them. From the way they looked at him it was like helping him was almost a chore. Of course they needed to act, otherwise they might be seen as just as much guilty as Ned. Not that many people outside of the Arcadia Movement actually stood up for the interests of psychic duellists, so it was highly unlikely that anything would be done to punish those responsible Yuri's for death anyway.
If not for his powers, he could be just another anonymous soul. A drop of water, just like any other, that made its way along the bottom of valleys (canyons) - the streets of the city - channels that passed between the many tall sky-rises, each with a myriad of tributaries. But, for some reason, he developed these powers. And from that day forth his life was a misery. He was like some vile sludge that was destined to sit on top of the water, because of its chemical properties, trying desperately to mix with the water, but never being able to. Whenever he tried to blend in with the people around him – the flowing water – like the sludge, he would always be thrown back up to the surface and exposed.
Once the ambulance doors closed one of the paramedics made their way to the front of the vehicle. The other sat on a chair – next to Fuchsia who was holding Yuri's backpack. As the ambulance began its inevitable journey to the hospital, the paramedic got to work on attempting to stop the blood flowing out from his body. The paramedic shook their head.
"He's going to need an operation," he said, looking first at Fuchsia and then to Yuri.
"He will be alright - won't he?" inquired Fuchsia.
She tried to mask the hesitation in her voice but nearly stumbled towards the end of her sentence. The fear in her voice was evident, and yet the paramedic remained emotionless. Perhaps he was trying to hide his disgust, but his reaction to the people in the park told a different story. He wasn't feeling at all sorry for Yuri. His gaping wound did nothing to sway his feelings. If anything, the sight of such a wound was making him slightly pleased because of the knowledge that he was one of them. In reality he didn't have to help, because nobody would really care if he didn't, but his conscience must have got the better of him, despite any personal sentiments he appeared to hold.
"I suppose he'll be alright," was the response he gave after a long pause.
His speech sounded forced, like he didn't want to talk. Hearing the response Fuchsia simply smiled and didn't reply back. The rest of the journey was spent in silence, and when they eventually reached the hospital, the two paramedics unloaded the stretcher without saying a word. Afterwards they moved him onto a hospital bed and left him to lie in the corridor.
"Nobody likes me," whimpered Yuri.
"I like you," replied Fuchsia.
"Really? How do I know?"
"Well..."
She bent over and pecked him on the tip his nose. Suddenly his sadness was overwhelmed by a feeling of embarrassment. He still managed to shed another tear, but it fell down a bright red cheek, unlike the others which tended to blend in with the extremely pale face from before.
"What was that?" he asked.
"You mean you've forgotten already? We were discussing this earlier. It's a kiss. It means I like you. I don't give out kisses to everyone, just special people."
"Are you sure? I'm not special."
"You're a really nice person - not many people like you - of course you're special."
"Oh...uh...I need to phone my dad. He wanted me to be back soon.""
"You can't go home like this. Don't worry I'll to ring him. I'll explain everything for you and then you can talk to him."
"Oh."
"I'll ring him now, ok?"
"Ok."
As soon as she removed her phone from her handbag they were approached by two doctors. They stared at them for a second and then one of them got behind Yuri's bed. He was staring back at them intently, studying them for any signs they felt sorry for him. The other doctor sighed and then shifted her gaze from Yuri towards Fuchsia.
"I don't think the operation should take long," she said, "An hour or so. He will be alright. He just needs a few days to rest."
"Thank you."