Chapter 12: Dead Chase! Weave The Bonds, Turbo Warrior And Ninjini!
Yusei and Sakura are racing down a hallway somewhere in the Neo Domino City security vault. Grim is still lying down on the built-in platform, safely secured to both the platform and the D-Wheel.
Ushio is right behind them. "I see. That is another way to surrender." Ushio says.
"Duck!" Says Saiga, via-radio. "Hah!" Yusei says.
He and Sakura both duck.
"Huh?" Asks Ushio.
Suddenly, the elevator door explodes, just short of Yusei and Sakura's front wheels, they drive into the cloud of debris.
Ushio gasps and probably inhales as much smoke from the blast as humanly possible.
Yusei and Sakura emerge from the cloud of smoke into a vertical elevator shaft, in free-fall, but for the ends of the D-Wheels scraping along the wall.
Ushio follows right on top of them, literally. "Hahaha! Don't think this is enough to escape! I'll chase you to the depths of hell! Ha!" Ushio says.
"I draw." Says Sakura. She draws the trap 'Confusion Chaff'. "And now, Ninjini. Shall we teach Ushio his place. Wishblades!" Sakura says.
Ninjini slashes at Ushio with her dual katanas and his life points decrease to 3600.
"I set one card. I end my turn." Says Sakura.
"I draw!" Ushio says.
All three duelists' speed counters go up to 5.
"Don't let your guard down! It's still the middle of a duel! From my hand, I activate the Speed Spell 'Rapid Shotwing'! One of the monsters on my field gains one-hundred attack points this turn for every Speed Counter!" Says Ushio.
Search Striker's new attack point total is 2100.
Yusei gasps.
"The total combined attack points of my two monsters is three-thousand five-hundred! That's enough to finish off your life! But before I take you out, I think I'll turn my sights on this one! Search Striker attacks you directly! Cleaver Strike!" Ushio says.
Sakura nearly loses her grip and ends up trailing above her falling D-Wheel, gripping it by one handlebar. Grim looks up at Sakura and barks. Sakura's life points are reduced to 1900, while her speed counters drop to 3.
"Sakura!" Says Yusei.
"Haha! And with this, it'll all be over! Pursuit Chaser attacks you again directly!" Ushio says. Sakura pulls herself closer to her D-Wheel, frantically, and reaches down with her other hand to press one of the set activation buttons on the duel disk, revealing that the tips of her nails are slightly long and a bit sharp looking. She also apparently grabs on with this hand and gets back on the D-Wheel. "I flip over my set card. 'Confusion Chaff'." Says Sakura.
It sends Pursuit Chaser spinning upward. "What?" Ushio asks.
"I can activate 'Confusion Chaff' when you attack me directly for the second time. The attack is negated, and that monster battles against the monster that attacked me directly the first time." Says Sakura.
"What?" Ushio asks.
His monsters fight and Search Striker gets destroyed.
"Damn! I set one card and end my turn." Says Ushio. His life points sink down to 2900.
"Lift up your D-Wheel!" Saiga says, via-radio. "Hm?" Asks Sakura. "Lift it! Hurry!" Saiga says, via-radio. "Grim, get your head down." Says Sakura. Grim complies and lies his head back down on the platform, covering his face with his paws.
Yusei and Sakura tilt their D-Wheel's nose-upward to take the impact on the back wheel, they land, yelling a bit and put the noses down to hit the ground running and get out of the elevator.
Ushio lands and ends up stuck in the shaft when the doors close.
"Alright, it is safe to bring your head up now, Grim." Sakura says. Grim stops covering his face with his paws and lifts up his head.
Ushio bursts through the elevator doors one floor up and races after Yusei and Sakura on a balcony above. "I won't let you get away!" Says Ushio, yelling. He darts ahead, then bursts through the railing to land right next to Yusei. Ushio rams Yusei from the side. "You garbage! Did you really think you could escape?" Ushio asks.
He suddenly gets a boot to his face. Saiga's riding between them and pushes Ushio out of Yusei's space, then apparently kicks him over. Ushio disappears behind.
"Saiga. Why are you here?" Asks Yusei.
"I just wanted to see what would happen to the guy who kept babbling on about the bonds of friendship. I don't have those sentimental feelings about friendship. Since I did you this favor, you'll have to repay me in cash." Saiga says, wavering.
"What happened?" Asks Yusei.
Saiga looks at the road, the background around his wheel changes as a flashback begins. Flashback. A sunny day and a cheering crowd.
Saiga and Yuji are in the middle of a duel, riding a green D-Wheel, with yellow racing stripes, the same one Saiga rides now. "Our turn! We draw! We summon Machina Sniper!" Saiga says.
The monster, from the ruined card under Saiga's picture frame at home, appears.
"It attacks you directly!" Says Saiga.
Machina Sniper blasts the enemy monster to pieces.
They win and raise a huge trophy together, possibly the one in the picture. Saiga's actually smiling. "He's my best friend! I actually believed that back then. No, that's what I presumed." Saiga says, in voice-over.
Fade to black. Into a shadowy hallway lit only by natural light from a door at the end, in which two men stand talking. "But at the same time, I was about to sever my ties with Yuji, even though I called him my friend. I was going to become single so that I could head to the big leagues." Says Saiga, in voice-over.
Back to a bright day, a cheering crowd and a dueling track.
"Here we go! We summon Machina Sniper!" Yuji says. "Yuji, what are you doing? That's the wrong monster!" Says Saiga. "But, this is our favorite monster. We always use it for the final attack." Yuji says. "Think harder! Do you think that strategy is going to work forever? We end our turn!" Says Saiga. He doesn't notice just how hurt Yuji is. "Saiga…" Yuji says.
Machina Sniper gets destroyed.
"I told you so! This happened because you selfishly summoned it!" Says Saiga. "No, due to the effect from the graveyard, it will…" Yuji says. "Stop messing around! Stop holding me back!" Says Saiga. Yuji looks ahead. "Huh?" Yuji asks. "Ah!" Says Saiga.
Their opponents' D-Wheel is apparently spinning out. A piece of it flies off and hits the connector cables on their D-Wheel.
They lose control, jump the edge of the track and suddenly this seems familiar. "Aaaaaaaa-ugh!" Saiga screams and then lands. The cables fray apart and separate. "Saiga!" Yuji says. "Yuji!" Says Saiga. He veers off and flies free of the D-Wheel, leaving Yuji to stare, in shock.
"Yuji… Yuji! Yuji!" Saiga says. The flashback ends.
Back to the present. "I already told you. The more a person talks about his friends, the more he's only thinking about himself. You use and hurt them. And at the final moment, you betray them easily. The betrayed probably can't stand it. He lived, but he had to retire. He continues to live to this day hating me." Says Saiga.
"Did your partner say that to you?" Yusei asks.
"Tch! He doesn't need to. I know." Says Saiga.
"It is true that the word 'friend' may be an illusion. However, as long as the bond remains, it is real." Sakura says.
"Huh?" Asks Saiga.
"That's why I came to retrieve that bond." Yusei says.
"Stop!" Says Ushio.
"Huh?!" Saiga asks.
"It's not over between us yet! Heheheheh! Now, it's your turn!" Says Ushio.
"Here I go." Yusei thinks to himself. He reaches for his deck. "My turn." Yusei says. On his screen, his speed counters are at 6 and his speedometer is at 164 km/h and fluctuating. "'Discord Counter's' effect has already worn off. From my hand, I summon Speed Warrior." Says Yusei.
Speed Warrior has 900 attack points and is a Level 2 monster.
"On the turn Speed Warrior is summoned, its attack points are doubled." Yusei says.
"Ha! Your strategies are obvious. I activate my trap card 'Power Bind'! I can activate this card when the opponent summons a monster. That monster cannot attack this turn, and its attack points become zero until your next Standby Phase! Hahahahahahaha! Too bad! If its attack points doubled, it would have been able to destroy Search Striker!" Says Ushio.
"What are you going to do?" Saiga asks.
"From my hand, I activate the Speed Spell 'Reactor Pod'." Says Yusei.
"What? Rrgh!" Ushio asks.
"I can activate this card when I have four or more Speed Counters. I select one monster on my field with one-thousand-or-fewer attack points. The opponent takes damage equal to that monster's original attack points. You take damage equal to Speed Warrior's nine-hundred attack points!" Says Yusei.
His speed spell blasts Ushio, his life points are now 2000. "Rrrrgh! How dare you do that when you're just garbage!" Ushio says.
"I set one card and end my turn." Says Yusei.
"Now, it is my turn." Sakura says. She reaches for her deck. "From my hand, I summon Warnado." Says Sakura.
Warnado has 1800 attack points and is a Level 2 monster. "On the turn Warnado is summoned, its attack points are doubled. However, I think I shall spare you this turn. I set one card and end my turn." Sakura says.
"Damn! I draw!" Says Ushio.
All three sets of speed counters rise by one, Sakura's at 5, Yusei's at 6 and Ushio's at 7.
"I'll crush that zero-attack-point piece of trash! Search Striker attacks Speed Warrior!" Ushio says.
"I activate my trap! 'Scrap-Iron Scarecrow'! With this card, your monster's attack is negated once per turn. Afterwards, it's set again on the field." Says Yusei.
"Then I activate the Continuous Trap 'Final Countdown'! With this card, during the Main Phase of my turn, I can deal damage by sending my set cards to the graveyard. Two cards deal five-hundred points of damage, three cards deal one-thousand five-hundred and four cards deal three-thousand points. You have three-thousand five-hundred life points! In other words, if I set two more cards and send them to the graveyard, you're close to done! Here I go. I set the first card! I end my turn." Ushio says.
"Just like the card says, it's a countdown to your life points becoming zero. On the next turn, you'll definitely be on the losing end!" Says Saiga.
"My turn." Yusei says. He draws. "I switch Speed Warrior to defense position." Says Yusei.
Speed Warrior has 400 defense points.
"Then, I summon Healing Wave Generator in defense position. Starlight Wave." Yusei says.
Healing Wave Generator has 1600 defense points and is a Level 4 monster.
"Once a turn, I select a monster other than this one, and I gain one-hundred life points per Level. I select Level two Speed Warrior, so I gain two-hundred life points." Says Yusei. His life points rise up to 3700.
"Rrrgh. You punk." Ushio says.
"Now the number of cards he needs to set using 'Final Countdown's effect is three cards. You'll survive for two extra turns." Says Saiga.
"I set two cards and end my turn." Yusei says.
"Alright then, my turn." Says Sakura. She draws. "I shall switch Warnado to defense position." Sakura says.
Warnado has 800 defense points.
"Then, I summon Chill in attack position." Says Sakura.
Chill has 1600 attack points is a Level 4 monster.
"With her out on the field, she can automatically slip in and attack you directly. Ice Javelin!" Sakura says.
The attack is dead on and Ushio's life points go down to 400.
"And with that, I switch Chill to defense position." Says Sakura.
Chill has 1900 defense points.
"On the turn that I summon Chill, I am allowed to send her to attack my opponent directly and then once the attack has been executed, I can switch her to defense position and I receive the life points that you lost due to her attack." Sakura says. Her life points rise up to 3500.
"What?" Asks Ushio.
"I set two cards and end my turn." Sakura says.
"My turn." Says Ushio.
Speed counters, his 9, Yusei 7 and Sakura 7.
"I summon the Tuner Monster Torapart!" Ushio says.
Torapart has 600 attack points and is a Level 2 monster.
"Level two Torapart tunes Level four Search Striker! I feel the electricity. Synchro Summon! Come, Goyo Guardian!" Says Ushio.
Goyo Guardian has 2800 attack points and is a Level 6 monster.
"Goyo Guardian attacks Healing Wave Generator! Goyo Lariat!" Ushio says.
"I activate my trap. 'Scrap-Iron Scarecrow'. Huh?" Asks Yusei.
"I won't let you. Due to Torapart's monster effect, since it was sent to the graveyard due to a Synchro Summon, you can't activate trap cards! Now, Goyo Guardian's monster effect activates! When your monster is destroyed, I can negate its destruction and gain control of that monster! Welcome, Healing Wave Generator. I'm going to use your life restoration effect. Starlight Wave. I'm being resurrected! Look! I gain six-hundred life points, so I'm now at one-thousand life points!" Ushio says. He raises both arms to welcome his new life points. Ushio is up to 1000 now. "Heha! And with 'Final Countdown', I set the second card!" Says Ushio.
"What are you going to do? If you don't win on the next turn, he'll set the third card, and you'll lose! Don't you know that?" Saiga asks.
"All I need to do is believe in my bond with my friends." Says Yusei.
Saiga stares at him, stunned. "Stop saying such stupid things! If you're definitely going to lose the duel, then you have to think about an alternate plan!" Saiga says.
"Stop saying that the bond with my friends is stupid. Similar to me, you're taking good care of that card." Says Yusei.
Flashback to the burned and ripped card, and Saiga standing in the corner looking at it. The flashback ends.
Back to the present. "That thing symbolizes that Yuji hasn't forgiven me!" Saiga says.
"Your wrong." Says Sakura.
"Huh?" Saiga asks.
"During the accident, your partner rescued that card from the flames." Says Sakura.
Flashback. The backside of the card, which appears to be glued back together, carefully. "I can tell from the marks that it was repaired." Sakura says, in voice-over.
Change flashback. Yuji got himself free of the sidecar before the explosion ensued. "No!" Says Yuji. He walks through the smoke and flames. "Stop! Don't burn!" Yuji says. He kneels down, tossing debris and wreck of the sidecar. "It's my precious card! It's our precious card!" Says Yuji. He's able to find the card and grabs it just as the explosion happens. Yuji's lying on the ground amidst roiling smoke and embers, one outstretched arm holding the damaged card away from the fire. "Your partner has forgiven you. Actually, he probably didn't even think about that. He was only thinking about one thing. He wanted to protect the bond he had with you." Sakura says, in voice-over. The flashback ends.
Back to the present. "Because he didn't want to sever that bond. Because he cared about the bond he had with you." Says Sakura.
Saiga looks down at his D-Wheel.
"As long as there is a bond, you are friends forever." Sakura says.
"Just like I have my friends." Says Yusei. He puts a hand on his deck, ready to draw. "That's why I fight for my bond." Yusei says.
"There is one other thing, as well." Says Sakura.
"Huh?" Saiga asks.
"You saved me." Says Sakura.
Flashback. Sakura is two years younger. Sakura's sort of pulling herself along and using Grim, who's crawling low to the ground, for some form of support, being how injured she was. She then pulls herself up to her feet, using Grim, who stands up, to help support herself, but she's staggering at keeping herself up. With barely any strength to keep herself up, even with the aid of Grim, Sakura leans against a wall and slides down to the ground. The red mark on her face is present at this point in time. She has deep lacerations up and down her body, most of which seem to have tendons and other ligaments seeping from the open wounds, most notably her legs, which also have some bones protruding through the skin, her arms aren't any better, but unlike her legs, no bones seem to be jutting out of the skin. Grim sits and then lies down, placing his front paws and his head on Sakura's lap, he's not going anywhere.
But just as she was about to give up all hope, Grim suddenly lifts up his head, growling at somebody, and then Sakura feels a hand on her shoulder. Sakura could only get enough strength to keep her eyes open for a few minutes. When her vision came through, it was a younger Saiga, but not as young as the photo. Sakura couldn't keep her eyes open any longer.
The flashback then takes place to the following morning. When Sakura's vision is clear, Grim's leaning on the side of her hospital bed, his front paws lying on the bed, and Saiga had seemed surprised that she had woken up.
The flashback soon goes to a few weeks later. Sakura had settled in with Saiga. Grim's standing next to Sakura. "Look, you can stay here as long as you need. The dog's goin' to take a bit to get used to, but I can manage. Anything I have is yours." Saiga says. "Thank you, Saiga." Says Sakura. "Okay, you know my name. So, what's yours?" Saiga asks. "I can't remember anything. However, the doctors did some DNA testing and they found a match in their database. So, from what they found, my name is Sakura Kuraitaiyoh. I don't know why, but that name actually sounds right." The flashback ends.
Back to the present. "Of course, I don't exactly recall what happened to me. Or how I ended up in that alleyway. Regardless, you saved me that night. So, that would make us friends, as well." Says Sakura. Grim barks, as if in agreement.
"Considering you saved her. I'm in your debt. And more importantly, I offer you my friendship." Yusei says.
Saiga lifts his head to stare.
Yusei draws his card. "My turn. I summon Turbo Synchron." Says Yusei.
Turbo Synchron has 100 attack points and is a Level 1 monster.
"When a Tuner Monster is on my field, I can Special Summon Quillbolt Hedgehog from my graveyard due to its monster effect." Yusei says.
Quillbolt Hedgehog has 800 attack points.
"Turbo Synchron attacks Healing Wave Generator!" Says Yusei.
"What?! Turbo Synchron's attack points are less than Healing Wave Genarator's defense points! Have you lost your mind?" Ushio asks.
Turbo Synchron attacks and is rebuffed.
Yusei is down to 2200 life points.
"You fool. Are you committing suicide? You only have two-thousand two-hundred life points left!" Says Ushio.
"At this moment, Turbo Synchron's monster effect activates. When this monster attacks, I can Special Summon one monster from my hand whose attack points are equal or fewer than the damage I took. Appear, Sonic Chick!" Yusei says.
Sonic Chick has 300 attack points and is a Level 1 monster.
"I flip over the trap card 'Urgent Tuning'. With this card, I release one Tuner Monster and one or more other monsters on my field to Special Summon one Synchro Monster that fulfills the requirements." Says Yusei.
"He has a Tuner Monster and three other monsters on his field. It can't be… A Synchro Summon with four monsters?" Saiga asks.
"What?" Asks Ushio.
"Here I go. Turbo Synchron tunes Quillbolt Hedgehog, Speed Warrior and Sonic Chick!" Yusei says.
One by one, his monsters deconstruct into glowing golden outlines, then into stars. The stars soar into the sky and group together, then a ring aligns around them. A beam of light shoots straight through the ring and stars, parallel to Yusei and his D-Wheel...
"The bond comes together to call forth a new power. Become the path that lights the way! Synchro Summon! Come, Turbo Warrior!" Says Yusei.
Turbo Warrior has 2500 attack points and is a Level 6 monster.
"This is…" Saiga says.
"Turbo Warrior attacks Goyo Guardian." Says Yusei.
"Huhuhuhuhuhuh! You fool. Have you lost your mind? Goyo Guardian has two-thousand eight-hundred attack points! They're more than yours!" Ushio says.
"However, Goyo Guardian is Level six. Due to Turbo Warrior's monster effect, the attack points of Level six-or-higher monsters are halved!" Says Yusei.
"What?!" Ushio asks.
"High Rate Power!" Says Yusei.
Turbo Warrior blasts Goyo Guardian, who resists the attack and keeps hanging on, even as its attack points are reduced to 1400.
"Even it it's destroyed in battle, I still have life points remaining. On my next turn, the countdown will lead you closer to zero!" Ushio says.
Yusei has a small smile. "Hm. I activate my trap 'Synchro Strike'. For every monster that was used to Synchro Summon this turn, the Synchro Monster gains five-hundred attack points." Says Yusei. "What?" Ushio asks.
"Four monsters were used to summon the monster. Therefore, it has four-thousand five-hundred attack points." Says Yusei.
Indeed, Turbo Warrior's attack points now read 4500.
"Ugh! That's crazy!" Ushio says.
"Yusei!" Says Saiga.
"Ah!" Yusei says, yelling.
Ushio rams him from the side. "I'm not allowed to lose against a piece of garbage from Satellite!" Says Ushio.
Saiga rides up and gets between them. "Yusei!" Saiga says.
"Ah! You're…? Stop interfering!" Says Ushio. He tries to break through, but Saiga is between him and Yusei, solidly, and might have just tangled his D-Wheel onto his. "Hurry!" Saiga says.
"Saiga…" Says Yusei.
"Deal the final blow for your friends!" Saiga says.
"Saiga…" Says Sakura.
"Ugh! Connect the bond!" Saiga says.
Yusei and Sakura nod and both go into a sideways skid.
"Go, Turbo Warrior. Attack Goyo Guardian." Says Yusei.
Turbo Warrior soars into the air above Goyo Guardian, who swings his bladed chain and gets ready to fight back. Goyo's chain gets deflected by Turbo Warrior's metallic claw, which then begins to heat up as Turbo Warrior dives toward it.
"Break through! Accel Slash!" Yusei says.
The impact is as though that one claw were as big as Turbo's whole body. Goyo Guardian shatters.
Ushio looks up at the completed battle, despairing.
"Ninjini, finish this. Attack Ushio directly. Wishblades!" Says Sakura.
Ninjini turns and soars right at Ushio, striking him with her dual katanas.
"Aaagh!" Ushio screams, his life points sink all the way to 0. His D-Wheel screen shows the word DEFEAT and shuts down. Ushio and his D-Wheel collapse on top of Saiga's D-Wheel. Saiga himself is thrown off and lands next to it.
Yusei and Sakura look back. "Saiga!" Both Yusei and Sakura say.
"Go! Don't worry about me!" Says Saiga.
Yusei and Sakura ride toward freedom and come soaring out into the Neo Domino night, onto a spot surrounded on all sides by Security goons. At least thirty of the guys. Yusei and Sakura land their jump right in front of them and keep riding, looks more like about a hundred of them, all armed with tasers that zap Yusei, who takes Sakura's tasers for her, as they race headlong through the crowd. Somewhere nearby, a little girl, with turquoise pigtails, gasps suddenly. She's sitting at a coffee table with her twin brother, who wears his turquoise hair in a bushy ponytail. "Oh!" "Huh? What's wrong?"
Yusei and Sakura are still flying through the sea of tasers, blindly…
...and somehow she feels that peril. She sits there, trembling, eyes wide and then jumps up, running for the door.
"Luca? Luca!"
Yusei crashes through a wall and into a pile of cardboard boxes, wooden boards and garbage cans, blind with pain. Yusei's now in a neat, clean concrete area, right outside Luca and her brother's apartment.
Sakura is lying on her side, against the wall and appears to be knocked out herself. Grim's lying down right up next to Sakura, his head lying on her.
The twins run out the door and find Yusei, unconscious on the ground and in pain, a mysterious stranger in need. "Luca, who is he?" They seem afraid to approach. Luca then turns to see Sakura, in pain, even if she didn't get zapped herself. Luca seems to recognize Sakura and gasps. "Sakura!" Luca says.
Grim suddenly lifts up his head, looking over at the twins.
Luca runs over to Grim and kneels down before him, as he sits up. "Hi, Grim. Are you okay? Did you get hurt, too?" Asks Luca. Grim just licks her in the face, she then hugs him close to her. "Oh good, you're okay." Luca says. She stops hugging Grim and brings herself closer to Sakura, she soon notices that the sleeve on her left arm is torn and can see blood seeping through. "Sakura, wake up." Says Luca.
"Luca, calm down. She'll be okay. I wonder if this guy might've hurt her."
"No, I don't think so." Luca says. She places her hands and head on Sakura's shoulder, worriedly.