Author's Note: I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed the previous chapter for their kind words. I'm glad it was to everyone's satisfaction. Anyway, get ready. We're about to have a major time skip.
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V.
Chapter 21: Aten of Iliaster
Two years had passed since the resistance had been forced to abandon Castle Arcadia and take refuge in the abandoned mines of Crash Town. During that time, Iliaster had started to spread across the world like a plague; taking over not only what little was left of Japan, but also invading other countries around the world. The conquests had begun almost a month after the resistance had escaped the castle, and had been thanks largely in part to a duelist who made himself known as Aten of Iliaster. Nobody knew just who this mysterious turbo duelist was, as he wore a helmet that completely covered his face. The one thing that people did know about Aten was that he was no droid, but a human who was part of the Iliaster collective.
Of course while Iliaster had managed to take over half the world thanks largely in part to their elite warrior, the resistance had grown as well. Other small resistance groups had formed around the world and had managed to get in contact with the group from Neo Domino. In time, a massive alliance dedicated to overthrowing Iliaster had formed. To that end, some of the resistance groups had sent forth several elite turbo duelists like the world-renowned Team Unicorn to join up with the Japan resistance group and in time retake Neo Domino, thus destroying the fountainhead of Iliaster. Unfortunately that task was proving to be impossible with a soldier like Aten leading Iliaster's forces.
While the goal of retaking Neo Domino seemed far out of reach, the Japan branch of the resistance had at least succeeded in turning the abandoned mines of Crash Town into a technologically sophisticated underground colony that was even greater than the one they originally had in Neo Domino. Saiga and Izzy had even managed to modify the cloaking device they had taken from Castle Arcadia to shield the energy of Rin's Pendulum Summoning method from Iliaster's detection, which allowed her to at least hone her abilities as a duelist. Of course while Rin's skills as a duelist had vastly improved, the last two years had been very hard on her. The only things she had left of Yugo were his deck and his D-Wheel, the latter of which she had since repaired and taken to using herself. The one thing that had kept Rin going during that whole time was the burning desire to go back into Neo Domino and get Yugo back.
It was late in the afternoon as Rin rode Yugo's D-Wheel around one of the base's three practice arenas in a duel against Anastasia. Rin had North Polar Bell and South Polar Bell in her Pendulum Zones, and Winter Bell and Tornado Bell on the field. Tornado Bell had just finished off the only two monsters that Anastasia had previously had out, leaving her open for a direct attack.
"Winter Bell! Attack Anastasia directly and end this duel!" Rin commanded. "Winter's Wrath!"
Winter Bell fired a barrage of icicles down towards Anastasia's D-Wheel that struck its rear wheel and took her life points to zero. With the duel at an end, the cards that Rin had out vanished and the Action Field that had been in play vanished with them, returning the inside of the drab grey indoor track to normal. Yet while the monsters had vanished, the icicles that had struck the rear wheel of Anastasia's ride had not. Six long icicles were sticking out of the rear tire, which had become flat and useless. At that moment, Aki and Matsuri emerged from the stadium's observation room and went over to inspect the damage.
"Holy crap!" Matsuri exclaimed. "The attack of Rin's monster actually caused real ice to form out of thin air. Guess she really does have psychic powers like us."
"And they're getting stronger," Aki added as she turned to look at Rin. "You're going to have to try hard to control these powers, Rin. Against a security droid, such a thing won't matter. But against a living, breathing opponent, your abilities could prove fatal."
Rin let out a sigh as she took off her helmet. "I hear you loud and clear. I still don't know how it is I have these powers, but I'll make sure to be careful with them."
"You know the fact that Rin is a psychic duelist like us is kind of infuriating, since it means that Divine was right about her," Matsuri remarked. "I mean all that stuff he said about aliens is total crap, but still."
"Strange powers or not, Ms. Rin's performance in this latest duel was amazing," a voice interjected.
Walking towards the four was a fairly young man with brown eyes and spiked black hair. He had on a blue and white riding suit with the logo of an orange unicorn head on the left side of his chest. This person was Jean, the strategist of the elite Team Unicorn.
"I hope you ladies don't mind me intruding, but I just had to see this duel after taking a look at Ms. Rin's most recent record," Jean continued. "Currently, her winning percentage puts her as one of the top five duelists at this base. Whether it's because of that unique Pendulum Summoning method of hers or something else, she's become one of the best duelists I've seen in a long time."
"I couldn't agree more," another voice interjected.
Walking up next to Jean was another young man with blue-green eyes, slightly long straight blonde hair, and a chin covered in stubble. The blonde had on the exact same riding suit as Jean. Rin and the others knew this man as Breo, the second member of Team Unicorn.
"You should be proud of yourself, Rin," Breo continued. "You know if you're tired of sparring with these other lovely ladies here, I'd be psyched to duel you."
"And I think I can speak for my entire team when I say we'd be proud to have you fight alongside us against Iliaster," Jean added.
"Thanks," Rin responded. "Um, have either of you see Crow?"
"Last I saw him, he was near the command center talking to Jack and Shinji," Breo answered.
"Thanks," Rin replied as she dismounted her D-Wheel. "I think I need to have a talk with him."
"I think I have a pretty good idea what Rin wants to talk to Crow about," Matsuri remarked with a sigh as Rin walked off. "This'll be like what, the thousandth time?"
"Something like that," Aki answered. "Shall we go with her for support?"
"Might as well. Not that it'll do any good," Matsuri replied. "You just know what Crow's going to say. Still, it'll give me a chance to talk to Shinji. I need him to help me 'adjust my furnace' again."
"Is that so?" Aki responded with a small smirk as they began to walk off with Anastasia, knowing full well what her little code phrase meant. "Seems like Shinji has been helping you with that furnace a lot lately."
"What can I say? He's really good at his job," Matsuri responded.
"Say, Aki. Hold up a minute," Breo spoke, causing the redhead to stop. "You know, I don't have to go back out on patrol tomorrow. If you're free too, what do you say to stopping by my quarters later tonight? I promise I'll show you a good time."
"I'll pass, thanks," Aki replied with a slight look of disgust before leaving with Matsuri.
"That guy does not give up, does he?" Matsuri whispered to Aki.
"No. It's starting to get on my nerves a little," Aki whispered back.
"I hear ya," Matsuri replied. "There's nothing worse than a guy who won't take a hint."
Anastasia hung back and grabbed Breo's right wrist, crushing it in a vice-like grip. "Hit on Mistress Aki again, and I will crush every single bone in your body into a fine powder. Is that clear?"
"Yeah… crystal," Breo answered as the pain in his wrist burned a path through his whole body.
Anastasia released her grip and followed after Aki and Matsuri.
"You really like to live dangerously, you know that?" Jean remarked. "You do know that those ladies could easily kill you with a thought if you crossed any of them, right?"
"I know that," Breo answered as he rubbed his throbbing wrist. "But there are some things in this world that are worth dying for."
Rin, Aki, Matsuri and Anastasia eventually found Crow in the corridor leading to the base's command center, talking over something with Shinji and Jack. Rin headed straight for the three with a determined look on her face, while the other three ladies followed a step behind.
Crow let out a heavy sigh as soon as he saw Rin coming. "Oh great! Here we go again."
"Crow! I need to talk to you," Rin spoke as she came up.
"I already know what you gonna say Rin, and the answer is still no," Crow told her. "Just like it was every other time you've asked me. You can't go into Neo Domino to look for Yugo."
"You two hold that thought," Matsuri interrupted before going up to Shinji and kissing him on the cheek. "Hey babe."
"Uh, hi Matsuri," Shinji replied as his cheeks turned bright red.
"If you've got a few minutes, I could use your help with the furnace in my quarters again," Matsuri told him. "The damn thing just keeps breaking down."
"Um, right now?" Shinji asked.
"Uh-huh. It's really cold in my place right now," Matsuri told him.
"Well… okay. Sure," Shinji finally agreed as a goofy grin came to his face. "Anything I can do to help."
Matsuri took Shinji by the hand and led him off down the corridor. Jack watched the two as they left and rolled his eyes.
"Crow, I know I can get Yugo back!" Rin continued. "I've gotten a lot stronger than I was before."
"Look. First of all, we don't know where in Neo Domino Yugo is," Crow pointed out. "It's a big city. You could spend months searching the place and not find him. Second of all, it would be total suicide for you to go into Neo Domino on your own."
"Not if I'm right about the security droids," Rin told him. "You remember how they seemed to ignore me when Iliaster first took over Neo Domino, right? Well I'm positive that they'd ignore me again. I don't know why, but I think they've been programmed to leave me alone for some reason."
"The way those droids ignored you before could've been just a fluke," Crow pointed out. "And even if it wasn't it's too big of a risk to find out if you're right. Sending you into Neo Domino alone is just too big a risk."
"Then send me along with her," Jack spoke. "I can give Rin the protection you think she needs against those stupid tin cans."
"I can go with Rin too," Aki offered.
"I am willing to go with her as well," Anastasia added. "It's the least I can do since I am partially responsible for Yugo Sakaki being captured in the first place."
"No way! Out of the question," Crow told them. "You three are some of our best fighters. I can't let you risk going on this suicide mission just for the sake of one guy. Look, I care about Yugo a lot, but I have to think of what's good for the whole resistance. We'll get Yugo back when we take down Iliaster once and for all. I'm sorry, but that's the best I can do."
Seeing that she wasn't going to get anywhere with her argument, Rin stormed off down the corridor.
"Coward," Jack called Crow before storming off in the same direction as Rin.
Crow let out another heavy sigh. "I don't have time for this. I've got work to do."
With that, Crow walked off towards the command center. Aki and Anastasia merely looked at one another before heading elsewhere in the base.
As evening fell upon the base, an emergency meeting had suddenly been called in the command center. Crow was present for the meeting of course, as was Carly, who had since become the base's chief communications officer. Ushio, Sid, Saiga and Izzy were also in on the meeting, as were Shinji, Matsuri, Jack, Aki and Anastasia. Jean and Breo were also in attendance, as was another young man with gold eyes and spiked light-brown hair that was styled to look like it had a horn on the front. This young man was the leader of Team Unicorn, Andre.
"Okay, so what's this all about?" Crow asked.
"We got a message from the resistance base in China," Carly reported. "Their patrols found another large group of survivors, but they have no room for them at their location. They were hoping that we could take them in."
"Do we have the room?" Crow asked.
"For a group this size, we've got plenty," Saiga answered. "Luckily these mines go pretty deep. The problem is getting these people here."
"The coordinates for the rendezvous point are pretty far from here across some rough territory," Ushio reported. "Transporting them will require a pretty large convoy."
"And that convoy will need some guards. Great," Crow sarcastically replied. "How bad is Iliaster activity in that area?"
"It's actually pretty light," Sid answered. "But all it would take is for one reconnaissance droid to spot the convoy to bring down half of Iliaster's army on it."
"That problem might be solved," Izzy interjected. "This morning, Saiga and I finished making miniature versions of the cloaking device the base uses. We can put it on the convoy vehicles and make it harder for any droids to spot it. The cloak wouldn't be perfect, but it'd be better than nothing."
"It also wouldn't prevent that warrior, Aten from spotting the convoy," Saiga darkly added. "Unlike the recon droids that see things with sensors, Aten sees things with actual eyes."
"Yeah, but come on man. What're the chances of the convoy running into someone like Aten?" Izzy pointed out.
"It wouldn't be right to ignore all those refugees the Chinese base is sending over to us," Andre interjected. "After all, they're taking an even bigger risk coming all the way here."
"I should point out that the China branch is also sending some supplies with these survivors that we could really use," Carly added.
"What time are these survivors showing up?" Crow asked.
"They should be at the rendezvous point three days from now at about 7:00 AM," Carly answered.
"The trip there would take about a day and a half," Ushio added. "And it'll take just as long to get back. This won't be an easy one."
"Well then, we better get the convoy vehicles ready to meet with them," Crow decided. "Any ideas on an escape plan in the event we do run into a small army of droids?"
"I might have something in mind," Saiga answered.
"Okay then. Sid, you'll help supervise the convoy," Crow decided. "Izzy, you'll come with to provide tech support. As for guards, I think we'll send Jack, Aki, Shinji, Matsuri, and Team Unicorn."
"If I may be so bold, I think your friend Rin should come along to help guard the convoy as well," Jean suggested. "She is after all one of the strongest duelists at this base."
"And she has some pretty strong psychic powers like the lovely Ms. Aki here," Breo added.
"No way. Out of the question," Crow told them. "That would be too big of a risk. For one thing, that Pendulum Summoning method of hers was the reason why Iliaster attacked Castle Arcadia two years ago. The fact that they were drawn to that power probably means Rin's a target for them. If we brought Rin along on that mission, we'd practically be offering her up on a silver platter."
"Crow, we all know where you're coming from, but Rin can take care of herself," Aki told him. "Letting her help with this mission will at least ease her restlessness a bit."
"Rin's abilities as a duelist would be a big help to us on this mission," Jean added. "It would be unwise to keep her locked down here in this base."
"I gotta go with the others on this one, Crow," Ushio agreed. "I've seen some of Rin's recent duels, and she's become kind of a badass."
"My decision on this is final," Crow told them.
"Dammit birdbrain!" Jack cursed. "When the hell are you going to grow a spine? Your fear of taking risks is only going to keep holding us back!"
"Crow, you can't protect Rin forever," Shinji told him. "Having her help with this mission might at least help take her mind off Yugo for a while."
Crow gave a defeated sigh. "Okay, she can help guard the convoy. But I'm going to come with to make sure she's okay. Shinji, you and Matsuri will stay here and help guard the base."
"Not sure if I like being benched, but okay," Shinji replied.
"There's no need to be like that, Shinji," Matsuri told him as she took his hand. "After all, now that we don't have guard duty, our schedule if free for other activities."
"Don't make me turn a hose on you two," Crow told them with a look of disgust. "Ushio, you and Saiga will be in charge of things will I'm gone. Now we don't have much time to get things ready, so let's get moving."
On the morning of departure for the convoy mission, Rin headed out with the others to meet with the passenger ship from China. She found that it was nice to finally get out of base after two years, but the mission of guard duty felt like a waste of time to her. Rin wanted to break away from the group and zoom off to Neo Domino to find Yugo, but she knew that Crow would try to stop her. Plus she had to admit that the task of guarding all those refugees was a bit more important. Rin tried her best to put her desire to rescue Yugo out of her mind and focus on the task at hand.
The convoy met up with the passenger ship on schedule, and once every single refugee was aboard a transport, they began the long trek back to the base. Their path took them across a vast and deserted wasteland that was silent expect for the occasional whoosh of a wind gust. Despite the silence though, every member of the convoy had to remain vigilant. They knew that a patrol of security droids could come upon them at any time. Until they could get back to the base, nobody could breath easy.
After about three and a half hours, the convoy had reached the halfway point of their journey. On their left was a large vast flat-toped hill, and a few feet ahead on their right was a vast canyon that had once been a fissure created by one of the meteor fragments that had decimated Japan back in 2012. As the convoy came neat the canyon, they suddenly heard the sound of an engine coming from the top of the hill. They all came to a halt to listen for if the sound of whatever they were hearing was coming closer. The sound was indeed getting nearer and nearer, and in seconds the convoy members saw a sleek silver D-Wheel zoom down the side of the hill, leaving a heavy cloud of dust in its wake as it came near.
The D-Wheel came to a stop right in front of the convoy, and it was then that the duelists that were on guard were able to get a good look at the rider. The figure was a man clad in a white riding suit with grey boots and gloves. Covering his upper torso he wore shining chrome armor with a large ring-like collar and a circular green gemstone on front. Two more pieces of armor adorned the rider's waist at the sides. His head was completely covered by a silver helmet with a black faceplate. Half of a green visor covered his right eye, while covering his left eye was a dark-grey eyepiece with an infinity symbol on it. Most of the duelists guarding the convoy went pale upon seeing the rider, for the instantly recognized who he was.
"I am Aten of Iliaster," the rider announced in a deep voice that was obviously being electronically distorted by his helmet. "You will surrender yourselves to us peacefully, or we shall be forced to use force to make you submit."
"Holy crap!" Breo exclaimed. "It really is him!"
"Dammit!" Andre cursed. "Of all the rotten luck! What the hell is a soldier like Aten even doing here anyway?"
"It could be that Iliaster somehow picked up the transmission about the passenger ship and sent Aten to intercept us," Jean reasoned. "Of course in the end, why he's here doesn't really matter. Unless we can get past Aten, we're finished."
"So which of us should take him on?" Andre asked.
"I'll do it," Rin offered. "My Pendulum Summoning method might knock him off balance."
"I admire your boldness, Rin. But I'll be the one to face Aten," Jack declared. "No matter who this person is under that mask, in the end he's no different than this pathetic security droids. None of those tin cans have chance against my power."
"Maybe we should all take him on," Aki suggested. "He may not do too well against all of us in a Battle Royale."
"That's not a bad idea," Jean responded. "Of course other groups in the past have tried that same thing against Aten and failed miserably."
Before the debate could get any further, Crow drove towards Aten before anyone could stop him. The redheaded duelist stopped directly in front of Aten's D-Wheel.
"I'm taking you on, Aten!" Crow declared. "This convoy is my responsibility, so I'll take the risk to face you in order to keep it safe!"
"Very well, Crow Hogan," Aten agreed. "Your defeat would greatly weaken the resistance, allowing us to neutralize it that much quicker."
"Hey. How do you know my name?" Crow asked.
Aten said nothing and merely zoomed off towards the canyon.
"I'll handle this! The rest of you just keep going until you get to the base!" Crow ordered before taking off after Aten.
"Rin, let's go after Crow in case he needs help!" Aki decided. "Jack, you and Team Unicorn look after the convoy!"
"Don't order me around!" Jack snapped, but Aki and Rin rode off before they could hear him.
Up ahead, Aten pressed a button on the consul of his D-Wheel. "Action Field on! Crossover Accel!"
In an instant, the color of the wasteland took on a different hue, and an explosion of white light in the sky above spread Action cards over the land as Crow and Aten passed by a large bolder. Aten sped up took a left around the boulder towards the canyon with Crow following close behind. Moments later, Rin and Aki managed to catch up to the two.
"The first turn is ours!" Aten declared. "I set one monster on the field and end my turn!"
A large facedown card materialized next to Aten's silvery D-Wheel. Forming on top of the card was a glowing purple ball with two red eyes cradled in a black cage lined with silver thorns.
Crow drew his first card. "First I set two cards on the field. Then I summon Blackwing – Jetstream the Blue Sky in Attack Mode!"
Materializing near Crow's D-Wheel was a large bird with a light-blue body and blue and black wings. It had a head of long red feathers, with long black feathers covering his its eyes.
"Because I have a Blackwing on the field, I special summon the Tuner monster, Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind!"
Appearing next to Jetstream was a bipedal bird-like creature with a body covered in black feathers. It had wings instead of arms, and around its neck was an arrangement of thick white feathers. Much of its head was green, with the feathers on the sides forming large wings. It had large eyes, and a yellow face that seemed to show neither a nose nor a mouth.
"I tune the level three Gale into the level one Jetstream for a level four Synchro Summon!" Crow announced.
Gale flapped his wings before flashing orange and changing into three green rings of light. The rings encircled Jetstream and transformed the bird into a single white star.
"Flap your jet-black wings, and spread the chill of winter across the land!" Crow chanted. "Synchro Summon! Strike! Assault Blackwing – Naginata the Morning Frost!"
The star flashed and became a twister of freezing wind, subsiding moments later to reveal a bipedal bird covered in black feathers. His face had a large yellow beak, and above his steel-grey eyes was a pair of bushy eyebrows made of light-blue feathers. On his head was a dark-blue samurai helmet with ice-blue trim and gold crest on the front in the shape of a snowflake. Dark-blue samurai armor complete with skirt covered the bird warrior's torso, with the top half of the chest plate covered in a thick layer of frost. With his right wing, the samurai bird carried a long dark-blue pole with a curved silver blade at the top like the head of a spear.
"I don't know what that face-down monster of yours is, but Naginata's 2100 ATK should be enough to finish it off!" Crow declared. "Naginata, attack Aten's monster! Piercing Winter Strike!"
Naginata flew across the field with his weapon pointed at Aten's monster. As the samurai bird came near, Aten's monster took on its true form. The creature was a large silvery mechanical worm with black trim at each end of its body segments. In place of a face, its head had a window in the shape of an infinity symbol that showed a ball of green light inside. Right above the window was a small round red electric eye. Naginata cut the robotic worm down the middle with the blade of his weapon, and both halves exploded with a blast of fire and smoke.
"The monster you attacked was Meklord Sentinel – Virus Worm," Aten announced. "When Virus Worm is flipped face-up, my opponent is forced to send five monsters from their Extra Deck to the Graveyard!"
"Dammit!" Crow cursed as five random monster cards popped out of the Extra Deck slot of his D-Wheel. "That was a cheap shot, and one you're about to pay for! When Naginata destroys a monster, my opponent takes 400 points of damage for each set card on the field! I have two face-down cards out right now, which means you take 800 points of damage!"
Naginata slashed the blade of his weapon through the air and sent a blade of blue energy across the field towards Aten. Up ahead, Aten spotted an Action Card inside a multicolored bubbled on his left and sped up to reach it. Rin couldn't help but find the style with which Aten snagged the card to be familiar.
"I activate the Action Card, Acceleration!" Aten announced. "This card negates the damage from Naginata's effect!"
Right as the energy blade was about to strike its target, Aten's D-Wheel suddenly sped up with a burst of acceleration. The projectile soon lost speed and crashed into the ground. Aten kept going and began to drive close to the edge of the canyon. Crow sped up to follow, but kept to the left a wide distance away from his opponent. Aki and Rin followed after Crow a short distance away. From where the two women were, they could see why Aten was driving so close to the canyon's edge. The whole cliff seemed to be lined with Action Cards.
"Aten is playing a pretty dangerous game," Aki remarked. "A strong enough direct attack from one of Crow's monsters could send him falling into the canyon's edge."
"Aki, there's something very strange about Aten," Rin told her.
"It's probably because he's human and not a droid," Aki assumed.
"No. It's more than that," Rin told her. "It's something about the way he duels."
"Guess I end my turn," Crow announced.
Aten drew his next card. "I activate the Spell card, Imperial Sacrifice! By sending three Meklord Emperors from my hand or deck to the Graveyard, I can add a Meklord Sentinel monster to my hand. I send Meklord Emperors Wisel, Skiel and Granel from my deck to the Graveyard! Next, I now banish Granel, Skiel and Wisel to special summon the strongest monster at our command! Activate, Meklord Sentinel – Prime Matrix Dragon!"
The sky above darkened with clouds, and a portal of green light opened up on the ground on Aten's left. Rising out of the portal were three balls of light, one white, one blue and one yellow. As the portal closed behind them, the balls of light rose high into the air and vanished in the dark clouds. Soon after, an explosion of white light went off in the sky with a deafening clap of thunder. The dark clouds instantly parted, and a new monster descended to the field.
The monster in question was a large mechanical dragon, with a silvery head that had a large gold three-pointed crest with a round green jewel at the center, and visor with a black screen that showed a single red eye that went back and forth. The robot dragon's spherical upper torso was colored gold and had a window on the front in the shape of an infinity symbol that showed a ball of red light on the inside. The lower half of its torso was dark-brown and had three circles on the front that were arranged like a triangle and colored white, blue and yellow. On its back was a large pair of chrome V-shaped wings, and it had a pair of long silver arms that each ended with a set of gold blade-like pincers. The dragon's lower half was a long tail covered with segments of armor that alternated in a pattern of chrome and black.
"Prime Matrix Dragon gains 500 ATK for each Synchro Monster on the field," Aten announced. "Because you control a Synchro Monster, his ATK rises from 3000 to 3500. I activate one of Prime Matrix Dragon's effects! Once per turn, I can equip Prime Matrix Dragon with a Synchro Monster from my opponent's field or Graveyard. From the Graveyard, we equip Prime Matrix with Assault Blackwing – Chidori the Rain Sprinkling!"
A black misty portal suddenly opened up in the ground near a point where Crow's D-Wheel had just past. Prime Matrix Dragon's chest opened up and fired cables of red energy into the portal. The cables pulled Crow's fallen Blackwing monster from the portal and converted it into a red energy that was pulled into Prime Matrix Dragon's chest. Meanwhile, Aten grabbed another Action Card on his right near the canyon's edge.
"Prime Matrix Dragon gains the ATK of each Synchro Monster equipped to it," Aten announced. "Currently, its ATK is now at 6100, more than enough to deplete your life points. We attack Naginata with Prime Matrix! Iliaster Sanction!"
"I activate my Trap! Blackwing Assault Haze!" Crow announced. "If one of my Blackwing monsters is attacked, this card negates it!"
Prime Matrix opened its metal jaws and fired a massive beam of red light down at Crow's monster. Before the attack could reach its target though, a thick cloud of black smoke appeared around Naginata.
"That's not all!" Crow continued. "If the monster being attacked was an Assault Blackwing, my opponent takes damage equal to that monster's DEF!"
The beam attack from Prime Matrix struck the cloud, causing the black fog to disperse. Before the cloud completely broke apart though, Naginata flew out of it and charged across the field towards Aten. The samurai bird slashed Aten across the back, causing his D-Wheel to wobble and his life points to fall to 3000.
"An excellent tactic," Aten praised. "However just as Prime Matrix Dragon attacked, I activated the Action Spell, Brutality, which allows it to attack twice during this turn. Once more, we attack Naginata with Prime Matrix! Iliaster Sanction!"
"In that case, I activate my other Trap! Mocking Blackwing!" Crow announced. "When I have a Blackwing monster on the field, Mocking Blackwing lets me banish another Trap card from my Graveyard and reuse its effect! I use Mocking Blackwing to copy the effect of Assault Blackwing Haze!"
Another cloud of black smoke formed around Naginata just as the beam attack from Prime Matrix was about to hit. The beam struck the cloud, causing it to disperse. But right before the cloud totally broke apart, Naginata leapt out of it and flew towards Aten. As the bird warrior came in striking distance, Aten quickly grabbed another Action Card that he saw coming up on his right.
"I activate the Action Card, Acceleration!" Aten announced. "This card cancels the damage from Blackwing Assault Haze!"
Just as Naginata was about to slash his weapon across Aten's back, the Iliaster duelist's D-Wheel sped up with a burst of acceleration that caused the bird samurai to cut into nothing but thin air.
"It is useless to use the same tactic on us twice," Aten declared. "I shall set one card on the field and end my turn, and with the end of the turn I activate another one of Prime Matrix Dragon's effects. During the end of the turn, I can summon a Synchro Monster equipped to Prime Matrix to my field."
The chest of Prime Matrix Dragon opened up and a ball of red light flew out. The light soon changed into Assault Blackwing – Chidori, but in a different form. Covering the bird warrior's eyes was a chrome visor with a black screen that showed a red eye going back and forth. Covering his chest was a thick piece of chrome armor with a window on the front in the shape of an infinity symbol that showed a ball of green light inside.
"While Prime Matrix Dragon is on the field, all other monsters I control are treated as Machine-Type Meklord monsters," Aten revealed. "Furthermore, because two Synchro monsters are now present on the field, the ATK of Prime Matrix Dragon is now at 4000."
Crow drew his next card. "I summon Blackwing – Bora the Spear in Attack Mode!"
Crow's lance-wielding bird warrior appeared on the field next to Naginata.
"Since Naginata was summoned using Blackwing monsters, he's treated as a Tuner while on the field!" Crow announced. "I tune the level four Naginata into the level four Bora for a level eight Synchro Summon!"
Naginata twirled his weapon above his head a few times before changing into four green rings of light. The rings encircled Bora and transformed him into four white stars.
"The ebony flames become the wings of resolved home that rise from the ashes of despair!" Crow chanted. "Synchro Summon! Soar, Phoenix Black-Winged Dragon!"
The stars flashed and ignited into a horizontal column of black flames that expanded outward and burned away moments later to reveal Crow's bird-headed dragon.
"Now I activate the Spell card, Phoenix Tuning!" Crow announced. "By banishing a Blackwing Tuner and non-Tuner from my Graveyard, I can use them as material for another Synchro Summon! I banish the level three Gale the Whirlwind and the level four Bora the Spear to use them for a level seven Synchro Summon!"
Ghostly images of Gale and Bora appeared in the air above Crow's D-Wheel. Gale's body flashed orange and transformed into three green rings of light. The rings soon encircled the phantom Bora and changed him into four white stars.
"Spread your jet-black wings, and storm forth in tandem with the roaring thunder! Slash apart the lightning!" Crow chanted. "Synchro Summon! Cascade, Assault Blackwing – Raikiri the Rain Shower!"
The stars flashed and became a horizontal column of white light that soon faded to reveal a warrior clad in a purple bird-like costume. On his head was a mask with a long dark-yellow beak and large blue and red eyes. The left side of the warrior's chest was clad in purple armor with a section of light-green trim, while both arms were covered in purple armor. Long curved light-green spikes projected from the armor covering both of the warrior's shoulders as well as his left arm. A large black cloth with white fringe hung from the back of the bird warrior's waist. The warrior's hands and feet were yellow talons, and he had a right leg covered in purple armor. On his back was a large pair of wings, with the left wing covered in purple feathers while the right wing was totally metal and made mostly of long silver blades. In his right hand, the bird warrior carried a long sword.
"Your tactics are counterproductive," Aten remarked. "Because there are now three Synchro Monsters on the field, the ATK of Prime Matrix Dragon is now at 4500."
"That doesn't matter, because I activate another effect of Naginata the Morning Frost that I can only use once per duel!" Crow announced. "By banishing Naginata from the Graveyard, all of my Blackwing and Black-Winged Dragon Synchro Monster can attack directly this turn!"
A ghostly version of Naginata appeared in the sky and twirled his weapon above his head before exploding into blue lights that rained down onto Crow's two monsters. Black-Winged Dragon and Raikiri both began to give off a deep blue aura.
"Crow! Wait a minute!" Aki interrupted as she and Rin drove closer. "Aten may be part of Iliaster, but he's still human! If you attack him directly, you could send him into the canyon!"
"I know, but… if I can take this guy out, we'll have a much better shot at taking down Iliaster," Crow pointed out. "I have to look at the big picture here, Aki. Besides, this guy is playing for keeps. I have no choice but to finish him right here! Raikiri, attack him directly!"
Raikiri flew across the field past Aten's two monsters and struck the top of the Iliaster duelist's helmet with his sword. Aten's life points dropped to a mere 400 and his helmet suddenly shattered apart. The eyepiece that had been over Aten's left eye remained, and it was revealed that it extended to also cover his left ear. The rest Aten's face though had been totally revealed, and Crow and the others could now see that he had a head of blue hair with a large all too familiar yellow swirl at the front. Aten looked at the three with a totally blank expression, and when he did, there was no longer any doubt about who Aten really was. It was Yugo.
"No… no way," a totally stunned Crow spoke. "All this time… the guy who helped Iliaster conquer half the planet… has been Yugo?"
"Yugo!" a horrified Rin called out. "That's… really you, isn't it? Well if it is, you have to stop this right now!"
Aten's expression remained cold. "I am Aten of Iliaster. The one you know as Yugo Sakaki is nothing more than a component in our collective."
"Crow, you can't attack him now!" Aki told him. "A direct attack from your dragon could kill him!"
"It would be far easier if you ended your turn now and surrendered," Aten told Crow. "Once this duel has ended, we shall attack your convoy and add its passengers to our collective, just as we shall do to you. Your lives as you have known them have now come to an end. From this time forward, you will service us."
With so many lives at stake, Crow had no other option left to him but one. "Black-Winged Dragon… attack Aten directly!"
Author's Note: The screen fades to black, and the message "To Be Continued" appears in big blue letters. For those who may not be aware, I basically tried to mirror the end of this chapter to the ending of the classic Star Trek TNG classic, The Best of Both Worlds, Part 1. I even watched that epic again a couple of days ago to get an idea for how to handle Aten/Yugo's dialogue at the end.
So some of you reading may be wondering how I came up with the name for Yugo's dark alter ego. It's actually the name of another sun god that was worshipped in Ancient Egypt during the reign of Pharaoh Akhenaten, father of the pharaoh who would later be known to the world as King Tut. Akhenaten basically tried to abolish the existing mythology of Egypt and force the worship of Aten, the sun disk as the one true religion of the kingdom; banning the worship of all the previously existing gods. Of course after Akhenaten's death, the Egyptians went back to the old system of mythology. At the time, I felt the use of Aten as the name for Yugo's Iliaster persona could sort of symbolize Iliaster trying to impose its own order on the world just as Akhenaten once tried to impose his own religion on his kingdom.
Please review and let me know what you think.