A/N: Yes, it's finally time for Yusei's duel and more of his dark new cards. And more Jack and Crow. Not to mention, almost 60 reviews. Amazing, thanks guys.
"I should go and check on Crow," Jack grumbled. "If he's not well-"
"He'll be fine," Rex replied. "We've got the best people in the city looking after him and they've all been told to be very discreet about him. You know he had to be restrained to keep him in bed."
"I can make it home and back in half an hour," he snapped. "I just want to check on him."
"Jack, please," he said gently. "There are only two more duels today. Can't you sit through that?"
"I want to check on my little brother," he growled.
"Fine, how does this sound? You wait through Yusei's duel and you can go home after that. You'll get to check on Crow and get out before the reporters think to bug you. Do we have a deal?"
"Fine."
Jack growled and looked out the window as the MC worked up the crowd for Yusei's duel. The first riding duel of the tournament. He really didn't care about this duel. Yusei was going to win easily. He was just worried about Crow. He wondered if Rex had actually done something to him. Although, he was interested in seeing what Yusei had to offer in this duel, he was more bothered by Crow's disappearance. It just didn't sit right.
"Now! Here we go!" the MC called. "We finally have our duel! We have Fudo Yusei facing off against Shira!"
Yusei's gleaming red D-Wheel came flying out the smoke and stopped on the start line as a darker D-Wheel came out as well. Jack frowned. He recognised it but he wasn't sure where from.
"This of course is a riding duel so Speed World is set." The purplish tint took the stadium. "So, here we go, let's start the countdown! 3... 2... 1... GO!"
As the pair tore forwards the cap Shira was wearing went flying and Jack realised where he recognised him from. Enjo Mukuro. He sighed. Of course he'd be there to ruin the Fortune Cup. This might prove interesting after all.
"Let them duel," Godwin told the MC over the intercom. "This should prove interesting."
"Yusei's going to tear this apart," Jack warned.
"That should prove entertaining enough," Yeager chuckled.
"It's official! Enjo Mukuro will be duelling Fudo Yusei! Can this unknown duellist win against the former champion who has made it his mission to bring down Jack Atlas? Let's find out!"
Yusei 4000 (SPC 0)
Mukuro 4000 (SPC 0)
"I'll take the first turn, boy," Muruko laughed. "And I think I'll start with my Burning Skull Head in attack position." ATK 1000/DEF 800 "Then I'll set three set face downs. Your move boy."
(SPC +1)
"I summon Dark Skater." ATK 1800/DEF 400 "And he'll destroy your Burning Skill Head."
"And I'll activate Zero Guard. So Burning Skull Head's ATK drops to 0 but it lives to fight another day. And my trap Doom Accelerator means instead of losing any Speed Counters, I gain three."
Yusei 4000 (SPC 1)
Mukuro 2200 (SPC 4)
"I activate Dark Skater's effect," Yusei called. "By halving his ATK permenantly I can remove from play one of your cards next turn. Then, I'll set two card and end my turn."
(SPC +1)
"Not bad, Fudo, not bad at all, but I've heard you've got a good track record for beating champs," Mukuro called back to him.
"I heard you've got a good track record of losing to upstarts," Yusei replied.
"Alright, that's enough of your cheek. I activate the Speed Spell- Summon Speeder to summon Skull Vase." ATK 800/DEF 600. Jack noticed that no one paid attention to the face down Yusei activated. That seemed to be turning into a pattern, he was just too quiet. "Now I'll tribute both my monsters to summon Skull Flame." ATK 2600/DEF 2000 "Due to Skull Vase's effect I can draw a card. Now, Skull Flame will destroy your Dark Skater before he becomes a problem. And then my Speed Booster inflicts damage equal to the difference in our Speed Counters x100."
Yusei 1900 (SPC 1)
Mukuro 2200 (SPC 5)
"Your move boy. Show me what you got."
"Take a look at our Speed Counters."
(SPC +1)
"Wait, why are your Speed Counters the same as mine?" He paused and Yusei smirked. "You activated a trap!"
"Slip Stream," Yusei said.
"Not a problem, I activate Accel Zone to give me a five counter boost," Murkuro sneered.
"Very well then," he whispered.
Are we going to step up now? Nova asked.
Yes, Yusei replied. Let's finish this quickly.
"You see, Yusei, you'll learn it's not about what you do, it's about how fast you can do it," he called.
"I couldn't agree more," Yusei called back. "So, by sending one from my hand back to my deck and one to the Graveyard I can special summon my level 8 Dark-Tuner Salvage Synchron." ATK 400/DEF 100 "And the monster I sent to my Graveyard was Quillbolt Hedgehog, who can be special summoned to the field when I have a Tuner monster as well."
Up in the skybox Rex, Yeager and Jack all looked on eagerly. This new form of Synchro Summon baffled Jack, but he knew it was powerful and he'd only ever seen Yusei use it. If he could figure it out, he'd be on equal footing with him again.
"I was hoping for Stardust," Rex sighed. "I would be good to see such a wonderful monster on the field."
"Yeah, well this thing's not going to be so wonderful," Jack hissed. "It's something strange."
"Now," Yusei said. "I'm going to tune my Level 8 Dark-Tuner Salvage Synchron and Level 2 Quillbolt Hedgehog to Dark Synchro Summon a negative Level 6! Arise Salvage Shooter!"
What appeared from the darkness was a tall sleek machine humanoid, but seemed to have been put together from different pieces, it's body in several different shades and levels of rusting on different panels. Resting in its hands was a sleek black gun looking like a rifle, much like Wreckage Rouge's. ATK 2800/DEF 1200
"What's that thing?" Murukro asked.
"This?" Yusei sneered and a sudden chilled hush fell over the stadium at Yusei's sudden change. "This is like me. He rose from the junk yards and scrap heaps of the Satellite to show that there is nothing and no one that's useless or worthless. He, like all my monsters, is a power that was simply thrown away and forgotten in the pits of darkness and despair. We've risen up together. And now, we'll show you what we're worth. Salvage Shooter, rip up his Skull Flame!"
"Nice try boy but Speed Boost will negate your attacks equal to the difference in our Speed Counters."
"True, but when Salvage Shooter's attack is negated, you take damage equal to half its ATK."
The shot from the rifle hit Mukuro square on the back and Yusei knew without seeing that the remnants of the energy would seep through the metal and into the D-Wheel. It'd soon be nothing more than a pile of twisted scrap.
Yusei 1900 (SPC 6)
Mukuro 800 (SPC 10)
"You've only got one turn left. I'll set one face down and now you can show me what you can do, because if you don't win this turn, it's over."
(SPC +1)
"Well, if you so insist, Yusei," Mukuro laughed. "I'll activate the Speed Spell- End of Storm. To destroy every monster on the field and inflict 300 damage for each."
Yusei 1600 (SPC 7)
Mukuro 500 (SPC 11)
"Then I can remove from play a Skull Flame from my Graveyard to Special Summon Speed King- Skull Flame." ATK 2600/DEF 2000 "And I'll attack you directly with my Speed King."
"I activate Scrap-Iron Scarecrow to negate your attack."
"Then I'll activate Speed King- Skull Flame's effect to take another 400 off you. Then I'll end my turn."
Yusei 1200 (SPC 8)
Mukuro 500 (SPC 12)
"You'll regret that," Yusei said, watching as his opponent's D-Wheel started to splutter and tremble. "I said you had to beat me in that turn and you didn't listen."
"You're forgetting you have no monsters on the field and even if you had, Speed Booster would stop you attacking."
"Really? You remember when I sent a card to the Graveyard to summon Salvage Synchron? Well, the card I sent was Dark-Tuner Rust Synchron. Because he's been in there for two turns, I remove a card in my Graveyard from play so I can Special Summon it and destroy two cards on the field."
A rusty little machine like creature appeared on the field. ATK 200/DEF 0. Yusei smiled as Mukuro began to notice the glitches with his D-Wheel. It wouldn't take long now.
"His effect to remove two cards from the field? I think I'll remove your Speed King and your Speed Booster." The two cards shattered. "Then I'll active my trap Dark Exchange. So I can swap one Dark-Tuner for one of the same level in my deck. She I send Rust Synchron to my deck and in return I get the Dark-Tuner Wreckage Syncrhon." ATK 1300/DEF 500 "So, it's over. Wreckage Synchron, direct attack!"
The little machine swung and came into contact with the back of Mukuro's D-Wheel and that was when the damage hit. Yusei smirked and Mukuro's D-Wheel spun out of control, slamming into the barriers at the side of the track and Mukuro went flying. Yusei knew he probably wasn't badly injured, just a little bruised but it was worth it. He hoped Aki was watching. That was the level of power he wanted when she duelled, enough to hurt and instil fear, without losing herself. At the moment, when Aki tried to keep control and not kill she had to keep herself completely blank. That was boring. He wanted the passion she had when she let go.
"That was fun," Yusei laughed lightly as Mukuro sat up, looking no worse off for his fall. "You're a tough opponent."
"You're a Satellite? Not bad," Mukuro said. "Makes your King slaying record even more impressive."
Hardly, Nova sneered. Let's hope we get a more fun opponent next round.
"Yeah," he said with a smile, ignore the crowd yelling about him being a Satellite. "But where you're from doesn't really matter."
"You're right, you've got talent, kid. I can see I'll be facing you again."
"Sound good, although, maybe you should have you D-Wheel looked at first. That could have been serious."
"My I have your attention," Director Godwin said, suddenly appearing on the screens. "It is true that Fudo Yusei was raised in the Satellite for his younger years, however, he is city born and is my nephew. No more questions will be asked on the matter."
In the skybox Jack laughed as Rex shut off the screen and turned to Yeager, talking about a press confence. Poor Yusei was going to get far too much attention from this.
"So are we putting this under lie, cover up, or partial truth?" he smirked. "Is this just second nature to you now?"
"As much as it is for you," Rex replied.
"What's that supposed to mean?"Jack growled.
"You know very well what I think about you lying to me, Jack," he said calmly. "And you know what the people would think if they knew of your lie. As for your question, your little brother should stay out of the public eye for a little while longer, at least until he's recovered and preferably until the Fortune Cup is over. Weren't you going to check on your brother? Or are you interested in the next duel?"
"Mikage, we're leaving."
"Yes Mr Atlas."
She followed him out to the limo and avoid the reporters who were gathering to listen to what Rex had to explain and no doubt he'd already called Yusei up to just explain what was going to happen next. He didn't care. Yusei had become as much of a liar as Rex recently. Although, he supposed that Yusei could be called Rex's nephew, he'd been raised by Rudger after all.
"I hope that crash was an accident," Mikage said quietly. "I'd hate to think someone had sabotaged the duel."
Jack nodded absently, although he doubted it. He wouldn't say but nothing Yusei did was an accident, especially recently. It was probably the result of his new powers and personality. Jack dismissed the Securities from outside his room and went in to Crow straight away. Crow had his wrists bound and looked a little uncomfortable, but was pretty much asleep, his face flushed as a result of the fever.
"Took you long enough," Crow murmured. "Although I thought it was going t be a while longer."
"I ducked out early to check on you," Jack replied, sitting next to him and untying his wrists. "Not that I wanted to be there anyway. I've seen all the interesting duels."
"You mean Yusei's," he breathed.
"You really are sick aren't you?" He sighed and rested a hand on his forehead. Crow was burning hot and seemed barely able to stay awake. "Rex is waiting for his press conference after today's last duel. Yusei went and ran his mouth about being a Satellite."
"He does that. He's proud of where he comes from."
"What happened to you? Rex said you just collapsed out of nowhere."
"I'm not sure if he was actually trying to kill me or just get me out the picture, but Godwin tried to suffocate me. And then I just woke up here, tied up."
"Wow, this fever's really got you. And why are you in my bed? There's a spare room."
"I woke up here, I'm not moving," he sighed contently. "He knows you know. About us."
"I thought as much, we'll have to be careful, I'm not sure who else knows. You should get some sleep." Crow laughed weakly and buried his face in the pillows as Jack kicked off his boots and sat next to him. "Although I'd like to see his face if it was leaked out about you."
"I suppose so," Crow whispered. "But what would it do to you?"
"I'd recover. Besides, you're a stupid little brother who's a little slow. You're a charity case and everyone will think more of me for looking after my baby brother," Jack laughed.
"I think I was trying to tell you about Yuse's death before I got carted off-"
"Crow, you're delirious with fever-"
"I'm not. They did this to me to make sure you wouldn't believe me," he argued, slowly struggling to get to his knees and look at Jack. "I know what I saw and I know what's happened."
"Crow, lie down."
"No. You can't believe I'm completely delirious. You think I don't know what I..." He fell back and Jack caught his wrists to pull him back up. "Jack."
"Will you stop it," he snapped. "Come on, Crow, lie down and go to sleep. I'll listen to everything you think you saw once you're better and making sense, ok?"
"Alright."
Jack smiled and helped him back down into bed. His breathing was shallow and laboured and it barely took a few seconds for him to drift off, very unusual for Crow.
"Want me to wake you up for the press conference?" he whispered.
"Please," he groaned.