A/N: I OWN NO PART YU GI OH 5DS! ALL RIGHTS GO TO THE CREATORS! THE ONLY THING I OWN ARE MY OCS!
Chapter 21: Truth
It was sundown and Kalin and Jayla were called to face each other. "Kalin, you don't need to punish yourself like this," she told him.
"I have forgotten what it means to be satisfied," he responded. They quickly drew and Kalin got to go first. "I summon Infernity Randomizer (Attack 900/ Defense 0) in attack mode. I then end my turn with one face down."
Jayla drew her card, watching Kalin carefully. "I summon Speed Warrior (Attack 900/ Defense 400) in attack mode. Next I activate Fighting Spirit and equip it to Speed Warrior, increasing its attack by 300 for every monster you control (Speed Warrior: Attack 1200). And now that I am entering my battle phase the turn it was summoned, Speed Warrior's attack increases by its original attack until the end of the battle phase (Speed Warrior: Attack 2100). Speed Warrior, attack Infernity Randomizer!" she ordered. The attack destroyed Kalin's monster and his life points fell to 2800.
"Since an Infernity monster was destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard, I can activate Infernity Reflector! This revives Infernity Randomizer and deals you 1000 points of damage by discarding my entire hand," Kalin fought. His monster was revived while her life points fell to 3000.
'Kalin's hand is empty now. This just got a lot harder,' Jayla thought. She then finished with, "I set a face down and end my turn."
Kalin drew a card and immediately set it. "Now I activate the effect of Infernity Randomizer to draw a card and send it to the graveyard. If the card I drew and sent away was a monster, you will take damage equal to its level times 200. If it's a spell or trap, I take 500 points of damage," he declared. He pulled the card and it ended up being the level six Infernity Destroyer dropping her life points to 1800.
Jayla drew her next card. "I summon Max Warrior (Attack 1800/ Defense 800) in attack position. Max Warrior, attack Infernity Randomizer! And due to its effect, Max Warrior gains another 400 attack points during the damage step only (Max Warrior: Attack 2200)," she fought. Her warrior destroyed Infernity Randomizer and dropped Kalin to 1500 life points. But since it destroyed a monster by battle, its attack fell to 900, defense fell to 400, and level fell to 2.
"Since I took battle damage, I activate my face down called Damage Gate which allows me to special summon Infernity Beetle (Attack 1200/ Defense 0) in attack mode since it has equal or less attack points than the damage I took," Kalin continued.
"Speed Warrior, attack Infernity Beetle! And thanks to the second effect of Fighting Spirit, by destroying it, I can prevent Speed Warrior's destruction," Jayla declared and the result was only Infernity Beetle getting destroyed.
Kalin drew his card. "I activate ZERO-MAX! This revives Infernity Destroyer (Attack 2300/ Defense 1000) in attack position and destroys your monsters since they have less attack than my Destroyer, but I can't conduct my battle phase this turn," he declared. "That ends my turn."
Jayla drew her card to take her turn, "I summon Junk Synchron (Attack 1300/ Defense 500) in attack mode. And with its effect, I can summon back Speed Warrior (Attack 900/ Defense 400) in defense mode with its effects negated. Now since I control a tuner monster, I can summon Boost Warrior (Attack 300/ Defense 200) from my hand in defense position. Now I tune Speed Warrior with Junk Synchron to synchro summon. Fight, Junk Warrior (Attack 2300/ Defense 1300)!" Her monster rose beside her with its signature punch. "And due to its effect, its attack increases by the attack of all level two or lower monsters that I control (Junk Warrior: Attack 2600). And now the effect of Boost Warrior kicks in, increasing all other Warrior-type monsters' attacks by 300 (Junk Warrior: Attack 2900). Now, Junk Warrior, attack Infernity Destroyer!" Kalin's monster was destroyed and his life points fell to 900.
"I activate the effect of Infernity Avenger (Attack 0/ Defense 0)! Since I have no cards in my hand and an Infernity monster was destroyed, I can special summon it from the graveyard in defense mode and make its level the same as Infernity Destroyer (Infernity Avenger: Level 6)," Kalin defended.
"I end my turn," Jayla finished.
Kalin drew his card. "I summon Infernity Dwarf (Attack 800/ Defense 500) in attack mode. Now I tune Infernity Dwarf with Infernity Avenger to synchro summon. Bring your might, Infernity Doom Dragon (Attack 3000/ Defense 2400)!" he called. "Now I activate the effect of Infernity Doom Dragon. This destroys your Junk Warrior and inflicts half of its attack as damage to you, however my dragon can't attack this turn." Her life points dropped to 350. "I end my turn there."
Jayla drew. "I destroy my set Limiter Break in order to special summon Card Breaker (Attack 100/ Defense 900) in attack mode. And since Limiter Break was sent to the graveyard, its effect activates, allowing me to special summon Speed Warrior from my hand in attack mode. Now I tribute Speed Warrior to special summon Turret Warrior (Attack 1200/ Defense 2000) in attack mode. And due to the effect of Turret Warrior, its attack is increased by the original attack of Speed Warrior (Turret Warrior: Attack 2100). Now I tune Card Breaker and Turret Warrior with Boost Warrior in order to synchro summon. Take flight, Stardust Dragon (Attack 2500/ Defense 2000)! I then end my turn with one face down."
"I'm up then," Kalin stated drawing his card. "I set a card. Infernity Doom Dragon, attack Stardust Dragon!"
"I activate Power Frame to negate the attack and equip it to Stardust Dragon, increasing my dragon's attack by the different between it and your dragon's attack (Stardust Dragon: Attack 3000)," she defended.
"I end my turn," Kalin finished.
Jayla drew her card. "Kalin, why are you doing this?" she asked him.
"When I let myself go off the deep end, I didn't care who I hurt or what I did. I became dark and cruel. I need to pay for those mistakes," he answered.
"No, Kalin. You already took back those mistakes. No one hates you or blames you for what you did," she retorted. "You don't need to punish yourself like this. You have light in you. You're not who you were back then anymore. You've made those mistakes twice and each time you've returned to the light. You don't need to punish yourself."
"I…" Kalin stopped. "What do you mean I've changed to the dark twice?"
"This isn't the first timeline this world has been in," Jayla began and they all looked at her shocked. "Last timeline, you didn't even know me. You knew a man named Yusei Fudo. He was the one who was an Enforcer with you, I wasn't. He was the one who originally fought you as a Signer last timeline before he returned to the Divine Realm. Before he returned to being a god." Kalin went wide eyed. "According to what he's told all of us, even after what happened with him back then, he still forgave you and saw light in you, like I do. And if a god can forgive you like that and see light in you even after what you've done, you'll have light in you now that you just need to see. Kalin, what happened back then wasn't your fault. The Earthbound Immortals twisted your hurt thoughts and convinced you of something was right that inside you didn't want to do. But maybe words are not right for this situation. See my words through this duel. Stardust Dragon, attack Infernity Doom Dragon!" Jayla ordered.
"I activate Infernity Break! This removes from play Infernity Dwarf from my graveyard and destroyed your Power Frame (Stardust Dragon: Attack 2500)," Kalin defended.
"I tribute Second Booster in order to increase the attack of Stardust Dragon by 1500 (Stardust Dragon: Attack 4000)," Jayla fought. Stardust destroyed her opponent's dragon and his life points. "Kalin, you don't need to punish yourself for back then. You aren't that person anymore, so don't act like you are. If you ever see Yusei again, he'll tell you the same thing."
"Jayla…" Kalin muttered.
Suddenly, though, a man on a large duel runner launched into the area and a man jumped off it. He glanced at the sun while Radley exclaimed, "Lawton!"
"Well, seems like it isn't too late for me to duel," the man, Lawton, stated.
'And it'll be the last duel to send someone to the mines ever,' Jayla thought.
"I'll wipe that smirk off your face, Lawton," Radley stated while they each quickly drew.
Lawton got the first turn and drew his card. "I summon Gatling Ogre (Attack 800/ Defense 800) in attack mode and set five face downs. Next I activate my Ogre's effect. By sending all five of my set spell and trap cards to the graveyard, I can inflict 800 points of damage at you for every spell and trap sent away," he declared and in that one move, Radley was defeated.
There was the sound of a shot and before she could even flinch, a wind barrier flew up in front of Jayla like a protective wall. They all went wide eyed, including Martha.
"You really thought you could backstab me or Yusei, Barbara?" Jayla asked as the barrier was brought down and she glared. "Yusei warned me that you were going to do this at some point and I was waiting for it to happen. So, try again, I dare you. He's probably waiting for you to make a another move right now. And FYI, the Yusei you met is the very god I was talking about." She didn't move.
"What are you…?" Malcolm stopped unable to continue with his shock. Suddenly, they heard a hoard of voices coming our way and turned to see the miners walking in without their collars. "What?! How did…?!"
"Yusei and I planned this," Jayla told them. They looked as the ball of torrential air came down and gently landing beside her. Once it hit, the wind dispersed hard to leave Yusei in its place.
"I knew you were going to backstab Jayla, but we also wanted to free the miners out of being slaves and wanted to help Kalin. So she dealt with Kalin and you guys while I went and freed the miners with my powers as the God of Wind."
"I…" Lawton stopped.
"God of Wind?" Barbara repeated.
Yusei turned to Kalin. "Jayla's right, Kalin. No matter what timeline it happened in, you gave up the darkness in the very end and returned to the light. You have always had light in you, Kalin. You are better than you let yourself believe. Do you see that now?" He slowly nodded. "Then use that knowledge to help this town get better."
The girl and boy hurried up to their father who asked Kalin for his help to create a better town. Kalin agreed in an instant.
"You…" Lawton growled.
"God my ass!" Malcolm exclaimed. "There's no such thing as gods!"
Yusei used the wind and picked Malcolm up high into the air. If he fell, he would be seriously injured. "Actually, there is. Over eight hundred, in fact," he responded blandly. "Mortals have just forgotten that deities are out there, watching them and protecting them. Without one god, the universe will fall apart. In fact, I was part of the eldest deities that helped create the universe."
"You're kidding," Barbara responded a bit shocked.
"Not in the least. After the universe was created, Izanagi, the other deities, and I worked to create planet after planet, life form after life form, keeping each in perfect balance. Earth was our most recent and most likely our final for the time being," Yusei explained. "Deities are out there." He set Malcolm down with him low enough that he would just get a bad bruise as he landed on the ground with a thud. "We protect every mortal that we create and we help keep the universe in balance. It's one of the reasons I went to save the miners without question. Because you were hurting them without mercy due to fear and greed inside you. But even a town like this has a chance to change to the light. All you have to do is instead of forcing someone into the mines and treating them horribly, you could do something to make a better town while still gathering the dyne for everyone to share. Life isn't about making money or dueling alone. It's about making bonds and cherishing those you have until you can't breathe anymore. If you do that, you'll find life in this town will be a lot better."
"Why should we listen to you?" Lawton asked. "You're just a kid from what I can tell."
"I'm older than the very universe," Yusei retorted. "I have more wisdom and knowledge than you'll ever hope to gain. I've lived through multiple timeline changes and lived a life that humans live last timeline while taking part of one this timeline." He looked at the others around them. "Now, do you all want to listen to the greed of these three or do you want to build a better town? One without fear of being trapped to work in the mines forever, one where people can be a lot happier and duel for fun instead of the fate of their life." All of the gang members took off their signature items and the miners nodded in agreement, save Radley, Malcolm, Barbara, and Lawton who were seething in anger. Yusei looked at Jayla. "Let's get back home." She nodded. He looked at Kalin. "Kalin, help this town for me. I'll be watching and making sure things go okay. Let me know if these four try to pull anything." He nodded. Yusei then took off into the air while Jayla got onto her runner and followed Yusei to their hideout.
As they travelled, Yusei sensed something and immediately darted faster through the air.