Judai gripped the dashboard, his knuckles going white with the panic as he saw Yusei bolt out into the dueling lane. It was so hard to breathe. He had thought the pressure was bad when he had faced off with Harald's Odin this morning, but Loki and Thor out on the field together was making the air so thick that he could tell even the less psychically sensitive of the team were getting sick. Bruno looked like he was going to throw up, and Crow was gasping, having reluctantly taken a seat at Jack's demands.
"Fuck," Crow whispered, watching Harald zoom from the pit to meet Yusei. "I should have done more."
"You did what you could," Aki admonished him, handing him a water bottle. She looked even worse than he did, and she hadn't been dueling. Her breaths came in thin whistles, and her skin trembled faintly. She kept looking at the gods and then looking away, pupils dilated with a panic she wasn't acknowledging.
"Judai, what do you think?" asked Jack. He stood with his arms folded tight against his chest, eyes not leaving the dueling screen. Up above, Yusei played his first turn, summoning out a handful of low level monsters in quick succession from his combos. He set a card face down and ended, and the turn passed to Harald.
Judai let out a heavy breath, trying to remember to breathe.
"I don't know," he finally said. "This is...if Harald gets out the last god, we'll be in trouble."
They were in trouble already. He looked up at the swirling, powerful auras of the two beings that already graced the field, and shuddered. They were powerful, and they wanted to kill them
"Yusei, how are you doing out there?" he said into the headset.
"Well, we just started, but it's looking...fine."
That was a bald-faced lie and Judai knew it, but he didn't call him out on it. Maybe with Hourglass Dragon, they could have half a chance, but Yusei didn't look like he was anywhere close to being able to summon that.
Harald's field flashed, and the world tightened, as though gravity had shifted in his direction. Judai nearly threw up. Oh, god, no, on the first turn?
The air rippled and cracked and then gravity itself briefly ripped apart in an effect that Judai's eyes couldn't comprehend, and when he managed to blink away the dizziness and disorientation, the monstrous god from this morning was on the field alongside the other two gods.
The pressure was unbelievable. Judai actually had to bend over, bracing himself against the dashboard. He heard Aki make a retching sound, and Luka pushed her headset hard against her ears and whimpered. Lua choked on his own air. Even Jack and Crow simultaneously swore and gasped.
"Oh fuck ," Crow swore.
Judai heard Yusei swear and caught a glimpse of him briefly swerving before righting himself.
"Yusei!" he called into the headset. "Yusei, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, just— it startled me, that's all, don't worry Judai, I've got it."
"Yusei, please, be careful, I don't know what I'd do if you— "
He couldn't finish the sentence; his stomach twisted and he felt like he was going to throw up. This man was trying to kill Yusei. Yusei was out there, practically alone, in front of three ridiculously powerful gods, and he could die . Judai had no doubt that Harald wouldn't give a damn that they were on national television. If Yusei's life points hit zero out there, he would be dead.
Harald called out an attack that Judai barely heard, and Yusei's trap fell uselessly before the crack of power that rippled over him. Judai heard the scream that Yusei tried to swallow down through the headset.
Oh god , he thought. I can't do anything.
Yusei tried to bite back his scream, but he couldn't stop it. Pain ripped through his chest as the gods attacked in furious succession. He heard the roar and scream of the crowd when his D-Wheel spun out. He hit a bump and for a brief, panicked second, he thought he'd fly from his seat.
But he landed, hard, and gasped as he managed to get his vision to clear. He was alive, still. He had to stay that way. He blinked through his dizziness and revved his bike, catching back up to Harald.
"You might as well just crash now," Harald said, looking back over his shoulder. "You'll save yourself some pain."
Yusei bristled.
"If I had a hundred yen for every time someone had told me that growing up," he said. "I'm not going to roll over and make it easy for you."
Harald barely even pursed his lips, looking back forward.
"It makes no difference to me. Either way you'll end up dead."
"Why are you doing this?" Yusei shouted. He revved his bike up, fighting past the ridiculous pressure until he was alongside Harald. "Why do you have to do this? Why can't we fight against Yliaster together?"
"Because the both of you will achieve the same results," Harald said, without looking at him.
"And what's wrong with that? Why should billions of innocents have to die so that the universe can stay on its natural path? What's natural about that?"
"Don't you think the dinosaurs wondered the same thing?" Harald said.
He finally looked at Yusei, then and his eye was glowing with that eerie rune. His eyes were cold, his face expressionless. There was no mercy in that face, and Yusei tensed.
"The Aesir have awoken over and over across millennia, for this very purpose," Harald said. "Whenever the universe goes off its natural path, they will be there, to set it right. And this shall be their final mission. Extinction is a fact of life, Fudo Yusei."
Yusei's hands tightened on his handlebars. He grit his teeth. Something beneath his skin buzzed, some humming sensation that shoved the pressure of the gods away from him. He felt hot and cold all at once, and a burst of anger and desire for battle settled in his stomach. He had a feeling the feeling wasn't entirely his.
"Then I reject that," he said. "I reject a world so cold and uncaring."
"Then you walk the path of a tyrant," Harald said. "Attempting to place one's own desires for their own perfect understanding of reality above that of everyone else's."
"You don't get to push that on me!" Yusei shouted back. "That's exactly what you're doing right now!"
Harald's lip curled, and he shook his head, turning to face forward again.
"You won't last another turn, anyway," he said. "So, if this is truly us pitting our realities against each other...let's see which one falls in the end."
"Try me," Yusei said, snarling with what felt like uncharacteristic rage, even for the situation. His Extra Deck was glowing.
Summon me , he heard whispering at the back of his mind.
"I'm working on it," he muttered, and hit the gas. The roaring wind seemed to make the pressure of the gods blow completely away, and he relished briefly in the speed.
"I activate the Speed Spell, Angel Baton! I can now draw two cards!"
Perfect, he thought glancing at the cards.
Are you summoning me yet?
The rumble came through his stomach this time, and it tickled like the fizz in soda. Despite the situation, Yusei rolled his eyes.
"I didn't know you were so needy," he said, smiling in spite of himself. "I summon Debris Dragon!"
The tiny dragon popped into life, flapping its wings to catch up to Yusei.
"Debris Dragon's effect lets me revive Cosmic Compass with its effects negated," Yusei said. "Return to the field!"
His compass monster reappeared with a clittering sound, swinging back and forth.
"Since I special summoned from the graveyard, I can special summon Doppelwarrior from my hand! And since I have a tuner on the field, I can also special summon Quillbolt Hedgehog!"
His monsters appeared along with their fellows, and he felt the soda pop fizz in his stomach spread out through his whole body.
"I'm tuning Doppelwarrior and Quillbolt Hedgehog with Debris Dragon!"
The gates opened, and he felt the light inside of him starting to pour forth.
"Clustering wishes will become a new shining star!" he shouted. "Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Take flight, Stardust Dragon!"
The fizz beneath his skin exploded and misted off of him, surging upwards in a beautiful spiral. The silver sparkles condensed through the Synchro Summoning gates. By the time the cloud reached the other side, Stardust Dragon had appeared. Stardust let out a haunting keen, one that made Yusei thrum with his dragon's excitement and eagerness. This was the first time he had sensed Stardust like this. It felt heady, and he burst out into a grin in spite of himself.
"You're a fool if you think that creature will be able to save you!" Harald shouted, his lips curling with disgust.
"I've always been one of those," Yusei said, and then he switched his headset mode. "Judai, you there?"
"I'm here," he said, his voice trembling ever so slightly. Yusei could hear his attempts to smile on his voice. "You hanging in there, speed racer?"
"I could use a little moral support."
"Don't die."
"I was thinking more along the lines of 'I love you', but that works too."
Judai actually snorted, but his breath caught.
"Yusei, I hope you have a plan because I— I can't think past the pressure."
Yusei swallowed.
"I don't know about a plan, but I have a gut feeling," he said. "Help me?"
"I'm always there with you."
Yusei curled his hand around his handlebar and pretended, for a moment, that it was Judai's hand.
"When Doppelwarrior is sent to the Graveyard for a Synchro Summon, I special summon one Doppel Token to the field!"
A ghostly image of Doppelwarrior appeared, wavering like a mirage.
"Then, I activate my trap card— Overtune! By tributing Doppel Token, I can special summon a Tuner monster from my hand! Come forth, Elemental HERO Masquerade!"
Doppel Token poofed out like a wisp of smoke, and a new creature appeared in its place. The tiny monster looked about Lua and Luka's size, with a pointed nose masquerade mask over glowing yellow eyes, a black cape and wide brimmed hat concealed most of its form from view. It giggle and pulled its cloak up over its mouth.
"Elemental HERO Masquerade is a Tuner monster," Yusei said. "And I'll activate its effect! I can send one monster from my deck to my Graveyard, and Masquerade is then treated as the same name, level, and attribute as the discarded monster! I'm discarding Neos!"
The card poked free of his deck, and he slid it into the graveyard. Masquerade giggled again, throwing its cloak out like a huge pair of wings. A ghostly image of Neos appeared above it for a moment, and when it disappeared, Masquerade's mask had turned into Neos' image.
"I'll tune Masquerade with Cosmic Compass!"
Masquerade spun in a whirlwind of black fabric and then turned into Synchro gates, and Cosmic Compass shot through as it faded into a star.
"The forgotten dream will open a new door to the future! On new wings, soar towards the open sky—Synchro Summon!"
Daydream Neos opened its wings like a blooming lotus, revealing its serene, inhuman face. Stardust lifted up its head and keened once again, wings thrumming with excitement as it flew. Yusei could almost feel the hearts of both Synchro monsters beating in tune with his own, and he felt another heady rush of excitement.
"You can summon all of the monsters you'd like, Fudo Yusei, but none of them are anywhere near the strength of the Aesir!" Harald shouted.
That doesn't matter, Yusei thought. Judai and I are together on the field. We can make this work.
Daydream Neos would protect his monsters from being hurt by effects, and depending on what he drew next...
"When Cosmic Compass is sent to the graveyard for a Synchro Summon, I can draw one card!"
He pulled his card free and glanced at it. Would this help? He wasn't getting any sense of strategy connections yet, but he felt a thrum of certainty anyway. Something here could work. It had to.
"I set one card and end my turn!"
Stardust growled irritably.
I want to fight , it complained, stretching out its neck and keening.
You can't right now, they're all stronger than you.
I want to fight anyway.
Hearing his dragon was, honestly, a surreal experience. It felt exciting and disorienting all at once. Was this something he should try talking to Judai about right now?
He didn't have time. Harald was taking his turn.
"I draw!" His eyes flickered across to Yusei, and Yusei caught the edge of caution in his expression. He was worried about Yusei's face downs. Maybe he thought that he'd put out important but still weaker monsters in order to trick him into some kind of attack.
"I activate my trap card, Odin's Eye," Harald called out, his eye sparking with glowing light. "By negating my Aesir's effects for one turn, I can look at one face down card on the field."
He pointed to the one that Yusei had just set. It flipped face up, face glowing at Harald. Harald swore softly.
Wave Rebound. If Yusei managed to destroy all three of the Aesir, and Harald used their effects to bring them back, he'd take their total attack as damage. His eyes flickered to the second face down card. Yusei could almost see him thinking. What if Yusei had a face down that would destroy all of Harald's monsters? The combo would ruin him. His monsters effects were negated by Odin's Eye, he wouldn't be able to defend from something that would destroy his monsters.
Take the bluff , Yusei said, his first spike of panic assaulting him since he'd summoned Stardust. Take the bluff.
Harald was more cautious than Yusei had hoped.
"I'll set a card and end my turn," Harald said. Yusei blew out. He hadn't realized that he was holding his breath until that moment. He was surviving by the skin of his teeth and they both knew it. He sucked in a breath, closing his eyes briefly. He had to focus.
I want to fight , Stardust said insistently.
Yusei's deck thrummed softly. He felt his arm burning.
"Guys," he said into his headset. "I could use your help."
"We're with you, Yusei," said Aki.
"Get 'em, Yusei!" Lua said.
"Take whatever you need!" Luka said.
"We've got this together!" Crow said.
"You'd better not lose after this," said Jack.
Yusei laughed softly as the heat in his arm moved to his back, and he felt the next card before he drew it.
"I summon Majestic Dragon!" he said.
The monster born of the Signer's combined wishes appeared, humming along with Stardust in an echoing cry. It's big, bug-like eyes shimmered and glowed.
"I activate my face down card, Level Up! Majestic Dragon gains one level!"
Harald swore as he realized that Yusei's other trap card wouldn't have been able to stop him. Too late for him to take back his caution now.
"Majestic Dragon tunes with Stardust Dragon!"
Stardust roared with excitement as its wings began to glow and sparkle from Majestic Dragon's synchronization.
"Gathering starlights will enlighten a new miracle! Become the paht its light shines upon!" Yusei called. "Synchro summon! Arrive in light, Majestic Star Dragon!"
Stardust came through the gates with two pairs of wings, held out straight in a large X. Stardust had gone sleeker, slimmer, glowing with a platinum light that made it shimmer with mirages. It shrieked an eerie war cry, humming with determination.
"It's still not strong enough to handle the Aesir," Harald said. "You've accomplished nothing but a light show!"
"Majestic Star Dragon has an effect: when you activate an effect, Star Dragon will negate it and destroy all monsters on your side of the field!" Yusei said. "And you already know what I have face down."
Harald glared at him over his shoulder, and Yusei just grinned.
"This is what you get for facing all of the Signers at once," he said. "You didn't think we were fighting alone, did you?"
"You're a stain, Fudo Yusei," Harald snarled. "Every single one of you damned Signers is a stain on this world; the Crimson Dragon is nothing but a meddler, an echo of madness from a universe that needs to be allowed to pass on! Your very existence is the proof of the world's lack of balance!"
Yusei just shook his head. There was no reasoning with this man.
"I end my turn," Yusei said. "Normally, Majestic Star would return to my Extra Deck at the end of the turn, but by Daydream Neos' effect, none of my monsters can be targeted for an effect, including Majestic Star's own!"
Majestic Star Dragon keened with a taunting sort of cry, as though daring Harald to use its effect and allow Majestic Star to respond. It shimmered like a mirage, briefly, but Daydream Neos swooped forward and shadowed Majestic Star with its wings, and the mirage faded.
Harald glared at Yusei with a curling lip.
"You'll see," Harald said. "The Aesir will prove to be the ones in the right by this duel. I'll erase you and the Signers from this world."
He drew a card and spared it only half a glance.
"I activate Odin's effect! Spells and Traps cannot affect my Divine Beast monsters this turn!"
Was he stupid? Yusei swore softly— Harald was up to something, but he had no idea what. He had no choice but to activate Majestic Star to defend himself.
"Majestic Star Dragon's effect activates! When you activate an effect, it's negated and all of your monsters are destroyed!"
Majestic Star Dragon hissed. Its wings raised up and light prismed through the delicate membrane in a wild furry of color. It shattered like diamond fragments, and all of the Aesir shattered too, raining down over Harald in a shimmering rain storm.
"I end my turn," Harald said. "And the Aesir rise again!"
"I activate Wave Rebound! Their summons are negated and you take damage equal to their attack points!"
Harald smirked, and Yusei felt suddenly cold. The heat on his back vanished, and he felt the connection to the other Signers dissipate.
"From my graveyard, I activate Gjallarhorn!"
"From the graveyard?" he heard Crow swear.
"When a divine beast monster would be special summoned, I can activate this from the Graveyard to my Spell and Trap zone. Divine Beast monster summons cannot be negated, and that means Wave Rebound has no target!"
Yusei swore, gasping as the pressure of the gods returned to crush down on him. He heard Judai choke on the other side of the headset.
"Judai!"
"When Thor returns, you take eight hundred points of damage!"
"Daydream Neos will reflect effect damage back to you!" Yusei said, as Daydream Neos flung itself between Yusei and the crackling thunder.
Harald grunted from the static that hit him back, taking his life points down, but Yusei somehow felt like he was the one who was losing. His heart hammered in his chest. All three gods loomed down over him, and he felt like he was going to be sick. Majestic Star Dragon was gone, and he only had Daydream Neos, and no cards in his hand. What was he supposed to do?
"Gjallarhorn has a second effect," Harald said, the wind buffeting the two of them as they zoomed down. "On the third end phase after this card was activated, I remove it and all the monsters I control from play, inflicting damage to you equal to their combined attack."
Fuck .
Harald sent Yusei a wry smile.
"Welcome to the countdown to ragnarok," he said. "It is nearly the end of the world."
Yusei felt like he couldn't breathe. He could hear Judai and the other shouting through his headset, but he couldn't make out the words. For the first time, he felt truly, utterly alone. He was facing down the end of the world itself before him. The sky above, dark with clouds, swirled menacingly, and every now and then, he thought he saw the air briefly rip open to show dark lighting through the cracks.
Harald wasn't lying. This wasn't just the countdown to the end of the duel.
It was the countdown to the end of the world itself.