"Yusei, the power of my Infernity Archfiend is going to send you to the Netherworld forever!" Kalin boasted.
"Yusei!" Jack yelled.
"Watch out!" Crow warned anxiously.
/
"It's going to take a lot for me to get in there," Lise said, looking on in worry.
Stupid fluttered over to her shoulder, nestling against her cheek.
"If I didn't know any better I'd say he was trying to comfort you," Fish said lightly.
Lise petted the little bird's head gratefully, but it didn't lift her grimace.
/
"The power of your monster is no match for the ability of my Scrap Iron Scarecrow," Yusei just barely countered. "Cuz when this trap is played, it cancels out your attack, and then once it repels your attack, I can place it back on the field."
/
Jack watched from the helicopter's monitor. Good move, Yusei, but you're gonna have to be great to defeat Kalin.
/
Crow breathed, not realizing he'd been holding his breath. That was a close one, but I know it's gonna get even closer cuz Kalin was never one to pull any punches.
/
Fish crossed her arms and scowled. "That card is so confusingly stupid."
/
"Yusei, try and keep up with me," Kalin taunted. "And please, play something new for a change, okay?" He set a card facedown to finish up his turn. "I like surprises, and I hope you do too cuz this trap isn't some old card we've been using since grade school, like that Scarecrow of yours! I've upped my game, have you?"
"Don't need to; my deck has never let me down," Yusei replied confidently.
"Well, there's a first time for everything."
I sure hope he's wrong. Yusei began his next turn. "It's my turn!" And boy was he wrong! "Ya know, I like to do things the old fashioned way, Kalin, so I think I'll play a favorite of mine; Junk Synchron! And with him out, I get to resummons a monster from my graveyard and add him to the field, so I'm gonna summon out another oldie but goodie. Say hello to my Speed Warrior! And while we're playing Yusei's greatest hits, and this one's a classic! I tune my Junk Synchron with my Speed Warrior in order to synchro summon Junk Warrior! Let's rev it up!"
"Not bad," Kalin's black eyes gleamed dangerously. "But way too predictable."
"Well how's this for predictable? I activate my trap Shard of Hope! Now when you take damage, I get to draw a card, and if it's a trap, I get to activate it. And with your monsters in attack mode, it looks like that damage is gonna come sooner rather than later!"
"Don't be so sure, Yusei. I still have my trap in play!"
Kalin's right. Yusei silently admitted. He can still trigger the effect of his Depth Amulet. All he has to do is throw away a card from his hand and my attack is canceled; leaving me out of moves. But I've dueled alongside Kalin long enough to know is that the only thing he hates more than a losing hand is an empty one. There's no way he's gonna risk his hand just to stop my attack, unless that's his plan! "Time to see what he's up to! Junk Warrior attack!"
The purple warrior went in for some hurt, Kalin sneered back at Yusei. "When I said that I upped my game, I wasn't just talking about the cards in my deck, Yusei. I've got a whole new strategy! Depth Amulet cancels your attack!"
"Guess Kalin's got some new tricks up his sleeve."
"Well this next move might just make you disappear!"
"Oh great, what now?"
"Something new! I sacrifice both my monsters to summon out a whole new kind of creature! After all, one good tuner deserves another! I advance summon Dark Tuner Nightmare Hand!"
Kalin's new monster was similar to the other Dark Tuners. Its black and purple humanoid body radiated darkness. A horned headpiece seemed to float in midair where a head should be, but in its place was a glowing green symbol.
(Dark Tuner Nightmare Hand: Atk: 0000 Def: 0000)
"But with a dark tuner on the field-" Yusei realized, a little late, was going to happen.
"-You guessed it; I can summon another monster directly from my hand, and this one won't be some ancient relic I used back in high school!"
"What is it?!"
"He goes by the name Infernity Dwarf!"
The dwarf was small and particularly large around the middle. Its hat covered most of its dark and bearded face. To finish off the monster, it wielded a huge flaming axe.
(Infernity Dwarf: Atk: 800 Def: 500)
"He might be tiny, but as the saying goes, big things come in small packages! And it's never been more true than now! Cuz I'm tuning him with my Nightmare Hand in order to perform a dark synchro summon! When the shadows are devoured by even darker shadows, the curtain pulls back and reveals…a world without light! Let's see your sign save you now!"
"Whatever he's summoning," Yusei mused darkly. "I got a feeling I'm not gonna like it."
"You're no match for the power of my dark deck, Yusei!" Kalin grinned wickedly with anticipation. His new monster was sure to be frightening. "Now prepare to meet the powers of the Netherworld! I summon One Hundred Eyed Dragon!"
Purple and black eyes dotted every available surface of the beast. Its bat-like wings were purple and leathery. The dragon's claws and sharp teeth were just as intimidating.
(One Hundred Eyed Dragon: Atk: 3000 Def: 2500)
"Three thousand attack points? This isn't good. In fact that monster's more powerful than anything I have in my deck! How am I gonna stop this thing?" Yusei fearfully came to a very bad conclusion.
/
"Uh, Jack?" Carly spoke up. "What is that?"
"Bad news for us."
/
"Where'd he get that from? Kalin never had that in his deck. And after all the duels I've been a part of, neither has anyone else," Crow reflected. Things were definitely not looking good.
/
"That thing is ugly," Fish commented dryly. She wrinkled her nose disapprovingly.
"It's very powerful too," Lise said quietly. She raised her hand and pressed her palm to the field keeping her out. "I can feel it even all the way up here."
"Well, there's nothing we can do for now," Fish stayed close to Lise. I hope it stays that way…
/
"If you think he's scary now, just wait till you see him in battle! One Hundred Eyed Dragon attack!"
"I play my trap card Scrap Iron Scarecrow!" Yusei said, hoping against hope he was saved for a little while.
"That's the move I was expecting you to make!" Kalin cried gleefully. "I guess old habits are hard to break. Perhaps my dragon's special abilities will help you turn over a new leaf!"
"Abilities?"
"That's right! My dragon can now activate the ability of any monster in my graveyard, and I think we'll start with Infernity Beast! Due to the ability of my beast and my dragon, if I have zero cards in my hand, which I do, you can't activate any spells or traps!"
Yusei's eyes widened as his trap was negated and forced back into its facedown position. "He wanted to get rid of his cards!"
"Now then, let's try that attack again, shall we? Go Infinity Sightstream!"
A wave of dark purple energy blasted into Junk Warrior, ending him. But it didn't stop there; the blast continued and slammed straight into Yusei. His runner started spinning uncontrollably.
Yusei: 2600
Kalin: 4000
Kalin laughed evilly. "Hey Yusei, is that some kind of new dance craze? Now hang on tight," Kalin advised when Yusei had stopped spinning. "I wanna be sure that you'll stick around for this. After all, I've been dreaming of this day for years, Yusei, and now I get to deal you a little justice you back-stabbing trader!"
"But Kalin!"
"But nothing, Yusei!"
"If that's the way it's gonna be, I draw!" Yusei declared. "I summon Rockstone Warrior to the field in defense mode!"
Rockstone Warrior was a creature made out of stones. Its head was too small for its large body, and its red beady eyes glared angrily.
(Rockstone Warrior: Atk: 1800 Def: 1600)
"Please," Kalin whined. "You're just delaying the inevitable."
"Tell it to my face down. You're up!"
"Well, not that it matters, but now you can attack me next round cuz my Depth Amulet is all out of power," Kalin smiled, and watched his trap vanish. "Or you could just sit there while I kick your tailpipe all over the Satellite!"
Kalin's right. Even my Stardust Dragon can't take on that Hundred Eyed thing. I've never seen him duel like this! "How did you lose sight of our goal?" I've gotta find out what made the duelist who used to be my best friend decide to change his path! "Kalin, please tell me why you turned on all of us!" Yusei tried to appeal to Kalin's better side, if it was still there.
"I needed to free the Satellite, but you held back!"
"That's a lie. I only tried to help my friend because you changed!"
"You changed first," Kalin insisted stubbornly. "We could've controlled the whole city. It was just the five of us back then; Jack, you, me, Lise, and Crow. We were going to use our decks to clean up the Satellite, or don't you remember? We took on every duel gang in the city, and locked them into duels with grappling hooks so they couldn't get away. Crime was down; people felt safe. The Satellite was a place we could call home! Every day was a different battle, a different duel. This was a war, a war for our homes, families and friends, and we were winning! One by one the duel gangs gave up. They couldn't handle the five of us or our decks or our dueling! One by one the streets were safe again! One by one the people were learning that the Satellite was our city, and we were gonna do what Security couldn't. One by one they believed… until there was only one left…"
/
"Downtown…" Kalin said solemnly. "They're the last duel gang that's out there. They're also the toughest. Ready?"
The other boys and girl nodded.
"Then let's get to work!"
/
"This walk down memory lane is quite the trip, Yusei," Kalin jeered. "Now where were we? Oh yes, I remember, the five of us were heading into the Downtown Center with one more duel gang to take care of. Armed only with our decks and each other…"
/
The Enforcers walked boldly down the main street of the last duel gang's turf. The gang members all waited, partially in view, and then slipped away, out of sight.
"Peek a boo; I see you!" Kalin joked.
Suddenly they were surrounded. Dozens of team members emerged from every nook and cranny available.
"Don't look now guys, but I think they got us surrounded," Crow frowned.
"They're kinda like ants," Lise remarked. "Absolutely everywhere and very squishable."
Kalin just laughed. "These are the odds I like. After all, where's the fun if there's no challenge to it. Let's duel!"
Like a gunshot, everything happened all at once. The Enforcers split up and targeted gang members like a cornered rat.
"Eenie, meanie, minie, moe, catch a duelist by the toe!" Crow cried, trapping four boys at once.
"And if he hollers, let him go, cuz Twin Sword Marauder is joining the show!" Jack finished off a boy literally on the run and snared the next guy following him into a duel. "Gotcha! Hook, line, and sinker!"
"It appears you fell a little short of your goal!" Kalin jested, pulling the defeated duelist down a flight of stairs and dashing up them. Another guy moved to intercept him at the top of the stairs, and Kalin got him in a duel as well. "Nice catch!"
"Wait, this one's just a girl!" one guy realized. "Grab her!"
Lise's eyes smoldered angrily. She threw the boy that had grabbed her wrist to the ground and used her grappling hook to catch his duel disk. "Yes, I'm a girl, but you're gonna wish I wasn't!"
Three boys kneeled, defeated, their duel disks sparking and smoking behind Yusei. He faced off against the leader. "Looks like your gang's finished."
"Well, I'm a one gang army, pal," the leader quipped angrily.
"Then I guess it's time you and me went to war. There's no escaping this battle now!" Yusei quickly clipped the leader to his duel disk.
"You seriously want a war?" the leader pulled on the line of the grappling hook, smiling nastily. "Well, now you've got a tug of war! Don't worry if you don't know the rules!" He turned and ran, jumping over to the next building. The drop was at least four to five stories, and the gang leader made the jump easily. He dragged Yusei to the railing and over it. "Don't fall!"
Trying not to panic, Yusei used the grappling hook's line to pull himself over to where the gang leader stood. Unfortunately, the leader had other plans. He removed his duel disk, smirked for good measure, and tossed it over the side of the building. "There's no card for this!"
"Yusei!"
All of a sudden, and very lucky for Yusei, a grappling hook, caught his wrist and stopped his fall. Now he could catch his breath.
"Hang on Yusei!" Kalin called down to him, keeping a strong grip on the other end.
"Kalin!"
"I gotcha!" Kalin groaned, trying to pull Yusei up on his own.
/
"How ironic," Kalin giggled manically. "To think, I save you that day, and now all I wanna do is send you to the Netherworld! I was such a fool, but I'm wiser now! I play the speed spell Power Baton. You know all about speed, doncha Yusei? After all, you were awfully quick to betray me. And with this spell, I can choose a monster from my deck and send it to the graveyard! Then my dragon gets a nice little treat; all of those extra attack point that I just sent to the graveyard are transferred to him! Ad I choose my Infernity Destroyer! I think its twenty-three hundred attack points should definitely do the trick!"
"What!"
"Now it's been a while since I cracked a math book, but I'm pretty sure my dragon now has enough power to send you and your deck to the shadows!" Kalin laughed. "And now for your pleasure, the main event, I activate One Hundred Eyed Dragon's special ability; he gets the power of my Dwarf in my graveyard, so all the battle damage that would normally be absorbed by your monster, is dealt to you as damage! It's just so hard to find good defensive power these days, isn't it? Prepare to meet the shadows Yusei, because this is over!"
"Nothing is over until I say it is!" Yusei said bravely.
"Ever the optimist. Now One Hundred Eyed Dragon attack! Finally, I'll get my revenge for what you did to me that night, Yusei!"
"Not today! Rockstone's got special abilities himself, and all of your battle damage is canceled!" Yusei countered. Broken rocks from his destroyed monster create a force field that protects him from the dragon's attack.
"I should be thanking you, Yusei! After all, you're here to duel another round and it's another chance for me to toy with you before I send you to the Netherworld! I told you that rainy night that I'd get you back! Now look, you're down to your last two cards. You couldn't take out a Kuriboh, let alone my Hundred Eyed Dragon. You're finished! Just like before! Remember? I had your fate in my hands!"
"I remember! That day you saved me. What happened?" Yusei pleaded. "Tell me what happened to my best friend?!"
"What happened is I'm not the same sap I was back then," Kalin answered meanly.
/
The railing started to give way, dropping both boys lower. It was going to crack apart in seconds.
"Kalin, listen, that rail won't hold us! Just let go you have to-"
"No way! Yusei we're bros! If you fall then I'm falling with you! Now quite hanging around and climb!"
"Thank you."
"Save it."
/
"You were right; I should've let you fall!" Kalin continued. "And now I'm gonna make up for it right now! So I activate another of my dragon's special abilities! Now he gets Destroyer's power! And trust me when I say that the damage you'll take from this attack is nothing compared to the damage I've been carrying around all those years cuz of you!"
Another glowing ball of purple hurtled straight for Yusei.
/
"Need a hand, guys?" Lise asked, skidding up beside Kalin and looking down. "Ya know you weren't supposed to prove you were a dumb ass when I called you one."
"Help would be great," Kalin grunted out quickly before Yusei could throw an angry retort back.
Crow had come up to help Kalin and Lise and the combined weight of the three of them managed to drag Yusei over the railing right before it broke and crashed to the ground.
The four of them collapsed, exhausted, to the rooftop.
"Damn you're heavy," Lise swore, on her back and breathing hard. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"
"Maybe Yusei should go on a diet? He WAS pretty friggin heavy," Kalin agreed.
"Can I say thanks now?" Yusei asked, slightly irritated.
"Sure," Kalin smiled.
"I owe you," Yusei grinned back.
"Me too!" Lise huffed.
"What'm I, chopped liver?" Crow added teasingly.
"Fine, you guys too," Yusei rolled his eyes, but smiling all the same.
Crow turned to glare at the opposing gang leader. He hadn't moved the entire time. Now he took his cue to skedaddle A-SAP. "You aren't kicking me outta my turf!"
Just then, Jack burst through the door of the building's roof with a perfectly aimed side kick. The door smacked right into the gang leader, and he fell, defeated, onto his back.
"Way to go Jack!" Crow congratulated.
"Beautiful side kick!" Lise gushed. "That's the best you've ever done!"
"Really?" Jack's eyes widened surprisingly.
"Yeah, that was awesome!"
"That's the last of them!" Jack grinned and joined the others as quickly as he could.
They all bumped fists. "Together forever!"
Kalin filled in the last district on the map of Satellite.
"That's it! We did it!" Crow grinned triumphantly.
"Crow's right," Kalin realized. "We're the top duelists in the Satellite!"
"There's no one left."
"Yep," Yusei nodded.
"Way coolio," Lise smiled.
"Guess we fight ourselves now?" Jack suggested, making everybody laugh.
"That'll be the day!"
"I've got Yusei first!"
"In your dreams, Jack!"
"Then it looks like we gotta find ourselves a new enemy!" Kalin decreed, tossing the map into the air.
/
"And when I did, you turned your back on me!" Kalin continued threateningly.
The wall of purple slammed into Yusei, depleting his lifepoints even more.
Yusei: 1800
Kalin: 4000
Yusei was blown backwards, into the wall of fire.
Kalin just grinned. "I could've given you everything, but you were too scared!"
/
"Yusei; come on, you can make it! Keep riding!" Crow yelled.
/
"Yusei!" Jack shouted from the helicopter.
/
Lise exclaimed from the sudden pain, almost like she had shared it with Yusei. She grimaced, and pounded her fist into the invisible barrier. "I need to get in there!"
Fish just watched with wide eyes.
/
The silver haired Dark Signer laughed, thinking he'd won. His celebration was cut short; Yusei pulled himself out of the flames of hell and kept going.
"I just wish I knew why you changed!"
"Don't you get it yet, old friend?" Kalin taunted, moodily.
"No."
"Then I guess I'll have to spell it out for you! You knew the only way the Satellite would be ours was to eliminate every threat! We were a team until you convinced Crow, Lise and Jack to take me down! So I took it upon myself to take on the only enemy that remained; Sector Security. I couldn't let them ruin everything we'd accomplished, so I did what I had to do. Until you stopped me that night! You let me fall hard and fast. Now I'm here to make good on my promise…"
"You were blinded by your ambition, and now that I know you duel to destroy, I'm taking you out!" Yusei stated.
"You're wrong, cuz your days of dueling are about to end!" Kalin promised, his voice full of wrath.