Yu-Gi-Oh! Beyond the Future

Chapter 53: "Respected Opponent"


Previously…


After reuniting after 10 years in Neo Domino City, the members of Team 5D's entered the Riding World Future (R.W.F.) tournament in order to draw out the infiltrating members of the underground organization known as Urteil in order to find details regarding the whereabouts of Ruka's and Rua's missing father. After being on the sidelines for many of the previous Duels and learning the terrible strength the ten members of Urteil possess, Yusei and his friends have found new resolve to defeat the organization and avenge those D-Wheelers who fell in the previous Duels.

As the fierce duel against Team Judgment continued, the Fourth Runner of Team Pride, Hikari Marufuji, fell against Leah Kruger's awakening Psychic abilities thanks to the experiments on her body being conducted by mad scientist Murdock Willard. Seeing Hikari fall, Rua begins to shaken, but his opponent, fierce Pirate Keith from Team New Generation, continues pushing him to continue their ongoing duel.

"That girlfriend of yours fought her opponent with all she had until her final breath!" Keith shouted, taking his sunglasses off to reveal his sharp eyes underneath. "Aren't you the one belittling her by chickening out?! If you claim to be a Duelist, you'll see our Duel through until the very end! No! I won't let you leave this arena until you finish it!"

Swaying for only a moment, Rua finally found it in him to continue the Duel.

"Grrr! Shut up already, Pops!" Rua growled, gripping the top of his deck firmly. "Obviously I'm not gonna surrender to you! Go, Power Tool Dragon! Attack Pirate Cat Burglar!" Nami gasped in horror as the large dragon dashed toward her with its claw stretched outward.

"Crafty Break!"

[Power Tool Dragon's ATK: 2300]

[Pirate Cat Burglar's ATK: 1800]

"You definitely had the right plan," Keith started, his sunglasses slipping down his nose to flash his beady eyes, "but you had no idea of knowing my planned counter! Behold the incredibly rare instant Summon Trap Monster! Sea Prism Stone!" Rua gasped as a pair of green-colored handcuffs floating out on Keith's field beside his other Monsters. Before Power Tool's attack could make contact, the handcuffs intercepted and forced the robot dragon backward, the force of the impact blowing wind over both Keith and Rua.

"It instantly becomes a Trap Monster Special Summoned onto the field in face-up Defense Mode! The attack this turn is also negated," Keith grinned, laughing.

[Sea Prism Stone: LV1/0/0] [Defense Position]

"As long as Sea Prism Stone remains face-up on my field, none of your Monsters can attack another Monster on the field until you deal with it first." Keith narrowed his eyes as he continued, his voice taking on a deeper tone. "And I don't plan to let you destroy it that easily." Keith giggled as he pointed down to the remaining set card on his track.

Keith laughed and gripped the handles of his D-Wheel tightly. "That ain't gonna do, kid! That still ain't enough! I'm gonna keep pushing you 'til you give me a Duel where time itself comes to a stop! Until you're strong enough to avenge that girlfriend of yours against those Urteil bastards!"

Just across the field, the final match between the leaders of Team Pride and Team Judgment was about to begin…

"I said nothing's what it seems," Tatsuya grinned, gripping his D-Wheel hard. "All of our defeats up until now have succeeded in pissing me off more than I've ever been before! I've been holding back in this tournament so far, so it's about time I give you a taste of what the grandson of the legendary Katsuya Jounouchi is capable of! Prepare yourself!" Tatsuya whipped his finger out toward Fynn, who merely smirked in response.

"Oh?" Fynn sang, his smirk stretching into a toothy grin. "Let's see if you can last a bit longer than the last bastard I trashed."


ooooooooOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOO


Keith laughed like a hyena as he dashed across the track, kicking up dust and sand behind him as he passed across the bleachers of the audience. "It's my turn now, kid, so get ready! Draw!"

[SC: New Generation 8 / 5D's 4]

[Keith's LP: 1900]

[Battle Warrior: LV3/700/1000] [Defense Position]

[Pirate Sniper: LV3/1000/800] [Defense Position]

[Pirate Cat Burglar: LV4/1800/1000] [Defense Position]

[Sea Prism Stone: LV1/0/0] [Defense Position]

[Face-Up Traps: Skull Invitation, Call of the Haunted (Equipped to

Pirate Sniper), Sea Prism Stone (Trap Monster)]

[1 face-down card]

[Rua's LP: 1700]

[Genex Ally Triforce: LV7/500/2100] [Defense Position]

[Power Tool Dragon: LV7/2300/2800] [Attack Position]

[Face-Up Traps: Synchro Blast, Doppelganger]

[Face-Up Speed Spells: Speed Spell – Tune Up (Equipped to Power Tool Dragon)]

[1 face-down card]

"I start by activating Speed Spell – The Shallow Grave!" Keith said as a large coffin appeared on the track beneath him. "By removing three of my Speed Counters, both players must Special Summon a Monster from their Graveyard in face-down Defense Mode." Rua looked down and noticed a coffin appearing on his field as well. "Pirate Archeologist returns to my field in face-down Defense Mode!" The coffin opened up, revealing a face-down card image on Keith's track beside his other Monsters.

"Then I'll Special Summon Genex Controller from my Graveyard in face-down Defense as well," Rua said, mimicking Keith's actions.

[New Generation's SC: 8 - 5]

[Keith's LP: 1900 - 1600]

"Very good," Keith replied, not so much as flinching from the EXPAIN System despite losing Life from Skull Initiation. "I then remove another two Speed Counters to increase my Life by 1000."

[New Generation's SC: 5 - 3]

[Keith's LP: 1600 - 2600]

Keith smirked a bit as he glanced over the current field. "Guess we're both at a stalemate now, huh? You couldn't attack me, but I can't attack you. In that case, I'll set one card face-down and end my turn! What'll you do now?"

As Keith's speed greatly reduced, he smirked to himself and stared holes through Rua's back. "This is a test," he thought. "A test to measure your battle tactics and your psychological capabilities. You currently have the upper hand on this field, but one wrong move will cost you big time. So think carefully, kid."

"My turn!" Rua cried as he placed his hand over his deck. "Draw!"

[SC: New Generation 4 / 5D's 4]

[Rua's LP: 1700]

"I activate Power Tool Dragon's effect," Rua said with a raise of his hand, "to add a random Equip Speed Spell from my deck into my hand!" Rua narrowed his eyes as he set a card from his hand onto his Duel Disk. "Next, I Summon Deformer Lighton in Defense Mode!" In a flash of yellow light, a small blue flashlight appeared out on the track by Power Tool Dragon.

[Deformer Lighton: LV1/200/200]

As Rua glanced over his current hand and field, he narrowed his eyes. As much as he wanted to shut this old man up and pay him back for not taking Hikari's injuries seriously, Rua had no choice but to admit that his current field wouldn't let him do as much as he wanted. Ideally, he wanted to use his weakened Genex Ally Triforce to Synchro Summon a new Genex Synchro Monster at its full power with its effects intact, but that was impossible because his Level Seven Triforce was incompatible with his Deformer Tuner due to the heavy restrictions on Genex Monsters. In addition to that, his face-down Genex Controller was a Level Three and there were no Level Ten Genex Synchro Monsters. He couldn't even use his Deformer Synchro Monsters, so he had no choice but to rely entirely on Power Tool Dragon.

Shaking his thoughts away, Rua took the Equip Speed Spell he just added to his hand out and placed it in his Duel Disk. "I equip Speed Spell – Used Parts to Power Tool Dragon!" Keith's smile faded momentarily as three Monsters— Steam Synchron, Arms Aid, and Genex Ally Duradark— suddenly appeared from within Rua's Graveyard out on the field. "Used Parts equips to one Machine-Type on my field," Rua explained, "and increases its Attack Points by 100 for each Machine-Type Monster in my Graveyard! I have three, so Power Tool gains 300 Attack Points!" The three Monsters broke apart, pieces of their armor attaching onto Power Tool's body.

[Power Tool Dragon's ATK: 2300 - 2600]

"Now-" Rua stopped himself before declaring his Battle Phase, suddenly recalling Keith's comment before about him being unable to attack any other Monster than Sea Prism Stone. Nodding to himself, Rua took a deep breath before continuing his Main Phase 1. "I switch Genex Ally Triforce into Attack Mode!" Rua's mecha Monster got back to its feet, raising its metallic claws for battle.

[Genex Ally Triforce's ATK: 500]

"Now, here comes my Battle Phase!" Rua continued, whipping out his finger. "Go, Genex Ally Triforce! Attack Sea Prism Stone!"

[Sea Prism Stone's DEF: 0]

A wide grin stretched across Keith's face as his green handcuffs were smashed through the air with a thud from Triforce's gun-like arm. "Excellent perception! Rather than waste your attack with Power Tool that would have been redirected to Sea Prism Stone anyway, you chose to sacrifice your weakest Monster on the field since you didn't know what these handcuffs were capable of! You pass!" Keith snapped his fingers, causing the cracked handcuffs to snap back and cling to Triforce's arm. "Sea Prism Stone is made of a material harder than diamond, you see," Keith explained. "Even if you attack it, it won't be destroyed so easily. Its second effect activates when it's destroyed and it equips itself as an Equip Card to the attacking Monster, reducing its Attack Power by 500 points every time it attacks another Monster on the field!"

"So you were testing me?" Rua asked, narrowing his eyes. "In that case, I'm glad I went with my gut! Now I'll use Power Tool Dragon to attack Pirate Cat Burglar! Crafty Break!"

[Power Tool Dragon's ATK: 2600]

[Pirate Cat Burglar's ATK: 1800]

Nami yelped out in pain as the metal dragon pierced through her gut, shattering her body into digital dust. Keith grunted, closing one eye as he felt the pain.

[Keith's LP: 2300 - 1500]

"Then you take 300 more damage from your own Skull Invitation!" Rua screamed, pointing toward Keith fiercely.

[Keith's LP: 1500 - 1200]

"Damn good work, kid," Keith growled through gritted teeth, but we're just getting started!"

"That's my line!" Rua shot back, snapping his wrist forward. "I activate the effect of Speed Spell – Tune Up! Every time the equipped Monster destroys a Monster, it gains 300 Attack Points!"

[Power Tool Dragon's ATK: 2600 - 2900]

"There's more where that came from!" Rua roared, his eyes flashing excitedly. "Because I attacked with a Synchro Monster, the Continuous Trap Synchro Blast activates, dealing you 500 points of damage!" Keith grunted in pain again as the card blasted him, using his forearms to absorb the brunt of the damage.

[Keith's LP: 1200 - 700]

Despite trying to play cool, Keith couldn't stop his sudden gag response to the triple strikes against his body from the EXPAIN System, resulting in a severe sweat breakout across his face. "Damn brat…!"

"Finally," Rua continued, "I remove two Speed Counters and increase my Life by 1000!"

[5D's SC: 4 - 2]

[Rua's LP: 1700 - 2700]

"Turn end!" Rua shouted, breathing a sigh of relief as his Power Tool Dragon returned to his side. Still recovering, Keith broke out into a light chuckle. "If anything, this kid's got a lot of spunk. I like him!"

The Team 5D's pit booth erupted with cheers as Ruka and Aki shouted in glee. "In one turn, Rua managed to completely turn the duel around!" Aki said, smiling brightly. "If he keeps it up, he'll be able to beat Keith in a couple of turns!"

"Rua's gotten a lot better at thinking on his feet," Ruka said, nodding in agreement. "He's come a long way in just a day's time!"

Yusei nodded, a smile of his own planted on his lips. "He's improved a lot since his last duel against Saiga." Jack, initially smiling along with his friends, suddenly frowned as he glanced over to Keith's teammates, who seemed way too calm despite the current situation. Narrowing his eyes, the King avoided spoiling his friends' mood by stating what was on his mind.

In the Team New Generation pit booth, Hell-Eyes chuckled a bit as he pushed his sunglasses further up his nose. "That damn Keith's always dicking around with my plans. If he had only played the card he's holding in his hand right now, he could have ended this duel ages ago. But…" Hell-Eyes' frown flipped into a wide smile as he continued. "Maybe now that he's got the shit beaten out of him this much, he'll start to take things seriously and actually follow the plan I set for him. If he does, there's no way he'll lose."

Beside Hell-Eyes, Esper Rouba began to sweat a bit. "How can you be so absolutely sure of your plans all the time? And how do you know what card he's got in his hand? It's a bit creepy."

"That's rude, squirt," Hell-Eyes grunted, grinning as he allowed his sunglasses to slip just enough to reveal a glimpse of his bright red eyes. "Let's just say I've got a good hunch about these things..." Mako Tsunami blinked in confusion at the man's words, scratching his head in confusion just as he noticed one of the seats were empty beside him.

"Where's Ghost?" Mako grunted, searching the large crowd behind him. "He's been gone an awful long time…"

At the same time, Ghost was hiding nervously behind one of the pillars within the stadium. He was watching Lara, who was still frozen in her tracks. The young teen gulped a bit, finding her sudden behavior even stranger than before. Ever since Leah's freak-out a few minutes ago, she'd stopped chasing him and started rubbing her eyes uncomfortably. Sure, he was affected by that strange moment as well, but this girl seemed bothered by it on a whole new level. Could she have sensed something he didn't?

"No, no, no…!" Ghost grunted quietly under his breath, gripping his fist in front of his chest and shaking his head sharply. "I've gotta get out of here while she's still not thinking clearly…!"


BREAK


Meanwhile, Fynn held a wide grin as he eyed Tatsuya through his side mirror, a deep chuckle escaping his throat. "I recall you spitting some bullshit earlier about destroying us with our own EXPAIN System," Fynn grinned, a taunting tone to his voice as he locked eyes with his opponent. "But it looks like you guys were the ones who got destroyed instead!"

Tatsuya paused for a moment to grit his teeth, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath as he absorbed Fynn's taunting. After regaining his cool, the teen opened his eyes again, this time with a hardened, stone cold expression as he returned Fynn's stare. "I told you before that nothing is what it seems," Tatsuya said, brows lowering deeply. "You may think your friends mercilessly killed off Team Pride one by one without any repercussions, but you're wrong."

"Oh?" Fynn sang, cupping his hand around his ear mockingly. "I'm wrong? Tell me then, brat, what your pathetic little friends managed to accomplish in their unsightly deaths! Let's hear it!"

"It's simple," Tatsuya grunted in a much lower, raspier voice than normal. As the teen proceeded to waver his hand over his deck, Fynn noticed something about Tatsuya that drew his attention. Fynn's frown faded slightly, watching quietly as Tatsuya continued speaking. "By defeating Hikari and Moki, you've successfully boiled by usually calm blood to the point where even I'm not sure what will happen!"

Fynn narrowed his eyes as he observed the teen, veins suddenly popping out of his forehead. "Nice bloodlust, kid… I love nothing more than pounding arrogant little shits like you ignorant to the ways of the world into the pavement! So let's do this!"

Nodding sharply, Tatsuya accelerated closer to his opponent. "The first turn's mine! Draw!"

[SC: Pride 1 / Judgment 6]

[Tatsuya's LP: 4000]

[Fynn's LP: 4000]

[Sealed Beast Nunurao: LV2/700/800] [Defense Position]

[Sealed Beast Nibunu: LV8/2900/2000] [Attack Position]

[Sealed Beast Brron: LV8/2900/2100] [Attack Position]

[Face-Up Traps: Full Throttle, Forbidden Zone, Rise of the Sealed Beasts]

"Here goes!" Tatsuya said with a slap of his card. "I Summon Little-Winguard in Attack Mode!" As the card touched his Duel Disk, the image of a small, blue fairy holding a petit sword appeared in a flash of light.

[Little-Winguard: LV4/1400/1800]

"Go, Little-Winguard!" Tatsuya cried, whipping his finger forward. "Attack Sealed Beast Nunurao!" With a high-pitched squeak, the tiny guardian rushed the skinny snake, slicing it in half with little effort.

[Sealed Beast Nunurao's ATK: 700]

Fynn grunted slightly as the wind of the attack washed over him, causing him to shield his eyes from the dust. As the head-half of Nunurao dissolved into dust, Fynn gave a light scoff. "What a worthless attack!"

"Even the most pointless attacks hold meaning!" Tatsuya said as his warrior returned to his side. "Now, I set two cards face-down on the field!" Tatsuya slid the two cards from his hand into his Duel Disk as he continued. "Then I activate Little-Winguard's effect! Once per turn, during my End Phase, I can switch its Battle Position! I switch it to Defense Mode!" The fairy squeaked as it folded its cape over its arms and sword, taking a defensive stance.

[Little Winguard's DEF: 1800]

"Turn end!" Tatsuya declared, shooting his hand to the side.

"Heh!" Fynn smirked, waving his cards around arrogantly. "All that trash talk and all you did was attack Leah's weak Defense Monster and then go back into hiding like a coward!" Fynn gave a sharp cackle as Tatsuya stared daggers into him. "Well, I'll drag your ass down a few notches like I did with the last asshole I killed yesterday!" Tatsuya narrowed his eyes as he thought back to Jean from Team Unicorn, who was heavily injured by Fynn the day before. Still grinning, Fynn waved his hand up and down excitedly as he continued. "Just like then, I won't use a single Synchro Summon in this Duel with you!

Tatsuya flashed his teeth in disgust as the man revealed his plans.

"But not only that," Fynn continued, his eyes widening. "I'm going to show you just how insignificant you are before me, like a worthless insect! Not only am I not gonna Synchro Summon even once in this Duel, I also won't even touch Forbidden Zone!" Grinning widely, Fynn demonstrated this by taking his deck out of his Duel Disk and revealing it, flipping through the cards. "As you can see," Fynn said, "I've replaced all the normal Spell Cards in my deck with Speed Spells. You should be honored! I'm going to give you a fair, completely legit match this time around like you Duelists like it!" Fynn laughed again, letting his tongue hang out over his lip.

Despite his annoyance, Tatsuya forced a grin of his own. "You know, it's against the rules to flash your deck off to your opponent like that in the middle of a Duel," the teen said, shrugging nonchalantly. "But I suppose I'll let it slide. You're getting pretty cocky over there, but you should know that if you underestimate your opponent, especially me…" Tatsuya paused for a second, lowering his brows into a deadly glare. "…you're liable to get burned."

Fynn laughed again as he returned his deck, completely unshuffled, into his Duel Disk. "Keep talking shit, brat! You ain't got a snowball's chance in Hell of ever even scratching me! My turn! Draw!"

[SC: Pride 2 / Judgment 8]

[Fynn's LP: 4000]

"Thanks to Full Throttle, our team gains two Speed Counters during each Standby Phase!" Fynn laughed, adding his card into his hand as his speed increased. "This gives us immediate access to Final Speed World! But first, I'll Normal Summon! Scrap Hunter, in Attack Position!" Fynn's Monster immediately appeared on the field, appearing as a bulky armored tank warrior.

[Scrap Hunter: LV3/1600/400]

"Then I activate Final Speed World! I remove three Speed Counters to Special Summon Scrap Mind Reader in Defense Position!" The second Monster appeared to be some sort of standing fan mixed with a vacuum cleaner and a shower hose attached to a beady-eyed metallic face.

[Scrap Mind Reader: LV1/0/0]

"Whoa there!" Fynn said with a raise of his finger. "Don't get too excited there, sport, just because I Summoned a Tuner Monster! Tuners are more than enough to kill your sorry ass, as I'm about to demonstrate with Scrap Hunter's effect!" In front of Fynn, Scrap Hunter's red eyes flowed brightly in response to Fynn's declaration. "Once per turn, Scrap Hunter can destroy one Junk Monster I control on the field other than itself! Tusch, Scrap Mind Reader!" Fynn pointed his thumb over to the junk hybrid beside him, prompting Scrap Hunter to shatter it.

"Then," Fynn continued as the parts of his destroyed Monster floated in front of him, "I can select one Tuner Monster from my deck and send it to my Graveyard!" Fynn smirked as he revealed his Scrap Searcher, sliding it into his Graveyard. "And we'll save this guy for later…" As the final pieces of Scrap Mind Reader vanished into ashes, Fynn began his assault with a whip of his arm. "No battle, Sealed Beast Nibunu! Attack Little-Winguard!"

[Sealed Beast Nibunu's ATK: 2900]

[Little-Winguard's DEF: 1800]

As the Sealed Beast approached, Tatsuya flashed a wide smirk. "Trap, activate! Back Attack Ambush!"

Fynn's smirk faded as his Monster's attack was canceled out by the sudden appearance of a miniature gremlin holding fire sticks. Ninbunu was forced back onto Fynn's field, its arms burned and unable to move. Fynn gritted his teeth, eyeing the card. "What the hell did you do?!"

"The Trap Card, Back Attack Ambush," Tatsuya explained with a twirl of his finger. "This card activates when my opponent's Monster attacks and ends the Battle Phase. It then Special Summons Ambush Tokens onto my side of the field equal to the number of face-up Monsters my opponent has on the field!" Tatsuya grinned as he raised his fingers one by one. "You don't seem like the sharpest tool in the shed, if you get my drift, but even you should be able to count to three, totaling the number of Attack Position Monsters you have on your field. So that's three Ambush Tokens on my field!" The single gremlin chuckled evilly as its body split into two more copies, siding beside the Little-Winguard in Defense.

[Ambush Token: LV1/100/100] x3

Fynn's eyes went bloodshot, the man no longer smirking. "You little piece of shit! How dare you mock me! I'll wipe your blood from my boots by the time I'm through with you!"

"That's nice and all," Tatsuya replied nonchalantly, picking wax from his ear, "but you gotta defeat me first, and it looks like I've already got the advantage here." Seeing Fynn's questioning eyes, Tatsuya went into further details. "Ah, I didn't mention it yet? See, I can release any one or all of my Ambush Tokens whenever I want to deal my opponent 500 points of damage. So… I could release one to deal you 500, two to deal you 1000, or even all three right now to deal you 1500 points all at once…" Seeing Fynn sweat a tad bit, a wide grin stretched across Tatsuya's mouth. "This should be fun, though… Seeing you squirm, not knowing when I'll blast you away to Hell. I told you you'd end up getting burned if you underestimated me…didn't I?"

Tatsuya narrowed his eyes darkly as he met Fynn's, the older man shaking with anger. After spitting in frustration, Fynn took a card from his hand out. "1500 points of damage or not, you shouldn't get so full of yourself for stopping just one of my attacks! I'll still see you suffer, but for now I'll place one card face-down on the field and end my turn!"

The two warriors glared each other down through Fynn's rearview mirror, wrapped up in their own world as the screaming audience and the ongoing battle between Rua and Keith exploded around them.



On the sidelines, Ghost from Team New Generation screamed at the top of his lungs as a wild Lara once again pursued him. Frantically turning as he dashed around a corner, Ghost cried, "What's wrong with this chick?! Just when I thought I could sneak around her when she was in a daze, she suddenly started freaking out and chasing after me again!"

And so Lara's hunt for justice against zombies continued…


BREAK


"My turn! Draw!"

Keith drew his card, quickly glancing it over. Keith seemed pleased with the card since he began to smile as soon as he recognized it. Stashing it away for the moment, Keith raised his eyes to the current condition on both sides of the field.

[SC: 5D's 3 / New Generation 5]

[Keith's LP: 700]

[Battle Warrior: LV3/700/1000] [Defense Position]

[Pirate Sniper: LV3/1000/800] [Defense Position]

[Pirate Archeologist: LV4/1500/1800] [Face-Down Defense Position]

[Face-Up Traps: Skull Invitation, Call of the Haunted (Equipped to Pirate Sniper,

Sea Prism Stone (Equipped to Genex Ally Triforce)]

[1 Face-down Card]

[Rua's LP: 2700]

[Genex Ally Triforce: LV7/500/2100] [Defense Position]

[Power Tool Dragon: LV7/2900/3100] [Attack Position]

[Deformer Lighton: LV1/200/200] [Defense Position]

[Genex Controller: LV3/1400/1200] [Face-Down Defense Position]

[Face-Up Traps: Synchro Blast, Doppelganger, Speed Spell- Tune Up,

Speed Spell – Used Parts (both equipped to Power Tool Dragon)

[1 face-down card]

Keith rubbed his chin in thought, his eyes focused on the two Speed Spells he held in his hand, one of which he stole from Rua with Pirate Cat Burglar's effect earlier. Considering Rua had the advantage at the moment, Keith could remove four of his Speed Counters in order to deal 800 points of damage to Rua for both Speed Spells, totaling 1600 points. That would drag Rua down to 1100 Life Points, evening out the score between them.

No.

Keith shook his head furiously, tightening his grip on his hand of cards. This wasn't some punkass showdown between weaklings! To Keith, this was a showdown between two men to see who was stronger! Who had the right and the strength to fight head-to-toe against Urteil in the next match! He won't tolerate cheap burn damage tricks! He wanted to fight head on and show this Duelist that even a 1400 LP gap wouldn't change the fact that Keith was superior!

"I Summon Pirate Speeder in Attack Position!" Keith roared, slapping the card onto his Duel Disk. The new Monster, a hook-clawed pirate-like robot complete with a metallic parrot, a skull-emblem hat, and an eye patch appeared beside the growing Pirate Army.

[Pirate Speeder: LV3/700/1000]

"That Monster…!" Ruka said, her mouth widening slightly. "That's the Monster that defeated Team Mythology! The one with the ability to attack directly!"

"When Pirate Speeder's Summoned," Keith continued, "he allows me to add one Spell Card from my deck into my hand. So I'll add one Speed Spell." Smirking, Keith skimmed through his deck until he found his card, adding it into his hand. "I'll hold onto that thing for later. For now, I remove three of my Speed Counters in order to Special Summon Pirate Warrior!"

[New Generation's SC: 5 - 2]

As Keith's speed fell, a thin woman with long orange hair wearing a pirate hat and carrying a short-bladed sword appeared. The female pirate smirked obnoxiously, taunting Rua's Machine Army obscenely.

[Pirate Warrior: LV4/1500/1800] [Attack Position]

"Behold the true meaning behind my current Pirate lineup!" Keith said, shooting both his arms outward. "Pirate Warrior gains 500 Attack Points for each Warrior-Type Monster on my field! I currently have four—Battle Warrior, Pirate Sniper, Pirate Speeder, and Pirate Warrior herself! That means this sexy lady literally doubles her Attack Points!" The female pirate grinned as she gathered energy from her fellow warriors right into her sword.

[Pirate Warrior's ATK: 1500 - 3000]

"N-No way!" Rua gulped, sweat dripping down his face. "3000 Attack Points?!"

"Then I Flip Summon Pirate Archeologist!" Keith roared, taking his face-down card and flipping it into face-up vertical position. "Nico Robin is back in action!" The black-haired Straw Hat pirate appeared on the field once again, her hand on her hip as she stared firmly at her opponents.

[Pirate Archeologist: LV4/1500/1800] [Attack Position]

"Robin's effect then activates!" Keith cried, the woman's multiple arms popping in front of Rua's deck and grabbing a card. "She reveals the top card of either my deck or my opponent's, adding it to the owner's hand and dealing the owner 500 points of damage!" Rua screamed in pain as he was zapped by the EXPAIN System. Simultaneously, however, Doppelganger activated and sent the damage flying straight back into Keith, the older man joining Rua in his screams.

[Rua's LP: 2700 - 2200]

[Keith's LP: 700 - 200]

Grunting through gritted teeth, Rua added Speed Spell – Monster Reincarnation into his hand. Despite his pain, Keith chuckled as Rua added the card. "Now I know one of the cards in your hand! And I managed to drag your Life closer to mine, kid!"

"What an incredibly reckless playing style this man has," Yusei said in his seat, narrowing his eyes. "It's as if he doesn't care if he loses. What's he aiming for?"

"Then I switch Pirate Sniper into Attack Mode!" Keith continued, shifting his card and forcing his gunner into offensive position.

[Pirate Sniper's ATK: 1000]

"And here comes my Battle Phase!" Keith roared, pumping his fist as he zipped past a corner. "Pirate Sniper, attack Deformer Lighton!"

[Deformer Lighton's DEF: 200]

Just as the sniper's bullet smashed through the flashlight's glass cover, a card flipped up on Rua's field along with several metal tools that instantly repaired the Monster.

"Trap, activate! Cyber Repairer!" Rua was saying as this occurred, directing Keith's attention over to him. "This card activates during the Battle Phase and protects all my Machine-Type Monsters from being destroyed in battle until the end of the turn! My opponent then draws a card!"

"Nice save, kid!" Keith grinned, drawing from his deck. "But you still take damage from Skull Invitation!" Rua braced himself as Keith's card once again zapped him, causing him to double over in pain.

[Rua's LP: 2200 - 1900]

"And it ain't over yet!" Keith cried, whipping his finger forward. "Pirate Warrior attacks Power Tool Dragon!"

[Pirate Warrior's ATK: 3000]

[Power Tool Dragon's ATK: 2900]

Keith laughed as his warrior stabbed the metal dragon through its chest. "Your dragon may be immortal this turn, but you still take the damage!"

[Rua's LP: 1900 - 1800]

"Finally, Pirate Speeder's effect allows it to bypass your Monsters and attack directly!" Keith grinned, catching the young man off guard as the pirate warrior dashed across the field to deliver a sharp kick to Rua's spine. Rua nearly choked on his own tongue, biting down hard to swallow his scream.

[Rua's LP: 1800 - 1100]

"Now things are even, but not for long!" Keith laughed, pressing the button on his D-Wheel. "Final Speed World, activate! I give up my final two Speed Counters to raise my Life!"

[New Generation's SC: 2 - 0]

[Keith's LP: 200 - 1200]

Keith laughed like a hyena as his D-Wheel came to a complete stop along the side of the track.

Growling, Rua responded with a sharp draw of his own, his eyes locking onto Keith's intensely. "My turn! Draw!"

[SC: 5D's 4 / New Generation 1]

[Rua's LP: 1100]

"Power Tool Dragon's effect activates, allowing me to add one Equip Speed Spell into my hand!" Rua cried, a new card being sent into his hand through Power Tool's arm. "Then," he continued after adding the card and taking out another card from his hand, "I set one Monster in face-down Defense Mode. Keith barely batted an eyebrow as the card image appeared face-down on the field. "And there's more!" Rua continued, raising his palm. "During your turn, you gave me another Monster with Speed Spell – The Shallow Grave! Now I'm going to Flip Summon that Monster—Genex Controller—back into Attack Mode!" As the card flipped up, the hidden machine once again raised its choice of weapons toward Keith's field.

[Genex Controller's ATK: 1400]

"Battle!" Rua cried, jerking his arm forward. "Genex Controller attacks your Defense Mode Battle Warrior!" The machine raised its drill arsenal, zipping across the track toward the kneeling spandex-wielding blue warrior.

[Battle Warrior's DEF: 1000]

As the machine approached, Keith leaned forward with a deep chuckle from his throat. "A fine deduction," he started, sticking his hand out to the side. "Your plan's to weaken my Pirate Warrior's Attack Power by destroying my Warriors on the field, but doing that won't be as easy as you think! I activate the Trap Card, Waboku!"

Genex Controller was met by a group of blue-robbed cultists holding sacred artifacts, repelling its drill attack and sending the machine skidding across the field back in front of Rua. "What?!" Rua grunted, his eyes and mouth widening.

"Waboku protects both me and my Monsters from being damaged this turn," Keith explained, flexing his fingers. "Meaning your turn's a complete waste, kid, but feel free to throw pointless attacks at me all day if you want!"

"Keh!" Rua groaned, balling his hand into a tight fist while cutting around the stadium corner. "Fine, guess there's nothing I can do other than increase my Life!"

Keith laughed as Rua's speed cut in half, the young man falling just in front of Keith on the track and several paces behind the other two fighting D-Wheelers. "Thanks to Skull Invitation, this has become a battle of wit and Speed Counters. In other words, psychological warfare. How long can you hold out?" Though still smirking, the man grunted a bit as his own card blasted him, giving him the 300 point penalty as his card entered the Graveyard.

[Keith's LP: 1200 - 900]

[5D's SC: 4 - 2]

[Rua's LP: 1100 - 2100]

"Tch," Rua grumbled, raising his hand out in front of him. "First, I set one card face-down," he said, sliding the card into his Spell/Trap Zone. "Then, since the hand limit is six and I currently have seven cards in my hand, I discard one of them into the Graveyard." Rua took his Damage Eraser Trap Card and slid it into his Graveyard Slot as he said this.

The members of Team 5D's watched on intently from their pit booth, their eyes focused on Rua. Jack shook his head lightly, his arms crossed against his chest, as the match continued on. "It's become a stalemate," the King said, "but not for much longer. Either Duelist could crack under the pressure at any time, but this Keith bastard's got experience on his side."

"This could still drag on for a little while longer," Yusei admitted, placing his hand under his chin. "Each Duelist can increase their Life Points using Final Speed World as long as they have at least one Speed Counter. Whether Rua gains the advantage depends on how he makes use of Power Tool Dragon's effect." Yusei paused for a second, shifting his eyes a bit over to where Fynn passed near Keith on the track. "And Tatsuya's in the middle of fighting against that shrewd Fynn Hartmann. No doubt he's going to have a tough time as well."

As Yusei said this, Fynn drove up behind Keith and gave a taunting laugh. "You sure play dirty, old man!" Fynn grinned, using his pinky finger to point at the D-Wheeler. "Playing mind games and shit to psyche out that kid and all, I mean! What a heartless bastard!"

Keith returned the grin, eyeing the Urteil general through the corner of his sunglasses. "You're one to talk about being heartless, you walking trash bag! But you probably should pay closer attention to your opponent, don't ya think?!" Keith raised his finger to point beyond Fynn's shoulder, where Tatsuya and his field of Monsters were fast approaching.

Fynn's smile faded as he noticed a new Monster on the teen's field. "The fuck is that shit?" Fynn turned in his chair toward a small red and yellow clock-shaped creature bearing a blue cape and a staff in its hand. The pointer on the round staff was noticeably moving, the yellow arrow buzzing over images of skulls and time machines.

[Time Wizard: LV2/500/400] [Attack Position]

"You're in trouble, asshole!" Keith snorted, waving his finger around a bit. "That there's an old school Monster known as Time Wizard! Take a good look at that roulette he's got out spinning on the field." Fynn frowned, following the man's finger over toward his opponent's wizard. "If that arrow lands on one a' the two time machines, every single Monster on your side of the field's gonna be blown to kingdom come!"

"What…?" Fynn grumbled, his eyes widening a bit.

"But he's taking a huge gamble," Keith explained, chuckling. "If that arrow lands on one of the four skull images, not only will all his Monsters on the field be destroyed… He'll take half their total Attack Points as damage as well! It's a 25/75 gamble! Ya feelin' lucky today?" Keith grinned, his glasses slipping just enough to reveal one of his eyes.

Fynn growled in response, turning in the opposite direction on the track as the two rounded a corner. Tatsuya followed right behind Fynn, a flat expression planted on his face as the roulette came to a stop. Fynn gritted his teeth in disgust as the arrow began to slow, wavering between a skull and a time machine. "You shitty little punk! Leaving everything up to luck!"

The arrow finally came to a stop, nearly landing on a time machine but suddenly jittering over to a skull. With this result, a sudden rip appeared in the air above Tatsuya's field. Seeing this, Fynn cocked his head back for a mocking laugh. "You damned fool! Because you bet everything on a gamble, your entire field is about to be destroyed! I'll wipe you out in one swift series of attacks on my next tur-"

Fynn swallowed his words as the rip in space above Time Wizard suddenly collapsed, and the Time Wizard's roulette started up again. "What?!"

Fynn shifted his gaze back down to Tatsuya, who now rubbed the back of his head wearing a bored, glazed expression. "Ahh, man. This is why I hate gambling," he grumbled, shaking his head. "I don't care for that result. Good thing I've got a Trap Card." Fynn's eyes widened as he followed Tatsuya's hand toward the Trap that was now flipped up on his field. "I activated the Trap, Probability Change! When activated, this card negates the result of a coin toss, die roll, roulette, or slot machine spin and redoes it!"

Fynn's eyes went bloodshot, his teeth grinding together. "What'd you say?! What kind of f!cking ridiculous card is that shit?!"

Tatsuya's frown stretched into a wide grin as he looked up to meet Fynn's gaze, his eyes gleaming sadistically. "I told you already, didn't I? Nothing is what it seems. That goes for what you see on the field. In a Duel against me, you can't trust your senses, skills, or intuition. Because my deck is a gamble deck where my opponent suffers the results of failure and I only take positive results! A genuine Troll Deck!" As Fynn started to sweat, Tatsuya raised his pointer finger arrogantly. "The same applies to Time Wizard's effect! When Probability Change activates, the second try will never wield the same result as the first! In other words…"

Fynn's jaw dropped wide open when the skull images on Time Wizard's staff turned into time machines.

"It's a 100% success gamble!"

Several veins popped out of Fynn's forehead as the realization settled in. "You little piece of shit!" Just as he muttered his curses, Time Wizard's staff stopped, causing a time warp to appear above Fynn's full field of Monsters.

"Time Magic!"

Fynn screamed in fury as every last Monster on his field—including Leah's more powerful Sealed Beasts—were sucked into a time warp and destroyed instantly. Fynn grunted as he guarded his eyes from the violent wind, staring daggers into Tatsuya across the track with nothing but hatred.


….


Keith chuckled as he watched the events take place, but quickly stopped when he heard Rua shouting right behind him. "Hey, Pops! Stop paying attention to other peoples' Duel! You already started your turn, right?!"

"Heh," Keith grunted, cocking his neck toward his side view mirror, reflecting Rua's image. "Someone's getting a bit full of themselves! Are you really sure you want me to make my turn?" As he said this, Keith raised four of the cards he was holding onto over his shoulder so Rua could see them. As Keith used his fingers to separate the cards, Rua's eyes began to fade, sweat dripping down his face. The four cards Keith held up were, in this order: Speed Spell – Book of Life, Speed Spell – Silver Contrails, Speed Spell – Overboost, Speed Spell – Pot of Greed.

Yusei and his friends went wide-eyed upon seeing this, leaning forward in flabbergasted shock.

"Yeah, you get what this means, don't ya?!" Keith cried, waving the cards mockingly. "One of the four is Overboost, a card that will raise my Speed Counters by four, giving me a total of six and the four I need to activate Final Speed Spell's fourth effect! Once that happens, I can deal you 800 points of damage for the three remaining, totaling 2400 points in total!" Keith grinned, pointing directly as Rua. "And you only have 2100 Life Points left! One hit and you'd be blown across this track like a goddamn mosquito!"

Keith started laughing as he raised his hand over his D-Wheel, causing Rua to clamp his eyes shut in fear.


…..


"Battle!"

At the same time, after switching his Ambush Tokens and his Little-Winguard back into Attack Position, Tatsuya was in the middle of ordering it to attack the now defenseless Fynn.

"Go, Little-Winguard! Direct Attack!"

Fynn grunted loudly as the small fairy drew its sword, going in for a jab to the man's stomach.

[Little-Winguard's ATK: 1400]

[Fynn's LP: 4000]

With a roar, Fynn jerked his fist out in front of him in response. "F!ck no you don't! Trap, activate! Negate Attack!" Just as the tiny guardian was about to make contact, a sudden vortex intercepted its sword, sucking the fairy in and shooting it back out in front of Tatsuya. "I won't let some little shit touch me, let alone damage me! Negate Attack nullifies your Monster's attack and ends the Battle Phase! Sucks for you!"

"Pssh," Tatsuya grumbled, digging his finger in his ear with a dopy look on his face. "Umad, bro? You need to take it down a notch or two and stop spitting when you talk."

"SHUT THE F!CK UP, YOU LITTLE SHIT!" Fynn roared at the top of his lungs, clutching both his fists out in front of him. "Take this seriously, you damned retard! Don't you get the situation you're in!? Your pathetic little friends are in their death beds right now, you know! Because of my generals! Sitting here with that goofy-ass smirk on your face…you're a damn disgrace!"

There was a bit of silence between the two for a couple of minutes, where Fynn panted heavy from his own yelling. Tatsuya's smirk faded, the teen's eyes hardening into something far fiercer. After letting Fynn's words sink in, Tatsuya finally opened his mouth to speak.

"Of course I know that," Tatsuya began, a gleam flashing across his shadowy eyes. "I just made the decision that trash like you wasn't worth getting angry at. If my friends were here right now, they'd definitely agree with me. But since you want me to get serious against you…" Tatsuya slowly raised his thumb to his neck, signaling a death threat while moving his thumb across his neck in the air. "…I guess I'll have to be your personal guillotine!"

Still panting, Fynn erupted into a wave of uncontrollably laughter. "Those are nice eyes! That's what I wanted to see! Let's have a match to the death, right here and now!" Fynn licked his lips, his eyes stretching wildly as he awaited Tatsuya's next move.

"I set one card face-down," Tatsuya continued, slipping a card into his Duel Disk. "I then use Little-Winguard's effect to switch him back into Defense Mode! I then end my turn!"

Both D-Wheelers met eyes fiercely as Tatsuya's card appeared out on the track.



Just across from the two, Rua was awaiting his oncoming defeat with his eyes shut tight when he suddenly realized it never came. The young man slowly opened his eyes again, moving his gaze up enough to see Keith returning his cards to his hand. This left the green-haired lad a bit taken aback, blinking in confusion. "What are you…?"

Yusei and the rest of Team 5D's finally released their breaths they had been holding for a few minutes, relieved to see Rua still with his Life Points.

Returning the cards to his hand, Keith gave a chuckle and flashed a grin. "Whoa there, kid. Don't go pissin' yer pants on me. Just relax…" Keith's smile stretched a bit, his tone now a bit softer. "Did you think I got four Speed Spells at once? No, I've been collecting them for turns now, starting with the one Ghost left me from his Duel with Aki Izayoi. If you recall, I also stole Silver Contrails from you a few turns back."

Rua clicked his tongue a bit, realizing he was right as he recalled Pirate Cat Burglar's effect from a few turns earlier. "Meaning you could have finished me off at any time before? Is that right? Are you trying to screw with my head?!" Rua's voice began to crack as he spoke, showing his frustration.

"Bingo!" Keith said, raising a finger. "Had I spared my Speed Counters and used them for Burn Damage instead, I could have ended things before you got your Power Tool Dragon out on the field with 1600 points of damage! There were multiple turns where I allowed you to increase your Life Points. Do you know why?"

Rua gritted his teeth, averting his eyes as the man continued.

"You see," Keith continued, "that bastard strategist of mine, Hell-Eyes, loves quick, effortless victories that advance us to the next round and ensure we face Urteil in the final match. No matter what means necessary. If you recall from our previous match, he beat the snot out of those amateurs using the exact same Burn Strategy."

Yusei narrowed his eyes at this, recalling Hell-Eyes' match against the girl named Emily from Team Mythology where she was beaten using Burn Damage alone.

"But when I find a real challenge," Keith continued, his eyes shining excitedly, "I can't stand winning in such a cheap way! You, Rua Heartlily, have proven to me that you've got untapped potential flowing through you!" Keith said, pointing toward Rua. "Though my methods are admittedly a bit prickish, I could care less! I'm gonna be the mean big brother who's gonna draw out that inner potential…using nothing but my intelligence and raw power! And together, let's create a Duel where time itself stops! Where nothing but our Duelist souls flicker! That's the kind of Duel I'm searching for, and I'll beat the shit outta you 'til I get it!"

Rua's eyes widened a bit, as if something within him began to stir for the first time.


….


Simultaneously, Tatsuya and Fynn continued circling each other. Growling, Fynn swiped a card off of his deck. "My turn! Draw!"

[SC: Pride 4 / Judgment 9]

"Here I come, you little shit!" Fynn roared, his eyes red and bloody. "I'll teach you just how superior I am to you! You got so cocky last turn that you put your weak-ass Time Wizard in Attack Mode! Did you think I'd just sit here and let that shit stay on the field turn after turn?!" Tatsuya's lowered his eyes, shadows concealing most of his face.

"I Summon Scrap Beast in Attack Mode!" Fynn yelled, slapping down the card and manifesting his robotic wolf that shared a similar appearance to Tenro, minus the unique facial structure and the claw-like tip of the tail.

[Scrap Beast: LV4/1600/1300]

"Go, Scrap Beast!" Fynn ordered, shooting his hand out. "Attack Time Wizard! Bite through it with your fangs of steel!"

[Scrap Beast's ATK: 1600]

[Time Wizard's ATK: 500]

Tatsuya grunted in pain, gripping the handles of his D-Wheel tightly and biting his lip, as the wolf tore through Time Wizard and sent the damage into the teen's gut.

[Tatsuya's LP: 4000 - 2900]

[Pride's SC: 4 - 3]

"Now I'm the one who got the first hit!" Fynn laughed, taking another card out of his hand. "I then set one card and end my turn!"

"Then it's my turn!" Tatsuya said, placing his hand over his deck. "I draw!"

[SC: Pride 4 / Judgment 11]

[Tatsuya's LP: 2900]

"Hmph," Tatsuya scoffed, a smirk coming to his lips. "You said you were going to show me you were superior, but you had that backwards! I'm about to teach you that I had this match under control from the very beginning!"

As Tatsuya declared this, the members of Urteil present—now minus Murdock, Misaki, Anton, and Leah due to them dealing With stabilizing Leah—watched the match curiously from their seats. Jafar folded his arms neatly against his chest, narrowing his eyes a bit as he observed Tatsuya's behavior. "This child is acting rather calm for someone in his situation. I feel as if there's more to him than meets the eye."

"Why did he leave his Time Wizard in Attack Mode?" Etzel wondered out loud, rubbing his chin. "There's something off about him. No way could he be so arrogant that he thought Time Wizard alone would have been enough to win the match…"

Wasting no time, Tatsuya started off with a flick of his wrist. "I release one of my Ambush Tokens in order to Advance Summon Jinzo! Psycho Shocker!" One of the demonic creatures dispersed into a ball of fire, taking on the form of an alien-like, wrinkly, pink-skinned creature dressed in spiky green attire.

[Jinzo: LV6/2400/1500]

"Jinzo?!" Fynn cried, his eyes widening. "You were planning on using those tokens for that?!"

"Bingo!" Tatsuya cried, whipping his finger out. "As long as the Psycho Shocker remains face-up on the field, all Trap Cards and their effects on the field are negated! And Set Traps can't be activated! Meaning all your face-up Traps will be negated!"

"What?!" Fynn cried, taking a sharp turn around the corner as Jinzo began to raise both its arms.

"Trap Search!"

Fynn grunted as Jinzo sent a ray of red light toward his field, scanning over all his face-up cards and dimming them a dark grey, including Forbidden Zone.

"Now you won't be able to gain two Speed Counters every turn with Full Throttle," Tatsuya said, his smile widening. "I've evened the playing score. Not to mention dealing with that annoying cheat card of yours! Next, I activate the Trap Card, Dust Tornado!"

Fynn's eyes shot open as a large tornado whipped up in a heartbeat, destroying his Forbidden Zone and removing the grey covering over the stadium roof.

"Absurd!" Etzel screamed, slamming his hands against the table of his pit booth. "That bastard actually had a strategy to deal with Forbidden Zone right from the start!"

"I get it," Fynn said, narrowing his eyes. "By negating Forbidden Zone's effect with Jinzo, he was able to bypass its immunity to destruction and destroy it. Annoying little kid," Fynn grumbled, turning his head toward his front as he passed along the bleachers of the stadium and the cheering crowd. "I guess I lucked out. If I hadn't adjusted my deck from the start to include Speed Spells, I'd be in a world of shit with nothing but useless cards right now! As much as it pains me to admit it, this asshole's clever!"

"Now battle, Jinzo Psycho Shocker!" Tatsuya ordered, swinging his fist forward. "Attack Scrap Beast! Cyber Energy Shock!"

[Jinzo's ATK: 2400]

[Scrap Beast's ATK: 1600]

"Tch!" Fynn growled as Jinzo sent a blast of psychic shockwaves toward his field. "You may be smart, but you're still naïve if you thought I'd let you attack me so easily! I activate the Quick-Play Speed Spell, Shrink!" As Fynn's card flipped up, his speed fell and Jinzo's body shrunk to the size of a small cat.

"What?!" Tatsuya cried, caught off guard as Fynn's Monster retaliated with its sharp teeth, tearing through Jinzo's stomach.

[Jinzo's ATK: 2400 - 1200]

[Judgment's SC: 11 - 8]

"By removing three Speed Counters," Fynn cried, "I can halve the Attack Points of one face-up Monster until the end of the turn! Now take that!" Tatsuya cried in pain as his Monster bit the dust, the pain transferring to his chest.

[Tatsuya's LP: 2900 - 2500]

Still recovering, Tatsuya knew he had to maintain his control. Panting, he took a deep breath before taking another card out of his hand. "I set one card face-down. I then switch my remaining Ambush Tokens into Defense Mode. Turn end!"

BREAK

Meanwhile, Keith continued to talk to Rua, who was showing a calmer, more understanding change in his emotional state as he listened.

"You and your friends may not yet be aware of it," Keith said with a raise of his hand, "but you've already shown remarkable growth in this tournament. You still remember what Saiga told you during your Duel with him yesterday, don't you?"

Rua stopped for a moment, lowering his eyes as he recalled Saigai's words to him.

"No matter who it is, you must never underestimate your opponent."

"Every Duelist reaches an unsurpassable wall they must surpass no matter what!"

"This is the beginning of your journey of self-discovery, Rua."

Rua's eyes softened a bit as he recalled this, looking back up at his opponent this time not with anger, but with respect and curiosity. "Then, from the beginning, you…"

Keith chuckled a bit, flashing Rua a big thumbs up. "Truth is, you remind me of myself back when I was your age and just entering the Pro League. Honestly, everyone goes through that journey of self-discovery at the start of their careers. That 'unsurpassable wall' Saiga referred to isn't just those more powerful than you…" Keith lifted his finger, pointing toward Rua. "…but you yourself; your fears; your weakness; your arrogance. Every Duelist… No, every person works to overcome themselves every day."

Rua's mouth dropped open, the young man truly speechless for the first time. Rua gripped his chest, feeling an overwhelming sense of guilt take over his spirit. Because of Keith's attitude toward Hikari's loss and toward him, he had originally judged Keith Howard to be a man who cared about no one but himself. Without realizing it, Rua's opinion of this man had been changed by the simple act of courtesy Keith had shown him, one that very few Duelists he'd encountered lately outside his circle of friends had… respect as an equal.

Rua found himself torn emotionally. On one hand, he still hated Keith for the way he acted in light of Hikari's defeat and hospitalization. On the other hand, however, he felt a growing sensation of nothing but respect for this man. Faced with these conflicting emotions, Rua's expression shifted to a frown as he returned his hand to his side.

"I appreciate you being considerate," Rua started, "but I don't like the idea of you holding back, even in a case like this." Keith raised an eyebrow at this, merely waiting for Rua to finish. "But… I think I understand you more now than before." Rua's frown flashed into a confident smile, nodding respectfully. "Therefore, to make this fair, we'll both agree that the use of Final Speed World for effect damage is off the table. And we'll both face each other head on from here on out with all our strength! No tricks! No lies! Agreed?"

"I like it!" Keith grinned, his sunglasses catching a ray of sunlight. "A man-to-man battle with no strings attached! It's about time we enter the final act, kid! Keep fighting 'til the very end! And whoever loses will lose with some dignity and not off some cheap burn effect!"

"Fine by me!" Rua said, narrowing his eyes as he awaited for Keith to resume his turn.

Though he was still conflicted, Rua decided then and there to finish the Duel without thinking about the situation. He would simply focus on defeating him so Team 5D's could advance. That was his ultimate goal for being here, after all. He was not sure what he was supposed to learn from all this, but none of that mattered at the moment.

Somewhere watching from within the audience, Saiga sat in his chair with a satisfied smile on his face.

In the Team 5D's booth, Yusei and his friends appeared equally satisfied, each wearing smiles of their own. "I don't care for his assholish tactics," Jack said, "but I admit I approve of his intentions. Deep down he's not that bad of a guy."

"Yeah," Yusei said, leaning against the back of his hand. "Like a certain someone I know."

"Hmph," Jack snorted, folding his arms. "I'm pretty sure I have no idea what you're talking about."

Focusing on nothing else but the match at hand, Rua and Keith ramped up the speed and dashed across the track on the opposite end as Fynn and Tatsuya.

[SC: 5D's 2 / New Generation 1]

[Rua's LP: 2100]

[Genex Ally Triforce: LV7/500/2100] [Defense Position]

[Power Tool Dragon: LV7/2900/3100] [Attack Position]

[Deformer Lighton: LV1/200/200] [Defense Position]

[1 Face-down Monster]

[Face-up Traps: Synchro Blast, Dopperlganger]

[Face-Up Speed Spells: Tune Up & Used Parts, both equipped to Power Tool]

[1 face-down card]

"Here goes, kid!" Keith cried, pressing a button on his D-Wheel. "It's still my turn and I'm activating Final Speed World to regain 1000 Life at the cost of two Speed Counters!"

[Keith's LP: 1200 - 2200]

[New Generation's SC: 2 - 0]

"I then activate Speed Spell – Overboost to increase by Speed Counters by four!" Keith said, just as he was skidding to a sharp stop. His speed snapped back, doubling compared to before.

[New Generation's SC: 0 - 4]

[Keith's LP: 2200 - 1900]

Keith flinched a bit as Skull Invitation struck him as his card entered the Graveyard, but he maintained his smirk. "I then activate Speed Spell – Pot of Greed to draw two cards from my deck!" As he drew, his smirk grew even bigger.

[Keith's LP: 1900 - 1600]

"What luck! I activate Speed Spell – Angel Baton to once again draw two cards!"

Rua went wide-eyed at this, flabbergasted as the man now held a full hand of cards in just one turn. "He actually drew Angel Baton with Pot of Greed?!"

[Keith's LP: 1600 - 1300]

"Whew, stings a bit!" Keith grunted, taking a card back out of his hand. "Due to Angel Baton, I discard a card to the Graveyard!" Keith took Mako's useless Barrier Statue of the Torrent and sent it into his Duel Disk, causing him to get blasted once again, grunting.

[Keith's LP: 1300 - 1000]

"But the pain'll be worth it when you see what I've got up my sleeve!" Keith laughed, pressing his D-Wheel once again. "I activate Final Speed World again to gain Life!"

[Keith's LP: 1000 - 2000]

[New Generation's SC: 4 - 2]

"Next, I'm releasing Pirate Speeder and Battle Warrior to Advance Summon Pirate Shipwright!" The two pirates dispersed into digital data and were replaced by the bulky cyborg of the Straw Hat pirates with a top heavy body, skinny legs, and a raunchy speedo to boot.

"Mmmmmm, SUPER!" Franky cried, striking his signature pose with his two arms together to form a complete star pattern.

[Pirate Shipwright: LV7/2500/3000] [Attack Position]

Keith grabbed his sides in pain as he took another two blasts from his Trap, causing the man to sweat a bit despite maintaining his firm smile.

[Keith's LP: 2000 - 1400]

"First I activate Pirate Shipwright's effect!" Keith declared with a point of his finger. "Once per turn, all the Monsters on your side of the field lose 500 Attack Points!" Franky responded by tearing his shirt open, causing two bright lights to flash from his chest right onto Rua's side of the track.

"Nipple Lights!"

"What's with that ridiculous name?! And what a ridiculous effect!" Rua groaned as the light blinded him and his Monsters.

[Genex Ally Triforce's ATK: 500 - 0]

[Power Tool Dragon's ATK: 2900 - 2400]

[Genex Controller's ATK: 1400 - 900]

[Deformer Lighton's ATK: 200 - 0]

"Your Monsters lost a total of 1700 Attack Points!" Keith said, balling his hand into a tight fist. "Those total points will then be added to my Life!"

[Keith's LP: 1400 - 3100]

"What?!" Rua cried. "His Life raised that much from one effect?!"

"But in exchange," Keith said, "Pirate Warrior's Attack Power drops by 1000 due to the absence of two Warrior-Types. Be grateful, kid!"

[Pirate Warrior's ATK: 3000 - 2000]

"Now we begin from the weakest to the strongest!" Keith said, pumping his arm. "Battle! I use Pirate Sniper to attack Deformer Lighton!" The robotic sniper aimed its weapon toward the blue flashlight, preparing to strike it down with ease.

[Pirate Sniper's ATK: 1000]

[Deformer Lighton's DEF: 200]

"Counter Trap, activate!"

Keith's smile faded as Rua's card flipped up, sending a powerful electrical shock surging through the pirate's mechanical body, causing it to spark up and return to Keith's field. "Electrical Shock!" Rua said with a smirk. "This card activates when I have a Machine-Type Monster and negates my opponent's Monster's attack! That Monster then loses 500 Attack Points!"

[Pirate Sniper's ATK: 1000 - 500]

[Rua's LP: 2100 - 1800]

As Rua grunted from the pain, Keith retorted with a snort. "Fine then, kid! I'll let you keep that weak Tuner Deformer of yours! I've got bigger fish to fry, after all!" Keith raised his hand again, nodding to Nico Robin standing beside Franky. "Pirate Archeologist, attack Genex Controller!"

[Genex Controller's ATK: 900]

[Pirate Archeologist's ATK: 1500]

Robin sent a trail of her arms above the small machine with the aid of her Flower-Flower Fruit Devil Fruit abilities, delivering a series of punches that dented the front of the metal warrior and then finishing it off with a clutch that shattered the head, blowing it up.

[Rua's LP: 1800 - 1200]

[Rua's LP: 1200 - 900]

"Because another Machine-Type entered my Graveyard," Rua responded, one eye shut tight from the pain, "Speed Spell – Used Parts adds another 100 Attack Points to Power Tool Dragon!" Keith looked up at the dragon, noticing pieces of Genex Controller's body attaching to its own.

[Power Tool Dragon's ATK: 2400 - 2500]

"Heh!" Keith laughed, waving his arm up a bit. "That effect just saved your ass! Since Power Tool's got the same Attack Power as Franky, I'll be using him to attack your Genex Ally Triforce instead! Weapons Left!"

[Pirate Shipwright's ATK: 2500]

[Genex Ally Triforce's DEF: 2100]

Franky opened his left arm weapons to fire bullets straight through the machine warrior's body, causing another explosion.

[Rua's LP: 900 - 600]

"Finally," Keith concluded as his pirates lined up in front of him, "I remove my final two Speed Counters to increase my Life yet again!"

[Keith's LP: 3100 - 4100]

[New Generation's SC: 2 - 0]

"I set two cards and end my turn!" Keith said, his two card images popping up on his field. "Thanks to Speed Spell – Overboost, my Speed Counters rise to one again."

[New Generation's SC: 0 - 1]

"My turn!" Rua cried, whipping a card off his deck. "Draw!"

[Rua's LP: 600]

"First I Flip Summon Gadget Engineer!" Rua started, dashing around a corner on the stadium and kicking up some dust. Emerging from the dust as the card flipped over was a small machine wearing a baseball cap.

[Gadget Engineer: LV2/700/700] [Attack Position]

"I then activate Gadget Engineer's Flip Effect!" Rua said, reaching out to grab his deck. "When Flip Summoned, he lets me add one Deformer or Gadget Monster into my hand from my deck!" After adding the card of his choice, Rua continued by taking out another card. "I then activate Speed Spell – Summon Speeder! This card can only be activated when I have four or more Speed Counters."

[5D's SC: 4]

"Speed Summoner allows me to Special Summon a Level Four or lower Monster from my hand, but it can't attack this turn. Thus, I use it to Special Summon Deformer Scopen!" Keith eyed the appearing microscope curiously, waiting to see what Rua was up to.

[Deformer Scopen: LV3/800/1400] [Defense Position]

Rua grimaced as he took yet another 300 damage from Skull Invitation as his Speed Spell entered the Graveyard.

[Rua's LP: 600 - 300]

"Crap, I'm running low on Life," Rua grumbled, quickly pressing his D-Wheel. "I activate Final Speed World to recover my Life by 1000!"

[Rua's LP: 300 - 1300]

[5D's SC: 4 - 2]

"Then I activate Deformer Scopen's Monster Effect!" Rua declared, pointing toward his Monster nearly folded into a microscope. "When in Defense Mode, it becomes a Level Four!"

[Deformer Scopen's LV: 3 - 4]

"Here goes!" Rua cried, flashing a confident smile. "I'm Tuning my Level Two Gadget Engineer with my now Level Four Deformer Scopen!" Keith's lips parted a bit in surprise as the field lit up green, several stars surrounding both of the mentioned Monsters.

(2+4=6)

"A Deformer Synchro Monster?!" Keith cried, eyes widening. "I've never heard of such a thing!"

"There it is!" Aki cried excitedly, rising in her seat. "Rua's hidden trump card!"

Yusei noticed Ruka rising from her seat, strapping on her helmet and knee pads. "Are you going already?" he asked, staring sincerely into the girl's back. Ruka hesitated for a moment before turning to meet his eyes, flashing him a smile.

"There's no way to tell who the winner will be, right? That's what you want to say." Ruka paused for a moment before continuing. "Whatever the outcome is, I'll just have to accept it, right? No matter what the result, win or lose, I want to be there for my brother to meet him on the field."

A few seconds of silence later, Yusei, Aki, and Jack returned the girl's smile. "We understand. Go on out there."

Ruka nodded, running over to her pink Pegasus-shaped D-Wheel and climbing onto it.

At the same time, Rua was performing his new Summoning within the intense burst of light.

"Mechanical beast crafted in the image of the Jungle King! Synchro Summon! Roar, Deformer Ti-Gear!"

Emerging from the light was a metallic beast-like creature with bright red eyes and a sharp, blade-like tail.

[Deformer Ti-Gear: LV6/2000/2000] [Attack Position]

As his Synchro Material entered the Graveyard, Rua felt another jolt of pain from Skull Invitation, gritting his teeth.

[Rua's LP: 1300 - 700]

[Power Tool Dragon's ATK: 2500 - 2700]

"I then remove my last two Speed Counters to regain 1000 Life!"

[Rua's LP: 700 - 1700]

[5D's SC: 2 - 0]

"But I'm not done yet!" Rua cried, taking yet another card out from his hand. "I still haven't Normal Summoned! I Normal Summon the card Jack left us, Demon's Curse, to the field!" Appearing from a puff of black smoke was a faceless shadow creature with a long, skinny tail.

[Demon's Curse: LV2/600/600]

"Nice going, Rua!" Jack shouted, looking pleased with a wide smile. "Demon's Curse is a weak Monster meant to discard from your hand when attacking a lower Defense Power Monster with a high-Attack Power Dark-Attribute Monster in order to inflict Piercing Damage to your opponent. It would normally be useless with his Machine Deck, but he managed to use it for a Synchro Summon!"

Keith's eyes widened a bit as Rua's field lit up with an unusual darker green, a golden scale appearing at the center of the track. "The hell's that?"

"Meet my new friend!" Rua declared, pointing toward the scale. "The only Synchro Monster in existence without a set level! When Synchro Summoning Deformer Equality, its level becomes equal to any number of Monsters I select! Now, I place Demon's Curse and Deformer Lighton on the scales of justice!"

[2+1=3]

"Adjusting the scales to Level Three!" Rua cried, both Monsters being sucked inside the scales. "Mechanical warrior, crafted in the shape of absolute synchronization! Level the playing field with your balanced judgment! Synchro Summon! Balance, Deformer Equality!"

The golden scales opened up, a grinning head popping out over a skinny pole-like body and a pair of floppy feet under the scales.

[Deformer Equality: LV3/?/0] [Attack Position]

"Unlike all other Deformer Monsters," Rua explained, "Equality doesn't have any other effects when in Attack Mode or Defense Mode. Instead, it simply takes on the Attack Power of one Monster on my opponent's field!" Equality eyed Pirate Shipwright, suddenly sporting a blue pompadour and speedos over its skinny body.

[Deformer Equality's ATK: 2500]

Rua grimaced as he took another 600 points of damage, sweating profusely now.

[Rua's LP: 1700 - 1100]

"Ridiculous!" Keith cried, his wide eyes showing through his sunglasses. "A Synchro Monster with no level that copies the stats of other Monsters?!"

"And I'm not done yet!" Rua continued, all grins now. "I activate Power Tool Dragon's effect to add one random Equip Speed Spell into my hand! And it happens to be my last!" As Power Tool handed Rua his Equip Spell, he added it to his hand before grabbing the Speed Spell he added last turn, sliding it into his Duel Disk. "I activate the Equip Speed Spell, Oil Change!" A can of oil suddenly appeared in front of Power Tool Dragon, pumping oil into its joints and loosening it up a bit.

"Speed Spell – Oil Change doesn't require any Speed Counters to activate," Rua explained, "and increases the Attack Power of a Machine-Type Monster I control by 300 points!"

[Power Tool Dragon's ATK: 2700 - 3000]

"Now battle!" Rua declared with a whip of his arm. "Power Tool Dragon attacks Pirate Shipwright! Crafty Break!"

[Pirate Shipwright's ATK: 2500]

"Now I see!" Keith grinned, the oncoming dragon's image reflecting in his glasses. "So your plan's to wipe out my strongest Monster and then use your others to wipe out my entire field! But unluckily for you," Keith said with a grunt and a jerk of his arm, "I've still got a Trap of my own! Continuous Trap, activate! Pirate's Summit!"

[Pirate Shipwright's ATK: 2500 - 3100]

"As long as this card remains face-up on my field," Keith explained with a wide grin, "all Pirate Monsters that battle always have 100 more Attack Points than the opponent's Monster in exchange for being destroyed during the End Phase of that battle!"

[Power Tool Dragon's ATK: 3000]

"What?!" Rua cried, going wide-eyed. "Then there's no way any of my Monsters can win!" Growling, Rua had no choice but to back down. "Stop your attack, Power Tool! Come back to me!"

"Damn," Rua groaned as his dragon returned. "Deformer Ti-Gear's Attack Mode effect increases its Attack Points by 500 when it attacks, but that card makes even that pointless…! I have no choice but to end my turn without attacking!"

"Then that's all you can do now, huh?" Keith laughed, raising his finger. "You did damn well, kid, but the only way you can overcome my Pirates at this point is to destroy my Pirate's Summit Trap Card! As the name implies, this is the very top of the pirate world with high-tiers such as the Four Emperors! No way in hell are you gonna top that so easily!"

"I…end my turn." Rua fell silent, lowering his eyes as he accepted the situation at hand.

"Good boy!" Keith grinned, nodding confidently. "And as per the equivalent exchange shit and all that, Pirate Shipwright gets a one-way trip to Davy Jone's locker! Sayonara, Franky!"

"This week's me ain't SUPER" Franky cried out as he shattered.

[Keith's LP: 4100 - 3800]

"But as Franky disappears, he leaves behind his final wishes for the ship he created with his sweat, blood, and tears!" Keith grinned, a massive shadow rising from the dirt behind him. "When Pirate Shipwright enters the Graveyard, I can Special Summon from my hand, deck, or Graveyard the Thousand Sunny!" Behind Keith appeared a massive orange/yellow-colored ship in the shape of a sunflower/lion.

[Thousand Sunny: LV7/3000/3000] [Attack Position]

"Welcome home, Robin, dear!" Keith cried out as the black-haired beauty hopped up onto her crew's ship. "And once per turn," Keith continued, "ol' Sunny hear calls out to her predecessor—the Going Merry—and Special Summons a Merry Token in Defense Mode!" As Keith said this, the Soldier Dock System shaft opened on the ship's side, revealing a small sheep-shaped boat.

[Merry Token: LV1/100/100] [Defense Mode]

As the Merry Token rested next to its mother ship, Rua glanced back up at Keith with glazed, hardened eyes. Keith chuckled as he looked over, his sunglasses reflecting Rua.

"I can tell you've resolved yourself," Keith grinned. "I'm gonna make this quick and as painless as possible for you, kid. Any last words?"

Rua merely glared toward his opponent from across the track with an icy expression, one of his eyes completely shadowed by hair bangs.

"In that case," Keith laughed, "I'm gonna end this my way! With style! It's my turn!" Grinning, Keith swiped a card off his deck and whipped his hand outward. "Draw!"

[SC: 5D's 1 / New Generation 3]

[Keith's LP: 3800]

"I'm aware you Summoned those other Synchro Monsters in order to draw my attention away from Power Tool Dragon," Keith said coldly, eyes narrowing as he eyed the metallic dragon. "But I'm about to give you a nice, heapin' helpin' of reality! In this world, things don't always go your way, kid!" With a jerk of his arm, Keith turned toward his Pirate Army. "Pirate Sniper, attack Power Tool Dragon!"

[Pirate Sniper's ATK: 1000 - 3100]

"It's no use!" Aki cried as the robot raised its gun toward Rua's field. "As long as Pirate's Summit's on the field, all his Monsters will be stronger than Power Tool Dragon!"

[Power Tool Dragon's ATK: 3000]

As the attack approached, Rua gritted his teeth and lowered his eyes, gripping the handles of his D-Wheel. "No matter what happens now, I'll leave Power Tool Dragon to Ruka! No matter what it takes!" Rua raised his head again, his eyes flashing with unmatched devotion and resolve as he raised his hand in response to the approaching Monster.

"I like those eyes!" Keith laughed, flashing a thumbs up. "But your determination will only cause you more pain! I hope you're prepared for that!"

"I'll take as much pain as I have to as long as I can protect Ruka!" Rua screamed, lashing his arm through the air. "I activate Power Tool Dragon's final effect! By sending an Equip Spell attached to it to the Graveyard, I can prevent its destruction in battle! I remove Speed Spell – Oil Change!"

Pirate Sniper unloaded its gun in Power Tool's face, a bit taken aback when the dragon took the brunt of the bullets, leaking oil through the holes in the process.

[Power Tool Dragon's ATK: 3000 - 2700]

[Rua's LP: 1100 - 1000]

"Ain't over yet!" Keith cackled, swinging his finger out. "You still gotta take 300 points a' damage from Skull Invitation!" Rua screamed as the card blasted him once again with a skull image, grabbing his gut tightly.

[Rua's LP: 1000 - 700]

"Guh," Rua grunted, pulling himself up despite the pain. "When Speed Spell – Oil Change enters the Graveyard, I can draw three cards from my deck and discard one card!" Rua drew his cards as he spoke, slowly drawing them closer to his vision. The cards were Deformer Radion, Defense Draw, and Block Lock respectively. After determining that Block Lock would be useless to Ruka without a Deformer Deck, he opted to leave a Light-Attribute Monster for her Light-Attribute Deck and a defensive card she could make use of. Thus, he discarded the other Block Lock Trap, immediately getting blasted by Skull Invitation as he did so.

[Rua's LP: 700 - 400]

"Heh!" Keith smirked, raising an eyebrow as he circled around a corner. "I get it, kid. Rather than lose to me in battle, you're gonna defend your Power Tool Dragon until Skull Invitation depletes your Life Points! From a team point of view, I admire your decision! So go, Pirate Archeologist, and deliver the finishing blow!" Robin immediately jumped into action, joining her hands together and creating a giant arm on the track above Power Tool Dragon.

"Slap!"

[Pirate Archeologist's ATK: 1500 - 2800]

As the giant hand swung forward, Rua responded immediately with a thrust of his hand. "I remove Speed Spell – Tune Up in order to protect Power Tool Dragon from being destroyed!" The hand slapped Power Tool hard across the track, cracking its outer surface, but still leaving it barely fluttering out in the track.

[Rua's LP: 400 - 300]

Rua and Keith locked gazes for the final second, Keith pushing his sunglasses down with his thumb to reveal his sharp eyes. "In the end, you couldn't excite me the way I wanted, Kid, but I still applaud your efforts! May we meet on the battle field again someday!"

Rua screamed as Skull Invitation blasted him one last time as he passed Keith by, grinding his stomach.

[Rua's LP: 300 - 0]

Yusei, Jack, And Aki fell silent as they watched Rua drive past the other D-Wheelers, his eyes glazed and his lips tightened. Ruka, who just arrived at the entrance to the Dueling track, saw her brother approaching with Power Tool Dragon and the other Synchro Monsters behind him. His sister couldn't help but cover her hand over her mouth, her eyes watering as the siblings met eyes.

"Rua…"

Keith chuckled to himself as he returned his sunglasses, both Pirate Archeologist and Pirate Sniper shattering and Keith getting a blast from his own card.

[Keith's LP: 3800 - 3200]

"Whew!" Keith whistled, grimacing from the pain as he drove past Tatsuya and Fynn toward the rail leading into the outer ring of the track. "He sure gave me a workout, though!"


ooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooo


As the dust settles, the elder comes out on top…

Rua, Ruka, and their friends fall silent as the final match rests on Ruka's shoulders.

To be continued in Chapter 54: "Welcome to Hell"


CREDITS


Writing: GoldenUmi

Characters appearing from anime: Rua Heartlily, Ruka Heartlily, Aki Izayoi, Jack Atlas, Yusei Fudo, Saiga

Original Characters (OC): GoldenUmi (Tatsuya Jounouchi, Fynn Hartmann, Etzel), Aman1216 (Jafar)

Duel Writing: hearow (Team Pride vs. Team Judgment), GoldenUmi (Team 5D's vs. Team New Generation)


Key Cards:


Final Speed World (Created by GoldenUmi)

Field Spell

If a Spell Card other than a "Speed Spell" Card is activated, its controller takes 2000 damage. During each player's Standby Phases, each player places 1 Speed Counter of their own on this card (up to 12 each). When a player takes damage, remove Speed Counters of that Player from this card for each multiple of 1000 damage taken. You can remove any number of your own Speed Counters from this card to activate an appropriate effect:

1: Recover 500 Life Points.

2: Recover 1000 Life Points.

3: Special Summon one Level Four or lower Monster from your hand.

4: Inflict 800 damage to your opponent for each "Speed Spell" Spell Card in your hand.

5: Draw 1 card.

6: Add a Monster Card from your Graveyard back into your hand.

7: Draw 2 cards.

8: Add a Magic or Trap Card from your Graveyard back into your hand.

9: Add one card from your deck into your hand.

10: Select and destroy 1 card on the field.

11: Activate a Trap Card from your hand.

12 or more: Special Summon one Monster from your Extra Deck ignoring Summoning Conditions. This effect can only be used once during a turn.

Little-Winguard

WIND

Level 4

Warrior/Effect

1400/1800

Once per turn, during your End Phase: You can change the battle position of this card.

Scrap Hunter

EARTH

Level 3

Machine/Effect

1600/400

Once per turn, you can select 1 face-up "Scrap" monster you control, except this card. Destroy it and send 1 Tuner monster from your Deck to your Graveyard.

Scrap Mind Reader

EARTH

Level 1

Machine/Tuner

0/0

Once per turn, while this card is in your Graveyard during your Main Phase 2, you can select 1 face-up "Scrap" monster you control, except "Scrap Mind Reader". Destroy that monster and Special Summon this card from the Graveyard. If you do, remove this card from play when it is removed from the field. If this card is used as a Synchro Material Monster, all other Synchro Material Monsters must be "Scrap" monsters.

Back Attack Ambush

Trap

Activate only when an opponent's monster declares an attack. End the Battle Phase, and Special Summon 1 "Ambush Token" (Warrior-Type/EARTH/Level 1/ATK 100/DEF 100) for each face-up Attack Position monster your opponent controls. Then, you can Tribute any number of "Ambush Tokens" and inflict 500 damage to your opponent for each Tributed Token.

Pirate Speeder (Created by GoldenUmi)

EARTH

Level 3

Warrior/Effect

700/1000

When this card is Summoned, add 1 Spell card from your Deck to your hand. This card can attack your opponent directly.

Pirate Warrior (Created by GoldenUmi)

EARTH

Level 4

Warrior/Effect

1500/1800

Increase the ATK of this card by 500 for every Warrior-Type Monster on the field. When this card is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, inflict damage to your opponent equal to the ATK of this card.

Pirate Archeologist (Created by GoldenUmi)

DARK

Level 4

Spellcaster/Tuner

1500/1800

When either player activates a Spell or Trap card; Special Summon this card. Once per turn, you can choose to either see the top card of your opponent's deck or the top card of your deck. The respective owner then adds the card to their hand. Inflict 500 points of damage to the owner of the card.

Cyber Repairer

Trap

Your opponent draws 1 card. During this turn, Machine-Type monsters you control cannot be destroyed by battle.

Waboku

Trap

You take no battle damage from your opponent's monsters this turn. Your monsters cannot be destroyed by battle this turn.

Time Wizard

LIGHT

Level 2

Spellcaster/Effect

500/400

Once per turn: You can toss a coin and call it. If you call it right, destroy all monsters your opponent controls. If you call it wrong, destroy all monsters you control, and if you do, you take damage equal to half the total ATK that those destroyed monsters had on the field.

Probability Change

Trap

Negate the effect of a card that required a coin toss, die roll, or roulette or slot spin and redo it. The same result will not occur again.

Negate Attack

Counter Trap

Activate only when a target opponent's monster declares an attack. Negate the attack and end the Battle Phase.

Scrap Beast

EARTH

Level 4

Beast/Tuner

1600/1300

If this face-up Defense Position card is targeted for an attack, at the end of the Battle Phase: Destroy this card. If this card is destroyed by the effect of a "Scrap" card and sent to the Graveyard: You can target 1 "Scrap" monster in your Graveyard, except "Scrap Beast"; add that target to your hand.

Jinzo (Pyshco Shocker)

DARK

Level 6

Machine/Effect

2400/1500

Trap Cards, and their effects on the field, cannot be activated. Negate all Trap Card effects on the field.

Speed Spell – Shrink

Quick-Play Speed Spell

Activate by removing 3 of your Speed Counters. Select 1 face-up monster on the field. The original ATK of that monster is halved until the end of this turn.

Pirate Shipwright (Created by GoldenUmi)

FIRE

Level 7

Machine/Effect

2500/3000

Once per turn, reduce the ATK of all your opponent's Monsters by 500 points. Increase your Life Points by the total amount of ATK your opponent's Monsters lost. When this card is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, Special Summon 1 "Thousand Sunny" from your deck, hand or Graveyard.

Electric Shock

Counter Trap

If you control a face-up Machine-Type monster on your side of the field, you can negate the attack of one of your opponent's monsters and lower its ATK by 500.

Gadget Engineer (Created by Aman1216)

LIGHT

Level 2

Machine/Effect

700/700

FLIP: Add 1 Level 4 or lower "Deformer" or "Gadget" monster from your deck to your hand.

Speed Spell – Summon Speeder

Speed Spell

Activate only while you have 4 or more Speed Counters. Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower monster from your hand. It cannot attack this turn.

Deformer Scopen (TCG: Morphtronic Scopen)

LIGHT

Level 3

Machine/Tuner

800/1400

While in Attack Position: Once per turn, you can Special Summon 1 Level 4 "Morphtronic" monster from your hand. Destroy it during the End Phase. ● While in Defense Position: While this card is in face-up Defense Position, it is Level 4.

Deformer Ti-Gear (Created by Aman126)

EARTH

Level 6

Machine/Synchro/Effect

2200/1700

1 "Deformer" Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner Monster(s)

This card gains one of the following effects according to this card's battle position: ● Attack Position: This card is treated as a Beast-Type. This card gains 500 ATK when attacking. ● Defense Position: Once per turn, you can search your deck for 1 Level 4 or lower "Deformer" card and add it to your hand.

Demon's Curse (Created by GoldenUmi)

DARK

Level 2

Fiend/Effect

600/600

When a DARK monster attacks a monster in Defense Position with DEF lower than its ATK, you can discard this card from your hand to inflict damage to your opponent equal to half the difference in the attacked monster's ATK and DEF.

Deformer Equality (Created by GoldenUmi)

EARTH

LV?

Machine/Synchro/Effect

?/0

1 "Deformer" Tuner + 1 Machine-Type monster

When Synchro Summoning this monster, this monster's Level is equal to the total of the Synchro Material monsters you select on your field. The ATK of this monster ia equal to the ATK of one of your opponent's monsters on the field you select.

Speed Spell – Oil Change (Created by GoldenUmi)

Equip Speed Spell

Increase the ATK of 1 Machine-Type monster on your field by 300 points. When this card enters the Graveyard, draw 3 cards from your deck; then discard 1 card to the Graveyard.

Pirate's Summit (Created by GoldenUmi)

Continuous Trap

Activate when a "Pirate" monster you control battles. As long as this card remains face-up on the field, monsters using this effect always have 100 more ATK than the opponent's monster. During the End Phase of the turn this card is activated, destroy all your monsters that battled this turn.

Thousand Sunny (Created by GoldenUmi)

WATER

Level 7

Machine/Effect

3000/3000

Special Summon 1 "Merry Token" [WATER/Machine/LV1/100/100] once per turn. These tokens cannot be destroyed and they cannot attack. When using a "Merry Token" as material for a Synchro Summon, change its level if needed.

Power Tool Dragon

EARTH

Level 7

2300/2500

Machine/Synchro/Effect

1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters

Once per turn, during your Main Phase, you can add 1 random Equip Spell Card from your Deck to your hand. If this card would be destroyed while equipped with an Equip Spell Card, you can send that card to the Graveyard instead.