Sherry made a beeline for Nicholas. She was already grabbing him by the coat and shaking him down before he had any clue what was going on. "You! Where did you get zhat card you 'ad?!"
She didn't wait for a response. Instead, Sherry snatched his deck out of the duel disk, and pulled out the Card of Darkness; Doom's Ray. Right before Sherry's eyes, the card's name, description, and artwork faded to nothing.
"What's zhis?"
/
Ghost bots, numbering in the hundreds surged into the city. The ignored pedestrians cries of protest at nearly being run over. They also ignored red lights. Many even smashed through into duel lanes, broken glass littering the streets.
More people watched the herds of Ghost bots overwhelm the duel lanes. Groups of four peeled off into every single available street. There would be no escape for any duelist.
Just as the next teams were in the middle of their duel, the ghost bots surrounded the closest turbo duelist.
"What the hell?"
One Ghost bot smirked. "We will be adding ourselves to the duel."
The turbo duelist was forced into Battle Royale mode.
"Wait, but no one told me about this?!"
"Duel," Ghost smirked. The white infinity lights of Yliaster's power engulfed two ghosts and the turbo duelist. "It's my turn. I summon Ally of Justice Nullifier!"
Nullifier looked like a cross between an insect and a centaur. All rolled into a red robot with guns mounted to its back.
(Ally of Justice Nullifier: Atk: 1600 Def: 1200)
"Next, I place two cards facedown and end my turn."
The second Ghost took his turn. "My move. I summon Ally of Justice Garadholg!"
A similar monster to the previous one, this mechanized warrior brandished two lightsabers.
(Ally of Justice Garadholg: Atk: 1600 Def: 400)
"I activate a trap!" The first Ghost said. "Release and Rebirth! I release a card on my field, and receive damage equal to its attack power!"
Ghost1: 2400
"Then I'm allowed to special summon the released monster to my opponent's field!"
The cornered turbo duelist gasped. "He gave his own monster to the other one?"
Ghost two smirked, extending his hand dramatically. "Both of my monsters attack you directly!"
But the turbo duelist wasn't going down without a fight. "I won't let you! I activate my trap Negate Attack! It negates your monsters' attack and ends the Battle Phase!"
"It's no use," The first Ghost said. "God's Declaration activates!"
"What?"
"By paying half my lifepoints, the card negates the activation of Negate Attack!"
Ghost1: 1200
"Go Gardholg, Nullifier! Attack!"
Turbo Duelist: 0
As the first turbo duelists lost, resulting in a crash, his former opponent was realizing he was in quite the tight spot.
A third Ghost advanced on him with a sinister sneer. "It's my turn!" He drew a card.
The four Ghost bots made short work of him too. They powered on through the smoke of the crash. They had more victims to pursue.
/
Placido laughed cruelly to himself. Smoke arose from all the crashes the Ghosts were causing. "As of now, the WRGP Preliminaries have switched to Battle Royale Mode. Our duels will be over life and limb. Now, if you value your lives, finish the Circuit like death is at your heels, turbo duelists!"
/
"Attention!" The MC's face appeared in the holo-sphere, voice echoing out. "We have just received some urgent news! There appears to be a large amount of accidents occurring in the preliminary matches being held on the highway!"
The sphere's footage switched to the duel lanes of the city. The numerous crashes. The audience members watched, the tension palpable. Whispers and hushed alarm washed over everyone.
"I ask everyone in attendance here at the stadium to remain in their seats and remain patient!"
/
"What's going on here?" Yusei asked in a hushed voice.
"And how can we help," Lise added.
Akiza caught Trudge and Mina leaving the stadium. "Follow me."
/
Mina stood with her hands on her hips. Trudge fiddled with the police radio in their shared cruiser.
"What in the world could be causing so many accidents?" Mina demanded to know.
"Control," Trudge spoke into the radio. "What the hell happened?"
"We're not sure. The highway's Turbo Duel System was just overridden. It's stuck in Battle Royale Mode."
"What?!" Trudge's blood went cold. This was bad.
Akiza came running up with her friends in tow. Mina greeted them with a nod. She knew her police force was going to need all the help it could get in this sticky situation.
"One second, sir. I've confirmed a new identifier signal…" the man on the other line gasped. "Why are there so many?!"
"Can we get a visual on where the identifier signal is coming from?" Yusei asked.
Trudge leaned into the police cruiser's open window. He tapped on the car's screen. The Public Security Maintenance Bureau popped up first. The screen zoomed in on the street level. A familiar robot filled the screen.
"They're the Ghosts!" Yusei gasped.
"Ghosts!" Jack clenched his teeth.
"An army of them," Lise said. And I thought one of those fuckers was bad.
Sherry and Mizoguchi pulled up beside Team 5Ds. "What is it?"
"Ghosts have appeared," Bruno reported.
"Yes," Sherry nodded. "They showed up on the Stadium monitors too."
"So, are they after all the teams? Or just us?" Akiza's brown eyes darted amongst her friends.
"Looks like everyone at this point," Bruno said. "With this many Ghosts, whoever is behind this must be trying to destroy the tournament."
"Zhat's my feelings as well," Sherry said.
Yusei's fists clenched. "Then let's take on their challenge, and the duels of darkness they set up."
"I agree with you," Mizoguchi said. "But how do you plan on doing so? There's so many."
"There must be someone controlling them. We should all split up and search for them."
"Sounds like a plan. I'm in too."
"Huh?" Jack and the others blinked at the newcomer. "Kaz?"
Kaz winked at his friend. "Don't get in the way this time, Jack"
"That's my line."
"Okay," Trudge said. "But everyone needs to be careful. The highway's system has been overridden into Battle Royale Mode."
"This is crazy!" Bruno spread his hands. "Obviously in a duel like this, the side with greater numbers wins!"
Yusei nodded in agreement. "In a duel with Ghost, actual damage is bound to happen. We all need to duel quickly and carefully."
Jack rolled his eyes. "How fun," he muttered sarcastically.
"Even so," Yusei raised his fist. "I'll be damned if the peace we've been working so hard to obtain for New Domino City is taken away!"
Lise took a deep breath. They weren't out of the woods yet. "Right, so who's going where?"
/
Joel frowned down at the map of the City's circuit. It was being completed much too quickly.
"The Circuit's coming up smoothly, huh?" Luciano settled into his seat. He kicked his feet up on the arm of the chair. He continued, an air of innocence to him.
"But a circuit that depends on making Turbo Duelists ride is such a drag. In order to complete the Circuit, we have to harness the power of Momentum. Fortunately for us, the humans of this world have not realized Momentum's true power yet. Only once the Circuit is complete will God's Shrine appear.
"But, boy, is this Circuit huge. It's as big as the entire city!" Luciano raised his hand nonchalantly. "When the castle shows up, the whole city is gonna be destroyed!"
Joel was unphased by his colleague's words. "Such trivial sacrifices are needed to save the future."
Holo-screen after holo-screen popped up. Each one with the same thing; turbo duelists being assaulted by numerous Ghost bots.
"Lookie, lookie!" Luciano squealed. He kicked his feet like a small child. "It's the Diablos! And there's a heck of a lot of 'em!"
"Diablos?" Joel frowned. "The riding robots Placido freed?"
"Guess Placido finally got fed up with waiting and sent out his troops, huh?" Luciano snickered. "What a beautiful sight!"
Joel's hands clenched into fists on the arms of his chair. "Damn that Placido for doing things on his own!"
/
"Who are you people?" One of the women turbo duelists demanded. She too was surrounded by Ghost bots.
"Go, Nullifier! Attack her directly!"
"Oh no!"
"This card will take on that attack! Quick Attack Scarecrow!"
"What?" All four Ghost bots turned around.
Yusei, Sherry and Mizoguchi had arrived to help.
"Who are you?" The rescued turbo duelist asked.
"We're here to help. Leave this duel to us, and get yourself and as many people as you meet to safety!"
"Right!" The woman pulled back, heading back to the Stadium.
"My turn!" Yusei said. "I summon Junk Synchron! Next, I special summon the Quick Attack Scarecrow in my Graveyard and the Mirror Ladybug in my hand! I tune level three Junk Synchron to my level one Quick Attack Scarecrow and level four Mirror Ladybug! Synchro summon; take flight, Stardust Dragon! Go, Stardust Dragon; Cosmic Flare!"
Ghost: 0
(Mirror Ladybug: Atk: 100 Def: 100)
That was one robot down. A thousand more to go.
/
"Now crash and burn! Go Clausolas!" Another Ghost was going in for the finishing blow.
"Not on my watch!" Jack cried.
Both he and Kaz jumped onto the duel track. Jack always was dramatic, but at least this time it was for a good cause.
"I use Battle Eater's effect! By sending this card to the graveyard, I take the damage instead!" Kaz screamed as the monster's talons dug into him.
Kaz: 1500
"Kaz!" Jack yelled back to his friend. "Keep being reckless like that and you'll get injured again!"
"Yeah…" Kaz recovered well enough. "Glad to know you care."
Jack laughed a little to himself. "If you get injured again, it would ruin my reputation. Leave the next part to me! I draw! I summon Vice Berserker!"
(Vice Berserker: Atk: 1000 Def: 1000)
The monster was like a fully grown bat man with enormous, leathery, black wings.
"Next, by using your trap card for its cost, I can special summon Trap Eater!"
The leathery, little demon-like monster swallowed Ghost's trap card.
(Trap Eater: Atk: 1900 Def: 1600)
"I tune level four Trap Eater with my level four Vice Berserker! Synchro summon; my soul, Red Dragon Archfiend! Vice Berserker's effect activates! Because I used it for a synchro summon, I lose two thousand lifepoints, but my Red Dragon gains two thousand attack points! Say hello to karma! My Red Dragon is going to make you pay for all the turbo duelists you've crushed! Absolute Power Force!"
Ghost: 1300
/
"Gardholg, attack!" Another Ghost had a turbo duelist cornered.
"We're interrupting this duel!" Akiza took the lead, driving full force into the fray. "I play Doppelganger! You take the same amount of damage I would take from this attack!"
Akiza: 2400
Ghost: 2400
"What?"
"And that's not all!" Crow jumped in too. "I summon Blackwing Mistral the Silver Shield! Since I have her on the field, I can special summon Blackwing Bora the Spear! I tune level two Mistral the Silver Shield with Blackwing Bora the Spear! Synchro summon; appear Blackwing Armed Wing!"
(Blackwing Armed Wing: Atk: 2300 Def: 1000)
"Armed Wing, attack Ghost directly!"
Ghost: 0
"Uh oh…" The remaining three Ghost bots did not look happy to see their fourth member go up in smoke.
Lise smirked at them, drawing a card. "Who's next?"
/
Placido was watching his robots' progress. Tracking their movements on his holo-screen. Six of his bots' markers suddenly vanished.
"Team 5Ds," Placido growled. "It's their doing, isn't it?"
Placido's map was replaced with Joel. And he looked far from happy.
"What do you want? I'm busy right now!"
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Joel growled.
"Your way of doing things is too lax. If we force them to duel, the Circuit will surface in no time! I'm tired of waiting!"
"Placido," Joel sighed, shaking his head. "You do not understand. By forcing them to fight, we cannot draw out their full potential. In doing so, the perfect Circuit will never be completed."
"Besides, isn't Team 5Ds butting in?" Luciano couldn't resist putting in his two cents. "You already lost to Yusei Fudo once, Placido, so why not listen to what Joel is saying?"
"What was that?" Placido snarled at his comrades. "Sorry," he said in a tone that was far from apologetic. "But I'll be doing things my way!"
"Placido!"
But Placido had already hung up. "Team 5Ds," Placido clenched his teeth. "Don't get ahead of yourself. I'll show you that you humans will never be able to defeat me! By going after your hope…"
/
"My turn!" Jack drew his next card.
He, Kaz, and the four remaining Ghost bots came up on a fork in the road. Two Ghosts peeled onto the left track, and the last two took the right path.
"What?" Jack and Kaz looked back and forth. They were alone, but why did that not feel right?
"Are they retreating?" Kaz asked.
/
"What's this?" Trudge was just as bewildered.
Mina watched the screen beside him.
"Did they stop dueling?"
"No," Mina said. "That isn't it. The signal from the Ghosts… What is this?"
Both Trudge and Mina's eyes widened.
"They're all in the same place now!"
/
"While this was fun, it's time for us to say good-bye!" The last two Ghost bots raced away.
Lise, Crow, and Akiza didn't even have time to come up with a clever quip in response.
"So…Did we win?" Crow appealed to his friends.
Akiza blinked at the empty duel track. "I…don't think so?"
"I have a bad feeling about this," Lise muttered.
/
Yusei defeated another Ghost bot. Stardust Dragon was as reliable as ever.
Sherry and Mizoguchi pulled even with him.
"Is it over?"
Sherry consulted her screen. All the Ghost Bots the three of them had encountered were gone. But, the situation was much too still. "Behind us!"
"Huh?"
Hundreds of Ghost bots drove behind the trio of turbo duelists. Too many to count. Every Ghost in the city must have been on their tail.
/
"You can't hide, and you can't run from me now!" Placido snickered. "Yusei Fudo, take this concentrated attack!"
/
"Zhese numbers are insane!" Sherry complained.
The first Ghost approached. The white infinity light of Yliaster encircled all four of them. Battle Royale Mode was engaged.
"We're stuck in Battle Royale! Be on your guard!" Yusei told his teammates.
"Now we duel for your end, Yusei Fudo!" the Ghost snickered. "It's my turn! I summon Ally of Justice Garadholg! I place two cards facedown and end my turn!"
"I'll take it from here," Mizoguchi said. "I summon Samurai of Fiendish Fore!"
(Samurai of Fiendish Fore: Atk: 1200 Def: 1200)
Mizoguchi's samurai wore black and dark blue armor. A wiser samurai based on his age, he held his sword with practiced ease.
"When this card is successfully summoned, I can special summon a level three of below warrior type monster from my hand! I call forth Samurai of Assaulting Aft!"
(Samurai of Assaulting Aft: Atk: 0 Def: 400)
This samurai monster was smaller. His shiny red armor and blade was still intimidating.
"I tune level three Samurai of Assaulting Aft with the level four Samurai of Fiendish Fore! Synchro summon; my stubborn warrior, Driven Daredevil! Go, Driven Daredevil, attack Gardholg!"
Ghost: 3200
"I'm up next," Sherry began her turn. "I activate the speed spell Overboost! This card increases my Speed Counters by four, but reduces zhem to one during my End Phase! I activate zhe speed spell Speed Fusion! When my speed counters are at four or 'igher, zhis card, by sending zhe listed monsters from my 'and or field to zhe graveyard, I can special summon a fusion monster! I fuse Sacred Knight Spear-Bearer and Swift 'Orse of zhe Floral Knights in my 'and! Appear now, Centaurmina!"
(Centaurmina: Atk: 2200 Def: 1600)
Sherry's monster was a female centaur, ready for battle as the knight she was. Armor lined her four legs and covered her torso. Her long, flowing red hair matched her shield. Of course, no knight was complete without her sword, which she brandished at the ready.
"Next, I summon Fleur Synchron! I tune level two Fleur Synchron to my level six Centaurmina! Synchro summon; sparkle, Fleur de Chevalier! Fleur de Chevalier attacks directly! Fleur de Rose!"
Ghost: 500
"My turn!" Yusei declared. "I send Quillbolt Hedgehog to the Graveyard to special summon Quick Draw Synchron through its effect! Quillbolt Hedgehog is revived from the Graveyard when there's a Tuner monster on the field! Next, I can special summon Reed Butterfly!"
(Reed Butterfly: Atk: 300 Def: 600)
Yusei smiled at the new monster. Its wings were soft blues and greens. But the wing tips were red, the abdomen bright orange. This new card was the match to Lise's Solar Butterfly, or at least Yusei liked to think so. The monster's numerous colors were a combination of Lise's fiery side, and his cooler side.
"Reed Butterfly can be special summoned when there is a synchro monster on my opponent's field! I tune my level five Quick Draw Synchron with my level one Reed Butterfly and level two Quillbolt Hedgehog! Synchro summon; dash onward, Road Warrior!"
The gleaming gold and silver monster emerged, ready to fight.
(Road Warrior: Atk: 3000 Def: 1500)
"Road Warrior's effect special summons Speed Warrior! Go, Speed Warrior, Sonic Edge!"
Ghost: 3100
"Go, Road Warrior, Lightning Claw!"
Ghost: 1000
"I place a card facedown to end my turn!"
"It's my turn!" one of the Ghost bots drew a card.
"Trap activate! Synchro Prominence!" Yusei wasn't wasting any time. If he had to chip down at all the Ghosts to win, he would. "A player that controls a synchro monster inflicts a thousand points of damage to the opponent!"
"Now go!" Sherry ordered.
"Take this!" Mizoguchi bellowed.
Ghost1: 0
Ghost2: 0
Ghost3: 2100
The two defeated Ghosts spun out. They exploded, leaving behind trails of smoke. Unfortunately, that didn't stop the crowds of Ghosts still on Yusei's tail.
/
"You're in the way," Placido grumbled. "You runts need to disappear."
/
Ghost bot three sneered. He had his new orders. It was time to eliminate Team 5Ds, their friends, and their hope.
"I summon Ally of Justice Tractor!"
(Ally of Justice Tractor: Atk: 0 Def: 0)
The monster resembled a transformer. A smaller one that had mistakenly chosen a tractor as its disguise mode. That is, if the monster wanted to be intimidating.
"When there is a light attribute monster on my opponent's field, I can release this card to add two Ally of Justice cards from my deck to my hand. Yusei, your Road Warrior is a light attribute monster! That means I can special summon three of these monsters!"
"Three?"
(Ally of Justice Cosmic Gateway: Atk: 2400 Def: 1200)
"Cosmic Gateway," Ghost explained. "When there are two or more monsters, one of which is a light attribute monster, on the opponent's field, can be special summoned from my hand!" Cosmic Gateway, attack Driven Daredevil!"
Evenly matched, the two monsters both went down in a blaze of light.
"A draw…Driven Daredevil…"
"I attack with my other Cosmic Gateways!" At Ghost's command, both monsters eliminated all Mizoguchi's lifepoints.
Mizoguchi: 0
"Oh no, Mizoguchi!" Sherry was relieved to see him recover, but he was out of the duel.
"Sherry!"
"I place a card facedown and end my turn," Ghost three finished.
"My turn," a fourth Ghost pulled up.
Ghost three pulled the same thing Yusei did earlier. "I activate my permanent trap, DNA Transplant! This card's effect changes all the cards on the field to the attribute I declare! I say Light attribute!"
"I summon Ally Salvo!" Ghost four said.
(Ally Salvo: Atk: 400 Def: 300)
"Go, Ally Salvo!" Ghost sent the tiny monster in to battle Fleur de Chevalier, who defeated the monster handily.
Ghost4: 1700
"And Now Ally Salvo's effect activates," Ghost four sneered. "When this card is destroyed in battle by a light attribute monster, it destroys two cards on the field."
"Oh no! Zhat means…Fleur de Chevalier!"
Sherry's knight and Speed Warrior went packing. Sherry was wide open.
"It's my turn!" A fifth Ghost stepped in. "I summon Ally Salvo! Direct attack!"
Sherry: 3600
"It's my turn," became a haunting echo as every Ghost bot summoned an Ally Salvo. Sherry was facing a small army in no time.
Ally Salvo after Ally Salvo beat into Sherry. Until she had no more life points left.
Sherry: 0
"Sherry!" Yusei called after her.
But she had vanished behind the crowd of Ghost robots. The bots that Yusei now had to face. Alone.
Ally Salvo's effect will destroy Road Warrior. I've gotta do something! But these overwhelming numbers… if they get ahold of me, I'm done for too!
/
Placido broke into a sickening evil grin. "Yusei, the true hell begins now!"
(I'm back, bitches! It has been a while, but graduating takes precedence. I still plan on finishing Soul of the Dragon, don't worry. It just might be longer than any of us think. This story is important to me, and I want to finish it! I WILL FINISH. Just not any time soon.
That being said, I want to say how much I appreciate everyone who is still here. Still reading, still commenting, and wants to see how my version of the 5Ds story ends. Thank you so much. We still have some more growing, and writing, to do. But I'm willing to keep on going to the finish line. Hope to see your comments on the next chapter!)