Author's Note: I deeply apologize for not updating this story again for so long, and only after briefly coming back from another long absence after the holidays. They've really jacked up the hours at my job this past month and it's made it kind of hard to find time to write. Plus I admit that I've had a hard time getting back into this story after all that happened during the holiday season.
Anyway, the title of this chapter is actually the title of a hit single from the early 1980s by a singer named Chris de Burgh (I'm honestly not all that familiar with his work beyond that one song). The reason I chose that song for the title of this chapter is because of a Tuner monster that shows up during the second half of the duel. Have I mentioned before that titles are hard?
Disclaimer: I do not own Revolutionary Girl Utena or Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.
Chapter 32: "Don't Pay the Ferryman"
Utena had been nearly paralyzed with stark terror as she looked down the track towards the Skelton Knight's massive Duel Dragon. The creature was more horrifying than anything Utena had faced in the turbo duels so far, even more than the corrupted evolutions of Miki and Juri's Duel Dragons. It wasn't Dragonecro's appearance that terrified Utena so much as it was its sheer presence. The creature was pure and utter darkness, a darkness that seemed to blot out all light and hope. As Utena gazed in horror at the enemy Duel Dragon, her body started to tremble.
"Dragonecro! Attack Nitro Knight!" the Skeleton Knight commanded. "Soul Crunch!"
In a flash, Dragonecro extended his long neck across the battlefield and clammed onto Nitro Knight's torso with his massive jaws. Nitro Knight struggled for a few moments before going limp. Meanwhile, Utena's life points had taken a drop to 2700.
"Do not worry though, Prince Utena. Though Dragonecro's attack has done damage to your life points, your noble knight has not been harmed," the Skeleton Knight revealed. "Not physically, at least."
Before Utena could ask what the Skeleton Knight had meant, Dragonecro pulled his head away and seemed to release Nitro Knight, and yet there was still something in his jaws. It took Utena a moment to realize that the thing that Dragonecro now carried in his mouth was a transparent blue-grey image of Nitro Knight. The wicked dragon then set the ghostly duplicate of Nitro Knight near the Skelton Knight's galloping undead steed. After a moment, a black aura began to emanate from the knight's duplicate, and a dark flame had started to burn from the top of his helmet. Meanwhile, the original Nitro Knight was still totally limp as if he were in a coma.
"What…what's going on?" Utena asked.
"When Dragonecro attacks a monster, he does not destroy it but rather removes its soul," the Skeleton Knight explained. "It then plunges that soul into darkness and makes it my slave in the form of a Dark Soul Token with the same ATK and DEF of the original monster. Meanwhile your monster is left as a soulless husk with zero ATK and DEF. And now…I use the Dark Soul of Nitro Knight to attack his former body and deliver the killing blow! Dark Flame Breaker!"
"I…I activate a Trap! A Knight's Sacrifice!" Utena announced as the evil spirit of Nitro Knight leapt into the air. "When one of my Knight monsters is attacked, this card sacrifices that Knight to destroy the attacking monster!"
The head of Dark Nitro Knight's axe became shrouded in flames as he came down towards his target. But just as the ghostly dark knight was about to bring the blade down upon his former body, the comatose Nitro Knight exploded in a burst of flames that instantly vaporized the corrupted spirit.
"The effect of A Knight's Sacrifice also lets me draw two more cards!" Utena announced.
"Good! I would've been disappointed if I had been able to defeat you that easily," the Skeleton Knight remarked.
"That dragon of yours is one of the worst monsters I've ever seen," Utena admitted. "But as terrifying as it is, nothing is going to keep me from protecting Anthy and stopping you!"
"Your resolve is still strong I see. But I'm afraid it will not be as easy as you think to defeat Dragonecro. At this moment I play the Continuous Spell, Curse Buster Charm!" the Skeleton Knight announced. "While this card is on the field, monsters cannot be sent to the Graveyard by card effects!"
The instant the Skelton Knight played that Spell card, Utena saw her best shot at eliminating Dragonecro and ending the duel shatter to pieces. She couldn't help but bite her lip in frustration.
"You were planning to send Dragonecro to the Graveyard by using Stardust Dios Dragon's effect, were you not?" the Skeleton Knight deduced. "As powerful as you are, Prince Utena, I know all of your moves. If you have any hopes of defeating me, than you're going to have to go beyond your current limits. I set one more card on the field and end my turn!"
Utena hesitated as she reached for her next card. With the Skeleton Knight's Curse Buster Charm out on the field, there was no point in trying to use Dios Dragon's effect. Of course she did have the option of summoning Dios Dragon right away and overpowering Dragonecro with Dios Dragon's ATK, but Utena felt it likely that the card her undead opponent had set at the end of the last turn was another copy of Underworld Frost or another similar card. Utena glanced towards the platform that Anthy stood upon and realized that she had to try something else. Rather than call for the Sword of Dios, Utena simply drew her next card.
The card that Utena drew was one that she had forgotten had even been in her deck, and one that she hardly used. At the same time though, the card seemed like her best chance at beating the Skeleton Knight's dragon. It wasn't the most ideal tactic and likely had a high chance of failing if Utena was right about the Skelton Knight's facedown card, but at the moment it was the only option she had.
"I activate Monster Reborn and summon Junk Knight back to the field!" Utena announced.
With a flash of white light, Utena's lance-wielding machine knight reappeared on the track.
"Next I summon Wizard Synchron in Attack Mode!" Utena announced.
On cue, the diminutive little wizard appeared on the track next to Junk Knight.
"I tune the level three Wizard Synchron into the level five Junk Knight for a level eight Synchro Summon!" Utena announced.
Wizard Synchron raised his staff in the air and transformed into three green rings of light. The rings encircled Junk Knight and changed the warrior into five white stars.
"Flash of light that splits the sea of stars! Shake our souls and roar through this world!" Utena chanted. "Synchro Summon! Shine! Stardust Spark Dragon!"
The stars flashed and became a blinding ray of white light that shot down the track and expanded outward. In moments the light broke apart and Stardust appeared with a roar. Dragonecro roared back at the smaller dragon in response.
"Since Wizard Synchron was used to summon Stardust, his effect lets me summon Junk Knight back to the field!" Utena announced.
On cue, Junk Knight reappeared with another flash of white light.
"You didn't call for the Sword of Dios, which means you're not planning to summon Dios Dragon," the Skelton Knight observed. "Just what are you up to?"
"I activate the Spell card, Union Attack!" Utena announced. "This card lets me add Junk Knight's ATK to Stardust's this turn! And now I use Stardust to attack Dragonecro with Junk Knight as backup! United Shooting Blast!"
Stardust roared and fired a ray of light from his jaws across the field at Dragonecro. Dragonecro responded by lunging his neck towards the smaller dragon and opening his jaws to absorb the beam, but at the last moment Junk Knight zoomed in and delivered an uppercut the wicked dragon's jaw with his rocket powered lance. Stardust's beam attack continued on and struck Dragonecro in the chest, causing him to shatter apart into particles of purple light.
"Unfortunately because of Union Attack's effect, my opponent doesn't take any battle damage from the attack of the monster it was used on," Utena announced. "But the important thing is that dragon of yours is gone! I set one card on the field and end my turn!"
"A desperate move, but an effective one," the Skelton Knight remarked as he drew his next card. "Unfortunately your victory will be short-lived. I summon the Tuner monster known as Ghost Charon, the Underworld Boatman in Attack Mode!"
Materializing next to the Skeleton Knight's undead horse was a simple wooden boat with two torches burning at the front, manned by a living mummified corpse carrying a simple wooden oar. The undead boatman had tanned skin and yellow eyes, and he wore a blue cape and pants, along with a conical straw hat atop his head and bandages around his wrists and stomach.
"Ghost Charon is a very unique Tuner that lets me Synchro Summon using a Dark Fusion Monster from my Graveyard as material," the Skeleton Knight revealed. "I tune the level two Ghost Charon into the level eight Dragonecro Nethersoul Dragon, banishing them both in order to perform a level ten Underworld Synchro Summon!"
Suddenly a geyser of black water erupted near the edge of the track, which cleared away after a few moments to reveal Dragonecro. Ghost Charon then flashed red and changed into two purple rings of light. The rings encircled the evil dragon and transformed him into eight black stars.
"Roll back the tide of the dead and emerge from the river of grief that flows through the Underworld!" the Skelton Knight chanted. "Synchro Summon! Flood the land of the living! Dragocytos Corrupted Nethersoul Dragon!"
The dark stars crackled and became a pillar of black energy that shot up towards the heavens. In moments the energy broke apart to reveal the Skeleton Knight's dragon in a new form. The dragon had grown larger and a third black horn grew from the top of his head. The edges of his membranous wings had also become slightly tattered. Meanwhile the armor on his chest had formed into the large face of a skull with big yellow eyes and a gigantic mouth.
"I use Dragocytos to attack Junk Knight!" the Skeleton Knight announced. "Ghost Stream!"
The large mouth of the skull face on the evil dragon's chest opened up and fired a massive beam of unearthly blue light across the track. Junk Knight was hit by the beam and vaporized in an instant. The blast also lowered the speed of Utena's D-Wheel and dropped her life points to 1100.
"Your torment isn't over yet!" the Skeleton Knight declared. "When Dragocytos destroys a monster in battle, he can make a follow-up attack on another opponent's monster!"
"Not this time!" Utena declared. "At this moment I activate the second effect of A Knight's Tenacity from the Graveyard and banish it to end the Battle Phase and set a Junk Spell or Trap from my deck on the field!"
"No you will not, because at this moment I activate my Trap, Underworld Sanction!" the Skeleton Knight announced. "When my opponent activates the effect of a card by banishing it from the Graveyard, Underworld Sanction negates that effect and deals 500 points of damage!"
Suddenly a purple fireball shot up from the ground near the track and struck Utena's D-Wheel, lowering her speed and reducing her life points to a mere 600.
"This is the end!" the Skeleton Knight declared. "Dragocytos! Attack Stardust Spark Dragon and send that girl to her eternal rest! Ghost Stream!"
The mouth on the wicked dragon's chest opened up and fired another massive stream of blue light across the field towards Stardust.
"I activate my last Trap, A Knight's Spirit!" Utena announced. "When one of my monsters is attacked, this card lets me banish a Knight Synchro Monster from my Graveyard to raise that monster's ATK by the same amount as the Knight's during battle! I banish Nitro Knight to raise Stardust's ATK to 5200!"
Just as the evil dragon's attack was about to strike, a ghostly image of Nitro Knight flew down from above and entered Stardust's back. A blue flame-like aura emanated from Stardust's body, causing him to roar and fire a stream of light from his jaws. Stardust's attack cut through the blast of the enemy dragon's beam and entered the mouth in his chest, causing a large explosion. The shockwave caused the Skeleton Knight's horse to falter and his life points to drop to 2800. When the smoke cleared though, Dragocytos was still on the field.
"Very good! You finally did some damage to my life points," the Skeleton Knight remarked. "Unfortunately for you, Dragocytos cannot be destroyed in battle. I shall set one card on the field and end my turn! And now Prince Utena, you have one chance left to defeat me, and I mean one more chance. For during the Standby Phase of my next turn, I can activate the final effect of Dragocytos to cut your dragon's ATK in half and deal damage equal to the ATK he lost!"
Utena couldn't help but gasp. "But…if you use that effect on Stardust, I'll take 1250 points of damage. I'll lose!"
The Skeleton Knight nodded. "Unless you defeat me on your next turn. As I told you before Prince Utena! The only way for you to defeat me is to surpass your current limits!"
Utena looked ahead towards the Skeleton Knight's gigantic dragon. With that creature's 4000 ATK and indestructibility, there was no way she could defeat it even with Dios Dragon. In her despair, Utena closed her eyes.
"Are you finally giving up?" a voice suddenly spoke.
Utena opened her eyes to find that she was now riding through total darkness. Floating at her side though was the transparent glowing form of the young prince who had saved her as a child, Dios.
"It's okay. You gave it your best," Dios told her. "Honestly, you've come a lot further than I thought you would. It seems you've finally reached your limit though."
"What do I do? I can't just give up here!" Utena told him. "If I do, then Anthy will…please! You have to help me! Isn't there any way I can still win?"
Dios looked at her thoughtfully for a few moments. "There is one way, but it's very difficult. You've only performed the power of Accel Synchro a short time, so I don't know if you can pull off the more advanced form of it yet."
"I have to try! I can't lose after coming so far!"
Dios nodded. "You know that a clear mind is the key to Accel Synchro, but in order to summon the type of monster you'll need to win, you must go a step beyond that state of mind. You must tune out all distractions from both within yourself and without and focus all of your thought, all of your will on a single goal. Picture that goal as a single shining point on the horizon and focus only on that. Only then can you achieve the next level."
After a moment, Utena nodded back. "I think I understand. Thank you."
"To devote yourself this much to protecting Anthy. Could it be that you've remembered?"
"Remembered what?" Utena asked with a raised eyebrow.
Dios smiled and shook his head. "Never mind. That isn't important right now. Just remember what I just told you."
With that, Dios vanished and the darkness around Utena cleared. She was back on the track with Stardust flying at her side, and the Skeleton Knight and his dragon still far ahead.
Utena closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Anthy! The sword!"
Anthy closed her eyes and put her hand over her chest. "Sword of the Rose… the power of Dios that sleeps within me… answer to your master and show yourself now!"
A beam of crimson light shot from Anthy's body into the sky. The beam curved downward towards Utena and struck the top card of her deck, causing it to glow red.
"The power to revolutionize the world!" Utena called as she drew the glowing card from her deck, causing the sound of a sword being unsheathed to ring out across the field. "I equip Stardust with the Sword of Dios, lowering his level from eight to five!"
With a flash of gold light, the ornate rapier that was the Sword of Dios appeared in Stardust's right hand. As soon as the dragon grasped the sword, a dazzling rose-colored aura emanated from his body.
"Next I play the Continuous Spell, Spirits of the Valiant!" Utena announced. "With this card, I'm able to summon as many Knight Synchro Monsters from my Graveyard in Defense as possible with their effects negated and their ATK and DEF reduced to zero! I now bring back Junk Knight and Wonder Knight!"
On cue, the two knights that Utena had called forth earlier in the duel reappeared to each side of Stardust as transparent ghosts.
"Oh-ho! I see you're about to make your final move," the Skeleton Knight observed. "Very well! Show me what you're really capable of!"
Utena took another deep breath and close her eyes. She tuned out everything but the sound of her own beating heart, which had gone down to a steady rhythm. Utena focused on that beat for a few moments and then began to picture a distant light far ahead in the darkness. The pinkette concentrated on that light, and though it was far, far away she could make out the shape of someone standing in that point of light. That person was Anthy, waiting for her and beaming her usual smile.
With her eyes still closed, Utena revved her D-Wheel's engine and began to pick up speed. As Utena closed the gap with the Skeleton Knight, sparks of pink electricity started to shoot from her D-Wheel.
"Unborn dragon that sleeps within the egg of the galaxy! Break out of your shell and shine your light to the very ends of the universe!" Utena began to chant as she sped past the Skeleton Knight. "Delta Accel!"
Suddenly Utena and her three monsters became enveloped in a stream of rose-colored light that shot down the track and vanished in an instant, leaving a sonic boom in its wake. After a few moments, a burst of light ignited from behind the Skeleton Knight and Utena shot from its head, causing the entire track to shake. Even Anthy was startled by the sudden quake and nearly fell on her butt atop her platform.
"What power!" the Skeleton Knight declared. "So she's actually done it!"
Utena sped past the Skeleton Knight with Stardust flying at her side in a brand new form. The dragon had grown to three times his original size, and on his back burned three pairs of wings made of a bluish-white light. The three points of the crest on his head had grown longer, and from the back of his head burned another long stream of bluish-white light. A rose-colored gemstone was set deep into the dragon's forehead had grown much shorter. Thick pieces of silver armor adorned with small blue gemstones adorned the dragon's shoulders, and embedded in the center of his chest was a large blue gemstone resembling a rose.
"Bring Revolution!" Utena called out. "Dios Blazar Dragon!"
Dios Blazar let out a roar that echoed far across the track and beyond. The light emanating from his massive wings was like a sun illuminating the night sky.
"And now Dios Blazar Dragon's effect activates!" Utena announced. "When Dios Blazar has been Synchro Summoned using a Stardust monster, all level ten or lower monsters on the field are banished! Dios Big Bang!"
Dios Blazar roared again and an explosion of bluish-white light burst from his body across the field. As soon as the resulting wave of light struck Dragocytos, the wicked dragon shattered into particles of white light that were instantly blown away.
"Impressive, but at the moment I activate my Trap! Escape from the Dark Dimension!" the Skeleton Knight announced. "This card returns one of my banished Dark monsters to the field! I use this effect to bring back Dragocytos!"
Suddenly a black tear with glowing grey edges appeared in the air above the battlefield. The head of Dragocytos emerged from the tear and let out another horrid roar.
"I activate another of Dios Blazar's effects!" Utena announced. "Once per turn, Dios Blazar can negate the special summon of an opponent's monster and destroy it! Star System Collapse!"
Dios Blazar fired a beam of light from the rose-shaped gem in his chest into the sky at Dragocytos. The evil dragon was hit in the face and shattered again into particles of white light that blew away. The tear in space became empty and instantly sealed itself up.
"Dios Blazar also gains half the ATK of the monster who's summoning was negated, meaning his ATK rises from 4000 to 6000!" Utena announced.
The Skeleton Knight suddenly brought his horse to a stop. "Well done…Prince Utena."
"Dios Blazar Dragon! Attack the Skeleton Knight directly and end this nightmare!" Utena commanded. "Dios Revolutionary Starburst!"
Dios Blazar opened his mouth and fired an intense stream of bluish-white light down at the Skeleton Knight. Upon impact, the blast created a massive explosion that washed out the entire track. Inside the light, the Skeleton Knight was knocked from his horse, which was quickly being reduced to nothing but a pile of bone and rags. The undead duelist's life points dropped to zero as he hit the ground. After a few moments, the light from the explosion faded and Dios Blazar Dragon had vanished.
Utena pulled her D-Wheel over to the side of the track and let out a sigh of relief as she removed her helmet. She then noticed a golden light was suddenly shining from her hand. By the time Utena looked to see where the light was coming from, it had faded, but she noticed that the rose seal ring she wore had changed from a silver color to a brilliant gold.
"Lady Utena," a familiar voice spoke. Utena quickly dismounted and saw that Anthy had come over. "Congratulations. With this victory, you are now the King of Earth's Lock."
"You mentioned something about that before," Utena recalled. "What exactly does this 'King of Earth's Lock' thing mean?"
"It means that this game…is nearing its conclusion. As King of Earth's Lock, you now have the right to challenge the King of Sky's Lock for the ultimate title of King Who Unlocks, and gain the privilege to travel to Seibal."
"So…it's almost over then," Utena realized as a smile began to form on her face. "I'll finally be able to bring this craziness to an end!"
"Prince…Utena," another familiar voice called. Utena and Anthy both looked to see the Skeleton Knight on his knees not to far away. "I must…speak with you. Now that you have defeated me…it is time you learned the whole truth about why I went up against you."
Up in the tower, Akio had been watching Utena since her duel against Mikage. Now that the Skeleton Knight had been defeated, Akio lowered his opera glasses with a satisfied smirk on his face. The dark prince pulled out his phone and quickly dialed Rex's number. Akio put the phone to his ear and listened to the dial tone for a few moments before Rex finally picked up.
"I take it the duels are over?" Rex's voice asked over the line.
"Indeed," Akio confirmed. "Utena has defeated both young Mikage and the Skeleton Knight."
"I see…"
"We both knew this would happen Rex. I can't blame you for not being here of course, given your feelings towards Utena…and your relationship with the Skeleton Knight."
"The Skeleton Knight is only a part of my past, a part that I've long since moved on from."
Akio shrugged. "If you say so. In any case, you should be expecting Utena to challenge you very soon. I hope you're ready for her."
"Rest assured I've been ready for this duel for centuries. And the one to finally make it to Seibal will be me!"
With that, the line went dead. Akio chuckled and shook his head. "Ah Rex. Even after all this time you're still so naïve. Very soon you'll realize that no matter how strong you've become, I'll still be the one standing atop in the end."
Utena walked over to the Skeleton Knight with Anthy following a step behind. The Skeleton Knight didn't even look up at her as she approached.
"What the hell do you want now?" Utena asked as she glared down at the undead duelist.
"I wish to congratulate you," the Skelton Knight answered, not once looking up. "And to tell you the truth behind my actions. My goal has been to bring this game to an end, and if necessary I would've killed the Rose Bride to do it, but…your victory was actually he ideal result for my plans. For thousands of years I've clung to the remains of my body, searching for a hero like you. All of the duelists I sent against you…even Mikage…were all tests to see if you were the hero I've long been searching for, and you have passed with flying colors."
"You…you used my friends and threatened Anthy's life…all as part of some dumb test?" an outraged Utena asked. "I don't believe you! Just who the hell are you anyway?"
The Skeleton Knight finally turned his head to look up at Utena. "In life…my name was Rudger Goodwin. The man you know as Father Rex Goodwin…was my younger brother."
Author's Note: I hope everyone enjoyed the conclusion to this duel. Since I'm sure of you reading are eager to see the original cards that appeared in this chapter, I'll just get right to showcasing them. And I might as well start with the biggest card to show up.
Dios Blazar Dragon
LIGHT/Dragon/Synchro/Effect/12/ATK 4000/DEF 4000
1 Tuner Synchro Monster + 2 or more non-Tuner Synchro Monsters
Must be Synchro Summoned and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways. When this card is Synchro Summoned using a "Stardust" monster; banish all Level 10 or lower monsters on the field. The first time each card you control would be destroyed each turn, by battle or card effect, it is not destroyed. Once per turn (Quick Effect), when your opponent would Special Summon a monster: You can negate that Special Summon and destroy that monster, and if you do, this card gains ATK equal to half the original ATK of the destroyed monster until the End Phase. If this card in its owner's possession is destroyed by an opponent's card (by battle or card effect): You can target 1 Level 8 or lower "Stardust" monster in your Graveyard; Special Summon it.
Part of the reason I chose "Don't Pay the Ferryman" for the title of this chapter is because I didn't want a title that might give away the debut of this dragon. Truth be told, I had originally planned to save Dios Blazar for Utena's duel against Rex, but I couldn't think of any other way for her to defeat the Skeleton Knight, and it was pretty much the Skeleton Knight's intention to push Utena to her limits to bring out a dragon like this one. Anyway, coming up with Dios Blazar Dragon's effect was pretty hard. In the end, I just mixed and modified the effects of Cosmic Blazar Dragon and Stardust Sifr Divine Dragon.
Curse Buster Charm
Continuous Spell
While this card is face-up on the field, monsters currently on the field cannot be sent to the Graveyard by card effects.
Underworld Sanction
Counter Trap
When your opponent activates a card effect by banishing it from the Graveyard: negate that effect and inflict 500 points of damage to your opponent.
Just some support cards I made for the Skeleton Knight to put the pressure on Utena. That about covers it for this chapter. I should hopefully be back next week with another update, which will cover the backstory of the Goodwin Brothers in this AU. So until then, please review and let me know what you think.
