There was no doubt when I entered the city, because the smell of the air changed dramatically. Breathing became easier, and the only word I had for this new smell was...clean.
This new smell became more noticeable as I exited the tunnel, yet my attention was caught by a shadow on the ground that looked very familiar. Mischief boiled up inside of me, and I pulled to a stop, pretending to smell the air, "Ugh, it smells worse over here than it ever did back home. I wonder if they ever take out their trash?"
My eyes drifted up to see the man I once called my brother, standing on an overpass, "Oh. There it is. No wonder I can smell it so well."
Jack looked a little surprised, "Really, Yusei? Are you seriously calling me trash?"
"If the shoe fits...Any way, I want Stardust back."
He crossed his arms, "First you insult me, then you demand something from me. Don't you want to catch up on old times first?"
I clenched my fist, "Look, I have wondered why you betrayed us, but I just want Stardust back."
With an overdramatic flick of his wrist, he held out my card, "It's still in one piece, don't you trust me?"
"Not after my first runner mysteriously was replaced by that eyesore."
One of his way-too-thin eyebrows went up, "What eyesore?"
"Your high speed ferris wheel. Now just give me my card."
He put it in his deck, "Not after you insulted my Wheel of Fortune. You'll have to duel me for it."
I rolled my eyes and muttered, "And people say that girls get upset over nothing. Well...I am doing all of this for a card. Maybe it's Satellites."
After a long ride (which felt extremely long for me after my other drive), we ended up inside of the infamous Kaiba Dome, where (according to Tank) Jack did all of his professional duels, "Welcome to my office, Yusei. If you think that it's impressive right now, then you should see it when it's full of adoring fans cheering my name."
"Hard pass on that. But thanks for the offer."
His head snapped in my direction, "Maybe a duel will cheer you up. Shall we get started?"
Stretching, I let my back pop, "Remember, if I win, I get Stardust. If you win, I go back home and never challenge you for it again."
Apparently two years of hearing his voice only on TV made me hate his voice, or else I just forgot how annoying it was, because I despised listening to him, "Those sound like perfect outcomes."
We put our runners next to each other, and waited as a hologram counted down. The second it turned green, the smell of burning rubber and roar of our engines filled the air.
I decided that I was going first, "My turn, and I summon my Quillbolt Hedgehog in defense mode."
Quillbolt Hedgehog-800
Jack chortled, "That little thing? Well he can say hello to my Mad Archfiend!"
Mad Archfiend-1800
"And due to his special ability, when he attacks a monster in defense mode, he inflicts piercing damage. Let 'er have it!"
Life Points Yusei=3000
As if I didn't see that coming a mile away, idiot. Checking my hand, I flicked down a card, "I summon Junk Synchron in attack mode."
Junk Synchron-1600
"And, in case you forgot, my Junk Synchron can bring back a level 1 or 2 monster from my graveyard. So say hello again to my Quillbolt Hedgehog. But he's not going to stay around long, because now Junk Synchron tunes my Quillbolt in order to summon my Junk Warrior."
Junk Warrior-2300
Jack let out an overdramatic sigh as I continued, "Now my Junk Warrior attacks your Mad Archfiend."
Life Points Jack=3500
"So far, Yusei, you are being extremely predictable, I summon Twin Shield Defender in defense mode, and set one card facedown on my field."
Twin Shield Defender-1600
"What's that about being predictable, Jack Atlas?"
Glancing at his card, I pondered my next move, Clearly that is a trap, but it's better to reveal it than stay away from it. I drew, and once again I had the right card, "I summon Speed Warrior. And thanks to Junk Warrior's special ability, Speed Warrior's attack points are added to Junk Warrior's."
Speed Warrior-900
Junk Warrior-3200
"Then the turn that Speed Warrior is summoned, it's attack point double, but don't worry, this power boost doesn't also go to Junk Warrior."
Speed Warrior-1800
How have I been able to say this much without the king of ego speaking? Guess we'll see how long he lets me talk, "Now Speed Warrior, attack Twin Shield Defender."
I cringed when I saw the purple cloud where his monster had been, I totally forgot about his special ability.
Jack chuckled, "Twin Shield Defender's special ability activates. The strongest monster on your field loses the same amount of attack points as my monster."
Junk Warrior-1600
Doing my best to hide my embarrassment, I kept talking, "So? He can still attack you directly."
Life Points Jack=1900
The facedown flipped up as he started to talk, "I activate my trap, Spacegate. I gain a gate token for each of the times you attacked me. So two tokens."
I set one card face down, "I end my turn and my monsters' attack points return to normal."
Junk Warrior-3200
Speed Warrior-900
His voice was definitely grating on my nerves, as he spoke in his 'superior' voice, "Since I have four or more speed tokens I can activate the speed spell Speed Fusion, so I send Medium Piece Golem and Big Piece Golem to the graveyard to summon Multiple Piece Golem."
Multiple Piece Golem-2600
"Now would you kindly destroy her Speed Warrior?"
My monster shattered, but I flipped up my facedown card, "I activate my facedown, Defense Draw. I take no damage this turn, and I do get to draw a card."
He laughed, "But your Junk Warrior does lose his extra points. And after I attack with my Multiple Piece Golem, I can send it to the graveyard and bring out the monsters used to summon it."
Junk Warrior-2300
Big Piece Golem-2100
Medium Piece Golem-1600
"Then I use Medium Piece Golem's special ability to bring out Small Piece Golem."
Small Piece Golem-1100
"And since I haven't normal summoned yet, I summon Dark Resonator."
Dark Resonator-1300
Oh, boy. Here comes the powerhouse.
"I tune Big Piece Golem with Dark Resonator, in order to summon the monster of my soul, Red Dragon Archfiend!"
Red Dragon Archfiend-3000
The smile he sent me caused chills to fly up my spine at cosmic speeds, "But why stop there?"
What? Oh, he couldn't possibly be thinking to…
"I send Spacegate to the graveyard, in order to summon a monster with a level equal to or less than the amount of Gate tokens I have. So I summon level one Sinister Sprocket."
Sinister Sprocket-600
"Next, I tune both of my remaining Golems with my Sprocket to summon Stardust Dragon!"
Stardust Dragon-2500
He actually did it. This isn't going to be easy.
I looked at my Stardust (my card!) in concern. I knew everything about that card. But that was an advantage for me.
"I summon Shield Warrior in defense mode."
Shield Warrior-1800
"Then I put Junk Warrior in defense mode and place one card facedown."
Junk Warrior-1300
However, I was at a small disadvantage, he never used his dragon back in the Satellite, saying that he didn't like to use extreme force when unnecessary. I knew hardly anything about it, mostly because I couldn't stand watching his duels on the computer.
"I think I'll have my Red Dragon Archfiend attack your Shield Warrior. And his special ability makes it so he can destroy all monsters in defense mode. Say goodbye to your defense!"
Oh man! Guilt came over me as my monsters were destroyed, and Jack laughed, "Stardust, attack her directly!"
Life Points Yusei=500
Nothing hurt more than having your own card, your most prized car, being used against you.
Glancing at my hand, I realised that I had a pretty good plan in place, "I put Sonic Chick in defense mode on my field, and place a facedown."
Sonic Chick-300
"Red Dragon Archfiend, attack that Sonic Chick!"
A bubble appeared around Sonic Chick, "You can't do that, Jack. Sonic Chick can't be destroyed by a monster with more than 1900 attack points."
"But my dragon's special ability will destroy it anyway."
I smiled, "Not quite, I activate my trap Remote Revenge. If one of my monsters is going to be destroyed by another's special ability, all monsters in attack mode on your field will be destroyed."
He cackled with a vengeance that would make a witch proud, "I activate Stardust Dragon's special ability, which releases him in order to negate the effect of a card that would destroy every monster on my field."
A smirk spread over my face, Perfect.
Jack had no idea what he was doing as he spoke the fated words, "Now that my turn is over, Stardust comes back. Looks like you wasted your chance."
Tilting my head, I sent him my classic smirk, "Actually, I activate my trap card, Harmonia Mirror. If you summon a Synchro monster in a way that isn't a synchro summon, it comes to my field instead. Welcome back old friend."
Stardust Dragon-2500
My smile grew massively as Stardust appeared on my field, "Now that it is my turn, I activate my spell Silver Contrails. Any wind-type monster on my field can get a 1000 point bonus."
Stardust Dragon-3500
"Now get that Red Dragon…"
Pain laced up and down my forearm. It was so sudden it took away my breath, leaving me unable to finish my sentence. And yet, Stardust still did my will, and attacked.
To my surprise, Sonic Chick exploded, "What trap did you use, Jack?"
"My Synchro Deflector. It destroys a monster on your field instead of mine."
Mind still reeling from the sharp pain, I managed to spit out, "Fine, then I place Ghost Guardna in defense mode and set two facedowns."
Stardust Dragon-2500
Ghost Guardna-1900
His voice rose in volume as he called out, "Archfiend, destroy Stardust!"
My Ghost glided in front of the attack, and Jack yelled, "What is that thing doing?"
A chuckle slipped out of my mouth as I answered, "Ghost Guardna makes itself the focus of your attack, then lowers your dragon's attack points by a thousand. Sorry about that Jackie Boy."
Red Dragon Archfiend-2000
"Since your monster successfully destroyed a monster on my field, I activate Counterattack Beacon, which allows Stardust to attack you with 500 more attack points."
Stardust Dragon-3000
But of course his ego wouldn't let me have the last laugh, "I activate Prideful Roar, which exchanges 1000 of my life points to make it so Archfiend has 300 more attack points than your Stardust."
Life Points Jack=900
Red Dragon Archfiend-3300
Life Points Yusei=200
I winced as the pain came back, worse than before, "I remove Shield Warrior from the game in order to keep Stardust on the field."
Suddenly I noticed the red...stuff floating in the sky. As I watched, it solidified into a...dragon?
Jack freaked out, "I play my spell End of Storm!"
Maybe if we stop dueling this thing will go away, "I activate my trap, Meteor…"
A massive gust of wind blew my runner out of control as the screeching of the dragon got louder. Fire danced up and down my forearm, making it glow red as blood. The mysterious dragon flew up, and vanished into the night sky. Odd, because that thing glowed so freaking bright.
I somehow managed to safely stop next to a wall, and slid down it in exhaustion. So many emotions were going through me, and the most prevalent was fear. I ripped off my glove and pushed up my sleeve, only to see that it was my arm that was glowing. The shape was kinda like a triangle, but it was too bright to know for sure.
Just as my arm stopped glowing, I heard sirens approaching. I knew one thing, Jack hadn't called for them. He was the type of person to do things himself, and not make others do his dirty work. He was sitting next to his runner not that far from where I was, and as I watched, he passed out.
Great.
A/N: So, this is a merge of my previous chapters 4 and 5. Thank you to Let's-Go-To-Vermont and PipeDream for reviewing on the original versions of these chapters.
