A/N: Here's part 2 of our Defiants prequel tie-in. Let's see how these duels resolve and witness Ken (once again) going on another rampage.
Enjoy!
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Prelude to the Defiants, Part II
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Co-written by: Chaosblazer and Kanius
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Dimension: YYGDM-01/CainCorp Rooftop/10:25 PM
(Cue Rob Zombie - Meet the Creeper)
"Damn it! Go Skill Twist!" Dragoon yelled flipping up one of his two face down cards. This one being a trap showing two monsters with a beam being shot at one of them. "With this, your monster has to blast my dragon instead of Zealoss's Arcana Knight."
Ken started clapping mockingly at this gameplay. "Good for you!" He said in a menacing tone as Performapal Gatlinghoul blasted his dragon full of holes and off the field.
Taking the Orichalcum Chain spell with it, Dragoon was soon lit up like a Christmas tree with bullets that racked his body with intense pain and he crashed into the energy cage trying to catch himself from falling. It did not work as he hit the ground face first.
"Get up and finish this or I'll take it as a forfeit!" Ken demanded.
Zealoss and Dragoon struggled to their feet. However, neither one of them felt like continuing, but they knew they had to or they face the wrath of Psyren and Cain.
Dragoon LP: 1000 (4000-3000)
This guy didn't come to duel! He came for war! Where did he get these sick and demented cards?!Dragoon wondered.
You'd think two on one we would've had an advantage, but damn… and what the hell is up with these suits?! I thought they were supposed to help us, not show us first hand what a shadow game feels like!Zealoss thought as Ken's slasher grin not one left his face.
"This...this is no duel. It's freaking sick." Kotori shuddered at the torture.
"Believe me, Kotori. I've been there, but even so I wouldn't wish this on anyone." Himura noted remembering when he had to duel his sister's dark alter ego Nemesis during Pharaohmon's Shadow Tournament. She had taken them to the Shadow Realm and he had experienced so much pain it nearly killed him.
"Since you two don't intend to concede, it seems we need another lesson in pain! You're wide open, dragon boy! Attack!" Performapal Gatlinghoul revved his gun up again and fired at Dragoon.
Although Dragoon prepared to activate his remaining facedown card, Zealoss did so first, using one of his own.
"I play Staunch Defender! Now your Gattlinghoul has to battle my Joker!"
Dragoon shook his head at this action. "Dude I could've protected myself!" He yelled as Ken held up the last card in his hand.
"Such fragile bonds of loyalty, I play Book of Moon! This forces your Joker to go face down where it will be destroyed!"
Zealoss growled as Ken was right. Gattinghoul had 2900 attack points while his Joker had only 2500 defense points.
"Fine, go De-Fusion!" By playing this spell, his Knight split back into its original components all in defense mode before Book of Moon could kick in. Jack's Knight was blasted off the field as a result.
"If you two wish to stall, go ahead! You can't stop your inevitable deletion!"
The two duelists braced themselves, because they knew going forward it wasn't about winning, but surviving.
(End theme)
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Warehouse/Domino Pier/10:30 PM
"Alright, Grapplo! First, I summon Elemental Hero Bubbleman in attack mode!" Jaden announced as Grapplo sighed at this.
Elemental Hero Bubbleman
Water/LVL 4/Warrior
ATK: 800 DEF: 1200
"And you get to draw two cards cause he's the only one out. Seriously dude, you have no originality." Jaden growled as he drew two cards and played another one, one that made Grapplo smirk. Yes, do it!
"How's this for original?! I play Polymerization! I'll fuse Elemental Hero Avian and Elemental Hero Burstinatrixto form Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!" One of Jaden's ace monsters hit the field. Grapplo groaned at Jaden's choice of words as did some of his friends since it proved Grapplo was right.
Elemental Hero Flame Wingman
Wind/LVL 6/Warrior
ATK: 2100 DEF: 1200
"Thanks for proving my point, Jaden! So is Mudballman next in line?!" Grapplo asked. "Doesn't matter though, see now the fun starts. Since you just special summoned a monster, my Goyo Emperor's effect kicks in!"
Jaden and Henbu were surprised. "Say what?!" They both yelled as the last Goyo Defender disappeared, and suddenly Flame Wingman floated over to Grapplo's field.
"It's like this you idiot. When you special summon a monster, I'm allowed to sacrifice one of my own other than Goyo Emperor, and as a result take control of the monster you played!"
However, Jaden was undeterred by this. "I'll counter you with Monster Recovery!So now Bubbleman returns to my hand, and then I shuffle my hand and redraw!" He did so as Bubbleman vanished from the field.
"I don't see what good this will do." Grapplo noted.
However when Jaden redrew his hand, he smirked.
"I play Double Summon!Come out Elemental Hero Sparkman!"
The electrical gold warrior appeared.
Elemental Hero Sparkman
Light/LVL 4/Warrior
ATK: 1600 DEF: 1400
"I ask again, what's the damn point?!" Jaden then discarded Skyscraper from his hand to the graveyard. "Why'd you do that?!"
Jaden held up another card. "To play this, Super Polymerization!"
Grapplo paled at seeing this. That's the new fusion card he got in the other world. His face paled deeper when Flame Wingman and Sparkman flew into the air and combined. "You can fuse monsters from my side of the field with that thing?!" In their place was another of Jaden's best cards: Shining Flare Wingman.
"It's Shining Flare Wingman!" Syrus cheered from inside the cage.
Elemental Hero Shining Flare Wingman
Light/LVL 8/Warrior
ATK: 2500 DEF: 2000
"Seriously you and your fucking cheap cards."
Jaden glared at Grapplo. "Whoa, language! You kiss your mom with that mouth?!"
"Shut up!"
"This coming from someone who's using cards that shouldn't exist yet! Shining Flare Wingman gains 300 attack points for each monster with 'Hero' in its name in my graveyard. There are four down there right now!"
Grapplo growled as he knew what this meant. His Goyo Emperor was outmatched.
Elemental Hero Shining Flare Wingman
ATK: 3700 (2500 + 1200 = 4 x 300)
"Fine I'll play De-Fusion!" With this, Grapplo's Goyo Emperor vanished. The two Goyo Defenders from before returned in defense mode.
Jaden was now confused. "Why did you?!"
Grapplo cut him off. "You think I'm stupid? You would've wiped out most of my life points just now. That ain't happening. So even if you take out a Goyo Defender, I'll still have plenty of life points to continue on. So go ahead, kill one."
"Actually, you could've used De-Fusion on my Shining Flare Wingman instead. Why didn't you?"
Grapplo's jaw dropped for a moment before he facepalmed hard with his hand. He realized Jaden was right. I got caught up in the moment and didn't realize that! What the hell is wrong with me?!
"Attack!" Shining Flare Wingman unleashed a ball of light energy and toasted one of the Goyo Defenders. Sure enough, it's attack points came out of Grapplo's life points.
Grapplo LP: 3000 (4000-1000)
"Don't think just cause you're ahead this duel is over. I'm not finished with you by a long shot!" Grapplo declared as he took his turn.
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Domino City/Warehouse near Royal Flush Arcade/10:33 PM
"Mai, did you really think I'd let you play that triangle card?!" Psyren mocked as she showed her facedown was Solemn Judgement. Although she had lost half her life points, she had stopped Mai from using one of her more powerful cards to empower her Harpie Lady Sisters.The only remaining card on Psyren's field was her Thought Ruler Archfiend.
Psyren LP: 2000 (4000/2)
Mai's field
Harpie Lady Sisters
Wind/LVL 6/Winged Beast
ATK: 1950 DEF: 2100
Cyber Harpie
Wind/LVL 4/Winged Beast
ATK: 1800 DEF: 1300
One facedown card.
"Fine go!" Mai goaded her.
Psyren smirked. "In a rush to lose are we?" She taunted as she drew."I play Card of Sanctity!You know what this means!" Mai growled and drew as did Psyren. "Next, I'll play this Psychokinesis!And with it, your face down card is destroyed!" The card was revealed to be the trap Mirror Wall."You are way too predictable you know that! Of course using that card does cost me another 1000 points, but it's not going to matter now!"
Psyren LP: 1000 (2000-1000)
"Next I'll play this: The Seal of Orichalcos!"
Mai was in shock as the seal came down around them and empowered Thought Ruler Archfiend.
Thought Ruler Archfiend
ATK: 3200 (2700 + 500)
"Attack!"
Her monster ripped the Harpie Lady Sisters to pieces, taking a chunk out of Mai's life points.
"Hang in there, Mai!" Joey called out.
Mai LP: 2750 (4000-1250)
"What's even better is the damage you just sustained replenishes my life points!" Psyren said as her life points went up.
Psyren LP: 2250 (1000 +1250)
An irked Mai struggled to maintain her composure.
Psyren chuckled. "So, this is what it feels like to use the seal, huh? I wonder how you felt using it."
Mai rebuked. "You're going to regret using this seal. It's dangerous! You'll be gambling with our lives!"
"Guess we'll see once we cross that bridge, Miss Valentine."
"No, you don't understand the power you're messing with! No one knows using a dangerous power beyond one's control better than me!" Mai tried reasoning with Psyren, but her pleas fell on deaf ears.
"You tell her, Mai!" Joey yelled as he and Mai recalled their duel encounters involving the Orichalcos and losing his soul to her.
Mai remembered holding Joey in her arms as the Orichalcos took his soul.
"Yeah and I'm supposed to care? All I care about is correcting the wrongs you've done to me, Mai Valentine! You've humiliated on the dueling stage and looked down on me as some scrub with a flashy gimmick!" Psyren gritted her teeth, remembering her string of losses to her dueling rival. "Well, who's the scrub now?! I'm not the same duelist you faced those years ago! I've worked my way up and built a deck that's greatly surpasses yours!" An evil smirk adorned her face as she intently eyed Mai. "You're already teetering on the edge of defeat in the face of my Archfiend! I've destroyed your monsters in fell swoop!"
"Hate to break it to you, but this duel isn't over."
"But, it will be once I sent my Archfiend to crush you!"
Serenity lowered her eyes. "Please win, Mai."
"Don't worry, sis. She gonna pull through," Joey tried his best to lift his sister's spirits, despite knowing the reality that Mai doesn't really stand a chance.
"We believe in you, Mai…" Miho muttered. Vivian, what's taking you and the others so long?
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CainCorp/10:35 PM
Cain painstakingly monitored the three simultaneous feeds of the ongoing duels. He watched the screen showing Kensuke's duel against Dragoon and Zealoss.
"That young man's putting Zealoss and Dragoon through the wringer!" Cain snapped, clenching a fist. "I didn't pay those idiots to lose!"
"Sir, I am concerned for those two police officers watching that boy's duel," Grace noticed Kotori and Himura on screen.
"Just how did those officers get up there anyway?" Cain wondered. "Not like it matters, wrong place, wrong time."
"They may be officers, but they're also civilians, Cain."
"Fine if they somehow can survive this, we can ask them to arrest that boy should he cause any property damage."
Grace sighed. "Sir."
The faceless figure chortled. "I wouldn't worry about those officers. They're just spectators. But, are you realizing just how powerless your technological servants are no match for these heroes, Mr. Bearer? You've only managed to capture a few for two reason: One, you had my help. Two, your SOUJA units and Psyren got the drop on them with their guards down."
Cain turned and arched a brow. "So, are you suggesting I need to upgrade my SOUJA?"
"Upgrade them. Maybe delve into those secret projects you and your people have been actively working on for the past few years. Perhaps make use of the Metas you've either captured or partnered yourself with." The faceless man said this as he veered toward Neuromancer. "But, I'm merely making suggestions. Take them however you'd like it, Mr. Bearer. All I'm saying all this is building to an inevitable final conflict. One that determines the future of this world. Will it be a world full of superpowered beings or free of them as you've wanted?"
Hearing this, Cain bit his bottom lip. Everything the individual told him he took to heart.
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Warehouse/Domino Pier/10:37 PM
Meanwhile, the captives inside the cage quietly observed Jaden and Grapplo's duel. Sailor Mercury was still tinkering with the binding ropes using her mini-computer. Cyber Mercury noticed her tampering.
Cyber Mercury grinned. "Have you managed to neutralize it, mom?"
Mercury replied. "Not quite yet. I just need to hook the cables from my computer into the binding ropes and hack into it."
"Piece of cake," Cyber Mercury leaned over. "Remember I'm the hacker between me and Daiki." She gripped the cables with her fingers and attached them to Mercury's binding ropes.
The other watched as Cyber Mercury worked her hacker techniques.
Summoner Venus chuckled. "That's our genius."
Battle Jupiter whispered. "Thankfully that duelist is so preoccupied with Jaden, he doesn't even notice."
Max encouraged Cyber Mercury. "You've got this, Amaya."
"Hell yeah, Max," Cyber Mercury focused as she typed a code into Mercury's mini-computer. "Ok, now we've gotta wait for this program to fully download. Then, a virus I created should neutralize these bindings."
Sara whispered. "You're a lifesaver, Amaya."
"You created a virus without my consent?" Mercury arched a brow at her future daughter.
"Yeaaah, sorry, but this virus will work in our benefit. Trust me."
Smiling, Mercury's frown was replaced with a genuine smile. "I'm proud of you, Amaya. Both you and Daiki."
"Downloading. We're at 15 percent. Cross your fingers."
"I play Card of Sanctity, Jaden!" Grapplo growled. Both drew until they held six cards. "Next, I'm playing something you might find familiar: Dark Fusion!"
Jaden went wide eyed seeing this action.
"Dark fusion?!" Henbu questioned.
"I've never heard of it." Alexis said.
"I have." Everyone looked at Syrus when he said this. "When Jaden became the Supreme King in the other world, it was a card he used in duels. Using that card almost made him abandon fusion entirely when he was brought back to normal by Axel."
"I fuse Avian and Burstinatrix to call out Evil Hero Inferno Wing!"
Evil Hero Inferno Wing
Fiend/LVL 6/Fire
ATK: 2100 DEF: 1200
"I'm not done by a long shot! Now I play The Seal of Orichalcos!"
Now it was Henbu's turn to go pale as the seal lowered around the combatants.
"I'm now more powerful than ever!" Grapplo declared as his monster got a power boost.
Evil Hero Inferno Wing
ATK: 2600 (2100 + 500)
"Jaden, be careful! You can't lose this!" Henbu called out.
Jaden nodded. "I don't intend to. Besides, Inferno Wing can't beat my monster."
Grapplo laughed. "You like to think that, huh, Jaden? Well, guess what? It will! I play another card Genesis of Evil!" A spell card with the faces of the evil hero monsters appeared. "This card works like this. I'm allowed to summon Evil Heroes from this point forward. However if you have a monster stronger than mine, mine can destroy it regardless of the attack difference! Now neither of us can take battle damage this way, but I'm sure you know what Inferno Wing does considering she's the evil counterpart, too! Attack!" Infernal Wing tore forward and slashed Shining Flare Wingman in half. However, her effect kicked in and Jaden collapsed in pain. "You should've never beaten me before Jaden. Now it will all come back to bite you!"
Jaden LP: 300 (4000 - 3700)
As Jaden stood up, his eyes started glowing yellow and green.
"Oh what? You gonna call Yubel? Let me tell you ahead of time. Genesis of Evil has another effect. Effects during battle are canceled out! Not only that, but if an Evil Hero is attacked by Hero Fusion monster, I can send the spell to the graveyard and Infernal Wing will instantly kill whatever battles it."
Jaden drew a card. "If you want me to take this seriously I will! I play Fake Hero! Now I can summon an Elemental Hero to the field, but it comes back to my hand during the end phase."
Grapplo was confused. "The point?" He asked as Jaden summoned his ace Elemental Hero Neos.
Elemental Hero Neos
Light/LVL 7/Warrior
ATK: 2500 DEF: 2000
"So, which contact fusion are you going to use this time? Not that it matters!"
"Next, I play The Flute of Summoning Kuriboh!"
Winged Kuriboh joined Neos on the field.
Winged Kuriboh
Light/LVL 1/Fairy
ATK: 300 DEF: 200
"What are you going to do with that puffball?!"
Winged Kuriboh chirped angrily at this. Jaden then summoned another monster.
"Next, I'll play this Elemental Hero Prisma!"
Grapplo went on alert as he had never heard of that card. A crystal-like warrior appeared.
Elemental Hero Prisma
Light/LVL 4/Warrior
ATK: 1700 DEF: 1100
"Care to enlighten me on what you're trying to do Jaden?!" Grapplo demanded.
"Elemental Hero Prisma's effect activates! Once per turn, I can send a Fusion material component for a Fusion monster from my deck to the graveyard, and Prisma is treated as that monster until the end phase! The card I'm choosing is this one!" From his deck, he took out and showed Grapplo a card depicting a white dragon with rainbow crystals on its body. His eyes went wide.
"Wait a fucking minute! Rainbow Dragon! But, there's only one known copy of that card!" Right as Grapplo said this, another Rainbow Dragon busted into the room. "What in the?!" The 'second' Rainbow Dragon turned into a human with blue hair wearing an Obelisk Blue uniform. "Jessie Anderson?!"
"You'd be right about there being only one Rainbow Dragon. I lent it to Jay before the duel!" He looked over to the force cage. "By the way, things are getting quieter outside. Your friends wanted me to tell you that!"
Grapplo growled. "Big deal! What can you do with a card… you can't…!" He stopped when Jaden played another Polymerization fusing Prisma who was counted as Rainbow Dragon with Neos. "NO!" In their place came a new large majestic humanoid being but wearing dragon scale-like armor.
"Would you look at that thing!" Syrus called out.
Rainbow Neos
Light/LVL 10/Warrior
ATK: 4500 DEF: 3000
"It's attack power is equal to the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" Sam yelled out in shock.
"I activate Rainbow Neos's effect by sending Winged Kuriboh to the graveyard! All monsters you have out are returned to your deck!"
Grapplo paled at this as his only defense was gone by this action. Genesis of Evil's nullify effect only works on Fusions with Elemental Hero in their name! How could I have screwed this up?! "Jaden, you fucking cheater! You couldn't beat me on your own so you have to have outside help yet again!"
"Your using monsters not from this time! So, who's the real cheater?! As much as I don't want to do this, I must save my friends! Rainbow Neos's attack!"
The monster unleashed a powerful light blast depleting Grapplo's life points. He growled as the seal closed in. The cage shut down, releasing those trapped within from the energy cords. "Jaden, I'll come back from hell to get you!"
Before the seal could get his soul, Morpheous stormed inside and broke it, doing what he did when Richard used the card. Despite this, Grapplo pulled a smoke bomb and threw it, allowing himself to escape.
"This will never be over until I say it is, Jaden!" This was the last thing anyone heard from him as the smoke cleared and he was gone.
"That was good timing Morpheous, but shouldn't you be helping Mai and Serenity?" Henbu asked.
"I'm going back right now! Mai's opponent has also played the seal, but they saw this one come down and instructed me to come here first."
Jaden nodded. "You better hurry back then."
"It's done!" Cyber Mercury announced as the bindings finally came loose. "Bingo! My virus worked!"
Everyone's binding ropes came loose as Battle Jupiter kicked open the cage.
"Jay, we're out!" Syrus called out.
"Thanks, Sarge!" Hassleberry yelled.
Sara ran over and hugged Henbu.
"Thank goodness you're ok, Sara." Henbu said.
"Heh, I knew we can count on our hacker genius!" Summoner Venus patted Cyber Mercury's back.
"That's our Amaya," Battle Jupiter said.
"That's my girlfriend, you mean," Max corrected them.
Morpheous took off as the rest of the heroes from outside came in. They had taken down the SOUJA units that blocked them from entering.
"Umi! Mako!" Jupiter stormed in to check on them.
Daiki, Vega, and Psyche entered the warehouse. They were relieved to see Mercury, Cyber Mercury, and Max were ok.
Alexis walked up to Jaden and noticed he had a look of disdain on his face. "What's wrong?"
"The Evil Heroes. Just when I thought I was past them, they come back to haunt me, and that was only one of them. If Grapplo's mind wasn't clouded, things could've been worse than him playing the seal." Jaden noted.
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Warehouse near Royal Flush Arcade/10:42 PM
Back at Mai and Psyren's duel.
"Mirror Force?!" Psyren shouted as she watched her Thought Ruler Archfiend get destroyed. "Since when have you used that?!" Psyren flipped out.
Mai smirked coolly. "Oh come now, all your talk about evolving and now your complaining? Such a basic card like this was able to destroy your advanced monster, hun."
Psyren glared at her. "I activate my trap card Wicked Rebirth!By paying 800 life points, a Synchro monster returns! However, its effects are negated!" As she played this card, Ruler Archfiend came back to the field.
Psyren LP: 1450 (2250 - 800)
(Cue Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D'sOST - Dark Tuning)
"Next, I summon another Krebons, but I won't be Synchro Summoning again!" Mai was confused, until Psyren held up a certain card. "I play Polymerization so now my two monsters fuse together!" The two psychic monsters melded, but the result was not what Mai was expecting.
Inside the force cage, Serenity and Miho both looked away when Psyren's new monster appeared, the grotesque but deadly Starve Venom Fusion Dragon.
Starve Venom Fusion Dragon
Dark/LVL 8/Dragon
ATK: 3300 (2800 + 500) DEF: 2000
"What… what in the..." Mai muttered in horror. She had seen plenty of terrifying Duel Monsters in her career, but none as terror inducing as Starve Venom Fusion Dragon. Her suspicions heightened when Psyren's eyes glowed purple.
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CainCorp Rooftop/10:45 PM
Over at Ken's duel, his head was suddenly racked with pain again like the previous encounter with Psyren. Now it was to the point where in his mind he saw a city reduced to rubble in his sight. Karin became concerned now more than ever, but she could no longer get into his mind, as if something was blocking the connection.
"Ok, what's he doing now?!" Dragoon wondered. He and Zealoss had managed to stay in the game and even lower Ken's life points down quite a bit, but now they were getting concerned.
Zealoss field
Kuraz the Light Monarch
Caius the Shadow Monarch
Three face down cards.
Dragoon's field
Hieratic Sun Dragon Overlord of Heliopolis
Three Face Down cards
Kensuke LP: 1600
"It's my TURN!" He drew a card from his deck with such force it created a shockwave that nearly knocked all present off their feet.
"What did I just feel?! How can a card game do this?!" Kotori shouted.
Himura, however, was not as skeptical as Byakko warned him.
"Something bad is happening. I can sense a powerful force akin to the dragons in Ken's deck has been summoned somewhere near here."
What could it mean? Himura wondered as Ken reset the Pendulum scale.
"I don't know, but what I do know is that if the dragons in Ken's deck somehow collide with that force, we could be looking at powerthat rivals, if not surpasses the Egyptian Gods."
"I Pendulum Summon Odd-eyes Pendulum Dragon, Performapal UgoGolem, and Blackwing-Bora the Spear!"
Blackwing-Bora the Spear
Dark/LVL 4/Winged Beast
ATK: 1700 DEF: 800
"Unless you've got a second copy of that Gattlinghoul, then bringing those out was useless! Caius has already removed your monster from the game."
Dragoon nodded. "It's too bad Kuraz couldn't attack. We would've won by now, between each of us scoring 3400 points thanks to Caius effect and attack, and my revived Dragon attacking we..."
"SHUT UP! YOU SOON TO BE DEAD MALCONTENT! I overlay Performapal UgoGolemn and Bora the Spear!"
The two monsters conducted the overlay sequence. In their place was Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon.
Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon
Dark/Rank 4/ Dragon
ATK: 2500 DEF: 2000
"Ok this is bad..." Dragoon noted, expecting Ken to go for Dark Rebellion's effect. Both were surprised when he didn't.
"Xianke's Pendulum effect now activates! Dark Rebellion's Rank is now transformed into a level!"
"NO WAY!" Dragoon and Zealoss both shouted.
"Xiangsheng's effect now triggers, giving him the same level as Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" Firing a bow of light, the two dragons now had the same level.
"Oh fuck!" They yelled out.
Another overlay sequence took place. From the xyz void arose a combination of the two dragons with a black body and blazing dragon wings.
(Cue Dimmu Borgir - Interdimensional Summit)
"ODD-EYES RAGING DRAGON! ARISE!"
Odd-Eyes Raging Dragon
Dark/Rank 7/Dragon/Scale 1
ATK: 3000 DEF: 2500
"By using an Overlay unit, all cards on both your fields are destroyed, and for each one destroyed, my dragon's attack increases by 200 per card!" Zealoss and Dragoon could do nothing but watch their cards get obliterated by the dragon's blazing wings. "Nine pieces of obsolete trash are destroyed, fueling your impending demise!"
Odd-Eyes Raging Dragon
ATK: 4800 (3000 = 200 x 9)
"You can't take both of us out though! On the next turn..." Dragoon got cut off when Ken's aura flared up so much it struck the ground in front of him. The sky above began to darken as well. His dragon's wings were beginning to melt the concrete of the roof as a blue fire circle formed before it's mouth.
"THERE WON'T BE A NEXT TURN! MY DRAGON CAN ATTACK TWICE! YOU FOOLS SHOULD'VE NEVER CHALLENGED ME, OR THREATENED MY SISTER! NOW YOU DIE! RAGING DESTRUCTION BURST!"
Odd-Eyes Raging Dragon unleashed a powerful blast so big and wide it overtook both duelists, sending them flying and depleting their life points an in instant. As if that wasn't enough raw power, it sent both of them flying off the top of the roof. Himura quickly used his metallic powers to catch them from falling thanks to the properties of their suits. However as he pulled them back and the cage lowered, Ken used Instant Movement to disappear.
"This ain't good! We gotta find that psycho before something worse happens!" Kotori noted, breaking open the cage with her superhuman strength. She helped Sailor Sedna and Jeri out of the cage first.
All looked up and saw a black hole beginning to form. Sailor Quaoar, Loweemon, Blitzmon, Norn & Ryudamon, Chakkoumon, Aoshi, Yukina, and Kohana were released.
"Thanks, guys," Loweemon said as he turned to Kotori. "And thanks, Kotori."
"Hey, I'm glad you're ok," Kotori smirked.
Jeri noticed something as she looked up. "Something's already happening..."
"What the hell is that?!" Blitzmon asked as Norn clinged to him fearfully.
"I don't like the looks of this," Chakkoumon said.
"I'm getting not so good spiritual vibes from it," Kohana sensed the corrupted energies coming from the portal.
"Ken's not causing it." Himura said making all look at him. "Byakko confirmed it's those dragons of his doing this."
"I find it hard to believe that a card game is capable of stuff like this. I mean, yeah there's Yugi and his friends' spirit powers to turn into Duel Monsters, the Egyptian Gods, and those Millennium Items, but this? This is really stretching it!"
Himura sighed at Kotori's behavior over the matter. "You said it yourself regarding the Millennium Items. The game is enriched in Egyptian mythos. Though in this case, I thought only the Egyptian Gods could cause something of this level."
"This is Ken's doing?" Sailor Quaoar gasped.
Sedna meanwhile tried to get a lock on Ken's location, but she couldn't. Are those dragon's shielding him? We should've done something about them sooner! Brother, please stay strong!
(End theme)
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Central Shinjuku/10:48 PM
The fighting near CainCorp ceased suddenly. The spectators, which included Angemon X, Sailor Mars, Hiei, Kuwabara, Sailor Varuna, Yui & ShadowMetalGarurumon, Sam Stromberg, Sailor Blue Mars, and Wolfmon, witnessed the black hole sucking in all the SOUJA units they fought against.
"What the hell is that big hole in the sky?!" Kuwabara was flabbergasted by its immense size.
"Whatever it is, it's pulling in all the robots we're been fighting!" Yui said.
Sailor Mars felt the power emanating from the black hole. "This is because of Kensuke."
"Kensuke did this?!" Wolfmon spat out.
"This is definitely his doing," Angemon X plainly stated.
"Considering his unpredictable nature, I shouldn't be surprised," Sailor Varuna muttered, throwing Mjolnir over her shoulder. She looked up as Sailor Quaoar, in her Eternal Senshi form, descending from the CainCorp rooftop. "Helena! Guys, our friends are coming down!"
Everyone watched as the captives were flying down from the rooftop to rejoin their friends. Having Spirit Evolved to Borgmon, the Warrior of Thunder was big enough to carry those incapable of flight, namely Himura, Yukina, Norn, and Kohana. Chakkoumon forged his own ice bridge to surf and slide down on.
"Yukina!" Kuwabara happily called out as he reunited with his wife.
Sailor Mars, Hiei, Blue Mars, and Sam were relieved to see the Koorime safe.
"Hey, Aoshi! Kohana!" Yui waved to her friends. As she reunited with her two friends, Yui nodded to Himura and Kotori. "Thanks, brother. Thank you, Kotori."
"Brother!" Wolfmon called out as Loweemon descended carrying Kotori.
"So, why not transform and fly on your own?" Loweemon asked Kotori.
"What and have those cameras on that roof capture footage of me going full-on Valkyrie mode?" Kotori balked at this. "Yeah, that wouldn't be good. As far as CainCorp goes, I'm just a police officer."
The Warrior of Darkness sweatdropped. "Oh, duh. Good point."
Sailor Sedna was the last come down. Angemon X and Sailor Varuna approached her.
"Karin!" Angemon X pulled Sedna into an embrace. "I thought I lost you, too."
"They can't get rid of me that easily, sweetie," Sedna kissed him.
"Where's Ken?" Varuna asked.
Before Sedna can answer, Quaoar spoke up. "He's gone."
Sedna nodded. "Wherever he went, we need to find him."
xxxxx
Warehouse near Royal Flush Arcade/10:50 PM
At Mai and Psyren's duel, Ken teleported in with his three dragons (Odd-Eyes, Dark Rebellion, and Clear Wing) backing him up. He slammed into the Orichalcos Seal, determined to get in.
"Ken what are…?!" Mai stopped when she saw his eyes. Then to her surprise, Psyren and her dragon started pounding on the seal's inner wall. Both sides tried damn hard to get to each other.
"REUNITE! REUNITE! REUNITE!" Psyren and Ken both screamed.
Then, to Mai's shock and horror, she watched the dragons firing energy at the seal's wall. It began to crack down until a flash of white light materialized. Inside the light, Mai saw Ken for a second, him holding his head in pain.
"Hey, are you ok?!" Mai yelled in concern for Ken's well being.
"Mai… I can't control them… I'm sorry for what's… about to happen...forgive me..." The white light faded when it did. Mai saw that the seal had been shattered in several areas. Ken had apparently entered the duel with Utopia on the field.
No.39 Utopia
Light/Rank 4/Warrior
ATK: 2500 DEF: 2000
(Cue Jim Johnston - I Bring the Darkness)
"I activate Pot of Greed to draw two cards!" He did so. "I activate Axe of Despair, Mage Power, and Shooting Star Bow-Ceal." The three equip spells empowered Utopia. Then, the Axe and Bow appeared on his back.
No.39 Utopia
ATK: 4000 (2500 +1000-1000+1500)
"Attack!" He pointed at Mai. Thanks to the power of the Shooting Star Bow, Utopia was permitted to attack directly and thus take Mai out of the duel.
"Ah!" Mai cried out as she was thrown back and knocked unconscious.
"Ken! What the hell man?!" Joey yelled out angrily. However, once he realized no physical harm came to Mai, he was relieved.
"He smashed the thing to pieces! So, it probably can't take her soul at this point." Tristan noted as Ken turned to Psyren, who glared back, seemingly having calmed down unlike him.
"You again. First, I lose to you. Now you steal my kill?!"
Ken activated another card from his hand. "I activate Emergency Provisions!" Mage Power and Axe of Despair left Utopia giving Ken 2000 life points. Utopia was also depowered.
Kensuke LP: 6000 (4000 +2000)
No.39 Utopia
ATK: 1500 (4000 - 1500)
"Now I play Berserker's Soul!" He sent his remaining card to the graveyard, but then promptly removed it. "I also activate Afterlife Judgement!" A spell show of dead people lined up before someone akin to King Yemma appeared. "When Berserker's Soul is played, and this card goes to the grave because of it, I can send all spell and traps to my graveyard as well as lower the attack of all monsters in my deck to 1500! If I don't beat you by this effect, I lose."
Psyren panicked as she knew what this meant.
(Cue Yu-Gi-Oh! OST - Fang of Critias)
"Draw, Monster Cardo!" Ken said, obviously still not in full control of his mind.
Utopia slashed Psyren's hand, causing her to feel intense pain.
"Draw Monster Cardo!"
She felt double the pain that time.
"Draw Monster Cardo!"
One of her arms went limp.
"Draw Monster Cardo!"
There went one of her legs.
"Draw Monster Cardo!"
"Ken stop this please?!" Serenity pleaded.
Suddenly, their force cage had come down. Joey and Tristan both wanted to rush Ken and make him stop, but the dragons got in their way. To make things worse, several SOUJA units appeared.
"Oh great, those machines again!" Tristan growled.
However, Ken's Dragons tore through them.
Tristan gaped. "Holy..."
Miho stepped out carrying Serenity. "Ken." She watched almost terrified of him.
"Who needs military weapons of mass destruction when you've got a good old fashion dragon..." Joey muttered under his breath. Somewhere Kaiba suddenly sneezed.
xxxxx
CainCorp/10:52 PM
"What in the hell am I watching?!" Cain said in disbelief.
"Your malcontent robots getting beaten by, as you put it a while back 'monsters on paper.' It's good you upgraded them because this is pitiful to watch." The faceless man chuckled as several SOUJA units were also sucked into the black hole forged by the four dragons.
"How can this be?" Cain pondered, trying hard to comprehend this entire situation, which had fallen out of his control.
The faceless man shrugged. "Perhaps this is a way of saying you need to cover everything. You don't treat Duel Monsters with the same level of scrutiny as you do the other heroes, but it's obvious that with Yugi Muto among them, something like this is possible to happen. And if you really want to succeed, you need to cover everything. On that note, I'll be taking my leave. I've got some business to attend to shortly."
With that said, the faceless man disappeared, leaving Cain to continue to watch the carnage.
"Cain…" Before Grace can finish, she watched her boss quivering.
Cain tensed. He's right! Looks like I'm going to need to have talk with Pegasus and Kaiba about this.
xxxxx
Warehouse/Domino Pier/10:55 PM
Back at the duel, the dragons already trashed the SOUJA units.
"Ken, enough! You've slashed her 15 times already!" Miho pleaded.
"Yeah, man! Ya made your point!" Joey called out.
"How is she still standing is what I want to know." Tristan wondered.
Ken decided to stop as his dragons vanished as well as Starve Venom.
Ken walked up to Psyren and grabbed her Duel Disk, taking the Starve Venom Fusion Dragon card from it. However as soon as he took the card, she snapped to life, and grappled him, causing him to fall back. A portal opened behind the two and they vanished through it. When they did, the black hole above the city vanished as the other heroes arrived.
The warehouse doors came down. Sailor Haumea forged a giant sandball to break down the doors.
"Oh gosh! Guys!" Haumea cried out.
"Vivian!" Miho called out to Haumea.
Suddenly, Morpheous arrived and saw Serenity crying toward Mai, who was still trapped inside the Orichalcos barrier.
"Get back, Serenity!" Morpheous charged and pressed his hand on the Orichalcos barrier. He infused his power into the seal and completely undid it, allowing Joey to run in and collect Mai.
"Morpheous!" Serenity cried and hugged the ex-Rajita general.
"I'm glad you're safe, Serenity," Morpheous smiled.
Duke raced in as he and Haumea reconvened with their duelist friends. Serenity explained to them all that happened.
"Kensuke was here?!" Haumea gasped.
"Geez, they left one hell of a mess here," Duke scanned the scattered remains of SOUJA units.
Joey walked out carrying Mai.
"Joey…" Serenity approached her brother, but Morpheous stopped her.
"Leave him alone," Morpheous dismissively nodded. "Am I ever glad I came and destroyed that Orichalcos Seal. Hopefully that's the last one I ever see again."
"Who the heck keeps supplying those dangerous cards to people?" Duke wondered. "Unless Dartz sold a few off to some folks before his demise."
Miho sighed. "That'd be bad. I hope that's the last we see of those evil cards again. By the way, nice hero entrance, Haumea."
"Thanks, girl." Shifting from Miho, Haumea then whispered to Tristan. "Hey, do Ken really did attack Mai?"
"Yeah, but he did it to save her from getting her soul taken by that psychopath."
"C'mon, guys. Let's get out of here and look for the others," Duke beckoned his friends out of the warehouse.
Ken, ya better take care of that freaky bitch for Mai's sake! Joey thought, staring intently toward the sky.
(End theme)
xxxxxx
Nexus of Time and Space/?
With the influences of the dragons gone, Ken calmed down, but now had a psychopathic mentally broken woman clawing at his face. He had quickly transformed into his Tsukuyomimon form, surprisingly shifting into Death Mode, though he assumed it was due to the lingering corruption caused by all the dueling chaos.
"Woman, I did warn you I'd take your spine, but it appears there's something else to take, too." Tsukuyomimon DM grabbed her right arm and crunched it, completely shattering the bones within into dust.
Psyren audibly let out a blood-curdling scream.
"Stop your squirming!" Tsukuyomimon DM began crushing her causing her to fight more to the point where she started biting and losing teeth. "Death by broken bones, death by blade, death by crushing, in the end..."
CRACK!
"...You...Die..." Tsukuyomimon DM broke her spine and dropped her through a portal. However as it closed, his body seemed to shut down. "What…?"
xxxxx
CainCorp/Rooftop/10:58 PM
Cain scanned the exact venue Kensuke dueled Dragoon and Zealoss. Grace checked on the unconscious Dragoon and Zealoss.
"Good lord, he did a real number on these two," Grace muttered.
"I'll call for the medical staff to collect…" Cain took out his phone, but was interrupted when a portal opened up above him. He became startled when a body hit the ground near him. "What the devil?!" He dropped the phone. His face paled as he nearly vomited at the sight of Psyren's disfigured arm, which now lacked any bone to support it, and her back arched backward.
Upon seeing Psyren's broken state, Grace covered her mouth and turned away.
"My lord… what have we been gambling with…" Cain gritted. "What kind of monster would've done this…" He turned to Grace. "Quick call up a medical team immediately!"
"Yes, sir!" Grace called up from her cell.
Neuromancer walked up behind Cain and reported. "Grapplo is on his way here…" His eyes fell on Psyren's disfigured form. "Oh shit…"
Cain didn't respond. He quietly stared over Psyren. His eyes filled with disdain over the reprehensible actions of the 'Meta' that literally destroyed Psyren.
xxxxxx
Dimension: DF-616/Sovereigns' Lair
I know that lady had it coming for the grief she's caused to others, but damn that was savage. X thought watching the proceedings. He had sent Omega X, Metalla X, Keke, Sam, BanchoLeomon, Pikkan, and BW to check with their YYGDM-01 friends, but he had been keeping tabs on Ken.
Suddenly, he become apprehensive when Zeed X appeared behind Tsukuyomimon DM.
xxxxxx
Nexus of Time and Space/?
"Look at what we got here!" Zeed X punched Tsukuyomimon DM to the ground, causing him to detransform back into Ken. "I had plans for you." He picked up Ken's body. "But, this will do just as..." Ken's eyes suddenly lit up and he vanished. "What the?!"
(Cue Johnny Cash - Hurt)
Turning around, Zeed X saw that Ken's body was surrounded in a silver white aura. A large crystal blue dragon wing was seen sticking out of his right shoulder. "What in the..." He was suddenly punched hard. Very hard. So hard he flew back 50 feet before stopping and spewing dark blood the entire way. "Impossible." Upon closer examination, he realized what was going on. "Don't tell me, he unlocked Ultra..." He stopped when Ken formed two spheres of light in his hands, and a third in front of his chest, only two words came out of his mouth.
"Tenchu's Requiem!" With that, he fired a beam towards Zeed X, who was shocked by the fact Ken had awoken the power of 'Ultra Instinct'.
He could not think clearly. There was no time to dodge what was coming at him. He didn't even know if he could've survived it. Before the beam struck home, Slade and Darkstar appeared and blocked it. Darkstar teleported behind Ken with his speed and knocked him out.
(End theme)
"What's the matter?! Did you piss yourself out of fear?" Slade asked as Darkstar brought Ken to him. "Withdraw and we won't do anything, advance and you get no mercy."
Zeed X glared at the two. "What are you doing interfering at times like this, Kuraz?" He addressed Slade specifically.
Slade turned to him after forming an energy blade with his hand and slicing the air between them. "We only blocked that move because of necessity, not because of mercy or pity. You have a role to play that isn't finished, and unfortunately for us we can't stop you at the moment, but if you were to dig into things like 'The Source' then all bets are off."
"The Source?" Zeed X asked. Of course, he already knew of another 'The Source' (Dimension DVT-98).
"Let's not go there. Besides it seems to me like you need to cool down considering your face conveys fear."
Zeed X growled at them. "I am above fear."
Slade laughed. "Oh really? You hesitated just now and with good reason. That DLDA probably would've killed you. In the off chance you survived, you would've been rendered so weak, those resurrected jockeys of yours would have enough power to turn on you."
"DLDA?" Zeed X was confused, yet secretly knew it anyway.
"Dimensional Level Destroyer Attack. By the way, I've severed the link between the two of you. It's practically your fault he's gotten this far and riled up, because you forgot one thing: a door swings both ways. And if you're going to break something beyond a door, you better finish the job, or else it'll come back to kick your ass."
"I can do what I want." Zeed X retorted.
Slade rolled his eyes. "We're not in your creator's territory right now. This is neutral ground if anything. Besides, there's a list of people I know not to fuck with. You would never get on that list. So, why don't you just leave, and let me tell you one final thing."
"That is?"
"Payment comes due for severing the link. You better pray for your sake that your plan works, because if it doesn't, Ken is either going to beat you again, or scare the holy hell out of you to the point where you won't want to fight him ever again."
"How do I know you won't interfere?"
"What do you think his payment was?" Slade shrugged and pointing to Ken.
Zeed X had enough and vanished into thin air.
"You sure about this?" Darkstar asked.
"If Ken can scare him, then he wouldn't last long against me." Slade said before looking up. "X, or rather Max, I know you're watching. Tell one of your messengers to let Karin know I'll straighten this bastard out so he can go back, until then leave him to me."
xxxxx
Dimension: DF-616/Sovereigns' Lair
X sweatdropped. "Those are scary people indeed." Still… To think Ken was able to trigger Ultra Instinct. I suppose in our case it'd be called Ascendancy Instinct though. Better not let Tai know cause he'd definitely try to learn about it, even though it's not easily learned.
xxxxx
Dimension: YYGDM-01/Shinjuku District/Legend HQ/11:50 PM
"And that's all what happened," Sedna explained to Omega X and company.
"The last thing I wanted to deal with again are machines," Dimitri muttered hatefully. He just noticed BW present and offered an apology. "No offense."
"Hey, it's fine. I've since been reincarnated after I sacrificed my BlackWarGreymon shell," BW said.
"Dimitri, I'm just glad you and Karin are ok," Metalla X said.
"Thanks, dad," Dimitri replied.
"Yes, thank you for the concern," Sedna accepted.
"We bring back news from X. It's about Kensuke," Keke addressed the YYGDM-01 group.
"Where is brother?"
"He's with Slade Matrix, Karin," Sam answered for Keke. "Ken will be back once he's calmed down."
"I see. I suppose that's for the best then," Sedna rubbed her temples, trying to relieve herself of the stress she's been dealing with.
"So, who's behind these SOUJA machines?" BanchoLeomon queried.
"They're being manufactured by CainCorp," Yugi confirmed. "The West Coasters have been gracious enough to entail us about who's been behind these SOUJA."
"Yeah, but the good news is we won't have to deal with them anymore!" Yusuke said. "I mean, Ken did us a big favor sending those stupid robots into that black hole."
"Sure, but who's to say there aren't any leftovers and the people behind them don't intend to upgrade them?" Pikkan pointed out.
"Um, good point…"
Kotori sighed. "Look, we'll worry about that once we cross that road. Besides, we've got a bigger war ahead of us."
Everyone in the room realized what Kotori referred to.
It was the final confrontation with Zeed X and his cohorts.
"Just wait, once we're rested enough, we'll give it all we've got and show Zeed X we're not to be pushed around," Omega X said this as he kept Sedna's mental condition in mind. "We'll bring the fight to that bastard!"
Sedna lowered her head. "Ken, come back to us when you can. We need to save Christina together."
xxxxx
Nexus Dimension
Zeed X pondered in isolation. He meditated over Slade's warnings regarding his supposed lack of fear for the unknown.
He opened his eyes realizing what he must do.
"If all else fails, I'll have to pick out last-minute recruits… but who…?" Zeed X's vision scanned a timestream. Once he stopped at a certain point, his face conveyed intrigue. "Yes, this one will do."
xxxxx
Chaosblazer's notes: I'll reveal what "The source" is someday until then be patient, and enjoy the fact that Ken's got four psycho dragons and Ascendancy Instinct (which Kanius will elaborate more on.) and no those were not empty threats from Slade, Zeed X better pray things go his way, otherwise *Evil laughter.*
A/N: The faceless man turned out to be Zeed X. That shouldn't been a surprise to anyone following Cross Generations to this point.
This was a fun intermission distraction from the dire events of CG's final arc. Most importantly, instead of this being a 'side filler' distraction, this one helps establish and build up narrative for the final YYGDM story: Wrath of the Defiants. We're that much closer to YYGDM's inevitable end, folks. It's been so long.
With the removal of the majority of the SOUJA units, Cain is forced to scramble for his other resources. With Psyren in critical condition and having witnessed the damage duel monsters can cause, Cain has a case to argue against with Seto and Pegasus (which should make for an interesting debate in Defiants).
Despite Psyren's critical condition, she will still a part in Defiants. How? Cain has ways to keep her on payroll.
As usual, the duels were written by Chaosblazer. Ford1114 also helped me with proofreading and editing this chapter.
Well, Chaos wasn't kidding when he said Kensuke would snap (again). Poor Psyren, but she did have it coming for instigating Kensuke. And for a brief moment, Kensuke unlocked Ultra Instinct/Ascendancy Instinct (a concept based on a technique of the same name from Dragon Ball Super). This is something to look out for in the final chapters of Cross Generations. Believe me, Kensuke won't be the only one using it.
Slade's warning has Zeed X scrambling for last minute recruits. Hmm, what could he reveal in the final battles? Well, I'm not telling. :P
Anyway, this was a nice side story that does set up for Cross Generation's finale and adds more narrative Wrath of the Defiants. And good enough reason to revive Gaiden.
With this done, time to spring back into Cross Generations. Until the next Gaiden entry (whatever it may be), send a review and see you soon!