DISCLAIMER: Yu-Gi-Oh! was created by Kazuki Takahashi.
Aoi did her best to keep a level head as the current situation played itself out. She had 3200 Life Points, 4 Speed Counters, and three cards in her hand: Sealing Ceremony of Suiton, Magnet Force, and Speed Spell - Dash Pilfer. Currently, she had two Monsters on the field: Crystron Ametrix (2500/1500) and Crystron Quandax (1800/2000). Meanwhile, Darren had all 4000 of his Life Points intact, as well as his own 4 Speed Counters, two unknown cards in his hand, and his own pair of Monsters: Archfiend Commander (2500/1200) and Gene-Warped Warwolf (2000/100). Neither of them had any face-down cards in their Spell/Trap Zones. Right now, it was Darren's turn, and he was about to attack.
"Battle!" Darren hollered. "Archfiend Commander, destroy Crystron Quandax!" With that, Archfiend Commander raced toward Quandax, arms raised and ready to slam into it.
"I won't allow it!" Aoi yelled, suddenly speeding up her Runner as her monsters raced alongside her. "I see now what is needed to beat you, the power I learned from my teacher: CLEAR MIND!"
Darren's eyes snapped wide open. "Clear Mind?! Could it be...she really possesses this power?!"
"I tune Level 5 Crystron Ametrix with Level 4 Synchro Tuner Crystron Quandax!" Ikenami exclaimed as she continued to speed up, Crystron Quandax's body turning an emerald green before exploding into four glowing green rings for Aoi and Crystron Ametrix to power along through. "Red onyx, shimmer and sparkle with the racing rush of water! Empower the mighty phoenix of rebirth! ACCEL SYNCHRO!"
Darren looked on as Ikenami drew a Synchro Monster card from her Extra Deck, slapping it to her disk. Then, to his stunned amazement, both she and Ametrix vanished in a flash, only to appear a few seconds later behind him, Ametrix replaced with a new, larger, red robot with mighty-looking wings.
"Rise through fire and water, Crystron Phoenix (2800/2000)!" Aoi announced, her robot standing by and ready for battle.
"Accel Synchro...!" Darren whispered before realization hit him like a freight train. "Don't tell me...your teacher was the King's greatest rival, Yusei Fudo?!"
"Rival and friend!" Aoi corrected. "And I know for a fact that the REAL Turbo Duel King would loathe what you've been doing in his name, using cards of darkness to get your own way! I will take you down!"
Darren grit his teeth angrily at first, but soon found himself chuckling lowly. "So, the future inheritor of the title of King must first overcome the student of Yusei Fudo. Very well, then! Bring it on, Ikenami!"
Aoi nodded, her eyes burning with determination. "Crystron Phoenix's effect: If this card is Synchro Summoned, I can banish all Spell and Trap Cards your opponent controls and in their Graveyard! I banish Acid Trap Hole and Negate Attack from the game!"
Darren scowled, removing those two Traps from his Graveyard. "Because Crystron Phoenix was summoned, it caused a reset in the battle! Therefore, I end my Battle Phase, and set two cards face-down! Turn end!"
"My turn!" Aoi called, drawing her newest card as she reached 5 Speed Counters in total, Darren only having 1 after his use of Speed World MAX's effect on his turn. "Crystron Phoenix, destroy Archfiend Commander!" Crystron Phoenix spread its mechanical wings as wide as it could, releasing twin bursts of water and fire at Archfiend Commander. The blasts utterly annihilated it as King lost 300 Life Points, the first hit he'd taken all Duel.
That was good, but even Crystron Phoenix isn't strong enough to destroy Power Emperor if it arrives, Ikenami considered before looking at the Trap card she'd just drawn at the beginning of her turn. Torrential Tribute. When Power Emperor is summoned, I can use this card to destroy it. Then, with Phoenix's effect, I can Special Summon Ametrix back to the field and attack him directly on my turn.
"Then I set a card face-down!" Aoi declared, setting her Trap. "Turn end!"
"My turn!" Darren roared, pulling a new card free from his deck as he and Aoi each received a new Speed Counter. He took one look at his new card and grinned diabolically. "Sorry, but it seems I either live up far too much to my future role as King, or you pale in comparison to Yusei Fudo! I'm ending this Duel here!"
"Try, if you think you can!" Ikenami dared.
"I Tribute Gene-Warped Warwolf to Tribute Summon Power Synchron (2000/1300)!" Darren exclaimed, releasing his Beast-Warrior for a dark Fiend-type with long hair and its chest and shoulders made up of engine parts. "Power Synchron's effect: If this card is sent to the Graveyard for the Synchro Summon of a DARK monster, its ATK is increased by 1500 until the End Phase!"
Not yet, Aoi thought, a finger hovering over the button to play her Trap.
"Trap card, open: Synchro Call!" Darren yelled, revealing one of his two face-down cards. "I Special Summon 1 monster in my Graveyard, but it has its effects negated. Be revived, Archfiend Commander!" As soon as Darren finished explaining that, Archfiend Commander returned from a dark portal to the field of battle. "Furthermore, immediately after this effect resolves, I must Synchro Summon 1 DARK Dragon-Type or DARK Fiend-Type Synchro Monster, using Materials including the revived monster!"
Here it comes! Ikenami realized.
"I tune Level 6 Archfiend Commander with Level 6 Power Synchron!" King exclaimed as Power Synchron's engine revved up, its body imploding into 6 glowing rings for Archfiend Commander to leap through. "Behold, the almighty emperor! May the world shake and burn from his wrath!" Archfiend Commander's body began to fade as it passed through the rings, leaving 6 glowing stars behind in a straight path along the rings. "Synchro Summon! Rise from thy throne, Power Emperor (3500/3000)!" A large beam of light flew up through the rings, overtaking them completely before leaving behind Darren's massive Fiend-type with a large flaming sword. It let out a mighty cry as its power instantly increased to 5000 due to Power Synchron's effect.
"Now!" Aoi shouted, hitting the button on her disk. "Trap activate: Torrential Tribute! When a monster is Summoned to the field, Torrential Tribute destroys all monsters on the field!" Immediately, a massive flood shot out from the image of her Trap card, washing over Crystron Phoenix and Power Emperor. "Your card of darkness is obliterated!"
Despite this, Darren smirked ominously. "...Is it?"
Aoi's eyes widened in shock as the water went back down, revealing Power Emperor still on the field. "WHAT?!"
"Power Emperor's Synchro Summon cannot be negated, nor can it be destroyed by card effects," Darren explained. "The only way to destroy it is to overpower it, and nothing, not even your Accel Synchro Monster, could have accomplished that!"
Ikenami looked back to her disk, dread overwhelming her, but quickly drew a card from her Graveyard. "When Crystron Phoenix is Synchro Summoned and then destroyed by battle or card effect, I can target 1 other monster in my Graveyard and Special Summon it. Revive, Crystron Ametrix!" Slapping the card to disk horizontally, Aoi revived Ametrix to the field in defense position.
If I can just keep my Life Points protected for now, I might be able to come up with a counter measure, Aoi thought desperately.
"Your defenses are pitiful!" Darren proclaimed, holding up a Spell card. "I activate Speed Spell - Defense Buster! When I have 2 or more Speed Counters, I can change 1 monster to attack position!"
As a burst of energy shot out from the Speed Spell, Aoi quickly grabbed a card from her Graveyard. "By banishing Crystron Impact from my Graveyard, I can negate the effect of a card targeting a 'Crystron' monster I control!" Ikenami let out a sigh of relief as a barrier field surrounded Ametrix, protecting it from Defense Buster's effect.
"Heh, a wasted effort!" King yelled. "Battle! Power Emperor, annihilate Crystron Ametrix!" With that order, Power Emperor lifted its sword high and then drove it straight down through Crystron Ametrix's body, shattering it into tiny pieces.
"However, Power Emperor can only attack again if I have another monster in defense position," Aoi pointed out, "meaning my Life Points are safe!"
"Are they?!" Darren called, flipping his remaining face-down card up. "Trap card, open: Synchro Overlimit! When a Synchro Monster I control destroys an opponent's monster by battle, it can attack once more, but will be destroyed after damage calculation!"
Except Power Emperor can't be destroyed by card effects! Ikenami realized all too late. He had this planned all along!
"Power Emperor, direct attack!" King ordered with a cruel smile, watching as his monster unleashed a wave of flames from its sword directly at Ikenami. With no other option, Aoi shut her eyes and hit a switch under her Duel Disk, causing it and her seat to eject from the Duel Runner just before the blast hit it, utterly destroying it along with her Life Points. Before she fell back down to the road, a parachute shot out from the back of her seat, causing her to descend slowly.
Yusei...I'm sorry, Aoi thought, clenching her fists. I...I couldn't stop him!
King tilted his head back and laughed riotously, throwing a finger straight up into the air. "None can overcome the new King: Darren King! All shall bow before my might!"
"We'll see!" a familiar voice yelled. Glancing back at the wreckage of Aoi's Duel Runner, Darren watched as a second Runner actually jumped over it and sped toward him. His eyes widened as he managed to spot the driver.
"Yudai Hikaru...!" Darren growled as his opponent sped up. "So, you couldn't defeat me before, so you're going to try and use Battle Royal Mode to pick up where your superior left off?!"
"Wrong!" Yudai declared. "I'm not here just to arrest you! I'm not even here just for Officer Ikenami! I'm here...because I have a score to settle with you!"
King's eyes narrowed. "...'A score', you say?"
Hikaru clutched the handles of his Duel Runner tighter. "You were right. I was holding something back before, but not anymore! I know what I have at my disposal, I know who and what I am, and I know what I have to do, and if I let what happened before slide, how I allowed myself to be defeated so easily without any rebuttal, I couldn't live with myself!"
Yudai! Aoi thought as she finally dropped back down to the road, watching as the cadet sped off. ...So, you finally found it?
Darren looked indignant at first, but quickly found himself laughing. "So, you ARE a Duelist, after all! Chase after me, then! As King, I will take on all comers!"
Yudai nodded as Darren's holograms faded long enough for him to reshuffle his deck and recover his Life Points, his Speed Counters resetting to 0. "If you really believe you're the King already, then let's see how you fare against me!"
"DUEL!" the two shouted, drawing their opening hands.
"The King shall go first!" Darren insisted, drawing a new card. "I Normal Summon Gene-Warped Warwolf!" Darren slapped his Beast-Warrior's card on the disk, causing it to appear. "Then I set one card face-down! Turn end!"
"My turn!" Yudai called, drawing the sixth card for his hand as he and King each gained a Speed Counter. "If my opponent controls a monster and I don't, I can Special Summon Kazewata (200/300) from my hand!" Hikaru quickly placed a card on his disk, creating the image of a light-green Watapon with golden eyes and transparent wings on the field in defense position. "Next, I Normal Summon Clumsy Angel (2100/100)!" Yudai's Clumsy Angel appeared next on the field, but quickly exploded into digital bits after tripping and falling on the road. "When Clumsy Angel is Normal Summoned, it's immediately destroyed! Then I place two cards face-down! Turn end!"
Clumsy Angel is a Tuner, Yudai considered. If I can resurrect it on my next turn and tune it to Kazewata...No. Not yet. I need to wait this out so I can make full use of Teal's power. Only then can I destroy Power Emperor, and my heart tells me that's what this Duel will ultimately come down to: A battle between those two.
"My turn!" Darren roared, ripping a card from the top of his deck as he and Yudai's Speed Counters each reached 2 in total. "I Normal Summon Lancer Archfiend (1600/1400)!" Darren's twin lance-wielding Archfiend took its place on the field next to Gene-Warped Warwolf. "You only have a single monster to defend yourself with, meaning you have nothing to protect your Life Points with once it's gone! Battle! Gene-Warped Warwolf, destroy Kazewata!"
With that, Darren's Beast-Warrior lunged at Kazewata, looking to tear it apart, when suddenly, Yudai flipped one of his two face-down cards up, causing Kazewata to vanish. "Trap activate: Fairrier! By Tributing 1 Fairy-type monster, I won't take any damage until the End Phase of this turn!"
King scowled, clenching his fist tightly. "Turn end!"
"My turn!" Yudai shouted, adding another new card to his hand as the two of them now had 3 Speed Counters each. "I play Speed Spell - Angel Baton to draw 2 cards and discard 1!"
"Looking for more monsters to stall with?" Darren accused, just in time to watch as Yudai discarded, of all cards, his Marshmallon. "...W-What?! Why?!"
"With Lancer Archfiend on the field, Gene-Warped Warwolf will be able to inflict piercing damage," Yudai calmly explained. "I can't count on Marshmallon's effect in this case. However, he CAN serve one other function. I Normal Summon Fairy Ferry (100/1800)!" Yudai placed a Monster card on the field, creating the image of a cartoonish-looking ferry with eyes painted onto the front of its smokestack. "When this card is Normal Summoned, I can target 1 Level 3 or lower Fairy-type monster in my Graveyard and Special Summon that target in Defense Position! Return, Marshmallon!" With that, Fairy Ferry dropped a life preserver onto the field, causing Marshmallon to pop up inside it in defense position. "However, the Special Summoned Fairy loses its effects when brought back!"
"Then why go to the trouble-" Darren started to ask.
"Of bringing it back?" Yudai finished with a smile. "To evolve it into something greater. I Tribute Marshmallon to Tribute Summon Marshmallon Gardna (0/2600)!" To King's confusion, Marshmallon once again was sent to the Graveyard. In its place was a new Marshmallon, orange-tinted compared to the original pink one, and with a massive blue and gold shield mounted to its front.
A Level 5 monster, but with 0 ATK, and in attack position? Darren wondered. What is he up to?
"Trap activate: Call of the Haunted!" Yudai continued on, flipping his remaining face-down card up. "Return to the field, Clumsy Angel!" At this call, Clumsy Angel returned to the field in attack position. "Battle! Clumsy Angel, attack Gene-Warped Warwolf!" Clumsy Angel spread its wings and soared upward before stomping down hard on Darren's Beast-Warrior, obliterating it and costing him 100 Life Points.
"Trap card, open: Time Machine!" Darren yelled, flipping his own Trap up to create the image of a time machine. "When a monster on the field is destroyed, I can Special Summon it back to its original placement! Return, Gene-Warped Warwolf!" The door to the time machine opened, Gene-Warped Warwolf leaping out to resume its old position as the machine vanished.
"Turn end!" Yudai declared.
"My turn!" King exclaimed, drawing his next card while he and Yudai both reached 4 Speed Counters each before throwing a hand out toward Yudai. "Battle! Gene-Warped Warwolf, destroy Yudai's Fairy Ferry!" Gene-Warped Warwolf let loose a howl as it dashed toward Yudai's ferry.
"Marshmallon Gardna's effect!" Yudai shouted. "Once per turn, by switching its battle position while an opponent's monster attacks a different monster, it makes itself the target instead!"
"What?!" Darren demanded, watching as Marshmallon Gardna leaped in front of Fairy Ferry and assumed defense position, easily taking the hit from Gene-Warped Warwolf with its shield and causing Darren's Life Points to drop to 3300. "Lancer Archfiend, attack Fairy Ferry!" Lancer Archfiend leaped up into the air, lances at the ready. This time, Yudai could do nothing to protect his ferry as it was skewered and destroyed, reducing his Life Points to 2500 and costing him a Speed Counter.
"Gah!" Yudai cried as his Duel Runner shook from the shockwave. "Have to...keep control!"
King laughed as Yudai regained control of his Runner. "You're too weak to stop me! I set one card face-down! Turn end!"
"We'll see...My turn!" Yudai called, drawing a new card as he and Darren each gained a new Speed Counter. Looking at the card, an idea formed in his head, causing him to glance at Marshmallon Gardna. However, that would have to wait. "Battle! Clumsy Angel, attack Lancer Archfiend!" Once again, Clumsy Angel flew upward, looking to stomp down on the opposition.
"Trap activate: Negate Attack!" Darren yelled, his face-down card activating and creating an energy field around himself and his monsters that protected them from attack. "I negate your attack and end the Battle Phase!"
...So, he protected those two again, Yudai thought. That must mean he's planning to Summon a Level 4 Tuner on his next turn and use them to bring forth Power Emperor. If I'm right, then I need to prepare for it right away...
Looking back at the card he'd drawn, Hikaru considered his moves. Seeing no other option, he slid it into his Spell/Trap Zone. "I set one card face-down! Finally, I switch Marshmallon Gardna to attack position! Turn end!"
Darren smirked, drawing a new card while he and Yudai each gained another Speed Counter, putting them at 6 and 5 respectively. "My turn! This monster cannot be Normal Summoned or Set, but must be Special Summoned by sending 1 face-up Trap my opponent controls to the Graveyard! Come, Trap Eater (1900/1600)!" Immediately, a fish-like Fiend leaped up from underneath Yudai's Call of the Haunted, consuming it and causing Clumsy Angel to be destroyed with a horrified shriek before it assumed its place at Darren's side.
"Clumsy Angel!" Yudai cried helplessly, his Tuner gone from the field.
"I tune Level 4 Gene-Warped Warwolf and Level 4 Lancer Archfiend with Level 4 Trap Eater!" King exclaimed as Trap Eater's body transformed into 4 green rings for Darren's remaining monsters to pass through. "Behold, the almighty emperor! May the world shake and burn from his wrath!" Lancer Archfiend and Gene-Warped Warwolf's bodies faded from view, leaving 8 stars in a straight line within the rings. "Synchro Summon! Rise from thy throne, Power Emperor!" A burst of light shot through the rings, leaving Power Emperor in their wake.
Hikaru's eyes narrowed as he looked upon Darren's card of darkness in all its terrifying glory. "Power Emperor. Last time, you nearly put me in the hospital. I won't lose like that again."
"With only one monster on the field in attack position with 0 ATK, I don't see how you can avoid that!" Darren replied with an evil grin. "Power Emperor, destroy Marshmallon Gardna!" Power Emperor raised its blade over its head with both hands, flames encircling it violently, before slicing it straight down at Marshmallon Gardna, who could only wait with the seemingly increasingly small shield for defense...
This Chapter's Fan-Made Yu-Gi-Oh! Cards
Kazewata
Card type: Monster
Attribute: WIND
Types: Fairy/Effect
Level: 1
ATK/DEF: 200/300
Effects: If your opponent controls a monster and you control no monsters, you can Special Summon this card (from your hand). You can only Special Summon "Kazewata" once per Duel this way.
Fairrier
Card type: Trap
Property: Normal
Effects: Tribute 1 Fairy-type Monster you control. You do not take any damage until the End Phase of this turn.
Fairy Ferry
Card type: Monster
Attribute: WATER
Types: Fairy/Effect
Level: 3
ATK/DEF: 100/1800
Effects: When this card is Normal Summoned: You can target 1 Level 3 or lower Fairy-type monster in your Graveyard; Special Summon that target in Defense Position, but its effects are negated.
Marshmallon Gardna
Card type: Monster
Attribute: LIGHT
Types: Fairy/Effect
Level: 5
ATK/DEF: 0/2600
Effects: You can Special Summon this card (from your hand) by Tributing 1 "Marshmallon" you control. When an opponent's monster declares an attack on a monster you control other than this one: You can change this card's battle position, then change the attack target to it. You can only use this effect of "Marshmallon Gardna" once per turn.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Ha, it's a ferry for fairies, get it? :P Nevermind. Let's talk instead about Kazewata and Marshmallon Gardna. So, to be blunt, two of my favourite Monsters of Yugi's deck are Watapon and Marshmallon. However, I always wanted to make more support cards for them, make them an archetype. So, I did, and made them part of Yudai's deck. The reason I waited until now to show them off is to demonstrate that Yudai's been kinda holding himself back, and now that he's not, he's free to unleash the full potential of his deck and the cards within it. Plus, deck advancement as the story goes on. I may not be advertising toys/cards with mine (at least none that don't already exist), but I feel I should carry out at least some traditions.
So, you've PROBABLY noticed by now that there's more than a few similarities between the characters and my fic and the cast of 5D's, and I don't just mean Darren's fanboy-ism of Jack and Aoi being trained by Yusei. I'm talking specific character traits and deck strategies. Rest assured, though, this ALL has a point that I'll be getting to, Darren's in particular. This is neither a coincidence nor lazy writing (not to say I can't ever be lazy, just that THIS isn't a case of that, lol).
Anyway, check in next time as the rematch with Darren concludes with a battle between their new ace cards. Ja né!