Episode 9: A Sense of Dread (Alternate Title: Judgment of Dragunity)

"Wow... I mean... WOW!" Crow struggled for words as he inspected the new runner I'd acquired since I'd last seen him. "Where did you even get a runner like that?"

He placed a hand on the purring beast and it revved briefly, almost as if it were snapping at him.

Jumping back he laughed, "That's not funny, man, I thought it was going to eat me for a second there."

I chuckled, setting aside the fact that I hadn't done that. The accelerator had just lost the natural resistance and the weight of my hand revved it. The beast had a bit of a mind of its own, and (since we got along) it didn't bother me that much, "Sorry, I couldn't help myself."

Tank gave the runner another glance over, smiling, "These is as good as Crow and Yusei's easily! I bet you could run laps around any securities with this."

Nervin scratched his chin, "Where did you get this thing?"

"I got it at a discount after I beat the last owner in a duel. Aside from a few salvaged parts from the other, I sold my last one to make up the difference." I was embellishing the truth, they probably wouldn't have believed I earned it by beating a ghost and giving his lover and memento from her past.

We were on the main street of the northern slums and my friends weren't the only ones eying the thing. Securities monitoring the events seemed to be as well, likely because it matched the description of the runner that was harassing duelists days before. I hadn't thought of that when I accepted it. However the thought did occur to Crow.

"You sure you didn't take it from that thug that was giving people trouble?"

I laughed, "I'm telling you the truth. I got lucky."

Tank chuckled halfheartedly, "You haven't looked at the match-ups have you?"

"No, why?"

He scratched the back of his head nervously, "It seems your opponent is that security officer you beat the day we met, Officer Julius Dread. He's been boasting a new deck and going on a rampage since that day."

I shrugged, "Well, the news could be worse. At least this isn't a closed circuit duel. I don't own very many speed spells."

"Actually that's not the tricky part. You see-"

Crow interupted, "I already won my second round duel earlier today. Next round is the Satellite Finals. Winner faces the city champ. Do the math."

I smiled, "Well I knew I would be facing you to begin with. That's not news." Placing my helmet on I got ready for my opponent to arrive, "Who were your opponents anyway? I missed your duels thanks to prep."

Crow shrugged, "First round was a guy named Ida, one of Danny's crew. He was nothing major. Second round was Furry."

"That Kuriboh user?"

"Yeah. That was hell. He nearly had me a few times." Crow laughed at himself, "I'm embarrassed."

To this day I still wish I'd gotten the chance to see that, but I've never heard of the guy since. "I should have come. Sounds interesting."

"It really was."

I noticed the police cheering and looked over to see the previously mentioned Officer Dread pull up on his standard issue runner. He looked totally confident, and for some reason had torn off the sleeves of his uniform. Perhaps to look more extreme? He definitely seemed to carry himself differently.

I frowned, "I should be careful."

I looked to Crow, who was eying the man as well, "Yeah. You should. Since Securities has access to any cards they please, there's no telling how much he's improved."

The group wished me luck and I pulled away, easing my runner up to the starting line. Dread looked at me and grinned, "Nice runner, but it won't do you any good against the law."

Black Chariot started sounding rougher, as if growling, but I was calmer, "We'll see. Maybe your ride will simply be a light breakfast for my Black Chariot."

I spotted Masha over in the crowd and gave her a thumbs up. She returned the gesture.

One of the other officers raised a flag, "Ready!" We got ready, "Get set!" We got set. "Go! The flag dropped and Black Chariot roared off the starting line, the boosters firing as I pressed for them, but it almost felt like they would have fired anyway. My runner had a battle lust and aimed to slake it. I cleared the first turn almost a full two seconds ahead of Dread. The crowd was awed.

Koyou: 4000 vs. Dread: 4000

"My draw!" one more card joined by starting hand of five, "I'll summon Gemini Scorpion." the twin warriors appeared in a flash, the crimson knight Evocator Chevalier stepping out of his shadow. "His on-summon effect activates, bringing Evocator Chevalier from my hand. One face down card ends my turn. Show me this new deck I've heard about."

He drew as were rounded another corner, with him following me over a pile of rubble that failed to slow either of us down, "I start with a field spell: Dragon Canyon!" the area around us suddenl changed, the rubble replaced with piles of rocks and the buildings replaced with virtual solid canyon walls, "I'll activate it now, discarding Dragunity Phalanx to send Dragunity Arms Laevatein from my deck to my grave."

"Dragunity?"

"Yes! Watch and cower before true speed!" he revved up, shifting gears and gaining distance ntil he was neck and neck with me, then summoned a monster that resembled a Roman in winged owl-armor, "I summon Dragunity Dux! When Dux is summoned I can equipped to him a dragon-type dragunity monster from my grave. I choose Dragunity Phalanx!" Suddenly the monster had a shield. "That's not all. When Phalanx is equipped to a monster, I can special summon him." as the shield was cast aside it became a stumpy little dragon, a stumpy little dragon that was a tuner monster.

Extending his hand then raising it skyward, he began to synchro summon, "Scale and gale, steed and steel, together as one reave the weak! Synchro summon! Dragunity Knight – Gadearg!" a winged man atop a large dark dragon was summoned, reminding me of my previous opponent Daren. But Dread wasn't Daren, and this was far from a Dark Blade deck, "Gadearg's effect adds Dragunity Aklys to my hand, and I discard another Dragunity Phalanx from my hand as the cost. Now, I attack your Gemini Scorpion with my Gadearg! Skyward Decent!"

Scorpion buckled and shattered and I was rocked by the damage, losing speed and being overtaken in the race, "Grrr!"

Koyou: 3200, vs Dread: 4000.

"I end with this card face down!"

I drew at the start of my turn, "I activate my trap: Call of the Haunted! With this I special summon Gemini Scorpion from the grave in attack mode. His effect activates, bringing Tuned Magician from my hand to the field." I played the card from my hand , promptly spending another summon to awaken the flowery mage as an effect monster, "I second summon Tuned Magician, turning it into a tuner. I think you know what I intend! I tune my level four Tuned Magician to my level four Evocator Chevalier!" the two monsters flew in front of me, turning the standard stars and rings, "Fist of stone crushes bone, breath of fire purges ire! Synchro shokan! Charge on through, Black Brutdrago!" the massive dragon appeared in front of me, as if pulling Black Chariot. The slipstream of the virtual solid hologram gave me more speed and I began to gain on Dread, "I activate Brutdrago's effect, discarding the Gemini Soldier in my hand I destroy a spell or trap! Say goodbye to Dragon Canyon! Preemptive Punishment!"

The discarded card was inhaled and Brutdrago fired a ball of punishing flame at the canyon wall... and ran into a trap, "I activate Destruction Jammer! By discarding Aklys from my hand I negate the destruction of Dragon Canyon and destroy the source! Your dragon!"

I went wide-eyed as my dragon shattered and collapsed into a pile of lava. I gritted my teeth and made a charge for revenge, summoning Tuned Magician from the grave, "When Brutdrago is destroyed, I can revive a gemini monster from my grave with it effect active. So guess what? I tune my level four Tuned Magician to my level 4 Gemini Scorpion!"

Dread looked over his shoulder in shock, "Another synchro? On the same turn?"

"Strength of titans, stand before the gods in defiance of mortality!Synchro shokan! Battle eternally, Colossal Fighter!"

An immense giant crashed down from the heavens, looming over the Gadearg, I smiled, "Colossal Fighter gains 100 attack for every warrior in my grave, so his attack goes from 2800 to 3100. All of that is coming down on your Gadearg!" A giant fist came down on the dragon knight and I retook the lead from the damaged Dread. Even if he still had slightly more life points, "Turn end!"

Koyou: 3200 vs Dread: 3300

Dread drew, "I activate Dragon Canyon, discard this Dragunity Angusticlavii to add another Dragunity Dux to my hand."

"This trick again?"

"Yes, I summon Dux, then equip Phalanx, then special summon Phalanx and tune!" his hand reached for the sky one more time, "Descend! Strike down the opposition with overwhleming power! Synchro summon! Fly, Dragunity Knight – Gae Bulg!" A inged knight on a white dragon appeared and Dread removed a card in his graveyard from play, "I activate Gae Bulg's effect! By removing Augusticlavii from play I grant its attack points to Gae Bolg from the rest of the turn!" I could only watch as Gae Bolg's attack climbed from 2000 to 4100, "Now attack his Collosal Fighter!"

"Gah!"

Koyou: 2200 vs Dread: 3300

Dread passed me again, but I fired my boosters so I came level with him, "Too bad, when Colossal Fighter is destroyed in battle, I can just revive a warrior from the grave, including him! Be reborn Colossal Fighter!"

"I'll end with a face down card."

"My draw!" I grinned, then eyes the Call of the Haunted that had remained, inert, on my field after the synchro summon of Colossal Fighter, "I activate Giant Trunade! All spell and trap cards return to their owners hands."

Dread cursed his luck. I happily returned Call of the Haunted to my hand.

"Now, my monster attacks Gae Bolg." Without the attack boost, Gae Bolg was no match, and I soon gained a decent chuck of ground, tying our life points.

Koyou: 2200 vs Dread: 2200.

"I set a card. Turn end!"

Dread smiled as he drew, "I discard the Bottomless Trap Hole I tried to set, to send Dragunity Pilum from my deck to my graveyard. Next I activate: Monster Reborn, reviving Dragunity Arms Laevatein from my graveyard in attack mode! Now, his effect activates, equipping Pilum from the grave. With this, I can attack you directly, but the battle damage is halved if I do."

1300 damage? It was hefty, but I could just kill the thing on my turn. What was he planning?

"I attack you directly!"

The large orange dragon-warrior dashed right by my monster ans struck me directly, more than cutting my life in half. "Ahhh! That stung."

Koyou: 900 vs Dread: 2200

On that note, he set a face down and ended his turn. I was losing ground from the damage, and he was almost passing me. The finish was closing in and if I didn't do something I was going to lose by completion. It was obvious he had a trap to negate attacks. The question was, which one? If it was Waboku, which could be triggered outside the battle phase, I was screwed. I was also screwed if I didn't draw a gemini this turn. It came down to two things, so I got one of them out of the way, placing a hand on my deck and praying.

"My draw!" I drew, Dark Valkyria... that familiar and useful card that I rarely drew. It was like fate again, like my father lending a hand maybe, lending one of his aces. To bad I was going to use it as ammo, "Trap card open: Call of the Haunted! Remember this? With this I revive Black Brudrago from the grave!"

The brutal looking dragon erupted from the card, once again pulling my chariot, "Now let's try this again! The duel comes down to what your face down is! If it's anything but Waboku, I win! I discard Dark Valkyria," the dark angel was inhaled, "to destroy your face down card!" the ball of fire surged forward, connecting with the face down and destroying it. It wasn't Waboku, he couldn't simply trigger it early to avoid losing it. It was Mirror Force. I grinned, "This is over. I attack your monster with Colossal Fighter," the enemy dragon shattered under a mighty fist, "then attack you directly with Brutdrago! Go! Avenge yourself with Brimstone Bash!"

"You can't do this! I am the law! THE LAW!" Dread was stopped in his tracks by the charge of my dragon and I crossed the finish as his life points hit zero. As I rode past Crow I point at him with a smile, then pointed to myself, signaling that it was the two of us in the Satellite Finals.

Koyou: 900 vs Dread: 0

When I came to a stop, my friends rushed over, Rally was elated, "You did it, Koyou! Just one more round 'til you can go back to the city and find your family!"

Crow was laughed, "What was with that pointing thing, man? Were you trying to be cool?"

"Maybe, did it work?" I asked, somewhat sheepishly.

Rally shouted, "Yeah!"

Crow shook his head and chuckled, "Doesn't suit you at all."

I glared at him grinning anyway, "Oh, you want to go right now, is that it?"

"Ha-ha-ha! Yeah, actually, but I don't think they'd let it count."

"Yeah, and it would suck if the outcome was different when the real thing came along wouldn't it?"

"A lot." Crow nodded, the froze up as he looked over at the securities goons across the way. I was about to glance over and see what was up, but he spoke before I did, "I don't think those securities like you very much right now. Talking to a guy with so many markers isn't helping much either. You might want to lay low, don't give them any chances o arrest you for nothing."

I nodded.

"Don't even look that way again, they might try and remember your face."

Rally didn't seem to agree, "You're just being paranoid, Crow. They're bad, but they aren't bad."

"You wish." I turned to see Masha had walked over to talk, "I've been out of this neighbor since before it was the Satellite, but I can't imagine the situation being better than it was then."

Nervin was naturally confused and suspicious, "And who are you?"

"Masha Peters, I own the parts store, for now. I'm still decided whether or not to stay on."

I nodded, "She's the one I got this runner from."

Crow gave her a funny look, "Why would you take a trade in for such a nice bike?"

She smiled, "Well that's not exactly all he gave me, but let's just say it was fair exchange."

Crow then changed the target of his funny look to me.

I raised my hands defensively, "It's not like that! Don't get any weird ideas!"

Masha broke out laughing when she realized what Crow was thinking, "Please, I'm a happily married woman and my husband is more than enough man for me." She looked to me with a smile and motioned to Crow, "He's right though, about the police that is. You should really lay low."

I sighed, "Hard to believe people have to live in fear of authority like this. Who hires these people?"

Crow nodded, "That's why I want to make the Satellite better. Not just for the kids, but for everybody. If people didn't have to become criminals to live, maybe Securities wouldn't look down on us so much and give us a fair shake."

"I hear ya. Too bad simply winning the Fortune Cup in the city isn't going to do that."

"You think I don't know that? But it a start. Making those folks in the city see us differently is a step in the right direction, and maybe there's prize money, I don't know."

Nervin shrugged, "Well you get to face the King, and dethroning him would probably lead to a nice paycheck."

"There we go. Becoming the King of Turbo Dueling is the best thing I can think of right now to change things."

I thought of Yusei. He was after the King, and was probably working on facing him as we spoke, "Well if Yusei manages to face Jack that very thing is going to happen."

"Yeah I know, but we have to maximize our chances."

I gritted my teeth, a mix of angry and regretful, "Listen. It's like I said. I respect your reasons and I don't want to get in your way, but I need a path to the city and this is only road I see happening for a while. It's not like I can ride down that heavily guarded pipeline chasing Yusei's tail. I need to get over there legally, I have amnesia. Running from the law over there isn't going to make finding my family or my past any easier."

Crow sighed, frowning, "Yeah I know. I don't want to take that from you, but this is a big chance I can't pass up."

"I know. You don't need to tell me that. We'll just see who gets what they need when the final round comes."

"Of course."

I looked firmly into his eyes, "I promise you though. I'm coming at you with everything I have. No mercy. When I beat you-"

"You mean if."

"When I beat you, I'll do all I can to fix this place once I've found what I've lost."

Crow opened his mouth, but was at a loss for words for a few moments, "Well, if you mean that, it kinda takes some wind out of my sails ya know."

"I didn't mean it that way."

"I believe you." Crow stated simply.

I smiled, "Of course, I cold never be the shining beacon of hope for the satellite that a resident cold be, so there's some merit in you winning too."

Crow cracked a smile of his own, "So I better bring my A game huh?"

"You weren't already?"

That one got a laugh out of him.

Masha rolled her eyes, "Well if you guys are done flexing your macho and bonding, how about I treat the winners to a meal."

Rally seemed happy, "That sounds great!"

Nervin grabbed the boy in a headlock, half-joking around, "Since when are you a winner huh?
Masha laughed, "You can all come. The more the merrier."

Mei's Perspective

The crowds cheered, the announcer howled his usual over-dramatic commentary. I was half disappointed there was no confetti as my opponent's life points went down to zero. The Epsilon and Charger I had on the field vanished and I rolled to a stop, putting my deck back together and toning everything out. My foe had landed some good hits. I'd been down to my last 1000 life when I scored the win. Perhaps the last round, with whatever dumpster diver had managed to win a ticket to the city, would be even better. Maybe my next victory would be a satisfying one.

"With a masterful stroke, Mei Kou takes the Neo Domino Invitational! A road of dominance has but one more snag before reaching the glory of the Fortune Cup! Can the Champion from Satellite pose any more of a threat to this Princess of Dueling? Or are we looking at the future queen?"

Yeah. As you'd expect my chance at looking intimidating and threatening from your perspective at this moment in events went out the window when that comment unleashed my inner fangirl. Images of me in a wedding gown next to Jack started fluttering through my head. Even if the MC had meant something totally different, I had to admit having Jack Atlas all to myself was appealing. Nice tight rear with a good face and money to boot. That aside, I shook the image from my head and tried to regain my focus. Instead, I would end up simply going home and enjoying my 'Jack Atlas reads: The Old Man and the Sea' audiobook again. I even bought another Jack Atlas plush toy on the way.

I'm so ashamed of myself...

Next Chapter: Destiny

Set in Stone Preview: Crow vs Koyou, a farewell to the satellite for one of them.

Possible Events: Divine reappearing, multiple reunions, and a shocking revelation.

(A/n: Updates will probably slow down a bit after this chapter, just a heads up. The coming chapters are a bit trickier to write.)