Disclaimer: The following piece is in no way a claim to ownership of the depicted characters. Yu-Gi-Oh, Yu-Gi-Oh R, Yu-Gi-Oh GX and Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's are owned by TV Tokyo, Konami Corporation and Kazuki Takahashi. This story as presented is strictly for entertainment purposes, both for its owner and readers.
Chapter 17 – Fate of the Supreme King! Elemental Hero Showdown, Judai vs. Koyou
Back in the Dominion of Beasts, under the now-clear sky, Judai stared at his attacker, Hibiki Koyou, from behind his monster and Magic/Trap Cards. Koyou, meanwhile, had an uncaring and hateful look in his eyes.
"Soon, Judai," Koyou stated. "Soon you'll be dead and the rightful Supreme King will rise!"
"What is that supposed to mean?" Judai asked hostilely.
"You will see," was the sly reply. "Draw!"
"During your Standby Phase," Judai stated, "the effect of Mirage of Nightmare allows me to draw until my hand contains 4 cards." Pulling cards from his Deck one by one, Judai looked at his cards and saw the ability to make a move; but only if he survived this next turn.
"Very well," Koyou stated. "I activate Fusion Recovery, and I return Fusion and Ocean to my hand." When the two cards slid from his Cemetery, he held up the Magic Card with a card from his hand and stated, "I Fuse the Heat and Lady of Fire!"
Appearing in front of a vortex behind Koyou, his field monster with the flame patterns appeared beside a female warrior in a mostly-white body suit and the two spiraled together, releasing a huge, hulking figure with a coal-like gem on its chest and white armour with flame-like patterns and hair. "Come, E-HERO Flame Blast (ATK: 2300, LV: 8)."
"Next, I Summon Ocean (ATK: 1500, LV: 4)." With a low grunt, the blue fish-like warrior then appeared before Koyou and he declared "Battle! I attack Ground Mole with Ocean!" Jumping forward, the monster swung its trident into the mole-like monster; but just before that the mole assembled the drill over its head and spun it, causing both monsters to warp off the field. "What?"
"When Ground Mole battles," Judai explained, a card appearing in both his hand and Koyou's, "I may return both monsters to their owners' hands."
"Then I attack Clayman with Flame Blast!" Koyou yelled, pointing his hand at Judai as his huge red and white monster formed a fireball in front of its chest and then shot a column of fire at the stone warrior.
"Trap Card Open!" Judai yelled. "Hero Barrier! With an E-HERO in play, I negate an attack against my monsters one time only!" A swirling blue shield then formed in front of his crouching warrior, taking the full brunt of the flames before it disappeared. "Sorry, but I'm not taking damage so easily."
"That's what you believe!" Koyou declared. "Reverse Card Open: Instant Magic, Fusion Release! I undo the Fusion of Flame Blast! Return: E-HERO the Heat (ATK: 1600, LV: 4)! Lady of Fire (ATK: 1300, LV: 4)!" As it burst into flames, the large red monster disappeared and revealed the two monsters from earlier – the female with long dark blond hair in a mostly-white body suit, and the figure in yellow, white and red armour.
"Because I Control 3 E-HERO monsters, the Heat gains 600 ATK (ATK: 2200). Therefore, I'll have him attack Clayman!" Jumping forward, Koyou's monster swung a fist into the chest of the stone monster, causing it to burst into flames shortly before exploding.
"I direct attack with E-HERO the Earth!" Koyou then instructed, causing his massive white warrior to jump up into the air and land in a crouching position over Judai; however, a mostly-grey warrior with long white hair appeared in its path and took the brunt of the fist before disappearing.
"I activated the effect of Necro Gardna from my Cemetery," Judai explained. "By excluding this monster, which I discarded with Angel's Gift, I negate one opponent's attack."
"Then I'll finish off by attacking directly with Lady of Fire!" Koyou stated, his larger warrior jumping back to his field before his female warrior formed a fireball in her hands and threw it at Judai, at which time he responded by flipping one last card.
"Instant Magic: Emergency Rations! I send Mirage of Nightmare to the Cemetery and recover 1000 Life Points!" Judai then smiled and Koyou looked on in anger while Judai's only other card in play disappeared. The fireball then struck him, causing some discomfort but not doing much damage.
Judai: LP 3300
Koyou: LP 1900
"Now Judai can keep all the cards he discarded from Mirage of Nightmare on his next turn," Taiyou realized. "He'll now have enough cards to fight back."
"It seems that my will to fight will keep me from dying," Judai snarked, further aggravating Koyou.
"Your will to fight killed thousands of people," Koyou hissed back. "You've forever tarnished the name of the Supreme King, and when I win I'll make sure it is returned to its proper glory!"
"You won't take my soul!" Judai snapped back.
"Then I guess I'll have to rip it from you," Koyou deduced, sneering while Judai growled. "I end my turn; thus, during the End Phase, the effect of Lady of Fire activates. You take 200 Damage for each of my E-HERO monsters!" Once again the female threw a fireball at Judai, this time making him cover his eyes before impact.
Judai: LP 2700
Koyou: LP 1900
"Kisama no turn. Let's see if you have anything left to use."
"I'll show you that I do!" Judai yelled. "Draw!" The instant he saw his top card, Judai spun it around and declared, "I activate Take over Five! When I activate this card, I send the top 5 cards of my Deck to the Cemetery!" Flipping up five cards – revealed as E-HERO Neos, Take over Five, Necro Darkman, Sparkman and Bubbleman – he placed them into the Cemetery and sneered, making Koyou look on in wonder.
"Magic Activate: Over Soul!" As he held up the card, his Cemetery Slot glowed and a purple "O" shot off the card, causing a card to slide from his Cemetery. "With this, I Special Summon E-HERO Neos from my Cemetery (ATK: 2500, LV: 7)!" As the card appeared, Judai called up his white warrior with blue gem on chest, blue head spike, and black hands and feet; then, he held up another card.
"Instant Magic: Super Fusion! By discarding my Ground Mole, I Fuse together the Earth and Neos!" With Koyou looking on in awe, he watched as a swirling black cloud appeared above the field, his white monster and Judai's white monster jumping up to the spiral and fusing. Then a bolt of lightning shot down and struck in front of Judai as he yelled, "Rise up, Elemental Hero… Neos Knight (ATK: 2500, LV: 7)!"
As the cloud cover disappeared, the lightning disappeared and revealed the new monster in front of Judai. Said creature was very much like his last one, but with many differences. Its shoulders had been extended and adorned with blue gems like its chest, and it had armour over its legs. Its horn now extended forward and was joined by two ear-like structured and an orange ponytail. Finally, it had a double-ended blade and a rounded shield, and its whole body had sections of red trim.
"You dare to use such a card in my presence?!" Koyou accused. "A card made from the blood of the innocent, used on monsters from Justice!"
"This card is responsible for saving the entire world," Judai responded. "All twelve dimensions were to be destroyed if Yubel had used this card; but I stopped that cataclysm and fused her spirit into mine, and in doing so I saved everyone."
"Enough of your defensive bullshit!" Koyou spat, not believing a word Judai had said. "You're nothing but a murderer and a disgrace to Justice!"
"Then I'll show you the truth!" Judai responded. "Due to Neos Knight's effect, it gains half the attack strength of the other monster used to Fusion Summon it; in this case, that's an extra 1250 (ATK: 3750). Go, Neos Knight! Attack Lady of Fire!"
"Reverse Card Open!" Koyou declared. "Remnant Memory! I exclude Woodsman and Airman from my Cemetery, and in return I take no Battle Damage this turn!" As he said this, the two cards slid from his Cemetery while the white warrior jumped forward, swinging its sword through his female warrior and shattered her.
"Even so," Judai stated, "Neos Knight may attack twice in any Battle Phase, so I'll have him destroy Heat as well!" With that the warrior jumped over laterally, landing in front of the other monster and slicing it in two, leaving Koyou defenseless.
"You'll pay for my Heroes' lives," Koyou threatened.
"We'll see," Judai responded. "I set two cards and end my turn."
"Draw," Koyou declared, pulling a new card and reaching for one already in his hand. "I activate Miracle Fusion!" With Judai looking on tensely, he extracted Forestman and The Earth's cards from the Cemetery and declared, "I exclude the Fusion Material Monsters required, and I Fusion Summon… Elemental Hero Gaia (ATK: 2200, LV: 6)!"
With the ground erupting in front of Koyou, he watched as a large brown, grey and black monster with a robust stone form emerged from the grounds, steam erupting from holes on its arms and legs rooted in the soil. "When this monster is Fusion Summoned, I halve the ATK of an opponent's monster and add it to my monster until the End Phase."
Looking on with gritted teeth, Judai responded, "Trap Card: Alchemy Cycle! I reduce the ATK of Neos Knight to 0 for this turn!" A dark purple aura then surrounded Judai's monster as Koyou's thrust its fists into the ground, creating a rift over to the white warrior. "Thus, your monster gains 0 ATK (ATK: 2200)."
"I see," Taiyou declared. "If Judai's monster is destroyed by battle now, he'll draw a card instead of simply being out a monster."
"I attack Neos Knight with Gaia!" Koyou declared, his monster raising its fists up over its head and locking hands. "Continental Hammer!" With that the monster brought its fists down and shamsed the white warrior, forcing Judai to step back to avoid being struck as well.
Judai: LP 500
Koyou: LP 1900
"Due to the effect of Alchemy Cycle," Judai explained, "When a Monster I control affected by this card is destroyed in battle, I draw one card!" Judai wasted no time in quickly snapping up his card as Koyou looked on with a smirk.
"Maybe, but you're down to only 500 Life Points. An attack from anything will see you defeated in an instant. I set one card and end my turn." Placing a card down, he then chided, "Prepare to lose the Supreme King's soul."
"Draw!" Judai declared, snapping up a second card and looking at it very quickly. "Magic Activate: Silent Death! I Special Summon a Normal Monster in Defence Position; return, Neos (DEF: 2000)." With a white glow, the original white warrior of Judai's returned in a crouching position as Judai declared, "Next, I activate Elemental Storm!"
"What?" Koyou asked, completely in shock at the play while Yubel and Taiyou smirked.
"I destroy an opponent's monster whose ATK is less than that of Neos! Be gone, Gaia!" All of a sudden a storm emanated from the jewel on the white warrior's chest, striking the opposing rock monster and making it explode. "I end my turn."
"Draw!" Koyou declared, looking at his card for all of a second before declaring, "I activate Desperado Manager! When I hold one or more cards in my hand, I can draw 3 cards and return two cards from my hand to the top of my Deck." Snapping up three cards, he took the one already in his hand and one he had drawn and put them back on top.
"Why would he be putting the only monster in his hand back on top of his Deck?" Taiyou pondered.
"Magic Activate: Fusion Pass!" He declared, pulling five cards from his Deck and showing them. "By sending the top 5 cards to the Cemetery, I Fusion Summon a Fusion Monster whose Materials are among the discarded. Among them are Elemental Heroes Voltic and Ocean, so come: Absolute Zero (ATK: 2500, LV: 8)!"
With a sudden flash of wind and snow, there appeared a tall ice-armoured warrior with a black suit on underneath, a cape and a gold crown on its head. "Next, I activate another Miracle Fusion! I Exclude Voltic and Ocean, and Fusion Summon The Shining (ATK: 2600, LV: 8)!"
With a huge bright flash, Koyou called up a white, gold-trimmed warrior with a sun-like spiked ring on its back and a red gem where its face would be. "For each excluded E-HERO I own, The Shining gains 300 ATK, and I have six excluded monsters (ATK: 4400)!"
"Two powerful Fusion Monsters in one turn," Yubel pondered worriedly. "If Judai receives a hit now, the game is over.
"I attack Neos with Absolute Zero!" Shooting forward, the arm of the warrior produced a blade that turned the white warrior in front of Judai into solid ice, shattering it and causing Judai to cover his eyes from the shards.
"Trap Card: N-Signal! Come, Flare Scarab (DEF: 400, LV: 3)!" In a crouching position before Judai then emerged a black, purple and red human-like insect with long limbs, wings and a y-shaped horn on its head.
"Then I destroy that monster with The Shining!" Rising up into the air with its arms crossed, the other monster began to glow brightly until it caused the insect-humanoid to explode, leaving Judai with nothing.
"I end my turn," Koyou declared, "and now I have the chance to end you! It's high time I beat you and made you pay for your slaughter of innocent Duel Spirits! Yubel, soon you will serve me!"
"I'll never submit to you!" Yubel hissed back. "I'd sooner serve the King of the Underworld!"
"So that's it!" Judai realized, getting Koyou's attention. "You're after the Supreme King's power and you're legitimizing your quest as something noble."
"You honestly think I'm after the power?!" Koyou gasped, half-laughing and half shocked. "Yes, I'm the selfish one! You killed thousands of people for a card, and I'm selfish! How long have you been lying to yourself? Stop it!"
"I'm not lying to anyone," Judai hissed back.
"Then you're an idiot, whose going to lead this world to ruin! If your death will save this world, then I'll kill you. And if that makes me selfish, then so be it; but I am still a better man than you can ever be!"
"I disagree!" Judai responded. "Draw! Magic Activate: The Spellbooks in the Pot!" With that both Judai and Koyou snapped up three cards and Judai stated, "I Summon Elemental Hero Edgeman (ATK: 2600, LV: 7)!" Slapping the card down upon the tray, Judai called back up his large golden warrior as he explained, "Due to the Necro Darkman in my Cemetery, I Summoned this monster without sacrifice."
"I'm familiar with that Hero's effect," Koyou stated.
"Are you familiar with this?" Judai asked. "I equip Impact Flip to Neos, so when I destroy a monster by battle my opponent must send one card from their hand to the Cemetery. Go, Edgeman, attack Absolute Zero!" Jumping up into the air, the gold warrior extended the blades on its arms and its wings and shot straight through the icy monster, exploding it and causing Koyou to grab his top card and throw it away.
Judai: LP 500
Koyou: LP 1800
"When Absolute Zero is removed from the field," Koyou stated as an icy wind kicked up and frost began to form on the gold warrior, "I destroy all monsters my opponent controls!" Suddenly the gold warrior began to crack and then exploded from the ice, forcing Judai to throw away both cards.
"Due to the effect of Impact Flip," Judai replied, "Both players draw one card when the equipped monster is destroyed!" With both Judai and Koyou pulling another card each, Judai took his two cards and slapped them down. "I set two cards and end my turn."
"Draw!" Koyou declared, sneering as he reached for a card in his hand. "I activate Parallel World Fusion, and I return my excluded Airman and Ocean to the Deck to Fusion Summon… Elemental Hero Great TORNADO (ATK: 2800, LV: 8)!"
All of a sudden a huge whirlwind kicked up and formed a tall monster in white and orange armour, blue eyes and a black cloak, and it grunted loudly. "Due to those two Heroes returning to the Deck, The Shining decreases by 600 (ATK: 3800). But, that won't matter! I attack directly with Great TORNADO!"
"Instant Magic: Burial from a Different Dimension!" Judai declared. "I return Necro Gardna to my Cemetery, and Forestman and Voltic to yours. Thus, Shining loses more ATK (ATK: 3200). Next, I exclude Necro Gardna again, and I negate the attack!" The fist of the newest monster was met by the form of the dark grey warrior, who vanished after being struck.
"I Direct Attack with the Shining!" Koyou yelled, his monster rising up again and glowing as he put the two monsters back into his Cemetery; but as soon as he did, Judai flipped up his only other card, much to Koyou's chagrin.
"Trap Card: Life Force Barrier! When I have no other cards on the field to in my hand, I pay Life Points until I have 100 left. Then, I take no damage of any kind for 3 turns!" With his Life Points falling almost to nothing, Judai was surrounded by a glowing aura of energy that prevented the radiance of Koyou's monster from harming him.
Judai: LP 100
Koyou: LP 1800
"I set two cards and end my turn," Koyou stated, looking on with a dark look in his eyes. "I must applaud you for your fighting spirit, but you really should just give up. You have noting left with which to help you, and in three turns you are guaranteed to lose. Stop carrying this blood, and surrender your spirit."
"I'll do no such thing," Judai replied. "I've already told you, I will keep the spirit of the Supreme King and I will help the Signers with it."
"You've done nothing but cause harm from the beginning!" Koyou spat. "You harmed all your so-called friends, committed genocide and turned your back on your remaining allies; and all for the sake of power. I know what a lone wolf is like; but you're just a violent, feral animal who deserves to be put down."
"Shut the fuck up!" Judai yelled. "I don't need to listen to this shit anymore! Draw!" Flipping around his card, Judai yelled, "I activate Hope of Fifth! With this the only card on my field or in my hand, I return 5 E-HERO monsters from my Cemetery to my Deck, shuffle and draw 3 cards!"
The cards of Edgeman, Necro Darkman, Bubbleman, Featherman and Burst Lady shooting out from the Cemetery, Judai took them and quickly shuffled them into the Deck, pulling three cards. Then, two Magic Cards also slid out and he held them up, explaining, "Next, since my Take over Five cards did not go to the Cemetery this turn, by excluding them, I draw 2 cards!"
With five cards now in his hand, Judai held up one and declared, "I activate the Field Magic, Neo Space!" Slapping the card onto the Extra Zone, Judai called up the rainbow field with pulsating colours before holding up another card. "Next, I activate Miracle Contact! I return Ground Mole, Flare Scarab and Neos to the Deck, and I call up Magma Neos (ATK: 3000, LV: 9)!"
In a quick burst of light, the three cards slid from Judai's Cemetery and a huge ball of flames appeared above him, spawning the brown-green monster with lava right hand and clawed left; the made Koyou look on in dismay. "For every face-up card, Neos gains 400 ATK, and there are 6; plus, it gains 500 ATK due to Neo Space (ATK: 5900)."
"That's a powerful monster," Koyou observed.
"I'm not done," Judai stated. "I activate Miracle Fusion! I exclude Flame Wingman and Sparkman, and I Fusion Summon Shining Flare Wingman (ATK: 2500, LV: 8)!" With the green and red monster and the gold and navy warrior rising up, Judai spun them together in a vortex to call up his silver glowing warrior with bladed wings and sharp armour. "This monster gains 300 ATK for each Elemental Hero in my Cemetery; that's 2 (ATK: 3100)."
With the translucent images of the sword-bearing white, red and blue warrior and the clay warrior appearing behind Judai, he watched as his newest warrior glowed even more strongly before Judai added, "Next, due to another monster being in play, Magma Neos gains 400 more ATK (ATK: 6300)."
"What is Judai doing?" Taiyou asked under his breath. "He has a monster that can easily defeat Koyou, but he's going overboard. Why?"
"I activate Neos Quake!" Judai yelled, his stronger monster forming an orb of rainbow energy and throwing it at Koyou's reversed cards, making them change accordingly. "Now, when I attack, you cannot activate card effects."
"No!"
"Now, I attack Great TORNADO with Shining Flare Wingman, and I activate Battle Fusion! During Damage Calculation, my Monster gains ATK equal to yours (ATK: 5900)! Shining Orb Shoot!" Extending its wing blades and jumping into the air, the monster formed a green orb of energy in it hands and throwing it at the orange and white warrior, making it explode and creating a shockwave that struck Koyou.
Judai: LP 100
Koyou: LP 0
"Shining Flare Wingman, activate your effect!" Responding obediently, his monster descended down to where Koyou was. The man then screamed defiantly as the monster created a huge glowing field that created a blast wave, throwing Koyou back against the wall of the field.
"What's he doing?" Taiyou asked suddenly, getting the answer almost as quickly. When he realized what was going on, he ran into the field and straight at Judai, who made no notice.
"Magma Neos! Super Heat Meteor!" Grunting, the larger warrior raised its right arm to the air, creating a huge burning rock which it was prepared to throw; but before he could, Taiyou was upon Judai and grabbing him by the arm.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Taiyou then yelled straight to Judai, who looked back with a feral, inhuman look of rage on his face. "Stop it; you've already won!"
"Get off me!" Judai yelled back, shoving Taiyou right to the ground and turning back to Koyou. "Neos!" Responding to its name, the monster finally threw its burning rock into the body of the white monster, producing a massive explosion and raining fire upon Koyou's side of the field.
"Stop this Judai! Please!" Taiyou half-yelled half-pleaded, his friend not hearing him because of his overflowing rage. When the fire disappeared and the Solid Vision died down, he was left standing there opposite the now-unconscious Koyou, panting and showing no human emotion.
"Koyou!" the female voice of Midori suddenly yelled out from within the trees, the sound of human speech finally getting through to Judai. The woman then ran out from the forest and straight to her brother, bending down and cradling his head and shoulders in her hands. Turning to Judai, she yelled at him, "What is wrong with you?! How could you do this?!"
"Who do I need to explain myself to you?" Judai asked angrily, his eyes finally changing from the Supreme King's back to his own. "Your brother attacked me, threatened my life, slandered all that I've done, and I'm the one who's wrong?! Fuck this shit!" Turning around, Judai started to walk back into the forest; but then Taiyou asked,
"Where are you going?" Giving Taiyou a dark glare when he stopped and turned to look at him, Judai responded,
"I don't fucking care, as long as it's away from all of you." Turning back to the forest, he quickly made his way into the forest, Yubel closing her eyes in shame and disappearing. Standing up, Taiyou then walked over to the Hibiki siblings and bent down to speak to them.
"I'm so sorry for what my friend just did," he explained, "but Judai's right; your brother was far from innocent in this whole ordeal. He wanted to take Judai's soul to gain the power of the Supreme King."
"What?" Midori asked, completely surprised. "Koyou never wanted anything like that; he and I were both very loyal to the Supreme King. We knew that Judai had done unsavory things, but we forgave him because he was delusional. He never told me that he wanted to take his soul."
"We can take him to the City to recover," Taiyou stated, standing up. Midori then stood up and held up Koyou's limp form, and the two figures then began the walk towards the city.
On the roof of the Poppo Time building, the group awaited the return of Yusei and the others. When Judai reappeared on the opposite side of the roof, Aki was the first to notice, and by letting everyone know she made sure that Judai was properly welcomed back. However, when Aki attempted to approach Judai, he simply walked away with a melancholy look on his face, stepping down the staircase of the roof to the inside.
"That's not like Judai at all," Luca realized, acting incredibly worried at what had happened. When Yubel reappeared seconds later in spirit form, Luca turned and asked, "Didf something happen to Judai."
"No; Judai is fine," Yubel replied in a somber tone. "But… Hibiki Koyou did not fare so well. Judai beat him to within an inch of his life; and I'm willing to bet that if I hadn't killed the duel and Taiyou hadn't approached, he would have killed him."
"What did you just say?" Johan asked in total shock, looking back at the spirit with the same look as everyone else. "Why would he do something like that?"
"Because Koyou made him remember the things he did as the Supreme King. Judai is still haunted by what he did; he's had nightmares about it more than once. He never acted violently before, but this time he was threatened with death."
"Where's Taiyou?" Aki asked, getting an immediate reply from Yubel.
"He's still in the Dominion of Beasts, taking Koyou to recover. Midori went with him." The conversation was then ended by the sounds of D-Wheels pulling up, and everyone saw from below the D-Wheels of Yusei, Crow and Kyojo pull up, with a fourth one being towed behind Kyojo's.
About a minute later, Crow came up the stairs to the roof with Yusei and Kyojo slightly behind, carrying the unconscious form of David Rabb on their shoulders before lying him down next to Reggie Mackenzie. "We've got ourselves some severe enemy actions afoot," Kyojo stated, taking off the sunglasses he had on.
"And we've got a psychotic Judai in our midst," Lua stated judgmentally, prompting his sister to slap him upside the head.
"What my brother means is," she cut in, "Judai went off the handle in a Duel with Hibiki Koyou, and almost killed him."
"What, say that again," Yusei replied, a confused look on his face. "Koyou had a match at the Duel Stadium that started about half an hour ago. We saw the fans and part of the screen when we went by."
"Wait, what?" Aki asked Yusei nodding to confirm and the other two backing him up. "If he's here, who did Judai duel?"
"I have no idea," Crow replied. "But somebody should let him know."
"I can do that," Yusei offered. "He and I get along with the most stability of the group." The rest of the group seemed to agree, because after him nobody had any objections of nominees. With that said, Yusei turned and walked down the steps, finding himself in the upper area of the building, where the bedrooms were.
The third door on the right, which led to Judai's room, had the door a few degrees ajar and the light on inside. Opening up the door, Yusei found Judai lying on his bed staring at the ceiling, arms folded under his head his Deck and Duel Disc lying on his end table. Judai didn't say a word when he saw Yusei enter the room; he merely looked over to the man, who closed the door and made sure it was shut all the way.
"I hear your duel in the Dominion of Beasts got a little bit intense," Yusei clarified, "and that you got a little bit aggressive towards the end there. Anything the matter besides that?" Judai then shook his head in an obvious 'no', and Yusei asked, "Then why are you being so distant?"
Sitting up on his bed, Judai turned to Yusei and looked back at him with a pair of empty eyes, devoid of any sort of passion or energy, and he answered, "It was what Koyou said… not his general point, but a specific point he made." When Yusei's expression became incredibly confused Judai added, "He mentioned how I've treated my friends."
"What exactly did he say?"
"Primarily that I'm too much of a lone wolf," was Judai's rather taciturn answer. Elaborating, Judai continued by saying, "Some of the people who felt my wrath in the alternate dimensions were my friends – being sacrificed in my duel with Brron, being lost against me as the Supreme Kings – and after all that I began to isolate myself."
"You're not an isolated person," Yusei countered. "You're the one who brought us together with the Summoners, with your friends… how after all that can you make such a comment about yourself?"
"I suppose you're right," Judai concluded, standing up.
"I have a favour to ask of you," Yusei stated suddenly, getting Judai's attention. "Do you have any Anti-Synchro Cards in your collection?"
"I believe there are a few," Judai replied. "Why do you want them?"
"I don't; I want you to duel me with them." Seeing Judai's lack of understanding Yusei added, "With the latest attacks of the Infinity Group, I feel it's only a matter of time until the leaders of the organization come after us. And as Lua demonstrated, our strategies are so Synchro-dependent that the Machine Emperors completely undermine our decks."
"You want practice against an Anti-Synchro Deck," Judai realized, getting a nod from Yusei in reply." Then I'll make another variant of my Deck with an Anti-Synchro Theme." Turning over to a shelf in the corner of the room, he pulled out a box from in between two books and opened it, revealing a handful of cards. Fanning through them, Judai picked some cards from them, but then put them back.
"What exactly are you doing?" Yusei asked, prompting Judai to put the box back between the books and pull out a different box from another shelf. Opening it up, he pulled out a Deck and stated,
"I have an old Deck that used some cards that were anti-Synchro. It was a gift from a fan in the United States, where Synchro Monsters are less popular and there are more Anti-Meta cards."
"So… what? You're going to harvest a few cards from that Deck and add them to your Deck?" When Judai smiled in reply, Yusei looked back and stated, "Then that sounds like a duel."
"I'll be with you in one hour's time," Judai stated. With that, Yusei turned and stepped out of the room, closing the door and leaving Judai alone. Seconds later, however, Yubel materialized where his bed was, and Daitokuji's spirit appeared in a corner of the room.
"It's good to see Judai-kun acting a little bit more happy-nya," was Daitokuji's observation.
"You need to remember that no matter what you do," Yubel informed, "your friends will be willing to forgive you. Duel Academia did, Aki did, Jack did, and nobody else has any issues with you."
"It's strange," Kiryu stated, talking to the group now that Yusuriha and Jack had joined the discussion and Yusei had returned. "Yesterday and this morning, I ended up getting angry at you guys for no reason at all, so I left to blow off steam. But by an hour later, I couldn't even remember what I was so mad about."
"Blackfeather Dragon's incident was never really repeated," Jack observed, "so it stands to reason that something was definitely afoot."
"Wait a minute," Yusei stated, snapping his fingers and getting everyone to look at him. "Remember that guy we saw after the duel between Crow and X?" Getting strange looks back from the others he explained, "There was a guy in some weird outfit who was tagging along with the duel; then there was a flash of light and he was gone."
"Hey, you're right," Kyojo stated, his memory suddenly jogging. "That guy looked an awful lot like the masked figure they talked about on the news."
"I bet it was," Crow inferred. "But… how does that tie in with what happened with Blackfeather and Kiryu."
"I have no idea," Kiryu stated, "but I'm willing to bet that whoever this guy is, he's got something to do with Placido."
"I never heard mention of him," Yusuriha mentioned, "but without a name I can't say anything with certainty."
In the city of Endymion, Taiyou stood at the door of a bedroom-like area within a large building. In the room, Midori stood next to the unconscious form of Koyou, lying in bed with his Duel Disc still on his arm. "Endymion wishes to see me at the High Council Chambers," Taiyou explained.
"Very well," Midori replied, looking down at her brother. "At least he's safe now." Opening the door, Taiyou stepped out and shut it behind him, leaving the Hibiki siblings alone within the room.
Turning around, Midori walked over to the corner of the room and grabbed a strange glowing orb. As she did so, however, she did not notice her brother's eyes quickly open up, fixing on her position. When she started to turn back, he slowly closed them and remained still.
As she stepped back to Koyou's side, the woman raised the glowing orb, thinking, "Perhaps, Koyou, I can speak into your mind to tell you I'm here for you." With that she began to lower the gem to the forehead of her unconscious brother, hoping that it would simply sink into his head to establish a psychic connection.
Instead, with the orb just above his head, Koyou's arm snapped up and grabbed Midori by the wrist, surprising her. The woman could only watch while her supposedly incapacitated brother opened his eyes and stood up, saying, "You're so naïve, my dear."
Surprised by the sound of Koyou's voice, Midori looked back in even greater shock. It was deeper than normal, more sinister, and certainly more forceful. Letting go of Midori's wrist, his eyes began to glow a dark golden colour and suddenly a force field of light blue formed around her, preventing her from moving.
"Koyou... why would you...?" Before she could complete the thought, her brother's form burst out into white light and began to change. He became taller – about six and a half feet tall – as his form became more muscular, and the forms of huge shoulder pads and ribbons formed. Also, his hair became longer and wilder, with two locks extending to the floor.
When the light died down, it revealed the form of Paradox, dressed in his regular clothes and with his golden eyes staring back at Midori in a dark sneer. The woman herself was horrified, and even more so when he grabbed her by the throat with his left hand and held her up. The pressure on her throat kept her from breathing, and very soon she fell unconscious.
"Hey, Midori," Taiyou's voice suddenly issued from behind the door. "I forgot to give you something." Knowing the voice would reveal him, Paradox threw the woman face-down on the bed, the force field disappearing, before he disappeared into a black fog. As it completely vanished, Taiyou opened the door and gained a look of terror.
"Oh my God! Midori!" he yelled, running over to the girl and flipping her over. Her eyes closed and her neck bruised, it instantly became clear what had happened; and with Koyou nowhere to be seen, he knew who the doer was. His face becoming angry, he put the girl back down and ran out of the room, now eager to get to the council.
Back at the Old Momentum, the doorway reopened and Paradox stepped through, his eyes starting to glow so he could see in the near total blackness. Picking up his mask off his belt, he put it on and his eyes again glowed through it while he reached for his Duel Disc.
Pulling a card, he held up his newest Sin monster and the Momentum reactor suddenly began to glow more violently, the shining orange energy almost lighting up the underground room. As soon as the reaction was done, he returned the card to his Deck and sneered underneath his mask.
Sitting in his office in downtown Neo Domino, Placido was busy typing up a document on his computer. When he finished it, he read within his mind what he had written:
"Dear sir or Madam,
You are hereby invited to attend the Neo Domino Gala on the evening of Saturday, February 25th, 2010, on the invitation of Placido, the director of the Public Security Maintenance Bureau. The event in question will be a black tie affair, and no guests will be accepted without this invitation as an entry. There will be no cost of admission and no extras.
Public Security Maintenance Bureau"
Pressing a button, the computer began to copy the text file which Placido had just completed and attach it to e-mails which were sent to various addresses across the internet. Looking at the guest list, he noted that none of the Signers, Summoners, or Judai and his crew were listed – and that was the point.
"When they find out about this event," he had calculated, "they will send somebody undercover in order to find out what I plan to do. But they will not go unnoticed. Whoever they send will lead me right back to Judai and Yubel, and there I can get my hands on the three Demons."
Taking another look at the registry, he saw the name Mutou Yugi written out among the guest lists' names. He knew that Yugi would not be in attendance, because he had retired and gone off to live a more secluded life; but perhaps that name would draw the attention of the Group, and Paradox. After all, Placido wanted to defeat both in one try.
"Very soon my friends, we will have completed that which we set out to do..."
Card of the Week – Judai
Elemental Hero Neos Knight
Type: LIGHT
Level: 7
Family: [Soldier/Fusion/Effect]
Effect: "Elemental Hero Neos" + 1 Soldier-Family Monster
Chapter/Anime: This card cannot be Special Summoned except by Fusion Summon. This card's ATK is increased by half the ATK of this card's Fusion Material Monsters, except "Elemental Hero Neos". This card can attack twice during each turn's Battle Phase.
OCG/TCG: This card cannot be Special Summoned except by Fusion Summon. This card's ATK is increased by half the ATK of this card's Fusion Material Monsters, except "Elemental Hero Neos". This card can attack twice during each turn's Battle Phase. If this card battles, and Battle Damage to your opponent becomes 0.
ATK/ 2500
DEF/ 2000
*Has Judai finally gone off the deep end? Only time will tell. Review if you wish.*