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 19 – Wrath of the Machine Emperor! Cyber Style Reborn, Hell Kaiser vs. Placido
At the Council of Magicians in the Dominion world, Taiyou was receiving a rather annoyed stare from Norsewemko, the Speaker of the House, after he had told the entire assembly that it was his doing that all five Saviors were unleashed. Now, chatter had erupted amongst the assembly as all the magicians discussed what he had said.
"Silence in the Assembly!" Norsewemko instructed as she pulled her staff off her back, pointing the sun-like end to the sky and bringing silence to the group. She then proceeded to point her staff at him and state bluntly, "You lie, half-breed. You are no Signer, thus you cannot have released the Saviors."
"I never said I had done it myself," Taiyou reiterated, not acting at all rattled by the threatening gesture. "I guided the Signers in their focus and in their Destiny, and it was through said guidance that they all unleashed the Saviors. Three of them already had done so, but it was I who allowed the other two to be reformed."
"Then you are taking credit where it is not due," Norsewemko deduced. "The Signers were likely to unlock them of their own."
"Only four of the Dragons were in that world though," Taiyou pointed out. "The Fifth Dragon was put under my guidance so that evil could not take it before a Fifth Signer emerged to claim it properly. It was because of me that Crow Hogan, the newest Signer, was able to claim Blackfeather Dragon, the new form of that dragon."
"Even so," Norsewemko insisted, "your discipline was unnecessary for the unleashing of the Savior Dragons. Your actions do not warrant your promotion."
"That is for me to decide, not you," Endymion countered. "When you have an apprentice, my sister, you will be able to decide whether or not they become knighted for these actions. Taiyou has shown the discipline for which my judgment deems he deserves promotion."
"Which is why I have asked you here, Endymion," Norsewemko responded. "The Council feels that your judgment is no longer above reproach." The entire Council of Magicians was shocked by this statement and the chatter once again resumed, until she held up her staff again and brought the assembly to rest.
"This decision makes no sense," Endymion stated on protest. "I have never strayed from my post."
"You are the one who allowed the being known as Paradox to cause the destruction of this world," the female magician accused. "There would be no need for this if you could have stopped them."
"That's an entirely unfair accusation!" Taiyou shouted up, raising his fist in angry defiance. "He had no way of knowing what Paradox intended to do here!"
"He allowed the assault upon your fellow half-breed friend," Norsewemko stated in irritation. "Your blind loyalty to Endymion has prevented you from seeing things accurately."
"I'm surprised you know anything about loyalty!" Taiyou spat, gaining him a few gasps and glares from the magicians in the upper rows.
"I'll tolerate your impertinence no longer," Norsewemko hissed. "Take him away." Snapping her fingers, the woman commanded two magicians in long black robes to come up behind him, grabbing him by the shoulders and dragging him down the stairs whence he came. Despite his wrestling and defiant yelling, he was hauled out of the council room and the doors shut behind.
"Lady Speaker, this is a highly sudden motion," a magician among the higher levels stated; this one clad in crimson robes that included a cape, and with gold trim on its shoulders and hat. "With all due respect, even your power does not let you circumvent our democracy."
"Then if you are so convinced of this, Dark Red Enchanter," Norsewemko addressed, "Then I call for a non-confidence motion for Endymion's removal."
"I won't bother," Endymion stated sorrowfully. "If you think you can lead this world in a more proper way, Norsewemko, then you may have it. I will resign without argument."
"That will not be acceptable," Norsewemko replied, having no sympathy in her voice. "Your resignation will not be accepted because it will not be sufficient; you will face exile for your crimes against our people."
"I will join the ranks of the King of the Underworld before I exile myself," Endymion responded. "If you want my resignation not, then I am left no choice but to stand in defiance of thee." With such bold words from the seemingly timid and succinct ruler of the Magicians, the council was consumed by an expression of total surprise as Norsewemko looked on in disdain and frustration.
"If you insist on this course of action," she warned, "then you may lead us to Civil War."
"If that is what it takes to restore the rightful order," Endymion responded boldly, "then so be it." With that Endymion turned and began to leave, while members of the Council began to look back and forth asking themselves one integral question: Whose side am I on?
Outside the Council Citadel, the Magicians who had grabbed Taiyou had brought him in front of a tall, golden structure much like an Iron Maiden framed by gold rectangular prism frame and connected to it by chains. When they stepped to a certain point, the front of the structure opened by splitting in half vertically and forming a gateway into darkness.
"You really think you can do this to me?" Taiyou asked both of them, his contempt oozing through. "I thought we were comrades."
"It's nothing personal Taiyou," one of them responded sullenly, "but you have left us no choice. Such rebellious attitude cannot be tolerated." Without saying another word, the two magicians threw Taiyou into the blackness with a last defiant scream, at which time the doors closed and locked. With somber expressions both figures turned and walked away, not minding what they had done any more.
Inside the darkness, Taiyou discovered that the space was completely infinite; there was no indication of walls, ceiling or floor. Looking around with anger in his eyes, he thought to himself about what he felt about Norsewemko and her two soldiers; until that is, he heard a familiar dark and deep voice say,
"It's been to long, hasn't it Taiyou?" After hearing this, a total look of terror swept over Taiyou's face as he turned around to face a dark red glow; at the centre of which were two glowing eyes and the silhouette of a tall, demonic figure.
"No," Taiyou said aloud, his horror showing despite the darkness. "It can't be… you…"
The sound of dripping and the sensation of water falling onto his face stirred Judai, revealing to him the surroundings of a jail cell with leaking lead pipes overhead and bars on the doors. Holding his head in pain as he tried to clear the cobwebs, standing up to see a robed figure in front of him in the near-total darkness.
"What did you do?" the figure asked, the voice and the red eye glowing through the hood revealing him as Placido. Reaching up with his right hand, he pulled down his hood to show his look of anger; then he pulled the sleeve on his left arm up, and showed Judai something that horrified and disgusted him.
"That arm…" Judai stuttered, looking on at what had originally been Yubel's left arm, but was by now nothing short of a putrid mess. Several scar-like sores had opened up along the length of the arm, hand, fingers and Duel tray that were filled with black, congealed pus; and the veins that connected it to the arms were torn apart and bloody.
"That arm was perfectly fine up until yesterday," Placido stated, trying to be calm but failing to conceal his ire entirely. "If I find out you caused my arm to rot, you will suffer the consequences.
"I didn't do anything to your arm," Judai stated. "You did."
"What are you taking about?"
"Duel Spirits and humans can be joined together, even parts of either; but only if it is a mutual union. One cannot force such a fusion without consequences. The demon Maenou's vessels all rotted away because he forcibly merged his soul into them; in your case, Yubel's arm is rotting because her spirit does not inhabit it to allow mutual bonding."
"Is that so?" Placido asked, actually sounding intrigued at what Judai had just told him. "Well then, I guess I have no use for this festering stump." Drawing his sword with his right hand, he spun it around for a few seconds before taking the swing, going straight down through the arm and causing it to fall to the floor.
With Judai observing in complete bewilderment, Placido smiled as he watched the arm hit the ground, splattering into black mush. Looking back at his left arm, he saw the human limb had survived underneath, albeit covered in clotted pus and blood. In the mush lay the three Phantom Demons and their fused form; Placido picked them up, and looked at them with a solemn expression.
"Without that arm, I cannot use the Three Demons while they are in this state; however…" Extending out his left arm to full length, he pointed the tip of his sword at the cards and smiled. With a green flash of light, the backs of the cards were changed to bear a figure eight instead of the oval, identical to the cards of the robot Judai had dueled. "…Now I may use them as I wish."
Looking over to Judai, he sneered darkly before pointing his sword tip at Judai's forehead, causing a bolt of green lightning to be fired from the tip. When it struck Judai, it threw him back against the wall and slumped him to the floor, his eyes black and a green Infinity Symbol glowing on his forehead.
As Placido grinned darkly, Lucciano and Jose both walked up behind him, solemn expressions on their faces. These quickly changed to impressed surprise when Placido spun around and showed them the cards. "So then you have succeeded at a seemingly impossible goal," Jose observed while Placido inserted the four cards into his pocket.
"What of the boy?" Lucciano asked, pointing to the catatonic Judai with a genuine look of sympathy on her face. "Do you plan to kill him?"
"He deserves better than that, even if he opposes us," Placido answered. "I will use him to lure the Signers and the others; then, when they are beaten, I will erase his memories and release him, leaving nothing in our way."
"Very well," Jose answered. "Then let us begin the next phase of the operation; preferably, this time without destroying any major buildings." These words slightly irritated Placido, but he brushed them off as he turned and started to walk away, followed closely by his cohorts.
Inside the Kaiba Corporation Duel Stadium, a massive crowd of people were watching a duel between Professional Duelist Kento Shira and none other than the legendary Hell Kaiser Ryo. The current scene involved Shira controlling a three-headed dragon made of ice, whose form was incredibly massive (ATK: 2700, LV: 9), as well as two set cards and no hand.
Hell Kaiser: LP 1000
Shira: LP 1900
Hell Kaiser's hand included two cards and his field one set card. Clad in his black clothing and his dyed red and black hair, he smiled on darkly and stated, "I've had a lot of fun in this duel today, my dear friend; but it's time I brought it to a close!"
With a scared expression on Shira's face, Hell Kaiser drew his card in a flash, but before looking at it he pointed at his set card and flipped it. "I activate the Trap Card, Trap Stun! With this, all Trap Cards on the field have their effects negated until the End Phase!" Lightning then shot from the card, striking the two set cards in front of Shira and turning them to stone.
"What is this…?" Shira asked in his soft, stunned tone, his amber eyes open wide and his black hair ruffled from the shock of what Hell Kaiser had done. "I… I had the upper hand until this point…"
"Hell Kaiser surrenders dominance to no one," Hell Kaiser stated, flipping around a card from his hand. "Magic Activate: Cyber Dark Impact! I return Cyber Dark Keel, Horn and Edge to the Deck from my Cemetery, and I Fusion Summon Armoured Black Dragon – Cyber Dark Dragon (ATK: 1000, LV: 8)!"
Three cards then slid from Hell Kaiser's Graveyard as a huge swirling wind kicked up around him. Soon three monsters appeared behind him, all of which were about the same height. The first was a brown metal monster like the skeletal frame of a dragon with no eyes, four forward-facing horns and a green light in its mouth.
Second was a green monster much like a dragonfly with four blades on each wing, a blue bulb for an eye, dull grey trim and a segmented body ending in two hooks. Lastly, there was the grey serpent complete with a dragon-like face and red eyes, wires along its body and a series of rivets along its form.
Rising up into the air, the green monster's head folded down and its tail split apart, and the end of the brown monster's tail inserted into a socket the head had formed. Then, the serpent's head folded back into its body and it attached between the halves of the green monster's tail. Finally, the metal maw opened to reveal a leathery grey face complete with green eyes and sharp teeth.
"When this monster is Special Summoned, I equip it with a Dragon-Type Monster from my Cemetery."
"Wait… there are no Dragon-Type Monsters in your Cemetery…" Shira realized. "I excluded all of them earlier."
"Very true," Hell Kaiser agreed, "but I have a way around that. Instant Magic: Code Change! I select a Monster Type in the text of a monster I control, and change it until the End Phase. I change the Dragon-Type in Cyber Dark Dragon's lore to Machine-Type!"
"No, you can't!" Shira yelled as Hell Kaiser's Cemetery lit up and a card slid out. "That would mean…"
"I equip Cyber Dark Dragon with the Cyber End Dragon I set to the Cemetery with Fusion Decimation earlier; thus, Cyber Dark's attack strength increases by 4000 points (ATK: 5000)!"
In front of the existing machine, there appeared a silvery metal serpentine dragon complete with a pair of segmented wings with blue orbs, another orb on its chest, and three necks with different heads on the end with yellow, red and green eyes (the latter twos' necks being attached to wing-like projections of the torso).
With a horrendous roar, four bladed arms on the chest of the composite monster attached to the silvery dragon, attaching wires to the centre head of the dragon as it absorbed its power. "Go, Cyber Dark Dragon! Attack Ice Boundary Dragon Trishula with Full Darkness Burst!"
Roaring, the composite monster created a shockwave that struck the opposing monster, causing it to explode instantly and knocking Shira backwards to the floor. The crowd then began to cheer out for Hell Kaiser as the Solid Vision disappeared and the man himself turned to leave.
When he reached the outside of the arena, Hell Kaiser's cell phone began to ring, perplexing him; he wasn't expecting ay calls just yet. Answering the phone after he pulled it from his coat, he heard a voice on the other end say, "Hello, Marufuji Ryo, Hell Kaiser."
"To whom am I speaking?" Hell Kaiser inquired, not recognizing the voice.
"Somebody who will expect your full co-operation," the voice stated menacingly, a few seconds before Hell Kaiser heard screaming on the other end of the line. Female screaming, with a very familiar pitch and tone: Asuka.
"What have you done?" Hell Kaiser scathed into the phone, getting a reply very quickly.
"Nothing yet; but unless you follow my instructions, that will change. Now listen: return to your home now. No interviews, no company, no autographs. Meet me on the roof." At that moment the line went dead, and a very angry-looking Hell Kaiser shoved it into his pocket before starting off towards the garage where his D-Wheel was parked.
***
On the roof of the Marufuji penthouse, a white-cloaked figure stood still as a statue, not moving at all while a red eye and a green Infinity symbol glowed through the cloak. To his right lay the unconscious form of Asuka, now Hell Kaiser's wife, and on his arm there was an Infinity Duel Disc ready to go.
Suddenly, the figure heard a noise coming from the street and turned. Looking down, he saw the form of the Black D-Wheel with Hell Kaiser on it pull up to the front of the building, then the rider jump off and go inside.
Mere minutes later, the door to the roof swung violently open as Hell Kaiser kicked it out, looking very irate and hostile. "What have you done with Asuka?" When the figure pointed to her laying unconscious, Hell Kaiser merely hissed as the figure himself chuckled darkly.
Grabbing his hood with both hands, the figure pulled back the hood to reveal the face of Placido, at which time the eye ceased to glow. "Do not despair, my friend," Placido told Hell Kaiser as he advanced towards him. "She will be fine and awake in less than an hour, with no memory of this attack."
"If you wanted me to come to you," Hell Kaiser spat, "you could have simply asked. There's something a bit more to this than you're letting on. Why am I here? And while I'm asking questions, Placido," he then asked, "why are you here?"
"I see you recognize me," Placido said, almost sounding flattered. "You have no idea how few people know who I am. To answer your questions, we are here so I can show you a very dark truth. Do you know of Yuki Judai's whereabouts?"
"Why are you asking me about Judai?" Hell Kaiser questioned, his anger being mixed with perplexity. "I haven't seen him in about two months now." Cuing in that something bad was about to be stated, his anger returned and he barked, "what have you done with him?!"
Smiling, Placido held up a photograph of Judai inside his dark cell, slumped against the wall with lifeless eyes. "He too will soon be fine," Placido informed, "But I am afraid I cannot let him go; he is too much a threat."
"How about I wager for his safety?" Hell Kaiser questioned, holding up his Duel Disc and activating it. "If I win, you will release Judai back to his friends."
"For me to even consider such a proposal," Placido scolded, "you would need to wager something that interests me enough. What do you have to offer me?"
"I have my Cyber-Style Deck to offer you," Hell Kaiser stated, holding up his Deck. "This Deck has served me well for years, and I would think it would do the same for you. However, don't count on that; I won't lose."
"Very well," Placido agreed, producing his own Deck as Hell Kaiser put his own into the Duel Disc. As he placed his own Deck into his Duel Disc, Placido added, "I will wager Judai against your Deck; I feel it is a sufficient trade." "Yes, it is; there is far more power to be had from that Deck than from Judai."
"Then let us begin!" Hell Kaiser stated, both players snapping up a fresh hand of cards.
Hell Kaiser: LP 4000
Placido: LP 4000
"I will take the first move," Hell Kaiser said strongly. "Draw!" The instant he did, he reached for a card already in his hand and placed it into the Cemetery; then he turned his drawn card around. "Magic Activate: One for One! I send the Monster Card Cyber Dragon Zwei from my Deck to my hand, and from my Deck I Special Summon the Level 1 Cyber Vary (ATK: 0, LV: 1)!"
From behind Hell Kaiser there appeared a long, metallic snake whose body was lined with red domes and spikes, and whose face was an eyeless one with decayed, leathery brown flesh. "Next, I activate Machine Reproduction Technique, and I Special Summon two more Cyber Varies from my Deck (ATK: 0, LV: 1) (ATK: 0, LV: 1)!"
On either side of the existing monster, two new copies of the same monster rose up, leaving Hell Kaiser with one to his right, his left and directly behind him. "I set two card and end my turn."
"Very well," Placido stated. "It is my turn, and I draw." Looking at his card, he quickly spun it around and stated, "I activate the Magic Card, Wise Gate. By sending Wise Core from my Deck to my Cemetery, I Special Summon Wise Core 3 from my hand (ATK: 0, LV: 3)." Fanning through his Deck, he found said monster and placed it directly into the Cemetery, and then slapped another card onto the tray.
When this next creature emerged, it resembled a satellite-like object with a floating green core at the centre of a parabolic dish, claws holding it in place. "Next, I activate Wise Blast. By destroying all of my Wise or Wisel monsters, I inflict 1000 damage to my opponent for each destroyed monster."
All of a sudden, the entire body of the structure, except for its green core, changed into electricity and shot at Hell Kaiser, striking him hard and making him sputter as he tried to hold himself up. Seconds later, however, his problems got worse when the core changed into a vertical green column of light.
Hell Kaiser: LP 3000
Placido: LP 4000
"When Wise Core 3 is destroyed by a card effect," Placido informed, "I destroy all of my own monsters, and I Special Summon from my hand, Deck or Cemetery: Machine Emperor Wisel Infinity (ATK: 0, LV: 1), Wisel Top 3 (ATK: 80, LV: 3). Wisel Attack 3 (ATK: 1600, LV: 3), Wisel Guard 3 (DEF: 2000, LV: 3) and Wisel Carrier 3 (ATK: 1100, LV: 3)."
Out from the green light there emerged five white metal monsters, surprising Hell Kaiser very much. The first was the oblong, side-spiked creature with an Infinity Symbol on its chest. Second, there appeared the flat wedge-shaped white machine almost like a jet fighter. Third came the long, bladed, oval-shaped object, fourth the large white wheel-like object with a five-lobed base and several rivets, and finally the thruster vehicle with circular body and pointed nose.
"When there five monsters are on the field," Placido explained, "they combine to form Machine Emperor Wisel 3 (ATK: 3500, LV: 1)!" Opening its Infinity symbol and making it glow green; the central structure drew all the other pieces towards it, where they assembled into structures. The jet became a head with a long, pipe-like neck and head with a headdress and shoulder pads attached atop the Infinity object, making a pair of eyes light up upon its face.
The next two objects became the left and right arms, respectively. The bladed object folded out into an arm so that the axe blades were on the upper arm, the curved blades on either side of the forearm, and a sword blade attached to the wrist. The wheel-like object then folded out into an arm with the five-lobed base as a shield.
Finally, the boosters' vehicle transformed into a pair of long, jointed legs set onto the former cockpit and complete with booster-backed feet, attaching itself to form the waist and legs of the robot. The new figure then let out a mechanical guttural noise, and flexed its limbs to show that they functioned.
"For all intents and purposes, this monster is still five pieces," Placido explained, "but they function as a single unit. Battle! Wisel, destroy Cyber Vary!" Jumping forward, the giant robot swung its bladed arm straight at one of the mechanical serpents, but before it could strike its target the creature warped off the field. "What's this?"
"When Cyber Vary is selected as an attack target," Hell Kaiser explained, holding up the card before placing it into a slot on his Duel Disc for excluded cards, "I may exclude it from the field to end the Battle Phase and draw one card." With that Hell Kaiser picked up a card and added it to his hand, looking down in it with a look of intrigue.
"Then I shall set one card and end my turn," Placido stated. "You have survived this round, Hell Kaiser, but you cannot keep up this charade forever."
"That may be true," Hell Kaiser admitted, "but I do not intent to keep it up forever. This will be the last turn of the duel; this I promise you!"
"You're bluffing," Placido stated. "There's no way you'll defeat my monster so easily; not with all the effects it possesses."
"Yes, I am familiar with the Infinity Series monsters and their effects," Hell Kaiser replied, now sneering. "Yusei has told me of them and their power; but it is limited to Synchro Monsters. A Fusion Monster will take it down hard! Draw!"
Looking at his card for all of a second, he spun it around and declared, "I Summon Cyber Ouroborus (ATK: 100, LV: 2)!" In between the silver serpents there appeared a new, longer black serpent with red eyes, a blue dome on its head, spikes, rivet holes and tubes along its body, and a tail that looked like a grabbling hook. "Next, I activate the second effect of Cyber Vary: I exclude it and Cyber Ouroborus, and I draw 2 cards."
Suddenly the black serpent and one of the silvery ones warped off the field, prompting Hell Kaiser to snap to two new cards from his Deck. "Also, when Cyber Ouroborus is excluded, I may send one card from my hand to the Cemetery and draw one card. I send a second Cyber Dragon Zwei." Flipping the card around, he then placed it into the Cemetery and pulled yet another card from his Deck; at that time, he pointed at his set card.
"Trap Card Open: Return from Another Dimension! I pay half my Life Points and Special Summon as many of my Excluded monsters as possible. I return Cyber Ouroborus (ATK: 100, LV: 2) and two Cyber Varies (ATK: 0, LV: 1) (ATK: 0, LV: 1)." A white hole then appeared behind Hell Kaiser, remaining only long enough to release the three monsters he had called back onto his field.
Hell Kaiser: LP 1500
Placido: LP 4000
"I activate Cyber Vary's second effect again, and exclude it and Cyber Ouroborus again!" Once again the black and silver monsters warped off the field, and Hell Kaiser spun around another card. "And, by discarding my third Cyber Dragon Zwei, I draw 3 cards!" With that he inserted the card into the Cemetery and snapped up three more cards. "Finally, I exclude the other two Cyber Varies!" With that the two remaining serpents warped off the field, leaving Hell Kaiser with no monsters in play but 8 cards in his hand.
"Trap Card Open!" Hell Kaiser commanded. "Skill Stun! For this turn, all monsters currently on the field hand their effects negated!" As he said this, electricity shot off his card and struck Placido's Duel Disc, zapping all the cards and creating a static aura around his monster. "With their effects negated, Wisel Infinity's ATK returns to normal (ATK: 0)."
"No; this can't be. Without their effects, my monsters are nothing but targets. There's no way I can survive with these monsters. My face-down card has become paramount."
"Magic Activate: Power Bond! I send Fusion Materials for a Machine-Type Monster to the Cemetery, and I Fusion Summon said monster!"
"You have no monsters on your field," Placido replied flatly. "You have no monsters that you can send."
"That's because I don't have to," Hell Kaiser replied, folding his card against his palm while he grabbed another card. "Instant Magic: Cybernetic Fusion Support! I pay half my Life Points to exclude from my Cemetery the Fusion Materials of a Light Machine, and use them for the original card's materials."
"But you don't have any usable materials in your Cemetery either," Placido pointed out. "No Cyber Dragons, and no Cyber Darks. What exactly do you intend to fuse?"
"When Cyber Dragon Zwei is in my Cemetery," Hell Kaiser reminded, "it is treated as Cyber Dragon. And since I have three, I combine them to Fusion Summon… Cyber End Dragon (ATK: 4000, LV: 10)!" A beam of blue energy with white electricity erupted from behind Hell Kaiser, and when it died down it left the form of Hell Kaiser's gigantic metal monster with wings and three heads, which roared loudly at Placido and kicked up winds.
Hell Kaiser: LP 750
Placido: LP 4000
"Next, due to the effect of Power Bond, the attack strength of Cyber End Dragon is increased by its original ATK which doubles its power (ATK: 8000)!"
"I must say, Hell Kaiser," Placido stated. "I never thought you could pull off such an amazing combo so quickly. You truly are as good as they say, and probably better. However…" When he spoke again, his voice had changed; his tone was deeper, darker, and he sounded nothing like Placido anymore. "Your move has played right into my hands…"
"What the hell…?" Hell Kaiser said, stunned by what was going on. "Who the hell are you? What the hell are you?" When the figure simply sneered back and smiled, Hell Kaiser yelled, "Answer me!"
"Why don't I just show you?" the voice asked, Placido waving his arm over his face-down card. "Trap Card Activate: Sin Mirror! When my opponent Special Summons a monster, by destroying all of my own monsters, I Special Summon a Sin Token with the same power as the Summoned monster, and from my Deck I activate the field magic Sin World!"
"Sins… wait, you're…" The mechanical being in front of Placido then changed into black, fog-like plasma that rose up and took the form of a mirror. At that moment, dark flames of energy formed on Hell Kaiser, making him scream out in pain before they all receded into the card. Then, they leapt off the card and flooded the dragon, making it growl as its translucent card image appeared in front of it.
"Field Magic: Sin World, activate!" Holding the card to the sky, everything around the two duelists was changed to the purple space-like field with stars, green outlines of everything, and a blackened starry sky. Holding out his ram dramatically, Placido yelled, "Appear now: Sin Cyber End!"
As he said this, the mirror reflected the image of the card; but is art was different, with a more coiled pose, and darker metal that was shadowed to almost be black. Then, the black energy jumped off the dragon and hit the reflected card, causing its card border to change from purple to black. When the glass was filled with blackness, the mirror exploded into black flames, which rose up and took on the silhouette of Hell Kaiser's Dragon.
Soon, the form of the dragon appeared from its blackness. Much of its body was the same as Hell Kaiser's, but with a few key differences. All three of its faces wore masks; the left one white with black eyes and trim, the right black with light grey eyes and trim, and the centre one half and half with colours corresponding to the other masks. Its wings, chest plate and the wings-like struts on its torso were made of black metal, with the wings being framed by grey metal and the domes on the wings changed to grey-outlined orbs.
"Behold: Sin Cyber End Dragon (ATK: 8000, LV: 10)!" With a darkened version of the original's growl, the new monster made its presence known as Placido chuckled darkly. Hell Kaiser's face was tense, and he looked back in total disdain.
"You're not Placido at all," he deduced. "The Sin cards give you away. You're that masked figure who's been stealing cards. You are… Paradox!" At that moment, the form of Placido burst into blackness and consumed him, taking away his entire form as it grew larger, more muscular, and the hair grew longer.
"I see you have wasted no time identifying me," Paradox replied as his form came into view, his mask on and his yellow eyes glowing through the lines. "However, that makes no difference; you fate is still sealed." Pointing at Hell Kaiser, Paradox said, seemingly to his monster, "Seize him."
Without warning, the tip of the dragon's tail shot around to where Hell Kaiser was, wrapping around his chest and squeezing tightly. Hell Kaiser tried valiantly to pull the tail off from around him, but to no avail; and then the tail receded to Paradox's side, holding Hell Kaiser off the ground and at eye level with Paradox.
"Your Cyber End Dragon is certainly a powerful and effective monster," Paradox complemented, watching as Hell Kaiser tried to free himself from the monster that bound him. "It will serve me well. Thank you, Marufuji Ryo; you have done me a great service!"
As quickly as he had pulled him in, the tail swung around and threw Hell Kaiser back across the roof, where he smacked into the base of his own monster. Looking back up as he caught his breath, Hell Kaiser felt a pounding in his chest that he knew all-too-well; and before it claimed him he yelled, "Battle!"
Roaring, the dragon behind him started to form bluer energy in its jaws, all of which it immediately fired at Paradox. However, they never reached their target; the dragon behind Paradox fired black energy from its own jaws and intercepted the attack, causing a huge explosion between the two figures that obscured Hell Kaiser's view. When the smoke cleared, Paradox, his dragon and his field were gone.
"What's going on?" Yusei suddenly asked to Jack and Crow, all three of whom were on their D-Wheels looking for Judai. As they had passed the Tops, they saw a huge explosion atop the roof of one of the buildings; then they remembered that said building was Hell Kaiser's penthouse, and so they pulled up around the front of the building as fast as they could.
When they got to the parking lot, they jumped off their vehicles and ran into the front door of the building, heading straight into the lobby. At the service desk there was a woman in a uniform who asked, rather politely, "Is anyone expecting you?"
"We're here to see Marufuji Ryo," Jack said quickly, which got a rather curious reply.
"He was here a few minutes ago," the woman informed them. "He seemed to be in very much of a hurry." Without waiting for a reply, the three men ran straight to the stairwell and began running as fast as they could up the stairs.
After about five minutes of solid running up stairs, they burst through the open door to the roof, to a shocking scene. Hell Kaiser was propped up against the side of the building, gasping for air and sweating heavily, and Asuka was lying beside him, unconscious.
"Ryo!" Yusei yelled as the group ran to where he was quickly. "What happened here? Are you alright? Is Asuka alright…?"
"We were attacked… by Paradox…" Hell Kaiser gasped out, clutching at his chest. "She'll… be fine… but I…" All of a sudden Hell Kaiser stopped mid-sentence, slumping back while his whole body went limp. Scared for their friend, the three of them got closer, and Yusei got over him to check his status.
"He's had a heart attack," Yusei stated, worrying everyone. Pulling off his coat and shirt, he saw that Hell Kaiser's chest was badly bruised and bloody, from some sort of compression injury from the looks of it, and Yusei then added, "His ribs are already badly cracked and bruised. His heart's probably being crushed by blood."
Reaching into his pocket, Yusei pulled out his utility knife and his lighter, then sparked the lighter to heat up the blade of his knife, sterilizing it. Then, he made a very quick incision into the side of Hell Kaiser's chest, causing a huge amount of blood to spill onto the roof. Feeling Hell Kaiser's chest, he then added, "his heart is beating again."
"We still need to stop the bleeding," Jack pointed out, "and he needs to get to a hospital." Pulling out a strip of gauze from his pocket, Yusei wrapped it around Hell Kaiser's chest and fastened it down with tape. Then, he and Jack picked up the man while Crow grabbed Asuka, and the two of three of them then moved as quickly as they could.
By the time they had gotten to the main floor, the woman at the front desk was incredibly distraught from what she had heard and now seen. "We need an ambulance, stat!" Jack ordered as he and Yusei put Hell Kaiser down, lying on the floor so his blood could circulate better. "He's lost a lot of blood!"
As the woman at the desk called paramedics, Crow put Asuka in a chair and ran into the back room. He then came back out with a standard Tops first-aid kit, which included one bag of IV fluids. Reaching into the kit, he grabbed a bottle of alcohol and sterilized the wound; then he put a needle on the end of the bag, inserted it into a vein and began to squeeze the bag while Jack taped the needle still.
"What happened up there?" the woman asked as she got off the phone, running out from behind the desk. "How did Marufuji-sama lose so much blood?"
"His chest was crushed by something," Yusei explained. "It caused blood to build up around his heart, which stopped it."
"But… how did he get cut across his chest?"
"I'm afraid we did that," Jack apologized. "He had to relieve the bleeding."
"How do you three know so much about first aid?"
"We grew up in Satellite," Crow explained, still squeezing the bag to make the fluids enter his arm. "We learned very quickly how to treat most injuries." The conversation was then interrupted when two paramedics burst through the door with a stretcher, stopping just in front of Hell Kaiser as Jack and Yusei both reached to pick him up.
"He's suffered an internal bleed from crush injuries to his ribs," Jack informed them. "He's lost blood and his heart has already stopped once from it.
"He'll need more fluids and blood then," one of the paramedics stated as they ran out the door, followed by the three young men. At the ambulance they slid the stretcher into the vehicle and hopped in the back, where the three got in as well and closed the doors. Then, the vehicle started off at full speed towards the hospital. "We're lucky the hospital is so close to here."
"And we're also lucky that you three were here," the other man said while he was reaching for an IV bag of blood. When the bag of fluids was empty, he took out the tube from the needle and inserted the tube from the blood bag. "This man would be dead if you three hadn't done what you did."
Back at the underground Old Momentum lair, Paradox reappeared inside the catacomb with a brand new card in his hand – the Sin form of Ryo's Cyber End Dragon, with its new art and lore. Holding the card up to the Old Momentum, the orange glow began to intensify, and then it entered a heartbeat-like state of increasing and decreasing glow.
Seconds later, the glow further intensified to a fever level, until its glow consumed the underground catacomb and Paradox disappeared into the light. When it died down, he found himself standing in a desert-like realm, with a clear sky and three suns, at a dune that appeared to be slightly deformed. It almost resembled a tree, and so Paradox knew he had found what he wanted.
He then held up two cards, his two newest Sins. When he did, they both glowed brightly and released streams of light – one rainbow, one silvery – that struck into the dune with a thud and scattered the sand everywhere. As it blew over, the two growling dragons appeared, their bodies entwined in opposite directions around a metal structure.
A helicopter platform. The one which Yuki Judai and Professor Cobra had dueled on in Judai's third year, the year of the Yubel Cataclysm. The one which had accompanied them to this world before toppling into the sand. He had found it. "Take flight, Sin Dragons!"
With a pair of roars, both monsters used their wings to pull their upper bodies into the sky, causing their bodies to pull the tower into a vertical position. When it got there, a huge golden glow of light exploded from the structure, consuming both dragons, the platform and Paradox, leaving behind no trace of any of them when it died away.
Seconds later, back in the human world, the Old Momentum's Reactor began to glow more intensely still, with a vortex opening at the top of its conical gear system. Slowly, the top of the helicopter pad began to rise out of said vortex, followed by its vertical column. Eventually the whole structure was through the vortex, and when it closed it fused said platform into the Old Momentum's Reactor.
Standing atop the platform as its body became lined with the orange circuit board pattern of the Momentum, Paradox looked out from the Satellite to the Main Island of Neo Domino City, and underneath his mask he smiled a sinister smile.
Card of the Week – Hell Kaiser
Cyber End Dragon
Type: LIGHT
Level: 10
Family: [Machine/Fusion/Effect]
Effect: "Cyber Dragon" + "Cyber Dragon" +"Cyber Dragon"
This card's Fusion Summon must be conducted with the above monsters. When this card attacks a Defence Position Monster, if its DEF is less than this card's ATK, the difference is inflicted to your opponent as Battle Damage.
ATK/ 4000
DEF/ 2800
*Things are starting to take a strange new turn. Just wait and see. Review if you wish.*