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 2 – Power of Bonds, Rainbow Neos
"Just give up Judai," Jack taunted, jeering at his opponent. "Your cards are absolutely useless in the face of my monster. My Red Daemon's Dragon has 3000 points, and nothing you play right now can beat that!"
"Really?" Judai asked, his orange and green eyes flashing. He then pulled a card from his hand and played it. "I activate the Magic Card Emergency Call!" The Spell card created a green 'E' that floated up in the air. "I now add an E-HERO from my Deck to my hand." Pulling his cards, he selected an effect monster with 4 stars and 1700 ATK. "And next from my hand I summon E-Hero Prismer (ATK: 1700)."
Before Judai appeared a warrior seemingly made of various types of translucent crystals. The surrounding crowd was interested in the new creature, but Jack merely scoffed at it.
"Ano baka!" Jack yelled as he laughed. "That pathetic creature is far too weak to contend with the King of Dragons!"
"Think again. I activate Prismer's monster effect! First I show you a Fusion Monster in my Extra Deck, like E-Hero Plasma Viceman." The image of the card appeared behind Judai as he began to search his deck. "Next I send one of its Fusion Material Monsters from my Deck to my Graveyard. I select Sparkman. So now for this turn Prismer is treated as Sparkman!" As he said this, the crystal warrior transformed into a new warrior, with a visor face and blue and gold armor.
"Pointless," Jack dismissed. "Just like you fighting."
"Go to hell Atlus!" Judai shot back as he played another card. "I equip my monster with the Equip Magic Spark Gun!" A grey gun appeared in the warrior's hand and attached wires to its arm. "This spell can change the Battle Position of three monsters before destroying itself, so I'll start by changing your Dragon to Defence Position!"
Firing a shot of electricity at the black and red dragon, the gun hit its target. Instantly the Dragon crossed its arms, floated down on its horizontal card and knelt, and folded its wings over itself. Then, Judai pulled another card.
"I activate Heat Heart!" The activated card produced a blue 'H' which attacked to the warrior and created a strong aura. "This Magic Card increases Prismer's attack Strength by 500 points (ATK: 2200), and when it attacks a Defence Position monster, it inflicts the difference as battle damage."
"Big deal," Jack said arrogantly, "200 points of damage!" However, after saying this he remembered the surrounding field. "Unless…"
"Skyscraper works even if the opposing monster is in Defence Position," Yusei pointed out. "That's a blunder that may cost you Jack."
As Jack growled angrily, Judai made his next move, "From my hand I activate a Magic Card. Right Justice!" The Spell produced a yellow 'R' that shot towards Jack's last face-down and hit it square on. "This card destroys one of your face-downs for each of my E-Hero Monsters in play!" The card flipped up, revealed to be Reactive Armor, and its image was replaced by the 'R' before shattering.
"Kisama," Jack snarled at Judai, who merely stared back stoically.
"Prismer, attack Red Daemon's Dragon!" The warrior leapt up in the air and aimed its gun at the Dragon. Its strength increased to 3200 before it fired its shot into the dragon's chest, electrocuting it and exploding it into pixilated shards. This created a bright flash of light and Jack had to shield his eyes with his arm.
Jack: LP 2800
Judai: LP 3700
The crowd around the ring then began to cheer Judai's name, further flustering Jack and causing Yusei to smirk. "What's so funny?" Jack hissed at Yusei in a venomous tone.
Instead of Yusei, Judai responded. "You thought winning this duel would be an easy task," Judai said, almost scolding Jack. "You invested so much time and effort into putting on a show you never thought about how I would fight back. That's why you didn't use Reactive Armor last turn. I learned a long time ago, Jack, that a duel is not a joke. It's time you learned that too."
Turning to his monster, Judai ordered another move. "Prismer, fire Spark Gun again! Change yourself into Defence Position!" The monster's original card image appeared below it as it knelt down.
"During my End Phase, Prismer returns to normal, destroying Spark Gun." The blue and gold warrior flashed brightly before returning to its original form. "Kisama no turn, Jack."
"I draw!" Jack declared, drawing angrily. Flipping his draw around instantly and declared, "Instant Magic: Cyclone! I destroy the Skyscraper!" A huge windstorm picked up and consumed the buildings, destroying them before vanishing. Judai's duel disc ejected the card and he put it in his Cemetery.
"Next I summon Mad Daemon in Attack Position (ATK: 1800)." The monster materialized; a creature with shriveled grey flesh, skulls for a waist and shoulders, and its face obscured by spines and red hair. Its chest and hips had tooth-like extensions, making its midsection look like an evil mouth.
"When Mad Daemon attacks a defending monster, it still deals damage. Attack!" The evil beast chewed up its skull waist and spit the shards like darts, shattering the warrior and striking Judai.
Jack: LP 2800
Judai: LP 3000
"I set 2 cards and end my turn."
"I draw!" Judai said as he pulled his card. "And from my hand I special Summon E-Hero Bubbleman (ATK: 800)!"
Before Judai appeared a warrior in a blue body suit with light blue armor and a gun on its hand.
"When Bubbleman is summoned while I control no cards, I can draw 2 cards." Pulling 2 cards, he flipped another one. "Next I play Fusion Recovery, and from my Cemetery I return Edgeman and Fusion to my hand!" Placing the card in his Cemetery, the two mentioned cards returned to his hand as he pulled another card.
"Instant Magic: Bubble Shuffle! This spell turns both of our monsters to Defence Position; then I release Bubbleman and Special Summon a monster. Come forth: Edgeman (ATK: 2600)!"
Both the vile creature and Judai's warrior took a knee over their cards. The warrior then disappeared in a cloud of bubbles, only to be replaced by the golden bladed warrior from a couple turns ago.
"Just like your Mad Daemon, Edgeman deals damage against Defence Position monsters. Edgeman, attack!" The gold warrior leapt up as Jack flipped his trap.
"Trap Activate! Trap of Darkness. By paying 1000 Life Points, I replace my Trap with another from my Graveyard. I select Guard Block!"
The gold warrior successfully cut through its target, but Jack lost only 1000 Life Points and drew a card.
Jack: LP 1800
Judai: LP 3000
"My turn! Draw!" Jack said as he pulled another card. "I activate Avarice Pot." A large jar-like structure appeared before Jack; one with gem teeth, purple skin-like glazing and a Hitler moustache. "With this Spell I return five monsters to my deck and draw 2 cards!" Images of the cards for Strong-Wind Dragon, Mad Daemon, Dark Sprocketer, Dark Repairer and Vice Dragon appeared, and the pot used a long tongue to swallow them before shattering. The duel disc auto-shuffled the deck before Jack drew 2 cards.
"Trap Activate: Reinforcing Resurrection! This Trap returns Red Daemon's Dragon to my field with 100 more ATK and DEF and a Level One star higher." An explosion of red light behind Jack spawned the huge dragon, only this time with more power (ATK: 3100) (LV: 9).
"Omore (Damn it)," Judai issued under his breath as the crowd once again cheered for Jack.
"One last surprise Judai," Jack said as he smirked, "Guess what I drew." As he said this, he flipped around the card for Strong-Wind Dragon.
"Judai's in for some real trouble now," Yusei thought to himself.
"I release Red Daemon's Dragon to Advanced Summon Strong-Wind Dragon (ATK: 2400)." The red dragon was replaced by Jack's green dragon, again in an angered pose. "Remember, I released a Dragon, thus fulfilling Strong-Wind Dragon's first effect. (ATK: 3900). Strong-Wind, attack Edgeman!"
The green dragon created another twister of wind, destroying the golden warrior and striking Judai.
Jack: LP 1800
Judai: LP 1700
"Your turn, Judai."
"I draw!" Judai looked at his card, then pulled a card out of his Graveyard. "I remove Fusion Recovery to Special Summon Magic Striker (ATK: 600)."
Before Judai appeared a small Viking-like warrior with a zigzagged stick in hand.
"Surely you're joking," Jack said as he scoffed.
"Not at all," Judai said back, "Because my Striker can attack you directly!" The small warrior jumped over Jack's Dragon and slashed Jack's duel disc.
Jack: LP 1200
Judai: LP 1700
"I draw!" Jack declared, "And Summon Twin Breaker (ATK: 1600)." Jack's new monster appeared as a dark-colored knight with many blades along its arms.
"Strong-Wind Dragon, destroy Magic Striker!" The green dragon launched a huge amount of wind as the little warrior, shredding it. However, the damage did not reach Judai. "But how?" Jack questioned.
"Magic Striker prevents its controller from taking Battle Damage when it's attacked," Judai pointed out.
"Even so," Jack said, "I can still attack with Twin Breaker!" The knight swung its bladed arm at Judai, slashing his chest and making him buckle.
"Instant Magic: Mystic Wok. By releasing Twin Breaker, I add its original ATK to my Life Points." A large wok appeared before the knight as it fell in. It slipped around for awhile before both of them disappeared.
Jack: LP 2800
Judai: LP 100
"I set a card and end my turn." Turning to Judai, Jack began to chuckle arrogantly. "Face it Judai, you've lost. Your last card is Fusion, which you can't use without 2 other cards. You have no cards on the field and a mere 100 Life Points left. And even if you pull a monster you can play, it won't stand a chance against my Dragon. You've played a good match, but not good enough."
Jack began to laugh manically, though this was overcome by the crowd cheering his name. However, Judai stared on calmly, not bending.
"That's exactly your problem Jack," Judai declared, "You underestimate your opponents. I draw!" After pulling the card, he smiled and said, "After this entire duel Jack, I'll still achieve victory."
"And how's that," Jack questioned.
"You'll see. I set a card and activate Treasures of Heaven! This Spell forces us both to draw until we hold 6 cards each!" Both Jack and Judai drew a whole new handful of cards.
"That evens things up a bit," Yusei thought aloud.
"Next I play Hope of Fifth. Like your Avarice Pot Hope of Fifth lets me reshuffle 5 E-Heroes from my Cemetery and draw 2 cards." The cards for E-Hero Prismer, Wildman, Bubbleman, Edgeman and Sparkman slid from Judai's Cemetery slot. He slid them into his deck and began shuffling.
"Are you going to spend the whole turn drawing?" Jack asked impatiently.
"We'll see," Judai said as he pulled his 2 cards. "Next I'll pull the same trick as you; I summon the Prismer I reshuffled (ATK: 1700)." And before Judai the crystal humanoid reappeared.
"Only for me that trick paid off."
"As it will for me. With Prismer's effect, I discard a monster from my deck to have his name become its own for this turn. I select a card that holds my bond of friendship. Prismer, take on the form of Ultimate Gem God – Rainbow Dragon!"
Discarding the legendary beast from his deck, the crystal warrior transformed into the long, white-scaled dragon. Its enormous feathered wings encompassed the field and its tail did the same. Seven different gems lined its body.
"Reverse card open. Fusion, activate." The face-down spell opened up as Judai showed a card from his hand. "I fuse Rainbow Dragon with E-Hero Neos!"
Judai's famous monster, a white warrior with a muscular body and blue and red stripes, appeared in front of the dragon. The two of them swirled together and formed a white beam of light behind him. From the beam emerged a fifty foot tall grey-skinned warrior with segmented white armor encrusted with gems. Huge feathered wings extended off its shoulders and hung to the ground.
"I Fusion Summon… Rainbow Neos (ATK: 4500)!"
The audience, Jack and Yusei all gasped at the sight of the enormous monster. The green-eyes young man in the crowd, however, instead smiled and was pleased with this monster.
"That monster, it's huge," a crowd member said.
"And really powerful."
"4500 Attack Points," Jack marveled as he stared up at the warrior. "But not strong enough to beat me. Reverse card open: Miniaturize! This trap decreases your monster's points by 1000 and its Level by one (ATK: 3500) (LV: 9)!" The white warrior was encompassed by a red aura that drained its strength.
"Arigatou, Jack," Judai said as he began to smile.
"For what?" Jack guffawed. "For besting your monster."
"No," Judai declared as Yubel's spirit reappeared beside him. "Are you ready?" he asked her.
"Of course," she replied.
"I activate Double Attack! By discarding a monster with a higher Level than a monster I control, that monster can attack twice this turn. Thanks to you Rainbow Neos is LV9, so I can discard the Level 10 Yubel!"
The spirit of Yubel deconstructed into purple energy and flowed into the glowing red warrior.
"Letting him attack twice is pointless," Jack pointed out. "My monster is still stronger."
"Not after this. I set 1 card, and activate Rainbow Neos' second effect. By sending my face-down to the Cemetery, I return your Magic and Trap Cards to your deck."
"You what?!" The face-down on Judai's field disintegrated as the huge warrior threw an orb of rainbow energy at Jack's trap. When it hit its target, the card disappeared.
"Whoa!" another crowd member yelled, "Jack might lose!"
"Not might," the green-eyed young man corrected, "he's going down. Go Judai!"
"Rainbow Neos now returns to its original points (ATK: 4500). And next, I activate another Field magic: Neo Space!" The normal field turned into a pulsating rainbow color scheme. "This card increases Rainbow Neos' ATK by 500 points (ATK: 5000). Rainbow Neos, attack! Rainbow Flare Stream!"
The huge warrior formed a ring of rainbow energy in front of a red gem on its forehead, and shot a bean at the green dragon, destroying it instantly. The force of the blast made Jack stumble back, but he kept his footing.
Jack: LP 1700
Judai: LP 100
"I'm not done yet Judai," Jack snarled through clenched teeth.
"I'm afraid you are, Atlus. Due to double attack, Rainbow Neos gets another attack. Second Rainbow Flare Stream!" Again the warrior fired a beam of energy from its forehead, this time striking the ground below Jack. It bent back up into a vertical column of energy that rose up into the sky. Jack screamed out as though in pain at the realization of his loss.
Jack: LP 0
Judai: LP 100
The rainbow arena and enormous warrior both disappeared as the solid vision program shut down. Jack slumped down on his hands and knees as the crowd began cheering Judai's name. Then, the cheering died down and was replaced with applause. Judai then closed his eyes and opened them, revealing his normal eyes. After that he bent his fingers into his signature pose and said, "Gotcha!"
Jack growled at the gesture as he got to his feet. He then said boldly, "You got lucky Judai. Next time you won't."
"I didn't win because of luck," Judai corrected. "I won because I believe in my friends, in my cards, and in myself. Just like Yusei. And it's the bonds I keep that give me the strength to win."
"That's right," issued a voice behind him. Turning around, Judai saw at the front of the crowd the green-eyed boy and instantly recognized him.
"Johan…" Judai said, drawing the interest of Yusei and Jack.
"Johan Andersen," Yusei said, inferring what Judaimeant. "The star of the North School five years ago."
"Yes I was, and I was also a very close friend of Judai's. I still am. But I haven't seen him in two years."
"I've been traveling," Judai explained, as he pulled a card from his deck. "And now that I'm back, I can return your card to you."
"Why did you have his card?" Jack asked.
"As a symbol of their bond," Yusei answered. "Just like Rally gave me the One Shot Booster card before I left Satellite."
"After we found out you were returning to Neo Domino, some of us got back together to meet up with you," Johan explained. "They won't be here until tomorrow though. Where can we stay for tonight?"
"I don't think we can stay at Tops," Yusei said. "Lua and Luca don't have room for us all."
"Godwin's flat is no longer accessible to me," Jack continued, "And I doubt Godwin would take kindly to Judai anyway."
"Well he'll let me in," Yusei replied as he touched his criminal mark, "Because even with this mark I'm still the duel king, and so Godwin and I are on level ground."
"You think Godwin will just let two complete strangers into his flat?" Jack scolded.
"If he was watching that duel then yes. And with Godwin's connections, I bet he was."
"Then in that case," Johan declared, "Let's head for Godwin's flat."
"Sounds like a plan to me," Judai concurred.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
"That was quite the comeback by Judai at the end," one of the robed figures said.
"I guess we know what we want to know," the leader declared. He then pointed to a pair of robed figures, who bowed in recognition. "You two; your mission is to hunt down Judai, Yusei, Jack, and if you have to, this Johan character."
"I think you've forgotten someone," another robed figure issued.
"Whom?"
"Take a look," he said as he reflected an earlier turn on the orb. Freezing the frame, he pointed at Yubel. "I don't know who or what that spirit is, but it's connected to Judai and it seems powerful."
"Indeed. While you're after them, see if you can't get your hands on that spirit. It may prove useful to us."
Card of the Week – Judai
Treasures of Heaven (Card of Sanctity)
Normal Spell
Effect:
ANIME: Both players draw until their hands contain 6 cards each.
OCG: Remove from play all card on your side of the field and in your hand. Draw 2 cards from your deck.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Well, so concludes the Jack/Judai duel. But don't dare think it's over. More duels and drama next chapter. R&R to your hearts' content.