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 3 – Shine, Light of the Stars! Activate Buster Mode!
The two cloaked figures moved silently through the dark alleys of the night as they searched for their prey. Hours had passed since Jack and Judai had finished their match, and as of yet they could not be seen. Their target was clear; hunt down the two Signers and their friends, and possibly the spirit they had been shown during the duel. Now if only finding them was as easy as they had hoped.
"Where do you think they are?" One of them asked as they rounded a shadowy corner.
"I'm not sure," the other replied, "But we'll find them soon enough. I can feel the presence of the marks. They're nearby."
"But where? In one of these buildings?" After asking this, he began to feel an energy presence of his own. Remaining quiet, the two of them ducked behind a corner and listened. Moments later, the echo of footsteps rang out in the night.
Yusei was the first to round the corner, followed closely by the others. They had tried to get into Godwin's loft, but he had not been there and his secretary did not know where he had gone. So instead they decided to try finding somewhere else, somewhere they felt was safe. They had no idea they had walked into a trap.
Just as Yusei stepped into the crossing point of two alleyways, he stopped. He felt dark energy. Dark Signers were nearby. And they had been waiting for him and Jack. Immediately his thought process told him to yell out [Get back, it's a trap!]; but all that came out was "Get baaaaaahhh!!!"
As the other came into view, the Dark Signers emerged and began to shock Yusei with black electricity from their hands. They had to watch in horror as their friend burst out a-smolder and collapsed upon his knees. Jack and Judai both took looks of anger on their faces and Johan stepped back before also gaining some rage. One of them began to dog him by yelling, "So this is the mighty Yusei Fudo, kneeling at our feet!"
"You bastards," Jack yelled as he shook his fist in hatred.
"Well then," the other began jeering, "It seems that the mighty Jack Atlus is angry. Did we do something wrong, or are you worried about him losing your title."
"Shut up!" Jack yelled back.
"Who are you," Judai yelled, "And what do you want?"
"What, your friends didn't tell you?" One of them asked rhetorically.
"We are known as Dark Signers," the other explained, "apostles of the Wicked Gods." Both of them developed a violet glow over their irises, and a pair of spider-shaped glowing marks on their right arms. "And our mission is to eradicate all opposition to our cause."
Yusei began to bring himself to his feet, only to receive another shock of electricity. This time, however, Judai's eyes turned back to the heterochromic pattern and reflected the lightning into the ground.
"Kisama…" they both declared at Judai's interference in their plan.
"If you want a fight," Judai declared sternly, "then we'll fight. But I won't allow cheap tricks as the likes of yours."
"I… agree," Yusei stuttered out as he regained his balance. "And so… we'll duel!"
"Yusei, are you sure about that?" Jack asked.
"They clearly want you to fight," Johan continued. "Let me deal with them."
"No" Yusei replied firmly. "This is my fight. I owe this man some payback."
Realizing Yusei wouldn't be talked down from the edge, Judai pulled the Academy Duel Disc off his hand and threw it to Yusei. The denim-clad duelist immediately strapped it on and pulled one of his two decks – his ground deck – and placed it in the slot. The expression on his face showed a greater seriousness than normal; it almost looked as though Yusei was out for blood.
Rising to the challenge, the taller of the two Dark Signers stepped in front of him and pulled a black Neo Domino Duel Disc with a deck already in the slot. The field was then consumed by a purple aura, the power of the shadow game. Strapping the disc on, he and Yusei both drew 5 cards and said, "Duel!"
Yusei: LP 4000
Dark Signer: LP 4000
"I'll begin," Yusei declared. "And I summon Shield Wing in Defence Position (DEF: 900)." In front of Yusei appeared the crouching form of a flying creature that seemed a cross between a pterodactyl and a bird. "And I'll also Set 2 cards. Your turn."
"I draw," the Dark Signer issued, "And activate the Dark Allure Magic Card. With this I draw 2 cards, but then I must either exclude a DARK monster from my hand or send my hand to the Cemetery." Placing the card in his Cemetery slot, he pulled 2 new cards and flipped one around. "I choose to exclude Dark Valkyrie."
"A Dark Mode deck," Jack said under his breath.
"Next from my hand I summon Knight of the End in attack Position (ATK: 1400)." Before the Dark Signer appeared a samurai-looking figure in dark colored armor and holding a vile sword. "When Knight of the End is summoned I select a DARK monster from my deck to send to the Cemetery. I select Dark Tuner - Chaosrogue." And with that the card slid from his deck slot into his hand, where he grabbed it and placed it in the cemetery slot.
"Dark Tuner - Chaosrogue?" Jack thought to himself, trying to remember said card.
"Now I think I'll attack your Shield Wing with my Armageddon Knight." The samurai swung its sword at the bird-dinosaur, although the creature blocked with one of its wings and deflected the blow. Shocked, the Dark Signer exclaimed "What?!"
"Up to twice per turn," Yusei replied sternly, "Shield Wing can become indestructible by battle."
Growling in irritation, the Dark Signer thrust two cards into his disc's card trays. "I set 2 cards. I end my turn."
"Don't get too frustrated," the other Dark Signer declared. "Yusei's deck is little more than a pile of junk cards."
"Obviously you two know nothing about me," Yusei replied calmly. "Now I draw. And I play the Magic Card Tuning. With this card I add a Tuner monster from my deck to my hand, and then send cards from my deck to my Grave equal to my monster's level. From my deck to my hand I add Junk Synchron, and as for my three cards…" With that Yusei pulled the aforementioned card and placed it in his hand before shuffling. Then, he placed his top 3 cards in his Graveyard – Bolt Hedgehog, Roadrunner and Domino. "Next I'll summon the Junk Synchron I added to my hand (ATK: 1300)."
On Yusei's field appeared an orange mechanical-looking pudgy warrior with a twin engine strapped to its back and a pull-cord on its body. In a few seconds it pulled its cord and created an energy field, which jumped off it and took the form of another card. "When I summon Junk Synchron, I can Special Summon a Level 2 or below monster from my Graveyard in Defence Position and negate its effect. I select Bolt Hedgehog (DEF: 800)." And with that the aura took the form of a small hedgehog with bolts strapped to its body.
"I tune Junk Synchron to Shield Wing, and Synchro Summon Junk Warrior (ATK: 2300)." The warrior again pulled its cord, and split up into 3 glowing green rings. They all surrounded the dino-bird as it disintegrated into two glowing orbs. They were all replaced by a tall purple warrior with a huge right fist and a jet-pack on its back.
"Junk Warrior's effect increases its ATK by that of all face-up Level 2 or Lower monsters in play. Bolt Hedgehog has 800 ATK, giving Junk Warrior a total of 3100 ATK. Furthermore, I activate the Magic Card Mental Tuning Wave, and destroy your Knight of the End."
"A clever move Yusei, but I have the upper hand. Trap Activate: Assault on Headquarters! By destroying a monster I control, I send your top 2 cards to the Graveyard. The warrior was hit by waves of energy that quickly began to destroy it. However, they were interrupted as the warrior turned into energy and struck Yusei's deck. The destroyed cards were Equip Shoot and Turret Warrior.
Annoyed, Yusei growled, "Junk Warrior, attack him directly." The jets on the purple warrior stared up and thrust him toward the Dark Signer.
"Clever move Yusei, but not one I didn't foresee," the Dark Signer declared as one of his trap cards flipped. "I activate Dimension Wall, which reverses the damage to my score onto you." The purple warrior threw its fist at the Dark Signer, but before it reached its target a hole in space appeared and swallowed the fist. A second later, the solid vision fist of the warrior went straight through Yusei's chest.
Yusei: LP 900
Dark Signer: LP 4000
The shock on Yusei made him collapse on one knee panting. The Dark Signers both started laughing at the sight of such a strong duelist on his knees, until Jack barked at them, "Shut up you bastards!" At that point they fell silent.
Getting back to his feet, Yusei simply said, "I set 1 card. It's your turn."
"I draw," his opponent said as he pulled a card and played a card from his hand. "I activate my Magic Burial Equip Magic card, and by paying 800 Life Points I Special Summon Dark Tuner – Chaosrogue from my Graveyard (ATK: 0)." The card appeared before him before resurrecting the large monster discarded last turn. It was a purple rounded demon with a covered eye and a jewel on its chest.
Yusei: LP 900
Dark Signer: LP 3200
"Next I play the Call of the Living Dead Trap Card to return Knight of the End to the field (ATK: 1400)." The evil samurai appeared before the Dark Signer as he pulled a card from his deck – what seemed to be Dark Assassin – and sent it to his Cemetery. Next he pointed to his orb demon and said, "Next I tune my Dark Tuner to my Knight of the End, for a Dark Synchro Summon."
"Dark Synchro Summon?" Johan inquired.
Yusei spun and said, "Once he subtracts that Dark Tuner's Level from Knight of the Ends, he can play a correctly leveled Dark Synchro Monster."
"Then it has a negative Level," Judai replied.
As he saw this, Jack thought back to when he'd seen the card. He remembered his and Carly Nagisa's duel with Ushio Tetsu. Then, with a stunned face, he blurted out, "Be careful Yusei! He's planning to destroy your deck!"
"Too late to warn Yusei now," the dueling Dark Signer replied. "Since I tuned Dark Tuner Chaosrogue, your top 5 cards are gone." Annoyed again, Yusei pulled 5 cards and placed them in his cemetery slot, where they slid in one by one.
Soon, the orb demon burst into black flames, which formed into red versions of the tuning rings from earlier. They consumed the evil samurai, which turned into four dark orbs. They collaborated and formed an evil reaper-like creature with a double-ended staff.
"Meet Pitch-Black Zumwalt (ATK: 2000) (LV: -4). And this monster has quite the effect. When it attacks, it decreases the ATK of the opposing monster it its own, and then for each 100 points your monster loses, you lose a card from your deck."
The evil reaper creature leapt at the purple warrior, and the warrior burst into a dark aura (ATK: 2000). Yusei picked out 11 cards from the top of his deck and sent them to the cemetery. Then, the reaper swung and destroyed his monster while surviving the blast.
"Oh, I forgot to mention," the Dark Signer jeered, "Zumwalt is indestructible by battle. And more importantly, you have only 11 cards left in your deck. Lose too many more and it's over. To continue, I use Fissure to destroy your Hedgehog." The hedgehog was swallowed by a crack in the earth that closed on itself. "I'll set this card and end my turn."
Staring coldly at his opponent, Yusei drew his card silently, looked at it briefly and said, "It's time for you to pay dearly." The stunned Dark Signer and his partner watched silently, the partner's jeering having stopped, as Yusei played his next card. "From my hand I summon Debris Dragon (ATK: 1000)." Before Yusei appeared a small white dragon with green armor and three-jointed wings. It also had orange orbs on its chest and shoulders, and three horns on its face.
"Similar to Junk Synchron, Debris Dragon allows me to Special Summon a monster from my Cemetery, as long as it has 500 or less ATK. So I summon Roadrunner (ATK: 300)." The dragon folded its wings together and spawned the new creature; a small chick-like bird with long legs and boots. He also flipped a Trap Card.
"Reverse Card Open: Give & Take. With this card I Special Summon a monster from my Cemetery to your field, and add its level to a monster of mine. I Special Summon Junk Synchron to your field in Defence Position (DEF: 500)." The Dark Signer's field was joined by the orange warrior in a crouching pose. "Now my Debris Dragon gains 3 stars (LV: 7). Now there's just one thing left to do: I tune Debris Dragon to Roadrunner!"
The white dragon grasped the little bird in its wings and ascended rapidly as Yusei began to utter his chant. "The clustering stars will awaken a new power." The dragon released the bird midair and climbed more until it became 5 rings and 2 orbs of light. "Become the path its light shines upon." They were joined by the star created from the little bird, and together they formed a beam of bright light that shot down to the ground.
"Synchro Summon! Come forth, Stardust Dragon (ATK: 2500)!" The white light disappeared and was replaced by a glowing body of a white dragon. This one had three-jointed wings with 3 talons, long limbs with enormous claws, purple orbs on its chest and shoulders, and a head with three long spikes perched atop a long thin neck. The creature let out a tremendous roar that forced everyone, save for Yusei, to cover their ears.
"Next I activate another Trap Card: Meteor Rain! During this turn, any monster to attack a monster in Defence Position will deal Battle Damage onto the opponent." As the weight of those words hit home for the Dark Signers, Yusei made his move, "Stardust Dragon, attack! Shooting Sonic!"
Switching from a stunned look to an evil smile, the Dark Signer countered swiftly. "Trap Activate: Reactive Armor. This Trap destroys the attacking monster." "Of course, I know Stardust Dragon can be released to negate my trap; but if he does, my Zumwalt can finish his deck and Dragon in a couple rounds."
Expecting Yusei to play that effect, he was stunned when he heard, "Reverse Card Open: Buster Mode!"
"What?" The Dark Signer yelled. "You're not releasing Stardust Dragon for its effect?"
"Yes and no. Buster Mode can release a Synchro Monster to upgrade it to its stronger form. So with its power I Release my Dragon to summon my strongest creature!" Yusei's dragon disintegrated into a cloud of stardust and rose up into the sky. The revealed trap shot a blue light stream into it, and the combination produced a flash that lit up the sky for 2 square miles. Everyone except Yusei had to shield their eyes for the light, while he stared at the Dark Signers with a combination of ire and solemnity.
The dust created the auras of another being, and soon it solidified into a glowing blue and white dragon. It was much like the previous dragon; only larger, and armored along its body with dark blue segments of armor encrusted with purple gems along its chest, wings, arms, legs and tail. This new dragon let out a similar roar to the last, only with a more prideful ring.
"I've Special Summoned Stardust Dragon/Buster (ATK: 3000). And since your Trap targeted Stardust, it fails to do any damage." The Dark Signer's trap exploded violently as he shielded his eyes from pixilated shards. "And with Meteor Rain still in play, my Dragon can defeat your Junk Synchron and eliminate most of your Life Points. Stardust Dragon/Buster, attack! Buster Shooting Sonic!" The dragon produced a blue beam of light that shot through the orange warrior, then went on and straight through the Dark Signer.
Yusei: LP 900
Dark Signer: LP 700
Instead of being bitter about this, however, the Dark Signer began laughing. "What's so funny?" Jack asked madly.
Looking up from his wounds, the Dark Signer replied, "Yusei may have eliminated most of my Life Points, but not all! Buster Dragon has 3000 ATK, and so I can wipe out exactly the 10 cards Yusei's deck next turn."
"We'll see about that. I set 2 cards and end my turn."
"Then it's over," the other Dark Signer boasted as his partner drew.
"Indeed. Zumwalt, attack Dragon/Buster and end this game!" As the reaper swung, however, the dragon turned into glowing blue stardust and swarmed the reaper creature. The dust exploded its target, then scattered around the field. The light created temporarily lit up under the Dark Signer's hood, showing him to have red hair. "What?" he spat out. Turning to Yusei angrily, he snarled, "What did you do?"
"I activated Stardust Dragon/Buster's effect," Yusei explained calmly. "By releasing it, I can negate a card effect and destroy that card. Then, during the End Phase, I Special Summon Stardust Dragon from the Cemetery."
The Dark Signer snarled bitterly, but that changed after he looked at his drawn card. "Needle Worm. Yusei won't be able to counter this effect because it activates during battle. Only battle effects take any precedence there." "I set 1 monster and 1 Magic or Trap Card and end my turn." As he said this, the stardust recollected into the form of the blue and white dragon, who bellowed angrily.
"I draw," Yusei declared. "And now, it's game over. Instant Magic: Cyclone!" The card produced a stream of wind that hit the face-down, another Dimension Wall, and exploded it. "Dragon/Buster, attack his monster!" The dragon shot a blue bolt into the set monster, revealing the pink thorny worm.
"Sorry Yusei," The Dark Signer jeered, "But my Needle Worm sends your top 5 cards to the Graveyard, leaving you with only 3 cards left!"
Expecting Yusei to be angry, he was again surprised as Yusei, without a sound, pulled the five cards and sent them to his cemetery.
"Reverse Card Open," Yusei declared, "Jar of Greed."
"What?" Johan asked. "Why draw a card?"
"Because of this," Yusei replied. "Instant Magic: Ignition! This Spell takes the effect of a Spell or Trap Card and changes it to 'Destroy 1 monster on the field.' And with only one, you can guess who I choose." The Jar's art changed to that of a monster being blasted by a charge, while the text changed accordingly. The dragon then began to glow in a blue-white aura.
"Are you crazy?" The Dark Signer yelled out. "Destroying your monster?"
"To activate its effect. When Stardust Dragon/Buster is destroyed, from my Cemetery I summon Stardust Dragon (ATK: 2500)!" The dragon exploded into the blue stardust, which turned white again and reformed into the original dragon.
"Dragon, end this! Shooting Sonic!" The dragon fired a beam of wavy air at the Dark Signer, blasting him through the chest and shattering the purple field.
Yusei: LP 900
Dark Signer: LP 0
Yusei's one mistake was thinking it was over. As he tried to put his card together, both Dark Signers began to shock him with their black electricity. Yusei screamed out in agony, and before the others could react he was on the ground, unconscious and smoldering.
"Why you!" Jack snarled through gritted teeth. He went to rush one of the Dark Signers, but was stopped and thrown against the wall by more electricity. Soon Johan was struck as well, and fell on his knees in agony.
Judai found himself in a position of intense anger, and found himself biting on his lip to avoid bursting out in anger. "What's the matter Judai?" one of the evil Signers asked. "Are you too afraid to stick up for your friends? Or do you just not care?!"
"Why you…" Judai spat out; but before he got further, he was interrupted by a sharp pain in his arm and his chest.
"No, Judai," a female voice echoed out from seemingly nowhere. Everyone conscious watched in awe as an orange slash appeared vertically on Judai's torso and released an orb of energy. That orb then manifested into the form of a female-looking demon; then the light died down and revealed the hermaphroditic body of Yubel. In contrast to her normal smugness, she seemed tense and angry, and said to Judai while facing the Dark Signers, "That's exactly what they want you to do. They're using your friends to get to you. I can't let you go head with this. But don't worry; I'll take care of these bastards!"
"Oh really?" one of the Dark Signers asked as he threw more lightning at Johan. In an eye-blink's time, Yubel teleported out in front of him, lit up the eyes on her forehead, and took the lightning front on. It struck the eye on her forehead, then deflected onto her arm as a duel disc formed. Not her usual one; this one had a much larger, longer tray with 12 closed-eye-like appendages. The forming of the disc diffused the electricity.
"Listen," Yubel commanded, with a force that actually silenced the Dark Signers. "I cannot allow you two to continue to harm my Judai's friends. So I have a challenge to you two. A Riding Duel. You two versus me. If you win, I let you leave and take my spirit with me. If I win, you two will pay dearly for harming my Judai's friends! Understood!"
One of the Dark Signers tried to object, but silenced himself for fear of being hacked to bits. After a moment of silence, they both nodded. Seeing this, Yubel created two orbs of energy that looked like seeds in her left palm and threw them into the ground. After a few seconds, they manifested a pair of jet-black D-Wheels, seemingly made of skeletal parts, in their place. "Where's your ride?" one of the Dark Signers asked.
"I have wings," Yubel replied simply. "Now load up."
The two Dark Signers each got on a different D-Wheel, and fixed their duel discs to the right-side bars. The bikes instantly came to life as Yubel again teleported, this time out in front of the bikes.
Yubel: LP 4000
Dark Signer 1: LP 4000
Dark Signer 2: LP 4000
At that point everyone yelled out "DUEL!" Then they started their rides, and before Judai could blink they were off.
Card of the Week – Yusei
Stardust Dragon/Buster
Level: 10
Attribute: WIND
Type(s): [Dragon/Effect]
Effect: This card cannot be Normal Summoned or set. This card cannot be Special Summoned except by its own effect or "Buster Mode". When a card effect is activated, you can release this card to negate that effect and destroy that card. During that End Phase, you can Special Summon this card from your Cemetery. If this card is destroyed, Special Summon 1 "Stardust Dragon" from your Cemetery.
ATK: 3000
DEF: 2500
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Bit longer chapter than normal. Had to do it with the amount of descriptions. Besides, Yusei's awesome; he gets a longer Chapter. R&R if you want.