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.
Author's Note: The third last episode of Best/Worst. I apologize completely for how long this chapter has taken to create; it's been difficult to get what I wanted to happen straight. As my series draws to a close, I think of what will happen when I complete my saga. With my next project, I should top even this one, which has been put on over 20 Favourite Stories Lists. When you read this, go ahead with your Reviews; because you're running out of time.
Chapter 10 – Riding Duel of Darkness! Yusei who Stands before the Darkness
Jack had barely enough time to brace for impact before Saiga declared, "Machiner's Force (ATK: 4600), attack and destroy Masked Dragon (ATK: 1400)!" The mechanical composite figure started up the artillery on its shoulders, then fired that and its rifle to blast the red dragon. The creature howled out as it was shattered into pieces, and then Jack's D-Wheel began to spin out. By the time he stopped and started forward again, Saiga had passed him by a mile.
"Granted I had to pay 1000 Life points for that attack, but since it's not damage I don't lose any SPC. You, on the other hand…"
Jack: LP 800
Saiga: LP 2000
"I know, I know!" Jack bellowed in reply. "I lose my all my SPC (Jack: 0 SPC/Saiga: 2 SPC). But I do gain Masked Dragon's effect: from my deck I summon the Tuner Monster Magna Drago (ATK: 1400)." In front of Jack spawned a new red dragon, one with tusks and horns on its face and smaller wings.
"A single Tuner monster will not save you," Saiga taunted.
"Maybe not, but Damage Condenser will!" The trap spun around and appeared beside the dragon, and Jack placed one of the 3 cards from his hand in his Cemetery. "By discarding one card, I can Special Summon 1 monster from my deck with ATK equal to or less than the damage I just took. Since that was 3200, I can play any monster in my deck."
"What?" Saiga spat out, realizing he had been played for a fool.
"From my deck, I special Summon Tyrant Dragon (ATK: 2900)!" Beside the small dragon spawned a huge, orange-scaled dragon with a faded purple underbelly, huge wings and a green gem on its forehead. The beast roared out at the composite machine, which responded in a mechanical screech.
"I'll set these 2 cards and end my turn," Saiga declared, quite annoyed at the combo before him.
"Then I draw (Jack: 1 SPC/Saiga: 3 SPC)!" Before looking at the card, Jack thought to himself, "If I can pull Strong Wind Dragon, I can turn this game around." Spinning it around, he grinned and responded, "Not what I was hoping for, but it'll do." "I release my Tyrant Dragon to Advance Summon Tiger Dragon (ATK: 2400)." The enormous beast vanished into particles, only to be replaced by a black-striped orange dragon with tusks and sharp claws.
"Why eliminate such a strong monster for that weaker creature?" Saiga taunted. "Has the King really gone that far?"
"Not quite. With Tiger Dragon's effect, I can destroy up to 2 of your set cards!" Two of the set cards beside Saiga's runner reappeared and exploded, leaving only one set card.
"Why you…" Saiga hissed.
"Now I tune Magna Drago to my Tiger Dragon to Synchro Summon Red Daemon's Dragon (ATK: 3000)!" The red dragon disappeared to form two green rings, which circled over the orange dragon and turned it into 6 white orbs. They then fused into a pillar of black light that spawned Jack's classic red and black dragon.
"And I'm not done there I activate the trap Buster Mode, and release my Dragon to summon Red Daemon's Dragon/Buster (ATK: 3500)!" The red dragon then was consumed by red light once again, spawning a larger version of itself with dark red armor that included a skull-like face plate.
"Red Daemon's Dragon, attack Commander Covington! Absolute Buster Force!" Saiga looked sternly at Jack as the beast formed a ball of fire within its right hand.
"From my hand I activate my Machiner's Gardner's effect. By discarding this card, I reduce them damage from this battle to 0, and destroy your attacking monster." In front of the Commander appeared a mechanical shield-like figure that absorbed the blast, shattering but saving its wielder. Then, the shield exploded when the armoured dragon's claw connected, blanketing that side of the field in dust.
Saiga had thought his move was quite clever, but a moment later the debris cloud lifted and revealed that the dragon was still there. "Hey, what's going on?"
"It's an example of why I am the King and not you," Jack goaded. "On the turn Buster Mode summons a monster, it cannot be destroyed by battle, nor by magic, trap or monster effects. The secondary effect of your Gardner is thus invalid."
"Oh well," Saiga spouted, clearly flustered but trying to maintain composure. "I still saved my life points and my monster King. In my next turn my Machiner's Force will attack and wipe out your Life Points."
"You may have saved your Life Points, but certainly not your monsters," Jack informed him. "When Red Daemon's Dragon/Buster finishes a battle, he automatically destroys all other monsters on the field." Firing shots of flames from his mouth, it struck the composite creature and the red general, destroying the red figure and splitting the other up into its individual components. Jack watched in confusion as the parts all took on the shapes of the monsters they had been. "What's this?"
"Sorry Jack, but the effect of Machiner's Force returns Machiner's Sniper (ATK: 1800), Machiner's Soldier (ATK: 1600) and Machiner's Defender (DEF: 1800) to my field."
"Well, I'll set 2 cards and end my turn."
"Draw (Jack: 2 SPC/Saiga: 4 SPC)!" Looking at his pulled card, Saiga saw what he could now do, and jumped at the chance. "I activate my Trap Card: Call of the Living Dead! With this trap I summon Commander Covington in attack position (ATK: 1000)." As the trap flipped over, it spawned a red mist that solidified into the general's form.
"You're going to try Machiner's Force again?" Jack questioned.
"Not quite. I release my Commander to summon Machiner's Fighter in attack position (ATK: 0)." Disappearing from the field along with the Trap Card, a new and larger monster appeared in its place; one with guns for hands, dark grey armour, and a build much bulkier than its previous counterpart."
"Any time a level 6 or higher monster has no attack strength," Jack realized in his head, "it usually has an effect that makes it better to use. It's not a Tuner monster, but I've never seen a creature like this one before."
"Ready Jack? I release all 4 Machiner's monsters to summon the most powerful creature I have at my disposal!" The 4 machines rose up into the skies above, all but the Fighter disassembling and reassembling as components of the figure. Soon the whole process was obscured by a tower of white light lined with electromagnetic charge that touched town beside Saiga.
"I Special Summon Machiner's Force – Massive Fortress Mode (ATK: 4600)!" As the light died down, the image of a huge mechanical entity came into view. Two large forearms both consisting of a gun centered between 4 smaller barrels, a huge chest like a double-barreled tank turret, an artillery box at each of its shin sides, and a pair of hip-mounted cannons outlined it as a huge weapons platform of a robot. The entirety of its metal was black and dark grey, with a red visor.
"When this monster attacks, and destroys its target, that monster's controller takes 1000 points in damage. Massive Fortress, all guns at the ready!" Every single piece of weaponry on the towering android took aim at the armoured dragon before him, their barrels powering up with red energy at their tips.
"Reverse card open!" Jack yelled as his card came back into view. "Buster Slash. With a /Buster monster on the field, I can activate this trap card to destroy all the monsters face-up on the field." Forming a red orb in its right hand, the armoured dragon swung its fist straight into the machine, creating an explosion that obscured it in smoke before the dragon itself had its armour explode right off it. Then the dragon itself was exploded.
Jack smiled, but a moment later his expression changed when he saw that the machine was still standing before Saiga's D-Wheel. "Sorry Jack," Saiga sneered, "but my Massive Fortress has 2 effects. This one allows me to exclude the Machiner's Force in my Cemetery to prevent its destruction. Looks like my attack will be on you."
"Not quite," Jack shot back angrily. "My Red Daemon's Dragon/Buster was destroyed, so I can summon the original Red Daemon's Dragon (DEF: 2000) from my Cemetery." Soon rematerializing before him, his red and black dragon look up a defensive stance as the machine continued to boot up.
"Even so, I shall destroy your Dragon and deal damage strong enough to plunge you into the World of Darkness. Attack!" The blasts finally reached maximum and struck the dragon, exploding it. But just as things looked bad, Jack seemed confident and acted quickly.
"Trap Card Open!" Jack's final card reappeared and spun around. "Damage Polarilyzer negates the effect dealing me damage and allows us each to draw 1 card." Pulling his own card, Jack looked concerned at his situation.
"By this point King you've lost and you just don't want to face it," Saiga boasted as he drew. "I'll set 1 card and end my turn."
"It's my turn (Jack: 3 SPC/Saiga: 5 SPC). And I summon Dark Resonator in Defense Position (DEF: 300)." Forming beside Jack's runner was a raccoon-like creature in tattered robes holding a tuning fork and a glass bobble. "I also set 1 card and end my turn."
"Very well king," Saiga declared as he drew (Jack: 4 SPC/Saiga: 6 SPC). Placing the card in his hand, Saiga pointed at Jack's monster and declared, "I attack Dark Resonator by my Massive Fortress, and end the duel." Building up the huge amount of energy at each of its pistols, the machine fired all its shots at the small creature, creating an explosion followed by a puff of smoke. Following that, however, the smoke lifted to reveal that the creature had survived.
"Sorry to disappoint you," Jack sneered as Saiga growled, "but once per turn Dark Resonator cannot be destroyed as a result of battle."
"Once again I set 1 card and end my turn."
"I draw my card (Jack: 5 SPC/Saiga: 7 SPC) and end my turn."
"Stall all you want king," Saiga snapped as he drew, "but I shall still win this duel (Jack: 6 SPC/Saiga: 8 SPC). I activate Speed Spell – Defensive Blast. Once I activate it my having 6 or more SPC, I select a monster on my field to equip with this card." As the card appeared, it produced a green aura around the machine platform. "Now, if it attacks a Defense Position monster with a DEF less than its ATK…"
"…I suffer the difference as battle damage," Jack finished the sentence.
"Exactly." Smiling darkly, Saiga pointed at the small creature of Jack's as though to give a silent attack command to his machine. He weapons platform responded, firing up its cannons to shoot at the beast and, according to plan, wipe out Jack's life points.
"Trap card open!" Jack's trap spun around behind him and got in the path of the blast, absorbing the attack before disappearing. "My Guard Block Trap Card reduces my damage to 0, and also allows me to draw one card. Also, I activate my Resonator's effect to keep it in play." Pulling his card, Jack thought about his situation and how to fix it.
"You still won't die," Saiga spat bitterly. "This is becoming annoying."
"So is your constant griping!" Jack snapped.
"Then by all means try to shut me up," Saiga complimented sarcastically. "It's your turn."
"Alright, I'll show you what I can do (Jack: 7 SPC/Saiga: 9 SPC)!" Pulling his card, he was honestly less than impressed by what he saw, so he made do with another move. "I activate Speed Spell – Dash Shot, which destroys 1 Spell or Trap Card on the field when I have 5 or more SPC." When the spell formed, it created a horizontal vortex of air that shot through the opposing card and destroyed it.
"I set 1 card end my turn."
"And still the great Jack King refuses to prove his strength. Or else he has none to prove. I draw (Jack: 8 SPC/Saiga: 10 SPC)! I end my turn. I have no fear of your moves anymore; you can't even play a Level 5 monster."
"My turn (Jack: 9 SPC/Saiga: 11 SPC)! First I activate my Speed Spell – Over Boost, and increase my SPC by 4 (Jack: 12 SPC/Saiga: 11 SPC)." Jack's D-Wheel suddenly sped up by a huge amount, coming up from behind Saiga and passing him, only slowing down about 10 yards in front of him. "Then I activate Speed Spell – Draw Accel, so when I have 12 SPC I draw 2 cards." As he pulled 2 new cards and looked at them, he saw that he wasn't quite where he needed to be, but he saw how to get there.
"I activate another Draw Accel!" As he drew 2 new cards again, this time he saw the combo that could give him the win. "First I activate Speed Spell – The End of Storm, so I destroy all monsters on the field and inflict 300 points of damage to both of us!" A huge gust of dark wing formed around the field and created electrical energy around the monsters.
"Trap card activate," Saiga declared as his card spun around. "With my Scrap Barrier trap card, I send 2 monsters from my deck to my Cemetery. I select 2 Machiner's Force cards." Placing 1 card in his Cemetery, he placed the other in the slot for his removed cards while his monster survived the electricity. Jack's monster, however, was not so lucky; it exploded and the electricity jumped to his D-Wheel. Saiga smiled darkly as Jack cringed from the shock, but moments later it was over.
Jack: LP 500
Saiga: LP 2000
"And now, thanks to this Barrier, I take no damage by battles this turn, nor does my monster. However, you get to draw 1 card." As Jack pulled his card, he looked at them and realized what he could do.
"Thank you. I special Summon Vice Dragon (DEF: 2400, 1200)." Before Jack appeared his purple dinosaur-like dragon with huge claws and green wings in a defensive posture. "And next I Summon my Death Amphithere Tuner Monster (ATK: 200)!" In addition to his monster appeared a large serpentine dragon with red and brown scales and horns along its body. "And finally, I tune my Amphithere to my Vice Dragon to Synchro Summon Explode Wing Dragon (ATK: 2400)!"
As the Amphithere snarled, it released two glowing white energy orbs that formed 2 glowing green rings before disintegrating. These surrounded the dragon, which turned into 5 glowing white orbs that merged into a single stream of light. From them formed a hideous dragon with huge wings mounted on a bomb-like growth, long spindly legs, a thick tail, and enormous claws. Its entire body was dark grey to match its competitor, accented by red fins along its body.
"And last, I activate Speed Spell – Final Attack, and with more than 8 SPC I double Explode Wing Dragon's ATK (ATK: 4800)!" The ugly dragon was encompassed by a blue aura as its power grew.
"Nice monster, but it's useless," Saiga boasted. "Thanks to Scrap Barrier I cannot be damaged and my monster cannot be destroyed by battle. And, your Final Attack will destroy your monster at the end phase."
"It's a chance I'll take. Explode Wing, attack!" Allowing the attack to go through, Saiga thought nothing would occur. But when the creature leapt forth and wrapped its wings around his machine, he was suitably confused.
"Hey, what's going on?" Saiga spat out in confusion. "Your power cannot destroy my monster!"
"Its attacks points cannot, but its effect certainly can. When Explode Wing Dragon attacks a weaker monster, that monster is destroyed instantly and that monster's ATK dealt back to its controller."
"Then I exclude my final Machiner's Force from play to absorb the impact." As smoke began forming on the machine, Saiga pulled out his final copy to prevent the explosion that followed from damaging his creature.
"A nice try, but I've still one," Jack declared as he activated his final Trap Card. "When my attack fails, Miracle Locus lets you draw 1 card. But now, my dragon will attack again with 1000 more ATK (ATK: 5800). And now, Explode Wing, end this!"
"Trap Card activate," Saiga declared quickly. "Dimensional Confinement removes from play your attacking monster." Saiga thought that his trap had won him the game; however, the trap card simply sparked and shattered before him. "What?" Turning to Jack, he angrily yelled, "What did you do?"
"It's not what I did," Jack said with a victory smile as the image of his Amphithere's card appeared before him. "If I Synchro Summon a Level 7 or higher Dragon-type monster with this Tuner, it cannot be targeted by any Trap Cards!" As the news set in, Saiga had no time to react as the smoke on his machine reappeared and it exploded in a huge fireball. The shockwave from that caused his D-Wheel to wipe out and skid off the track, plummeting to the ground below.
Jack: LP 500
Saiga: LP 0
"Good riddance," Jack thought to himself as he spun his D-Wheel around and began back towards the start where the others were. "But now I can see why Judai had such a hard time defeating this Darkness guy; he seems to be everywhere. And he's powerful; I had to pull out damn near every combo I had just to get anywhere, the rest of them to win. The guy deserves a lot better than the Osiris Red status Duel Academia gave him."
As he neared the beginning of the course, he heard the sound of crumbling matter; when he checked over his shoulder, he saw the track behind him was crumbling. And looking down, he saw he was a mere block from his friends. "I live in a 25th floor penthouse in the middle of down; I'm not afraid of heights damn it!" Making a hard right, he shot off the track and began to freefall aboard his vehicle and at the moment nothing he could do was going to save him.
Eventually, Jack decided his best bet was to jump. Flinging himself out of the vehicle, Jack watched as it disintegrated back into dark fog and then took up a horizontal splayed-out position gripping the tails of his trench coat. This formed a sort of mini-parachute to slow his fall by catching wind. By the time he was within 100 feet of the ground, it was clear his friends had noticed him. In the blink of an eye, he saw something shoot up at him and felt something impact up against his chest.
Looking at hat had occurred, he saw that a figure in dark clothing was griping him; figure with large leathery wings. "Yubel," Jack said aloud, realizing it quickly, and also noticing she was slowing his descent practically to a crawl. Her face was behind his head over his left shoulder, and the thrust of impact had turned him vertical.
"I know you and I had a disagreement earlier," she said plainly, "but I meant nothing personal by it. A friend of Judai's is a friend of mine, and so I can't let you fall." In a few moments Jack felt his feet touch ground, and the duel spirit released him and backed up a few feet so she could take a standing posture.
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"So, it appears that the Signers can put up more resistance than I thought," Darkness said within his mind. "Saiga did not have the strength to defeat them, so now I shall defeat them. But first, it is time I got myself a more human body."
At the feet of the God-monster, a swirling black sphere formed that began to swallow the dark fog floating around it, and soon it began to swallow Darkness' body as well. Its eyes quickly changed from blue to red as its form was swallowed by the orb, which soon imploded and vanished.
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As Jack has just moved off to the side, the crew was caught off guard by an explosion that threw them all back a few feet onto their backs. No sooner had they gotten back on their feet than a form stood cloaked in black fog before them. From it the deep voice asked in the ancient dialect, "So, Yuki Judai, are you ready to at last finish what you and I started 15 years ago?"
Growling at the owner of the voice Judai replied, "Darkness! You leave my friends alone you bastard!"
The voice chuckled a moment before replying. "But that is now impossible. Both Fudo Yusei and Jack Atlus have shown that they will not stand aside to let me complete my plan."
As Judai and the others watched, the smoke faded away to reveal a figure wearing Darkness' robes – albeit at a human size – with glowing blue eyes. As it pulled its hood down, the face of the figure shocked Yusei to his core. "K… Kiryu!"
Indeed, the face of Dark Signer Kiryu, changed to have glowing blue irises, was placed on what appeared to be Hell Kaiser's body. Glowing on both its arms were the Dark Marks of the Hummingbird and the Lizard, and as the robes covering its legs fell away the figure was revealed to be wearing Hell Kaiser's clothes underneath. Glowing through the pants was the Mark of the giant and the rear claw Dragon's Birthmark.
"Aki…" Jack whispered in a shocked tone, realizing what had occurred. At that time, Yusei's expression changed to anger and his eyes showed murderous hostility.
"She had the unfortunate plan of standing in my way," Darkness explained humoured. "I had no choice but to pull her into my world. However, I have no quarrel with the true Signers, and so…" Darkness' flesh chest receded to reveal his rib cage, which he grabbed and pulled apart in two sections, left and right. Black fog formed in the open chest cavity, and as it receded it revealed the unconscious face of Aki.
"You soul-sucking bastard!" Yusei snapped.
"Come now Fudo Yusei," Darkness chided as Aki's face receded and he closed his chest, regenerating the flesh. "I don't want to keep Miss Izayoi's spirit; she has done no wrong. Therefore, I will give you the chance to duel me for her body and soul; and as a show of good faith…" Reaching into his pocket, Darkness pulled out a card and tossed it to Yusei, who grabbed it. Darkness had given him the Black Rose Dragon. "…You are free to use this."
"I do want Aki's soul back…" Yusei said, almost sounding sad, "…but I won't give you the satisfaction of screwing around with us!"
"Big mistake." Darkness waved his hand in the direction of a very surprised Jim and Kenzan, who stepped back and seemed ready to bolt. Before they could though, Darkness' chest reopened and vines shot out, twisting around them and grabbing them tightly. Moments later, he vines and the two men disintegrated into dark powder, which drifted into the chest cavity. The bones then closed.
"You…" Judai growled, tears forming at his eyes from watching his friends taken from him.
"His friends had nothing to do with us!" Jack bellowed.
"No, they did not… but now you know what it means to split in the face of a god."
"You're no God…" Yusei snarled, "…you're just a psychopath."
"Then you should have no trouble defeating me in the origin of this world." Six wings sprouted from Darkness' back as he said this, touching together in front of, behind, and above him, and almost instantly they transmuted themselves into components of a necrotic-looking D-Wheel. Taking a sitting stance upon the new formation Darkness chided, "Are you ready Fudo Yusei?"
"Your fight is with me," Judai stated darkly.
"Not anymore, Yuki Judai." As Darkness finished his sentence, Yusei strapped his deck into the device on his arm and pressed a button on it. After a few seconds Yusei's D-Wheel arrived and he got on, fixing his deck in place.
"Prepare to experience the Riding Duel of Darkness," Darkness said as both D-Wheels got into gear and activated the Speed World card.
"Just shut up and duel," Yusei said as both players started up and shot onto the arena in the sky, which had apparently reformed in their absence.
Yusei: LP 4000
Darkness: LP 4000
"I shall take the first turn," Yusei declared as he pulled all his 6 cards and Darkness' five card hand integrated. "I summon Massive Warrior in Defense Position (DEF: 1200)." In front of Yusei appeared a huge stone figure with four arms and legs that held a helicopter had above its head. "Then I set 2 cards. Turn end."
"It is my turn," Darkness declared, integrating his sixth card (Yusei: 1 SPC/Darkness: 1 SPC). "I summon Darkness Serpent in Attack Position (ATK: 1900)." Before Darkness, an orb of black appeared that spawned an enormous black serpent with 5 eyes on its forehead and several spined along its back. "In order to Summon Darkness Serpent, my opponent must have at least 1 monster and I must have none. Now, Darkness Serpent, attack Massive Warrior!"
The giant snake flung its jaws upon the figure, but that figure pulled its landing pad around and deflected the snake's blow. "Massive Warrior cannot be destroyed by battle once per turn," Yusei explained.
"Very well, but the effect of my serpent also deals penetration damage since I have higher ATK than your DEF."
"Wrong again," Yusei corrected. "When Massive Warrior battles, its controller takes no damage."
"Interesting, but Darkness Serpent has another effect," Darkness replied. "When Darkness Serpent fails to destroy its target by that battle, I can add 1 Permanent Trap from my deck to my field face-down." Another card integrated into Darkness' hand, before he placed it onto the D-Wheel's tray. "Turn concluded. But don't worry Fudo Yusei; soon enough you will see the power of the Speed Darkness Deck, and then see the World of Darkness for eternity."
"Not this time," Yusei said under his breath. "It's my turn (Yusei: 1 SPC/Darkness: 1 SPC)!"
Card of the Week – Saiga
Machiner's Force – Massive Fortress Mode (Machiner's Force – Kaijouno Shirorui Katachi)
Level: 12
Attribute: EARTH
Type(s): [Machine/Effect]
Effect: This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card cannot be Special Summoned except by the effect of [Machiner's Fighter]. When this card destroys a monster by battle and sends it to the Cemetery, inflict 1000 damage on the opponent. When this card is destroyed, you can remove from play 1 [Machiner's Force] in your Cemetery instead. When this card is destroyed, Special Summon 1 each of [Machiner's Soldier], [Machiner's Sniper] and [Machiner's Defender] from your Cemetery in Defence mode.
ATK: 4600
DEF: 4100