Author's Note: I'm kind of dealing with some personal issues in my life right now. I don't anticipate them causing any delays in this story. But if I end up not updating for awhile, that's probably why. Just thought I should give everyone a heads-up.
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, and the character of Raven is the creation of sammycrusinix.
Chapter 4: The Unthinkable Truth
It only took a few minutes for Jack to get his D-Wheel after Yusei and the others showed up. During that time the entire stadium had fallen silent. The audience couldn't help but wonder how it was that Jack seemed to know this mysterious young man who had been marked as a criminal. Carly especially wondered just how Jack and Yusei were connected. It seemed so unlikely given what she had read about Jack's past. Though a part of her did wonder just how true that information really was. Meanwhile, Aki and the others watched from their D-Wheels as Yusei and Jack went up to the starting line.
"Both duelists, on your marks! Get set! Duel!" the MC announced.
Yusei and Jack took off down the track at full speed. Both of them were neck and neck up until the first curve. At that point, Jack pulled ahead of Yusei by a mere inch.
"The first turn is mine!" Jack declared. "Track Field, activate! Resonator Village!"
All at once, parts of the stadium changed into Jack's small village of fiends. The giant gold tuning fork emerged from the ground in the center of the stadium just behind Aki and the others.
"For my first move I summon Archfiend Interceptor in Defense Mode!" Jack announced.
Appearing on the track alongside Jack was a purple-skinned humanoid with six thin arms. He had on a football uniform consisting of a red shirt with a white helmet.
"Because I now control a Fiend-type monster, Resonator Village lets me also summon Dark Resonator from my hand!" Jack announced.
Materializing onto the field next to Archfiend Interceptor was another small demon that looked very much like Flare Resonator. On its robes were a bit different and it had a collection of cymbals on its back instead of a flame.
"I'll set one card on the field and end my turn." Jack announced.
Yusei drew his first card. "Because you have monsters on the field while I don't, I Special Summon Junk Forward!" A slender warrior in red futuristic armor materialized on the field. "Next I summon Screwturn, the Apprentice Warrior!"
A small robot with a large screw-shaped head appeared next to Junk Forward. In its right hand it wielded a long screw for a sword.
"I tune the level two Screwturn into the level three Junk Forward for a level five Synchro Summon!" Yusei announced.
Screwturn flashed orange and transformed into two rings of green light. The rings encircled Junk Forward and changed him into three balls of white light.
"Clustering stars come together to signal the coming of an unstoppable fighter! Create the path its light shines upon!" Yusei chanted. "Synchro Summon! Rise up! Scarred Warrior!"
The lights flashed into a column of white light. The light quickly faded to reveal a heavily bandaged warrior with a cybernetic right arm.
"Scarred Warrior, attack Dark Resonator!" Yusei commanded. "Brave Dagger!"
"I activate my Trap, Urgent Tuning!" Jack announced. "With this card, I tune the level three Dark Resonator into the level four Archfiend Interceptor for a level seven Synchro Summon!"
Just as Scarred Warrior was about to strike Dark Resonator with the blade on his mechanical arm, the small fiend struck its tuning fork and metal stick together, creating sound waves. Dark Resonator changed into three rings of green light and encircled Archfiend Interceptor. The six-armed fiend became four balls of white light inside the rings.
"Star of death, shining at heaven's zenith! Descend to Earth and judge the living!" Jack chanted. "Synchro Summon! The king of divine punishment, Dark Highlander!"
The lights flashed into a column of light that stopped Scarred Warrior in his tracks. The light cleared to reveal Jack's celestial reaper.
"Come to think of it Yusei, this is exactly how our last duel began." Jack recalled. "Which I suppose means that this duel will end the same way, with you losing."
"…I set one card on the field and end my turn." Yusei announced.
"No way! Is this really how Yusei and Jack's duel down in the Pit went down?" a surprised Sect wondered.
"Yusei told me about that duel a couple of times. And this duel is starting out exactly the same way." Aki confirmed.
"But in that last duel, didn't Yusei's face down fail to activate?" Crow pointed out.
"Yeah." Aki grimly confirmed. "I just hope that doesn't happen this time too."
Jack drew his next card with an arrogant grin. "I equip Scarred Warrior with Cursed Shield!" Jack announced. The demonic shield appeared in the bandaged warrior's left hand. "Now I activate Dark Highlander's effect, destroying Cursed Shield and inflicting 400 points of damage! And when Cursed Shield is destroyed, it inflicts 800 points of damage!"
Dark Highlander swung his scythe and destroyed the demonic shield. The shrapnel struck Yusei and reduced his life points to 2800.
"Dark Highlander, attack Scarred Warrior!" Jack commanded. "Death Polar!"
"I activate my Trap, Synchro Deflector!" Yusei quickly announced. "Since a Synchro monster I have is being attacked, I can destroy the attacking monster!"
Just as Dark Highlander was about to swing down his massive scythe, Scarred Warrior flashed with a brilliant white light. A wave of light then burst forth from the bandaged fighter and shattered the reaper into bits of gold light.
A scowl appeared on Jack's face. "Well, it seems that you ended up getting a lucky break this time around. Too bad you didn't have that Trap on the field in our last duel."
"But that's just it Jack. I did have Synchro Deflector on the field in our last duel." Yusei revealed. "Only it wouldn't activate when I tried to play it!"
"What are you saying?" Jack asked with narrowed eyes.
"I ran check after check on my D-Wheel before and after that duel. Everything was working perfectly. Which means there's only one reason why the Trap didn't activate that time." Yusei continued. "…You somehow tampered with my D-Wheel during the duel!"
Fortune Fairy Hikari appeared next to a stunned Carly in the stands. "Carly, what's that guy dueling Jack saying?"
"He's saying that in their last duel…" Carly began with hesitation, "Jack cheated."
"What? But that can't be true, can it?" Hikari asked. "Jack's not that kind of guy, is he?"
"Of… of course not." Carly attempted to assure her. Though there was doubt in her voice.
"Are you actually accusing me of cheating?" an outraged Jack asked Yusei. "If that Trap card of yours didn't activate, it was because of that junk heap of a D-Wheel of yours!"
"Oh c'mon, you dumb ass!" Crow interrupted over the D-Wheel intercom. "Since when have you ever known Yusei to build something that'd break down easily like that?"
"Well I don't care what either of you think!" Jack denied. "As far as I'm concerned, that duel is in the past! Just like our little team and everything else between us! I'm living in the now! And right now I'm setting one card on the field and end my turn!"
Yusei drew his next card. "Scarred Warrior, attack Jack directly! Brave Dagger!"
"I activate my Trap, Shadow Spell!" Jack announced. "This card not only stops Scarred Warrior from attacking, it lowers his ATK by 700 points!"
Just as Scarred Warrior was about to strike Jack, several black chains erupted from the ground and wrapped around his torso. The bound warrior's ATK dropped down to 1400 points.
"I end my turn." Yusei announced.
Jack drew his next card. "I'm going to make you pay for calling me a cheater! I summon Mist Archfiend!"
A white mist gathered alongside Jack and quickly took the shape of a demon. Much of its body was orange-red and it had a black skull-like face. It had large black ribs on its torso and its arms ended in large black claws. On the demon's back was a pair of black bat-like wings.
"Since I have a Fiend monster on the field, I can now use the effect of Resonator Village and bring back Dark Resonator from the Graveyard!" Jack announced. The small demonic Tuner reappeared on the track. "I now tune the level three Dark Resonator into the level five Mist Archfiend for a level eight Synchro Summon!"
Dark Resonator struck its tuning fork against its metal rod and transformed into three green rings of light. The rings encircled Mist Archfiend and changed it into five balls of white light.
"The ruler's heartbeats will now file through here! Take witness to its creation-shaking power!" Jack chanted. "Synchro Summon! My very soul, Red Dragon Archfiend!"
The lights flashed and erupted into a pillar of fire. The flames died down to reveal the black and red dragon Rex had given Jack years ago.
"A 3000 ATK point monster?" a shocked Leo observed. "How's Yusei going to beat that?"
"He's beaten worse." Kiryu pointed out.
"It's been a long time since I had to bring out Red Dragon Archfiend." Jack revealed to Yusei. "But then you are the only opponent I've had in a long time that's even come close to being a challenge."
"You mean you've never had any difficulty against any of the duelists who've challenged you?" Yusei asked.
"Well of course not. I'm Jack Atlas after all." Jack smirked.
"That's pretty disappointing. I was hoping you'd be more of a challenge." Yusei told him.
"What did you just say?" Jack asked with a look of rage. "First you accuse me of cheating, now you're calling me weak?"
"I'm saying that you've lost your edge." Yusei replied. "It doesn't seem like you've improved very much since the last time we dueled. You're still using the same tactics that you used two years ago."
"Yusei does have a point." Sect agreed on the sidelines. "I've watched a few of Jack's duels on T.V. and they all end pretty much the same way."
"I've been reviewing the duels Jack has had as champion." Bruno revealed as he looked at his D-Wheel consol.
"You mean you haven't been watching the duel at all?" a surprised Crow asked.
"Of course I've been watching. I'm just capable of multitasking." Bruno replied. "Anyway, it seems that all of Jack's opponents were either inexperienced or holding something back."
"So what, you're saying that Jack's been dueling wimps this whole time?" Crow asked.
"That would explain the lack of development in Jack's tactics." Bruno pointed out.
"I'm going to make you eat those words, Yusei!" Jack declared back in the duel. "Red Dragon Archfiend, attack Scarred Warrior! Absolute Power Force!"
A massive ball of flames formed in the dragon's right palm. Red Dragon Archfiend thrust the ball into Scarred Warrior's chest, producing a massive explosion that dropped Yusei's life points down to 1100. But when the smoke cleared, Scarred Warrior was still on the battlefield.
"You do remember that I can keep Scarred Warrior from being destroyed in battle once per turn, right?" Yusei reminded him.
"Not that it matters." Jack scoffed. "I end my turn."
Yusei drew his next card. "I discard Quillbolt Hedgehog to Special Summon Jackie Jumper from my hand!" A small robot with skies for feet appeared on the track. "Next I summon Mono Synchron!"
Another small green and yellow robot materialized onto the field. Its arms ended in stamps with a large red Number One on each of them.
"Because I have at least one Tuner on the field, I summon Quillbolt Hedgehog to the field!" Yusei announced.
Appearing on the field was a fairly small light-brown hamster-like creature. Its back was a mass of large grey bolts.
"I tune the level three Jackie Jumper into the level five Scarred Warrior for a level seven Synchro Summon!" Yusei announced.
Jackie Jumper changed into three green rings of light and encircled Scarred Warrior. The black chains that bound the scarred fighter shattered to bits before he became five balls of white light.
"Clustering hopes will become a new shining star! Become the path its light shines upon!" Yusei chanted. "Synchro Summon! Take flight, Stardust Dragon!"
The lights flashed and erupted into a column of white light. The light faded to reveal a silvery-white dragon with magnificent wings and three long horns on the back of its head. With Stardust Dragon's appearance, the dragon marks on Yusei and Jack's arms suddenly began to glow. The marks of the other Signers as well as the dragon seal on Raven's back began to glow as well.
"What is this?" Jack demanded to know. "What's going on?"
"When Mono Synchron is used for a Synchro Summon, the other monster used is treated as level one." Yusei announced, ignoring Jack's question. "So I tune the level one Mono Synchron into the level one Quillbolt Hedgehog to summon a level two Synchro monster in Defense Mode!"
Mono Synchron fired a red beam from the stamp on its right arm at Quillbolt Hedgehog. The beam hit the rodent in the cheek, causing a large red Number One to appear. The robot then changed into a single green ring and encircled Quillbolt Hedgehog, causing it to become a single ball of light.
"Clustering wishes will call out a new speed's horizon! Become the path its light shines upon!" Yusei chanted. "Synchro Summon! The power of hope, Synchro Tuner, Formula Synchron!"
The lights flashed and became a single horizontal column of white light. Appearing out of the light was a blue and white racecar-like robot with large legs and a small blue head.
"Because I summoned Formula Synchron, I can draw one more card." Yusei announced. "I end my turn."
"I don't know what's going on with my birthmark and the mark on your arm, or what you're planning to do with those two monsters, but I don't care!" Jack declared as he drew his next card. "I'm ending this duel right now!"
"Clustering crystal dreams open the door to a new evolution!" Yusei began to chant as he started to speed up.
"I activate the Spell card, Riryoku!" Jack announced. "This card takes half of your Stardust Dragon's ATK and lets me add it to Red Dragon Archfiend's!"
"Become the path its light shines upon!" Yusei continued to chant. "Accel Synchro!"
A split second before the purple beam of light from Jack's card hit Stardust Dragon, Yusei sped up and disappeared with his two monsters in a streak of pinkish-red light. With its target gone, Jack's Spell card shattered. The startled members of the audience began to murmur amongst themselves to try and figure out what was going on.
"What just happened?" an equally shocked Jack asked.
In answer to Jack's question, another streak of light came up from behind. Yusei burst out of the light with a larger dragon that looked like a sleeker and more muscular version of Stardust Dragon.
"Be born, Shooting Star Dragon!" Yusei called out.
"What sort of monster is that?" Jack demanded to know.
"One that's 300 points stronger than Red Dragon Archfiend!" Yusei told him. "And it's one that took a lot of effort to learn how to summon! Now are you done?"
"Fine! I end my turn." Jack announced. "But don't think that just because you summoned that flashy monster of yours that you have this duel won."
Yusei drew his next card. "I activate Shooting Star Dragon's effect! By revealing the top five cards on top of my deck, Shooting Star Dragon can attack for each Tuner revealed!" He began drawing more cards from his deck. "First card, Scrapiron Scarecrow! Second card, Junk Blader! Third card, Debris Dragon! Fourth card, Quick-Span Knight! And the fifth card is Junk Changer! Which means since I revealed three Tuner monsters, Shooting Star Dragon can attack three times!"
Shooting Star Dragon split apart into three dragons. Each one was a different color.
"Shooting Star Dragon, end this duel!" Yusei commanded. "Stardust Mirage!"
The first Shooting Star Dragon clone flew at top speed into Red Dragon Archfiend, causing the other dragon to explode into a flash of light. The two remaining dragons collided into Jack, causing his D-Wheel to be thrown forward into the air and his remaining life points to drop to zero. As the inside of the stadium returned to normal, Jack was thrown from his vehicle as it flipped through the air like a coin before crashing into the ground. The audience was simply stunned.
"Uh… and the winner and new champion of Neo Domino is… Yusei Fudo!" the MC declared.
The audience cheered loudly as Yusei and the rest of his friends rushed over to Jack's side. Yusei kneeled down to see how badly Jack was hurt.
"Are you okay Jack?" a concerned Yusei asked.
"Well… it looks like you're the new champion Yusei." Jack spoke weakly. "Just don't screw it up and get cocky."
With that, Jack lost consciousness. A team of paramedics quickly came out and took Jack away on a stretcher. Before Yusei and the others could follow, a mob of people from the audience began to surround them.
"Uh, Yusei? Maybe we should get out of here." Raven suggested,
"Mr. Fudo, I presume." A voice interrupted. Yusei and the others looked down to see a short clown-like individual with lavender hair wearing a red jacket.
"Gah! What the hell are you?" a startled Crow asked.
"My name is Jaeger." The clown answered after clearing his throat. "Now Mr. Fudo, I think it'd be best if you and your friends all came with me. Director Goodwin would like to have a word with you."
Author's Note: I hope nobody minds that I made the duel between Yusei and Jack a single chapter. It just sort of worked out that way. Anyway, I ended up adding a little personal touch to Jack's deck and had him use Mist Archfiend. Mainly because it worked best with Jack's Field Spell. I was going to save Mist Archfiend for a possible sequel to the 5D's Alternative Trilogy that I may or may not do. Though I suppose I could always just use it again.
Please review and let me know what you think.