Boss Rush

XLIV: Blasting Fuse

Water cascaded from the faucet to the sink as Rowena idly washed her hands. Humming a song whose only merit seemed to be catchy tune and little else, she wiped her hands, disposing of the towel before she caught sight of herself in the mirror. More particularly, the stubborn streak of grey that was already appearing.

"What." Rowena whirled back to catch sight of Tenjouin Michiru's sullen expression. "You're blocking the way."

Rowena gave a pointed look at the partitioned space. "There's plenty of room."

Michiru huffed, sliding by the side.

"If you take that attitude to the Dueling stage, you're going to lose," Rowena muttered.

"Oh, please be gentle, all we have is our youth," Michiru sharply bit back. "It's like the competition is between how tight our skin is."

Rowena flinched. "O- Our skin t- tightness? You're just a year and a few months younger!"

"Though it must be true," Michiru gave a vampiric smile as she leaned over, and picked up a stray long hair from the lapels of Rowena's Riding suit. Dangling the white strand, Michiru's smirk was positively predatory. "Someone who lacks both talent and beauty only has time to rely on, doesn't she?"

Rowena flushes scarlet as the cubicle door closed. "T- T- Argh!" She exited, slamming the door with a huff. "Though it's true that this area is decreasing... why am I obsessing over this? Have to focus on the Duel... the Duel... I'll definitely win, dammit!"

The pound of footsteps echoed slightly in the gloomy corridor as Justin Aquila hurriedly blew past the darkened walls and doors, away from the main section of the stadium. His pants echoed slightly as the albino boy ran, trying to escape the other Duelist behind him.

"Oi, stop!" Chase called, trying to keep up. "Dammit... Rei!"

Of course. In a moment the dragon had appeared in Justin's way, mouth open.

Justin skidded to a stop, trying very hard not to flinch at the sight of ethereal teeth and flames ready to lick at his flesh. "You too?"

Chase, still panting, crossed his arms. "Okay, right now, who are you?"

Justin glanced from Chase to the dragon, and then back, and then nodded, having reached some conclusion. He drew a card. "Hino-" Justin flinched, the card dropping to the floor as Justin cradled his hand close to his chest.

"The next one won't miss," Chase sneered, holding another card. A sister like it lay on the floor behind Justin. "Never though Uncle's lessons might come in useful. Why are you after Ryuusei?"

Justin's scarlet eyes narrowed. "Whose side are you on? You are a friend of the Summer King, and yet you are partnered with the Hound of Winter."

"I'm Ryuusei's friend," Chase retorted. "That I have Rei, and that Ryuusei is the Summer monarch is entirely coincidental. Answer me; why are you after Ryuusei?"

"You don't know?" Justin glared at him. "In the end their two existences are two very flawed, very cursed existences laid upon humans by the Duel Spirits. That's why... for her sake... I will save them. I will save us. As long as one is gone, the other's fate will also be broken."

"For her sake?" Chase repeated incredulously. "Shimotsuki's?"

"No!" Justin snapped. "I have no more loyalty to Shimotsuki Setsuka."

"Then..." Chase considered. "The Madame."

"The massacre that placed the Madame on the world scene, the White Witch... was caused because one couldn't protect his own power!" Justin screamed. "The murders that ended her were because she protected her daughter! Madame saved us, Madame saved me... then why did she have to die? She could've lived! Yet, for the sake of two cursed existences, she died!"

"People die!" Chase snapped back. "It's a fact of life!"

"I know!" Justin retaliated. "That's why... I won't let Madame's death be in vain," Justin's eyes glimmered, glowing with impotent rage. "This geasa upon me will be concluded once I manage to defeat Fudo Ryuusei. Then, the fate of Shimotsuki Setsuka will end... Just like what Madame wished, she won't have to run or hide or fight anymore from the spirit world."

"That's batshit insane!" Chase yelled back. "Then what about Ryuusei?"

"What about him?" Justin demanded. "When Samhaine comes, Winter and Summer will switch places, and during that time the doors of darkness shall open. If they are here, then the doors shall open here, and a flood of spirits not unlike the time spoken of in Duel Mythology faced by the Pharaoh will be unleashed on the earth. I will do anything necessary to protect the Madame and those precious to her."

"Ryuusei was also treasured by her!" Chase countered. "Do you really think the Madame would have wanted you to do this? This is completely unnecessary!"

"He's right." Both of them flinched as Rick slowly began to walk down the hallway towards them. "Madame Shimotsuki always strived for equality between Psychic Duelists and the rest of society. She wouldn't have wanted you to do something like murder in order to protect her dream. The Madame would murder with her own hands, and stain her own hands, to protect us. Aquila, you're just acting out because you never saw the end... that you never knew that she was going to die."

"Vice-Head..." Justin's lip curled. "I will protect Madame's dream! I have to!"

"Why?" Rick cocked his head, a gesture of curiosity. "You were never ordered to. You were never told that Fudo Ryuusei must die in order to protect Boss. Your every action was made of your own free will to protect the legacy of Madame Shimotsuki... no, Madame Hunter... no, the Madame." Rick made an aggrieved noise. "Even in death you annoy me, Ma'am..."

"You don't know what it's like!" Justin yelled. "Being shunned and hated because of this ability to see the future. Being hated even more because of our Psychic powers. The Madame was the only good thing that happened to me! She stole me from that church, she gave me a home, she took me to Mardi Gras! And I... and I couldn't even do anything! Vice-Head, you know it as well, right? That fear, that uncertainty... I don't want to lose anyone else!"

"...I was a monster." Rick spoke in the face of Justin's crying expression. "Even before Boss, even before you, even before the Arcadia Movement was re-established, I was a monster. My Da was a monster as well. Lake, Lins, the rest of us, and me, we were the first in the United States that the Madame rescued. We were scattered, each of us undergoing horrifying, painful torture and training to increase our powers, for war. I was only ten, but I could still see it, how she came in, as tempestuous as the storm itself. I became more than a monster because of her... I found the light from the darkness. Yes, I have the Madame to thank. No, I didn't repay her. I couldn't. Because, even as much as I wanted to take revenge on the murdering bastards... to do so, would be to destroy the Madame's dream. So I couldn't. So someone else shed blood, murdered and destroyed for the Movement instead. And I couldn't do a damn thing, because you don't face Boss like that and expect to live."

Justin couldn't do anything as Rick suddenly moved, the albino choking as he fell under a fist to the solar plexus.

"You're trying to kill a member of the Arcadia Movement," Rick snarled, shaking Justin like a rag-doll. "You're attempting to kill one of us. One of our own. We're already short-handed as it is, and you're still going to attack Ryuusei? The Boss doesn't need this! I don't need this! The Madame doesn't need this! Bastard... take a good long nap, and then, with those bloody eyes of yours, see your own mistakes and repent!"

"Oi..." Chase swallowed as Rick drew a fist back.

"KUROSAKI PITCH!"

As the dust cleared, Chase was left blinking at the broken Plexiglass window Justin had just been put through. "Erm... this feels like a very bad joke here..."

Compared to the rest of the newest Misawa generation, Misawa Tsugare was taller than average, even taller than his brother. Add his ridiculously fine-boned looks, and Tsugare generally resembled a male model, or female model given the proper study needed. Therefore, it was after only the third proposition that Tsugare wished that he could leave the stadium already.

"Oh, it's you," Tsugare paused as he ran into Koichi in the hallway. "Team Conflagration, right?"

"Yes," Koichi nodded.

"Placing?" Tsugare casually asked, giving the other a cursory once-over.

"First wheeler."

"What a coincidence," Tsugare murmured, his stomach dropping as he continued to walk. "I'll see you on the field later, then."

"Wait." Koichi said before Tsugare had even taken three steps.

"Is there something you need?"

"I was completely serious about that offer," Koichi said. "Your answer?"

Tsugare sighed. "Listen... I think there's been a misunderstanding. I'm not going to fly to the United Kingdom again for a while. I have a life with the Movement."

"But you don't want to remain, do you?"

"No, I- wait, how do you know that, anyway?" Tsugare glared at the blue-haired Duelist.

"Try and remember," Koichi shortly replied.

"I don't remember!" Tsugare hotly shot back as Koichi began to leave. "Oi, give me an answer!"

Koichi stopped. "You want a hint? Sometimes, even when the heart forgets, the body remembers."

Tsugare shivered, a frisson of energy running down his spine, but by then Koichi had already left.

"Cryptic, self-serving, persistent..." Tsugare trailed off as he came to one where a familiar silhouette was standing. "Boss?"

Setsuka was straddled on the back of a man, and for a moment Tsugare was about to write him off as another unfortunate assailant until Setsuka spoke.

"Why are you here, James?" Setsuka asked, but lifted off to allow Jimmy to scramble up.

"To do the ceremony again, right?" the man chirped, and Tsugare just sighed at the appearance of the leader of the Oceania Arcadia Movement.

Setsuka's lips thinned. "When did you-"

"Nakamura-san." Jimmy crossed his arms. "So, when were you intending to tell me?"

"There was nothing to tell." Setsuka answered.

"You have our marriage certificate, Setsuka. I think that's pretty important if you're intending to divorce me."

"I fail to see how you are involved in this-" Setsuka abruptly stopped as she was trapped in a tight embrace.

"I can't let you go again, Setsuka." Jimmy murmured, nosing into her dark locks. "Please, tell me. I can't... I don't think I can survive it if you disappeared again. So, please... Setsuka..."

"I..." Setsuka twined her fingers around the offered hand. "James... please understand. I am a dangerous person, be it by choice or by design. But I cannot, will not, allow you to follow me down this cruel path of life."

When they broke apart, his face was twisted in pain. "I could do it. I will do it. You know it, that I love you. I do not believe I have ever loved anyone this way. The thought of you touching someone else was like being set on fire, and every other literary cliché I know that you loathe, and the thought of leaving you – I can't even speak of it. You are my life. I love you so wholeheartedly that I never once thought otherwise. Platonically, sexually, romantically, I adore you. It is a feeling akin to touching the divine."

"... leave." Setsuka's eyes glimmered with rage.

"Setsuka?" Jimmy's eyes flew open as she stormed off. "Please! I forgot, you-"

"Very well, then. Shall I tell you why I absolutely will not allow you into this shared sphere, why I ensure that you can never touch the world I do? There are three salient points, and I shall enumerate them chronologically, so as not to cause any confusion."

Jimmy straightened. "Okay."

"The first reason I will not is because you dragged all who know you into this out of an affection for your own ego." Jimmy began to back off slightly; her eyes were glowing quite wildly, and slender hands were clenched into fists. "I do not know if you truly love me, or if you are simply too simple-minded to think otherwise. But I would prefer to stand charges from the arrogant harlot Hart this very instant than ever to subject you, or any others linked with you, to any trial that could lead to a sentencing. Setting aside the revolting invasion of privacy that such a trial engenders, the crime by its very nature necessitates accomplices, and may the fates strike me dead if I would ever even consider placing you in such a position. Prison life I can manage, but alone, for I would never hurt you so. Do you understand me?"

"Of course I understand – I know you would not," he protested, by now looking thoroughly alarmed.

"And it needn't end at the trial!" she raved. "Suppose I were imprisoned, and you were allowed to go free. Do you think such people are never the targets of assault? Think if you were attacked by one of our more vicious breeds of peasant monomaniac, and I could do nothing to prevent it. Can you imagine a worse punishment for the multitude of sins I have that blackened my soul than that would be?"

"Nothing of the sort is ever going to happen," he insisted firmly. "I comprehend you perfectly, and your feelings are more than justified. Setsuka-"

"The second reason that I will not allow you is because you claimed yourself to be an ordinary man."

"I did!" Jimmy protested. "I'm an ordinary Psychic Duelist!"

"It was a lie!" Setsuka raged. "You are extraordinary, and you lied to your own father, and it was a horrible lie at that! Look at me: I am every bit a Psychic, and have been since my youth. Call me whatever filthy name you like – call me a witch, or a monster, or a freak, or powerful, and you would be speaking a simple fact. You of all people ought to have taken this point to heart by now. You'll own that I am such a person, I suppose?"

"All the evidence seems to suggest it." Jimmy said.

"Well, I am not ashamed of it, and I will be damned if I ever deny what I am. For all my subterfuges in my professional life, I am not a liar. I did not even lie to Mr Cook, if you had noticed. I refuse to lie about what constitutes my very being." Her hand drifted toward his face, but she was far too incensed to complete such a lover-like gesture and the appendage was viciously thrust away. She rocked back on her heels in distraction. "Shall I continue?"

"Please."

"The third reason is one of semantics."

He had to. "Excuse me?"

"I do not love you platonically, or sexually, or with any other asinine term for it," she stated in a tone so scathing that Jimmy physically flinched. "I do not love you with 'the forbidden love' or any such intangibly defined parameter that isolates a definitive quality from an emotion that by definition is indefinite. Damn your prevarications. I love you. That is all. I love you. I am positively furious with the way you have mystified it, and sanctified it, and called it spiritual in order to serve your tortuous argument. The manner in which you has couched your argument makes me physically ill. My love for you is not divine, it is wholly human, and I suffer for it every day. I cannot, will not, lose you to that because of the cruel world I live in. I hate it, hiding things, hiding secrets, but it is necessary because I want to protect you, because for some unknown reason I love you."

"I love you just as badly," he managed to choke out. "Please, let me–"

"And while we are on the subject, which you know perfectly well is a difficult one for me, I should appreciate it if in future you would do me the honour of listening to me a little more carefully," she ignored him. "The reason you speak so very ignorantly on the subject of love at first sight is that you have never suffered from the affliction. I'm heartily happy for you, come to that, for it's wretched. Do you know, the lengths I went to in order to obtain parental consent for that document? Nearly ten years ago I said I wanted very badly to go with you the day I met you in that trek, and I insisted because I could not think of a way to befriend a complete stranger without time and a great deal of proximity, and even still it took me until bloody- do you know how much I miss you when I was in Japan and there was the Pacific Ocean- damn it, sod you and your-"

It was a lucky thing for Shimotsuki Setsuka that a pillar supporting the archway that led off to the stadium stood a few inches behind her, for it was then that Jimmy kissed so ardently that her back struck against the stones. As it happened, she kissed back every bit as madly, and they both clung to one another when it was over, entirely heedless of the crowd just outside in the stadium, that beautifully deserted place.

"I'm sorry," she murmured at length, his face still in her neck and her hand around his neck. "I lost my head for a moment."

"Don't be." Adjusting the messed dark blue Riding suit, Jimmy gently disengaged so that he could look down into her face. "But, I think you are wrong in one thing."

"What might that be?" she whispered, tracing his jaw with a thumb.

"That you love me, and you refuse to call it spiritual where it is."

"It is not."

"A half-truth, or a lie," Jimmy chuckled, hugging her. "You hate what this world has done to you. You hate what it has made you do. And yet you are still willing to throw lemons in the face of fate, and battle for us of the Movement, and you will allow no one else to take this path unless they are desperate. You love me enough to let me go. What other love do you have, if not one of the greatest ones of the spirit?"

She began to deny it, but parted lips stilled and cold blue eyes slid to the side as she adjusted his grip on his waist. Tsugare stared; he could count the times anyone had scored an intellectual point over Setsuka on one hand, and none of them were easily won. This particular instance, of course, was as much soul-searching as logic, and thus there was no triumph felt even by this unwitting voyeur. How great was the pain which pierced her heart must be, when she realised that Jimmy Cook was right.

"I do hate it." There was actually moisture in her eyes, though she blinked it back fiercely. "It terrifies me. I'll face up to it, however, that I swear to you," she said, clearing her throat wilfully. "What else do you think?"

Jimmy began setting her Riding suit, keeping his eyes away. "I think I don't deserve you."

"You don't-" She laughed, then scowled, then drew his face back up with an expression of amused disbelief. "James Crocodile Cook, if you truly think that, you are a complete idiot."

"If I am a complete idiot, then I certainly don't deserve you."

"That isn't- oh, I never-"

Having seen enough, it was a tight-lipped Tsugare who wandered back. Yukio glanced up from the laptop as Tsugare entered the room. "Oh, you're- Tsugare-san? Are you... crying?"

"N- No!" Tsugare sniffed. "I- I just... got something in my eye... oh, dammit... my head hurts..."

Meanwhile, on the stadium amidst cheering crowds, Ryuusei had just finished attacking Drake.

Drake: LP 5300

Ryuusei: LP 5800, Stardust Dragon [2500/2000], Formula Synchron [200/1500]

"I'll set three cards and end my turn." Ryuusei declared.

"A- And in one turn, Fudo Ryuusei has wrested the lead in field presence from Drake Lancaster and is now in the lead!" the MC announced amidst cheers.

"But it's a very small lead," Shirahane Ren, son of the MC, pointed out. "Drake Lancaster is also well-known for his record of come-from-behind wins, though I'm sure that there's no way he could ever match Yuuki Judai... still, Fudo's in for a tough time, matching up against a pro..."

"Interesting..." Drake smirked. "My turn, draw!" He then paused. "Formula Synchron has the ability to Synchro summon during the opponent's main phase. Are you going to use it?"

"What?" Adrian crossed his arms. "Is he really going to challenge...?"

"What?" Satoshi demanded.

"Shooting Star Dragon," Kaido solemnly answered. "The behemoth that won against the Sleeping Giant Zushin... is he insane?"

"I do not have Shooting Star Dragon," Ryuusei automatically answered. "Not for lack of trying, as you can tell, but I believe that Dad could gift it to someone else who needs Shooting Star Dragon. I am satisfied with only Stardust Dragon, because I already have an irreplaceable inheritance that can be summoned using these two cards."

"But Night Rose Dragon requires Black Rose Dragon, and so far Black Rose Dragon is still in the graveyard," Drake pointed out.

"I never did say that it was Night Rose," Ryuusei shook his head. "It cannot be so easily unleashed."

"Fine," Drake nodded. "I'll play the Field Spell, Divine Wind of Mist Valley, before I summon Mist Valley Thunderbird [1100/700] to the field. By bouncing it back to my hand, I can special summon Genex Ally Birdman [1400/400 → 1900/400] to the field with five hundred more attack power. The effect of Divine Wind activates; when a Wind Attribute monster is bounced back from field to hand, I can special summon one level four or lower Wind Attribute monster from my deck, so come, Reborn Tengu [1700/600]!"

Ryuusei actually blanched as the hook-nosed Tengu waved both fans on the field.

"And then, Mist Valley Thunderbird is special summoned to the field by its own effect, but this turn it cannot attack," Drake announced as the ptarmigan reappeared. "Tuning, level three Genex Ally Birdman to level four Reborn Tengu. By the grace of unseen gales, let thunder herald your arrival. Come forth, sunderer of falsehood. A name in blood, a pact of truth. Advent, Mist Valley Thunder Lord!"

A single crack of thunder raged. A single squall of wind answered. As the wings spread, the monster itself growled and lashed out, unafraid and courageous as its talons clashed [2600/2400].

"By bouncing Divine Wind of Mist Valley to my hand, Mist Valley Thunder Lord gains a power-up of five hundred attack power until the end phase [2600/2400 → 3100/2400]," Drake snapped. "Also, the effect of Reborn Tengu activates, which special summons another Reborn Tengu from my deck. By playing Divine Wind once more, and then bouncing Mist Valley Thunderbird to special summon from my hand Mist Condor [1400/400 → 1700/400]. By the effect of Divine Wind, once more I special summon the tuner monster, Mist Valley Soldier [1700/300] to the field. Tuning, level four Reborn Tengu to level four Mist Valley Soldier!"

"A level eight Synchro monster?" Ryuusei backed slightly.

"What an incredible combo! By bouncing Divine Wind of Mist Valley beforehand, the once-per-turn restriction can be overcome and the field can be swarmed with powerful Wind Attribute monsters!"

"By the grace of the unseen, emerge from the midnight void," Drake chanted. "Come forth, middle-most of the Anemoi. A name in blood, a pact of freedom. The skies shall rise, the bond eternal and unyielding. Shoulder the sky, enfold the earth, Tornadus – Dragon of the Winds!"

This time, the advent of the Thunder Lord could be a mere breeze in comparison to the hurricane brought in. It was a while before the winds cleared, and then Ryuusei glimpsed it. The green Western-styled dragon wore shining white armour, carrying a lance in one hand and a spiral-patterned whip in the other clawed hand. Both its legs stood on the ground, though its wings remained outstretched. An equally green tail thrashed on the floor [2800/2800].

"O- Oh! And Drake has summoned another powerful monster! It looks like Ryuusei is getting outnumbered here!" The MC yelled.

"The effect of Tornadus activates!" Drake called.

"No, it doesn't," Ryuusei countered, flashing a card in his hand and discarding it. Effect Veiler appeared, draping her shroud over the green dragon.

Drake twitched. "That means that your cards are very precious to you, aren't they? So if I attack, one of them will be activated."

"Maybe," Ryuusei considered. "But, Drake-san, this looks like a very challenging field to get past. How am I going to do this?"

"Entering battle phase!" Drake called, though he hesitated slightly. "Tornadus, attack Stardust Dragon!"

"Trap card, Scrap-Iron Scarecrow!" Ryuusei indicated as the scarecrow appeared. "The attack of Tornadus is cancelled."

"I knew it! Then, Mist Valley Thunder Lord, attack Formula Synchron!" Drake called as the other clawed through the little race car.

Ryuusei: LP 5800 → LP 2900

Drake: LP 5300

"I'll set a card and end my turn." Drake declared. "Well? Not so cocky now, right? So hurry up and summon your ace monster, otherwise... you might not be able to handle me."

"I didn't want to use this power... because it was too early," Ryuusei sighed as he looked at the field. "I guess it's too late now."

"Yes," Drake agreed, though he had the unusual feeling of not having all the facts. "I'll set a card, turn end."

"Draw!" Ryuusei declared. "I'll play the Spell, Aurora Draw. Since I have no other cards in my hand, I can draw two cards." He studied the two cards for a moment. "Drake-san, do you know of the Arcadia Movement's past?"

"Izayoi Aki," Drake nodded.

"My mother," Ryuusei agreed. "But that's not it. I was able to use my powers well, for people to enjoy, and to protect that I hold dear, because I was fortunate. My mother was less fortunate than I, cursed to hold powerful Psychic power in a time when no one sought to understand it. In a way, I too am cursed by the shadow of the Black Rose Witch. But, I met a very kind lady, who gave me two paths when I mastered Accel Synchro. One path was to take the darkness of my heart, and shoulder it as befitting a knight. The other, was to drown myself in my own power and not care about inflicting pain and destruction. To choose between the paths of destiny was the method of the Arcadia Movement... and its then-leader, Madame Shimotsuki Seiran, truly believed in having at least two unwavering choices."

"Is that so?" Drake murmured.

"I chose, and I sealed away the rest of my power so that I could never reach for it again," Ryuusei closed his eyes. "I play Monster Reborn, reviving Formula Synchron to the field." The race-car reappeared on the field. "Tuning, level eight Stardust Dragon to level two Formula Synchron."

Drake started. "What? But you said-"

"I do not have Shooting Star Dragon," Ryuusei confirmed. "There are others who need it far more than I, but the thing about this power I sealed away, is that it is incredibly easy to access. Glorious sun, shine your light, and your flames sweep the night!Accel Synchro! Bring the dawn, Blood Rose Dragon!"

The storm raged, and petals fluttered in the gales that followed its advent. The dragon gave an ugly scream. It was almost a mirror of Night Rose Dragon, but... No, it was not Black Rose Dragon, nor was it Night Rose Dragon; while this creature's shape and form was exactly like that of his mother's dragon, its neck and tail were a deep red rather than black, and the petals of its wings were pale scarlet rather than a deep claret, as if it were dipped in ichor. It was a bloody reflection of the two. It was deadly, and oh, so very beautiful, golden eyes staring with a single-minded malice that bordered on bloodlust [3200/2400].

Drake stepped back. "W- What...?"

"When Blood Rose Dragon is Synchro summoned, I can pay one thousand life points," Ryuusei declared. "I can destroy all cards on my opponent's side of the field, at the cost of taking damage equal to the number of cards destroyed this way multiplied by three hundred. However, I chain a set card, Bloody Roses. This turn, any damage I would have taken is taken by the opponent instead."

"What?" Drake yelped as the five cards on the field shattered as the dragon screamed and a swarm of blood-red petals drowned his field.

Drake: LP 5300 → LP 3800

Ryuusei: LP 2900

"Battle!" Ryuusei called. "Blood Rose Dragon, attack Drake-san directly! And at this time, I activate the trap, Black Rose Seed. During the battle phase only, one Rose monster gains eight hundred attack and defence power [3200/2400 → 4000/2400]. Raging Storm!"

The dragon crowed, a blast of scarlet flame gathering in its maw before it let loose, bathing the whole field in bloody red light. The light died, and Drake stood there, panting as if he had run a marathon.

"A- And Fudo Ryuusei has pulled through with a stunning new monster!" the MC crowed. "Why didn't he use it before we can't tell, but now it's clear that Team Black Knights has one huge bonus in their hands!"

"It is power that is easy to access... but also easy to misuse," Ryuusei resolved. "It is a power that destroys, and creates. A fearful, destructive power that can rage unchecked... that is why it was sealed away. Until now, that is."

From above, Erika smirked as she walked off, her brown eyes changing to gold as she snickered, her manner sinister to the point where no one could call it human any longer...

Tornadus – Dragon of the Winds
WIND
Level 8
Dragon/Synchro/Effect
1 WIND Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner WIND Monsters
Effect: When this card is Synchro Summoned, return all Spell and Trap Cards on your opponent's side of the field back to their hand. Once per turn, if your opponent activates a Spell or Trap Card, you can reveal a Spell or Trap in your hand to negate and destroy the card and deal your opponent 300 points of damage. If this card is destroyed in battle, send the monster that destroyed it back to the hand. When this card is in the Graveyard, you can remove it from play to Special Summon a Level 4 or lower WIND Monster from your Deck.
ATK: 2800/DEF: 2800

Created by Serpentdragon along with Drake Lancaster.

Blood Rose Dragon
FIRE LV 10 3200/2400
1 Tuner Synchro Monster + 1 Dragon-Type Synchro Monster
Dragon/Synchro/Effect
This card can be treated as a Plant-Type monster. The Synchro Summon of this card cannot be negated. When this card is Synchro summoned, you can pay 1000 Life Points; destroy all cards on your opponent's side of the field, and take damage equal to the number of cards destroyed by this effect x 300. You can negate the damage you will take by discarding a card from your hand to the graveyard. You must control this face-up card to activate and resolve this effect.
When this card attacks or is attacked by an opponent's monster, remove from play one Plant-Type monster in your graveyard; this card's ATK and DEF becomes 0 until the End Phase, it cannot be destroyed by battle, and your opponent takes any Battle Damage you would have from battles involving this card.
If this card is destroyed, you can select one 'Rose Dragon' Synchro Monster in your Graveyard; Special Summon that monster to the field (This summon is treated as a Synchro Summon). That special summoned 'Rose Dragon' cannot be destroyed by card effects during the turn it is special summoned by this card's effect.

This card is based on Number 49: Blood Rose Dragon created by The Otherworlder in Born in Another World.

Bloody Roses (Chimamire no Bara)
Type: Quick-play Spell
Effect: When you activate this card when you control a 'Rose Dragon' monster, your opponent will take any damage you would have taken this turn. During the turn this set card is removed from the field, your opponent will take the same amount of damage as you (including battle and effect damage). Cards and effects cannot be activated in response to this card.

In case you haven't noticed, yes, Final Fantasy XIII gets a reference here. Please review!