Chapter 7 – Dragon of the Stars
Tanion awoke in his room back at Stromberg Castle, his every limb seeming to ache. His head hurt badly, but as he examined himself, he seemed to have no visible injuries. Looking around the room, he noticed his duel disk sitting on his desk, and, surprisingly, Elise sitting in his chair.
"How long have you been sitting there?" he managed to ask.
"Long enough," Elise answered. "You've been out for a long time, Tanion."
"How long?" he asked. "And what happened to us? The last thing I remember was you ordering me into the room..."
"It's been two days since then," she replied in a concerned tone. "You... you collapsed when you picked up the card within that glass box. You remember that, don't you?"
"I... I do," Tanion said, straining his memory. "The card... it flashed white and then –"
"If Darrien hadn't ordered his Angel to catch you, your head would've struck the desk," Elise told him. "You got lucky."
"What happened after?"
"As soon as you got caught in that duel, I called in our extraction team from amongst the scouts," Elise said. "I knew there was a high chance you'd Synchro Summon which would attract the Grand Order. It took an hour for us to leave after you got knocked unconscious, and the scouts on the ground said the Order missed us by half an hour."
"Too close," Tanion noted. "What does the Order want anyway?"
"We don't know," Elise admitted. "They never made demands, they never tried to make themselves reasonable. They just swooped in and started killing. We've been doing all we can to keep them at bay all these years."
"I see," Tanion replied.
"There's something else you must know," Elise said. "Ever since you blacked out, your Duel Energy seemed to have grown. We don't know how, but you seem to be even stronger than before."
"The ghoul did say that he was there to get the ability to Synchro Summon," Tanion remembered. "Perhaps the card, instead of granting the ability, simply improved mine?"
"That's what we think too."
"But what card could do such a thing?" Tanion asked.
"You don't remember?" Elise asked curiously. "Get dressed. It might be easier to show you."
Following her orders, Tanion gingerly got dressed while Elise waited outside. After strapping his duel disk to his arm, he met her outside and she led him to an area he hadn't been to before. From what he had been shown of the castle already, he guessed that it was located somewhere beneath the control room, but he wasn't sure.
Walking in, he noticed that it was set up almost like a laboratory. There were screens monitoring Duel Energy levels of people strapped to machines, as well as Duels of Strength going on, with devices once again keeping track of all the necessary information about each combatant. At the end of the hall, however, Tanion saw Felirae standing over someone, and they were looking into a room that appeared to have been closed off.
"Any progress?" Elise asked as they approached.
"The card still won't respond to us, no," Felirae said, turning to face them. "It is good to see you, Tanion. Are you hungry?"
"No, surprisingly," he answered. "What are you doing with the card? Wait, is that..?"
"Stardust Dragon?" Felirae finished. "Yes, it is, and that's what worries us."
"Why would that worry you?"
"Yusei was killed on the other side of the country, Tanion," Elise replied. "And he was known to be using Stardust the day before his death. There's no way it could've gotten into that basement. None that we can think of anyway."
"How do you know it's Yusei's?" Tanion wondered. "Couldn't it just be a different copy of it?"
"Our world is directly linked to your anime," Elise reminded him. "There was only one Stardust Dragon in that show, and so only one exists here. This is his."
"And besides that, it is also putting off Duel Energy on it's own," Felirae added. "A card shouldn't be able to do that."
"So what are you trying to do with it?"
"We are trying to see if we can get it to put off Duel Energy like it did when you picked it up," Felirae said. "When you did there was a massive burst of Synchro Energy, but since then barely any."
"How about if I try and touch it again?" Tanion asked.
"It's risky," Felirae said. "You're still weak from the last time, and we don't want you down for the count."
"I'll be careful."
Felirae seemed to contemplate it for a second. "Very well," he then said. "Perhaps it simply needs a Synchro user around to activate it, and since Jorann is out on a mission you're all we've got."
"Head around to the right, you'll see a door there," the man sitting in front of the monitors said. "Take it slow."
"Gotcha."
He headed around the side, and a door opened up for him. Slipping through the doorway, the door shut behind him, and he heard a radio crackle on somewhere in the top right-hand corner of the room.
"Wave if you can hear me, Tanion," came Elise's voice. He complied. "Okay, well we are already getting a slightly stronger reading from the card. Walk up to the podium."
Tanion did so, and as he did, he could almost feel Stardust calling out to him, in much the same way that Royal Knight had done so on the day when all of this had started. He just wanted to reach out and grab the card, but he knew he had to take it slow, for fear that things would get out of control quickly.
"The card is starting to put out some serious Synchro Energy," Felirae said over the radio. "It must be reacting to being in a Synchro user's presence. How are you feeling, Tanion?"
"I'm fine," he replied. "I can feel it, though. Stardust... the card wants me to pick it up."
Silence. "Do it," Elise's voice came eventually. "We have medical on standby. If anything happens, drop the card, understand?"
"Yes, boss," Tanion said with a smirk.
Taking the final step to the Stardust Dragon card, Tanion picked it up and white light enveloped him, and as he screamed in pain the world disappeared around him.
"Where the hell am I?"
His voice echoed out into the void, his body seemingly suspended in space. There was nothing around him apart from the light from stars reaching him from every corner of the universe. He was simply floating in space. What did that card do to me?
- A Synchro user. Are you worthy of wielding Stardust? -
"Who's there?" Tanion called, readying his disk. "Show yourself!"
A bright light appeared before him, and Tanion shielded his eyes as the light transformed into a woman dressed in clothes resembling the Stardust Dragon itself. She was quite pretty, but Tanion was more worried about where the hell he was and what was going on.
"Are you worthy of wielding Stardust?" the woman asked, Tanion noting the duel disk on her arm.
"Who are you?" Tanion demanded. "Where are we?"
"We are in a place of peace," the woman answered. "I am a disciple of the Stardust Dragon. Now tell me, are you worthy of wielding Stardust?"
"That's a duel disk on your arm, right?" Tanion asked. "Why don't you find out for yourself if I'm worthy?"
The woman smiled. "I accept your challenge, Synchro user."
DUEL!
"I'll take the start," the woman said. "I activate the Field Spell, Stardust Sanctuary! Now, all monsters with 'Stardust' in their name cannot be destroyed by cards effects, and gain 300 ATK. Next, I summon Stardust Disciple! Appear, follower of the valiant dragon! (Lvl:4/ATK:1500/DEF:1000). Thanks to Sanctuary's effect, it's ATK becomes 1800."
"That monster looks just like you," Tanion noticed.
"I set one card and end my turn," the woman said. "Now, are you worthy of wielding Stardust?"
Tanion – 4000 LP
Stardust Disciple – 4000 LP
"My turn," Tanion said, drawing. "First, I activate Reinforcement of the Army, allowing my to add Handmaid of the Knights from my deck to my hand. I then special summon Woodsman Knight to my field using it's effect. Come to me, my monster! (Lvl:5/ATK:2100). Next, I normal summon the Handmaid that I added via R.o.t.A's effect. Appear, my Handmaid! (Lvl:2/ATK:600)."
"A Tuner monster," the disciple noted. "A Synchro summon on the first turn?"
"I tune my Level 5 Woodsman to my Level 2 Handmaid!" Tanion exclaimed. "Synchro Summon! Appear before us now, Level 7! Charger of the Knight! (Lvl:7/ATK:2700/DEF:1300)."
"You would summon a horse to a battle for a dragon?" the disciple chuckled. "Most unusual."
"Maybe so, but it'll bring me victory," Tanion said. "Not only can Charger attack twice during each battle phase, if it destroys an opponent's monster by battle, I deal damage equal to that monster's defence. Now get 'em, Charger!"
"I activate my face-down card, Scrap-Iron Scarecrow!" the disciple said, revealing the card. "Not only does it block the attack, but it can also be then set instead of being sent to the graveyard."
Yusei's card... "Charger, get him this time! Take out that disciple!"
The disciple was shattered under the hoof of Charger, and the disciple's life points reduced by 900. However, the damage was not done yet.
"Via Charger's effect, you take another 1000 points of damage," Tanion said. "How's my chances of wielding Stardust looking now?"
"You are an admirable fighter, Synchro user," the disciple said, brushing herself off. "However, this duel is far from over."
"We'll see about that," Tanion said. "I set one card face-down. Turn over."
Tanion – 4000 LP
Stardust Disciple – 2100 LP
"A duel is not won on one turn," the disciple said, drawing. "One must have the right cards before being able to finish off a duel."
"I'm well aware of that," Tanion said.
"That is good," the disciple said. "I activate the spell card Twin Twisters! By discarding one card, I can destroy two spells or traps on the field, and the two I select are your face-down and Stardust Sanctuary!"
"You would destroy your own Field Spell?" Tanion asked curiously as he sent his trap to the grave. "Why?"
"Because, when Sanctuary is destroyed, I can banish it to special summon a 'Stardust' monster from the graveyard. Appear again, Stardust Disciple! (Lvl:4/ATK:1500)."
"Wait a second," Tanion realised. "That card you sent. Is it..?"
"I summon the Tuner monster, Stardust Priest! (Lvl:2/ATK:500/DEF:0)," the disciple continued. "Next, I activate Quillbolt Hedgehog's effect in my graveyard. Since I control a Tuner monster, I can special summon it, but it is banished when it leaves the field. Appear, Quillbolt!"
"Here it comes..."
"I tune my Level 4 Disciple and Level 2 Quillbolt to my Level 2 Priest! Gathering stars will become a new shining star! Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Take flight, Stardust Dragon! (Lvl:8/ATK:2500)."
"It looks even more beautiful in person..." Tanion whispered as Stardust roared.
"Stardust Priest's effect activates!" the disciple said. "It raises Stardust's ATK by 500 to 3000! Stardust Dragon, destroy Charger of the Knight! Shooting Sonic!"
Tanion laughed as his monster was destroyed. "I can't believe I'm facing Stardust Dragon in an actual, proper duel. This is so cool!"
"If you wish to have Stardust fight at your side, you must defeat him first!" the disciple proclaimed. "Now show me what you are made of, Synchro user!"
Tanion – 3700 LP
Stardust Disciple – 2100 LP
"If that's what you want, then I'll give it to you," Tanion said, drawing. "I activate the effect of the Castle of the Knights trap card in my graveyard. By banishing it, I can resurrect Charger with it's effects negated. Appear, Charger! (Lvl:7/ATK:2700)."
"I hope there's more to this strategy," the disciple said.
"Sure is," Tanion smirked. "I summon the Tuner monster, Jester Knight! (Lvl:1/ATK:0)."
"A Tuner monster?" the disciple asked. "Another Synchro Summon?"
"As much as I hate to admit it, I do play favourites," Tanion said. "And just like Stardust Dragon was Yusei's trump card, Royal Knight is mine! I tune my Level 7 Charger to my Level 1 Jester! Synchro Summon! Appear before us now, Level 8! Royal Knight! (Lvl:8/ATK:2500)."
"You summon your ace monster to face Stardust?" the disciple noted. "Perhaps there is more to you than meet the eye."
"This duel is over, disciple," Tanion said. "I activate a spell card from my hand, Intel of the Knight! For the duration of this turn, Stardust loses it's effects and half of it's attack, and those points go to Royal Knight! So while Stardust's ATK drops to 1500, my Knight's rises to 4000!"
The disciple nodded in acknowledgement. "You are a very skilled duelist. I was barely able to damage you."
"I try not to rely on one monster alone," Tanion said. "It was only because I brought out Charger earlier that I was able to win this. Every card plays a role."
"If you know that, then you truly are worthy of wielding Stardust," the disciple conceded.
"Royal Knight, end this duel now," Tanion said. "Sacred Blade!"
Neither the disciple nor Tanion watched as Royal Knight's blade sliced through Stardust, the legendary dragon disappearing in a puff of stardust. The projection of Royal Knight disappeared, and Tanion made his way over to the disciple.
"Take this," the disciple said, handing him the Stardust Dragon card. "You've earned this."
"I only beat you in a duel," Tanion said.
"You can learn much about a person through dueling them," the disciple said. "I learned much about you, and I deem you worthy of wielding the dragon. Now go, your world needs you."
The world flashed white, and then Tanion was back in the castle, his hand firmly grasped around the card. The door suddenly ripped open behind him, and in came four rebels, all armed with their duel disks at the ready, with Elise rushing in behind them.
"Tanion!" she exclaimed. "What happened to you?! One second everything was fine, and then –"
"I'm fine," he replied, card still in hand. "What happened here? How long was I gone?"
"When you touched the card, the entire room was enveloped in a persistent white glow," Elise panted. "We tried to get in, but the door wouldn't budge. We couldn't even force it open. It's been half an hour since the light appeared. What happened to you?"
"It's... it's a long story," Tanion admitted. "But rest assured, the card won't be giving you any more problems."
"He's right," Felirae's voice said over the radio. "There's no Duel Energy coming from the card any more. It's gone."
"You had better place it back on the podium," Elise suggested.
"No," Tanion said, sliding the card into his extra deck. "It belongs with me."
"Put the card on the podium, Tanion," Felirae ordered.
"You have to trust me on this one," Tanion pleaded. "Stardust has been entrusted to me. That's basically what happened while I was gone."
"I don't like it," Felirae said. "But I won't argue. You were brought here to help us, and if you keeping Stardust will do that then I will not stop you. I will, however, expect a full report on everything that happened in there."
"If that's what it takes," Tanion agreed.
"Now I need the two of you to report to the control room immediately," Felirae said. "There's been an incident that demands our attention. I will meet you there in 5 minutes."
"What could that be?" Tanion asked Elise.
"I don't know, but it's very unlike Felirae to just drop everything like this," Elise said, concerned. "I'm going to grab Darrien. Meet us there."
"Will do," Tanion said.
"And keep your head down," Elise said. "I get the feeling things are only going to get worse."