Water Under the Bridge

"You've played a valiant duel, my friend." Mateo remarked as the smoke cleared. "Not even Anya stood a chance against the might of Shining Revelations Dragon!"

"That's because the power of the Azure Dragon is so much more powerful than Anya ever was!" Shiho replied. "Not even Illeya could stand a chance at defeating me! What makes you think you, some protégé of the Light, could ever stand a chance against me?"

"Talk like that, and I'll show you exactly how!" Mateo countered. If you continue down this path, Shiho… If you continue to tap into the darkness, you'll be lost to us forever! And I can't let that happen.

"Well, shall we continue?"

Shiho: 1150 LP SPC 5

"Bring it on, Shiho. I'll show you the power my dragon possesses!"

Mateo: 1050 LP SPC 1

"Then it's my turn!" Shiho drew a card from his deck. "Draw!"

Mateo: 1050 LP SPC 1-2
Shiho: 1150 LP SPC 5-6

"Let's start this turn off with a bit of a reset!" Shiho smirked as he activated his card. "I activate Speed Spell – Ocean Barricade! At the cost of six Speed Counters and by switching all WATER monsters on my field to defense mode until the end of my next turn, both players can draw three cards!"

Shiho: 1150 LP SPC 6-0

"And now I set two cards facedown! With these facedown cards, I'll seal your fate!"

"We'll have to see about that! My turn!"

Mateo: 1050 LP SPC 2-3
Shiho: 1150 LP SPC 0-1

So long as he controls Justiciar Dragon in defense mode, Shiho's untouchable! It can't be destroyed in battle, which means I'll have to try to defeat it with other means! Mateo looked down at his cards. "I summon Dragonic Synchron in defense mode!"

"I've seen this tactic before. As soon as I destroy Dragonic Synchron, you summon a monster from your deck or graveyard that is level four or lower." Shiho noted. "And as soon as you use it to Synchro Summon a monster, that monster will automatically gain 800 original attack points."

"That's right!"

"An interesting tactic. But it won't save you."

"We'll just see, Shiho." Mateo replied. "Since your Ocean Barricade spell card is keeping Justiciar Dragon locked into defense mode until the end of your next turn, this gives me the perfect opportunity to attempt a counter attack! To that end, I'll set this card facedown!"

"It's my turn!"

Mateo: 1050 LP SPC 3-4
Shiho: 1150 LP SPC 1-2

"Damn. Nothing I can use to destroy your monster!" Shiho growled. "I'll end my turn!"

"My turn, then! And I'm summoning the monster Bright Star Dragon!" Mateo called as his dragon burst to the field in a flash of light. "When he's been normal summoned, I can target one monster on the field and increase its level by 1! So I'll use his effect to increase my Dragonic Synchron's level, making it a level three Tuner monster!"

"And what use is that to you?"

"On their own, not much, but when coupled with this final component, it will win me the match!" Mateo took a final card from his hand. "When I've normal summoned a monster from my hand this turn, I can special summon my Turbo Booster! And with this little guy on my field, the stage is set perfectly!"

"The stage is set to do what?"

"This! I'm tuning my level three Dragonic Synchron to my level four Bright Star Dragon and my level one Turbo Booster! The Earth burns in this terribly beautiful display of power and might! Illuminate the path of destiny!" Dragonic Synchron roared softly as it faded away, leaving behind three glowing level stars. The other two monsters flew up and clustered together as the three stars created glowing green Synchro rings around the two monsters as they, too, faded away, leaving behind only their five combined level stars, which aligned themselves in a straight line before being pierced by a green light that expanded to the innermost edge of the Synchro rings. Mateo held his hand up as a glowing card exploded into existence between his fingers. "Synchro Summon! My display of strength, Red Dragon Archfiend!"

"Red Dragon Archfiend?!" Shiho was taken aback. No! With that, he might come closer to defeating me! Wait… My Justiciar Dragon cannot be destroyed in battle, with the exception of Red Dragon Archfiend! And that monster has a special ability. At the End Phase, any monster he controls that didn't attack will be automatically destroyed! So if I use my facedown correctly, then I can eradicate his Shining Revelations Dragon!

"Get ready, Shiho, cause I'm making my move now! Red Dragon Archfiend! Attack Justiciar Dragon with Absolute Powerforce!" Mateo extended his hand forward, as did Red Dragon Archfiend, its hand exploding into a blaze of flames. It flew forward, before bringing its hand down on Justiciar Dragon, engulfing it in flames. Mateo smirked as the flames grew brighter.

"I don't know what kind of foolish waste of time that was, Mateo, because my dragon cannot be destroyed by battle! It's true that your Red Dragon Archfiend gained an additional eight hundred attack due to your Dragonic Synchron," Shiho continued, "which is more than enough to overpower my dragon's defense, but my dragon will remain standing!"

"I don't think so! See, I knew all about your dragon's ability to resist destruction in battle! But I thought of that in advance! Which is why I chose to attack with Red Dragon Archfiend!" Mateo countered. "He has a special ability! When he attacks a defense position monster, it is obliterated!"

"What?" In shock, Shiho watched as his dragon roared in pain, before shattering to pieces. He growled, but clicked a button. "Or at least, that's what I would have said if I hadn't thought of that! I had this trap set up just in case! Go, Widespread Inquisition! When a Justiciar Dragon I control is destroyed, I can increase my Life Points by the attack of the last monster to attack, namely your Red Dragon Archfiend!"

Shiho: 1150 LP-4950 LP

"What?"

"That's right! And next, I can activate the second effect of Widespread Inquisition! At the cost of a thousand of my Life Points and by discarding an Azurian monster, I can return my mighty dragon to the field!" Shiho pulled a card from his hand and immediately deposited it in the Graveyard as his dragon returned to the field in a flash of light. "And since there is another WATER attribute monster in my Graveyard, my dragon's Attack increases to 5100, more than enough to obliterate your Dragon and the rest of your Life Points!"

"We'll see about that! Shining Revelations Dragon! Attack Justiciar Dragon with Shining Lightning Blast!"

"Not so fast, Mateo! My Widespread Inquisition prevents all monsters you control from targeting Justiciar Dragon again until my next Standby Phase! And with nothing left to do, you must end your turn, activating the special ability of your Red Dragon Archfiend!" Shiho stated, confidently. "Automatically destroying all monsters you control other than himself that did not attack! And since Shining Revelations Dragon did not attack, he is destroyed through the Red Dragon's effect!"

"Dream on, Shiho! Shining Revelations Dragon cannot be affected by card effects, even my own!" Mateo replied as the fire that initially erupted into existence around the Shining Dragon's feet dissipated with a mighty flap of his wings. "And next turn, I'll defeat you!"

"Fat chance of that! My Justiciar Dragon has more than enough Attack Points to destroy your Red Dragon Archfiend and the rest of your Life Points!" Shiho drew a card from his deck. "My turn!"

Mateo: 1050 LP SPC 4-5
Shiho: 3950 LP SPC 2-3

"Justiciar Dragon! Attack Red Dragon Archfiend with Liberty Flare!" Justiciar Dragon roared in response before it opened its mouth and breathed blue fire. At the last moment, a large castle erupted out of the center of the Duel Arena. "What the…"

"You activated my trap! Castle of Dragon Souls! With this mighty structure, I can banish my Level Burst Dragon in order to increase my Red Dragon Archfiend's Attack by an additional seven hundred, bringing his attack to 4500!" An orb of light floated out of Mateo's Graveyard and into the Castle, illuminating one of the rooms within the castle. The castle started to glow as energy floated towards the Red Dragon Archfiend. "Go! Dragon Residency!"

"A good move, but it won't save your Dragon!"

"Perhaps not, but it will spare my Life Points!"

Mateo: 1050 LP-450 LP

"And since your Justiciar Dragon is in Attack mode, on my turn I can attack with my Shining Revelations Dragon and win this duel!"

"Don't get over-cocky yet, Mateo." Yusei said quietly. The Signers were glued to this duel. The winner of this match will determine the fate of not only the city, but the entire world.

Please win, Mateo! You have to! A silent prayer from all six Signers of the Crimson Dragon.

"Are you ready, Shiho? Cause this is the turn where I finish this!"

"Wrong! I've got this duel won, and you won't be able to stop me!"

"We'll see!"

"We will, won't we? Cause I'm ending my turn by summoning the Azurian Paralegal in Attack Mode!"

"Huh?" Mateo looked at the monster in shock. That monster only has 900 Attack Points! What could Shiho be planning? He doesn't have any set cards, so I'll have to hope attacking it will eradicate it before he can complete a combo, regardless of if it will prevent me from attacking and winning the game.

"My turn!"

Mateo: 450 LP SPC 5-6
Shiho: 3950 LP SPC 3-4

"Shining Revelations Dragon, attack Azurian Paralegal! Shining Lighting Blast!" Mateo commanded as his dragon opened its mouth, ready to pulverize the tiny monster.

"That's exactly the move I was hoping you would make! When my Azurian Paralegal is targeted for an attack, I can destroy it before damage calculation! That in turn powers up my Justiciar Dragon by another five hundred points!" Shiho's monster shattered, the shards flying into and merging with the Justiciar Dragon. "At fifty-six hundred attack points, you won't be winning the duel this turn!"

Damn! If I had made my move as originally planned, I would have won! He's taken advantage of my cautiousness. If I want to win, I've got to hit him hard and fast before he can defeat me! My Shining Revelations Dragon experiences a replay and can make a second attack declaration, and with his attack at ninety-five hundred, I can knock Shiho down to 50 Life Points! Mateo pondered. So that's what I'm gonna do!

"Replay! Since my Attack Target left the field before my attack could go through, I can make a second attack! Shining Revelations Dragon! Shining Lightning Blast on Justiciar Dragon!" Mateo's dragon roared once again, before blasting his attack at Shiho's dragon once again. "And with his attack strength at the level it's at, your Life Points will be decimated!"

"Uuurgh!"

Shiho: 3950 LP-50 LP

"Your dragon is powerful, Shiho. But it cannot stand up to the might of my Shining Revelations Dragon!" Mateo set one card from his hand. "Just in case you somehow gain the upper hand, I'll set this card facedown, and end my turn!"

"Ha! Ha ha ha ha ha!" Shiho's laugh echoes through the stadium.

"What's so funny?"

"Once again, you did exactly what I wanted you to do!" Shiho grinned widely, striking fear into Mateo.

"W-what?"

"Activating my final facedown card! Justiciar's Retribution! When my Justiciar Dragon is attacked by a Synchro monster, I can use this card in the End Phase of that turn to increase my dragon's attack by the original attack of the monster that attacked until the End Phase of my turn!" Light flooded the field before collectively blasting into Justiciar Dragon like a wave of attacks from Shining Revelations Dragon. "Increasing my attack by more than enough to destroy you once and for all!"

Justiciar Dragon: 5600 LP + 4500 LP = 10100 LP

"No! His dragon… It's more powerful than mine, now!" Mateo gasped. I'll just have to hope that my facedown card works in my favor! If not… If not, then I'm dead!

"My turn!"

Mateo: 450 LP SPC 6-7
Shiho: 50 LP SPC 4-5

"I summon Azurian Attorney in Defense Mode! When he is in Defense mode, all monsters I control gain an additional 300 Attack and Defense Points until the end of your next turn! Increasing my dragon even more, to ten thousand, four hundred! My Dragon! Obliterate Mateo! Shatter his final defense! And end this Duel!"

"Mateo!"

"He's got to have a card to get out of this!"

"If he wants to save his own life, he'll have to!"

Looks like this will have to come down to a matter of luck! Mateo thought to himself. "I activate my facedown!"

"Liberty Flame! Attaaaack!" Justiciar Dragon's blue flames erupted from its mouth once again, surrounding Shining Revelations Dragon in glowing blue flames. After a moment, they launched off it towards both players. "What the… What's happening?!"

"I activated my Random Reoccurrence trap card! This selects one random spell or trap card from either player's Graveyard, and if it can be used, it will be activated!" Mateo replied. "It seems as though it claimed your Speed Spell – Return Fire! spell card. As I am not taking three thousand damage or more, I must pay all of my Speed Counters, but it prevents my monster from being destroyed by battle and hits both of us for half of the damage! With my last breath, I'll save you, Shiho!"

Mateo: 450 LP SPC 6-0

Shiho and Mateo looked up as the flames completely vacated from Shining Revelations Dragon before enveloping both Mateo and Shiho in fire, reducing both of their Life Points to zero.

Mateo: 450 LP-0 LP
Shiho: 50 LP-0 LP

"Agh!"

"Urgh!"

Both Duel Runners came to a halt, with Mateo clutching his chest, gasping. Shiho looked up as Shining Revelations Dragon roared at him, a wave of energy being cast over him, filling his body. The dark miasma returned briefly, attempting to take control of Shiho once again, but was quickly dispersed. The dragon flew up into the sky and faded away, the events of the duel having ended. Shiho gasped for a moment, before he heard something metal fall over. He turned, and saw that Mateo's Duel Runner had tipped, and he was lying on the ground. The Signers of the Crimson Dragon came running and reached him just as Shiho did while the Crimson Dragon appeared in a burst of light in the center of the stadium, exploding from the slowly fading Castle of Dragon Souls.

"Mateo." Shiho whispered as Mateo gasped.

"Looks… Looks like it worked, buddy."

"You're going to be fine, man." Shiho replied. "Just catch your breath."

"Too late. My Reaper is here." Mateo pointed up at the Crimson Dragon, floating silently in the center of the Duel Arena.

"Mateo!" Luna kneeled down on the pavement, tears streaming from her eyes. Shiho looked up, and saw that tears were in the eyes of the other Signers as well.

"That's it."

"Shiho?" Luna asked as Shiho stood up and faced the Crimson Dragon.

"You think you can get away with this? Taking his life just because he lost one duel?" Shiho screamed up at the mighty dragon. The Signers were surprised, and even the all-powerful Crimson Dragon brought its head back in surprise. "This is my friend! He risked everything to save me, and I was so god damn selfish! Who cares if he didn't win? He doesn't deserve to die!"

Shiho clenched his fist as tears slid down his face from his eyes. "Spare him! Or so help me, God, I'll do whatever it takes to see that you are brought to justice! Even you, the mighty Crimson Dragon can't be so heartless as to steal away your own Signer of Unification! Let him live! Let! Him! Live!"

"Oh, relax. The Crimson Dragon wouldn't dare kill anyone, much less Mateo Yurigaya." Shiho and the other Signers jumped as a hooded man with a staff approached them. "All Mateo needs is rest, which the Crimson Dragon has come to ensure."

"Who the hell are you?"

"Mateo is the Warrior of Light. A dark shadow is coming, one that overpowers even the Crimson Dragon. Without Mateo, this world will be lost."

"Answer my question!" Shiho demanded.

"Very well. If the Crimson Dragon wishes that the time has come." The man looked up to the dragon, which roared, before transforming into a typhoon of crimson light and flew into Mateo's Mark of the Dragon as he finally drifted into unconsciousness. "Very well. I am the last member of an Order the first five Signers of the Crimson Dragon know all too well. The Order of Yliaster. And now that I have the blessing of the Crimson Dragon, it is time for you all to learn the history of the Azure Dragon. Brother… of the Crimson Dragon."

Continued in Wrath of the Azure Dragon…