Me: *Beats head repeatedly against a wall*
Yusei: Something wrong?
Me: Lots of somethings. The last chapter for this story only got one review, and it kind of hurt my muse, because reviews are what help Rudolph come up with ideas. Also, the majority of the Japanese openings and endings for 5Ds are stuck in my head, but because they're in Japanese and the people sing so fast, it's just random gibberish words along to the melody, which is overly annoying. Lastly, I'll be at band camp starting tomorrow, so I'll basically only have the weekends to do much of any writing.
Sky: So updates will basically be back to what happens while you're in school.
Me: Yeah. *Shakes head* I'll just get started on the chapter now. I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's or Pokémon, but I do own my OCs. As for the prelims, I'm purposely only writing the parts where Sky's Dueling, because I want to get this story finished and if I didn't, this story will go on forever. Anywho, enjoy!
Chapter 43
"Try to keep up, guys!" I call. Our practice run is almost over, and I want to see exactly how fast my new Duel Runner will go. So far, without even really trying, I've stayed ahead of Sydney and Shoshan. Now, I want to see exactly how well my friends built it. I want to see if it's able to go the speed for the Accel Synchro, without Reshiram's help.
"That a challenge, Fudo?" Sydney calls back. My friend speeds up, her black, wolf-like Duel Runner passing me.
"Count me in!" Shoshan and his blue Runner that isn't a hybrid like mine and Sydney's catches up to the two of us.
I laugh and press the gas harder, my Runner flying past my friends. Remembering how fast I had to go the last (well, only) time I pulled off the Accel Synchro, I grin. I'm definitely going fast enough for that. A loud blast from a horn makes me look up. Our time is over.
Tch. I don't want to get off. Of course, I don't want to do what Crow did earlier today, and accidentally crash into the next team, so I reluctantly leave the track. Once we stop, Shoshan says, "Hey Sky, if you keep up that speed, you might be the only one that has to Duel."
"You'd better give us a chance," Sydney agrees.
I put up my hands in mock defense, "I'm not going to be the first one going every time we Duel. You'll have a chance to win." Once my teammates smile, I add, "Let's go now; we still have to work on our combined strategies."
XXX
At our hideout (or at least that's what Sydney calls it), we're sitting down, trying to work out a good strategy if Shoshan loses and has to pass it off to Sydney. So far, it's not working too well. Sydney is being insufferable, and apparently thinks there's no possible way for her to make a play off of Shoshan's cards.
"Sydney, you do realize that there's a Continuous Trap called DNA Surgery that will turn any monster into Beast-Type as long as it's on the field," I say. Sydney's Deck is almost entirely based on Beast-Type Monsters, but more specifically, this one Archetype called 'Fang'. All of those cards are based on wolves.
"Yeah, but what are the odds that I draw it on the first turn?" Sydney retorts. I can see her aura flare with red, and it's never a good idea to be around Sydney when she's angry.
"Look, I have quite a few monsters that can't be destroyed in battle," Shoshan says. "At the very least, if they're still on the field, you can use them to Tribute Summon some of your stronger cards."
"But…" Sydney pauses, her aura reverting back to its normal color. She's not in a murderous mood anymore. "You have a point."
"Thank you!" I say. The argument was getting really annoying, anyways. "Now that that's over—ACK!" Intense pain runs through my right shoulder. I don't know why, though. I didn't hit it on anything. Then, several images appear in front of me.
Crow, on his Duel Runner, racing down the highway. Another, he's trying to make a turn, and there's someone in his way. A flash, and now Crow is sitting on the pavement, the Blackbird damaged nearby, and he's holding his shoulder. The last image, a monster that has hooks for hands, and I can feel dark powers running through it.
I blink, and the images vanish along with the pain. "What was that?" Sydney asks.
"Are you okay?" Shoshan adds, his face full of concern.
"I'm fine," I say, "but I don't think Crow is." Exactly as I say this, my phone rings, and I answer it. "It's Crow, isn't it?"
My brother's voice comes from the other end, "How did you…? Never mind. Crow's on his way to Neo Domino General."
"Is he alright?"
"He's alive, conscious, and pretty upset that he crashed. Other than that, I don't know."
"I'm on my way." I click the phone off. "Crow's at the hospital," I tell my friends, "Duel Runner crash. He's alive and I'm pretty sure he's trying to kick his way out of the hospital." I mentally facepalm, now's not the time to be cracking jokes.
"You want us to come with you?" Shoshan asks.
"No," I reply, "I'll tell you guys exactly what happened later."
XXX
"There's a fracture in my shoulder bone?" Crow demands incredulously, almost exactly at the same time that I walk into the room.
Well. Perfect timing for me to show up. And a fracture would explain the amount of pain I felt, if that pain belonged to Crow and I felt it for some reason. But that will take a long time to heal, and not time that Crow has.
"Yeah, should take about a month to heal," the doctor replies, "maybe two."
"But the prelims are in three days!" Akiza says.
"I can still Duel, right?" Crow asks. "I mean, I feel fine! Never felt better!"
"You can't Duel," the doctor adamantly replies.
"I'm begging you, doc," Crow gets down on his hands (well, hand) and knees, "there has to be something! Please, I'll do anything you want! I need to be in the tournament with my friends! There must be something else you can do. Tell me I can still Duel!"
"I would, but you can't," the doctor says. "I'm definitely not going to sign your release forms."
I see Crow's aura turn red. Crow angry doesn't usually mean anything good. And sure enough, Crow quickly gets off the floor and shouts, "You're just a quack doctor! And I don't need your quacky permission… or this cast!" He reaches to take the cast off and screams in pain.
"Crow, you need to calm down," I tell him.
Crow closes his eyes and clenches the fist of his uninjured arm. "Why me? Why now?"
XXX
That night, Team 5D's held a meeting to talk about what they were going to do about the tournament, and I decided to listen in on what they planned to do. Now, as I listen to them, I can't believe I left the team in order to start my own. I didn't know something like this would happen, that Yusei's team would end up down a member. I could have been the backup.
"So, it's just going to be the two of us entering?" Jack asks Yusei.
"According to the tournament rules," Bruno says, "you'll get 12,000 Life Points between the three of you, but only 8,000 if two of you participate."
So, they'd start off at a huge disadvantage, I think. "You aren't going to withdraw from the competition, are you guys?" They better not withdraw. I've wanted to Duel them for so long.
"No," Yusei answers, "we've come too far to withdraw from the competition."
Jack slams his hand against the table. "We can't enter with the intention of losing. We'll win!"
"Um, guys," Akiza interrupts, "I'm part of Team 5D's as well—let me Duel."
"Are you sure you're up for that?" I ask. Akiza is relatively new to Turbo Dueling, so I don't know if it's a good idea for her to Duel in place of Crow.
Bruno decides to look at the positive aspects of this instead, and says, "That might not be such a bad idea! I mean, she's a sharp Duelist and she knows your strategies."
"I don't know everything about Turbo Dueling," Akiza says as she takes off her glove, revealing her Mark of the Dragon. "But it's like you're always saying, Yusei. We're all connected by a bond. We can do this, together." Right after she says this, Akiza turns around, where Crow is walking out of the garage. "Wait, Crow. Where are you going?"
Crow turns around sharply. "Shut up!" He turns back towards the door, "I'm clearly replaceable. Who cares where I go?" He runs outside and disappears into the rain, leaving everyone inside utterly shocked.
I won't let him run off like that. So, I run out into the rain in pursuit of my friend.
XXX
I find Crow sitting in front of a warehouse, slightly protected from the rain by an overhang, but only slightly. He looks up at me. "What do you want?"
"You know, that outburst was rude. Akiza was only trying to help."
"So, you only came to scold me, then," Crow says, looking away from me. "I was right—I really am just replaceable."
"How can you say that?" Of all the things to say, and he knows it's not true. Yusei and Jack were almost considering leaving the tournament because of Crow's injury—if he really is replaceable, they wouldn't have had that conversation and Akiza or even someone else would have automatically stepped up for his position.
"You don't know how I feel."
"I can guess," I say. And, with my aura-vision, my guesses will be pretty spot on. "Look Crow, I know you're feeling pretty useless and angry right now, and I can totally understand that. I've felt useless before—heck, I feel useless right now. If my powers weren't sealed, I would fix your arm in a heartbeat. But they are, or at least, the part that I would use to heal you is."
"If you're trying to cheer me up, it's not working."
"There's no point in beating yourself up over this," I say. "What's done is done, and we can't fix that. But what we can help fix is the future, and Akiza's going to need a lot of help before the prelims. So why don't you get up off your butt and do something about that?"
Crow looks at me with disbelief. I'm not the best at giving pep talks, so I guess this one surprised him. He stands up. "You're right. I'll call her right now."
And that's how me, Crow, and Akiza ended up practicing at the pier through the entire night and the rain, and even well into the next day.
XXX
I wish Yusei good luck one more time as our teams split apart. Due to the number of teams registered for the preliminary rounds, two Duels would be taking place at the same time every day, and unfortunately, Team 5D's is facing off against Team Unicorn at the same time my team is facing off against our first opponent, Team White Wind, so I won't be able to cheer on my brother—I'll be focused on my own team's Duel.
Actually, that's what I thought, but when Sydney as the lead quickly beat the first two Duelists of the other team, I switched over to watching Jack's Duel with the Team Unicorn member—André, I think his name is. When Sydney was finally defeated, and Shoshan took the stage, I still wasn't too worried in us losing or not.
Then, Jack loses to André, and his Duel Runner crashes. The attention of the entire crowd—even Shoshan and the Team White Wind Duelist—switches to him. If Jack doesn't get back to the pit and switch off in time, then Team 5D's will be disqualified. And even though he stands up and starts pushing his Duel Runner back to the pit, I don't know if he'll make it.
I type in a few commands on my computer to open the rulebook of the WRGP. I skip to the section on what happens if a member of the team crashes. It says that teammates aren't allowed to interfere with the person if he or she starts pushing the Duel Runner to the pit, but it does allow a member from a different team to help—as long as they don't touch the Duelist that crashed. They're only allowed to help push the Runner.
"Shoshan, you better not lose. I'm going to go help Jack," I say through the radio system installed in all of our helmets.
"Don't worry—I don't think either of us is making a move until we see what happens with Jack."
I run out to where Jack is, and he shouts, "I'm fine! If you interfere, we'll be disqualified!"
"No you won't. I checked the rulebook—someone from another team is allowed to help push a wrecked Duel Runner to the pit. And," at this I look up at the MC, "being part of Team Cosmos means I can help."
The MC scrambles through a rulebook. "She's right! But will their combined strengths be enough to beat André's laps around the stadium?"
Of course the MC always has to put a negative spin on things. But I don't let that bother me as I start pushing and before long, Akiza is speeding out of the pit, and Jack's on his way to the emergency room. My work done, I return to my area and continue watching the Duels. I don't watch for long, though.
The last member of Team White Wind pulls off an interesting combo involving Vylon Epsilon, a Metalmorph, and one of her other Vylon monsters being used as an Equip Card to level out Shoshan's field, and attacks to defeat Shoshan. I'm a little bit upset, since Yusei had taken Akiza's place already, and I wanted to watch him Duel. Oh well, it's not like I can do anything to change that.
"Finish this, Sky," Shoshan says as he hands over the two cards he still had on the field when he lost—an Attack Position Mespirit and a face-down Speed Spell-Monster Reborn.
"No problem," I reply, leaving the pit and catching up to the White Wind Duelist. I think her name is Lila. The two cards I have will make a huge difference in this Duel. Epsilon doesn't have any more Equip cards, so it won't be using its effect anytime soon. "Let's go!"
Lila's Life Points: 2300, Sky's Life Points: 4000
Lila S.C. 5, Sky S.C. 2
I look at what I have in my hand. I don't have a wicked combo just yet, but I have the cards I can use to stall in order to get what I need. "I Summon Celestial Defender, and I switch Mespirit to Defense Mode. I'll place two cards face-down and end my turn."
Celestial Defender ATK: 500, DEF: 2000, Level 2
"You'll have to do better than that!" Lila says. "My turn, draw!"
Lila S.C. 6, Sky S.C. 3
"I Summon Vylon Stigma in Attack Mode!"
Vylon Stigma ATK: 1600, DEF: 1000, Level 4
A monster with a black body covered in gold plating appears next to my opponent's Synchro Monster, its hands (if you can call them hands) ready to grab something.
"Alright, my Vylon Epsilon attacks your Celestial Defender!" The monster gathers a ball of light between its hands, and launches a powerful beam at my defending monster.
"I counter with the Quick Play Speed Spell-Celestial Reflector! With this card, since I have three Speed Counters and a Celestial monster on the field, I can negate your attack." That keeps my monster safe, and Mespirit, while it only has 1500 ATK and DEF, can't be destroyed in battle, so Lila ends her turn.
"My move then!" I draw my card and smile. That's one step closer. Now I just need to draw that card and I can win this Duel.
Lila S.C. 7, Sky S.C. 4
"I Summon Celestial Wizard in Defense Mode," I say.
Celestial Wizard ATK: 1800, DEF: 1000, Level 4
A man in a silver robe appears, holding a large staff. He kneels down, holds the staff in front of him, and his coloring shifts to blue.
"I'll place one card face-down and end my turn."
"It's my turn!" Lila draws her card and nods.
Lila S.C. 8, Sky S.C. 5
"You may have a monster that can't be destroyed in battle, but can it survive a card effect?" Lila asks. "I Summon the Tuner Vylon Stella in Attack Mode!"
Vylon Stella ATK: 1400, DEF: 200, Level 3
Its body appears to be two white triangles that overlap, forming the illusion of a six-pointed star, and there are golden rings around the points of one triangle.
A Tuner? Those were what she used against Shoshan—their effects let them equip to a monster after they leave the field. And then Epsilon can activate its effect, and that would destroy Mespirit. I can't let that happen—Mespirit is part of my victory plan.
"I activate my Trap Celestic Trio! While I have exactly two Celestial monsters on the field and at least one in my hand, I can send one of the monsters in my hand to the Graveyard to negate the Summoning of a monsterand return it to the owner's hand." There, that keeps them safe at least one more turn.
Lila narrows her eyes and frowns. That Vylon Stella is the only card in her hand, now that Celestic Trio's effect went through, and I guess her one face-down isn't something she can activate now. "I guess that means I end my turn."
Okay, I really need to draw Celestial Archer now, or my path to victory will be so much harder. "I draw!" I look at my card and heave a sigh of relief. It's Celestial Archer.
Lila S.C. 9, Sky S.C. 6
"I Summon the Tuner Celestial Knight-Earth in Attack Mode!"
Celestial Knight-Earth ATK: 1900, DEF: 1000, Level 4
A woman in dark green armor appears. Mixed in with the green, there are blue lines covering the creases in the armor. My knight also holds a small dagger.
"Now, I Tune my Level 4 Celestial Knight-Earth with my Level 4 Celestial Wizard! As night falls and darkness rises, the stars gather together to form one mighty beast! Synchro Summon! Bring forth the light, Celestial Dragon-Quasar!"
Celestial Dragon-Quasar ATK: 3000, DEF: 2000, Level 8
My dragon—silver body and dark purple wings—spirals to the field. She roars, her pale blue eyes showing determination.
"Celestial Knight-Earth's ability activates: when she's used as Synchro Material for a Celestial Monster, one monster you control loses 1000 Attack Points. I'm choosing your Vylon Stigma."
Two green rings appear around Vylon Stigma and tighten up, the monster trying to use its pinchers to break free, but to no avail.
Vylon Stigma ATK: 600
"Why not weaken my stronger monster?" Lila asks.
I smile. "You'll see. Also, now that I've successfully Synchro Summoned, I can Special Summon another Tuner, Celestial Archer, from my hand. But he won't be staying long, because I Tune him with my Level 3 Mespirit and Level 2 Celestial Defender. In the depths of the night sky, light shines as a pale reflection of all of our hope! Synchro Summon! Rise up, Celestial Dragon-Moon!"
Celestial Dragon-Moon ATK: 1500, DEF: 2700
My second dragon has an entirely black body, although she does have intricate gray markings on her head and arms. Her green eyes sparkle, ready for victory.
Now, my new card… "I activate my Trap Graceful Revival, which brings back my Level 2 Celestial Archer in Attack Mode. And once again, he's going in a Synchro Summon! I Tune my Level 2 Celestial Archer with my Level 7 Celestial Dragon-Moon! The boundaries of light and dark come together now… Being of Darkness, rise! Synchro Summon! Come out, Celestial Dragon Chaos!"
Celestial Dragon-Chaos ATK: 3400, DEF: 2600, Level 9
For a second, my new dragon appears to be white and orange on its right side, and black and dark blue on the other, but then the black and blue overtake the lighter colors. This makes my dragon have an interesting pattern of blue lines over the black. My dragon's eyes are gold.
Lila stares, mouth agape at my dragon. "And I thought my Vylon Omega was impressive…"
Vylon Omega? It's not a card I've heard of, but it must be Lila's ace. Too bad she won't be able to use it. "I activate Celestial Dragon-Chaos' ability: once per turn, I can banish a Celestial card from my Graveyard along with one card on the field and, if the card banished from the field is a monster, I gain Life Points equal to its ATK. I choose your Vylon Epsilon!"
Chaos roars, and a dark cloud appears over us, sucking in Epsilon and the Celestial Reflector from my Graveyard. Then, the cloud bursts apart, and sparkles rain down on me.
Sky's Life Points: 6800
"Celestial Dragon-Chaos can't attack the turn it's Summoned, but my Celestial Dragon-Quasar has more than enough Attack Points to finish the Duel! So go, attack with Quasar Flash!"
Celestial Dragon-Quasar bathes herself in a shimmering white light, and then lets loose a powerful blast from her mouth. The attack decimates the weakened Vylon Stigma and the rest of Lila's Life Points.
Lila's Life Points: 0. Winner: Sky—Team Cosmos
"Look at that folks! One of our amazing Duels just came to a close, and Team Cosmos is on top!" the MC shouts. "Now, we just need to wait for the other match to finish, but I don't think it will be much longer. Team Unicorn's Deck milling strategy is taking its toll—Yusei just drew the last card in his Deck!"
I return to the pit—our victory lap will wait until after the other Duel finishes—and dismiss my teammates' praise. I want to see how Yusei's Duel turns out. But I hope he has another plan, because Jean just pulled a combo that cleared away all of Yusei's Trap cards. If he ends his turn now, Yusei will automatically lose. You better have something, Yusei.
I was not expecting an answer when I thought that. But what did happen was that Yusei smiles and says, "Don't worry, I've got something."
This makes Jean hesitate, thinking that what Yusei said could just be a bluff, or if he actually did have something. Jean doesn't only have to end his turn—if he attacks Rapid Warrior, then one of his cards will take away the rest of Yusei's Life Points. "I… I attack Rapid Warrior with my Hypnocorn!"
"That's what I was hoping for!" Yusei says. "I activate the effect of the Stronghold Guardian in my hand! By discarding it to the Graveyard, I can increase Rapid Warrior's Defense Points by 1500."
Hypnocorn's attack bounces off of Rapid Warrior.
Jean's Life Points: 0. Winner: Yusei—Team 5D's
Great, he won. But… Why was Yusei able to hear my thought? Is it possible that things are going back to how they were before I faked my death? No. I shake my head. It's not possible. I severed the connection, and I'm fairly certain there's no possible way to fix that. But… could there be?
To be continued…
Me: That's it! Man, it feels good to get this chapter out. Sky helping Jack push his Runner has been cooking around in my head for so long…
Sky: And you still manage to put it a bit of a plot twist close to the end.
Me: Yeah, because I have a really cool idea involving the mind link for later in this story, during the actual WRGP rather than the prelims.
Yusei: That 'cool idea' wouldn't involve death, would it?
Me: Uh… It involves preventing death. So I guess so.
Sky: By the way, I forgot to ask why pretty much everyone isn't here.
Leo: Yeah! Why's it just me, Luna, your OCs, and Yusei?
Me: Because I'm going to post that story I was planning to back in chapter 41. Speaking of that… Yusei needs to leave too.
Yusei: Why?
Me: *Whispers something into his ear*
Yusei *Eyes widen* You did what!?
Me: Please don't tell Akiza. Or Crow. They'll kill me.
Sky: What happened?
Me: You'll find out at the end of chapter 2 in my other story. So far, I've posted the prologue for it. The story's called Rewind. Anywho, before I get really sidetracked, I'm asking for people to review! Thanks to those who have, and who've added this to their favorites and follows, but I won't update if I only get one review for a chapter. Remember, I just want to hear what you think about this story. So if you want to flame it, go ahead! I just hope you like this so far…