Me: Before I do anything else, I need to point out an error I made in the previous chapter. I had Malefic Blue-Eyes randomly reappear on the field after Sky had destroyed it. I went back and changed it to Malefic Cyber End Dragon being Special Summoned, and by the effect of the Quick-Play Spell Malefic Divide. If you have no idea what that Spell is, don't worry. Another copy of it is used in this chapter.
Sky: *Raises an eyebrow* You made a mistake while writing the Duel?
Me: *Nods* Yeah, I don't even know what I was thinking there. But, hey, I fixed it. So it doesn't matter anymore.
Lucy: Nope, it doesn't!
Me: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds, but I do own my OCs and Paradox's backstory! Enjoy!
Chapter 57
Still staring at Paradox's dragon, I announce, "It's my turn, I draw!" I look at my card, snapping my attention away from Malefic Paradox Dragon for the moment. It's a Spell that might be able to help me get the field advantage back, if I use it right. "I activate the Spell Monster Reborn!" While it would be interesting to use one of his own monsters against him, that Malefic Paradox Dragon's ability isn't giving me the chance for it. "I choose to revive Celestial Synchron!"
My star-robot returns to my field. I smile a little and continue, "I Tune my Level 3 Celestial Synchron with my Level 4 Celestial Wizard!" Three rings, four stars. "When night comes to a close, a lone light rises to expel the darkness! Synchro Summon! Arise, Celestial Dragon-Sol!"
Celestial Dragon-Sol ATK: 2700, DEF: 1500, Level 7
From the light, my golden-orange dragon appears. His blue eyes are filled with excitement, and he whips his tail anxiously. Unfortunately, the effect of Malefic Paradox Dragon kicks in, dimming my dragon's glow tremendously.
Celestial Dragon-Sol ATK: 2700 to 0
"When I Synchro Summon, I'm allowed to Special Summon the Tuner Celestial Archer from my hand!" I continue, slamming the card onto my Disk.
Celestial Archer ATK: 200 to 0, DEF: 1000
A small boy in a white tunic, holding a bow in one hand, appears in front of me. There is a quiver of arrows on his back.
Paradox frowns a little as I say, "Now I activate Celestial Dragon-Sol's ability! I remove from play Celestial Squire, and now I can destroy one card on the field! I choose… Malefic World!"
My opponent laughs, "Sorry, I reveal a second copy of Malefic Divide, and revive the Malefic Stardust Dragon in my Graveyard. Oh, and Malefic Stardust Dragon negates the destruction of all Field Spells while it's on the field."
I snarl a little as a Stardust Dragon with black armor on its wings, head, and knees appears, taking the large wave of fire like it was nothing, instead of the card that makes this area look like outer space being burned. But then I smile, as I still have the chance to get rid of his monsters. "Fine then, I Tune my Level 2 Celestial Archer with my Level 7 Celestial Dragon-Sol!" Two rings, seven stars. "The boundaries of night and day come together now… Being of Light, rise! Synchro Summon! Come out, Celestial Dragon-Chaos!"
Celestial Dragon-Chaos ATK: 3200, DEF: 2600, Level 9
A dragon whose left half is black with blue lines and right half white with orange lines appears on my field. Slowly, the white-and-orange overtakes the black-and-blue, allowing the six-winged dragon to shine as bright as possible, when under the influence of Malefic Paradox Dragon's effect.
Celestial Dragon-Chaos ATK: 3200 to 500
"Now, for Celestial Dragon-Chaos' ability!" I shout. "Much like Sol's, I banish a 'Celestial' card from my Graveyard—I choose Celestial Reflector—only this time, I can destroy up to two cards on the field! Since your Field Spell is still off-limits, I choose Celestial Warrior-Hikari," her effect would make any attacks on her suicidal, after all, "and Malefic Paradox Dragon."
Paradox merely smiles, shaking his head. "Such a typical move of yours, using one effect and, when it fails, figuring out a way to either use it again or use a stronger version of it. If you're only going to stick to such a strategy, you won't be able to defeat me."
I narrow my eyes at the blonde-and-purple-haired Duelist across from me. He doesn't move at all as my white-and-orange dragon launches two powerful fireballs at the monsters I named off. So, for what he just said, he doesn't have a way to block it? I guess not, because the fireballs hit their targets, and both the black dragon and the white knight turn to ashes.
I chuckle a little, "You know, for saying that my strategy won't let me win, you don't have much to back up that statement now, do you?"
"You speak too soon, Sky Fudo," Paradox replies, smiling. "Look at my field."
I do, frowning. The Field Spell, Malefic Stardust Dragon, and his face-down card. Wait… it isn't face-down anymore. My eyes widen, when had he activated that Trap?
"When Malefic Paradox Dragon is destroyed, I am allowed to activate the Trap Malefic Paradigm Shift! By paying half of my Life Points, I can now Summon the strongest of my Malefic monsters, Malefic Truth Dragon!"
Paradox's Life Points: 1650
A purple vortex appears in front of Paradox, absorbing a ghost version of Malefic Paradox Dragon into it. Then the vortex pulses a few times, until it explodes. In its place hovers a dark-yellow dragon with segmented plates along its body, and a red gem set in its chest. It has gigantic wings that are literally twice the size of its body. Plastered on the dragon's face is an extremely unnerving grin, made more disturbing by the creature's glowing red eyes. There are spikes on the dragon's back.
Malefic Truth Dragon ATK: 5000, DEF: 5000, Level 12
I take a few steps back in surprise. This creature resonates power, dark power, just like Paradox's Deck. And yet… and yet… I sense a stronger power, coming from his Deck. Not necessarily dark, but… I shake my head. For now, I have to deal with this powerhouse. I look at my hand. Nothing to make Celestial Dragon-Chaos stronger than Malefic Truth Dragon, but I at least have a Trap that will let me stall for a turn. "I set a card face-down and end my turn."
"And with it, Malefic Stardust Dragon is removed from play," Paradox says without any sort of emotion. Then he smiles, "Now that it's my turn again, I can use the effect of Malefic World again… but I think I'll pass, and draw normally this time." Instead of having a card slide out of his Deck, Paradox grabs the top card of his Deck, looks at it with a smile, and adds it to his hand.
'He must seem confident that he doesn't need any more monsters, now that he has Malefic Truth Dragon out,' I think. 'Or he wants to aim for drawing a Spell or Trap.'
"I banish the Rainbow Dragon in my Deck to Special Summon Malefic Rainbow Dragon!" Paradox yells.
Malefic Rainbow Dragon ATK: 4000, DEF: 0, Level 10
The dragon that appears is practically a replica of the normal Rainbow Dragon—same body, same color, same gems on its neck, same miniature golden wings—with the only difference being that its main wings aren't feathery anymore. The wings are covered in black armor that is lined with white.
'Another monster? I don't know how many more turns I can last…'
"Malefic Rainbow Dragon, attack that pesky Celestial Dragon-Chaos!" Paradox orders.
His white dragon blasts a stream of rainbow-colored energy at my dragon, who folds his wings as though he's trying to protect himself. I smirk and reveal my face-down. "Hallowed Life Barrier makes my Life Points untouchable by your cards for the rest of the turn, and also keeps Celestial Dragon-Chaos from being destroyed in battle as well," I explain as a silver barrier takes the burst of rainbow energy.
Paradox retains his gloating smile, "Then I'll simply wait until next turn. I set a card face-down and end my turn."
"It's my turn then, I draw!"
"Before you do anything, I activate the Trap Malefic Claw Stream!" Paradox calls. "Now, because I control a 'Malefic' monster, your precious dragon is destroyed!"
A shadow-like claw shoots out of Malefic Truth Dragon and rips Celestial Dragon-Chaos in two.
I quickly hide my disappointment and look at my hand. I have nothing to get myself out of this predicament, and I'm horribly, horribly screwed if he brings out another monster. I'm also doomed if he has an effect to negate monster cards… "Now… I Summon Celestial Defender and… end my turn."
Celestial Defender ATK: 500, DEF: 2000, Level 2
A man in thick silver armor appears, brandishing a shield that has several five-pointed stars on it.
The purple-and-blonde man across from me laughs. "Once again, I pass on Malefic World's effect, but it doesn't look like I'll need it!" He draws his card and adds it to his hand without looking at it. "Malefic Rainbow Dragon, attack Celestial Defender!"
There isn't anything I can do to stop this attack, so I just brace myself for whatever force will occur from my monster shattering. The rainbow blast hits, making Celestial Defender explode, and I'm forced back several feet, into a wall. I flinch on impact. I didn't hit it very hard, but my body is still mostly sore from falling through that portal.
'Here comes the real test…'
"Malefic Truth Dragon, attack her directly and end this Duel!"
The dark-yellow dragon finally loses its creepy grin, just long enough to send a spiralling ball of purple energy flying at me. Then the grin returns as the sphere comes closer… ten feet… three feet… I shield my face with my arms as the blast hits me. Despite preparing myself for the attack, a scream of pain still escapes my lips, just like with Meklord Astro Dragon Misery. Only slightly less agonizing.
Sky's Life Points: 100; Celestial Eagle ATK: 1000, DEF: 0, Level 1
An eagle with silver-streaked feathers appears in front of me, quickly turning blue.
"When… my Life Points… would be made… zero," I huff out, "I can… Special Summon Celestial Eagle… from my hand… and make them 100 instead…"
But instead of getting some little burst of energy, like I normally do when I use this effect, an intense wave of agony fills my entire body. I fall to the ground with not so much as a whimper, but that is because I can't move at all. I can barely even breathe; I can only manage short, spaced out breaths that barely give me enough oxygen to stay conscious. Dots dance around my vision, and I see Paradox walk over to me. I lock eyes with him, and it looks like he speaks to me, but I can't hear it.
More dots fill up my vision, and I know I'm going to black out soon. 'But I can't! If I lose this Duel… then Neo Domino… it will… will…'
'I will not allow this to happen!' Reshiram's voice screeches in my head. 'Little one, it is my fault you have not been able to fully use the powers of the Crimson Dragon. I was afraid you could not handle the full power of two forces of light at once, but I see now that it is a risk that must be taken.'
'…hurry… can't… see…' Because my vision has totally winked out.
Fire. That's all I can describe everything as now. It's all I can see, feel, and hear. A giant fire, roaring around me. Then the fire from my vision fades away. I can still feel and hear it, but I can see that I'm back in the room, standing over the Planetary Gear with Paradox standing in front of me.
The burning sensation gathers to my back, and the roaring in my ears dies down. Then my right hand hurts a little, and I watch as a crimson mark burns its way onto my skin. It's a small spiral, jagged at both ends, with three short slashes outside of it, much like on Jack's Signer Mark.
A smile creeps up on my face as I realize what this means. My powers as the Envoy of the Crimson Dragon have fully activated. Sure, I've used them before (conscious or not), but I haven't been able to use many of the cards. Pulling Crimson Star Prophecy in the Duel with Dusk was honestly a fluke.
"The… Crimson Dragon…" Paradox stutters. Then he shakes his head, laughing. "It's too late for it to do much of anything! You're barely holding on in this Duel, while I have a decent amount of Life Points and two monsters that won't go down very easily!"
"Just because it isn't easy doesn't mean it's impossible!" I retort, full of energy once again. "End your turn already, because I'm ready to turn this Duel around!"
Paradox smiles, places a card face-down, and ends his turn.
"Time to turn things around! It's my turn!" I draw my card. "I activate the Spell Pot of Greed! Now I can draw two cards…" My new cards are definitely going to bring down his monsters. "I Summon the Tuner Crimson Star-Envoy of the Light!"
Crimson Star-Envoy of the Light ATK: 1800, DEF: 200, Level 4
A knight in red armor that shines so bright I can barely see him appears on my field.
"When Envoy of the Light is Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon a 'Crimson Star' monster from my Deck…" I haven't seen all of the dragons, so I'd better stick with one that will both help bring another monster out from the Graveyard and also, well, one that I remember from the diner. "I choose Crimson Star-Envoy of the Ancient Fairy!" I shout.
Crimson Star-Envoy of the Ancient Fairy ATK: 2100, DEF: 3000, Level 7
A replica of Ancient Fairy Dragon appears on my field, only this one has red lines trailing across her body and making the separate parts of her wings more visible.
"Crimson Star-Envoy of the Ancient Fairy grants me 1000 Life Points when I Summon her," I add, grinning as I feel another surge of energy fill me.
Sky's Life Points: 1100
'Now for the real deal… but… should I risk Summoning Crimson Fairy Dragon in Attack Mode? What if… what if he has a card stronger than her?' I mull things over for a moment. 'Yeah, best play it defensively. I can always use her effect, bring back Chaos, and use Chaos to pull off a victory.' "Crimson Star-Envoy of the Light has the ability to grant a monster on the field an extra Level once a turn, so I'll give Envoy of the Ancient Fairy a little bit of a boost!"
Crimson Star-Envoy of the Ancient Fairy Level 7 to 8
"Now I Tune the Level 4 Crimson Star-Envoy of the Light with the now Level 8 Crimson Star-Envoy of the Ancient Fairy!" Four rings, eight stars. "Clustering lights shine throughout the dimension of eternity! Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! A most regal descent, Crimson Fairy Dragon!" I chant.
Crimson Fairy Dragon ATK: 4000, DEF: 5000, Level 12
The column of light vanishes and a serpentine dragon with a dark purple body, light butterfly wings, and a red mane appears in its place. The dragon has red armor on her torso, and the Mark of the Front Claw is etched into the right side. Crimson Fairy Dragon flaps her wings, causing lights to spiral around us—lights that make Malefic Truth Dragon and Malefic Rainbow Dragon flinch away from them.
"How did you know…?"
"That your monsters are DARK-Attributed?" I fill in. "I didn't, actually, it was just a hunch. But, since they are, Crimson Fairy Dragon destroys the both of them!"
The lights slam into the two dragons, causing them to explode in a horrendous fashion.
I heave a sigh of relief; he didn't stop her effect, and now his Life Points are wide open, so all I need to do is… huh?
A dark purple aura has surrounded Paradox, who has his arms at his sides and fists clenched tightly. "You… you think this is over… but it isn't! I won't let it be!"
Suddenly, winds start whipping around us. Powerful ones, but they can't possibly be… a psychic creation… "What are you doing?" I demand.
"When two or more DARK-Attributed monsters on my field are destroyed in the same turn, I can Special Summon this card from my hand!" Paradox shouts.
A purple sphere appears on his field, and it slowly contracts until it turns into the outline of some sort of creature. The purple coloring abruptly turns to black, and I gasp as I recognize the monster—a shadow-like creature with a red ring around his neck, a white wisp extending from his head, and a light-blue eye visible under the white wisp.
Darkrai the New Moon ATK: 4000, DEF: 0, Level 10
"How… how did… that's…" I stop talking and gather my thoughts. Without looking away from Paradox's new monster, I ask with an angry tone in my voice, "How did you get that card? It belongs to Escolar!"
"You want to know, don't you?" Paradox replies. "Fine then. Darkrai, show her the truth!"
I barely have time to cover my face before the shadow launches himself at me. When he collides with my arms, my vision instantly turns black.
But not for long.
I can't move, but I can see what's going on around me. I see my future self looking through a closet that has a few cans of soup left, and a box of old crackers. She sighs, "If only our food grew faster. We'll be lucky if we make it to next month without starving."
Someone else comes into my vision—it's Bruno. Or Antinomy. Or whatever the heck his name is supposed to be. "Something wrong, Sky?"
"Yeah, we're almost out of food. Again. And I think we've gotten every last crumb of unspoiled food here in Neo Domino," she replies. "I don't want to leave, and yet it might be our only choice if we don't want to starve."
Bruno nods, contemplating something. "You have a point… but why not just look in some of the nearby cities for more food? Your Duel Runner still works, as do the few boats on the shore. It's not like other cities don't have food left in them, and who knows? If we go around to them, we might find more survivors!"
"More like more mouths to feed…" Sky mumbles in return. "Still, if it means that we can still live here, then I guess it'll do. One of us can stay here and watch the kids, and the other can look for food."
The blue-haired man smiles warmly. "Perfect!"
Some sort of force jerks me away from that scene, and plops me in another one. I don't know where it's taking place—I don't recognize the ruins of this city—but I can see my future self shifting through a half-destroyed grocery store. She has quite a few cans in a bag at her side, and she's fully absorbed in adding more.
"Who the hell are you, and why are you taking my food?" a male voice booms in the store.
Sky instantly jerks into attention, her eyes darting around the store. They land on the owner of the voice, a man dressed entirely in black, with a mask whose right half is black with white lines, and left half is white with black lines. She starts to back up as she notices the gun in the man's hand, assuming it's loaded. "I-I didn't know it-it was yours," she stutters. "P-Please, I'm only trying to he-help my family…"
The man freezes and drops the gun. "Sky?" he asks.
She flinches. "How did you know?"
"It's kind of hard to forget the woman your brother is engaged to," he replies, taking off his mask. "Sorry for, uh, threatening you. How's Shoshan, by the way?"
I gasp. The green eyes, the blonde hair. The masked man is Escolar… and yet… he sounds like Paradox…
Future-Sky also gasps and instantly looks away, closing her eyes. "Escolar… I'm sorry, but… Shoshan died in… in the first earthquake. In the power surge."
Once again, the sensation of being yanked away from something fills my entire body, and the falling sensation replaces it. I'm in another scene now, one where future-Sky and Escolar are in a room. Sky is refusing to meet his eyes, and Escolar seems angry about this.
"What did I do to you?" he shouts.
"It… it's not you…" Sky says weakly.
"It's because I look like him, isn't it? You can't help but look at me and see Shoshan?!"
The gold-and-silver-haired woman sobs a little. "Yes…"
"But I'm not my brother!"
"I know—"
"It's not fair!" Escolar interrupts. "I-I'm not the one who did anything to deserve your resentment! It's your own fault! You're the one who took Shoshan from both of us!"
"That's not true!" Sky snarls. "I tried to save his life!"
"If he hadn't been in that house, you wouldn't have needed to save his life! He would be fine!"
"You don't know that!" Sky hisses. "I don't know what you did when the Meklords attacked, but those things took away two of my best friends—more if you count the ones I never heard from after the first quake! Sure, Shoshan could have survived the earthquake, but the Meklords could've killed him all the same!"
"Well, you don't know that! He could have survived the Meklords too!"
The door swings open, and the two adults instantly shut up as the young Aurelia hobbles into the room. She looks at them curiously. "Meema, why you cwying? You got booboo?"
Sky puts a hand to her face and wipes away the tears. She smiles at her daughter. "No, I don't have a booboo. Everything's fine, Aurelia. What did you need?"
The little girl smiles, the fact that her mother was crying forgotten. "Unca Bwuno 'ound some 'un!"
"Really? That's great news!" Sky starts to walk out of the door. She stops and faces Escolar. "Escolar… I'm…"
"No need," he says.
The woman frowns, but continues to follow her daughter away. Escolar stays in the room, curling one hand into a fist and punching the wall. His hand goes clean through it, and when he pulls it back, his fingers are sore and slightly scratched. "Stupid, stupid, stupid…" he mutters.
Once again there is that tugging, into another scene. Escolar is standing in front of a mirror—except he looks like Paradox now! The only difference now is the length of Escolar's hair; it's still short and spiky. But his bangs are now purple and his eyes now golden. A bottle of hair dye and a container of colored contacts sits on the counter, next to his hand.
"Hmph! Now we'll see if she recognizes me!" he says with anger.
The man lets go of the counter and walks out of the bathroom. He finds Sky in a nearby room, telling Aurelia a bedtime story. "…She needed only to play the flute and the specter would appear again," Sky finishes.
"Fun stowy," Aurelia mumbles. "'Night Meema…"
"Goodnight Aurelia," Sky replies, kissing the young girl's forehead.
Then she stands up and turns, only to find Escolar with his new appearance standing at the door. For a moment, she tenses up, ready to fight, but then she realizes who it is. "Escolar? What have you done to yourself?"
"I decided a new look was in order, I mean it's the reason you wouldn't look at me without flinching away," he replies. "And… don't call me that anymore. From now on… I'd like to be called Paradox."
The darkness returns for a moment, until I'm back on the Ark Cradle, standing with shaky legs. I look at Paradox, no, Escolar. I can't believe that he… no I can believe that Escolar would do something like that. Which makes it even harder to believe, somehow.
Paradox glares at me, "Don't think that because you know the truth now means that I'm letting you off easily! In fact, the exact opposite is true! When Summoned by this effect, Darkrai the New Moon's ATK doubles, and the turn is instantly ended!"
Darkrai the New Moon ATK: 4000 to 8000
"What?" I shout, managing to find my voice. With that effect, he can easily tear through my defenses and… and… all he needs to do is Summon a monster, which is what he'll be able to do thanks to Malefic World. I can't lose… and yet… will I?
To be continued…
Me: So, that's the chapter. Did you like Paradox's backstory?
Sky: Well, considering it's either yours or the nonexistent one from the movie, I'd say it was… good. I wasn't expecting the Escolar twist though.
Shade: Even though we'd already made your future self evil? For shame, Sky!
Sky: *Glares at Shade* Well how was I supposed to guess that? You didn't leave any hints whatsoever!
Lucy: Really? I thought I put something in. Oh well, all's well that ends well, right?
Sky: …The ending of this chapter wasn't 'well'. It was evil, and that much was to be expected.
Lucy: Thanks! That was my *receives glare from Shade* okay, our goal. *Returns the glare* At least I can claim that Z-ONE's backstory is one hundred percent mine! In your face, Shade!
Me: Lucy! Please don't antagonize him!
Shade: It's fine, it's fine. *Walks away*
Me: …Okay, now I'm worried…
Sky: Same here.
Lucy: *Shrugs* Meh. Wimps.
Me: *Rolls eyes* Anywho, it's time to ask for reviews! It's always nice to hear comments about my stories, especially if you see anything wrong with my writing! Thanks to those who have reviewed in the past! Oh, and kudos to those who noticed the two Professor Layton references, even if one of them is a really, really tiny one.