Chapter 23: The Truth Revealed! Pursuit of Nirvana!
A phone rang in Jean-Michael's pocket. "Yes?" he hissed as he answered it.
Up at the Security headquarters, his second-in-command was panicking. "Sir, the Commons riots are threatening the lives of the Tops! And they've almost broken into the Security headquarters as well! I don't know how much longer we can hold out!"
Jean-Michael looked out the window to see a massive board display Jack and Yuya's Duel. "SHUT UP!" he raged. "Shut up shut up shut up SHUT UP! It doesn't matter! None of it matters! I still have my trump card! I can still win!"
"Sir?" his assistant asked, gulping.
Jean-Michael hung up.
X
"My turn!" Yuya declared. "Draw!" He observed his hand. "What does Jack mean?" he asked himself. "My words, not my father's,"
"Well?" Jack barked. "Are you going to take your turn?"
Yuya's eyes suddenly lit up with a memory.
X
"You were the one who created Pendulum!" Shuzu Hiragi told him. "Therefore you need to set an example to others!"
X
"Everyone please welcome Yuya Sakaki, the pioneer of the mysterious Pendulum Summon!" Nick Smiley cheered.
X
"Pendulum!" he quietly gasped. "I was the creator of the Pendulum Summon. Pendulum is my words. Surely, that's it?" he asked himself, and focused deeply. "How do I use this?"
Beneath him, his pendulum pendant swung in the wind, glowing with an otherworldly blue light, and in his Pendulum Zone, Junior roared, his mismatched eyes glowing.
In a flash, Yuya knew what he had to do. Hie eyes opened. "I know what they are now, Jack! My own words!"
"Then shout them out loud!" Jack commanded.
"I play Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw two cards!" he declared, taking two more cards from his Deck. "They're here!" he grinned. "Now, I Pendulum Summon! Swing, pendulum, incarnation of my soul! Write my words through time and space!" he commanded, drawing his portal. "With your wonderous and heterochromatic eyes, appear, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" he declared, and his ace monster rose into view with 2500 ATK. "And join him, Dragonpit Magician!" he continued, and the water spellcaster solemnly nodded as he rose to the field. 2700 DEF. "Now, I overlay my Level 7 Dragonpit Magician with my Level 7 Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" A blue Overlay Network appeared, absorbing his dragons. "As water freezes to ice, be reborn amid the torrential depths! Xyz Summon, Rank 7! Crystalline dragon of the howling rainstorm! Surface, Odd-Eyes Absolute Dragon!"
Absolute roared in fury. 2800 ATK. "Battle Phase! Odd-Eyes Absolute Dragon, attack Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend!" Yuya commanded.
Jack frowned. "What are you doing, Yuya Sakaki?"
"I activate the effect of Odd-Eyes Absolute Dragon! When an attack is declared, by using one Overlay Unit, the attack is negated and I can Summon an Odd-Eyes monster from my hand or Graveyard!" Yuya added. "Whirlpool Barrier!"
A vortex of water spewed from Absolute's mouth, engulfing an Overlay Unit and blocking his attack. From the whirlpool emerged Odd-Eyes Meteorburst Dragon, who roared as it rejoined its comrade. "And now I activate Meteorburst's effect! When he is Special Summoned, I can Special Summon one of the monsters in my Pendulum Scale! Appear, Timegazer Magician!" Yuya commanded, and a meteor knocked Timegazer from the Pendulum Scale, making him fall down to the field to join the two dragons.
Jack frowned. Yuya was plotting something, but he couldn't figure out what. From his understanding of Fusion Summons, a Spell was needed to pull that off, Xyz Summons required monsters with the same Level, which Yuya lacked, and he did not control a Tuner for a Synchro Summon. What was his game?
"I Tune my Level 3 Timegazer Magician to my Level 7 Odd-Eyes Meteorburst Dragon!" Yuya declared. Timegazer paused in confusion, but light shone from his blade, and he nodded, transforming into three rings, which imposed themselves around Meteorburst and changed him into seven stars.
Jack's eyes widened. "What? But neither Timegazer nor Meteorburst are Tuner monsters!"
"But there is a Synchro monster that can treat a Pendulum Monster as a Tuner for its Synchro Summon!" Yuya declared with a wild grin. Jack's eyes widened at this admission, and he grinned. "Well, it's about time!"
"From the peaceful depths of time," Yuya started, raising his hands as brilliant pure light engulfed his monsters, creating a massive pillar of blue energy that reached into the heavens and twisted the clouds above into a swirling vortex, "release your light throughout this world and revive! Appear, Level 10! The sublime, supreme warrior!" A silhouette of a massive humanoid warrior took form from the energy as flashes of rainbow light flickered through the blue, reaching towards the sky. "Nirvana High Paladin!"
An evolution of Enlightenment arose, with blue armour and a single massive sword. Nirvana coldly gazed down at Scarlight as its 3300 ATK was revealed.
Jack was amazed. "A Synchro monster that is also a Pendulum monster? Yuya Sakaki, I have seen very few things in my life that impress me, but that is one of them," he nodded in awe.
"When Nirvana is Summoned, I can return one card from my Graveyard to my hand! I return Pot of Greed!" Yuya commanded, returning the Spell to his hand. "Now, once again I play Pot of Greed, and draw two cards!"
He looked at the two cards he had taken. "I end my turn by completing the Pendulum Scale with my Scale 5 Performapal Bibbulldog!" A squat pug wielding a scrubbing brush joined Junior in the Pendulum Zone. "Turn end!"
"Oh my gosh, that was so incredible!" Melissa grinned. "With an incredible combination that impressed even the King, Yuya has summoned a new monster that is both a Synchro monster and a Pendulum monster!"
Jack grinned. "Well done, Yuya Sakaki!" All over the City, people took note and gasped in awe at the two monsters facing off with each other. "But your victory shall not last!" he declared.
"Scarlight's effect only affects monsters with a lower level than it," he thought to himself. "That Paladin is Level 10 and has 300 more ATK, so even if I destroyed the Xyz monster, it wouldn't do much," he muttered.
A savage grin leapt across the King's face. "Congratulations, Yuya Sakaki! You are the first person to force me to push myself in order to reach new heights!" he declared with a smile. "While there is a Synchro monster on the field, I can Special Summon Synkron Resonator from my hand!" he declared, and a dark blue fiendish shaman with a musical note on his back appeared with 100 ATK. "And now I Normal Summon Barrier Resonator to my field!" he continued, and a crimson-clad Resonator with a generator of some kind on his back joined his monsters. 300 ATK..
"What's this? The King has Summoned two Level 1 Tuner monsters?" Melissa frowned in confusion, before looking ahead. "What the - oh no! Jack! Yuya! Look out! The road is out ahead!"
"What?" Yuya gasped, looking forwards. In front of them was one of the parts of the track that had been destroyed by the attack of Obelisk Force the previous night. "King! Look out!"
"You have revealed to me your strength, Yuya Sakaki! The strength that you create through combining the effects of your monsters is truly something incredible to behold!" Jack praised the boy. "So let me return the favour and show you mine! It's time!" the man declared, clenching his fists as his eyes lit up with pure exhilaration and excitement. "It's time, now, to reveal my true power! I Tune my Level 1 Synkron Resonator and my Level 1 Force Resonator to my Level 8 Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend! Behold, the art of Double Tuning!" he commanded, and pressed a button on the control console of his D-Wheel. He twisted the vertical controls so that they were horizontal and a new flap opened, and the King pushed his handle forwards. Flaps opened all over the Wheel of Fortune, and rocket-powered boosters emerged and ignited. "I will make my own path with the energy of my soul!" Jack declared, and the Wheel of Fortune accelerated to impossible speeds, leaving an expanding trail of pink-red energy in its wake and carving a furrow into the ground where it drove. His three monsters were swallowed up by the energy in his slipstream and transformed into eight stars, with a burning ring of fire at each end, before they were swallowed up by the King's power. As they were, Jack's voice echoed like a thunderclap throughout the City. "NOW!"
The blood drained from Melissa's face. "Double Tuning? That - that hasn't been used in almost a hundred years! Not since the time of the first Jack Atlas! This - this is so impossibly incredible! Pay close attention, everyone. We're witnessing history in the making!"
The single massive wheel of the Wheel of Fortune glanced off a piece of debris and soared upwards, as the image of a massive red dragon whose body was comprised entirely of pure, brilliant energy, appeared and lifted Jack into the air. "Ruler and devil, become one! Call upon the soul of the legendary dragon and roar in the name of creation itself!" Jack commanded as the Crimson Dragon lifted him into the sky, before vanishing into energy. "Synchro Summon, Level 10!" he commanded, as the energy condensed and solidified into a purple mass, before cracking along the sides. Red energy spewed forth from the cracks as the egg was obliterated, revealing the mightiest monster Yuya had ever seen. Junior yelped in horror as Jack finished the chant, revealing his ultimate power. "Come forth! Tyrant Red Dragon Archfiend!"
"Oh my god," Melissa breathed. "This is so incredible!"
The monster was massive, an incredible, devilish dragon with long, curved horns, massive wings and a long, flexing tail that whipped behind it, scales the colour of a brilliant inferno and a roar that shook the City to its roots. "Behold my true strength! The very force of my life!" Jack declared.
X
Flare, who had been watching the Duel on the cam of her D-Wheel, breathed. "Incredible,"
"What an amazing monster," Gong agreed.
Sawatari snorted. "I could defeat it,"
"Suuuuuuure you could," Selena agreed, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
Shun was emotionless. He didn't care about Jack Atlas. He only had eyes for Yuya.
X
Yuya had been so wrapped up in watching Jack's spectacle that he didn't even realise he was coming up on the destroyed track himself.
Luckily, Absolute snatched him up in its claws and carried him through the air after Jack, safely depositing him in the same place Jack had landed. The Duel continued uninterrupted.
"I activate Tyrant's effect! Once per turn, I destroy all other cards on the field!" Jack commanded.
"What?" Yuya gulped. "I activate Performapal Bubbulldog's effect! By destroying it, Odd-Eyes Absolute Dragon and Nirvana High Paladin are indestructible!" he retaliated. The dog blew bubbles around the two monsters seconds before it and Junior were destroyed. "Junior!" the boy gulped.
"You protected your monsters," Jack nodded. "Not bad. But that won't save them from this! Tyrant Red Dragon Archfiend! Destroy Odd-Eyes Absolute Dragon! Crimson Hell Tide Inferno!"
"I activate Odd-Eyes Absolute Dragon's effect! By using one Overlay Unit, I negate your attack! Whirlpool Barrier!" Yuya declared, and Absolute sucked the breath attack into a vortex of water. "Now, I Special Summon Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon back from my Graveyard!" he continued, reviving his ace monster.
Jack nodded. "Very well. I Set one card and end my turn!"
Yuya drew. "He destroyed my Pendulum Scale," he shook his head, and looked at the card he had drawn. "Acrobat Magician," he nodded. "Next turn, he'll destroy my monsters and attack directly. How can I prevent that?" he asked himself, looking at the other two cards in my hand. "Why did Jack insist that this not be an Action Duel?" he lamented. "He probably wanted to face me with my own strength, not using any Action Cards at all," Yuya realised.
The boy grinned. "That's it! My own strength! I've got it!" he smiled, looking at the other two cards in his hand. "I activate my Field Spell, Sky Iris!" The sky above his head burst into a rainbow of colourful lights. "Now, using my Scale 2 Acrobat Magician and the Scale 5 Performapal Fire Mufflerlion, I set the Pendulum Scale!" he commanded. A green magician with a pikestaff and a white lion in w top hat with a flaming mane rose into the blue Scale. "The stage is set! I end my turn!" Yuya grinned.
Jack frowned, but nodded. "My turn! Draw!" He didn't even look at the cards in his hand. "I activate Tyrant's effect again! All cards on the field are destroyed! Once more, my friend!" he commanded. This time, Yuya let the flames destroy his cards. "Sky Iris's effect! The cards in my Pendulum Zone cannot be destroyed!" he grinned, as rainbow light protected Acrobat Magician, before shattering into nothingness as the Field Spell was destroyed. "And when a Pendulum monster is destroyed, I can Special Summon Fire Mufflerlion from my Pendulum Zone!" he commanded, and his lion leapt to the field as a rainbow-coloured portal appeared where he had been. "Now, when Enlightenment Paladin is destroyed, I can activate him in my Pendulum Zone!" he continued, and the blue warrior rose and replaced Fire Mufflerlion. Jack grinned. "So, you were prepared that much? This is perfect! Neither of us willing to give up, every move ready! This is a true clash of souls! Tyrant! Destroy that Mufflerlion!" he commanded, and the dragon obeyed, obliterating Yuya's lion.
"I'm just doing all that I am capable of," Yuya nodded, and Jack grinned. "Interesting. You are just beginning to learn how to communicate with your will, then! Very good! I Set one card and end my turn!" he declared.
"With my will?" the boy frowned.
"Don't you get it?" Jack smirked. "Duelling is a conversation with your opponent! The words you use there can be learned from someone else, but if you truly want to manage something, you have to use the ones that you create yourself! That is the true meaning of a Duel! Using your words to convey your will to your opponent!"
Yuya smiled. "Alright then! These are my words, Jack Atlas! My turn! Draw!" he declared, and drew his card. "My words are what I have learned from everyone! Every person I have ever Duelled, their feelings are carried with me!"
"Precisely!" Jack grinned. "A true King must always carry with him the feelings of those he defeats!"
"I have! And I will!" the boy smiled. "I have created my words from everything, everyone. My power has grown through the help of everyone I know far beyond how it would on my own. And the proof is right here!" he declared.
"Then show me your proof!" Jack challenged.
"Using my Set Scale, I Pendulum Summon!" Yuya declared, the pendulum swinging back and forth. Just as it did on that first day against Strong Ishijima. "With the scales set like this, I can Summon monsters levels three through seven! So swing, pendulum of my - of everyone's souls! Draw an arc across the sky!"
A portal of rainbows appeared, a thousand streaks of glowing light appearing and swarming around him in every direction. One by one, they coalesced behind their owner, flowing and spinning until a rotating pillar of multicoloured light appeared behind him, reaching into the sky. "My monsters are ready to swing into action!" Yuya commanded. "Return, Performapal Fire Mufflerlion!" His white flaming liomappeared from the pillar of energy with 800 ATK. "Performapal Radish Horse!" The vegetable returned. 500 ATK. "Performapal Bubbulldog!" The 2300-ATK canine returned with a smile. "Oafdragon Magician!" The shaman spellcaster appeared from Yuya's hand. 2200 ATK. "And Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" Finally, his ace monster appeared and roared, flanked by its comrades. 2500 ATK.
The shocked cry echoed through the City. "Five monsters at once?"
"I'm fighting alongside everybody!" Yuya cheered.
Jack grinned. "That, Yuya Sakaki, was truly impressive!"
"I activate the effect of Radish Horse! By targeting one monster you control and one Performapal I control, your monster loses ATK equal to the ATK of my Performapal! I target Bubbulldog, so Tyrant loses 2300 ATK!" Yuya commanded. Radish Horse's vegetable horn shot from its forehead, arcing into the sky and targeting Tyrant.
"Not so!" Jack shook his head. "I activate my Trap, Over the Red! If my monster would lose ATK, first its ATK is doubled, then, I can banish a Synchro Monster from my Grave and it gains ATK equal to that monster's ATK! I banish Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend!" he declared. The image of Scarlight appeared behind Tyrant as its ATK first changed to 7000, then increased as the image vanished to 10,000.
Melissa's eyes widened in shock. "Ten thousand ATK?"
Radish Horse's effect hit then and cut Tyrant's ATK to 7700. Yuya grinned. "That doesn't matter!"
Jack raised a curious eyebrow at his declaration. "Really?"
"Battle Phase! I attack Tyrant Red Dragon Archfiend with Performapal Bubbulldog!" Yuya commanded.
"What?" Melissa frowned.
"Now, Nirvana High Paladin's Pendulum effect! If a Pendulum monster I control attacks a monster with higher ATK, that monster cannot be destroyed, I take no damage and at the end of the Damage Step your monster loses ATK equal to my monster's ATK!" Yuya grinned, throwing a fist forwards. Nirvana cloaked Bubbulldog in a shield of energy as he bounced off the mighty dragon like a tennis ball. The energy hit Tyrant, dropping his ATK to 5400.
"Same again! Performapal Fire Mufflerlion! Attack Tyrant!" Yuya commanded, and the Spellcaster obeyed, charging as Nirvana shielded it and used it to drop Tyrant to 4600 ATK. "Now, Oafdragon!" he continued, and the tribal magician agreed, drawing on Nirvana's strength and using it with its own to reduce the enemy's ATK to 2300. "Radish Horse! Now you!" Yuya continued, and the horse shrieked in agreement, using the paladin's magic to drop Tyrant's ATK to 1800.
"Finally, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon! Attack and destroy Tyrant Red Dragon Archfiend!" Yuya commanded, and his dragon eagerly charged, unleashing a blast of energy that pierced Tyrant. "Spiral Strike Blast!"
"That's only 700 damage," Jack snorted. "When Odd-Eyes battles a Level 5 or higher monster, battle damage is doubled!" Yuya retorted. Sure enough, the King's until-then up damaged LP was cut to 2600. "You still haven't beaten me! And you've used up all of your attacks!" the blonde shook his head.
"Wrong!" Yuya grinned. "I activate the monster effect of my Fire Mufflerlion! When a Pendulum Monster I control destroys an opponent's monster in battle, it gains 200 ATK and can attack again!" The lion leant its flaming mane to the dragon, who roared as its ATK became 2700. "So go, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon! Finish him off! Spiral Strike Blast!" Yuya commanded, and his monster obeyed, unleashing a burst of energy that hit the Wheel of Fortune head-on.
"All my life," Jack whispered. "I've been waiting for the day when I could have a Duel like this all my life," He smiled, accepting his defeat as the white monowheel pulled to a halt. Yuya braked as his monsters vanished, the Duel over, and pulled up next to him as Jack stepped out of his D-Wheel. "Congratulations, Yuya Sakaki," Jack nodded with ah impressed smile. "You are the new King of Duelling now,"
The riots of only an hour ago forgotten, the entire City erupted in cheers. "Yuya! Yuya!"
The two Duelists suddenly looked up as a helicopter descended towards them. Melissa frowned indignantly. "Hey! I'm supposed to be the only chopper in this airspace!" but immediately fell silent as she caught a glimpse into the cockpit. Jack frowned, reaching to arm his Duel Disk once more, but his hands fell to his side as the doors opened.
"Good afternoon, everyone," A bald, wizened old man, flanked by four others appeared as the copter touched down. "The Executive Council?" Jack blinked.
The man, Taki, opened his mouth to speak, but paused as, suddenly, every single one of the holographic screens surrounding the City changed to a view of the inside of the City power grid. "Hello, everyone," Jean-Michael Roger grinned.
The man paused, frowning. "No. You don't get to talk, Council, because as of right now, you don't hold any power,"
"Actually, that's what we were about to -" Azul, one of the other Council Members started, but was instantly interrupted. "I always thought you were a bunch of hypocritical, self-centred, old hags, and now it's time to prove it," Jean-Michael grinned. "I'm sure you all can see that I stand here in the central power grid. Now, what I think you will all be interested to learn is that I have rigged an unstable interdimensional portal generator to the power grid. Without going into too many irrelevant technicalities, it all basically comes down to one thing," he insanely smiled, holding up a small remote. "If I push this button, the generator will activate, opening dozens of unstable portals throughout the City. The whole place will be torn apart, and whatever's left will be dumped into the void between dimensions, where it is highly likely that you will all either die or suffer for eternity,"
"What?" Yuya gasped.
Jack's eyes narrowed. "I always had my doubts about that man," he paused. "But I never thought he would do something like this,"
"So, it really is quite simple. The Executive Council is to immediately step down and hand over all power to me, or everyone in the City dies. Isn't that right, Yuzu Hiragi?" Jean-Michael grinned at his captive, as the camera panned left, revealing Yuzu leaning in a corner, completely bound with rope and with duct tape over her mouth.
"Yuzu!" Yuya gasped. "We have to get to the power grid now! Which way is it?" he demanded of Jack.
"Over here, boy," one of the Councill members commanded, and Yuya turned in surprise. "We'll give you a lift," Gael nodded, and Taki agreed with a silent nod. "Well? What are you waiting for? Our little announcement will obviously just have to wait until after this," Bordeaux huffed.
"Thanks!" Yuya grinned, leaping up and climbing into the machine as the helicopter prepared to take off once more. Jack instantly followed him, stepping aboard as it lifted into the sky, angling towards the large building that housed the power grid.
Meanwhile, a voice had interrupted Jean-Michael. "Forgive me if I'm sceptical of your plan, but I can see a few gaping holes in it,"
"What are you talking about?" Jean-Michael snorted, but his eyes widened as he turned to see who had interrupted him.
Declan, his finger holding his crimson glasses firmly against his nose with one hand and his red Duel Disk calmly raised and activated in the other, glared at him as he slowly, deliberately, walked onto the maintenance platform where the ex-Commander stood. "For one thing, you don't seem to have been prepared to deal with me,"
A/N
A/N
I just felt like, after all the awesome stuff of Jack and Yuya's Duel, that was the perfect place to end it. :)
So, all we have left is the Duel between Declan and Jean-Michael, and then the Synchro arc is done and dusted and we're into the Xyz arc! Woohoo! :)
Then again . . . I did have an idea for an 'in-between mini-arc' of sorts . . . . maybe I'll devote a few chapters to that? Could be fun, and a good way to spend some time while I wait for more episodes to air that I can work with. After all, no reason not to, right? :)
No original cards (again . . wow I am getting really, really good at staging seriously awesome Duels without using a single original card. Awesome! :)) so, thanks for being a dedicated reviewer, Leafeon! I really hope this chapter satisfied you, because Yuya versus Jack is easily my best Duel yet. :)
And, to top it all off, this story is slowly but surely approaching the one hundred thousand word mark! . . . okay, at least part of that is probably author's notes and original card printings, but still. :)
I think that's about it. Peace! :)