A/N: I OWN NO PART YU GI OH 5DS! ALL RIGHTS GO TO THE CREATORS!
Chapter 37: The "Practice" Duel
Third Person POV
As the duel began, Jean and Breo talked on their side of the track. "We need to watch Yusei duel," Jean stated.
"Yeah, I've heard Yusei's good. If we can learn how he duels, we can beat him," Breo stated.
Era was standing with the others on the other side, but looked at the two as she heard what they said. They looked in her direction, feeling her stare.
Era's locket went off, signaling a message, and she looked at it. "Guys, I'll be right back," she stated. They looked at her as she turned invisible and walked off.
Breo and Jean went wide eyed as they saw her vanish from sight like a ghost. "Any idea what we just saw?" Breo whispered to Jean.
"None," Jean answered, just as shocked. "Whatever she is, though, she isn't human."
"Do you think the others know?" Breo asked.
"Probably. But did you notice Yusei when Andre flirted with Era a bit?" Jean asked as they looked at the two as they raced around the track. "He's extremely protective of her. I want to know why and what Era is."
Breo nodded and said, "Let's get back to the duel." They turned to the duel.
"This will be an interesting duel," Jean denoted. "Andre and Yusei are similar when it comes to having a genius dueling style."
Yusei took the first turn and drew his card. "I summon Max Warrior (Attack 1800/ Defense 800) in attack mode," he declared. "That ends my turn."
Andre drew his card. "I summon Playful Possum (Attack 800/ Defense 600) in attack mode. And since you control a monster whose attack is higher than the attack of Playful Possum, I activate its effect to destroy itself. And now since a beast type monster I control was destroyed and sent to the graveyard, I can pay 1000 life points to special summon Green Baboon, Defender of the Forest (Attack 2600/ Defense 1800)," he declared and his monster appeared as his life points fell to 3000. "Green Baboon, attack Max Warrior!" The attack succeeded and Yusei's life points fell to 3200. "I set two face downs and end my turn."
Yusei drew his card.
. . .
Era watched from above for a moment before turning to Yue who hovered next to her. "Are you certain you saw that right?" she asked. "Crow isn't hurt right now."
"I know he gets hurt at some point," Yue replied. "You know World Angels' visions are never wrong unless someone changes them."
"Do you know how he'll break his shoulder?" Era asked.
"Not really," Yue responded. "All I saw was Crow crashing after a shadowy figure gets him and then Crow at the hospital with the doctor saying he broke his shoulder bone. I can't tell you much more. I just know he crashes and that he gets hurt like that."
"Should I do something about it, Yue?" Era asked.
"You're the senior angel, Era," she answered. "That's something you'll need to decide on your own."
"And what am I supposed to do if he does get hurt?" she asked. "I don't know any healing spells that can heal broken bones. I don't want to know what Crow will feel like if he finds out he can't duel in the tournament."
"You're smart, Era. You'll find out," Yue responded giving the Combat Angel with a smile. "Don't worry."
"How can I not? Not only is he my friend, but if he finds out I knew and let him get hurt…" Era trailed off and looked down.
"Crow knows that there are some things angels can't help or change," Yue responded. "Even if you knew this, there might be something that it'll lead up to. Crow would understand that. Besides," They looked at the duel, "even angels couldn't stop Zero Reverse and save all those lives. He knows that. He knows you can't stop everyone from getting hurt and he knows that you will always try to if you can."
Era looked at Yusei. "I don't even think Yusei would let me get into any point where I might get hurt," she stated. 'Not at this point, at least,' she added mentally as she thought of the child that she supposedly carried in her.
"He is really protective of you, Era," Yue commented. "But it's with good measure." Era looked at him. "Myla and Cornelia have caught me up on all those little, dangerous adventures you've been on. And you told Yusei and the others. I can bet you anything, he doesn't want to see you in those situations again. Especially since he promised our lord, the Crimson Dragon, he would protect you with everything he has."
Era gave a slight groan. "I know," she agreed.
"Still don't like the fact he's so protective of you?" Yue asked.
"I promised his father I would protect him," Era replied. "If he's protecting me, how am I supposed to protect him?"
"Era, Professor Fudo had visited the Guardian Council at his highness' request," Yue responded taking the angel's full attention. She held out a letter. "He said that if we ever got a chance to see you, he wanted me to give this to you." Era took it. "Read it later."
"A-Alright," she agreed and slid the letter into a pocket. They looked at where Yusei drew for the third turn. "I should better get back down there."
"Yeah, probably," Yue agreed. Her locket went off and she looked at it before groaning. "And I need to get back to the Afterlife."
"You really don't like being a Guardian, do you?" Era asked.
"No. Sometimes I wish I was back to being only a World Angel," she answered. "It was much easier than only reading and checking candidates for becoming an angel."
"You guys are doing great," Era responded. "Without you, not a lot of good angels would be chosen."
Yue smiled. "True," she agreed. She turned to fly off. "I'll see you later, Era!"
"See ya, Yue!" Era called back before she turned to head back to her friends. She turned invisible right before she reached easily visible view of the others. She landed and returned next to the others who gave her questioning looks. "I'll talk to you guys about it later," she told them. She looked at the opposing team and noticed Andre's teammates were staring at her, obviously shocked.
She then returned to the duel. It was definitely Yusei's turn as he declared, "I activate the Speed Spell- Angel Baton! This allows me to draw two cards as long as I send one card from my hand to the graveyard. Then I activate another Speed Spell- Angel Baton. And now I normal summon Junk Synchron (Attack 1300/ Defense 500) in attack mode and activate its effect. This allows me to special summon Speed Warrior (Attack 900/ Defense 400) from my graveyard in defense mode with its effects negated. And since I control a tuner monster, I can special summon Quillbolt Hedgehog (Attack 800/ Defense 800) straight from my graveyard in attack mode. I now tune my Speed Warrior and Quillbolt Hedgehog with Junk Synchron in order to summon Junk Archer (Attack 2300/ Defense 2000)!" And since Quillbolt Hedgehog was removed from the field, it was removed from play as well. "Now I activate the effect of Junk Archer to remove your Green Baboon from play until the end phase." Junk Archer fired an arrow at the giant baboon and it hit the monster, making it disappear from view. "Now, Junk Archer, attack Andre directly!"
"I activate Battle Instinct! This allows me to special summon Nimble Momonga (Attack 1000/ Defense 100) from my hand in attack mode," Andre fought. The attack continued and Andre's monster was destroyed, dropping Andre's life points to 1700. "And now since Nimble Momonga was destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard, its effect activates, increasing my life points by 1000," His life points shot back up to 2700, "and allow me to special summon two more Nimble Momongas from my deck in defense mode."
"I set a face down and end my turn," Yusei finished. And due to it being the end phase, Andre's powerful monster returned to the field.
Andre drew his card. "I activate the second effect of Playful Possum to revive itself (Attack 800/ Defense 600) in attack mode. Then I tribute Playful Possum and one Nimble Momonga in order to tribute summon Behemoth the King of All Animals (Attack 2700/ Defense 1500)!" he declared and his monster rose up onto the field. "And now since Behemoth was tribute summoned, its effect activates, allowing me to return the two Nimble Momongas in my graveyard to my hand. And next I switch the Nimble Momonga that is on my field to attack mode. Green Baboon, attack Junk Archer!"
"I activate Chain Arrow!" Yusei defended. "This increases the attack of Junk Archer by 500 during the damage calculation only (Junk Archer: Attack 2800)." His monster destroyed Andre's, dropping Andre's life points to 2500. While since it was now after the damage calculation, the attack of Junk Archer returns to its original 2300 attack points. "And now I activate the second effect of Chain Arrow, reducing the attack of your Behemoth by 1000 (Behemoth the King of All Animals: Attack 1700) until the end phase."
"I activate Beast Burial Ritual to destroy my Nimble Momonga and draw two cards; however, I can use the drawn cards this turn," Andre played. "And then I activate the effect of Green Baboon, Defender of the Forest! By paying another 1000 life points, I can special summon it from my graveyard in attack mode." His life points dropped to 1500 while his monster did return as said with a full 2600 attack points. "Green Baboon, Defender of the Forest, attack his Junk Archer!" The attack succeeded and Junk Archer was destroyed while Yusei's life points fell to 2900. "Behemoth the King of All Animals, attack him directly!" The attack hit and Yusei's life points fell to 1200. "I set one card and end my turn." And due to it being the end phase, the second effect of Chain Arrow expired, returning Behemoth to a full 2700 attack points.
Yusei drew his card to begin his turn. "I summon Shield Wing (Attack 0/ Defense 900) in defense mode and set two face downs. That's all for now," he declared.
Andre drew his card. "I summon a Nimble Momonga (Attack 1000/ Defense 100) in attack mode. I send the Nimble Momonga in my hand to the graveyard to special summon Egotistical Ape (Attack 1200/ Defense 1200) in attack mode. And now I activate the effect of Egotistical Ape to increase its level by the level of Nimble Momonga (Egotistical Ape: Level 7)," he declared.
"I activate Shield Coat! This doubles the defense of Shield Wing (Shield Wing: Defense 1800), though on my second standby phase, Shield Coat will be destroyed," Yusei defended.
"Well I tune Nimble Momonga with Egotistical Ape in order to synchro summon Naturia Leodrake (Attack 3000/ Defense 1800)!" Andre declared and his monster appeared next to him. "Green Baboon and Behemoth, attack Shield Wing!"
"Well due to Shield Wing's effect, it can't be destroyed by battle for two times this turn," Yusei informed.
"Well, I still have one more monster to play. Naturia Leodrake, attack Shield Wing one more time!" Andre ordered. The attack hit and was able to destroy Yusei's only monster. "Now I activate Howl of the Wind! This inflicts 300 points of damage to you for every beast type monster I control!" Yusei's life points dropped to 300 as the assault hit. "I set one face down and end my turn."
Yusei drew his card. "I summon Debris Dragon (Attack 1000/ Defense 2000) in attack mode and use its effect to revive Shield Wing in attack mode with its effects negated. Now I activate the Speed Spell- Vision Wind to revive Speed Warrior (Attack 900/ Defense 400) in attack mode. Now I tune Shield Wing and Speed Warrior with Debris Dragon to synchro summon. Take flight, Stardust Dragon (Attack 2500/ Defense 2000)!" he declared and his dragon flew up beside him proud and tall. "Stardust Dragon, attack Green Baboon, Defender of the Forest!"
"You're just destroying yourself, Yusei," Andre stated.
"Not quite. I activate Synchro Strike! This increases the attack of Stardust Dragon by 500 for each synchro material monster that was used to summon it until the end phase. So that means it is gaining a total of 1500 extra attack points (Stardust Dragon: Attack 4000)," Yusei fought. The attack hit and Green Baboon was destroyed while Andre's life points fell to 100. "Now I activate Speed World 2's effect. By removing four speed counters, I can inflict 800 points of damage to you for each Speed Spell in my hand. Like my Speed Spell- Final Attack."
But just as the effect of Speed World 2 is about to resolve, the mechanical voice called that Team Unicorn's practice time was over, stopping the duel.
Yusei pulled over by the others. The opposing team came up. "Nice duel, Yusei. Can't wait to see how you duel in the tournament," Andre stated holding out a hand.
"Same," Yusei agreed and they gripped hands.
Andre looked at Era and gave her a quick smile while the other two just watched her suspiciously. "We'll meet again in the tournament, Andre," Era told him. "I'm sure of it."
"Well, we better go before the other team shows up," he stated. "See ya." They walked off with that.
"Yusei, we need to talk when we get the chance," Era told him.
"About what?" he responded.
"You'll find out when I can tell you. If I say it in front of the others…" she trailed off.
Yusei sighed. "Alright, I get it," he agreed. He turned to his friends who looked confused. "We should better get back to the garage, too."
They nodded and they all left. Era got on behind Yusei, at his urging, and they took off.