Disclaimer: I do not own YGO 5D's.
A/N: Summoned monsters will be bolded, as will changes in LP. This is the last time I write a duel between two swarming decks.
Plots in/between the duel will be separated by …
I got up bright and early the next morning. Feeling truly energized for the first time since I got to the Satellite, I had something to look forward to- beating the Adaros so I would have access to food from the outside. Baby steps, I reminded myself, baby steps.
To obtain food from outside the Satellite, and I mean real food, I have carefully designed a series of intricate, Wiley-Coyote-elaborate plans, and today is the second step. First, I set up a business in Satellite to generate profit, next I will gain access to transportation, route and vehicle, through a duel of all things; smuggle people out of the Satellite illegally, then smuggle them back in illegally with the desired goods. The things I do for food…
Of course, there's also the small issue of getting decent enough cards that I could defeat Dark Signers with an Exodia deck and prevent the destruction of the world, but I'm not entirely hopeful about that idea. Let's just say I made alternative arrangements.
Grateful Nervin had cleaned my clothes last night, I quickly got dressed and made my way downstairs to the entirely unappetizing 'bread' and water that makes up a meal.
I had briefly debated going alone, since everybody else had specific and rather urgent assignments. Chaos dissuaded me of the idea, correctly pointing out that I would need the appropriate backup to ensure my opponents carried out their part of the bargain. Plus, dueling was the most popular form of entertainment here, and nobody wants to be left behind. Truth is, dueling used to be the only form of entertainment here, now there're radios and mp3s, but dueling remains most popular.
So after a coin flip, and some ensuing violence, Felice, Vincent and Chaos went to the pier with me to meet the infamous Adaros.
Out of sheer habit, Greiger took away Akiza's deck. He didn't bother tying her down like Yuki (strongly and repeatedly) advised, he can't imagine a situation where the red-haired girl would overpower him.
He picked the unconscious form off the floor and placed her on the couch, then sat beside the table to wait for her to get up.
"Hmm?" Akiza moaned softly as she opened her eyes, "Who are you?" She sat up immediately upon seeing her attacker, her hand reached instinctively for her deck but only felt the empty holster in its place. "Where're my cards?"
"I apologize," Greiger sat straight in the uncomfortable-even-by-Satellite-standards stool, "I've been commissioned to keep you here for the next day. I will return your deck to you at this time tomorrow."
"By whom?" Akiza asked suspiciously. There're quite a few people who might want her dead, but not nearly as many who would take the extra effort to make sure she stayed alive.
"Yuki Tono from the Development," Greiger replied readily. He was going to bring it up even if Akiza hadn't asked, if anything, it might help to foil whatever plan that satellite scum had. First Crow's kids then this girl, Tono had gone entirely too far.
"Why?" Akiza asked just like he knew she would. "Where is she? I'll duel her face-to-face!"
"From what I know," only Greiger's natural impassiveness kept the smug expression off his face, "Tono left to attack an Arcadia group at the pier. She wanted you out of the way."
"The Adaros!" Akiza paled. The group arranged her trips in and out of the Satellite, and Akiza didn't like to think how long it would take Divine to get her out of here without them.
"That is correct," Greiger confirmed her fears, "Tono plans on taking over the area for her personal gains."
"And why are you telling me this?" Akiza shrank further back into the sofa, "what do you want?"
"I am here to complete the task I was assigned," Greiger replied, allowing his lips to quirk up a barely-noticeable degree, "I thought you might like a chance to do the same."
Akiza nodded slowly. This man doesn't seem to want to do her harm, and all she needed was a chance to get at any duel monster card.
Greiger appeared entirely comfortable in the ensuing silence, while Akiza fidgeted nervously and picked at her nails, her eyes darting around the room for a chance to grab a card and free herself, but Greiger was too close, he'd be able to stop her before she made a move. He might not, but she didn't want to risk it.
The pier was located 12km away.
Knowing Satellite, that information alone should be warning enough. Sadly, I didn't know Satellite. Not as well as I thought anyways.
We travelled via duel runner, as in I clung onto Chaos' scooter as tightly as I could while he used sewage pipes, roofs and sometimes walls as road. Admittedly, all of those were a little easier to travel on than the actual roads. So naturally, when we stopped by the ocean, I felt off the 'runner', collapsing to the ground on all fours.
"Yuki Tono," the husky yet smooth voice sounded so perfect I ignored its menacing tone.
I looked up and followed the pair of long legs to their owner.
Being an anime world, I was used to far-above-average appearances being, well average. But even by anime standards, he was still outrageously good-looking. The man was in his early thirties and had a charm that, like good wine, came with maturity. I was careful not to drool over his brilliant blond hair, come-hither green eyes and a smile more deserving of the cover page of teen magazines than any Jack Atlas photoshoot. He was dressed in an understated dark grey suit that complemented his slender yet muscular physique and paired it with a checkered red tie, good fashion sense rarely seen in the Satellite. Also rare was his flawless complexion in the color of rich cream, I swallowed at the sudden pang of hunger- he looked delectable.
And that's the highest compliment I'd give a guy, comparing them favorably to food.
"Here, let me help you," He reached a hand. I grabbed it automatically and let him pull me up, flashing my most attractive smile and deciding to ignore the sinister glint in his eyes.
He looked oddly familiar though.
"Blizzard?" Chaos caught one look and rushed over without locking his duel runner, "Yuki, get away from him."
I had almost forgotten about the blond who tagged dueled with Chaos that night. He cleaned up very nicely.
"Chaos, how good of you to visit," Blizzard nodded in Chaos' direction, there was no trace of his old-self left, "And these are your friends I presume? I know I certainly remember this one." My hand was beginning to hurt in his grip
"Where's Ara?" Chaos asked guardedly as Vincent and Felice cornered Blizzard.
"She was-' Blizzard flashed a cocky smile, "Let's just say she was transferred… Somewhere. But that hardly matters. I'm now the leader of the Adaros, and I'll be happy to crush your little pet project here before she rots in jail."
Chaos grabbed Blizzard's wrist, forcing him to release my hand, "he can be a little petty," Chaos explained apologetically, "you did ruin his deck."
"Petty?" Blizzard's green eyes glared accusingly at Chaos, "After the Sector put a red light on your sales operation, they put a bounty on my head for being part of it. Divine bailed me out to work for him, or I might be six feet under by now. And you call me petty?"
"Maybe not this time-" Chaos admitted. Though he had been either arrested or unconscious for most of it and thus had more than sufficient reason to defend himself, he still felt guilty for leaving Blizzard to fend for himself against the Sector.
"This isn't vengeance," Blizzard shrugged, calming down, "This is a job. Either this or I go back, so you see, it's nothing personal. Now, I believe that's enough chitchat, you were here for a duel."
"I thought I ruined your deck," I said quickly before the duel could start. I needed to know because, well, using a Six Samurai deck, the only way I could win was targeting my deck to my opponent's.
"I'm using Ara's Mermail deck," Blizzard replied, obviously understanding my attempt to gauge his deck, confident enough to tell me anyways.
"You're feeling pretty good about yourself," I grinned as I finished the final adjustments to my deck.
"I have defeated more duelists than you've met," Blizzard boasted with his head high,
"Quality over quantity then," Felice commented.
Being more familiar with the game, neither Chaos nor Vincent looked as optimistic. Mermails are notorious for OTKs, doubtlessly more powerful when playing with 4000LP. But I do have a couple of tricks up my sleeves. Having had the power of the internet at my fingertips, these kids trapped in the Satellite wouldn't know what hit them
"We'll duel here," Blizzard smirked, as a duel stadium rose up from the pier and we each ascended the duelist platform. "Don't look down, there're sharks in the water."
Well I wasn't going to, but now that he mentioned it, obviously I had to look. Grumbling under my breath, I searched but did not find any sharks. I did find a couple of sizeable boats that would fit our need perfectly. We're definitely 'taking' this, I decided.
Turn 1: Blizzard's Turn Yuki 4000, Blizzard 4000
"Why don't you go first," I offered, considering we were coercing him to gamble away his employer's property.
"Don't mind if I do," Blizzard flicked a strand of blond hair out of his eyes, "I think I'll start with this, I discard two water monsters to the graveyard to special summon Mermail Abyss-Megalo (lv7, 2400/1900) to the field in attack mode. Since one of the monsters I discarded was Mermail Abyssgunde (lv3, 1400/800), I am able to special summon a Mermail monster in the graveyard with her special ability, so I special summon the other monster I discarded, Mermail Abyss-Pike (lv4, 1600/800)."
"Two monsters and he didn't even use his normal summon yet," Felice noted, "Yuki's not off to a great start." Both Vincent and Chaos looked a little pale, I didn't look too happy either. It was a lucky draw on my opponent's part, which just spelt trouble for me.
"When Mermail Abyss-Pike is summoned, I can discard one water monster to bring another into my hand, so I'll discard Atlantean Dragoon (lv4, 1800/0) to bring Deep Sea Diva (lv2, tuner, 200/400) to my hand. And by Atlantean Dragoon's effect, I can add another lv3 or below monster to my hand, I think I'll add another Deep Sea Diva. Oh, before I forget, when Abyss-Megalo is summoned, I can bring one Abyss spell/trap card to my hand, so I add Abyss-Sphere."
In one move, Blizzard added three cards to his hand. I guess this is an advantage to duel disks, all his moves must be permitted by the game so I don't need to keep track.
"Like your friend pointed out, I haven't normal summoned yet. I normal summon Deep Sea Diva. Her effect allows me to special summon yet another lv3 or below Sea Serpent from my deck, so come forth Atlantean Marksman (lv3, 1400/0). And finally, I tune my level 2 Deep Sea Diva with my level 3 Atlantean Markman, from order comes justice, from justice comes Light. I summon Armades, Keeper of Boundaries (lv5, 2300/1500). I'll place two cards face-down and end my turn. You're lucky it's the first turn and I can't attack, but the next turn will be your last."
Blizzard: Hand 2, Graveyard 4, Field 3 monsters 2 face-downs
Ouch, I grimaced. In addition to the 3 monsters and 2 trap cards Blizzard laid onto the field, he also set up a good graveyard, which was easily accessible for Mermail decks. My one comfort, cold comfort though it is, was the lack of XYZ cards, I wouldn't stand a chance if he brought the lv7 XYZ monsters out.
But not all was lost.
Though Mermail was a powerful deck, Blizzard's weakness was as obvious as his strength. Having used an Ice Blizzard deck previously, Blizzard still fell into the habit of control decks, where he gets his most powerful cards out onto the field as quickly as possible. While that works well for a control deck, swarming decks like Mermails can more often benefit from having a reserve in the hand in the first turn, rather than leaving his monsters vulnerable on the field.
…
"Three monsters on the first turn," Vincent let out a breath he had been holding, "Yuki better get her synchros out soon."
"Yeah," Chaos agreed, "And by tributing another water monster, Abyss-Megalo can attack twice in the same battle phase. He wasn't kidding about wiping Yuki out in one turn."
"This is not good," Felice said thoughtfully.
Vincent gave Felice a look for stating the obvious.
"Cover for me," Felice arranged the two men in front of her to shield her from the guards, in the off chance anybody looked this way, "I'm going to find Ara."
"You think she's still in the Satellite?" Chaos asked.
"Unless she was promoted," Felice gave him a rare sarcastic smile, "Wherever else could they have shipped her? Divine wouldn't pull the kind of strings necessary to get her out, it's not worth the trouble if he wants to get rid of her. And this is the safest place in the Satellite they have." Felice swept a furtive glance at the guards, "if she's still in the Satellite, she'll be here."
"You'll find her and do what exactly?" Vincent questioned suspiciously.
"Stop the duel. As the rightful leader of the Adaros, surely she'd be the more suitable candidate to answer a challenger rather than that lying hack who somehow cheated his way into his current position."
"I know Blizzard," Chaos said uncertainly, "I think he was telling the truth about Arcardia hiring him to replace Ara. What's that look for?" He asked wide-eyed.
"Ara has credibility here," Vincent explained patiently, "so if she says Blizzard lied, they would believe her."
"The truth hardly matters unless it's vigilantly enforced," Felice grimaced before slinking off.
Turn 2: Yuki's Turn Yuki 4000, Blizzard 4000
"My turn then," I announced loudly to hide my decreasing confidence. I had an excellent opening hand, but the fact is, Samurai decks were released a couple of years earlier than Mermails (by the 'real' timeline) and just wasn't as powerful.
"First, I play Gateway of the Six, for every monster I summon, I gain 2 counters. Next comes the spell Six Samurai United, which gains one counter every time I summon, for a maximum of two. I'll start by summoning Legendary Six Samurai- Kageki (lv3). When he's normal summoned, I can special summon another Six Samurai monster from my hand, and I choose, Kagemusha of the Six Samurai (lv2, tuner). I activate the effect of Gateway of the Six, removing one counter from Six Samurai United and three from Gateway of the Six, I bring from my deck Legendary Six Samurai Kizan (lv4, 1800/500) to my hand"
"I tune my two monsters together to," I didn't have a cute little line prepared for my synchro monster, "summon Legendary Six Samurai- En Shi (lv5, 2500/1400), this add another counter to Six Samurai United for a total of two counters, so I incur its effect to draw two more cards from my deck."
Yuki: Hand 5, Graveyard 3, Field 2
I didn't realize I was pushing too hard on my deck until I noticed my knuckles turning white. "En Shi, attack Armades, Keeper of Boundaries."
Blizzard LP dropped by 200 to 3800. Neither of Blizzard's two facedown cards activated, I noted with some dismay. Sure Mermail decks weren't known for their counter-attack trap cards, but that just meant I could expect a slew of special summons in the next turn.
I laid two traps down and ended my turn.
Yuki: Hand 3, Graveyard 3, Field 1 monster 1 Gateway of the Six 2 face-downs
Turn 3: Blizzard's Turn Yuki 4000, Blizzard 3800
"That's it? After that big speech, I thought you'd have something interesting planned. Now step aside and let an adult handle things," Blizzard sneered, twisting his rather at tractive features into a, actually he still looks pretty good. "I think I'll start with the spell Salvage, to bring back Deep Sea Diva and Mermail Abyssgunde from the graveyard to my hand. And when Deep Sea Diva comes onto the field, she's bringing with her Atlantean Heavy Infantry (lv2, 0/1600) from the deck, in defense mode."
That's where knowledge of the game comes in. Abyssmegalo could send one water monster (on the field or not) to attack twice per turn, and Atlantean Heavy Infantry can destroy one face-up card on the field when it's sent to the graveyard. So I activated my trap, the ace I'd been relying on since I decided on this duel.
"I activate, Diamond Dust, this trap card destroys all water monsters on the field, and deals you 500 damage for each monster destroyed. I count 4."
I saw a copy of Diamond Dust in Nervin's stash and got two more copies from Chaos. This card is basically an enhanced Raigeki for water monsters.
Blizzard: Hand: 3, Graveyard: 10, Field: 2 face-downs
The Blizzard gasped as 2000 damage was dealt to his LP, dropping it to 1800 as his field cleared of all but two trap cards.
"I was prepared for this," he gritted his teeth, "and I have laid a trap for this occasion, Abyss-Sphere, which allows me to special summon any Mermail monster from my deck."
"Good thing I have a monster for that, I activate my Legendary Samurai – En Shi's special ability, allowing me to negate the activation of one spell/trap card per turn." I said casually, though I was a little concerned. There was still another trap card on his field.
"You should let me finish," Blizzard remained unfazed, "I activate my Abyss-Sphere to special summon Mermail Abyss-Linde (lv3, 1500/1200) to the field. Your warrior destroys the activated trap card, and when Abyss-Sphere is destroyed, Abyss-Linde is also destroyed. The monsters summoned by Abyss-Sphere normally has their effects negated, but Abyss-Linde's effects are activated in the graveyard and remains unaffected, allowing me to me bring out any Mermail monster from my deck, and I choose Mermail Abyss-Leed (Lv7, 2700/1700)."
I can't believe somebody who's never used the internet one-upped me on card rulings.
"I discard one card to special summon Mermail Abyssteus (1700/2400), in attack mode. Now he only has 1700 attack that's true but to summon him, I discarded Mermail Abyssgunde, which allows me to special summon on monster in defense mode from my deck, and I'll bring out another copy of Mermail Abyss-Leed."
"And when Mermail Abyssteus is summoned, I am able to bring one level four or below monster to my hand, I think I'll add Mermail AbyssNose (1500/1500)."
Blizzard: Hand: 2, Graveyard: 13, Field: 3 monster, 1 face-downs
Yuki: Hand 3, Graveyard 5, Field 1 monster 1 Gateway of the Six, 1 face-down card
"I play Mystic Space Typhoon," he flipped over his face-down cared, "to destroy your trap." My Dimensional prison was destroyed.
"Now Mermail Abyssleed, Aquatic Slaughter!" The armored aquaman destroyed my warrior and 200 of my life points.
Mermail Abbyssteus followed, dealing me another 1700 damage.
"That's it for my turn, let's see how long you can last when your opponent has a decent deck."
Turn 4: Yuki's Turn Yuki 2100, Blizzard 1800
Yuki: Hand 4, Graveyard 6, Field: 1 Gateway of the Six,
"I play, Reinforcement of the Army and add Six Samurai Zanji (lv4, 1800/1300) to my hand." I noticed Blizzard's annoyance before remembering I got that card from him. Oh well. "I summon Six Samurai Zanji (lv4, 1800/1300), and since I have him on the field, I special summon Six Samurai Kizan (lv4, 1800/1000) to my field."
Blizzard still looked uninterested, well that's going to change quite quickly.
"The two summons have given my Gateway of the Six 4 more counters, allowing me to bring Grandmaster of the Six (lv5, 2100/800) into my hand, and when there's a Six Samurai on the field, he can be brought out as well."
"Kizan, destroy Mermail Abyssteus! I should mention, when there're two or more of his fellow warriors on the field, Kizan gains 300 attack, bringing his attack to 2100."
Blizzard's life points decreased by 400 points.
"Now Zanji, attack Mermail Abyssleed."
"But my monsters is clearly stronger," Blizzard protested.
"That's true, but when Zanji attacks a monster, that monster is destroyed regardless of its attack or defense. Zanji will also be destroyed in the attack, but I think I'll let Kizan take his place."
My LP decreased by 900, but Mermail Abyssleed was sliced into multiple pieces and disappeared with my Six Samurai Kizan.
Yuki: Hand 2, Graveyard 8, Field: 2 monsters, 1 Gateway of the Six, 1 face-down card
"Now, Grandmaster of the Six, destroy Abyss-Leed!" Having only 1700 defense, the powerful aqua monster was sent to the graveyard.
"Don't celebrate too soon, the duel's not over yet."
"Then I end my turn, let's see what you can do."
Turn 5: Blizzard's Turn Yuki 1200, Blizzard 1400
Blizzard: Hand 3, Graveyard 15, Field 0
Blizzard looked down at this hand, his brows knitted into a frown, obviously not getting the card he wanted.
"I summon Mermail Abyss-Ocea (lv3, 1100/1900) to the field, and I equip to 4 Abyss-scale of Cetius, raising his attack by 800 points. Attack Zanji, Toxic Blast Typhoon."
The attack dealt me 100 damage.
"I'll place one card face-down and end my turn." Blizzard elected to end the turn with an empty hand.
…
"Blizzard," A woman said quietly from the sidelines.
"Ara," Blizzard paled before he even looked at her.
I marveled at his expression before turning towards our intruder, and could hardly look away.
She had straight dark blue hair that ran down to the middle of her back, in a way vaguely reminiscent of waves of the sea. Her sapphire eyes reflected the light like the ocean at sunrise. A flowing white dress reached her ankles, was covered by a beige leather jacket. Not an inch of skin was revealed, everything was left to the imagination.
I stared at Ara, then turned back to stare at Blizzard, then at Ara again. I just found out that I resented people who are that much prettier than me.
"Hi," she nodded gracefully, "I'm Ara. Divine trapped me after I discovered his secrets, thank you for sending Felice to my rescue."
"I'm glad you're alright," I smiled. I just felt three experience points being added to my 'lying' skill.
"What did you find out?" Chaos asked curiously before Vincent could stop him.
Ara bit her lips sensually, looking up at me as she carefully debated her words.
"Divine had been brainwashing a bunch of higher-ups," Blizzard answered for her, "it's not exactly a secret in Arcadia, you were just being too vocal about it."
"Blizzard had somehow gotten access to-" Ara began as Felice prodded her.
"Let me finish the duel first, then we can talk" I cut her off. Given the choice, I would rather defeat Blizzard and gain control over the area, rather than having it handed over in her bid to escape Divine's control. It's a control thing. If I could, I'd probably get it looked at.
And if Felice had got her on our side, she'd know the right things to say after I win the duel.
"Akiza," Yusei called out cautiously as he arrived at Akiza's temporary apartment, the large duel runner parked at the back caught his eye. It's just possible that somebody from the City is here to pick Akiza up, though Yusei wasn't optimistic about that premise. "Are you up?"
The crab-haired duelist expertly navigated the falling hazards in the building and arrived at Akiza's apartment. He pushed open the door and quickly jumped aside, successfully evading Greiger as the larger man lunged outside.
"Yusei Fudo," Greiger recognized the A+ priority satellite on his employer's list, "leave. This doesn't concern you."
"It's my friend in there," Yusei replied, "so this is very much a concern of mine."
"In that case," Greiger judged Yusei carefully. He can't risk harming Yusei, vice-director Lazar had repeatedly emphasized that point, "let's settle this with a duel."
"A turbo duel then," Yusei didn't hesitate to accept the challenge. As long as he got Greiger away from here, he knew Akiza could take care of herself.
"Fine," Greiger nodded, "just let me lock the door."
Apartments in the satellite, the practical ones at least, are all fitted with iron bars in the window the protect against theft or worse, that girl can't possibly escape the apartment.
Akiza heard Yusei's voice and saw Greiger leave. That was all the time she needed to rush to the bed and pull out Botanical Girl (lv3, 1300/1100) from under her pillow. It wasn't her most powerful monster, but the low energy cost and smaller size was much more useful in a situation like this.
Greiger snapped the lock shut with a satisfactory click. That sound was immediately followed by what sounded like machine-gun fire, as the entire door pierced by flower petals. Akiza gently pushed on the door, the piece of reinforced plastic crumbled and fell into a thousand pieces.
"Hi boys, miss me?" Akiza smiled, genuinely happy to see Yusei. Her duel monster didn't need further command and grabbed Greiger by the waist, hurling him head-first towards the metal railing of the stairs.
"Akiza, wait!" Yusei called out just in time.
Akiza puckered out her lower lip at Yusei's words. Greiger's position was shifted and his back collided painfully into the walls of the stairwell instead. A particularly poor decision on the part of the psychic duelist, that impact seemed to be the last straw as the entire building began to shake and crumble.
Akiza ran out, but not before giving Yusei a look. Yusei stared after her and her pre-emptive refusal at getting Greiger out.
"Can you move?" Yusei asked the other duelist, who replied with a pained grunted and a failed attempt at getting up. "Wait here," Realizing Greiger was unlikely to get out in time before the building collapses, Yusei examined the growing hole on the outer wall of the building and enlarged it best he could. Greiger understood him immediately, struggling to stand up, he let Yusei pull him up and toward the hole, as the crab-haired duelist pushed him out of the second-story stairwell and jumped out after him.
"Why does he do these things?" Akiza rolled her eyes as she saw the pair fall. She was tempted to let them land unassisted, or better yet, place a large piece of sharp metal at Greiger's landing spot- it would serve him right for daring to kidnap her. Instead, Botanic Girl extended her vines/arms, and pulled both duelists into safety.
"Hey, are you alright?" Yusei asked Greiger.
"I am well, thank you," Greiger managed a smile, "though I believe it's her you should concern yourself with." He gestured to Akiza's retreating figure, "it wasn't good form to keep a young lady waiting, I believe she thought so as well."
"Where is she going?" Yusei wondered aloud.
"I believe to the pier," Greiger replied with a smile. Not answer Yusei's questioning look, he prompted, "Go, I'll be fine." Greiger had never met anyone would risk their own lives to save somebody else's, nor had he ever been saved by another. "Good luck," he added.
After double checking Greiger's condition, Yusei rode off toward the edge of the Satellite.
A/N: Does anybody still remember Blizzard? He appeared once in chapter 5, I've been trying to bring him out ever since. And with Ara's appearance, that's all the OCs I have, barring any new character designs.
Now sing with me (to the tune of the Narwhal song)
Mermails mermails swimming in the ocean, causing a commotion, 'cause they're so awesome.
Mermails mermails swimming in the ocean, really powerful water deck, they beat synchrons in a fight.
A/N 2: I can't believe I've already written 100k words… In my defense, I use very small words. Thank you guys for sticking with me!
And there's still so much plot left, why is there so much plot? But as I have already written a large portion of the Dark Signer arc, and really want to get to them, the story will go on.