Chapter 14: A Ghost of a Chance

Soon, it was Yusei's turn to duel against Shira in the tournament's first turbo duel of the tournament. Akiza sat on a couch in the locker room, waiting for the duel to start.

"Mind if I join you?"

Looking up, she saw Greiger approaching her. Nodding, she gestured to an empty seat, which he took.

"So, it's your boyfriend's turn to duel."

"Indeed. Thanks for that speech at the opening ceremonies, you were amazing.

Greiger shrugged.

"I meant what I said. As long as he's a duelist, then he and I are equal. On the battlefield, all that matters is your skill."

Akiza nodded in agreement.

"So, who's his opponent?"

"'Someone named Shira."

Greiger's eyes narrowed at the name.

"I take it you're familiar with him?"

"I don't know him, but I know of him. He's a known figure in the underground dueling ring. They call him the grim reaper, because anyone who duels him becomes too scared to pick up a deck ever again."

Akiza cringed worriedly, but kept faith in Yusei.

"He's tough, he'll pull through."

"He'd better."

Yusei brought his Duel Runner to the starting line, ignoring the jeers from the audience.

"Boo! You don't belong here!"

"Criminal!"

"Go back to Satellite where you belong!"

It wasn't long before Shira joined him, his face hidden by his cloak. But even without seeing his opponent's face, he could feel his strong aura.

"So, you're my opponent. I hope you're ready to know fear, mortal, because I'm about to drag you into a world full of it."

Yusei remained silent, refusing to be intimidated as Speed World was activated. Once the countdown hit zero, they shot off like rockets.

REV IT UP!

Shira: 4000

Yusei: 4000

(Yusei's Speed Counters: 1) (Shira's Speed Counters: 1)

"I'll go first. To start, I summon Bone Crusher (1600/200) in attack mode. Next, I'll set three cards face down and end my turn."

(Yusei Speed Counters: 2) (Shira's Speed Counters: 2)

Yusei glanced over his hand. He didn't have anything that could beat Shira's monster, but he could at least build his defenses.
"I summon Twin Shield Defender (700/1600) in defense mode! I set two cards face down and end my turn."

"Is that the best you can do? And to think, Goodwin had such high hopes for you."

This got Yusei's attention. This guy was working with Goodwin?

(Yusei's Speed Counters: 3) (Shira's Speed Counters: 3)

"Now it's time for my ultimate strategy. First, I activate my trap cards, DNA Surgery and Rebirth Judgment! Now by declaring one card type, all monsters on the field and in our graveyards become that type. I choose Zombie!"

Yusei gagged as his monster rotted away, becoming nothing more than a mass of rotting flesh.

"Now, I tribute my Bone Crusher to summon the key to your demise: Red Eyes Zombie Dragon (2400/2000)! Next, I activate the effect of my Marionette Mite from my hand. By discarding it, I take control of your Defender for the turn."

A demonic insect appeared overhead, using its spindly legs to grasp Yusei's decaying warrior and dragging him to Shira's side of the field.

"Now, I activate the trap card card, Ultimate Offering! By paying 500 life points, I can normal summon once more."

Shira: 3500

"Come forth, Plaguespreader Zombie (400/200)! Now my level 2 Plaguespreader tunes with your level 4 Defender to bring forth a creature that will bring a new meaning to the word fear: Doomkaiser Dragon (2400/1500)! And when he's synchro summoned, I can take a zombie from your graveyard and add it to my field, so I'll be taking your defender once more. Now my monsters attack!"

"I activate Scrap Iron Scarecrow! This negates your Red Eyes's attack."

"Hmm, so you got lucky. You may survive this turn, but you won't come out unscathed!"

Sure enough, Yusei's life points plummeted as he struggled to get his Duel Runner under control after being stabbed and blasted.

Yusei : 900 (SPC: 3-1)

"Pathetic. I end my turn.."

(Yusei SPC: 2) (Shira SPC: 4)

Yusei glanced over his hand. He had almost all the pieces in place, now he just needed Shira to take the bait.

"I summon Sonic Chick (300/300) in defense mode and end my turn."

(Yusei SPC: 3) (Shira SPC: 5)

"Given up already? I activate the effect of Plaguespreader Zombie in my graveyard. By returning a card from my hand to the top of my deck, I can special summon it from the graveyard, but I have to remove it from play when it leaves the field. Now Plaguespreader Zombie will tune with your defender to Synchro Summon Revived King Ha Des (2450/0) in attack mode! Red Eyes Zombie Dragon, drag that chick to the netherworld!"

The decaying corpse of Red Eyes let loose a torrent of blue flames from its mouth, intending to burn Yusei's monster to a crisp. But when the flames had died down, Yusei's monster was still standing.

"Surprised? As long as the attacking monster has 1900 or more attack points, Sonic Chick can't be destroyed by battle."

Shira growled furiously, but there was nothing he could do.

"I end my turn. You're dead next turn, Satellite scum!"

"Yusei SPC: 4) (Shira SPC: 6)

"There won't be a next turn. I have everything I need to win right here in my hand."

"Oh, really? Bring it on!"

"Gladly. FIrst off, I activate the Speed Spell Summon Speeder. Since I have four Speed Counters, I can special summon Turbo Synchron (100/500)! Next, I activate the trap card Limit Reverse! This lets me bring back one monster from my graveyard with 1000 or less attack points, like Twin Shield Defender. Now, my level 1 Turbo Synchron tunes with level 4 Twin Shield Defender and the level 1 Sonic Chick! I Synchro Summon Turbo Warrior (2500/1500)!"

"Impressive, but it's not enough!"

"I didn't say I was done, did I? Next, I'll summon Junk Synchron (1300/300) in attack mode! And his effect lets me summon a level 2 or lower monster from my graveyard when he's normal summoned, like Sonic Chick! Now the level 3 Junk Synchron will tune with the level 1 Sonic Chick to Synchro Summon Armory Arm (1800/1200)!"

"So what? Only one of your monsters can touch any of mine!"

"Maybe not, but Armory Arm can equip itself to one of my monsters and give it 1000 attack points (2500-3500)!"

"What?"

"Attack Doomkaiser Dragon!"

Yusei's red warrior launched himself forward with the jets on his back, ramming his equipped arm right through the Dragon's decaying torso. But what was more surprising was that the attack caused Doomkaiser Dragon's attack points to get cut in half (2400-1200).

"What's going on?!"

"When Turbo Warrior attacks a level 6 or higher Synchro Monster, its attack points get cut in half! Finish him!"

With one final roar of the boosters, Turbo Warrior shot through the corpse, obliterating it in a gory mess.

Shira: 1200 (SPC: 6-4)

"I'll admit that was impressive, but I'm still in this!"

"No, because when a monster equipped with Armory Arm destroys a monster in battle, you take that monster's original attack points as damage!"

"What?!"

Shira could only glance up in horror before being hit by an energy blast from Armory Arm, dropping his life points to zero.

Shira: 0000

"And Yusei Fudo moves on to the next round! Take your victory lap!"

Even some of the people who had been booing him earlier clapped for Yusei, but he ignored all of them. All he did was glare up towards the viewing box, where he was sure Jack was glaring down at him as well.

I'm coming for you, Jack. And I'll make you pay!

"Are you sure there hasn't been any change in the reactor, Zigzix?"

"No, nothing! I've checked, double-checked, triple checked…"

Goodwin sighed wearily.

"I get the point. Thank you, Zigzix, that will be all."

Goodwin quickly shut the call off, pinching his nose in frustration. So far, there had been no sign of either the Crimson Dragon or the Signer marks, despite the best efforts of his duelists. There only possible lead was a reading from a girl in the audience, who they suspected had her brother fill in for her.

"Mina, Please inform Professor Frank that there has been a change of plans. Tell him to throw the match."

"Yes, Mister Goodwin."

Once Mina left, Goodwin reclined in his chair, allowing his thoughts to wonder.

"I won't let you down, brother."