Chapter 30: The New Plan

Synchro Dimension

Standing in a recently destroyed city block, Yusei and Crow were back-to-back, slamming cards onto the blades of their duel disks almost as fast as the opposing soldiers were falling, neither side forcing a duel to begin, as that would waste valuable time on both ends. "So how about that? Practically the moment Jack leaves, these guys show up!" Crow quipped,

"Yes, it is awfully convenient," Yusei replied, Stardust Dragon unleashing another blast, "But I doubt that this was planned. If anything, they may have relished having Jack here."

"You're right. Most of these soldiers seem a bit too eager to fight strong duelists, wouldn't you say?" Above the two, Crow's Assault Blackwing – Raikiri the Rain Shower cleaved one of the titanic monsters assaulting the city in half, destroying it. Strangely, they beat a wave of soldiers, but no more came, despite the invasion clearly being nowhere near over. Looking up at the still attacking behemoths, they saw both friendly and enemy forces being beaten back in a path that suspiciously led straight to them. Getting their cards ready, the pair were surprised when a young woman wearing a suit of orange armour landed, and they saw the shimmer of Solid Vision over it. "Who the hell are you?" Crow growled,

"I have been tasked by the Professor to take the two of you out." She declared, and flung a device over at Crow, the device latching onto his duel disk. Raikiri screeched and disappeared as the duel disk shut down,

"What did you just do?!" Both the intermediary heads of Synchro exclaimed,

"Merely a safety precaution. Until I disable that, which will be after Yusei Fudo's defeat, your duel disk is just a hunk of metal. Furthermore, the rest of the Invasion Force won't intrude, thanks to the External Field Spell, Prisoner's Lament!" A large steel cage encased the three, locking them off from the rest of the Dimension, "Now Yusei Fudo, I challenge you to a duel!" She declared,

"Very well then. I will ask that in the event of your loss, that you also remove that lock." Yusei agreed,

"Sure. I mean, it's not like I'm going to lose!" She nodded.

"Let's duel!" They both declared, and the sword that the woman held transmogrified, becoming a floating duel disk, and it lost the orange accents on it, and the Solid Vision around her dispersed, revealing a black and white uniform-like dress.

Yusei: 4000 LP

Unknown: 4000 LP

Turn 1: Yusei

"I shall go first, and set three cards, as well as a monster. Go ahead. Do your worst!" Yusei declared, choosing to play defensively, as he didn't know what this person was capable of.

Turn 2: Unknown

"I draw," The woman looked at the card she drew, and smiled, "I activate Pot of Greed! This allows me to draw two, then I activate Foolish Burial Goods, which sends my Lightning Storm from my deck to my graveyard. Then, I activate Sky Striker Mobilise – Engage!, which allows me to add my Sky Striker Ace – Raye from my deck to my hand, and then draw an additional card, since at least three spells are in my grave. I then summon Raye!" Despite the woman declaring the summon, nothing changed on her field, leaving Yusei and Crow slightly confused,

Sky Striker Ace – Raye: Level 4, 1500 ATK

"Next, I will show you the evolution of dueling! I open a circuit to call upon Mission Control. The summoning condition is any 'Sky Striker Ace', so I set Raye into the Link Arrow! Calling suit X-004! Appear and make our opponent answer! I Link Summon! LINK-1, Sky Striker Ace – Hayate!" Raising her hand, the woman was encased in Solid Vision, a green suit of armour soon coating her.

Sky Striker Ace – Hayate: LINK-1, 1500 ATK, Bottom Left Arrow

"Oh, so you're one of those Cosplay Duelists, aren't you?" Crow questioned from the sidelines, "Y'know, like those Duelists who use Solid Vision to become your monsters."

"Silence!" The woman declared, "Now, this suit has a special property, which allows it to strike, regardless of the defences my opponent has, so I attack you directly, Yusei Fudo!"

"Not so fast! Scrap Iron Scarecrow will put a stop to your attack. And furthermore, I get to set it face-down instead of sending it to the grave." Yusei responded, one of his signature cards activating,

"Hmph. In that case, I shall use Hayate to build another circuit. Yet again, I only require one of my 'Aces', so I shall sacrifice this suit to call upon suit X-002, LINK-1, Sky Striker Ace – Shizuku!" The armour the woman was wearing was suddenly replaced by a blue set, and Yusei could have sworn that the air felt heavier, "Next, I'll do something I regret not doing in my first Main Phase, but I activate Sky Striker Maneuver – Afterburners! allowing me to destroy that monster, and a spell or trap since at lease 3 spells are in my grave. Say goodbye to your pathetic monster and that Scarecrow!" The cards on Yusei's field shattered, and his eyes widened, "Then, I set a card and end my turn. Shizuku also allows me to add a 'Sky Striker' spell to my hand, so long as another copy isn't in my grave already, so I add Sky Striker Mecha – Widow Anchor to my hand. Go ahead!"

Sky Striker Ace – Shizuku: LINK-1, 1500 ATK, Top Right Arrow

Turn 3: Yusei

"Now, you'll see what we, the people of New Domino, are made of. I draw! I'll take advantage of the Junk Connector you put in my graveyard, and normal summon Junk Synchron, special summoning my Connector back. Now, let's rev it up! Level 3 Junk Synchron tunes level 2 Junk Connector! Now see how even the tiniest scrap has value! I Synchro Summon! Level 5, Junk Warrior! Next, Junk Connector revives my Synchron. And since I control a tuner monster, Boost Warrior joins the fight! Furthermore, since I control 3 or more 'Synchron' and/or 'Warrior' monsters, level 1 Synchronius Synchroncan be called to my field, but only 'Synchron', 'Warrior' or WIND attribute Dragon-type monsters can be summoned from my Extra Deck this turn. Now, Level 1 Synchronius Synchron tunes level 1 Boost Warrior! I Synchro Summon, the level 2 Synchro-Tuner, Formula Synchron! This allows me to draw one card, and would you look at that? It's Pot of Greed, giving me two additional cards! Level 3 Junk Synchron now tunes Level 5 Junk Warrior! Now, watch as the hopes of the world give me strength! Take flight, Stardust Dragon!

"But I'm still not done yet! Stardust! Take me up!" Yusei was picked up by his dragon, and sat in-between its wings, "Go fast and go far! And watch as I ascend my dueling! The level 2 Synchro-Tuner, Formula Synchron now tunes with level 8 Stardust Dragon! Go and achieve the next stage of glory and fight for our future! Accel Synchro! Be reborn! Shooting Star Dragon!" The dragon appeared, roaring, and Yusei's arm flared in red light, a tattoo-like mark appearing on it, in the shape of a dragon's head, but the Synchro Duelist carried on, as if he didn't notice it.

Shooting Star Dragon: Level 10, 3300 ATK - 2900 ATK

"Why are you weaker, my friend?" Yusei questioned, noticing the lowered stats of his monster for the first time,

"Oh, that's this suit's special ability! For each spell in my grave, your monsters lose 100 attack points!" his opponent declared, "Now I activate my set Widow Anchor! This negates your monster's effect, and then I can take control of it, since I have three spells in my graveyard!"

"NO!" Yusei shouted, knowing that she had a second copy in her hand, "I play a counter trap card! Shooting Star Revenge! This allows me to half my life points to negate that effect, and should I control a 'Shooting Star Dragon', it becomes unaffected by card effects, other than its own, until the end of the turn!"

It was his opponent's turn to growl, as Shooting Star Dragon powered back up.

Yusei: 4000 LP - 2000 LP

Shooting Star Dragon: 2900 ATK - 3300 ATK

"Now, I activate the effect of Shooting Star Dragon! I reveal the top five cards of my deck, and for each Tuner among those cards, my dragon can attack that many times! Shooting Stardust Road!"

Xyz Dimension – Lancers Forward Camp

"We will be staying here for another few days. Shay's Raidraptors are currently investigating the proximity of the Fusion Forward Base, and from there, we can assault it and claim a way to the Fusion Dimension itself. Upon doing that, we will be attacking Duel Academy almost immediately, so I hope that you all are ready for that." Declan informed the group, although they were paying half-attention at best, all still caught up in being reunited with each other. Declan, of course, understood this, but also knew that his Lancers would be ready. After all, this was their final goal. Jack Atlas was standing bent over his Duel Runner, tinkering with some of the internals, before letting out a bored sigh. "All this sitting around is getting old," He declared, "I demand a duel! And one from Mr. Akaba himself, as, to be frank, I'm not exactly sure I believe him to be a strong duelist!" A smirk appeared on Declan's face as he stepped forward,

"Very well. I shall take you on." Declan replied, adjusting his glasses and activating his duel disk, Jack Atlas doing similar.

"Let's duel!" They declared.

Declan: 4000 LP

Jack Atlas: 4000 LP

Turn 1: Jack Atlas

"Let's start by kicking this duel into overdrive! Since I control no monsters, Red Sprinter can join my field. Then, I normal summon Red Resonator, and its effect allows me to summon Crimson Resonator from my hand! I now tune level 2 Red Resonator to level 4 Red Sprinter! Be born from the depths of the abyss and rise to the spark that can blaze into so much more! Synchro Summon! Level 6, Red Rising Dragon, emerge!" A flaming outline of Jack's Red Dragon Archfiend took shape, letting out a small roar, that was certainly meant to be much bigger, "Now Crimson Resonator's effect activates! Since I only control it and a DARK Dragon Synchro monster, I can summon any two 'Resonator' monsters from my deck. I call upon Double and Synkron Resonators! Then, I tune level 2 Crimson Resonator with level 6 Red Rising Dragon. King of the abyss take form and unleash your primal rage! I Synchro Summon! A fragment of my very soul, level 8, Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend, roar!" Jack's ace monster emerged, the dark energy in its scar glowing violently,

"Against such an opponent as you, Declan Akaba, I see no reason to hold back! You should know that there is a type of Synchro Summoning so dangerous, so strong, so very unstable, that a single Tuner isn't enough. And that's what I'll do! Level 1 Double Resonator and Level 1 Synkron Resonator tune level 8 Scarlight! Scarred King of the Abyssal Depths, regain your strength and become a true king, but expose yourself to the soul of the Crimson Dragon and watch your power bloom to that of something more! Double Tuned Synchro Summon! Absorb that power and arise as TYRANT RED DRAGON ARCHFIEND!" Instead of the usual holographic rings, the Tuner monsters exploded into rings of red flame, a being of pure red energy appearing to combine the levels of the monsters. The wind generated by the Real Solid Vision was so intense that the spectators had to cover their heads with their arms, and Declan even planted a foot a step behind himself. Emerging from the portal was a monster who certainly looked the part of its name, resembling a fully healed version of Scarlight, the crown of horns, along with its wingspan vastly increased in size.

Tyrant Red Dragon Archfiend: Level 10, 4500 ATK

"Then, due to the effect of Synkron Resonator, I can return Crimson to my hand. I play two face downs and end my turn." Atlas declared, ending his turn.

Turn 2: Declan

"Very impressive. But that Tyrant will soon find himself the subject of a coup d'état for his sovereignty. I draw, and activate the spell card Dark Contract with the Gate, allowing me to add a D/D Swirl Slime to my hand. Then, I shall use its effect to fuse it and a D/D Ghost in my hand. D/D/D Flame King Genghis, prepare to lay siege! Then, through the effect of my newly activated Dark Contract with the Swamp King, I can fuse the two D/D Berfomets in my hand. D/D/D Oracle King D'Arc, join me! This allows me to activate the effect of Genghis to resurrect Ghost! Level 2 D/D Ghost now tunes with Level 8 D'Arc! D/D/D Gust King Alexander, return to lead this legion!

"Next, I activate the spell card Dark Contract with the Forbidden Curse, which allows me to add 'D/D' or 'Dark Contract' cards from my deck to my hand, by paying 1000 life points per. And better yet, since I control at least 2 'D/D/D' monsters, I do not have to reveal them to you. I add two cards."

Declan: 4000 LP - 2000 LP

"Now, I activate a spell called Dark Contract with Resurrection Clause. This allows me to Special Summon one 'D/D' monster from my graveyard for 1000 life points. But then, by halving my life points, whenever a 'D/D' monster is special summoned for the remainder of this turn, I can draw one card. I resurrect a Berformet, and using the effects of my Contract and my Alexander, I can draw one and resurrect the other!"

Declan: 2000 LP - 1000 LP - 500 LP

"I now overlay my two Berfomets to call forth D/D/D Wave King Caesar. I now draw once more. Now, I activate a ritual spell… Dark Contract with the Cursed Ritual. I can now Ritual Summon a 'D/D/D' Ritual Monster, and for this ritual, I must tribute monsters who's level equal eight exactly. Although I can also treat 'Dark Contract' continuous spells as level 4 monsters for this summon. I offer up my contracts with the Gate and Swamp King to meet these requirements! King with the speed of lightning join me and conquer! I Ritual Summon! Level 8, D/D/D Electric King William!"

To be continued…


Next Chapter Preview: Both duels continue! Who will emerge victorious, and who will lose?


Custom Cards:

Synchronious Synchron

DARK

Level 1

Machine, Tuner, Effect

If you control 3 or more 'Synchron' and/or 'Warrior' monsters: You can Special Summon this card from your hand, but for the rest of the duel, you can only summon Synchro monsters from your Extra Deck and only 'Synchron', 'Warrior' or WIND Dragon-type monsters. You can only summon one 'Synchronious Synchron' per duel.

0 ATK/0 DEF

Shooting Star Revenge

Counter Trap Card

When a card or effect targets an Accel Synchro Monster you control: Pay half your LP; Negate that card or effect, and if you do, destroy it. Then, if you control a 'Shooting Star Dragon', it becomes unaffected by card effects except its own until the end of the turn.

Dark Contract with the Forbidden Curse

Normal Spell Card

Add any number of 'D/D' and/or 'Dark Contract' cards from your deck to your hand, and if you do, lose 1000 LP for each card added in this manner. You can only activate one 'Dark Contract with the Forbidden Curse' per turn.

Dark Contract with Resurrection Clause

Normal Spell Card

Pay 1000 LP: Special Summon one 'D/D' monster from your GY. When this card is activated, you can also half your LP after applying this card's cost: Whenever a 'D/D' monster is Special Summoned this turn, immediately draw 1 card. You can only activate 'Dark Contract with Resurrection Clause' once per duel.

Dark Contract with the Cursed Ritual

Ritual Spell Card

Ritual Summon one 'D/D/D' Ritual monster from your hand by tributing 'D/D' monsters from your hand or field who's levels equal exactly 8. You can also tribute 'Dark Contract' Continuous Spells/Traps you control, treating them as Level 4 monsters.

D/D/D Electric King Alexander

LIGHT

Level 8

Fiend, Ritual, Effect

To be revealed…

? ATK/? DEF


Hey all, thank you for reading this chapter! I hope you all enjoyed, and I would like to apologise to you all for not getting this chapter out sooner, but a variety of irl events ended up occurring, and I wasn't able to write much. That being said, there won't be a chapter this week, as I have even more occurring, and will have even less time to write. It will also help me fully map out how many chapters are left, as we are approaching the final act of this fic! Anyways, about the chapter. So, Crow mentioned that the woman from last time, our mysterious Sky Striker duelist, would be a 'Cosplay Duelist' which is just a term for people like Valon from the DOMA (Waking the Dragons) Arc from Classic, also Declan and Jack Atlas dueling. And then Declan whipping out a ritual monster! The stats and effect(s) of the monster will be revealed next chapter, so do look forward to that! Now, to the reviews!

Javier Gutierrez (reviewed on Chapter 3) – Thank you for reviewing, and thank you for your kind words. I hope you continue on enjoying!

Aqua – I mean, YEAH! Forshadowed this all the way back when we had the first scenes in Fusion, and it seems to have paid off! And yeah, Leo did name the Creation Force after that card, and for the hostages (Tyler Sisters and Lumos and Nox for those also reading this and whom have forgotten), they are in the custody of the Resistance, who are keeping them under careful lock and key.

naminexriku – Trust me when I say that the parasites will NEVER infect the Bracelet Girls nor the Yu-Boys for that matter. I hated them in the show, as they basically lobotomised already shafted characters, and while, yes it did lead to, imo, one of the best scenes in YGO history, I already have a plan for that. Also, while what I've stated is what's going to happen regarding them, I hadn't considered something like what you've suggested, and tbh, it makes a lot of sense.

One last thing before I sign off, I thought I'd share my opinion on what the different bracelets do!

Bracelet of the Flowers (Zuzu) – If two or more Zarc Fragments are within 10 meters of each other, and the wearer, teleports Fragments randomly away until one is left. Doesn't apply of 2+ of the other bracelets are within that same proximity.

Bracelet of the Birds (Lulu) – Calms down Zarc Fragments from their enraged/berserk state. Doesn't function properly if Zarc takes full control, but instead weakens his hold on the Fragment.

Bracelet of the Winds (Rin) – Allows the wearer to sense their distance from the nearest Zarc Fragment(s) and/or Bracelet Holder(s). Enables the wearer to sense the emotions of any nearby Zarc Fragment(s).

Bracelet of the Moon (Celina) – The wearer gains limited precognition against a Zarc Fragment, but the seen future doesn't account for things like third parties, unless a second Bracelet Holder is within 10 meters of the wearer.

Bracelet of ? (Izumi) – Allows the user to bring forth recollections of a previous life to Zarc Fragments/people whom the wearer trusts. The duration of said recollections is increased by the number of Fragments affected, or the trust in the other person.

Anyways, as said before, no new chapter next week, as irl stuff will get in the way of me writing, but I'll see you all the week after! – NightWingBOI

P.S. You may notice something different about chapters going forward, as I now have a greater understanding of this site!