Yu-Gi-Oh! 5 Deluxe Dragons
Disclaimer: This one doesn't own the Yugioh series.
Review Reply –
Petor: I'm glad you liked it. It was the most natural progression for his deck.
Chaos. Fatal sirens. A baby crying. A father rescuing hope. A bright light unleashes destruction.
Yusei awakens with these memories of his dream flashing through his mind. He rises from his bed, feeling the perspiration peeling off his body through his bedsheets. He sighs as his nightmare still fresh in his mind plays again in his brain through repeat. Even as he showers, it continues to replay.
After cleaning himself up, Yusei takes a drive out to a scenic view of the city. He quietly sighs resting against the rails.
"Yo." He looks behind him to spot his friends Jack and Crow.
"Had that dream again, huh?" asks Jack with concerned eyes.
"Am I that easy to read?" he asks, turning back to the city.
"You've been having that nightmare ever since you ran into Sherry," Jack states. "Yusei, what happened wasn't your fault."
"I feel responsible…" He hangs his head. "My father's research destroyed this city. If he had stopped sooner, maybe Rudger wouldn't have done that. Maybe we wouldn't have fallen into this."
"Wow. I didn't know you were God." He turns around again quickly to face Crow who said that. "I guess Yusei is another translation of that, huh?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Jack has some powers with the wings on his arm. But, do you think he has to be responsible for everyone he knows?" Crow asks, pointing to the blond clad in white.
"No, but-"
"So why do you think those two marks on your arms make you responsible for what happened before you got them?" Crow's words pacify Yusei's heart a little. "It doesn't matter how strong you are; you can't save everyone. You gotta be more selfish."
"Crow…" He catches his helmet thrown to him by Jack.
"Crow's right; you need to look after yourself. And if you need help clearing your mind, you duel." Jack smirks before slamming his helmet back on.
Yusei puts on his helmet too. This feels like a good time to; he recently finished a prototype for the new engine he and Bruno have been working on, since the other was stolen by Jaeger, and now would be a good time to test it.
Boarding their D-Wheels, the trio drives onto the main bridge over the seas. They ride for a bit, testing the engine's capabilities. So far, so good. But, sadly, something has to interfere.
This nuisance comes in the form of a massive, white D-Wheel. It scraps along the tarmac of the road following after the three of them. Its rider wears a white and black mask adorning strange marks, possessing long blonde hair with purple bangs. Her prominent outfit with exposed shoulders is maroon with a gray lining exposing a deep cleavage, a white coat around her waist, blue pants, and a gold belt.
"Who is that?" asks Crow curiously.
"Must be a new guy. He doesn't know who he's messing with," Jack says with proud declaration.
"Do you guys mind if I handle this one?" asks Yusei with confidence. His friends depart to the side, allowing the duel to progress.
"Riding Duel Acceleration!"
Yusei: 4000
Mysterious Rider: 4000
Chapter 29 – Super Fusion ~ Bonds Beyond Time
Minutes into the duel, an explosion goes off. Yusei slides in through the smoke with Junk Warrior and Junk Synchron on his field. A towering dragon trails behind Paradox, overshadowed by a dark aura. "That's…"
"A shockwave?"
"He must be working for the guys behind Ghost! He can make damage!" Jack realizes as he and Crow follow.
Yusei looks at his hand before saying, "I'll take you down with my combo. Draw!"
He looks at the card in hand before saying, "I'll tune Junk Synchron with Junk Warrior!"
His monster appears from the light of Synchro, the starlight dragon of hope; Stardust Dragon.
"Trap act-"
"Counter Trap – Sin Seal." The opponent opens a card, a complete white card. Several cards fly out and seal around Stardust. "This card allows me to seal your dragon for me to use."
The dragon is concealed in card form, before entering Paradox's white card. As it does, the artwork shifts, showing Stardust Dragon as a black card.
"STARDUST!" Yusei shouts, horrified to see his card stolen from him again. He even checks the Synchro card he owns, and the artwork is gone.
Paradox pulls up beside Yusei, holding the card he nabbed. "Thank you. Now my second experiment in the past can begin."
"A woman?" Yusei realizes this when he gets closer to her.
"Sin Seal's other effect; you take damage equal to the monster's attack." A shockwave hits Yusei, causing his machine to stop.
Yusei: 0000
"What!?"
With what she needs in her hand, she drives away as the Yusei Go shuts down. Her D-Wheel shines brightly, a familiar aura he's seen before before she disappears into nothing.
The masked woman is gone, and the trio looks in surprise wondering what happened.
Yusei and the others return home to wonder what happened, to figure out where she went. Neither her appearance nor her D-Wheel are registered anywhere. Her weird cards are another thing to look into.
"Yusei! Jack! Crow!" The door opens as Aki, Lua, and Luca come rushing in ascending order.
"What now? We're in the middle of a crisis right now," says Jack with a scowl.
"I think it might be connected," Luca says as she shows a digital article.
"We were looking up Duel Monsters history when we saw this," Lua says as Yusei takes the metal pole PDA. It has two characters displayed in a picture.
"Who's that?" asks Crow.
"That's the former CEO of Industrial Illusions, Pegasus J. Crawford," Jack says as he stares at the one-eyed man with silver hair.
"Wait, does that he's-"
"Yeah. He's the inventor of Duel Monsters…" Yusei looks at the star-haired teenager who looks like a small 12-year-old. "And this is…"
"Oh, yeah! I know him! He's the first King of Games, Yugi Moto," says Crow.
"Muto." Aki corrects him.
"Huh?"
"His name is Yugi Muto, not Moto."
"Oops. I have only seen that name written."
"His hairstyle is out of the ordinary, but his skills were undeniable," Jack states, noticing the golden upside-down pyramid around his neck. He then shakes his head. "Wait a minute; how is this related to our problem?"
"Well, you're looking at the wrong article." Aki pushes the cursor, revealing a shocking image.
It shows several dragons unleashing horrible destruction upon the city of Venice. One dragon, however, stands out; Stardust Dragon. "Stardust?!"
"Impossible! This took place 30 years ago, but Synchro monsters weren't invented yet!" Jack says as he stares at the date. "Not to mention we would have known about this sooner!"
"Wait a minute…" Yusei looks deeper into the article before magnifying the picture. Diving as small as he can, he spots someone atop a tower staring at the destruction. There stands Paradox. "It's her!"
"What is this?!" Crow can't believe what he's seeing. Despite everything he's seen, this is one standout of a problem that can't make sense.
'A woman who stole Stardust, declares an experiment in the past, disappears, and somehow appears in an article that was never there…' Yusei realizes what's happening. As he concludes, dust falls apart from the building they stand along with outside in the city.
The six go outside the home and bear witness to the cataclysm around them. Everything is falling apart, dissolving into dark smoke. "What the?"
"Everything's coming undone?" asks Lua in terror.
"That person… she can travel through time," says Yusei as he watches the city disappearing. "She went back in time to change the future."
"Time travel?!" Luca asks in shock.
"You know, I'm not going to question it anymore," Crow adds in defeat.
"So, we're going to disappear? We'll cease to exist?!" Aki grabs hold of Yusei out of fear.
He wishes he could say words of comfort. But he can't. This is something Yusei doesn't know he can solve. As much as he wants to protect this town, he doesn't have the power to stop something like this.
At that moment, their Signer Marks all glow. Soon they disappear, reforming on Yusei's back. As a response, his D-Wheel glows crimson too. As everyone stares flabbergasted, Yusei gasps as he feels himself brimming with energy and thoughts.
"Guys, I have to go." He rushes to his D-Wheel as everyone asks what he's doing. He boards his machine and throws on his helmet, determination filled in the blue of his eyes. Our resolute star duelist revs his engine. "I'll fix this!"
"Yusei!" His friends watch as he drives forward. Light bends before, around, and after him, before he blinks out of existence.
In The Past…
Venice, a beautiful city surrounded by water, is far more lovely at night than one would expect; it is now the sight of death and flames. Over at the San Marco Square, a three-headed metal dragon trails the skies, unleashing fireballs upon landmark after landmark in pursuit.
A lone man is seen running from the scene. His brown hair with stylish bangs similar to spikes shines in the flames. His prominent red blazer which has seen better days stands out for him as well.
He leaps from a fireball that blows up the side of the building he is on. The guy lands on a slide against the polished floor. "Whoa, that was a close one."
His calm disappears when he hears another cry from a dangerous monster nearby. From St. Mark's clocktower, a serpentine rainbow dragon with angelic wings slithers in the skies. It roars seeing the man before firing a rainbow beam at him.
The man takes out a card and places it on his Duel Academia Duel Disk, shouting, "Gimme a hand here, Neos!"
A superhero straight out of a space comic book, as well as Guyver, stands before the man to block the attacks. The beam splits in half, creating a Y. As the beam subsides, the guy grins.
From atop the building to his 12, Paradox stands with the two dragons protecting her like her right and left hand. Her voice echoes through the square as she says, "Judai Yuuki, the boy who can see and control Duel Spirits. It was calculated that you would arrive."
"Ehhh? I didn't know I was famous!" Judai says with a chuckle. "But it looks like you're the man responsible for the missing Duel Spirits."
"That's a woman," speaks Neos, keeping up his guard. "And don't let your guard down; she went through all of this trouble to kill you."
"You are a necessity to eradicating the Light of Destruction, but now you're a liability to the world. Your involvement must be removed." She draws a card and plays it on her Duel Disk.
From the skies above, lightning strikes the ground before her. Appearing in reality is her captee, Stardust Dragon. Seeing it, Judai goes on edge; this dragon feels different to him.
"Shooting Sonic."
Starlight energy collects in the maw of the white dragon before it fires upon the Gentle Darkness. Neos blocks with all of his power, but even he is overpowered and sent flying along with Judai. As the man is sprawled across the square, the beam continues to rip through Venice like a hot knife through butter. It goes upward as Stardust twists its neck to bring the beam around town to mow down the hair of brown.
At the last second, a stream of crimson blocks the attack. From the future comes Yusei, riding his D-Wheel surrounded by the Crimson Dragon. The beam subsides as Yusei slides next to Judai while facing Paradox.
Surprised, Paradox shouts his name.
"I found you."
"So, you followed me into the past with the Crimson Dragon's power… but, even this was calculated. I may not be able to get rid of Judai Yuuki, but I will have to go through with scenario three." She quickly boards her D-Wheel and rides into the sky, disappearing into time with her dragons.
Annoyed, Yusei gets up and goes to Judai. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, thanks. Who are you?"
"Let's go somewhere to talk. I don't think we want to be around to explain this."
After moving somewhere more secluded, Judai and Yusei sit while resting. The former, intrigued by the appearance of the red motorcycle, asks the elephant in the room: "How do you miss mask over there?"
"I followed her into the past. She stole something important from me, all so she can mess with the past and change the future."
"That explains that… I was wondering this whole time what that was." Judai points at the D-Wheel. "Is that a future version of the Duel Disk?"
"Yeah. They call it the D-Wheel. We ride with it to perform Riding Duels."
"Aw, that's sweet!"
"To think Duel Monsters would evolve to such a point," speaks Neos as he appears next to Judai.
"Kuri, kuri!" A winged Kuriboh appears next to him too.
"Hey, what did I say about showing up all of a sudden? You'll spook people."
"That's okay. He's pretty versed with powers as well." Judai glances at Yusei, noticing the crimson glows on his arms.
"You noticed." Yusei pulls his sleeves to reveal the Mark of the Body. "Still, I was surprised to find her attacking you. What was she after?"
"Oh, I don't know. Johan and Ryo mentioned a person in a mask stealing the duel spirits of their dragons. The trail led me to Venice, and she was waiting for me." He grabs his head when he remembers something. "Man, Asuka's gonna be upset about the delay."
"I have to find out where she's going now."
"Or when. Heh?" Yusei looks at him, dumbfounded. "Didn't get it… So, how did you find out before?"
"I saw an article dated today that suddenly appeared."
Thinking about it, Judai takes out his laptop and loads it up. He checks for past articles of disaster involving Duel Monsters and comes upon one. That is where he and Yusei see it. "Pegasus J. Crawford killed in a Duel Monsters promotion?"
Yusei reads further, blinking when he picks up something. "A disaster caused by a malfunction of Kaiba Corporation's Solid Vision results in the deaths of hundreds at the hands of dragons created by Industrial Illusions' Duel Monsters game. The lawsuit resulted in the popular game being banned worldwide."
"That's terrible! And doesn't make sense!" Judai takes out his cards and sees they're all disappearing. "What?"
"This was her plan, getting rid of Duel Monsters!" Yusei looks around as all of Venice begins to disappear, just like Neo Domino City. "We have to stop her!"
"Take me with you!" Judai says, determined to assist and put an end to her chronological rampage. "Anyone who messes with Duel Monsters messes with me!"
After a slight pause, Yusei agrees. "Be sure to hold on." He throws on his helmet and hands Judai the spare before boarding. Judai gets on holding onto Yusei before they drive into the past.
Sometime After the Grand Kaiba Corporation Championship…
Over in Domino City, a group of people have come together. By the square, a stage is set up with employees of Industrial Illusions shooting out confetti and such. They have all decided to dress up as Duel Monsters characters, including Harpie Lady 3 and Buster Blader. On the main stage is Pegasus greeting guests.
Yugi Muto is among the crowd with an old man who looks like a future version of him. He says, "This is looking pretty good grandpa."
"Indeed!" says the old man. "What is this for again?"
Yugi sighs as he points to where the CEO is. People are signing a petition. "Pegasus wants to make Duel Monsters an actual sport worthy of the Olympics so this little tournament will help petition for it."
"Oh, yes. I forgot."
While everyone is talking and enjoying the few moments before the tournament begins, shadows pass by overhead. Everyone gazes skyward to spot three dragons. The crowd cheers seeing towering monsters they have never seen in the game before.
Unfortunately, those cheers turn to despair when the dragons open fire and actual destruction transpires. Everyone runs about in the chaos, the stage coming undone and pinning people fatally. Stardust Dragon aims Pegasus personally, firing its cosmic flare and blowing him to pieces.
Pieces of buildings fall on the public, crushing numerous to pieces. Yugi goes flying from the explosion, his vision going black as he calls out for his grandfather.
Within minutes, the square is a war zone. Yugi awakens to look around, seeing death and destruction. He crawls around, still disoriented by what happened, and spots a hand buried in the debris. It is also covered in blood.
Pushing some rocks over, using all of his tiny might, he gasps in horror. Tears well up in his eyes. "Grandpa… No!"
He grieves, unable to accept what's happened, when he sees a shadow high up appear. Turning his eyes skyward, he sees Paradox on top of a building. It doesn't take long for him to put two and two together.
"Yes… yes! I did it! My scenario worked!" She laughs at her success. "It will take a while before time catches up, but now, the future is saved."
Yugi watches as she leaves, but once she disappears from his vision, a crimson light appears before him. He becomes enraptured by the dragonic light, crying out in shock.
After a bit, he comes out of the light rolling along the floor. He notes that he's on top of a building. A motorcycle, to him, passes by and slides to a stop Akira style. "What the? What happened?"
Dismounting is both Yusei and Judai. The latter says, "Yes! We were just in time."
"Are you okay, Yugi?" asks Yusei as he approaches the teenager.
"What… who? Where?"
"More like when." Judai takes out his cards and checks them. "Yes! We still have a chance."
"Yugi, I'm Yusei Fudo," says the D-Wheeler as he introduces himself.
"Man, it's real nice to see you again," says Judai with a grin. "The name's Judai Yuuki."
"Again?"
"Oh, right. Nevermind that."
Knowing how flabbergasted Yugi is, Yusei proceeds to explain what has been happening: that he's from the future, who Paradox is but without the name, and what their plan is.
"So, we're going to stop her from what she did when you picked me up?" asks Yugi as he comes up with the plan.
"That's the plan."
Yugi cups his chin to think. "When you came back in time, did you pass through some sort of time stream?"
"Kind of."
"Then how about we trap her in the time stream? That way, she can't try and escape us." The two look at one another, thinking about it. It works theoretically, so they're going to try it.
"I don't have a third helmet, so you'll have to be careful." Yusei boards his D-Wheel, with Yugi in the back holding onto him and Judai on the side with a helmet on. Empowered by the Crimson Dragon, the Yusei Go jets forward through time.
In the time stream, the trio moves forward. They face a figure coming to their direction and collide with them. As their D-Wheels impact, the area around them turns a stark platinum silver with a rainbow shine all around. The lights come from strange rocks glittering the area like quartz in a cave. Numerous echoes of a clock ticking resound in the deafening silence.
The trio dismounts the D-Wheel to face their target, Paradox. She dismounts as well, staring at the group. "Well, this was a rare occurrence."
"We've got you now, woman!" shouts Yusei as he removes his helmet.
"Your timey wimey destruction is coming to an end!" Judai adds with confidence.
"How could you do such horrible things?" Yugi demands.
"Don't call me woman. I have a fine name given to me." She sounds rather somber and upset at how he referred to her. "My name is Paradox."
"Paradox?" They repeat.
"I don't have any interest in being stalled. I must save the future."
"How is ruining the past going to save the future?" asks Yugi in sorrow.
"History is filled with terrible events that have resulted in peaceful times. I don't mind performing these so-called horrible acts to save those peaceful times."
"There's no need for that! Neo Domino City is fine now. After the-"
"-Dark Signers were defeated, you and your friends worked together to unite Satellite and the city," Paradox says, completing Yusei's sentence. "I know all of that. All of what you've done. All of who you are: the Signer of the Body of the Crimson Dragon, Yusei Fudo, the Supreme King of the Gentle Darkness, Judai Yuuki, and the vessel of the nameless Pharaoh, the King of Games Yugi Muto."
Paradox takes a step forward. "I know these events, because I come from a future far ahead of yours Yusei, and it is terrible."
The three of them look at one another and then Paradox. "It is a world on the brink of death. All of humanity has gone extinct. No life can grow anywhere. I came back in time to fix it all, and save them."
"And where does Duel Monsters come in?" Judai asks her.
"It wasn't the first choice," she admits, "because the first scenario to test was removing Momentum."
At that, Yusei gasps. "The explosion that destroyed it was only a tenth its power, but Momentum continued to be developed. Even worse, a new problem was unleashed sooner than it did and it had to be dealt with. The second scenario to test was removing Duel Academia's most influential graduates by stealing their best cards, and crippling Judai Yuuki."
Judai gasps at that. "Sadly, you got in the way forcing me to test the third scenario I have to perform; remove Duel Monsters… Because of your little Game of Darkness, Kaiba created Solid Vision and used it to promote the game, which led to the many events you've been apart of, Yugi Muto. After the Grand Kaiba Corporation Championship, Duel Monsters had reached a height of fame and Pegasus J. Crawford wanted to turn his game into a sport worthy of the Olympics. So, with Kaiba Corporation and the King of Games, he would throw a get-together tournament to celebrate the anniversary and get a petition signed to pull this off. By becoming an actual sport, that led to the scenario that ruined the world.
"That is why I'm here, to remove history and change the hopeless future we were trapped in." The trio grit their teeth.
"Do you think we're going to let you continue with your plan? To ruin Neo Domino City?" Yusei shakes his head after speaking these words. "No, after erasing the history and lives of all the people who live there!? Do you not care about the lives lost to your history?!"
"I told you, history is filled with horrid events. You can't be afraid of slight sacrifices when trying to do the ultimate right."
Yusei widens his eyes in shock. He can't leave her alone after all; this woman's mindset is as horrible as Rudger's, except his excuse was insanity caused by the spider on his arm.
"So is that what we are? Slight sacrifices?!" Judai shouts in anger.
"Everyone has the right to control their future!" Yugi declares.
"I wouldn't have come this far if I could be persuaded by pretty words." Paradox extends a hand outward. "Now, return to your own time."
From her hand, a wave of energy releases and pushes everyone back. In response, their powers activate, repelling her. She gripes before saying, "It won't be as easy, will it?"
"No, it won't!" Yusei shouts as he points to her. "If you want to leave this time stream, you'll have to duel us!"
Scuffing, Paradox reluctantly agrees. "Allow me to crush you using the same Duel Monsters you stake so much faith in."
She boards her D-Wheel. The machine's back wheels rearrange allowing the rear to split into two. Her motorcycle hovers using Momentum's energy as she sits on her machine, inserting her deck into her D-Wheel.
Judai's eyes shine gold as his powers turn active. "Then you better get your game on!"
Yusei's marks glow bright red. "Paradox, we won't let you have your way with our future!"
Partner, allow me to step in.
"No problem, other me." Yugi closes his eyes as the Millennium Puzzle around his neck glows by the Eye of Wdjat. The same symbol shines on his forehead as his hair turns spikier and more prominent than usual. A more serious look forms in his eyes.
"I won't stand for a future where you use human lives for greater gain! It's time to duel!"
Raising their Duel Disks high, all three activate them.
"The rules are simple; since it is three against one, I will begin. You all will have separate hands, but you will also share the same amount of life points, the same field, and the same graveyard. You can also only use your own cards you place on the fields."
After Paradox declares the rules, the three of them agree.
"DUEL!"
Yugi/Judai/Yusei: 4000
Paradox: 4000
Paradox draws her card, using her left hand instead of the right. "I will activate the Field Magic – Sin World."
Black electricity sparkles off of her card as the area around her transforms, turning the glittering landscape into a cosmic space. "During my Draw Phase, I can instead of drawing add any monster with Sin in its name at random to my hand from my deck."
She then pilfers her Extra deck, revealing a Fusion Monster she ends up discarding. "This monster cannot be summoned except by sending Cyber End Dragon to the graveyard. Come forth, Sin Cyber End Dragon!"
Appearing now is the three-headed machine dragon from before, wearing masks similar in design to her own.
Sin CED: 4000/42800 (10)
"She just sent a monster to the extra deck to summon a monster with 4000 attack?" Yusei realizes in shock.
"These cards were developed to take hold of the strongest of dragons from across the timeline and make them servants under my power." She laughs as she sets a card. "The first turn player cannot attack, so I will end my turn."
"Judai, Yugi," Yusei begins as he steps forward, "allow me to go first. She stole my dragon to come back in time. I have to be the first to make the move. To protect the people in all of our eras, our cities, and our dear friends, I want to fight this duel with everything I have."
Judai nods in response. Yugi simply agrees. "But remember; we're here too. I am fairly certain neither of us can defeat someone this strong by ourselves."
"Got it." Yusei draws for his turn, activating Reincarnation of Hope to discard Sonic Chick and Bolt Hedgehog to search for a monster in two turns. "Next, I summon Junk Synchron!"
Summoning his star Tuner, he brings back Sonic Chick before using Bolt Hedgehog's effect to revive itself. He then performs a Synchro Summon. "When wishes of steel gather round the messenger of the gale, that wish will become an invincible shield; become the path its light shines upon – Synchro Summon!"
Appearing to the field is a Junk monster wielding twin shields on his arms like gauntlets. "Come out, Junk Gardna!"
Junk Guardna: 1400/2600 (6)
"Wait, what? A Synchro Summon?" Yugi, or Yami to better differentiate, looks in surprise at the new form of summoning.
"I will set two cards and end my turn!"
"I'm a little disappointed, Yusei Fudo. You're not supposed to switch to defense so quickly, even without Stardust."
"How would you know that?"
She smirks under the mask. "You'd be surprised what I know about you… my turn." Her deck shuffles due to Sin World's effect as a card ejects itself. "I add Sin Rainbow Dragon to my hand."
She then ejects the Ultimate Gem God – Rainbow Dragon from her deck to special summon it, the serpentine rainbow god from before. Sin marks form on its body and face exactly like with Cyber End. Ignoring Judai's comments about stealing from Johan, Paradox makes her demands.
"Sin Rainbow Dragon, destroy Junk Gardna! Over the Rainbow!" The dragon roars before firing a rainbow beam. Due to its effect, Junk Gardna switches the dragon to avoid it.
"Fine. Eternal Evolution Burst!" She then orders Sin Cyber End to attack Gardna, unleashing three fireballs that blow it to pieces. Yusei gets knocked back feeling the pain of the damage.
'Was that his power? It feels familiar…'
Yugi/Judai/Yusei: 2600
Seeing him in pain, something twitches in her. "You could have avoided this, but you had to stand against me. Now, I'm going to send you back to the future in pain."
"But, when Junk Gardna is destroyed I can switch your monster to defense mode." Cyber End curls up as a result. "Next, Miracle's Afterglow."
His trap opens up, allowing Junk Gardna to return.
"I'll set this card and end my turn."
Judai steps up with a grin. "I got this, Yusei. It's time you saw the power of my Hero Deck!"
He draws for his turn, before revealing the magic card. "Yusei, I'm borrowing your help. I'll play Fusion!" The spell merges Junk Gardna with the Elemental HERO Neos in his hand. "Appear now, Elemental HERO Neos Knight!"
Appearing to the field is Neos adorned in silver and scarlet armor that contains blue orbs. He wields a shield in one arm and a naginata in the other.
Neos Knight: 2500/1000 (7)
"A Fusion Summon…" Seeing that gives Yusei an idea for a second problem he has.
"Neos Knight gains half the attack of the monster other than Neos!"
Neos Knight: 3200
"Battle! Neos Knight, attack Sin Cyber End Dragon! Wrath of Neos Slash!" Wielding the naginata with both hands, the warrior stabs the machine in its heart, causing it to explode. "Also, Neos Knight can attack twice!"
With a roar, Neos Knight decapitates Sin Rainbow Dragon. With both monsters dead, Paradox's field becomes empty.
"Nice work, Judai!"
"Don't think this is over. Sin Tune, activate!" With her trap card, Paradox draws two cards. Jaden sets the other four cards in his hand and concludes his turn.
"Well, I've done what I can for now. It's up to you guys for the time being," Judai says with confidence, chuckling as he enjoys himself.
Yusei is a little surprised by this. "Huh. Despite the odds and the stakes, it's impressive that you're able to enjoy this."
"Well, you gotta find joy in dueling no matter when. If you don't, what's the point?" he tells the future duelist.
"He's right. It's in joy that we can play our best," Yami admits.
Paradox begins her turn, using Sin World to add Sin Stardust Dragon to her hand. "The more I play against you three, the more I come to learn about you. And through that, I will learn how to defeat you. I will send Stardust Dragon to the graveyard, and special summon Sin Stardust Dragon!"
After sending a black card version of Stardust Dragon enters the grave, a copy of Yusei's ace monster appears, adorned in the markings of Sin World.
Sin Stardust Dragon: 2500/2000 (8)
"How dare you reduce Stardust to this form!" Yusei shouts in rage.
"Don't get too attached; I summon Sin Parallel Gear." Her newest monster is a tiny gear monster.
Parallel Gear: 0/0 (2) Tuner
"I'll tune Sin Parallel Gear with Sin Stardust Dragon." As Parallel Gear turns into dark Synchro Rings, surprising Yusei, they pass through the dragon. "O, darkness born from the threshold of dimensions, pull the curtain of destruction on the stage and surpass time and space – Synchro Summon!"
From a veil of darkness rises a sinister dragon. This black wyvern with copper blades as spikes towers over Neos Knight, being even larger than the previous two dragons. It almost looks like Paradox.
Sin Paradox Dragon: 4000/4000 (10)
"Whoa. That's a monster!" Judai says.
"When this monster is successfully summoned, I can Synchro Summon Stardust Dragon from my graveyard." From a dark portal, Paradox revives Yusei's dragon with ease. "And, all monsters you control lose attack points equal to it."
Neos Knight groans as it is weakened, becoming a 700 atk scrub. "Sin Paradox Dragon, attack Neos Knight!"
As the dragon opens its mouth and fires, Judai reacts quickly activating his trap card. The Hero Barrier easily blocks the attack. Annoyed, Paradox retaliates using Sin Claw Stream, destroying Neos Knight. Judai responds using Elemental Mirage, bringing back his Fusion. Sadly, without the power boost it loses all of its power to the effect.
"Nice work, Judai!" Yami complements.
"I couldn't pass the turn off to you with nothing."
"You won't be a problem for me. Sin Paradox Dragon will weaken anything strong enough to put a dent into it." To prove her point, Neos Knight is dropped to zero. She then sets two cards facedown.
"Yugi," speaks Yusei, his eyes heavy with thought. "Don't worry about me. Just get rid of Stardust; without it, we have a chance of winning."
Silent, Yami begins his turn. "Yusei, I'm borrowing the effect of your card." Due to Reincarnation of Hope, he adds the Black Magician to his hand. His next move is to play Ancient Rule, summoning a man with dark blue hair sporting sharp purple robes. "I'll summon my mightiest servant, the ultimate wizard in terms of attack and defense Black Magician!"
Black Magician: 2500/2100 (7)
Despite his monster losing his power, Yami continues with his turn to activate a magic card, Bond of Teacher and Student. Upon this, he brings out a blond beauty riding her magic wand. "I'll summon the Black Magician's only assistant to the field in defense mode! Black Magician Girl!"
Black Magician Girl: 2000/1700 (6)
"Whoa! Master, I don't think I remember seeing any of these monsters before," she speaks, staring up at the towering dragons.
"It doesn't matter. We will bring them down like always," her master declares.
Yami pulls a magic card from his hand, saying, "I activate Miraculous Magic Gate! This magic card allows me to take possession of one monster on your field."
Predicting his move, Paradox activates Sin Force to protect his ace from the card's effect.
Unfortunately for her, his response is to ask, "Is that what you think?" The magic gate extends hands out, grabbing hold of Stardust Dragon. It pulls the dragon into the gate and places it in defense mode on their field. "Yusei, I got your card back."
Paradox's version of the card shatters, while Yusei's regains its colors and image. Heartfelt, he says, "Yugi, thank you." He then summons Stardust Dragon properly, with the dragon losing access to its effect.
"You…" Upset, Paradox finds herself wondering how this is happening. 'They're overcoming my predictions… I had calculated that Yusei would follow after me, and even stop me here. But…'
"My turn isn't over yet. I next play Black Twin Burst!" Both of his magicians combine their staffs, collecting dark magical energy from their shared strength.
Black Magician: 4500
"Let's go!"
"Roger!" Together, the master and disciple fire a concentrated beam of dark energy surrounded by a gold aura to pierce Paradox Dragon.
Paradox: 3500
The explosion hits Paradox in the face, a shard of the dragon's body clipping against her mask. A large piece of the right shatters away, exposing part of her face. Her right jade eye shows confusion due to her failing position, with this weird red visor thin as hair attached.
"You've lost now. Your best monster and it's reduced to rubble!" Yami states.
"Maybe I was in over my head, but like I said, I've planned this scenario out. I even expected to have to deal with the three of you potentially. You always save your ace for last." Paradox then opens her facedown, Sin Paradigm Shift, causing space around her to shift. "When Sin Paradox Dragon is destroyed, I pay half my life points to summon Sin Truth Dragon!"
From the gravity surge, her D-Wheel disperses and takes the form of a devil of a monster. Far larger than anything they've seen in this duel, Sin Truth Dragon is a golden dragon with a ruby chest. Its red-eyes glare at the boys while the white teeth gnash. Paradox merges with her dragon from its forehead, a moment Yami, Judai, and Yusei have seen before. As this happens, she glows a familiar crimson aura.
Sin Truth Dragon: 5000/5000 (12)
"5000 attack?!"
Yusei squints his eyes getting a deeper look at Paradox. He sees Paradox's arms have two powerful illuminations, almost like his own. 'Wait a minute… is she…'
"Since you will all be erased by the corrections of time, I won't bother going through the trouble of killing you." Paradox watches as Yugi sets two cards. She draws for her turn, no longer using Sin World's effect. "I activate Sin Selector. By banishing Sin Parallel Gear and Sin Cyber End, I can add two Sin monsters to my hand!"
She then pulls out two cards from her deck for her Sin summons. The first is a white dragon with cerulean highlights and blue-eyes and the other is a black dragon with simmering red-eyes. "Come forth; Sin Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Sin Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"
BEWD: 3000/2500 (8)
REBD: 2400/2000 (7)
"You stole from Jonouchi and Kaiba too?!"
"When a Sin monster destroys a monster by battle, Sin Truth will destroy all monsters you control," speaks Paradox as the black dragon charges a fireball. "Kokuendan!"
The dragon fires, aiming its bullet at the Black Magician Girl. Yami activates his facedown, Fusion Cancel. The quickplay magic rips Neos Knight in half, allowing Neos and Junk Gardna to appear. Yusei then uses the latter's effect to protect the spellcaster by reverting Red-Eyes to defense.
"Blue-Eyes, attack! Horobi no BURST Stream!" A stream of white lightning fires out, incinerating the Black Magician.
Yugi/Judai/Yusei: 2100
His death triggers Sin Truth's effect, causing a mist of blood from Black Magician's remains to rise and harden into blades. The blades shoot forward at their monsters, one almost hitting Yami. However, Yusei won't let that pass. "I activate Stardust's effect; Victim's Sanctuary!"
His dragon disperses into stardust, stopping every last blade coming their way. They all turn and fire back at Sin Truth. "Sin Truth Dragon's effect!" She conjures Sin Rainbow Dragon to protect her, taking the brunt of the redirection.
With a roar, Sin Truth Dragon unleashes a firestorm of energy upon Neos, blowing up the defending monster. As a result, Sin Truth reuses its effect, shattering Black Magician Girl and Junk Gardna. "And, you take 800 points of damage for each."
A shockwave blows away the duelists, sending them sprawling across the ground.
Yugi/Judai/Yusei: 500
"Allow me to put an end to this." Paradox activates one final card, Sin Cross. With it, she revives Sin Stardust until the end of the turn. "Direct attack! Shooting Sonic!"
Sin Stardust charges its attack. "Yusei! You all said that humans have the right to control their future, but in the end, nothing you've done has changed it for the better! Despair was inevitable! I am here to change it! To save us! To save you too!"
Her words touch him in a way he didn't realize. This person is trying to save him? "And to do that, I'll commit as many sins as possible!"
Sin Stardust fires upon the trio. Yusei stares up at the black and white beam, finding his situation hopeless. Maybe it would be best to let her win…
"Oh, come on, Yusei." His eyes change when Judai gets up to speak. "You traveled all this way on your 1.21 gigawatt bike just to give up?"
"It is our belief in Duel Monsters that caused us to travel time and meet one another," Yami tells him. "If so, there must be weight to it."
"It doesn't matter whether or not our futures are wrong; that is our choice to make!" They both speak in unison, as if having practiced this speech.
Judai activates his third facedown, the Kuriboh-Calling Flute. He applies this effect to Yami, allowing him to bring forth Kuriboh. Upon discarding Kuriboh, the giant, adorable furball blocks the attack entirely.
Flabbergasted, Paradox begins to sweat. "Impossible! You've overcome my assault again?!" Due to the End Phase, Sin Stardust disappears. As well, the real Stardust returns immaculately.
Yami faces Yusei with concern. "Yusei… you have friends in your era who are waiting for you, right? Don't you want to see them again?"
Calmer, Yusei remembers why he's here. Honestly, he wants to slap himself for even considering giving up. No matter what Paradox is planning, her desperation will kill too many. Not to mention, from what resulted, it may also bring a worst-case scenario.
Taking in a deep breath, Yusei reaffirms himself. "Trap card open – Stardust Mirage!" Using his trap card, every monster Paradox has destroyed this turn has revived. The team including their aces all appear beside Stardust.
"No… NO!"
Yusei then draws his card for his turn, as Judai and Yami activate their final traps – Neos Spiral Force and Black Spiral Force. Due to the effects, Stardust Dragon is empowered four times its original strength.
Stardust: 10,000
"Let's go!"
Stardust, Black Magician, and Neos take flight in the air. The dragon fires its cosmic flare, the magician conjures a spell to send magic balls to circle the flare, and the hero punches the air causing a spiral energy stream to merge with the flare.
"SHOOTING SPIRAL SONIC!"
Their attacks collide with Sin Truth Dragon, piercing through the red belly it owns. As it groans in pain, Paradox cries out as she falls apart. The dragon is destroyed, and she flies outward, her body breaking and sparking. With her right arm and below her belly destroyed, it shows to the duelists what she truly is.
Paradox: 0000
"A robot?!" Yusei shouts in shock, seeing the machine woman floating in the cosmic time cavern.
'I'm sorry… I failed all of you…'
As the effects of the duel disperse, Yusei can feel something; an overwhelming presence. His Signer marks disappear in that instance. 'What?'
Appearing in reality is the dragon star god, the Crimson Dragon. Seeing the dragon surprises Judai and Yami, who knows Yusei didn't summon it. Even more, the dragon howls suddenly. Because of that, Paradox's body shines red, before she is propelled upward through the time stream.
Yusei begins to glow as well, going in the same direction as Paradox along with his D-Wheel. Judai goes as well, crying out at how cool this is.
"Judai! Yusei!" Yami glows like they did and gets flung through time but in the opposite direction as them.
Duel Monsters…
"Yugi! Yugi, wake up!" Yugi suddenly gets up, lifting his head from the table he was sleeping at. He looks up to see his grandfather.
"G-Grandpa?" Seeing him, Yugi slowly starts to cry.
"Come on, Yugi. You're expected at the tournament Pegasus put together," he tells the boy, who doesn't mind at the moment.
Yugi blinks before rubbing his eyes. 'I guess it was all a dream…'
"No, it wasn't." The other him appears by his side. "We saw that. The dragon sent us back to repair the paradoxes."
'Other me?'
"It seems everything's safe for now…" The ancient pharaoh smiles.
GX Era…
"Kuri kuri! Kuri kuri!" The eternal Osiris Red opens his eyes as he awakens from his slumber. He looks at his side to see Winged Kuriboh nudging him away.
"Oh, hey buddy. What happened?" Judai looks around, seeing he's still in Venice.
"Hmm… I guess the dragon sent us back to the future… ah, man! I wanted to make a McFly joke to Yusei!"
Winged Kuriboh chirps again. "Right, right. I didn't forget. I got to meet up with Asuka so we can meet her parents."
He grabs his travel bag and takes off. "To think she actually kept that fiance thing…"
5D's Era…
Yusei opens his eyes. To his surprise, he finds himself atop the Yusei Go. He also sees that he's in Neo Domino City with both of his Signer marks back. "I'm back… but, did I…"
"Yusei!" Numerous voices call out to him, and he looks over in joy to see his friends Jack, Crow, Aki, Lua, and Luca rushing to his side.
He did it. He saved the future.
With everything fixed, Yusei regales his friends of the time-traveling adventure he took.
He now resumes life, more determined to protect his future than ever before. If Paradox is still alive, she may return.
These thoughts bounce in his head as he travels to his next job. He needs to fix an old game system called Spherium III. It's a game he's seen a lot in old game stores; hell, he and the gang used to play Spherium II back in the old days of Satellite, as it was an old game system no one played and was a change of pace from Duel Monsters occasionally. But, to fix a game system of such renown is interesting so he gladly accepts the job.
Driving out to the oldest section of Neo Domino City which isn't a part of Satellite, Yusei parks his machine out front and approaches the old house. He notes a car outside but doesn't mind it since it most likely belongs to the owner of the place.
He knocks on the door, saying, "This is Yusei Fudo here on the job."
"Come in…" the old voice speaks, allowing Yusei to enter. Inside the home, which has seen better days, he finds two adults trying to fix the Spherium game.
"Maybe I should have gone into engineering. I think I made it worse."
"I'd fix it, but the fingers aren't as articulate as they used to be."
"Hello?" The two men turn to face Yusei, and the young man gasps. "Wait… aren't you two…"
"It's been a while, hasn't it, Yusei?" speaks Yugi Muto, aged long beyond his prime. He looks even older than his grandfather was.
"How was your trip Back to the Future, McFly?" jokes Judai Yuuki, now a full-grown man in his middle ages.
"You really waited that long to say it?" Yugi chuckles.
"When am I ever gonna get a chance to say that?"
Smirking, Yusei steps forward with his tool kit. "So, what's the problem?"
In The Future…
Paradox's body rests on a table. She groans as her mind comes back, and she sees him there above her. She whispers, "Z-one… I'm sorry. I failed you and the others."
"It's okay, Paradox. Your experiment turned out to be flawed," speaks the person. "But we still have time; Aporia and Antinomy will see to it."
Robotic arms go to work repairing Paradox's broken body. "When the time comes, you will return. The Limbs of the Dragon are still necessary."
On Paradox's left arm shines the Claw of the Dragon as repairs are performed on the right arm which has the Feet of the Dragon.
–
Lightz: That ends this chapter. Next time, Crow will receive the Black-Feathered Dragon card. After that, Misty returns to Neo Domino City. It won't be long until the World Riding Duel Grand Prix, i.e., the duel everyone hated.