Chapter 19: Signs of Things to Come

"And now, the moment you've all been waiting for! The finals of The Fortune Cup have arrived!"

"Whoo! Go Yusei!"

Luna sighed, frustrated with her brother's antics.

"He's not even here yet, Leo."

"Yeah, well I want him to hear me when he does!"

Luna just shook her head.

"Mind if I join you guys?"

Akiza slid into the seat beside Leo.

"Hey, Akiza! Your duel with Yusei was awesome! It's just too bad Yusei was even more awesome."

"Leo!"

"What? I was complimenting her!"

"Yeah, and then you insulted her!"

Akiza chuckled.

"It's alright, Luna, I think it's cute."

Leo was about to retort when Jack and Yusei reached the starting line. The lights in the stadium dimmed, signaling that the duel was about to start.

"Hold onto your seats, folks, because the championship match is about to start! Will the Master of Faster defend his title, or will Satellite's shooting star dethrone him! We're about to find out, for I activate the Speed World Field Spell!"

On cue, the purple aura surrounded the arena, and the countdown clock appeared overhead.

"On your marks…get set…duel!"

For a while, the duel went fairly normal. Yusei and Jack countered each other's moves well, to the point where neither one of them had the advantage for very long. Until the two of them summoned their ace Dragons, that is.

As the two dragons clashed, a sudden bright pillar of fire erupted between them. As it did, Akiza's arm began to glow, as did Luna's.

"Not this again!"

Yanagi gasped in shock.

"Akiza, you're a signer! To think, four signers in one place!"

"What on earth are you talking about?"

Luna gasped in pain, her mark burning her arm.

"Aagh, my arm, it hurts!"

"Luna!"

From the pillar emerged a beautiful red dragon, which let out a powerful roar, as did the two clashing dragons. Suddenly, a brilliant flash of light consumed Akiza and Luna, blinding them before they felt the sensation of moving.

When the light died down, they found that they weren't in the stadium any more. Instead, they were in what appeared to be a long tunnel, racing through it in red orbs of light. Up ahead, Yusei and Jack were still dueling.

"Where are we?"

"I don't know, but I don't like it."

Hearing their voices, Yusei turned his head around to see them floating behind him.

"Akiza? Luna? What's going on?"

"If you think these parlor tricks will help you beat me, Yusei, then think again!"

"Guys, look!"

Everyone looked down to see a large temple sticking out of the ground. Before it were hundreds, if not thousands of people bowing to five others. To the four's surprise, four of them had marks that matched their own.

"The people of the stars," gasped Jack.

"People of the stars? Jack, what are you talking about?"

Before Jack could answer Yusei's question, the scenery changed again, this time to something much more familiar to them. Beneath them stretched out the entirety of New Domino City and Satellite, but not like they were used to.

The entire landscape was in ruins, towers of flames running the entire area. On closer inspection, the lines seemed to be making an image. When Akiza got a better view, she saw that it was that of a spider.

"What's going on?"

"Is that the future?"

"Jack, we need to stop! We need to figure out what's going on!"

"Forget it, Yusei! I'm not stopping until I win! I'll set two cards face down and end my turn."

"Are you insane!"

Instead of answering, Jack sped up, as if to prove a point. Gritting his teeth, Yusei accelerated to catch up.

"Fine, if that's how you want it to be! I activate the speed spell, Silver Contrails! This gives 1000 attack points to Stardust Dragon (3300-4300)! Attack Red Dragon Archfiend!"

Jack: 1800

Jack panted heavily, surprised by how real the attack had felt. This was no longer an ordinary duel, that much was certain.

"That's not all! Next I activate the trap, Synchro Blast!"

Jack: 1300

Fortunately, Jack's Dragon remained strong thanks to the effect of his Hyper Synchron.

"I'll end my turn with three cards face down (4300-3300)!"

Your dragon might be safe, but your life points aren't! Red Dragon Archfiend, attack Stardust Dragon!"

Yusei: 400

Yusei nearly collapsed, the pain from the attack driving him to the point of exhaustion.

"Yusei!"

Luckily, he managed to compose himself.

"Jack, this isn't a game anymore! The damage we're taking is real, we need to stop this!"
"Don't you get it, Yusei? Dueling brought us into this mess, and dueling is what will get us out of it, so shut up and put your cards where your mouth is!"

Yusei snarled.

"Fine, have it your way! I activated the trap card Crossline Counter! Since I took battle damage during your turn, twice the amount I took gets added to Stardust's attack points (3300-4300)! What's more, I can now have Stardust Dragon attack you, so let him have it!"

Jack: 800

"Thanks, because now I activate the Speed Spell, Overboost! This adds 4 extra Speed Counters to my total (7-11)! Now, here's a play that should look familiar to you! I activate the Speed Spell, End of the Storm! Say goodbye!"

"Are you forgetting about Stardust Dragon! I'll tribute it to turn your little storm into a tiny breeze!"

But Jack wasn't worried. In fact, that was just the play he wanted Yusei to make.

"You fool, I wanted you to do that! I activate my trap card, Sneak Exploder! Now when your next Standby Phase comes around, you'll take 500 points of damage for every monster on my field."

"But Yusei only has 400 life points! He's going to lose!"

But Akiza didn't share Luna's concerns.

Come on, Yusei. I know you can win this!

"I end my turn. It was fun, Yusei, but this duel is over!"

"Don't count me out just yet, Jack! I'll end my turn, which brings Stardust back to my field. Next, I activate the trap card, Meteor Stream!"

"Sorry Yusei, but that won't work twice! I activate my trap card, Crimson Fire! Not only does this prevent me from taking any damage, but it sends it right back at you twice as hard!"

"It would, if I didn't have Shining Silver Force! Not only does this negate your card, but it destroys every spell and trap card on your field!"

Jack just growled, unimpressed.

"So you bought yourself another turn. Next turn, you're done!"

"There won't be a next turn, Jack! I activate the speed spell, Final Attack! Since I have at least eight Speed Counters, Stardust Dragon's attack points are doubled (2500-5000)!"

"What? But that's-"

"Enough to finish you off! Stardust Dragon, attack Red Dragon Archfiend!"

Jack could only watch in horror as the attack connected, vaporizing his ace before washing over him, making him scream in agony as his life points dropped to zero.

Jack: 0000

As soon as his life points dropped to zero, a bright light enveloped the tunnel once more.

When the light died down, Akiza and Luna were back in their seats, much to Leo's confusion.

"Hey, where'd you guys go? When that big dragon appeared, Jack and Yusei disappeared, and then-WOAH!"

Looking up at the display board, it was showing the results of their duel, with Yusei on top.

"And we have a winner! Ladies and gentlemen, our new king, Yusei Fudo!"

The crowd went wild, chanting "Yusei, Yusei, Yusei!"

"Yes! I knew he could do it! I mean, I didn't get to see it, but…"

But Akiza tuned out Leo's rambling. Her mind was still on the image that she saw. Was it just a hallucination? Or a vision of the future?

A/N: Phew! Man, am I glad to be done with the Fortune Cup. Sorry that updates haven't been frequent, but thankfully I'm much more familiar with the Dark Signer arc. Catch you next time!"

P.S. Apologies to anyone hoping to see the full duel, but Akiza not being a part of the Arcadia Movement wouldn't change anything, so I just kept everything too important to skim over.