Chapter 33: Breaking the Ice, Part 2

Last time on Legends Unite…

After Leo and Luna beat a pair of Duel Academy students in a duel, a penguin waddles up to them and leads them to a mausoleum, where the twins meet Crump, a member of the Big Five. He proposes a challenge to Leo, who after a brief chase ending at a glacier, accepts. He invokes a special rule where ice will start forming around their body when their Life Points drop. Though Leo is standing his ground, the cold environment is getting to him. Will Leo escape this deep freeze of a duel? Or will Crump's new and improved deck and strategies put him on ice permanently?!

Senator Roy Lassard and his family were held hostage by Gozaburo Kaiba and forced to watch him and his estranged step-son duel to decide their fate. Gozaburo managed to block his assault with the Negate Attack trap, the same card Kaiba used last turn.

"This is bad." Zaria said. "While Kaiba has the upper hand in monsters, Gozaburo has barely lost any Life Points."

Seto Kaiba: 4000 LP; Blue-Eyes White Dragon (Level 8/ATK: 3000/DEF: 2500), Blue-Eyes Jet Dragon (Level 8/ATK: 3000/DEF: 0), and Paladin of White Dragon (Level 4/ATK: 1900/DEF: 1200)

Gozaburo Kaiba: 6000 LP; Chessmate Brilliant Queen (Level 8/ATK: 2800/DEF: 0)

"Relax, sweetie, Kaiba knows what he's doing." Roy assured her daughter.

"You may have stopped my attacks, Gozaburo, but I have other tricks up my sleeve." Kaiba said. "Like this one! By tributing my Paladin, I can summon Blue-Eyes White Dragon from my deck!" Paladin of White Dragon disappears from the field and in its place is another copy of the brilliant white-scaled dragon.

Blue-Eyes White Dragon: Level 8/ATK: 3000/DEF: 2500

"How does it feel to stare down into the face of fear?" Kaiba taunted Gozaburo. "You've got three dragons ready to strike and all you have to defend you is a measly queen."

"That's true." Gozaburo smirked. "But I think what she needs is her king."

"What are you talking about?" Kaiba questioned him.

"You'll see soon enough." Gozaburo said, taking his Draw Phase.

Leo wasn't having the best of luck right now. He was down to 1700 Life Points and up to his legs in ice. As for Crump, he's enjoying the freezing feel of the ice in his avatar form as he has 3400 Life Points. Both sides have a Synchro Monster, but Leo's is stronger.

"A bit brisk, isn't it?" Leo shivered. "I can't even f-feel my toes!"

"Advantage number 204 of being a penguin: we have thermo-insulated flipper feet!" Crump said. "Now let's get back to business, shall we?" Leo draws his card once his turn begins.

Turn 7: Leo (1700 LP)

"Leo, be strong," Luna said to her brother.

"All right, let's do this!" Leo said.

"Good. The sooner you make your move, the sooner I can freeze you over and win this duel." Crump said laughing. "You're already knee-deep in ice and the worst is yet to come, kid!"

Leo ignored Crump's taunts as best he could and looked at his options. He had Power Tool Dragon on the field and had his two Spell cards Gadget Box and Morphtronic Map. He had no cards in his hand. The card he just drew was the Tool Box spell.

"(Let's see... Dewloren is the biggest threat he has on his field right now, but I just lost my edge with Double Tool C&D. I could try finding another equip spell to use, but Crump may just use that cat's effect to overpower him again. I need to think of a way past that.)" Leo thought. "(Hold on… This might work.) Alright! First off, I activate the Tool Box spell card! If I have a monster out, this lets me take 2 Equip Spell cards out from my deck. Whichever one you pick at random, I get to add to my hand!"

The two Equip Spells he shows Crump are Power Pickaxe and Life Extreme. "This again? I already went through that trick with Power Tool Dragon last time, what makes you think you'll get lucky again this time?" Crump asked.

"You'll see soon enough, Crump. Now take your pick." Leo said as the two cards shuffled.

"(I've seen Power Pickaxe enough to know what it can do, but I've got no clue what Life Extreme does. I just hope I don't pick that one.)" Crump thought in his head. "I pick… the right."

Leo smirked. "I thought as much." Those words surprised Crump. "You just chose Life Extreme! And I'll equip it onto my Power Tool Dragon!" The Equip Spell gives Power Tool Dragon a golden aura.

"That's all your Equip spell card can do? Give your dragon a shiny new coat?" Crump taunted.

"There's more to a card than just looks, bird brain." Leo fired back. "Next, I switch Power Tool Dragon to attack mode!" Power Tool Dragon stood up and faced the opposing monster.

"This activates Life Extreme's effect! When a monster changes battle position, I get to destroy a card on the field." Leo said.

"(Not good. I may be a penguin, but he gets rid of my tiger, I'm a sitting duck.)" Crump thought in his head.

"The card I choose to destroy is…" Leo spoke as he thought about what to destroy. "My Morphtronic Map!"

"What?!" Luna and Crump gasped. Power Tool Dragon aimed its focus at Leo's Field Spell. A beam of light shot from the Equip Spell and hit Leo's Field Spell.

"Why on earth would you destroy your own card?!" Crump questioned him.

"Easy. By destroying my map, I can summon a Morphtronic from my Graveyard." The map starts glowing as it disappears from the field. "Come on back, Morphtronic Boomboxen!" The robotic boombox reappeared.

Morphtronic Boomboxen: Level 4/ATK: 1200/DEF: 400

"You did all that just to bring back a monster?" Crump asked.

"There's more. Power Tool Dragon, attack his Tiger King of the Ice Barrier!" Leo commands his dragon to attack Dewloren.

Crump laughs. "It'll take more than 100 points of damage to freeze me over."

"That's where Life Extreme's other effect comes into play. Your monster loses 1500 Attack points whenever my monster battles yours." The golden aura around Power Tool Dragon glows brighter, seemingly blinding Dewloren.

Dewloren, Tiger King of the Ice Barrier: ATK: 2200→700

"WHAT?!" Crump gawked in shock.

"Here comes the pain! Go, Power Tool Dragon, crush Crump's Tiger King with Crafty Break!" Power Tool Dragon swung its shovel claw at Dewloren, destroying it on impact. Crump yelled as he took a lot of Damage.

Crump LP: 3400 → 1800

"Now it's your turn to get iced over!" Leo said as Crump was frozen up to his lower midsection.

"(This kid's more resourceful than I thought he'd be… I can't believe I'm going to have to bring out my best cards against a lower-ranked duelist from another era!)" Crump said in disbelief.

Meanwhile, near the south edge of the mountain city of Arola, Jesse, Aster, Jaden, and Yusei are searching for any signs of Leo and Luna. So far, they haven't seen or heard from them. Yusei then checked the glowing mark on his arm. "It's glowing brighter. This means they're nearby."

"Then we better find them, and pronto!" Jesse said. "The more time we take to find them, the more danger they're in."

From his fortress, Shade is watching Yusei and his group. "Yeah. I hate to think what kind of tricks those Big Five clowns could do to them." He hears Aster speak.

"I think you should worry more about yourselves." Shade said as he snapped his fingers.

At the city's edge, they were about to continue the search when several shadow troopers appeared and surrounded the quartet.

"What the?!" Jesse yelped.

"Where'd all these shadow troopers come from?" Yusei said. The troopers raised their Duel Disks and summoned a ton of random monsters.

"Looks to me like they want to duel." Aster said. "Well, I'd be more than happy to oblige." His Duel Disk powers on and he draws one of his cards, revealed as Destiny HERO - Drilldark. "I summon Destiny HERO - Drilldark! Attack!" Drilldark charges in and attacks a Mystic Clown.

"Guess we've got no other choice." Yusei said as his Duel Disk powered on and he drew a card. "I summon Max Warrior!" Max Warrior appeared.

Jaden and Jesse's Duel Disks powered on. They draw a card from their respective decks. "I summon Elemental HERO Sparkman!" The spark-conjuring warrior appeared.

"I summon Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger!" The tiger appeared with a roar.

Shade watched from his throne room. He smirked. "That'll hold them off for a while."

Back at the duel in the glacier field, Leo took out Crump's Synchro Monster and is right behind Crump in Life Points.

Turn 8: Crump (1800 LP)

"All right," Crump said as his turn began. "I play Card of Sanctity! Now we both get to draw until we're holding six cards." Crump draws two cards while Leo draws six. He looks at the two cards he drew, revealed as Freezing Chains of the Ice Barrier and Moray of Greed.

"Next, I activate Moray of Greed." Crump plays another Spell. He reveals two monsters, Cryomancer of the Ice Barrier and Penguin Ninja before placing them in the deck. "By returning two Water monsters to my deck, I can draw three cards." Crump draws three cards from his deck.

"Next, I activate the Freezing Chains of the Ice Barrier Spell card!" Crump plays one more Spell. "This lets me revive a Level 4 or lower Ice Barrier monster from my Graveyard. Return to me, Dance Princess of the Ice Barrier!" The ice conjuring dancer returns to the field.

Dance Princess of the Ice Barrier: Level 4/ATK: 1700/DEF: 900

"That's all you got?" Leo asked.

"Oh, my move is far from done. Next, I summon my Revealer of the Ice Barrier." Crump now summons a red-haired mage in white and blue with a staff with a cloth around the top.

Revealer of the Ice Barrier: Level 4/ATK: 1700/DEF: 1000

"And she's got a nifty trick up her sleeve." Crump said. "By discarding one card, I can summon an Ice Barrier Tuner monster from my deck." He discards his Cryomancer. "Come out, Geomancer of the Ice Barrier!" She chants a summoning incantation that calls forth another mage, this one in light purple clothing with a mystical mirror.

Geomancer of the Ice Barrier: Level 3/ATK: 800/DEF: 1200

"I'll be honest, kid, I wanted to save this for later, but after what you did in that last turn, you forced my flipper." Crump said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Leo asked.

"It means your Life Points are in for a very deep freeze!" Crump said as he prepared for his ultimate move. "Level 3 Geomancer tunes my Level 4 Revealer and Dance Princess!" Geomancer then turned into three green energy rings that surrounded Revealer and Dance Princess, turning them transparent and revealing four motes of light from both of them. The lights then went into a straight line and erupted into a pillar of light, turning into an all too familiar technique Leo and Luna both knew.

"Just remember kid, you asked for this! Now you're gonna witness the true power of ice, pushed to its absolute limit!" Crump said as the summoning was performed. "I Synchro Summon! Freeze everything in your path and shatter it to pieces! Level 11 Trishula, Zero Dragon of the Ice Barrier!"

Out from the light came the Three-Headed ice dragon, which Leo and Luna recognized as the Ice Barrier archetype's heaviest hitter, Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier, only he looked a little different. Its wings were much wider than its original form and the ice armor it wore was thicker and sharper. It stared right at Power Tool Dragon.

Trishula, Zero Dragon of the Ice Barrier: Level 11/ATK: 2700/DEF: 2000

Leo looked scared at the sight of the three-headed ice dragon. "That's one big dragon."

"And he gets even bigger thanks to my Skill." Crump said.

Trishula: ATK: 2700→2900

"If you think he's scary now, wait until you see his ability!" Crump said.

"Ah, that's right! Trishula can banish three cards from my hand, field and graveyard!" Leo remembered.

"That's right, and this evolved version can banish that many cards from your field! So, with that in mind, say goodbye to your Boomboxen, Gadget Box, and Life Extreme!" The three cards became encased in ice and shattered before Leo's eyes. "And now with your defense gone, there's nothing to stop Trishula from smashing your robo-dragon to pieces!" that signaled Trishula to attack Power Tool. It created a barrage of sharp sword-like icicles aimed right at Power Tool. The icicles rained down on the mechanical dragon.

"LEO!" Luna yelled in total fright.

"I activate a Spell from my hand! Card Guard!" Leo quickly played a Spell from his hand.

"Huh?!" Crump gasped.

"That's right. By discarding one card from my hand, my Power Tool Dragon can't be destroyed by your attack." Leo discards a card from his hand.

"Big whoop! You're still taking the damage either way!" Crump said as the icicles started scraping Power Tool's armor.

Leo: 1700→1100 LP

"You must really be this desperate if you're willing to give up your Life Points for that bucket of bolts." Crump smirked.

The ice around him reached his upper torso. He couldn't stop shivering. "If it… means saving my dragon, I'd take as much as I can. His pain… is my pain!" He could barely speak from the freezing cold around his entire body.

In Arola, Jaden and his friends are battling a squad of Shadow Troopers sent by Shade to keep them from finding Leo and Luna.

"Go, Neos! Cosmic Crush!" Jaden's Elemental HERO Neos took out a Firewing Pegasus.

"Attack, Plasma! Vengeful Reign!" Aster's Destiny HERO Plasma destroyed an Empress Mantis.

"Stardust Dragon! Attack with Cosmic Flare!" Yusei's Stardust Dragon destroyed an opponent's Fabled Andwraith.

"Take 'em out, Rainbow Dragon! Rainbow Refraction!" Jesse's Rainbow Dragon blasted a Primineral Kongreat into pieces. The four duelists are getting tired from hours worth of dueling.

"These guys just keep coming!" Jesse said as he saw another wave of shadow troopers appeared.

"I know! When we take down one of them, three more take their place." Aster sneered.

"It's like they're keeping us from finding Leo and Luna." Yusei said.

"Then we better get rid of them fast!" Jaden said.

Crump laughs. "Soon, I'll return to the real world as a free bird!" He laughs, signaling the end of his turn.

"Leave my brother alone!" Luna called out. "If he loses this duel, he'll lose his place in the finals and he'll be trapped here! It's not fair! He's not experienced enough, especially against a high-class deck. And he's losing badly."

"(Leo will win, Luna)." She suddenly starts hearing Ancient Fairy Dragon.

"(Ancient Fairy Dragon?)" Luna asked the spirit.

"(He trusts himself and his cards. Let's hope that trust is enough to pull off a miracle.)" Ancient Fairy Dragon told her.

Turn 9: Leo (1100 LP)

"(I'm down to my last handful of Life Points. And my Power Tool Dragon isn't strong enough to take down his Zero Dragon. And without any Equip cards, if I lose him, I'll lose the duel too.)" Leo thought in his head before hearing a voice.

"(Leo, there is a way you can win.)" Ancient Fairy Dragon spoke in Leo's mind.

"(Ancient Fairy Dragon? Is that you?)" Leo asked.

"(I am speaking to you through telepathy. The only way you can win is to have your dragon cast off its armor.)" Ancient Fairy Dragon told him.

"(H-how… How will I d-do that?)" Leo asked between shivers.

"(You hold the answer in your hand. I'm counting on you.)" Ancient Fairy Dragon told him.

"(W-w-what did she mean by that?)" Leo shivered as he checked his hand and saw a new monster: Morphtronic Telefon. "(Of course. I get what she's telling me. Okay, Leo, it's all or nothing.)"

"What are you waiting for?" Crump taunted. "Hurry up and make your final move."

"Be careful what you w-wish for, Crump. You'll regret your words." Leo said. "I summon Morphtronic Telefon!" He used his strength to call forth a wired telephone in its robotic form.

Morphtronic Telefon: Level 1/ATK: 100/DEF: 100

Crump guffawed. "All that talk and all you could summon is a measly Tuner Monster with 100 points each? This duel will be easier than I thought."

"W-wrong. Telefon has an ability you should be familiar with." Leo said. The numbers on Telefon's left shoulder light up randomly. "I dial a random number between 1 and 6 and whichever number it lands on, I gain Life Points equal to 100 times that number and I get to summon a Morphtronic from my graveyard that has an equal or lower Level." The numbers start to slow down until it lands on… a 4.

"Yes! A 4!" Leo smiled. "That means I get 400 points back." Telefon then flashed a healing light on Leo.

Leo LP: 1100→1500

"And thanks to Telefon, I get to summon back Morphtronic Datatron." The robotic torch appears in its appliance form.

Morphtronic Datatron: Level 3/ATK: 1200/DEF: 600

"That thing put me on the hot seat earlier." Crump sneered.

"Well, Datatron is the least of your worries, Crump, because now Level 1 Telefon tunes Level 7 Power Tool Dragon!" Leo said. The Mark of the Dragon Heart appears on Leo's right arm. Luna's Mark of the Dragon Claw appears.

"What did you say?!" Crump gasped in shock.

With the quartet in Arola, Yusei's Mark of the Dragon Head starts glowing. Yusei looks at the mark. Jaden noticed it.

"Yusei! Your mark!" Jaden said.

"Leo…" Yusei whispered.

A green ring formed from Telefon and surrounded Power Tool Dragon, turning it into seven motes of light. "Courage and power lead to a revolution for peace!" Leo and Luna chanted in unison as the field erupted in a pillar of light. "I Synchro Summon! Evolve! Life Stream Dragon!" The dragon's armor then started breaking apart, revealing a gold-scaled dragon with split wings, red claws, and a blade coming out of a red protrusion on its left arm.

Life Stream Dragon: Level 8/ATK: 2900/DEF: 2400

Crump felt uneasy, but quickly regained his composure.

"I'll be honest, I didn't see this coming." Crump said. "The numbers didn't tell me you were a Signer, nor did Emperor Shade. When and how did you get your own mark and a dragon? There's no record of this in your time period's duel history!"

"S-Seriously?! Shade didn't bother to know?" Leo asked. "B-But anyway, I always was a Signer, I didn't unlock my mark until I was in a really big pinch when Luna, Jack and I were dueling Aporia. His Meklords really threw us for a loop back in the Divine Temple. Our lives were in danger, and I gave my life to save Luna. But it was thanks to Ancient Fairy Dragon that I was able to evolve my dueling, and my dragon."

"So, what exactly is your dragon supposed to do? Other than look less like a robot now?" Crump asked.

"This!" Leo smirked. "When Life Stream Dragon is successfully Synchro Summoned, I get a full tank of life points back!"

"You mean…?!" Crump said in complete surprise.

"Yup! I'm back at 4000!" Leo said.

Leo LP: 1500 → 4000

Now that Leo is back at Maximum Life Points, the ice around his body completely disappears.

"That can't be!" Crump yelled.

"Oh, it can be, Crump. And now I can…" Leo continued before he heard Ancient Fairy Dragon's voice again.

"(Wait!)" Leo stopped when he heard her. "(I commend you for your last move, but Life Stream Dragon won't be enough to win.)"

"(So, you want me to summon you? But how? You're in Luna's deck, not mine.)" Leo said.

He noticed a strange glow in his Duel Disk's Extra Deck compartment. He pulled one of the cards from it and became surprised once he saw what it was. Ancient Fairy Dragon's card.

"(No way…!)"

"(Do not act so surprised, you and Luna are connected in mind and spirit.)" Ancient Fairy Dragon told him. "(I can be summoned from your deck as well as Luna's. My power is yours to use when you need it.)"

"(Ancient Fairy Dragon… I trust you.)" Leo smiled. "Get ready, Crump. Time for my big finish. I activate the Junk Box Spell card." Leo plays his Junk Box Spell. "This lets me summon a Morphtronic from my Graveyard. Come on back, Morphtronic Scopen!" A robotic microscope appeared beside Datatron.

Morphtronic Scopen: Level 3/ATK: 800/DEF: 1400

"I don't remember that card being in your graveyard." Crump said.

"Try to remember." Leo corrected him.

(Flashback: 1 turn earlier)

"That's right. By discarding one card from my hand, my Power Tool Dragon can't be destroyed by your attack."

(End Flashback)

"Oh. But it doesn't matter anymore. You still can't beat me." Crump said.

"It should, because when Scopen is in Defense mode, his Level rises from 3… to 4." Leo corrected him. Scopen glowed yellow for a second.

Morphtronic Scopen: Level 3→4

"WHAT?!" Crump screamed.

"Time to shed some light in this duel. Level 4 Scopen tunes Level 3 Datatron!" Leo chanted as Scopen turned into four green rings that surrounded Datatron, turning it into three motes of light. "The magic that lives in each of these creatures merge and become one!" Leo and Luna once more chanted in unison as the field again erupted in a pillar of light. "I Synchro Summon! The mighty, the majestic, Ancient Fairy Dragon!" From Leo's Duel Disk, Luna's Ancient Fairy Dragon appears from the card in a brilliant light.

Ancient Fairy Dragon: Level 7/ATK: 2100/DEF: 3000

Yusei, Jaden, Aster, and Jesse managed to defeat all of the Shadow Troopers that came at them.

"I think that's the last of them." Aster confirmed.

"It better be. I hate to be someone who'd take these guys on all day." Jesse said.

"I hear you, Jesse. Now, we better find Leo and Luna before it's too late." Yusei said. Jaden felt a warm light on his left side. He looked toward where it came from and saw Ancient Fairy Dragon and Life Stream Dragon over a frozen lake.

"Hey guys, look over there!" Jaden pointed to the two monsters. Jesse, Aster, and Yusei saw them. The Signer almost immediately recognized the two dragons.

"Ancient Fairy Dragon and Life Stream Dragon." Yusei identified the two dragons.

"You know those monsters, Yusei?" Jesse asked him.

"Yeah. And if they're out, that means Leo and Luna have to be where they are." Yusei said. "We better head over there."

"Hey, Neos, care to give us a lift?" Jaden asked the Elemental HERO. He gives a helpful nod. The HERO of Neo Space carried the four duelists toward the two monsters.

Crump became completely flabbergasted. "But… how?! What?! My calculations assured me that I would win this duel! This just doesn't add up at all!"

"Guess your numbers were wrong, Crump." Luna smirked. "And now that Leo has both Ancient Fairy Dragon and Life Stream Dragon on his side, you and your Zero Dragon don't stand a chance of winning this duel."

"Not fair!" Crump said.

"Oh, it's fair. And this is the card that will win me this duel. I now activate the Spell Synchro Union!" Leo plays a Spell card that depicts XX-Gottoms gaining power from X-Saber Wayne and XX-Saber Hyunlei. "Thanks to this, one of my Synchro Monsters gains the other's Attack Points. Ancient Fairy Dragon, time to lend your strength to Life Stream Dragon!" Ancient Fairy Dragon flew above Life Stream Dragon and gave it her strength.

Life Stream Dragon: ATK: 2900→5000

"5000 ATTACK POINTS?!" Crump screamed in complete horror.

"More than enough to blow away the last of your Life Points!" Leo said. "Life Stream Dragon, shatter his Zero Dragon!" Life Stream Dragon's wings started glowing as they absorbed energy. "Beautiful Life!" The gold-scaled dragon fires a large stream of golden energy at Trishula, blasting a hole into its chest. Trishula roars in agonizing pain as the icy dragon explodes. The energy beam that destroyed Trishula engulfs Crump. He screams in horror and pain as his avatar form is disintegrated.

Crump LP: 1800→0

"Alright!" Leo cheered as Crump's four Link crystals were left behind. Right as that happened, Yusei's group arrived just in time to see the end of the duel.

"Whoa, guess you really didn't need our help after all, huh?" Jaden asked.

"Yusei!" Leo noticed. "Did you see me back there? I totally roasted that birdbrain!"

"You did great, Leo. you've definitely improved." Yusei smiled.

"So…what's going on? Why did one of the Big Five target us?" Luna asked.

"It's part of this big vendetta Gozaburo Kaiba has with Seto Kaiba. While they're off dueling, the five of them are targeting any duelists they can." Aster explained.

"I already took down that Gansley fella, so with that penguin guy gone, that only leaves three other members." Jesse remembered his duel against Gansley.

"And chances are, they may have already found an opponent." Yusei noted.

From his fortress, Emperor Shade is watching them. "You couldn't be more right, Yusei Fudo. Little do you know that this is only the beginning. Those fools! Fight all you want, you'll never be able to escape me! Never!"

Fan-Made/OC Cards:

Synchro Union

Normal Spell Card

If you control 2 or more face-up Synchro Monsters: Target 1 of them; it gains ATK equal to the original ATK of another Synchro Monster you control. Monsters other than the target cannot attack this turn.