Yu-Gi-Oh LUCKS

by BambooBored

Yuu Tokari is just a lucky man who found a rare card at work. Is he ready to punch his ticket to stardom? Or will his fight as a Duel Revolutionary destroy everything he holds dear? (This reimagining of Yu-Gi-Oh takes inspiration from the stories of 5D's and ZEXAL. It's not so much a fanfiction of any particular character as it is of the game itself.)

6. Chapter 6: The Enemies of Yamatano

Yuu - 4000 LP

Ori - 4000 LP

"So, do you want to go first?" Yuu asked.

"Oh, I'm good either way," Ori replied.

"Me too."

They were both silent for a moment.

"I'll flip a coin." Yuu dug around in his pockets. "Alright, call it."

"Heads."

Yuu tossed the coin, caught it and squinted. "It's heads."

"Okay."

"So, do you want to go first?"

"Um, I can. I mean, I will!" Ori's correction came out louder than she'd intended, and the tunnel made it ring for miles. Yuu stood in front of her, stunned by the full blast.

Yuu chuckled as Ori blushed. "Glad you're feeling confident."

"Hey now." Ori liked Yuu (as much as you could like a guy you met shirtless in the street), but his tone rubbed her the wrong way. "I'm confident enough after thrashing everyone in that duel meetup. What I'm looking for is a challenge."

Yuu stepped into a slight bow, smiling. "Then thanks for dueling Yuu Tokari."

Ori drew her five cards and frowned. Not really what I'm looking for… The grinning gremlins took up over half of her hand, chaotic and chromatic and utterly useless. One of the problems of Dustons was the possibility that they'd clutter up her hand. Luckily, I have a spell for that.

"I'll kick things off with the spell card Duston Kickup!" She held up her card. "It lets me reveal any number of Duston monsters in my hand with different names, and shuffle them into my deck! Then, I can add a Duston card to my hand for every Duston monster I shuffled in! I shuffle back Red, Blue, and Green Duston!"

Duston Kickup / Normal Spell Card

"That's a lot of Dustons," Yuu said, then frowned. "Wait, you're shuffling Dustons to add Dustons?"

"That's the plan," Ori said. "I'm adding House Duston, Duston Vacuum Attachment, and Duston Roller to my hand. Now, I'll summon House Duston in attack mode!"

House Duston / Level 1 / LIGHT / Fiend / ATK 0 / DEF 1000

The condensed swarm of imps took to the field, all elbowing each other from the single monster zone they occupied. Ori nodded confidently. "I'll end my turn with two cards facedown."

That should do, Ori said. My Duston Roller Trap can stick down any Synchro, Xyz, or Fusion Strategies he tries for. Most importantly, I have the monster Skull Meister in my hand. As long as it's here, I can send it to the graveyard to stop any effect from his graveyard. If he tries to defuse the Full Dust Cloud combo, I can stop his plans and guarantee its completion.

"Alright, here we go. My turn, draw!" Yuu swiped the card from the top of his deck. "I'm summoning Iron Chain Coil in attack mode!"

Iron Chain Coil / Level 3 / EARTH / Machine / Tuner / ATK 1100 / DEF 1600

An amalgamation of fetter links bolted upright on Yuu's field. "This scrapwork soldier's poised to strike!" Yuu declared. "But of course, once I destroy House Duston, you'll use its effect to shake dust all over both of our fields, and I've seen how that mess ends."

Ori smiled. "Yeah? So what are you going to do, Tokari?"

"I'm going to think two steps ahead," Yuu declared. "I do not attack!"

He pointed forward, cutting a proud figure against the dark. The silence of his inaction settled over them like a fine layer of dust.

"Right." Ori was hesitant to speak. "But now you have Iron Chain Coil on your field in attack mode, which means I can just attack it with House Duston on my turn to destroy my monster."

Yuu chuckled. "Hey now. I said two steps ahead, didn't I? Here's the second: I activate the equip spell Spirit Burner!"

Spirit Burner / Equip Spell Card

Orbs of white and lavender flame began to circulate around Iron Chain Coil, pressing together as its stance calmed and drew inward, switching to defense mode.

"Now if you attack Iron Chain Coil, even if it wins, it won't destroy your monster!"

I was countered by Spirit Burner? Maybe Duston is a terrible deck after all. Ori shook her head. No, I can't think that! This is just a minor…really depressing setback.

"Well, then it looks like we're at a stalemate," she said, trying to keep her voice from shaking.

"Not quite," Yuu said. "I activate the effect of my Iron Chain Coil!"

The iron contraption's body cinched together, its arms folding in as the chains heated up, its toy-like face snarling across the field.

Iron Chain Coil - 1100 ATK 1400 ATK

"Once per turn, Iron Chain Coil can permanently boost the ATK of any Iron Chain monster!" Yuu explained. "Once it hits 4000, I can take you out in one hit! So, in-" -Yuu muttered for a moment under his breath- "nine turns! You're gonna be history!"

Nine turns. Ori was dumbfounded at his confidence. But it's not like I can really stop him. Ugh…really glad Otaro isn't here to see this.

She didn't yet admit to herself that she was also glad her brother wasn't here because she was enjoying this duel, this Yuu Tokari who had doffed a fake beard and sought a duel in the duradine light.

Yuu Tokari set a card facedown. "I end my turn!" The fake beard swayed around his neck.

"It's my turn, I draw!" Ori breathed out a sigh of relief at the card she drew.

"I'm activating the Quick-Play spell, Duston Allergic Reaction! For every Duston on my field, I can switch the battle position of one of your monsters and negate its effects! Iron Chain Coil's about to need some tissues!"

Iron Chain Coil convulsed, its arms springing out wildly. Yuu ducked as they whipped over his head, bouncing across the cave.

Duston Allergic Reaction / Quick-Play Spell

"Who knew a wind-up toy could sneeze like that?" Yuu said. "Hey, you alright over there?"

Ori could only hear him; she had turned away in embarrassment as soon as the words left her mouth. About to need some tissues. I am a twenty year old woman. She composed herself quickly and quietly and turned to face Yuu again.

"...Anyway, it looks like you've got a monster that's ready for my House Duston to attack!" Ori said.

Iron Chain Coil - 1400 ATK

"Oh, did its attack points not change back?" Yuu asked. "I thought Coil's effect had been negated."

"The boost applied at the moment of activation," Ori explained patiently. "It'll last for as long as Iron Chain Coil is on the field."

Yuu thought for a moment. "So the attack boost is gone, then."

Ori shook her head. "No, like I said, the attack points won't change-"

"-unless Iron Chain Coil leaves the field," Yuu finished. "I activate my trap card, Really Eternal Rest! It destroys all monsters on the field with Equip Spells!"

Really Eternal Rest / Trap card

Ori watched, speechless, as the soul-like flames around Iron Chain Coil began to corrode it, oxidizing its chains until it rusted to pieces. Yuu's field was left completely empty. He put his hands on his hips and beamed proudly.

What. Ori doubled over and clutched her knees for a second. What is going on here? "I…I switch my House Duston to Defense Mode, then."

House Duston - 1000 DEF

Here she was, blowing off steam with her pet deck, and suddenly her Full Dust Cloud was twice countered by pack fillers from years ago. She felt outdone; Yuu Tokari was running rings around her at the bottom of the barrel.

Well, maybe that's a stretch, she admitted, looking at her opponent's empty field.

"Everything alright over there?" Yuu called.

"I really have no idea," Ori replied, but she felt a smile in the wake of her words. "Since you won't give me a monster to attack, I guess you'll have to do."

Yuu spread his arms wide. "Then let's get to it."

"I Normal Summon my Skull Meister!" Ori shouted, scarcely believing what she was saying. Somehow, she imagined that the tunnel had echoed her embarrassing play straight to Otaro's ears and harsh judgment. She tried to put it out of her mind as a throne of skulls cobbled up from the earth, seating a wicked man with long raven hair.

Skull Meister / Level 4 / DARK / Fiend / ATK 1700 / DEF 600

A peculiar mood came over Yuu at the sight of the myriad skulls; his smile un-deviated into a flat line, and his arms angled down, losing their vigor. Ori fought back the urge to tribute her monster away. "Skull Meister attacks you directly!"

The demon king dashed forth from his throne, striking Yuu across the torso. Though the duradine miner leaned back with the weight of the blow, he stood tall and looked the Skull Meister right in the eye. Whatever it was about the monster that had upset Yuu, it was not enough to stop him.

Skull Meister - 1700 ATK

Yuu - 4000 LP 2300 LP

The holographic wound fizzed on Yuu's chest. "Is that all you got?" he taunted.

Ori felt relieved somehow. "It's all you're gonna get," she replied. "At least for now. Your turn."

Looking at Yuu's hand, she felt slightly unnerved by the three cards he held. By contrast, she'd played all of her cards onto the field, holding nothing back. She realized that she'd never played like this before. Otaro had schooled her in the importance of monsters whose abilities could negate the opponent's plays; while in the hand, Skull Meister could stop her opponent's graveyard effects. Summoning him to the field was a sign of impropriety, an excess in Otaro's perfect card economy. There was an identity swirling in that excess now, reacting to this strange man of the mines. As a duelist, she hoped she wasn't underestimating Yuu. As the excess, she hoped that she was.

"Hey, Tokari."

Yuu's hand stopped on top of his deck. "What's up? You activating something?"

Activating the truth, I guess. "I wasn't completely honest before, about Clavis. I've seen what he's up to with the Atrium Grand Prix." Though they were alone in the tunnel, Ori could feel Otaro's presence looming over her, coupled with the grasping hands of Adrian Fey.

Yuu nodded. "Alright then. In that case, I've got no choice but to beat you. Once I do, you're telling me the whole truth!" he vowed, drawing his card with the force of a baseball swing.

"But you don't need to beat me-"

"First up, I'm calling out a great beast who culls the weak with his presence alone! Say hello to King Tiger Wanghu!"

King Tiger Wanghu / Level 4 / EARTH / Beast / ATK 1700 / DEF 1000

A snarling beast leapt up from the card, prowling the cavern. Ori could see a shine at the back of Yuu's eyes, the glazed gaze of a dog barking.

"Now it's time for his hunting ground! I activate my Continuous Spell, Raigeki Ookazi Tower!"

The ground rumbled behind King Tiger Wanghu as wooden pillars cracked up from below. Lightning had burned glowing runes into the tower, and an enormous copper pole stood central to the whole structure. Already, it had begun to spark ominously.

"Every time a card on the field is destroyed, I can place one Plasma Counter on Raigeki Ookazi Tower. When it's all charged up, it'll ignite for 800 points of damage for each Counter!"

"You can deal damage just by going wild on the field," Ori remarked. She'd gotten distracted by Yuu's cards. "So, you're going to try to burn away the dust?"

"I'll do more than try," Yuu declared. "It's the Battle Phase now! King Tiger Wanghu attacks Skull Meister!"

King Tiger Wanghu - 1700 ATK

Skull Meister - 1700 ATK

Both monsters will be destroyed by this battle, Ori calculated, meaning that Raigeki Ookazi Tower gets two Plasma counters. So that's 1600 damage; that won't be fatal, but losing Skull Meister might set me back a bit. Strategically speaking, I should keep him safe. Luckily, I was also going to activate this Trap Card because I wanted to.

"I activate my Trap Card, Duston Vacuum Attachment! This card sucks up your attack and redirects it at House Duston!"

King Tiger Wanghu - 1700 ATK

House Duston - 1000 DEF

The tiger's teeth savaged the fog, sending cloud tails curling around his mouth. But quickly, the empty air began to articulate with color, like television static.

"I activate the effect of House Duston!" Ori declared. "Now, it's time! Full Dust Cloud!"

Red Duston / Level 1 / FIRE / Fiend / ATK 0 / DEF 1000

Blue Duston / Level 1 / WATER / Fiend / ATK 0 / DEF 1000

Green Duston / Level 1 / WIND / Fiend / ATK 0 / DEF 1000

Yellow Duston / Level 1 / EARTH / Fiend / ATK 0 / DEF 1000

The eight Dustons scrambled across the field, monopolizing their spaces and tumbling about mischievously. Skull Meister and King Tiger Wanghu were quickly overrun by their utter energy.

Ori's feet nearly left the ground. Finally. After a coven of tricks and twists from Tokari, she'd finally gotten her signature combo. Now, Yuu had a field full of weak monsters, which she had locked into Attack Mode until his next turn. Depending on her next draw, she might be able to pull out a win on her turn, all thanks to the power of Duston.

She stopped for a moment. There was something gaudy about that word, "winning," all of a sudden. She knew this feeling. It was the same one that had come over her when she'd won her fifth game straight and looked around to find herself abandoned. A small fry from the surface, beating up on weak duelists to fuel her ego.

She sighed. "Look, Yuu. You don't need to beat me. I'll tell you what you want to know."

"Are you saying I can't beat you?" She could feel a sliver of rage pass through Yuu's voice.

Yes. "No." At the very least, it's not a fair fight. Ori tried to strain her words to a closing statement. "What I'm saying is that this might be more important than just some duel."

Yuu's body went completely still. If Ori searched him for a pulse, it could only be found in his eye, where his iris throbbed with fury.

"Listen to me, Yuu. Clavis has been training with Fey, using new cards from the surface. But Fey's not who he says he is. We're not here to-"

"Don't."

"Yuu!"

"Ori!"

Hearing him shout her name stunned her momentarily. Yuu Tokari took a long breath, and when it was over, there were tears in his eyes.

"Everything feels wrong about this. This tournament, you pro duelists. This town, this mine. Everything's all wrong. I know that already. But don't tell me."

"Why not?" Ori stamped her foot in frustration.

"Because I feel like what you're about to say will make us enemies," Yuu pleaded. "I don't want to be your enemy. Not yet."

There it was again. That look of pain, of desperation, of a mental alchemy to save oneself from the constant torment of the world. A vitalized wish for mercy. She had been surrounded by it ever since she came to the Atrium. All of these people scraping by in the dark, without the luxury to wonder whether they were living up to expectations; there was nothing expected of them but to serve. This was the gulf that had formed between her and Clavis, between herself and Yuu Tokari. She felt disgusted and didn't know who it was for. That fact disgusted her even more deeply.

"I guess we should get on with the duel, then," she said.

Yuu nodded. "Okay."

As if on command, King Tiger Wanghu began to roar. Ori was surprised by how small its voice was. It may have been a glitch in the audio resolution of Ori's Duel Disk, or perhaps a strange refraction of sound facilitated by the cleavage planes in Yuu's sunstone. The end result, whatever the cause, was a cry of fear.

"I activate Wanghu's effect," Yuu said.

The Dustons, gleefully dancing across both player's fields, were transfixed by this song. Slowly, their faces began to contort with dread, until they could bear it no longer.

"Every monster with 1400 or fewer ATK is destroyed upon summon," Yuu explained.

All at once, they joined the scream of Wanghu, evaporating into a ghastly cloud. Ori watched as the debris of her destroyed monsters was conducted in a crackling stream of light to the lightning rod on Raigeki Ookazi Tower.

Yuu looked up at the tower, the violent sparks drawing sharp contrast on his face. "That's nine monsters. Nine Plasma Counters."

"7200 points of damage," Ori concluded.

"I guess I win," Yuu said bitterly.

Ori battered the ache in her chest into a Superman symbol. "Not so fast!" she declared. "The Duston monsters still have effects when they're destroyed. Now, they'll resolve in a chain sequence!"

"I activate my monster's effect as well," Yuu declared.

Ori nodded. "You certainly will, which is the whole point. Duston monsters use their effects on the player who controlled them when they were destroyed. Since we both controlled all four, we'll go through them together!

"First, the Yellow Duston!" Ori shouted. "We'll each shuffle a monster from our graveyard into our deck."

Yuu shuffled back Iron Chain Coil with a slow, perfunctory motion.

"Next, the Red Duston! We each take 500 points of damage!"

Ori - 4000 LP 3500 LP

Yuu - 2300 LP 1800 LP

"The Blue Duston! We each banish a card from our hand until the end of the turn! Though, I have no cards to banish, so it's just you!"

"Yep, that's my name." Yuu took a random card from his hand and placed it into the banishment zone of his sunstone.

"Finally, the Green Duston. This is the effect I was waiting for!" Ori lowered her voice and smiled sadly. "We each return a Spell or Trap from our field to the hand."

The sparkling cloud atop Raigeki Ookazi Tower suddenly lit up emerald, lashing out wildly. Green Dustons reconstituted and giggled as they stripped away the tower's support beams, shoving the lightning rod back and forth and making it wobble precariously. The entire building came apart like a dollhouse, returned to Yuu's hand, utterly harmless. Yuu glanced at it but said nothing.

"Raigeki Ookazi was a good plan." Ori struggled to find the words to congratulate Yuu without sounding patronizing. "But you can never count the Dustons out."

Yuu ignored her praise. "I resolve the final activation in the chain."

Ori frowned. "But all of the Dustons' effects have been applied!"

The miner nodded. "I know. But this is an effect of a different monster. I told you, didn't I? 'I activate my monster's effect.' I wasn't talking about the Dustons. I was talking about my monster."

Yuu thrust his hand skyward, and the tunnel flooded with blue light. "When a card on my field is destroyed, I can activate the effect of this card to summon it to my field! I special summon! Crime of Prometheus!"

Crime of Prometheus / Level 7 / LIGHT / Pyro / ATK 2500 / DEF 2100

Light coalesced, burst and reformed. The robed figure stood guard over Yuu's field as even King Tiger Wanghu bowed in fealty. The weight and light seemed to leave Yuu's eyes, pulled into the gravity of the Crime of Prometheus's magnificence.

Ori stood back in shock. She'd had no clue that a high-grade had wound up in the possession of a regular miner. Its power radiated across the tunnel, threatening to pierce through the ceiling all the way to the surface. Suddenly, one of the cards that she and Otaro had been sent to find was right in front of her, drawing from the strength of Yuu Tokari.

"That's a high-grade," she said, unbidden.

Yuu nodded solemnly. "Miss Yamatano, I think we can be enemies now."

"Any responses to my plays, Mist Fang?" Valz smiled innocently.

Otaro shook his head. "I have no face-down cards, as per the requirement of my Denko Sekka's lock effect."

"Then I'm gonna keep playing while I talk, if it's all the same to you. Stop me whenever you've got a play." Valz reached into his deck to activate the effect of his Cherubini, Ebon Angel of the Burning Abyss: by sacrificing a monster from his Deck, he could increase the power of a Burning Abyss monster on his field. His hand followed its old habits, seeking and sending to the graveyard his Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss.

Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss / Level 3 / DARK / Fiend / ATK 1000 / DEF 1500

Cherubini, Ebon Angel of the Burning Abyss - 500 ATK 1500 ATK

The attack boost to Cherubini wasn't the real goal of its effect; sending Graff to the graveyard meant triggering its special ability, which let Valz summon a monster from his deck. But he and Otaro both knew this, so there was little point mentioning it when there were more important things to discuss.

"My father believed in blessings, same as curses," Valz said as a fiery hole opened in midair, a winged demon clawing its way through.

Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss / Level 3 / DARK / Fiend / ATK 1000 / DEF 1900

"Moreover, he believed that one who curses others is cursed himself, by a far greater power." Valz swept his hand across the field, relinking the circuit for a Link Summon. Cherubini and Farfa melded into light, circulating and forming the outline of a horned king, buried from the waist down in the very bottom of hell.

The End Archfiend / Link 3 / DARK / Fiend / ATK 2600

"He spent the last days of his life consumed by the thought that he had cursed the whole world. It was just about the only thought that remained in his head. I know you know what I'm talking about. You sure you still wanna keep quiet?"

Otaro's expression betrayed nothing. It was as though he'd been locked in a still frame.

Valz shrugged. Otaro's lack of response also meant that there was no opposition to the effect of Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss, whose mottled hand was already reaching from Valz's graveyard, snaring the ankle of Denko Sekka. The warrior twisted and pulled away in horror as the hands multiplied, lengthening, fingers like petrified vines. They laced across her armor and through her mouth across her jaw, freezing her terrified expression as she was towed into the abyss. Mechanically speaking, it meant that Valz could now play his facedown cards.

"Heart Corporation called it a stroke. They called him a failure in the Unlock Project, paid out his life insurance policy and let me visit him in their hospital. But my dad wouldn't talk like that unless he'd done something. Or rather, become something."

Otaro finally shook his head. As he did, he subtly surveyed the tunnel. "Sense made from nonsense is also nonsense. It sounds like you've overestimated your father's contribution to the Unlock Project. I can tell you what I do know about that incident: Thousands of Duelists were scouted to take part, none of whom had any ill effects."

"None of the others succeeded!" Valz shouted. "None of them did what my dad did. And what he did was covered up by Heart Corporation!"

"So you're accusing me of taking part in this conspiracy theory, all based on me using a turn of phrase that your father might have once said?" Otaro scoffed openly, glancing past Valz.

"Call it a hunch," Valz said. "Here's another one: You're wondering if you can kill me without anyone finding out."

Otaro gave a wan smile. "You can call that a symptom of annoyance more likely than panic. I won't outright deny it, though."

"Hah! That's the kind of response that makes you larger than life, Heart's King of Games. They've supported you from the very start, haven't they?" Valz's voice dripped with accusation. "I can only wonder why."

He hit the button on his Duel Disk, activating his trap card, The Traveler and the Burning Abyss. With it, he could summon back every "Burning Abyss" monster that had been sent to the graveyard his turn in defense mode. Since Cherubini was a Link Monster, it didn't have a DEF value and couldn't be in defense mode. But he could still summon Graff and Farfa to his field, right into the linked zones of his The End Archfiend.

The Traveler and the Burning Abyss / Trap Card

An ornate door swung open, as flames stepped through and distinguished into the shapes of the two demons.

"And now you're here, scouting duelists at the source. Maybe you're looking for more victims. Maybe you're trying to cut out the competition. Either way, I'm on to you," Valz vowed.

The End Archfiend roared as its hands shot out to clutch the monsters in its linked zones. The Burning Abyss monsters, unable to maintain their form in its presence, turned into smoke between its jaws. The End Archfiend howled as its power overflowed with their nourishing souls.

The End Archfiend - 2600 ATK 4600 ATK

At the same time, its other effect had triggered: one that could destroy a face-up card on the field when a monster was special summoned to its linked zone. The End Archfiend's horns began conducting a beam of crimson light, rising in waves like a Jacob's Ladder, until it shot free and enveloped Desperado Knight, leaving nothing but a blood slurry on the cave floor. Otaro's field was now completely empty.

Otaro was nonplussed. "You might believe that your family was cursed, but you're nothing special at all. You call yourself a journalist with those delusions?"

Valz folded his arms. For a moment, his gangly form seemed solid, his stretched clothes sleekening his build. "I never said I believed in curses, Mist Fang. I believe in tests, in trials. And I don't call myself anything but my father's son."

He flung his arm forward. "The End Archfiend! Attack Otaro directly!"

The End Archfiend grew as tall as a shadow on the domed sky, falling upon Otaro like a sunset.

The End Archfiend - 4600 ATK

Otaro - 4000 LP

Otaro saw the demon attacking him with the hands that had carved the bowl of hell, and he sighed.

"If I'm attacked with no cards on my field, I'm able to activate the Trap Card Nutrient X from my hand. This card lets me-"

He suddenly stopped, looking back down the tunnel where he'd come from. His eyes widened, and he spoke quickly and clearly. "But just because I can activate it, doesn't mean I do. You win."

Otaro - 4000 LP 0 LP

"What?" Valz asked in disbelief, but Otaro was already sprinting away, back towards the tunnel entrance. He was gone before his Duel Disk even powered down.

Valz, completely dumbfounded, just barely remembered to reach down to his Duel Disk and hit the button to stop recording with the hidden camera. He'd never believed that someone so obviously proud would throw a duel away, but Otaro had exceeded his expectations. If anything, he'd become even more suspicious now; the recording he'd made during this Duel not only served as a record of his possible involvement, but video confirmation of a win against the King of Games. There were always uses for that, he supposed.

Still, he wondered briefly what had caught Otaro's attention for that pivotal change in attitude. He stopped wondering when the earth began to quake.

No! Ori screamed in her head. This isn't fair! Her frustration and disgust, sealed by her secrets, had rotted the fasteners of her bones, her veins, her skin. It was leaking out, spilling across the cave floor. I don't want to duel like this. I don't want to live like this!

She knew where her hatred was directed now: squarely at herself, a pawn, a bully, but most of all alone.

The world began to shudder. Yuu braced himself against the cave wall as tiny diamond-shaped stones shook loose and cascaded. He scooped up his helmet and quickly put it on, undeterred.

"We're not done yet," he said coldly. "Crime of Prometheus, attack-"

"Stop!" Ori cried, and the earth buckled, as though the tunnel had been cracked like a whip. Yuu was thrown off of his feet, glancing off of the wall as his sunstone broke in place of his arm. The holograms on their dueling field fizzled as the link disconnected, their life points values replaced by error messages. Dark patches swarmed around Ori's eyes, accompanied by true darkness as Yuu's headlamp shattered from a falling rock. The tunnel was collapsing; falling rocks cut Ori's skin as she toppled to the ground.

Suddenly, a blinding light stood over her, sheltering her from the stones. Ori looked up. "Otaro?"

Her brother was only recognizable by his coat. His eyes, mouth, and the roots of his hair had all lit up lavender blue, filling the tunnel with humming electric light. Everything familiar about him had been amplified to an impossible degree, and Ori's shock was only contained by her dizziness. The rock shower was zapped apart at Otaro's touch, dispersed into thin films of dust. He was shielding her, but he wasn't looking at her.

The Mist Fang's focus was solely on the figure of celestial flame, shimmering in the air above the unconscious Yuu. The Crime of Prometheus stood defiantly, melting the walls with its presence. Ori couldn't understand how it was still appearing, or the look upon its face: pure, unabated rage. It screamed in an imperceptible frequency, charging forward.

Otaro sprang forth, thrusting forward his hand, and here it was as though time stood still, pooled in his palm; then it erupted and shot through the Duel Monster's chest in a shockwave.

Solid granite sheared from the walls all at once, leaving a sparkling tunnel of duradine behind Prometheus and Yuu. The Crime of Prometheus staggered, and for a moment Ori thought it was looking at her. Then it vanished, pierced through by the falling rocks which had redoubled in intensity. The dark was closing in fast.

Ori felt Otaro scoop her into his arms, bouncing up and down as he carried her out of the tunnel at an impossible speed. The last thing she saw was Yuu Tokari, sprawled out on the ground beneath a caving universe.