XI
The tiniest slice of Maiami City had just come into view for the three Duel Monsters and their riders. But Masumi didn't care about that; she was too busy processing this latest turn of events in the Duel she'd been spectating.
"Painful Choice … " Yaiba swore under his breath from the back of Spirit Beast Rider Kannahawk, where he and the Fusion Duelist had been sitting for the past ten minutes. "Why the hell does Markus have that card?!"
"I read about it in my history classes!" Rika said shrilly from the Daigusta Falcos she and Hotene were both riding. "That card's been banned from every official tournament since before I was even born!"
"Well, it's not like they're Dueling in front of a crowd," Hokuto sniffed from atop his Sacred Ptolemy Messiers 7, keeping hold of a green-looking Fuyu. "Or for a purse. Still, though … I'd love it if this could stop their Duel."
"I have already tried," Angel-IQ said from Masumi's Duel Disk. "Markus' Duel Disk is heavily encrypted. I suspect the firewalls of the software it runs were created with me in mind. That is … worrying."
Masumi did some thinking, trying to imagine carving a gemstone in her brain. "Q—how's our time course?"
"There is an air current up ahead that may slow us down," said the supercomputer. "A slight adjustment to our route will take us to eight minutes."
Yaiba whistled. "That's cutting it close. Girls," he called out to Rika and Hotene, "I'm thinking these birds of yours need to get us there a little faster!"
Rika raised a thumb in reply. Seconds later, her Falcos had put on a burst of speed, and Kannahawk followed suit almost immediately. Messiers 7, whose much larger wingspan allowed the two smaller monsters to draft behind it, overtook them after only a few flaps of its wings.
It was a race against the clock now—and one that Masumi could no longer be certain the LID would be able to win.
Ryōzanpaku
Gōdagawa Ryōzan felt his hackles rising the moment he saw the green-edged card in the Kämpfer's hand. If there was any doubt left that the huge German was taking him seriously, this had just dispelled it for good.
Streiter tapped at his Duel Disk. "You will see," he said as he worked, "five cards on the screen of your Duel Disk very shortly. Four of them will be sent to my Graveyard via Painful Choice. One of them will be added to my hand. It will be on you to decide which one of those five cards that will be." He smirked. "I suggest you choose wisely."
And with a sudden blip, a quintet of images had appeared on Gōdagawa's screen. He counted three monsters—the Gladial Beasts Retiari, Torax, and Noxious—along with two Spells: Gladial Beast United and Gladial Beast's Inner Strength. He discounted Noxious almost immediately—he knew something that high-Level, yet that weak, would have a powerful effect even before he'd read the helpful text below its picture. Torax was next to go—the last thing Gōdagawa wanted right now was for his opponent to regain any more of his hand even more than Painful Choice was about to do. And Inner Strength might just be the worst of them—in fact, Gōdagawa suspected Streiter had deliberately included this card to ensure that his choice was, yet again, not a choice at all.
Damn the man, he thought, cursing the German with every fiber of his being. He's rubbing it in my face! But just as quickly, he managed to keep a lid on his temper. He had some surprises of his own waiting in store for Streiter—and the bastard hadn't even seen half of what his Fusion Monsters were capable of doing.
And so he stiffened, his mind made up. "I will add Gladial Beast Retiari to your hand!" Gōdagawa declared. "That sends the rest of your cards to the Graveyard—and may they rot there," he added with a venomous bite to his words.
Streiter slid his four other cards into his Graveyard. The fifth only stayed in his hand for a moment before he placed it on his blade. "I now Summon that Retiari in Attack Position," he said, watching a green lizard-man with a trident drop from the sky and onto the field in a three-point stance (Level 3: ATK 1200 » 1500/DEF 800 » 1100), "and since I now control a Gladial Beast monster, I can Special Summon this Slave Tiger from my hand with its own effect!"
The same armored tiger he'd played against Sakaki Yūshō now sprang to Retiari's side for a second time, snarling at Gōdagawa (Level 3: ATK 600/DEF 300). "Now, I activate Slave Tiger's second effect! By Releasing it"—the Tiger gave one final roar before it disintegrated into photonic dust—"I can target a Gladial Beast I control, shuffle it into my Deck, and then Special Summon another Gladial Beast in its place as if one of its brethren had done so instead! So I shuffle Retiari, and Special Summon Gladial Beast Darius in Attack Position—which means my Colosseum will gain yet another counter, thanks to its effect! Tag Out!"
Even as the lizard-man became a formless blinding mass, it was changing, the ugly, scaly head elongating into something more equine. Seconds later, a second monster he'd employed against Yūshō emerged in full: the seven-foot-tall horse-man with a wild mane, cracking a metal-edged with against the courtyard with such force that it scored long gashes in the dirt (Level 4: ATK 1700 » 2000/DEF 300 » 600).
One of those gashes was wide enough that a familiar green hand with a wrist-mounted cannon had punched through the crack in the earth. "When Darius is Special Summoned by a Gladial Beast's effect," Streiter said, as more of the reborn monster began to show itself, "I can use its effect to Special Summon another Gladial Beast from my Graveyard with its effects negated! No doubt my Painful Choice gave me plenty to choose from—but the one I want to revive was already right where I wanted it to be! I Special Summon Gladial Beast Bestrouli!"
And with a BOOM that formed yet another crater in a courtyard full of them, Bestrouli had burst from the ground with a flash of wings. It landed without a sound between the snarling Sparticus and the berserk Darius, cocking its cannons with sinister clicks (Level 4: ATK 1500 » 1800/DEF 800 » 1100).
But just as quickly, the same glowing light that had just enveloped Retiari a minute ago now began to shimmer over both Bestrouli and Darius. "I will shuffle these two monsters into my Deck," cried Streiter, "and use them as Fusion Material for this! Behold!" There was a blinding flash, a sizzling noise, and finally a keening cry from whatever gigantic monster was being birthed inside the conjoined spheres of light:
"Fighting bird of prey that lived in ancient times! Merge with the souls of gladiators and become a warrior of legend!"
"Contact Fusion!" Streiter slammed his hands together with thunderous force. "Come! Gladial Beast Gyzarus!"
The avian creature that rocketed into the skies could have been Bestrouli's big brother. Eight feet tall, with flaming jets of exhaust at the joints of its razor-sharp wings, and dark green armor that gleamed in the sunlight, Gyzarus performed a simple but breathtaking aerial before it descended, and took up much the same position as its predecessor—dual arm-mounted guns primed and ready to fire (Level 6: ATK 2400 » 2700/DEF 1500 » 1800).
"Gyzarus' effect!" Streiter said proudly. "The instant it is Special Summoned, I can target up to two cards on the field and destroy them! So I target—"
"I won't let you!" snarled Gōdagawa. "Dual Sky Feet – Armored Un's effect! Once per turn, if a monster is Special Summoned from the Extra Deck—and I control a Dual Sky Fusion Monster that used an Effect Monster as Fusion Material—I can target that monster, and negate its effects until the end of the turn! Authority of Ungyō!"
He stomped hard on the ground with his foot—still wrapped in hard-light flames—and so did Un, hard enough to cause a shockwave that flattened the crater Bestrouli had created when Darius had revived it. Several others eroded at the edges as the tremor raced by—and Gyzarus, who had apparently been a millisecond away from using its guns to drill holes through both A and Un, stumbled as the earth shook under its claws, and the glow of lethal energy died in their muzzles.
"Very good." The Kämpfer, however, remained unruffled. "You almost saw through my strategy. But you failed to take my Sparticus into account"—he gestured to his ravening dinosaur—"or the notion that just because my stronger monster has been muzzled does not mean it is useless."
Gōdagawa drew back with a growl. He knew what Streiter was going to do even before both of his monsters began to brim with light from within. "I shuffle Sparticus into my Deck," declared the German, "and Gyzarus into my Extra Deck, so that I may Summon an even stronger Gladial Beast in their place!"
FLASH. The light that subsumed both his monsters now looked like a newborn star. Lightning split the cloudless skies, leaving black scars in the courtyard—right before solidifying into jagged shapes that circled the mass of light like the crown of some long-forgotten warrior-king:
"Terrible fighting beast that lived in prehistoric times! Merge with the souls of élite gladiators and become a warrior among warriors!"
"Contact Fusion!" bellowed Streiter. "Come! Gladial Beast Tamer Editor!"
THUD.
A monumental foot planted itself in the middle of the field, followed swiftly by the tip of a heavy metal staff that lanced the earth as cleanly as a needle through flesh. The jagged lightning-crown, still sizzling with heat, had become a set of majestic antlers over a heavily armored, stag-like figure swathed in a scarlet tunic (Level 8: ATK 2400 » 2700/DEF 3000 » 3300).
"Now for Tamer Editor's effect!" Streiter had to speak at the top of his lungs to make himself heard over the din. "Once per turn, I may Special Summon a Gladial Beast Fusion Monster from my Extra Deck, regardless of its Summoning conditions! I therefore Special Summon Gladial Beast Geordias in Attack Position! Come!"
With speed and strength only it could have managed, Tamer Editor whirled its staff through the air so quickly that it almost vanished from reality. One second later, a massive portal had taken shape beside it, finished by the stag-man slamming his staff against the ground once more. As if this had been the signal for whatever monster was on the other side to come out charging—that monster now emerged with a deafening roar, rushing into reality at speeds unmatchable by few animals in the natural world.
Gōdagawa was just able to glimpse a saurian tail, twin spiked, blood-red shields hovering in midair, an axe whose blade looked as tall and broad as he was—and finally, a truly massive conglomerate of pebbled skin, gnashing fangs and black-gold armor (Level 7: ATK 2600 » 2900/DEF 1500 » 1800)—before he realized that Geordias wasn't stopping—nor was it even slowing down. Worse still, Tamer Editor had raised its staff like a longsword, and was likewise making a beeline right for him—
"Battle Phase!" Streiter's sense of timing was impeccable—there was no time for Gōdagawa to use his Set cards as a shield from his assault even if he'd wanted to. "Tamer Editor—attack Armored A! Geordias—attack Armored Un! Golden Cleaving Charge!"
The monster duos of warrior and beast met in spectacular and brutal fashion. A lashed out with a fist that could have turned bricks and mortar into naught but dust, catching Tamer Editor full in the face. Yet the stag-man shrugged off the wound, spat out broken teeth—and promptly ran the warrior through with its bladed staff. Un had led off with a sweeping kick powerful enough to dent anodized titanium—CLANG—but Geordias had blocked it with its massive axe at the last moment before lunging at Un with a snarl. Its prehensile tail wrapped around his outthrust leg, while its jaws seized him by an arm, rendering Un well and truly helpless.
"Geordias' effect!" Amidst all of the carnage, the edges of Streiter's mouth had turned upwards in a satisfied smile. He was in his element; he was exactly where he'd wanted to be in his fifty-plus years of being a Duelist. "If it ever destroys a monster by battle and sends it to the Graveyard, that monster's controller takes damage equal to its DEF!"
Tamer Editor threw aside the carcass of A, his broken body careening into the front wall of Ryōzanpaku with such force that the shockwave made Gōdagawa stumble, sending his LP to 3700. Geordias, meanwhile, had finished Un with a monstrous slice of its axe that cleaved the warrior down the middle—and cleaved through the earth as well, carving a massive furrow straight for the sensei. Unable to dodge in time, he could only brace as he felt a force like a hot, blunt knife pass through his entire body, bending him double in pain—and causing his LP to tumble to 1600.
Gōdagawa, however, had taken worse hits in a long and vaunted career that he thought surely rivaled Streiter's own—and he privately doubted the man had united Dueling with physical strength and stamina as thoroughly as he did. Nevertheless, it took a few long moments before he got to his feet. He spat out blood, and fixed the Kämpfer with the most hate-laden glare he could muster.
"Y-Yūhi's second effect," he said, barely suppressing a cough. "If a Dual Sky Fusion Monster was destroyed by an opponent's card, and that monster was Summoned using an Effect Monster as Fusion Material, I can add it from my Graveyard to my hand." He ejected a single card, and felt some of his strength return as he pondered what he could do next.
But the German didn't seem to care. "That ends my Battle Phase," he said, as though his monsters hadn't just wiped out two Fusion Monsters with savage ferocity, "and because my Tamer Editor and my Geordias both battled, this triggers their secondary effects! For Tamer Editor, if any Gladial Beast monster battles, I may return that monster to the Deck or the Extra Deck, and Special Summon another Gladial Beast monster from my Deck! I return my Tamer Editor—and then I Summon Gladial Beast Tigel in Attack Position! Tag Out!"
Gōdagawa's eyes turned red with fury as Tamer Editor shimmered out of existence in much the same way as it had been born. It wasn't that he'd been robbed of the chance to destroy it itself, nor was it due to any semblance of threat from the monster that replaced it—in fact, the winged tiger-man in shining black armor that had stomped onto the field looked quite tame in comparison (Level 4: ATK 1800 » 2200/DEF 800 » 1200). It was that accursed Field Spell that angered him the most—because it wasn't an actual card, he couldn't get rid of it with normal card effects, either by targeting it or destroying it. That didn't mean it was invincible—just about every effect in Duel Monsters could be negated with the right card—but it didn't change the fact that his own Deck didn't have the means to deal with this damned Colosseum. Which meant no matter how weak or strong Streiter's monsters were, as long as he could tag them out like this, they would only get stronger, as they had just now when Tigel had appeared.
And he would only get weaker.
"Tigel's effect!" Streiter boomed. "If it is Special Summoned by a Gladial Beast monster's effect, I can discard 1 Gladial Beast card, and add a Gladial Beast monster from my Deck to my hand! I discard the Armament of the Gladial Beasts – Gladius I added with my Sparticus' effect the previous turn—and then," he added, slipping one card into his Duel Disk and exchanging it for another one that had jutted out from his Deck, "since my Geordias battled as well, I activate its second effect!"
Streiter threw out a hand, and suddenly it was the saurian berserker's time to shimmer from within. "By returning it to the Extra Deck," he explained, "I can Special Summon not one, but two Gladial Beasts from my Deck! I Special Summon Gladial Beast Sagittari and Gladial Beast Augustol! Double Tag Out!"
From the moment their portals first appeared, and the ever-present fires of the Kämpfer's Colosseum leaped higher than ever, it was apparent the monsters to come would be as different as different could be. One was barely as tall as Streiter himself, but the other was nearly twice his height, and at least four times as wide. They flared—and sure enough, from the first one there came the sound of hooves, followed swiftly by a muscular palomino centaur with long blond hair, plates of teal armor styled like so many wings, and a heavy bow already nocked with an arrow (Level 3: ATK 1400 » 1900/DEF 1000 » 1500). The second one, however, stood a full ten feet tall, with four arms and dark skin clad in night-black armor. A murderous-looking beak bayed an earsplitting shriek to the heavens, and two of those clawed arms hefted a sharpened sword; the other pair snapped like twin vices on thin air as if trying to choke the wind itself, spreading reptilian wings with every inch the talons closed into fists (Level 8: ATK 2600 » 3100/DEF 1000 » 1500).
"Sagittari's effect!" Streiter gestured to his right, where stood his six-limbed archer. "If it is Special Summoned by a Gladial Beast monster's effect, I can discard a Gladial Beast card, then draw 2 more cards in its place!" The same card he'd added through his Tigel now followed Gladius into the Graveyard; an instant later, two more cards were nestled safely within his thick fingers.
He grinned, and gestured to his left. "Furthermore, if Augustol is Special Summoned by a Gladial Beast monster's effect," he added, "I can activate its effect, and Special Summon a Gladial Beast monster from my hand in Defense Position, then shuffle it into my Deck during the End Phase! I Special Summon Gladial Beast Equite!"
And a second centaur—this one darker in hue and substantially more bulky than Sagittari—hurtled onto the field, halting next to its fellow warrior and spreading its blue-armored wings (Level 4: ATK 1600 » 2100/DEF 1200 » 1700). "Then, since Equite was also Special Summoned by a Gladial Beast monster's effect," Streiter went on, "I can use its effect to target a Gladial Beast card in my Graveyard and return it to my hand!"
He did so. "One card face-down. Turn end," he said, rolling his shoulders and cracking his neck as his latest addition to the field faded from view. "At the end of my turn, Augustol's effect resolves, and my Equite returns to my Deck at this time." Moments later, the armored centaur had blurred out of view, such was the speed with which it had left the field—but still leaving behind a trio of monsters behind that each looked more fearsome than the next.
Seven minutes to go, Masumi thought.
The air current had been more of a setback than they'd thought; the LID had had to run parallel with it for nearly a mile before Angel-IQ had told them to ride the thermal for a few seconds. In that crucial time, the monsters they were riding had built up speed, and had shot out from the current like bullets from guns, immediately veering back on course and using the combination of centripetal and centrifugal forces to go faster still.
Now they were racing at breakneck speed—so quickly, in fact, that the Fusion Duelist had resorted to asking Angel-IQ to give them verbal updates to the Duel they were spectating; her eyes were still stinging with wind shear from the last time she'd chanced a glimpse at her Duel Disk. The supercomputer's latest update was disheartening.
"Three Fusion Monsters in one turn—and two Contact Fusions?!" Masumi could practically hear Hotene's slack jaw bouncing in the wind. "And now he's got three different monsters on his field! Who is this guy?!"
"He's the madman that created your claim to fame," Yaiba said wryly. He'd hooked his bamboo shinai around Masumi as a makeshift seatbelt; with the speed they were traveling, his smaller frame meant that he could no longer trust himself to stay on Rider Kannahawk under his own power. "Sora said Markus has created a different monster for just about every situation he faces—and we've seen a good few of them already. Apparently he might have used one against Yūshō that pretty much turned the entire Action Field against the poor guy."
"This guy's no joke," Hokuto remarked from overhead. "Action Fields are bread and butter for just about every Duelist in this Dimension. If one Fusion Monster can do that—I hate to think what his other ones can do."
"We can't challenge him to an Action Duel, then," said Fuyu from under his helmet, still holding on to Hokuto for dear life. "He'll use that monster against us the first chance he gets."
"And we've got way too many people to make a Tag Duel work," Rika piped up. "Especially if Markus ends up taking every other turn, since we're a team and he's all alone. Which means we have to resort to a Battle Royale."
Everyone shuddered at this in a way that had nothing to do with the shriek of the wind. The LID had been through two Battle Royales in their time together: both of them had been slow, tortuous and brutal, with monsters that defied conventional physics and fields that had choked their ability to Duel like vises. The more recent of them had almost cost more than half of the kids their lives, and would not be fading from their memory anytime soon.
" … I don't like it, either," said the Xyz Duelist. Masumi imagined he looked even paler than usual at the prospect of fighting as a team once more. "For all I know, Markus has planned for that, too. But we have to take the risk."
"Then we let him make the first move," said the Fusion user. "We'll lead off with Fuyu after, so that he can … "
They continued to discuss strategy as they raced through the sky, still hoping they would reach Markus in time …
Gōdagawa had barely even looked at the Fusion he'd drawn before sliding it across his blade. "Trap Card, open: Dual Sky Return!" he cried, revealing one of his Set cards. "By targeting a Dual Sky monster in my Graveyard, I can Special Summon it to my field! I Special Summon Dual Sky Fists – Armored A in Attack Position!"
He threw out his hand, and with a burst of light, the fallen warrior shimmered inside the very spot in which he'd been slain, looking none the worse for wear—and all the more enraged for it, judging by the loud battle cry that erupted from his mouth (Level 6: ATK 2100/DEF 1500).
Gōdagawa was just about to activate A's effect—that Augustol looked far too powerful to just leave on the field—when something made him pause. He was well aware that the Graveyard served as a resource of its own for many Duelists of this generation. Streiter was cut from a different cloth—physical presence of the warriors on his field was what mattered to him, not some lingering ghost of the fallen. And yet … he had amassed a sizable number of monsters in his Graveyard already; only half of them were due to the Painful Choice card he'd played.
Does he somehow want me to destroy his monsters? Gōdagawa wondered. He scrutinized the German opposite him, still staring inscrutably back. Or is he … He remembered that Streiter had used his Equite to return a Gladial Beast card to his hand—but which card had it been? Most of them had been monsters, yes, but there were several that …
He grit his teeth, cursing. The bastard—he's using psychological warfare against me, he seethed, trying to dupe me into making a mistake. Trust an army commander to be forthright about his tactics in battle, I think not!
With great effort, he allowed himself to calm down. No, he thought. I won't use my A's effect. I've got other ways to wipe out his field before I make my move—and when I do, he added, glancing at his Extra Deck and sneering, I'll crush him under my heel with the biggest monsters my Deck knows how to Summon.
Here goes! "I activate the Quick-Play Spell: Dual Sky Exorcism! With this card, I can target 1 monster my opponent controls, and a Dual Sky monster I control—and destroy them both! I destroy my A and your Augustol—and then"—he covered his eyes just in time for both mighty warriors to disintegrate into billions of photons—"since the Dual Sky monster I destroyed was a Fusion Monster, I can draw a card!"
When he did, he had to fight the urge to smirk upon seeing what it was. Let's see him get past this.
"Next, I activate the effect of the Trap Card: Dual Sky Turning," he said, "which I discarded to activate my Dual Sky Invitation during my last turn! By banishing Turning from my Graveyard, I can therefore target 1 Dual Sky monster in my Graveyard, and return it to my hand!" He swiped up his chosen card an instant later with little preamble.
"And speaking of my Dual Sky Invitation," he grinned, pausing just long enough that he knew it would magnify the hammer blow to come, "I activate another Trap Card: Dual Sky Duty! By banishing a Dual Sky Spell or Trap from my Graveyard, I can make Duty inherit that banished card's effect! And you know what that means!"
Streiter did: his eyes widened a millimeter. Though few were around to catch it, this was still the most shocked he'd been since he'd led the Ædonai's attack on Maiami City. And he was not a man given to vivid displays of shock.
His reaction, however, was nothing compared to Masumi's—or those of her friends.
"I don't believe it," the Fusion Duelist breathed excitedly. "He's going to do it all over again!"
"And he'll have more monsters to use, too!" Yaiba muttered. "Who knows what he could bring out this time?"
"Whatever it is," said Hokuto, sniggering with vindictive pleasure, "I hope it beats Markus to an inch of his life."
Having discarded his card for Invitation's effect, Gōdagawa planted a foot in the dirt—and unleashed a bellowing roar skyward. The dark flames that, up until now, had merely lapped at his arms and legs, now exploded from them, adding their own howling voices to the din with their own dirge of impending destruction. Images of lions' jowls and demons' eyes whirled from the infernos that poured from his body, and onto the field as though the flames that composed them wished for nothing more than an earthly body of their own (5 × Level 2: ATK 0/DEF 0).
The sensei of Ryōzanpaku kept on howling to the sky, pouring every single ounce of his fury into what he was about to do next. Four of the Tokens he'd conjured raced for the heavens; as he slid several cards into his Graveyard slot, Yūhi and Kōkoku streaked after them so quickly that their afterimage was all that could be seen of their bodies:
"Divine avatars of the Absolute!" thundered Gōdagawa. "Return to this realm, and purge it of evil forever!"
"DOUBLE FUSION SUMMON! Come forth! My illustrious Dual Sky Generals – Kongō and Mitsujaku!"
A seismic station five kilometers from the Duel site would later log an anomalous reading at this precise time and place. Such was the impact both of Gōdagawa's monsters had caused upon hitting the courtyard of Ryōzanpaku that both combatants had to drop to a knee so as not to topple over from the force of the combined entrance.
Streiter could not resist an approving nod at the monsters in question: they were both a head taller than he, and clad in gleaming heavy armor that made the physique of both warriors—already at the peak of their prime—seem even more imposing. Kongō was the taller of the two; resplendent in reddish-gold armor with snarling faces of lions on the pauldrons, spikes on the vambraces that could run a man through with their length, and golden bands of energy that circled them (Level 8: ATK 3000/DEF 1700). Mitsujaku, though he had dropped to one knee, looked even more majestic in his silver-blue armor, identical in almost every respect to his compatriot's but for the long blades that jutted from his knees, and the golden rings hovering just below them (Level 7: ATK 2000/DEF 3000).
"Dual Sky General – Mitsujaku's effect!" boomed Gōdagawa. "Once per turn, I can return all Spells and Traps my opponent controls to the hand! Shūkongōshin no Gin Senkō!" And with a single stomp of its silver sandal, the entire mountainside heaved and rolled, returning Streiter's sole card in his Spell and Trap Zone to his hand.
"My Colosseum is not so easily removed," said the Kämpfer. "Terrain programs are slave to the Duel Disk that controls them—and not the card that creates them."
That only made Gōdagawa smirk even wider. "I no longer care about your damnable Field," the sensei shot back. "You have nothing left to defend yourself against me now. All the Spells and snares and strength in the world won't save your Gladial Beasts from me—and certainly not from my Generals! BATTLE PHASE!"
Thus satisfied with the state of things, he clapped his hands once, slamming his palms together with such force that a shockwave radiated from where he stood. At once, his final Token jumped towards him—its final action before the inherited effect of his Duty would destroy it at the end of his turn—and Gōdagawa took it into himself, feeling the hard light bolster him from within, invigorating his body until he felt twenty, thirty, forty years younger—
"Dual Sky General – Kongō's effect! Whenever it battles, you cannot activate any cards or effects whatsoever!" he bellowed. "Now—destroy Gladial Beast Sagittari! Shūkongōshin—Kin no Shikei!" And with a flash of golden armor, his monster launched forward. Such was the power of his leap that Kongō's fist cannoned straight through Markus' monster before he'd even touched earth, cleaving the centaur in two at the waist—and he still had more than enough momentum to cause a shockwave that shook the German where he stood, taking his LP down to 2900.
Gōdagawa hunkered down, feeling his muscles burst with flames born of Solid Vision and fighting spirit alike. "Dual Sky General – Kongō's second effect," he sneered. "If it attacks, I can return 1 of your monsters back to your hand after damage calculation. I return your Gladial Beast Tigel, and leave you with what you deserve—nothing!"
As if to underscore his malediction, Kongō threw an air punch at Tigel, and the golden ring around his fist rocketed straight for the beast. It expanded, wrapping around the monster and erupting with lightning—until, quite suddenly, both it and the monster had vanished from view, and Streiter was replacing a third card into his hand.
"Dual Sky General – Mitsujaku! IKE!" bellowed Gōdagawa, and his silver avatar sprinted for his sworn enemy. "Crush the evil one with the might of the gods, and attack Markus Streiter directly! SHŪKONGŌSHIN—GIN NO HANDAN!"
The sensei lunged forward himself on the last word, willing his blazing soul into every muscle in his legs, propelling him forward at such speed that Ryōzanpaku, and all around him, became a blur. Even Kongō was nothing but a mass of silver, wreathed in wind and lightning, as he raised his fists to strike. But Gōdagawa cared not for a battle he knew was not his to wage. His fight was just ahead—seconds, milliseconds away—he drew back his fists—
BAM. He felt the lion-flames drive into Streiter at the moment of impact, caving in the German's stomach and actually shoving his two-meter-tall frame backward with the sheer force behind his punch. Gōdagawa heard the Kämpfer gurgle as his internal organs shifted, and saw him bend double. But he did not let up—he could not—
THUD. He'd pulled at the lapel of Streiter's suit, forcing him to stay bent double at the chest—and a well-placed knee hit Streiter right in his face, crumpling his nose and forcing him further backwards, stumbling.
"You will never win!" bellowed Gōdagawa—and then, before he knew it, he and Mitsujaku were pummeling Streiter with punches and kicks alike, not even caring about where they struck. All he cared about doing was lashing out with every ounce of the vigor from his regained youth—all the exultation and thrill of a true Ryōzanpaku Duel—
"Your dimension failed to destroy the Lancers!" CRACK. "Your kingdom failed to destroy this city!" CRUNCH. "You have failed to destroy your enemies—and you have failed to destroy my school!" WHAM. "You will never destroy another living thing for as long as I draw breath, Streiter! You will always fail—and we will always win!"
Every other word was punctuated with one more blow—one more drop of inexhaustible rage that Gōdagawa had built up this entire Duel, and now unleashed upon the Kämpfer with reckless abandon. Not even the remains of Sagittari were spared: Kongō was stamping upon the Duel Monster's broken body even after it was clearly dead.
The sensei had no idea how much time had passed before he finally let up his attack. But at length his fury had abated—only a little, but enough for him to come to his senses, and see the results of his wrath for the first time.
Streiter was in a bad way—certainly worse than the 900 LP he'd been left with was letting on. He was standing, but half his face was red with blood, pouring from his broken nose, and the collar of his suit was already staining. One storm-gray eye was bloodshot, and the other was so swollen that it was almost entirely hidden behind bruised flesh. The hand still clutching two cards in his hand massaged his chest—Gōdagawa wondered how many ribs he had managed to crack or even break—while the other was firmly on his thigh; he was walking with a pronounced limp.
But the Kämpfer was already beginning to recover. He clutched at his bloody nose—and with a sickening SNAP, he realigned the cartilage with a single twist. The blood stopped flowing from his nostrils moments later. With a tissue he daubed at the mess beneath, wiping it off his split lip, though there was no removing the stain it had left behind.
"It seems … we're both beginning to show our age, Master Gōdagawa," Streiter coughed, breathing heavily. "Too many more blows like that, and I might not be able to Duel on your level again. And you … how long have you been storing such raw fury inside you, I wonder? Has it been years? Decades? Have I truly been the first opponent to make you want to go so far in wiping him off the face of the earth?"
And then he smiled—looking utterly terrifying with the red blotch of blood that stained him from cheek to cheek. "Because I don't think you're going to get the chance to unleash it against me again."
A lesser man than Gōdagawa might have quailed. But Gōdagawa was not least of anything, even at his age. "When I activated the inherited effect of Dual Sky Duty," he said, "I discarded the monster AD Changer because of Invitation's cost. Now I can banish AD Changer from my Graveyard to activate its effect, which lets me target a monster on the field and change its battle position! I change my Mitsujaku to Defense Position!"
Gōdagawa was fully aware that it was useless for Streiter to struggle any further. He had no real defense against his monsters next turn—for the Dual Sky Generals before him were far stronger when paired together. Any card effect the Kämpfer tried to use while the sensei had at least two Fusion Monsters on his field would activate the Generals' tertiary effects; Spells and Traps that targeted Kongō would be negated, and any monster hoping to pull a fast one on Mitsujaku would be blown to bits. Streiter wouldn't be tagging out any more Gladial Beasts as long as he had these twin monsters on his field, Gōdagawa knew—and if the German wanted to get rid of them the old-fashioned way with his old-fashioned Deck … well, he had answers for that, too.
So Gōdagawa Ryōzan exhaled, rolled his shoulders, and allowed his anger to build up once more for the final blow.
The mood far away, however, was a different story.
"You hate to see it," Yaiba remarked, as the LID streaked closer and closer to Ryōzanpaku. "To come so close, yet still be so far away. I can't help thinking Gōdagawa could have done more to his turn than what we just saw."
"Maybe he knows something we don't," piped up Rika.
"He's not the one on observer mode," Masumi snorted. "I've been glued to my Duel Disk ever since Angel-IQ patched us in. If he had the chance to win that Duel, we'd have known about it."
"So why didn't he, then?" Hotene wanted to know.
" … I don't think Gōdagawa knew something we didn't," said Fuyu, still barely audible against the wind. "I think it was the other way around … that he didn't know something we do. Did you see the card Streiter Set last turn?"
There were muttered "yeses" all around. "He could've activated it," the Xyz Duelist continued, "but he never did. And I think I might know why—Streiter's been trying to bait Gōdagawa into making a misplay."
Masumi frowned. "And you think putting Mitsujaku on the defensive means Streiter succeeded?"
Fuyu, still astride Messiers 7, was seen to bite his lip. "All those cards he sent to his Graveyard with Painful Choice … and then the one card he returned to his hand with his Equite. That one card must've been what Gōdagawa was so worried about, and yet he still doesn't know what it is."
The Xyz user gulped. "But he must know by now what it isn't."
He gripped his companion around the chest a little tighter. "Hokuto-san," he said urgently, "we need to get to the school as fast as we can—like there's a hundred Infernoids chasing us. This Duel won't last for much longer."
Hokuto had not been there to see those monsters, owing to his time being sealed into a card. He had heard enough stories about them, however, that he spurred his mount into greater action, his pointed face grim.
"We're less than three minutes out." Masumi checked her Duel Disk. "I think I can see the hillside of the school in the distance—right there, where all the smoke is! Is that going to be enough time, Fuyu?"
The Xyz user did not reply.
Streiter drew his card with little preamble—partly because of his condition, and partly because he had no intent of matching the raw energy Gōdagawa was exuding from every pore of his body.
"I activate the Spell Card: Fusion Deployment," he said, swiping it across his Duel Disk. "By revealing a Fusion Monster from my Extra Deck, I can Special Summon a monster from my Deck that is listed by name as one of that monster's Fusion Materials! I reveal my Gladial Beast Gyzarus"—he ejected a card from a recess in his Disk for just long enough that Gōdagawa was able to make out its telltale violet edge—"and Special Summon Gladial Beast Bestrouli to my field in Attack Position—thus adding another counter onto my Colosseum thanks to its effect!"
For the second time this Duel, the green-armored bird swooped above the flaming cracks in the ground in front of Streiter, cocking its arm cannons and leveling them right at the sensei (Level 4: ATK 1500 » 2100/DEF 800 » 1400).
"Next, I Summon Gladial Beast Samnite," the Kämpfer went on, sliding a second card onto his blade and watching a grey-skinned humanoid with the head of a saber-toothed tiger stomp onto the field, hefting a shield and sword in its paws that each looked as heavy as the black armor that encased it (Level 3: ATK 1600 » 2200/DEF 1200 » 1800). "Then I shuffle both it and my Bestrouli into my Deck, and—well," he smirked, "you know what's coming next."
Gōdagawa had a pretty good idea, and he fought hard to keep his face level and defiant as he watched both Gladial Beasts consumed with blinding light. If he uses that monster's effect again—and on both my Generals, he thought with a sneer, then he's in for a very rude awakening indeed …
"CONTACT FUSION!" roared Streiter. "Return! Gladial Beast Gyzarus!"
And almost before he'd finished chanting, the eight-foot-tall winged behemoth had landed onto the field in a three-point stance. A screeching battle cry tore from Gyzarus' beak as it drew itself to its full height, and arm-cannons were raised and primed to fire barely a second later (Level 6: ATK 2400 » 3000/DEF 1500 » 2100).
But almost as quickly—much to Gōdagawa's confusion—they lowered, but did not relax. He frowned, wary that he might yet be caught wrong-footed. He's not going to destroy my Generals—he isn't even going to try?
"I think you might recognize this next card, Master Gōdagawa," Streiter told him. "I have you to thank for giving it to me, after all—you and the choice you made that sealed your fate in this Duel."
The sensei's breath caught in his throat. Oh, no. Had he been holding that card all this time?
Streiter moved quicker than a man as injured as he should have any right to. "Quick-Play Spell: Gladial Beast's Inner Strength!" he bellowed, and the penultimate card in his hand—the one that wasn't Tigel, Gōdagawa realized with awful, growing fear—was slammed onto his Duel Disk. "By activating this card, I can grant 1 Gladial Beast monster on my field 500 ATK until the End Phase of the turn! I target Gyzarus!"
He clenched his fists, and the gloves that covered them sparked with lightning. Gyzarus followed suit bare moments later, its arm cannons glowing with energy, its ATK gauge at 3500—and its wings unfurling to their fullest.
"You would speak of my failure to destroy, Master Gōdagawa?" rumbled the Kämpfer. "I have not failed yet—and I shall not depart your world until I have ensured the Ædonai will never fail again.
He drew a deep breath. "Now, permit me to speak of your failures … those born of the choices you have made, both to destroy and to save! Erste salve!"
And before Gōdagawa could react, Gyzarus launched forward, blurring across the courtyard and tackling the sensei before he could even blink. He saw Streiter throw a punch through the air—and then, somehow, his Fusion Monster had done the exact same thing, right into his chest cavity. Air whooshed from his stomach as Gyzarus' clawed fist connected with enough force to actually send him airborne—
FLASH.
The monster's arm-cannons had ignited, sending Gōdagawa a full ten feet upward, as if he'd been launched from a catapult. But just as he'd begun to feel his body slow to a halt, and gravity reassert itself, Gyzarus was right there beside him, driving its knee right between the shoulder blades and forcing a strangled yell from his lips.
"Your first failure came from your choice to turn your back on Kachidoki Isao," cried Streiter, "and shun him from all standing at your school, when he lost his fight against Sakaki Yūya! A good teacher leaves no student behind to fail—just as no soldier should ever abandon his brothers-in-arms in times of war, or of peace!
"My Gladial Beast's Inner Strength has a second effect!" the Kämpfer bellowed, punching outwards a second time. The circuitry inside his gloves sparked again. "By shuffling two Gladial Beast cards from my Graveyard into my Deck, I can return it to my hand—and activate it a second time! Zweite salve!"
FLASH. Again the weaponry of Gyzarus—its point gauge now reading an indomitable 4000—rang in Gōdagawa's ears, and again he felt his body ascend into the air another ten feet. But for once, his mind was elsewhere—he was trying to remember how many Gladial Beast cards were in Streiter's Graveyard, Painful Choice or no.
The answer, when it came, made his heart sink: eight cards. Six monsters, a Spell, a Trap.
And 2500 total ATK.
"Your second failure came when you chose to impart the Dueling style of Ryōzanpaku to Academia and the Fusion Dimension!" the German continued to shout. "It is not the weapon of the soldier that wins the war—but the drive and conviction that resides in every soldier's heart! It is the wish to achieve victory—the wish to make a difference in the world—that gives them this conviction, and not the cards in their Deck or the Fields on which they Duel!"
Gōdagawa was only half listening. When had he done that? he wondered. Kachidoki had been the only contact between his school and Academia. Had Isao told them how to take advantage of opponents in a Duel—to be as physical as possible, and to disregard such high concepts of honor when pursuing total victory?
A bitter cold raced down his spine. He had heard of how the invaders had sealed so many people—how they simply stabbed fleeing men, women, and children without needing to Duel them, the blades of their Duel Disks phasing through flesh and bone and turning them all into cards mere seconds later, leaving nothing behind but echoes.
Was he inadvertently responsible for teaching them such brutality?
"Again! Quick-Play Spell: Gladial Beast's Inner Strength!" he heard Streiter roar, as he shuffled two more cards from his Graveyard and reactivated his Spell yet again. "DREITE SALVE!"
FLASH. Forty feet. Gōdagawa was no longer willing to look at Gyzarus as the creature continued to pummel him ever higher into the sky. But he knew its ATK was now at 4500—and that it still had much further left to go …
One minute.
Masumi could see the edges of the large wall that surrounded Ryōzanpaku, and the buildings beyond. But her mind was still on the Duel. She had always disliked Gōdagawa Ryōzan for the Dueling practices he taught, the same ones that had injured her boyfriend those many months ago—and yet, she could only feel pity for how thoroughly Markus Streiter had duped him.
The Fusion Duelist had guessed that Markus had meant to use his Painful Choice to send Noxious, United, and Inner Strength to his Graveyard. When he'd used Equite to return Inner Strength, Masumi had assumed it was then that the ruse had begun—that Gōdagawa had been fooled into thinking it had been either Noxious that had been added to his hand instead, to stop an attack when it mattered most—or United to bring out yet another Fusion Monster before he could deal the killing blow. So he'd Summoned his Mitsujaku in Defense Position, thinking that if Noxious or United was already waiting for him, there was no point in trying to bait it out.
She shook her head. Gōdagawa had been a fool—too young of one to know his own limits, and too old of one to acknowledge them.
"Look!"
Only because Yaiba was right in front of her did she hear him. Not that she needed to—he'd pointed directly ahead, quite suddenly. "Do you see that?" the Synchro ace cried out to her.
Masumi followed his finger—and felt the color drain from her face as she saw the two rising figures in the distance.
She had a strong suspicion that one of them wasn't a Duel Monster.
"Your third failure!" Streiter had to squint to see his opponent and his monster at this point. He calculated that they were at least eighty feet above the ground, and Gyzarus was propelling them higher with each passing blow it rained upon Gōdagawa. "When you gave us Kachidoki, we gave him what he wanted—but the deal he struck with us also applied to you! You chose to ignore that deal—in the hopes that Academia's defeat would mean you no longer had to honor it! But the war against us did not end with Z-ARC, Master Gōdagawa. No—it has yet to even start!
"VIERTE SALVE!" He did not bother announcing it this time; he simply shuffled two more cards, played his Inner Strength, and waited for the FLASH that heralded Gyzarus' ATK rising higher still—this time to an even 5000.
"Your fourth and final failure," he growled. "In your haste to protect your students, you dismissed them in order to Duel me yourself. But no war was ever won through the actions of one, Master Gōdagawa—but of many.
"Yes!" he bellowed. "Unum in multis! Multi in unum! This is the creed of the Ædonai—to never fight alone, and to always stand together! If you truly wished me defeated, you would have unleashed your entire school upon me—but your compassion for their continued survival has smothered your faith in what they can do! That is why, here and now, you shall fall, Master Gōdagawa—and fall forever! FÜNFTE SALVE!"
FLASH. One hundred feet … 5500 … but this time, Gyzarus and Gōdagawa were not the only dots in the clear sky. Three others could be seen, just off to the left; Streiter saw the flapping shapes of wings on all three of them.
I see. There was nothing more to be done, at any rate; he had no more Gladial Beasts in his Graveyard to shuffle.
"It is finished," he said solemnly. Die letzte salve. Then, loudly enough that he could be heard, even from so high up: "BATTLE PHASE! Gladial Beast Gyzarus! Attack Dual Sky General – Kongō!"
He crossed his arms against his breast—watching Gyzarus mimic his movements, locking them around Gōdagawa's torso and trapping him against its bulk. This was your choice to make, Master Gōdagawa, he thought, as monster and man alike were maneuvered upside down. You simply made one wrong decision too many.
Streiter peered inside his Graveyard, stealing a glance at his Painful Choice as if it was a child he'd caught sleeping. You will carry the pain of your choices with you for the rest of your days … and what pain it will be.
He held his hands aloft, and his quiet voice boomed in the silence. "Drop him."
Gōdagawa, blood rushing to his head, heard the arm-cannons of Gyzarus belch with flaming energy—saw the jets of thrust blasting in opposite directions, slightly upwards—and felt their conjoined bodies begin to spin downwards.
"Mitsujaku's second effect!" he barely managed to say. "The first time my Dual Sky Fusion Monster would be destroyed by battle, it will survive to fight another day!"
Ah, but he doesn't want to destroy your monster, said a little voice in his mind. He just wants to destroy you …
Then his world became a blur, and Gōdagawa Ryōzan's scream became one with the wind as Gyzarus plummeted downwards with the force of a meteor.
The last thing he remembered before hitting the courtyard was that someone else was screaming with him.
"NOOO!"
Masumi had almost jumped right off Spirit Beast Rider Kannahawk—and very nearly taken Yaiba with her. Her shriek of horror at what she had just seen had catapulted them both from her sitting position, and only a last-second boost of rationality brought her hands onto Hotene's monster's neck, and kept the two Dueling aces astride it.
But the mental image of the brutal end to the Duel would haunt Masumi's memories for the rest of her life.
Gōdagawa Ryōzan had hit the courtyard at a full sixty miles an hour, propelled into his own Kongō by a broad-shouldered, bird-like creature half his height again and trapped in its viselike embrace. The crater their bodies left behind was twice as big around as he had been tall. As Gyzarus disappeared from reality, having won its controller the Duel, the body of the controversial Duel School's principal rolled limply to one side, and did not stir.
The Fusion Duelist was not aware of the monsters stirring up dust clouds as they finally made landfall. She did not immediately register Yaiba ushering her off and practically shoving her Duel Disk onto her arm. The LID raced off their mounts, heading for the crater—but Masumi cared only that they had arrived at Ryōzanpaku.
Seconds too late.
Yaiba was first to reach the fallen sensei. His neck was cold with sweat. "Angel-IQ! Vital check—do it! Now!"
He waved his Duel Disk over Gōdagawa's body. No one dared to breathe.
Then: "I have a heartbeat," said the supercomputer, and Masumi nearly toppled onto the ground from her combined shock and relief. How the hell is Gōdagawa still alive after all that?!
"There are systemic bone fractures and internal bleeding," Angel-IQ continued to dictate. "Status is critical and increasingly unstable. Emergency services have been alerted—Gōdagawa needs immediate medical attention."
"I should hope he gets it."
In all her haste to make sure Gōdagawa had survived the force of the final attack, Masumi had completely forgotten Markus Streiter was standing right there, barely thirty feet from the LID. Now, as she rounded on the man, and saw him unmasked and in person for the first time, her vision was ruby-red, her blood ablaze with fury born of betrayal.
"I have no intention of seeing Master Gōdagawa die today," said the huge German, daubing at his reddened face with a tissue; Masumi saw the tissue turn faintly scarlet as well, and belatedly realized that he was wiping off dried blood. "That would mean he could never come to terms with the choices he made in betraying me."
"The only betrayer here is you, Markus!" Masumi snarled at him. She ignited her navy Duel Disk without a second thought, listening to the orange blade sizzling along her forearm. "You took advantage of innocent people today! And you will pay for everything you did to me, my friends, and my city before we're through with you!"
But Streiter did not even look at her. "I must be off," he said, straightening his tie with a strange calm as he turned to leave. "You children are not part of my orders. You are not why I am here."
"We can be." Yaiba's orange Duel Disk spat a green blade of its own. "We will be if you don't cooperate."
"Yeah—maybe you didn't get the memo, Markus? It's over." Hokuto tightened the purple Duel Disk over his own arm, still projecting its sapphire-blue blade. "It isn't just ambulances on their way up here—it's the Self-Defense Forces. You're not exactly popular with them right now. Or with anyone in this dimension, for that matter."
"They'll be sealing this whole school off any minute," Masumi added, "if they haven't already." She resisted the urge to smirk. "We're not going anywhere"—she hefted her Duel Disk—"and neither are you."
Nobody moved for a very long moment. Then, quite suddenly, a cell phone began to ring, shattering the calm.
Masumi was so thrown off guard by the unexpected sound that she didn't even protest when Streiter pulled the offending device out of his pocket, holding up a finger. "Excuse me, please."
He answered the call. "This line is no longer secure," the German said sternly. "Talk quickly." He listened to the voice on the other end of the line. With each passing moment, the lines on his weathered face deepened further.
"You were implicitly ordered to stay within sight of Kachidoki Isao at all times while he hunted down the twins," he scolded. "You do not just lose contact with him. Speak plainly, boy—where is he?"
THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. He turned round at the noise—but Masumi could see he'd already gotten his answer.
The former ace of Ryōzanpaku had rolled to a halt less than three feet from where Streiter stood—followed swiftly by two boys Masumi didn't know, but she guessed out of instinct that they were classmates of his, judging from the simple clothing they wore. All three of their outfits were equally dusty and torn, and alone of them all, Isao was the only one who still maintained some semblance of consciousness. Masumi knew this only because she'd heard him moan very faintly, and saw his bruised body stir where he lay—before slumping to the ground with a final moan.
Streiter shook his head. "Kennedy was right," he muttered. "Ich hätte stattdessen mädchen schicken sollen."
Masumi had no time to dwell on what he meant; a shadow had eclipsed the sun just then, distracting her. That was the only warning she had before another figure dropped from the sky: a tan- and saffron-colored blur that landed in the courtyard in a three-point stance, with much less noise—and much more control—than Isao and his cohorts had.
Her heart skipped into her mouth. She knew who this was, even before he'd turned to face them—even though she hadn't seen him in more than a month. Instinctively, she'd whirled on Rika, whose eyes were as round and wide as could be—this boy, after all, was the same Synchro Duelist she had replaced upon her induction into the LID.
"Wǒ wèi chídào dàoqiàn, Tōdō Yaiba." His voice was stilted, but calm, as he motioned to Isao. "Bad traffic."
Yaiba was smirking slightly. "Hey, don't sweat it, Shen," he said, waving back. "We're just glad you could drop in."
A/N: Oh, hey, look who I decided to bring back. I'm sure no one saw this coming. :P
A while ago, I (jokingly) imagined giving Markus the voice of Darin de Paul for how much he sounded like Reinhardt in my mind. But it's worth mentioning that de Paul also voiced Dr. Samuel Hayden in the revival of DOOM—and I must admit, the voice he used for that role sounds a lot more appropriate for a bad guy.
This won't be the last fight in the story—not by a long shot—but it will be the longest and most complex of them for a while. So I'm glad I had some backlog to work with prior to posting this; it should mean I've got a head start on the Duel as a whole. It'll have its twists and turns, believe me—and I hope you'll be pleased with the final result.
Feel free to drop a like or a follow, or even your thoughts on the story so far. Thanks for reading! – K