THE BRIDGE BIKE GANG

Their original plan had been to double back through the Holdo Cave to the Zelenyy Woods side of Mount Riansares. With the Avis City nexus of the cave destroyed thanks to Haschel's bombs, that route was now out of the question. They would need to find another way to get to the next gym in Simia City.

They'd spent another night in Avis City following Yuka's win against Jasper Phoenix. Hugo checked the map on his duel pad. The fastest path to Simia City was to go north, over a bridge that spanned the Conodoguinet River and through a small town, before turning west and follow a hiking trail over the northern side of the mountain.

"So how long do you think it will take to get there?" Shelly asked.

"A couple of days, maybe," Hugo guessed as he turned his duel pad off. "The Conodoguinet Bridge is two miles long, and we can stop in that town for supplies if we need to. The longest bit is going to be going up and over the mountain. If I had to guess, it'd be a three day trip."

"Plenty of time to look up the gym leader and get a strategy figured out," Yuka said. "So what's the plan? Leave first thing in the morning?"

"Sounds good to me," Shelly said.

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There was a slight chill in the air when they set off the next morning. It would be about an hour walk to the Conodoguinet River, followed by another hour to cross the bridge. They could see the beginning of the bridge as they approached the northern end of Avis City. As they got closer, they could hear the river running under the bridge.

The Conodoguinet River was the biggest river in the region, with a length of 104 miles and two miles wide at its widest point. The river began at the lake of the same name and flowed into the Lesotho Bay. It was a popular boating and fishing spot during the summer months. Lately, though, there hadn't been much rain, and the runoff from the winter's snow melting was minimal, meaning the river had lowered significantly compared to what it normally was. At its deepest, the river was a hundred feet deep, but this year, it was half that.

Vehicles sped past them as they stepped onto the bridge's foot path. Every vehicle that went past added to the river breeze.

"Nice day for a stroll, if nothing else," Shelly said.

"And the fishing looks good today," Hugo said, looking out at all the boats in the river.

Yuka wasn't paying attention; she had booted up her duel pad and pulled up information on the next gym leader she was supposed to duel.

"Fiona Shaw."

"What's that, Yuka?" Hugo asked.

"I was looking at the next gym leader," Yuka answered. "Her name's Fiona Shaw. It says here that she was part of a travelling circus in the Norsa region, and she uses a Performapal deck. You guys have any experience with that?"

"I know a deck like that is big on Pendulum Summoning," Shelly said. "It lets them summon a lot of monsters all at once. You know how I have my Shaddoll Zefra and Shaddoll Zefranaga? It's kind of like that."

"I know I've only seen you use them once," Hugo said.

"That's because I rarely have any reason to use them," Shelly replied.

The sound of car horns and screeching tires caught their attention. They looked over to the road. Cars stopped and swerved to avoid a group of motorcycles, all speeding the wrong way into oncoming traffic. As the motorcycles got closer, they could see that they came in a rainbow of colors, the two leads being black and orange, respectively.

"Those guys are totally nuts," Yuka said.

"And is it just my imagination, or are they coming this way?" Hugo asked.

"No, they're definitely coming this way," Shelly said.

The motorcycles hopped the curb onto the foot path and sped towards the three of them. The bikes came to a stop just a few meters away from them. Their engines revved as an intimidation tactic. There were ten bikes in total. The one in front, on the black bike - Yuka guessed he was the leader - was a tall, lanky man with bright, fiery orange hair. He was dressed all in leather: Boots, pants, a sleeveless vest minus the shirt underneath. Next to him, on the orange bike, was a young woman with bluish-black hair, also dressed in leather, which included a sleeveless crop top that exposed her midriff.

"Um...Can we help you?" Hugo asked after a moment.

"Yeah," the lead biker said. "You can start by paying the toll."

"Toll?" Yuka repeated. "What toll?"

"The toll for crossing the bridge," the woman said. "Can't cross for free."

"What about them?" Shelly asked, pointing a thumb towards the vehicle traffic. "Or do you make them pay by driving like a bunch of idiots going the wrong way?"

"Oh, they got wheels, so they get a pass," the leader said. "You three don't even have Duel Runners, so you have to pay up. We take cash, checks, or your rarest cards."

"You're nuts if you think you're getting any of that from us," Hugo growled. "Now get out of the way; we've got places to be."

The leader laughed. "That's what they all say. So are you gonna pay up or what?"

"We already told you we're not," Shelly said. "Now move, or we're going to make you move!"

The woman laughed. "Get real, blondie. There's ten of us and three of you."

Shelly activated her duel pad. "Then how about this? You two duel two of us, and if we win, we get to keep going. If you win, we turn back and find another way to our destination."

"You hear that, Tito?" the woman asked. "Blondie gave us an ultimatum."

"I heard, Stella," Tito said. "Guess we don't have much of a choice."

Yuka stepped forward. "Okay, let's do this."

Hugo put a hand on her shoulder, stopping her. "Why don't you sit this one out, Yuka?" he suggested.

"You sure, Hugo?"

"Yeah. Shelly and I can handle these idiots."

"Who are you calling idiots?" Tito demanded. "That's it! Let's duel!"

The four duelists activated their duel pads. Tito and Stella remained on their bikes; Tito had said they were using Duel Runners, a kind of motorcycle equipped with a duel pad and meant for a type of duel known as a Turbo Duel. Their life points were set to 8000, and their first five cards were drawn.

"I'll start us off," Hugo said. He scanned his opening hand, which consisted of the field spell Lost World, and four monsters - Megalosmasher X, Sabersaurus, Black Brachio, and Gilasaurus. "I'll begin by activating Lost World." As he played the card, palm trees emerged from the pavement. "Now every monster that isn't a dinosaur loses 500 attack and defense points, and when I summon a dinosaur, you gain a Juraegg Token to your side of the field." He noticed Tito smiling, but ignored it.

"Next, I special summon Gilasaurus from my hand," he continued. the brown velociraptor appeared and roared at his opponents. At the same time, a cluster of eggs appeared on his opponents' field. "Next, I normal summon Black Brachios." The black, spiked brachiosaurus appeared next to Gilasaurus. A second cluster of eggs appeared.. "That'll end my turn."

"Then I guess I'm up," Tito said. "I draw." He scanned his openeing hand, which was all monsters: Two Dinowrestler Eskrimamenchi, Dinowrestler Martial Ampelo, Dinowrestler Capaptera, Dinowrestler Systegosaur, and Dinowrestler Martial Anga. "I summon Dinowrestler Systegosaur in attack mode." A bipedal stegosaurus in wrestling shorts appeared. It flexed as it roared at Hugo's dinosaurs.

"Huh. You got dinosaurs too," Hugo observed.

"And my dinosaurs do more than just roar and eat stuff," Tito said. "Dinowrestler Systegosaur, attack Black Brachios!" Systegosaur leaped at Black Brachios, grabbing it by the neck and flipping it over its shoulder. Black Brachios slammed into the floor and vanished. As it did, Hugo's life points dropped to 7900. "I end my turn."

"Then I'm going," Shelly said as she drew a new card. Her opening hand consisted of a trap card, Res Shaddoll Incarnation, and five monsters: Qadshaddoll Keios, Mathematician, Electromagnetic Turtle, Naelshaddoll Ariel, and Shaddoll Zefranaga. "I summon Mathematician." And old, beareded man in gray professor's robes appeared. Due to the effect of Lost World, its 1500 attack points dropped to 1000. "Now I use its effect to send a Level Four monster from my deck to the Graveyard, and I choose to send Shaddoll Squamata. Doing that activates its effect to send a Shaddoll monster from my deck to the Graveyard, so I'll send Shaddoll Beast and use his effect to draw a new card." The card she drew was Shaddoll Hound. "Now I'll set one card face down and end my turn."

"I go now," Stella said as she drew a card. Her opening hand had two spell cards - Rare Value and Crystal Promise - one trap card - Crystal Boon - and three monsters - Dimension Shifter, Crystal Beast Amethyst Cat, and Crystal Master.

"First," she said, "since there are no cards in our Graveyard, I send Dimension Shifter to the Graveyard. While it's in there, until the end of the next turn, any card sent to the Graveyard is banished instead. Next, I summon Crystal Beast Amethyst Cat." The monster she summoned was a light pink cat with a gold collar inlaid with a dark blue gem, and a set of gold cufflinks on its ankles. Thanks to Lost World its 1200 attack points dropped to 700. "My cat can attack you directly, so Amethyst Cat, slice Blondie." Amethyst Cat leaped at Shelly and clawed at her, dropping her life points to 7550.

"Wait a second," Shelly said. "How come we only lost 350 life points?"

"Because when Amethyst Cat attacks directly," Stella explained, "it only deals half damage. "Next I'll set one card face down, and end my turn."

Hugo drew a new card for the start of his turn. It was Super-Ancient Dinobeast. "I tribute Gilasaurus to summon Super-Ancient Dinobeast." Gilasaurus vanished from the field; the large, horned, winged dinosaur appeared in its place. A third cluster of eggs appeared on the other field. "Next, I'll switch Shelly's Mathematician into defense mode, and then I'll attack Amethyst Cat." Dinobeast opened its mouth, shooting out a stream of white hot flame that scorched Amethyst Cat, reducing it to ash and dropping Stella and Tito's life points to 6000.

As Amethyst Cat was destroyed, an amethyst crystal appeared in its adjacent spell zone.

"What's up with that?" Yuka asked from the sidelines?

"When a Crystal Beast monster is destroyed, it goes to the spell zone as a continuous spell," Stella explained.

"Oh. Well, it's your move," Hugo said.

Tito drew a new card. It was Dinowrestler Iguanodraka. "Since I control a Dinowrestler monster, I can normal summon Dinowrestler Eskrimamenchi without a tribute." The monster he summoned was a longneck, standing on two legs, with bones sticking out of its nose and shoulder pauldrons, and weilding two bones as clubs. "Eskrimamenchi, take out that Mathematician." Eskrimamenchi hit Mathematician with its bone clubs, destroying it. Since Dimension Shifter's effect had worn off at this point, Mathematician went to the Graveyard. "That's going to end my turn."

"I draw," Shelly said. Her new card was the spell card, El Shaddoll Fusion. "I activate the card I just drew, El Shaddoll Fusion. Now I can use monsters from my hand or field as material for a Fusion Summon, so I send Shaddoll Hound and Electromagnetic Turtle. Shine the light that casts the shadows, and Fusion Summon El Shaddoll Construct." El Shaddoll Construct appeared on the field, and its attack points dropped to 2300. "And since Shaddoll Hound was sent to the Graveyard by a card effect, I can use its Graveyard effect to switch the battle position of one of your monsters, so I'll put your Eskrimamenchi into defense mode." Eskrimamenchi knelt down, tucking its head in and holding its bone clubs above its head. "Not only that, but when El Shaddoll Construct is Fusion Summoned, I can send a Shaddoll card from my deck to the Graveyard, so I'll send Shaddoll Hedgehog to the Graveyard. And since he was sent there by a card effect, I can use his Graveyard effect to add Shaddoll Dragon to my hand."

"Now I activate my trap card, Resh Shaddoll Incarnation," Shelly continued. "I use its effect to bring Shaddoll Beast to the field in face down defense mode. Now, to battle. First, Super-Ancient Dinobeast is going to attack Dinowrestler Systegosaur." Systegosaur was destroyed, and Stella and Tito's life points dropped to 5200. "Next, El Shaddoll Construct is going to destroy Dinowrestler Eskrimamenchi. Shadow String Whip!" El Shaddoll Construct used its puppet strings wto whip Eskrimamenchi, destroying it. "It's your move."

Stella drew a card. "I give up 1000 life points to activate the card I just drew, Cosmic Cyclone." Her life points dropped to 4200 as she played the spell card. A cyclone dropped down from the sky, engulfing the entire field and destroying the palm trees created by the Lost World spell card. "Next I activate my face down card Crystal Boon, special summoning Amethyst Cat back to the field in defense mode." The amethyst shattered, revealing the cat that had been destroyed earlier and brining it back to the field. "Doing this, we gain life points equal to the total attack of the monsters summoned this way. Since it was only one, we gain 1200 life points." As she explained this, her and Tito's life points went up to 5400.

"Next," she continued, "I normal summon Crystal Master." This new monster was a tall man in gray, belted clothes and wearing a full face mask. "Now I'll activate his effect, tributing him to add a Crystal card from my deck to my hand, and I chose Ultimate Crystal Magic. Now I'll set one card face down -" she set Ultimate Crystal Magic face down - "and end my turn."

"My turn," Hugo said. He drew a new card, another Gilasaurus. "First, I special summon Gilasaurus from my hand. And now you can special summon a monster from your Graveyard."

"Thanks for that," Tito said. "Steall, you don't mind if I bring one back, do you?"

"Go ahead, Tito," Stella said.

"Thanks, babe. I special summon Dinowrestler Eskrimamenchi back from the Graveyard in attack mode." Eskrimamenchis returned to the field and flexed.

"Next, I'll normal summon sabersaurus in attack mode," Hugo continued. A red triceratops appeared and pawed at the ground. "Hey Shelly, my turn to ask: Can I use your monster?"

"If you have to," Shelly answered.

"Thanks," Hugo said. "I flip summon Shelly's Shaddoll Beast, and now, it's time for a Link Summon. I set Super-Ancient Dinobeast, Shaddoll Beast, Gilasaurus, Sabersaurus, and your Eskrimamenchi in the link arrows."

"You can't use one of my monsters for a Link Summon!" Tito protested.

"I can with this monster," Hugo replied as the five monsters all merged together. "I Link Summon Link 5 Underworld Goddess of the Closed World!" A woman appeared on the field, wearing a black and silver dress. Dark, cloud-like wings spread off the dress from the hips, and behind her was the silhouette of a dragon. "Underworld Goddess, destroy that cat again!" The silhouetted dragon shot away from Underworld Goddess and struck the cat. Once again, it transformed into an amethyst crystal in the spell zone. "And that will be the end of my turn."

Yuka continued to watch from the sidelines. She leaned sideways against the bridge's railing as she watched, her arms crossed casually across her chest. She had seen both Hugo and Shelly duel, but this was the first time she had seen them duel together; they seemed to be pretty in sync. Tito and Stella weren't synergizing as well; if she had to guess, it was probably because of the disparity between their decks. She had scant knowledge of either archetype, but from the look of things, these two had hardly dueled together before, if at all.

And then there was the strategy for Hugo's last move. She'd never seen a Link Monster that used an opponent's monsters as material before. And while he was able to get rid of two of his opponents' monsters, she was curious about why he didn't make any more attacks. After all, Eskrimamenchi was sent to the Graveyard as material for Underworld Goddess, who then destroyed Amethyst Cat. He could have used El Shaddoll Construct to keep attacking. Sure, all they had was tokens on the field, but that would have gotten rid of monsters on the field.

And then it hit her: That was the plan. Hugo wanted to keep those tokens on the field. That was the whole point of them, to take up space and keep Hugo's opponents from summoning more monsters. Sure, they could have tributed them or used them as material for extra deck summoning, but for the most part, at least they'd have limited space to summon monsters. And if Stella hadn't used that Cosmic Cyclone, Lost World would have kept summoning Tokens until there was no more room.

But now it was Tito's turn, and he drew a new card. It was Dinowrestler Ampelo. "I'm going to tribute one of your tokens to summon Dinowrestler Martial Anga." The monster that apperaed was an allosaur-type dinosaur, wearing a pink vest with red stripes. It roared, then cracked its knuckles. "Next, I discard Dinowrestler Capaptera Dinowrestler Iguanodraka." This dinosaur was a red iguanodon with a firey orange mohawk, dressed in a green vest with red and black shorts. "Since your Juraegg Tokens are dinosaur types, I tribute one of them to special summon another Dinowrestler from my Graveyard, and I choose Dinowrestler Systegosaur." Systegosaur returned to the field, smashing one of the egg clusters under its feet.

"That activates his effect, which lets me add the field spell World Dino Wrestling from my deck to my hand," Tito continued. He pulled the right card from his deck, and his duel pad's auto shuffle feature activated. "Now I activate World Dino Wrestling." The field was surrounded by th ebars of a wrestling ring. "With this card, as long as I have a Dinowrestler monster on the field, we can each only attack with one monster per Battle Phase, and my Dinowrestlers gain 200 attack points during damage calculation. And now that I have three Dinowrestler monsters on the field, I can do my own Link Summon. So I set Systegosaur, Iguanodraka, and Martial Anga in the link arrows. I Link Summon Link 3 Dinowrestler King T Wrextle!" This new monster was a dark violet tyrannosaurus rex, adorned in red, with a tyrannosaurus skeleton used as shoulder pads.

"Now to battle," Tito said. "Dinowrestler King T Wrextle, attack Underworld Goddess!"

"Are you nuts?" Hugo yelled. "They have the same attack points! They'll destroy each other!"

"Not if I do this," Tito said. "By sending Dinowrestler Martial Ampelo from my hand to the Graveyard, my monster isn't destroyed by battle. Besides, did you already forget about the attack boost from Dino World Wrestling?" King T Wrextle grabbed Underworld Goddess, hoisting her above his head and cracking her back on his shoulders. She let out a scream as she vanished from the field, and Hugo and Shelly's life points dropped to 7350. "And that's going to be the end of my turn."

"Then I go," Shelly said as she drew a card, Twin Twisters. "I activate the spell card Twin Twisters. I send Qadshaddoll Keios to the Graveyard as cost to destroy Amethyst Cat and that face down."

"That was my Ultimate Crystal Magic!" Stella cried. "I was going to use that!"

"Probably should have saved that for later," Tito said.

"Shut up, Tito."

"Next, I switch El Shaddoll Construct to defense mode, then set a monster face down and end my turn," Shelly said. She set Shaddoll Dragon face down in defense mode.

"I guess I'm up," Stella said. She drew a new card, the spell card Crystal Bond. "I activate the spell card Crystal Bond. This card lets me add a Crystal Beast monster from my deck to my hand, and then put a Crystal Beast monster from my deck into my spell zone, so first I'll add Crystal Beast Rainbow Dragon to my hand, then put Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus in the spell zone." As she added the proper card to her hand, a sapphire appeared in the spell zone. "Sorry, Tito, but I may need to tribute your T Wrextle."

"It's only fair," Tito said. "I used your monster for my Link Summon, after all, so go right ahead."

"Thanks. I tribute the final Juraegg Token and Tito's Dinowrestle King T Wrextle to summon Crystal Beast Rainbow Dragon." A large, serpentine dragon appeared on the field as the other two monsters faded away. It spread its feathered wings, as the seven rainbow colored gems on its hide glittered in the sunlight. "Crystal Beast Rainbow Dragon, destroy that face down monster." The gems running alongside the dragon's hide flashed with energy, shooting out a rainbow that hit the face down card on Hugo and Shelly's field.

"That was my Shaddoll Dragon," Shelly said as Shaddoll Dragon was revealed. "And when he's flipped face up, I can return one card you control to your hand, so your dragon is going right back to your hand." As Shaddoll Dragon vanished, so did the Crystal Beast Rainbow Dragon, returning to Stella's hand.

Stella revved her engine in anger. "That's all I can do."

"Relax, Stella," Tito said. "Admit it, you're actually enjoying this duel."

"I go," Hugo said. He drew a new card for the start of his turn. He grinned as he looked at the card he just drew. It was his ace monster.

"Shelly, are you ready to end this and get a move on?" he asked.

"I've been ready since this duel started," Shelly answered.

"Good," Hugo said. "In that case, I banish Sabersaurus and Gilasaurus from my Graveyard. Rise from the primordial ooze and send your enemies to extinction! I Special Summon Ultimate Conductor Tyranno!"

Ultimate Conductor Tyranno emerged on the field. It easily dwarfed El Shaddoll Construct - really, any monster that had been in the duel so far. Its roar was so powerful, it felt like it was shaking the bridge.

"Next," Hugo continued, "I switch El Shaddoll Construct to attack mode. And since you don't control a Dinowrestler monster, I'm not inhibited by its 'one mosnter attacks per Battle Phase' effect, so I can attack with both monsters. El Shaddoll Construct, attack!" El Shaddoll Construct attacked, whipping Tito and dropping his life points to 2600. "Now, Ultimate Conductor Tyranno, finish them off!"

"Oh crud," Tito muttered as the dinosaur's massive foot came down on top of him and Stella, dropping their life points down to 0.

The monsters faded from the field as the duel pads were turned off. Yuka pushed off of the bridge and walked up to Hugo and Shelly.

"Good dueling, you guys," she said. She turned to Tito and Stella, who were just picking their bikes off the ground. "A deal's a deal. You lost, so let us go."

"No way!" one of the bikers called. "Tito, Stella, it's our turn to take on these punks!"

Tito raised a hand. "No. She's right. We lost fair and square. It's only fair we let them go."

Slowly, most of them being reluctant to do so, the bikers all moved to the side, letting Yuka and her friends go on their way.

"Now that we've got that distraction out of the way, maybe we should just bypass the town that's over here?" Yuka suggested. "I mean, that duel took up a lot of our time."

"We still have a little bit of time," Hugo said. "Besides, we're just going to grab a few things and then keep going."

An hour later, they had reached the other side of the bridge. They noticed that almost all of the vehicle traffic was being rerouted either east or west, depending on the lane the vehicles were in. The reason for this became clear soon - the road was blocked off with a concrete barrier. Nearby was a sign that read "Umbris Town 1 mile."

"What's this all about?" Hugo asked.

"The road probably just needs to be fixed," Shelly guessed.

Fifteen minutes later, the first dilapidated buildings came into view.