Chapter Text
A train slowly rolled into the station around the afternoon, as snow lightly dusted the tracks. As it came to a stop, the doors opened to the platforms nearby and a sprawl of passengers emerged from the carriages.
“Shirako City. Shirako City. All those bound for Sapporo, please board the Noborirako line now.” A voice blared over the terminal loudspeakers.
Among the passengers exiting the train was a boy who looked about 16 with yellow eyes and spiky silver hair roughly forming the shape of an “X” at the front with red and blue bangs. He wore a short white overcoat with a dark-blue trim over a black long-sleeved shirt, black fingerless gloves, grey jeans, a black belt with a red deck box and a red scarf around his neck. On his wrist sat a red duel disk with a straight blade in its standby mode.
The boy sat down at a nearby bench and began sorting through a deck of Duel Monsters cards.
“Even Noboribetsu didn't have the right cards to bring this thing together.” He muttered. “Guess I’m gonna have to wait a bit longer to test you all out,” He put the deck in his deck box and pulled his phone out of his pocket as he dialed a number.
“I take it that you made it back, Yuji?” A male voice on the other end asked.
Yuji scoffed as he leaned back on the bench. “<Yeah>. Just letting you know before I head home.”
“Right. Just be sure to make it home as soon as possible. It’s already getting late and it’ll get colder from here on out.” The man replied.
“Yeah yeah, I got it.” Yuji stretched out his arms. “See you soon, Ryoma.” He hung up and put his phone away. “With a brother like that…” He shook his head and groaned before walking out of the station and into the bustling streets.
Shirako City was a bit busier than normal, It made sense though, considering it was towards the end of spring break. Everywhere he saw, powdered snow gently fell onto the sidewalk and every roof in the city. It was then when he noticed a building he’d never seen before: a two-story brick building with glass doors and a red sign that read “GAME BRAIN” in English with it transliterated in Katakana just below it. A poster on the door read “The Grand Opening of Shirako’s first gaming store!” Yuji then checked his pocket. ¥1996. “...Yeah, might as well.”
He stepped into the store to a room filled with shelves stacked with a multitude of board games and other “family” games, though his eyes were drawn to a set of metal stairs leading upwards into another room labelled “Duel Monsters” with a red sign. Ascending the stairs, Yuji made his way into another room with various cards, packs and decks in a glass cabinet. He browsed it for a bit before taking out a handful of cards he found. “These should do it.” He said, smirking.
It was then he noticed a boy of about 10 with short black hair with three thick upwards-pointing blonde spikes sticking out on each side. He was looking at a card disappointedly as he held up a handful of 5, 10 and 50 Yen pieces in his hand and sighed in resignation.
“I’m never gonna get it at this rate…” He groaned as he turned around to look for other cards. Yuji looked over at the card the kid viewed: “ LV Overlimiter ”, priced at ¥1200. One of those new “Overdrive” monsters that had just been released. He even had a few of those himself in his own deck. He then looked again at the cards he was planning to buy. He then sighed and put his cards back and took Overlimiter out as he walked over to the counter.
“<Yo>. I’d like to buy this, please.” He said as he held the card out and took out the required amount of money.
“Uh, sure. That’ll be ¥1200.” The cashier said as he took the money and put it away in the register.
“Thanks.” Yuji said as he gave a thumbs up. He walked over to the boy and held out the card. “Looking for this?” He asked rhetorically.
The boy’s eyes lit up. “Did you… You actually-?”
“Oh yeah. It’s yours now.” Yuji said, crossing his arms. “Don’t worry, you don’t owe me anything.”
The boy hesitantly reached out to the card and took it, holding it gently in his hands. “T-Thanks, Mr.! I’ll take good care of it!” He exclaimed.
“You’d better.” Yuji responded. “That card is really good, so make sure you protect it with your life if you want it to win you as many duels as you can.”
The boy nodded with a big smile on his face. “I will, you can count on me!”
“Hayao! We’re going!” A voice called from downstairs.
“Coming!” The boy yelled. Hayao turned to Yuji. “Thank you so much for getting this card for me, I won’t forget it!” He said before excitedly running off.
“Have fun, kid!” Yuji remarked. He then looked at the cards he was looking to buy and groaned. “So much for finishing my deck…” He complained. “That was awful nice of you to get that card for a kid you didn’t even know.” The cashier said.
Yuji turned away from him. “Oh you know, the more people who play this game, the better.” He then looked up at the ceiling. “The day I got into dueling was the best day of my life, I just want to give back, you know?” He walked down the stairs and out of the store, walking back into the city streets again.
As he passed by a large storefront window he got a sudden splitting headache. He immediately stopped in his tracks, clutched his head in pain and fell to his knees. The pain was unbearable, almost like someone had stuck a thousand needles through his scalp into his brain at once and was conducting electricity through them all.
Out of the corner of his eye, he barely managed to see a strange figure standing a few feet away from him, but as he looked up to get a clear picture, they were gone and his headache subsided. Yuji stood up panting and recovering from the pain.
“The hell…?” He cursed. Before he could leave, he noticed something by his foot. A Duel Monsters card. He picked it up, only to find it was completely blank.
“That’s weird.” Yuji noted. He shrugged and put the card in his deck as he ran back home before anything else happened.
Twenty minutes later, he arrived at a small neighbourhood on the outskirts of the city. The snow had begun to fall down heavier than before, as he hurried to a beige house on the side and entered through the gate. As he went to unlock the door, his head started pounding again as he noticed something in his peripheral vision. That same figure from before. But as he tried to get a clearer look, they vanished again.
Yuji shook his head. “It’s probably nothing, Yuji. Calm down.” He muttered to himself as he opened the door and went inside. Entering the door, he came across a picture frame on a table near the door. It was of a much younger version of him alongside a woman with long crimson hair and green eyes wearing a lab coat and a long red scarf. They both looked happy in the photo. Yuji grimaced and grasped his own scarf before moving on.
While in the living room he saw his brother on the phone while on the couch in front of a coffee table with a laptop and piles of documents in front of him. Court documents.
Ryoma had silver hair like his brother, though his was shorter and neater with only a few red bangs at the front underneath the fringe at the back. He wore a blueish-black suit with a red tie. His eyes, unlike those of Yuji’s, were a bright green.
“I see. I’ll send you the details for payment later tomorrow. Goodbye” He said on the phone as he hung up. He then turned to Yuji. “There you are. I was just about to call you.”
“Yeah, sorry about that.” Yuji responded. “I got kinda sidetracked. Well that and…” He immediately thought about the stranger again, only to stop himself mid-sentence.
“ And… what?” Ryoma asked.
“Listen, don’t worry about it.” Yuji reassured him. “It’s fine. I made it here in one piece.” He looked over at the documents on the table. “How’s the case going?”
“We just won.” Ryoma replied. “The plaintiff was found to have been criminally negligent, and has been forced to pay out damages to the defendant.”
“Nice.” Yuji mused. He then started twitching as his head began to ache a third time. “After today, I’m beat. I’m off to bed.”
Ryoma stood up. “It’s only 5:08. Yuji, are you okay?” He asked worriedly.
Yuji noticed the figure yet again just in the doorway. But once more, they vanished before they could properly be seen.
“Yuji?!” Ryoma grabbed his brother by the shoulders.
“I… I don’t know…” Yuji grabbed his head. “I need some rest.” He stumbled through the corridor to his room where he crashed on the bed almost immediately after changing into his pajamas. Everything was completely overwhelming to him: the light, the noise, everything. And it was just getting worse. His vision began to waver and fade as he closed his eyes, and fell unconscious.
When he awoke, he was in a brilliant golden field beneath a sea of stars. Temple-like structures adorned the skyline and white trees grew out of the ground wherever he looked. He walked over to the edge of a nearby cliff, only to find the entire block of land he was on was attached to a gigantic white branch connected to a tree he couldn’t even see the bottom of.
Yuji stepped back in sheer shock. “Where… What the hell is this place…?” He couldn’t believe his eyes.
“Yuji Senku. Come.” An authoritative feminine voice boomed.
Yuji quickly turned around and saw a figure behind him. He could finally get a good look.
Their, or rather her face was fully concealed behind a red and gold dragon-like mask and a set of loose white robes adorned with black designs and a red trim with a sky-blue cloak around her body.
Yuji scowled at her. “Who are you, and what the hell’s your problem?!” He yelled, pointing directly at her.
The mysterious woman just stood there without so much as reacting.
“Well? Answer me! You’ve been stalking me all day, you’ve gotta have a reason for that!” Yuji had completely lost his patience.
“...Tachibana Square.” The woman said.
Yuji paused in confusion. “I… What?”
“If you seek answers, I’ll be waiting.” She said stoically. Before Yuji could respond, a large flash of light blinded him, and he suddenly awoke in his own bed.
It was the middle of the night. He was sweating and shaking, but was just about able to stand. He looked down at his deck, and noticed the black card sticking out of it.
“Tachibana Square, huh?” He muttered. That was in the middle of town. Shouldn’t be too hard to make it there.
A few minutes later, Yuji was fully dressed and grabbed his duel disk, walking past his brother without so much as an acknowledgement.
“Yuji, how are you feeling?” Ryoma asked.
“I’m heading to Tachibana Square.” Yuji bluntly replied.
Ryoma’s eyes widened. “Absolutely not. It’s the middle of the night and you nearly collapsed barely a few hours ago. I’m not letting you out like this.”
Yuji shot a glare back at him. “This isn’t up for debate. I’m going.”
“Yuji.” Ryoma chastised. “I’m your legal guardian and your older brother. I can’t just let you do things like this. If Mom were here-”
“Don’t you DARE bring her into this! ” Yuji snapped.
The two stood in awkward silence for a few seconds before Ryoma sighed. “...Fine. But I’m coming with you.” He said, exasperated.
Yuji breathed out slowly. “...Thanks. I’d appreciate that.” He sheepishly muttered.
Ryoma opened the front door & walked outside. “I’ll start the car.” He said before heading to the garage.
Ten minutes later, the two of them arrived in the city centre, near Tachibana Square and got out of the car. The city was obviously a lot quieter at this time of night, though the soft warmth of the lights around the buildings still made it feel strangely homely despite the blowing snow.
“So let me get this straight.” Said Ryoma, now wearing a black fur-collared jacket. “You saw a mysterious woman around the city and once more while you were knocked out just earlier, who asked you to come here?”
Yuji started looking around. “That about sums it up.” He replied. His gaze then turned to his left. “And I don’t think we’re gonna have to wait very long.”
Ryoma turned to where his younger brother was looking and immediately did a double-take. There she was, just as he said she would.
“Yuji, what’s going on?” He asked, somewhat concerned.
Yuji walked forward towards her, unafraid. “That’s what I’m gonna find out.”
The robed woman stood before the two brothers. “I knew you’d come.” She declared.
Ryoma walked over to his brother. “Ma’am, I don’t know who you are, but if you’re here to hurt my brother, I’ll-”
“You may call me Tiamat.” The woman interjected. “You need not worry, your brother is merely here to be tested.”
“‘Testing’? For what ?” Yuji asked.
“To see if you are worthy of succeeding me as a sage.” Tiamat replied.
“A sage of what?” Ryoma asked. “You’re being far too vague for my liking.”
“I see.” Tiamat said. “Then let me make my point in the clearest way I can.” As she said that, a veil of light surrounded the three of them which warped and contorted the space around them into a colourful, yet empty void. Yuji and Ryoma were caught off-guard by what they saw, and gazed upon it with horror.
“Where the hell are we?” Yuji asked.
“We’re in a space between space.” Tiamat answered as a golden light manifested itself in front of her and took on the form of a floating, translucent gold duel board. “In this realm, the monsters we summon will take on a physical form.”
“Monsters? You mean we’re gonna duel?” Yuji asked.
Tiamat then held out her hand. “You’ll need this.”
Yuji’s left hand then started burning with pain as he collapsed to the ground.
“Yuji! What’s happening” Ryoma placed his hand on his brother’s shoulder to see if he was okay.
“I- AAAARRGGHH! ” Yuji screamed in pain as a white light emerged out of his left hand and split into four lines into the shape of an “X”. He stopped screaming as the pain subsided, and staggered to his feet.
“That is a ‘Xross Mark’.” Tiamat explained. “It is a symbol and power of a sage, and if you are truly worthy of becoming my successor, it will grant you the necessary tools to defeat me in a duel.”
Yuji gritted his teeth. “Who said I was interested in becoming a sage?” He snarked.
“Who said you had a choice?” Tiamat coldly replied.
“This is insane.” Ryoma cut in. “You keep my brother out of this!”
“No.” Yuji said, as he equipped his Duel Disk. “She asked for a duel, and who am I to turn her down?” His facial expression contorted into that of an almost- vicious smirk. “Hey, Tiamat! Try not to make this duel boring!”
Ryoma looked panicked. “Yuji! What are you doing?!”
“The only thing I can do, seemingly.” He replied.
Ryoma clenched his fists. “I guess…”
Yuji inserted his deck into his duel disk as it activated, the blade shooting straight out from the side as he took a more combative stance.
“DUEL MODE - STANDBY” It projected.
“Well…” Yuji cocked his head back. “Let’s get this started.”
“Yes, let’s.” Tiamat responded.
Yuji and Tiamat both drew 5 cards from their decks at once.
“Duel!” They both shouted.
Yuji: 4000
Tiamat: 4000
“I’ll take the first turn.” Tiamat proclaimed. She studied the cards in her hand. “I activate the spell card Double Summon.” A white portal materialised on her field. “With this card, I can normal summon twice per turn. And with my first normal summon I summon Spear Dragon in Attack Mode.” A blue and brown dinosaur-like dragon with a sharp, elongated face materialised in front of her and bore its pointed nose at Yuji.
Spear Dragon, Level: 4
WIND, Dragon/Effect, ATK: 1900 DEF: 0 (Attack Position)
“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen that card being used.” Yuji noted sarcastically.
“The second monster I summon is Bastion Dragon.” Tiamat continued. A red dragon with a face like a shield shot out of the white portal, which disappeared behind it, and growled at Yuji.
Bastion Dragon, Level: 4
EARTH, Dragon/Effect, ATK: 100 DEF: 2100 (Attack Position)
Tiamat then held out another card. “When I control a Dragon-type monster on my field, I can special summon Contact Dragon from my hand.” A purple wyvern with spiral-eyes appeared on her field and landed right between Spear and Bastion Dragons.
Contact Dragon, Level: 3
DARK, Dragon/Effect, ATK: 1300 DEF: 500 (Attack Position)
Tiamat then held out her arm. “I now activate Contact Dragon’s effect. I can use it and other monsters on my field as Fusion Materials for a Dragon-type Fusion monster in my Extra Deck.”
Yuji was taken aback. “Okay, how the hell is that fair?”
Contact Dragon’s eyes began to spin faster and faster until it was coated in a red light and shot into the air. Spear and Bastion Dragon were right behind, and were covered in blue and yellow light respectively, as the three dragons began circling right above Tiamat, causing a great storm above them.
“Mighty beast born of three dragons! Bare your fangs of the elements! Fusion Summon!”
The three dragons collided in the eye of the storm, as a dragon with three heads landed in front of her. One head was black with malicious red eyes and a toothy grin, the second was a seemingly normal greenish-white head and the third was seemingly made entirely of fire.
“Appear, Tri-Headed Dragon!”
Tri-Headed Dragon roared loudly with all its heads and took an aggressive stance against Yuji.
Tri-Headed Dragon, Level: 8
DARK, Dragon/Fusion/Effect, ATK: 3000 DEF: 3000 (Attack Position)
Yuji began sweating. “Is it just me, or does that thing look like Five-Headed Dragon?”
“The strongest monster in the game?” Ryoma studied it for a moment. “Right, I can see the resemblance.”
“I set one card and end my turn.” Tiamat said as a face-down card appeared in her Spell/Trap Zone. “Your turn.”
Yuji cracked his neck back and looked at Tiamat directly. “<It’s go time>.” He said. “<My turn>, draw!” He drew a card from his deck and looked over the cards in his hand. “Ergh… This hand isn’t great.” He thought. “Better make what I have count!”
“If I control no monsters, I can special summon Krysta Garuda from my hand!” A green prism materialised on Yuji’s field and shone brilliantly with its light, causing the translucent form of a large bird to coalesce around it. The bird had a black upwards-pointing triangle on its forehead with a line through the top, and stirred up a gust of wind by flapping its wings.
Krysta Garuda, Level: 3
WIND, Winged-Beast/Effect, ATK: 1500 DEF: 1300 (Attack Position)
“When Krysta Garuda is special summoned like this, I can add a Driver monster from my deck to my hand!” A card with a crimson bottom half not unlike that of a Pendulum monster with a single upwards-pointing pendulum scale shot itself out of his deck and into his hand. “I add Sky Sign Chamaeleon!”
He then placed another monster on his duel disk “I now summon Krysta Wukong!” An orange prism similar to the one that formed Garuda appeared on the field. The energy around it took on the form of a featureless, orange ape. Said ape bore a staff in its hands and had a black downwards-pointing triangle with a line through it on its forehead. It somersaulted in the air and pointed its staff directly at Tri-Headed Dragon.
Krysta Wukong, Level: 4
EARTH, Beast/Effect, ATK: 1800 DEF: 900 (Attack Position)
Yuji then held out another card. “Now I activate the continuous spell Regen Theurgia! This card allows me to return a Krysta or Sky Sign monster from my graveyard to my hand every Standby Phase by sending the top card of my deck to my graveyard!”
He then continued. “Spell card! Exchange Theurgia! This allows me to send one Krysta monster from my hand to my graveyard to special summon another Krysta monster from my deck with a different attribute!” He picked a card from his hand and put it in the graveyard slot on his duel disk as it automatically shuffled his deck and ejected a card from it.
“I send Krysta Ondine to my graveyard to summon Krysta Thunderbird from my deck!” A yellow prism manifested itself and shone until it materialised a yellow bird with jagged feathers and a black hexagram on its head.
Krysta Thunderbird, Level: 4
LIGHT, Thunder/Effect, ATK: 1700 DEF: 1300 (Attack Position)
“When Krysta Thunderbird is summoned, I can target 1 Level 5 or higher effect monster you control and lower its ATK by 500 for every attribute I have on my field until the End Phase!” Yuji then pointed directly at Tri-Headed Dragon. “Guess which one I choose.” He smugly said.
Lightning sparked off Krysta Thunderbird as it launched a bolt directly at Tri-Headed Dragon. “Surge Strafer!” Tri-Headed Dragon roared in pain as it was hit with the bolt.
Tri-Headed Dragon
ATK: 3000 → 1500
Tiamat seemed undeterred by this development.
“Nothing to say? Okay then.” Yuji mocked. “<Man>, this is EASY!” He thought. “I might actually get an FTK here!”
Ryoma immediately realised something. “Yuji, wait! If this thing is anything like Five-Headed Dragon, then it’ll-”
Yuji ignored him. “Battle Phase! I attack Tri-Headed Dragon with Krysta Wukong!” Wukong rushed at Tiamat’s monster. “When Krysta Wukong attacks an opponent’s monster, it gains 500 ATK!” Almost on-cue, Krysta Wukong grew to almost double its size just as its staff came crashing down on the dragon.
Krysta Wukong
ATK: 1800 → 2300
The force of the attack caused a massive dust storm to kick up, slightly pushing Tiamat back.
Tiamat: 4000 → 3200
As the dust cleared however, Yuji noticed something terrifying. “It’s still up?!” he exclaimed. True enough, Tri-Headed Dragon still stood where it had been, almost untouched.
“Tri-Headed Dragon’s effect.” Tiamat explained. “It’s immune to being destroyed by battle by monsters of the attributes of its Fusion materials. Which in this case are DARK, WIND and EARTH.”
Yuji gritted his teeth. “I see the problem. But there’s an easy fix for that, Krysta Thunderbird is a LIGHT monster! And with that, I use it to destroy your Dragon!”
Thunderbird darted around the field at breakneck speed before launching itself at Tiamat’s dragon.
“I activate the effect of Bastion Dragon in my graveyard!” Tiamat proclaimed. “I can banish it from my graveyard to negate the destruction of a Dragon-type monster I control!” A visage of Bastion Dragon appeared in front of Tri-Headed Dragon and absorbed the brunt of the attack before dissipating.
Tiamat: 3200 → 3000
Yuji clenched his fist. “...Fine. I set a card face-down and end my turn. <Your move>!”
With his turn over, Tri-Headed Dragon’s ATK returned to its original value.
Tri-Headed Dragon
ATK: 1500 → 3000
Ryoma looked out over the field. “Yuji, you’d better have a way to survive this next turn.” He thought.
“Good thing I had that placeholder card in my deck.” Thought Yuji. “If she tries using Tri-Headed Dragon to attack, it’ll be hit with Mirror Force and destroyed.” He smirked again. “Not leaving myself THAT open.”
“My turn, draw.” Tiamat said, pulling a card from her deck. “I activate Pot of Desires. I can now banish the top ten cards of my deck so I can draw two cards.” About a third of her deck was covered in golden light before vanishing from existence as she drew two new cards. “I now activate Stamping Destruction. This card allows me to destroy a spell or trap card you control and inflict 500 damage as long as I control a Dragon-type monster on my field.”
“<Ah crap>.” Yuji blurted out.
Tri-Headed Dragon roared again and blasted Yuji’s Mirror Force into nothing, only to move the beam upward towards him.
Yuji: 4000 → 3500
“Battle Phase.” Tiamat declared. “I attack Krysta Garuda with Tri-Headed Dragon.” Tri-Headed Dragon cocked its heads back before launching a strike at Yuji’s monster
“I activate the effect of Krysta Ondine in my graveyard!” Yuji called out. A rippling blue barrier appeared around him. “Yeah, didn’t think I’d have a card with a graveyard effect as well?”
Tiamat continued to stand there stoically.
“...You’re not that interesting to talk to, you know that?” Yuji muttered. “Anyway, any damage you do to Krysta monsters I control is halved this turn!”
Tri-Headed Dragon’s blast connected, destroying Krysta Garuda entirely.
Yuji: 3500 → 2750
“That is not all.” Tiamat continued. “Tri-Headed Dragon’s other effect. I can attack up to three monsters you control.”
“What?!” Yuji exclaimed.
Tiamat held out her hand. “Now go, Tri-Headed Dragon! Triad Stream!” Tri-Headed Dragon’s heads all charged a blast of their respective elements and shot them in a spiral, directly into both Krysta Thunderbird and Krysta Wukong, destroying them both.
“AAAAGH!” Yuji was thrown back by the sheer force of the attack, knocking him on his back.
Yuji: 2750 → 1650
“Yuji!” Ryoma ran over to his brother’s side. “Can you stand okay?”
“...Yeah, I’m fine.” Yuji managed to say as he staggered back to his feet.
“I've had enough of this.” Ryoma muttered before he turned to Tiamat. “Stop the duel right now! I’m not letting you continue with this any further!” He yelled.
“This isn’t your affair. Stay out of this.” Tiamat demanded, a hint of impatience in her voice.
“You’re throwing my brother around like a ragdoll, I’d say this is my affair!” Ryoma angrilly responded.
Tiamat was silent for a moment. “Then if you will not listen to reason…” The eyes on her mask glowed red as she waved her arm. Ryoma then seemingly vanished without a trace.
“Ryoma?! What did you do to him?!” Yuji demanded.
“I returned him back to your world. Your brother is unharmed.” Tiamat reassured.
Yuji growled angrily. “Ryoma…” He muttered under his breath.
Ryoma found himself back at Tachibana square, alone. “I guess those two are still at it.”
“Hey! A voice yelled. Ryoma turned around to see two figures behind him.
The first was a girl around Yuji’s age with short brown hair, brown eyes and glasses wearing a black jacket over a pair of dark-blue pants.
The other was a slightly-older looking young man with a black pompadour with a red star-like pattern at the front wearing a white school jacket like a cape over a customised uniform.
“What’s goin’ on? You just sorta appeared out of thin air!” The man said.
“It’s… a complicated story.” Ryoma replied. “What’s important is that my brother is still over there.”
“Where is ‘there’?” The girl asked.
Ryoma turned back to where he was facing before and scowled. “I don’t know.”
Yuji glared at Tiamat as the two stood in silence.
“My turn is over. Your turn.” Tiamat sighed. “You still have not drawn upon the power of the Xross Mark yet. You will lose if you don’t.”
“Oh yeah, because I instinctively know how to use this thing despite never having seen anything like it in my life before.” Yuji responded sarcastically.
Tiamat lowered her head. “...I see. Then perhaps I expected too much of you.”
“Then how the hell was I supposed to pass your so-called ‘test’?” Yuji asked, clearly annoyed.
“You’ll know it when you feel it.” Tiamat responded.
“ Helpful .” Yuji snarked. He breathed in and held his hand over his deck before closing his eyes. He exhaled slowly and started reviewing what had happened in the duel up until that point.
“Okay. She clearly uses a Dragon deck, that should be obvious. But what’s her full strategy?” He thought. “Well, her support cards so far have been Bastion Dragon and Stamping Destruction. Wait, I got it! Her goal is to protect her Tri-Headed Dragon as long as possible and allow it to wreck shop.” He opened his eyes. “So that must mean her face-down card is…” He then smirked once more.
“<Bingo>.” He said quietly
“Is there a problem?” Tiamat asked.
“Nah, just had to think over my strategy for a bit.” Yuji replied. “And I think I’ve figured out a way to deal with your dragon.”
“Have you now?” Tiamat asked, skeptical of his claims.
“Oh yeah, I just need the right card to deal with your face-down card.”
Tiamat stiffened.
“Oh yeah, I know what you’re planning. And how to get around it.”
“You’re bluffing.” Tiamat replied.
“Then why do you seem so worried all of a sudden? Surely, you have nothing to worry about” Yuji taunted.
Tiamat calmly set her hands on her duel board. “Then prove to me you can overcome this.” She demanded.
“With pleasure.” Yuji said.
Just then, his Xross Mark started glowing a bright white. He averted his eyes to avoid the blinding light until it flew into his deckbox and onto the blank card. Yuji knew what he needed to do.
“...He’s unlocked it.” Tiamat noted.
“<My turn>, draw!” He drew his card and took a good look at it.
“This’ll have to do!” He thought.
He then held up the monster he had added before by Krysta Garuda’s effect. “I now set Sky Sign Chamaeleon as a Drive Zone!” He said, setting the card upside-down in his Main Monster Zone.
A ripple appeared on Yuji’s field as it started spewing forth small bolts of lightning around it.
Sky Sign Chamaeleon, Level: 3
LIGHT, Reptile/Effect, ATK: 600 DEF: 1200, Drive: 1 (Drive Zone)
“This Tiamat, is called a ‘Driver monster’, the newest evolution in dueling!” Yuji explained. “You can play them as a normal monster, or set them as a new Zone called a ‘Drive Zone’, where it gains a new set of effects, and another value called a 'Drive’ that you can use to summon Overdrive monsters from your Extra Deck!”
He then placed another monster over Chamaeleon. “And here’s how to do it, I summon Krysta Kitsune to my Drive Zone!” A red prism appeared around the rippling lightning and manifested the form of a red, nine-tailed fox with a black triangle on its forehead, this time with no line through it.
Krysta Kitsune, Level: 4
FIRE, Beast/Effect, ATK: 1600 DEF: 1400 (Attack Position)
He then held forth his hand. “Now I activate Sky Sign Chamaeleon’s Driver effect! I can increase its Drive to double that of a Level 4 or lower monster summoned to its Drive Zone!” The lightning ramped up in intensity as it resonated with Krysta Kitsune’s “core”.
Sky Sign Chamaeleon
Drive: 1 → 8
Yuji then threw his fist into the air. “And now, see for yourself the latest evolution in dueling! The ability to break any limits! I Overdrive my Level 4 Krysta Kitsune with my Drive 8 Sky Sign Chamaeleon!”
The Lightning created from the Drive Zone began erupting into larger and larger bolts, with them eventually consuming Krysta Kitsune in a ball of lightning.
“Wizard that exists between worlds! Rain your judgement upon the wicked!” Yuji called out. He pulled out the blank card, only for it to completely change. It now had a crimson border with a lightning pattern, and had golden orbs with red stars in them on the right side of the card where the Level would be.
“Limit… BREAK! ” He yelled, clenching his fist.
The ball shot open with a burst of energy to reveal a man with a red 'X'-shaped breastplate over a long black coat holding a black rod with a silver 'X' at the end with the top 2 prongs being longer than the others. He was wearing a black helmet with a silver 'X' attachment over it that completely concealed his face and 2 blue gems where the eyes would be. His arms were decorated with several different gold & silver armbands.
“Appear, Limit 4! Cross Magician!”
Cross Magician took a combative stance against Tiamat’s dragon.
Cross Magician, Limit: 4
DARK, Spellcaster/Overdrive/Effect, ATK: 2500 DEF: 2000 (Attack Position)
Tiamat stared at Yuji’s monster. “So, this is the path you have chosen. No matter, I activate my trap card, Raigeki Break! This allows me to discard one card to target one card on the field and destroy it!”
“Not gonna happen!” Yuji declared. “Cross Magician’s effect activates! When you target a card with an effect, I can change its target once per turn!”
Tiamat was clearly taken aback. “And you mean to target-”
“Indeed I do!” Yuji interjected. “Cross Magician, redirect Raigeki Break towards Tri-Headed Dragon! Trick Advent!”
A bolt of lightning from Tiamat’s field shot across towards Cross Magician, only for it to be caught by his rod. He then pulled his arm back and threw the bolt back at Tri-Headed Dragon, who roared out in pain before disintegrating.
“Rgh!” Tiamat growled as her monster was destroyed.
“Like I said, I knew what card you had lying there.” Yuji commented. “You went through great pains to make sure you had a card still in your hand so you could discard it for the cost of Raigeki Break. That’s how I knew what it was.”
“I see.” Tiamat noted, clearly impressed.
“That’s not all!” Yuji called. “When Sky Sign Chamaeleon is sent to the graveyard as an Overdrive material, the monster it was used as the Driver for gains 500 ATK!”
A set of stars making up the constellation Chamaeleon appeared behind Cross Magician, empowering him as the “X” on his rod snapped into the shape of a crossguard and a light-blue energy sword came from it.
Cross Magician
ATK: 2500 → 3000
“<Game over>.” Yuji declared. “Cross Magician, attack Tiamat directly! Grand Cross!”
Cross Magician darted at Tiamat and slashed upwards in a jumping motion before slicing again horizontally and landing just behind her.
Tiamat: 3000 → 0
Yuji Wins!
Yuji threw his fist in the air. “Never gets old!” He exclaimed in celebration as all cards on the field vanished.
Tiamat dusted herself off. “...Well done.” She said.
With Yuji’s victory, the void dissipated and the two of them returned to Tachibana Square.
“Yuji!” Ryoma cried. He ran over and hugged his brother. “You’re not hurt, are you?!”
Yuji chuckled. “I’m fine. Hell, I won .”
“Thank god.” Ryoma sighed.
“Now that you have proven yourself worthy as my successor, you now have control over the Xross Mark.” Tiamat said. “You may use it to contact me and use the cards of the Sage of Logos. However, some aspects of it shall be locked away from you for now until you prove worthy of them.”
“So I almost died to get this thing against my will, and I can’t even use it?” Yuji asked, annoyed.
“Not yet.” Tiamat responded. “It shall grow as you do. Duel enough people, and you may unlock more of it.” She then started to disappear in sparkles of light.
“I shall watch you with great interest, my apprentice. ” She said before completely disappearing.
“Hey, wait!” Yuji said, attempting to run after her, but she was already gone. He looked around to see two others gathered near Ryoma.
“We should leave now.” Ryoma suggested.
“Good plan.” Yuji responded, as they both hurried back to the car before anyone else made their appearance.
A few minutes later, they were almost home and driving along the outskirts of town.
“How’s your hand?” Ryoma asked.
Yuji looked at his left hand. It certainly looked normal, even to the point of not having a bright light radiating from it anymore.
“It’s not hurting anymore, but the Mark is still there. I can feel it.” He then turned to Ryoma. “In a way, I’ve gotta thank it. I don’t think my bluffing could have lasted me the whole duel.”
Ryoma looked over the road. “Well in any case, I’m glad you’re safe. I’d suggest that you stay out of whatever this mess is for good, but I get the feeling this ‘Tiamat’ isn’t going to let us.”
“Fine by me.” Yuji said. “If what she said is true, then all I need to do is duel some people and it’ll be good.”
“Yuji. ” Ryoma immediately interrupted.
“It’ll be fine, don’t worry.” Yuji reassured him.
The car made it to the Senku residence as it stopped just in front of the gate. Yuji and Ryoma both got out and walked to the door, but Yuji stopped before he could enter. He thrust his fist up to the sky, which had cleared somewhat since the duel ended to reveal a full moon.
“Hey world! Hear this message! My name is Yuji Senku, and I’m gonna become the new Duel King! You all can count on it!” He said with a smirk.
To be continued...