dajman1996
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Note: This is a re-write of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's my style. Chapters will be rolled out once a week.
Yusei Fudo was enveloped in soft, all-encompassing warmth from the tips of his spiky hair, the profile like a crab, to the ends of his feet clad in steel-tipped boots. It was nothing like the stifling heat of the summers in Satellite, nor the pounding rains that hammered down in the spring. The heaters used in the autumn, the blankets and comforters bundled up in winter could not compare to this sensation; it was utterly unlike anything he had ever known in his waking life in the slums of Satellite, and so he knew he was dreaming. It was one of two dreams that he'd known in eighteen years, and given the nature of the other, he was thankful that he was having this one. Still, the dream faded and gave way to reality, one where he was resting upon a hard cold cot in a dank room, buckets on the floor for when it rained. He looked over to the other side of the room and saw a man on the other cot, unconscious and in bad shape. Then Yusei heard heavy footfalls, ones he'd recognized from a very young age.
"Yusei." Martha's weary voice preceded her as she entered the room, her apron as clean as she could manage. She looked down at the other man in disapproval.
"I'm sorry." He owed her so much, the woman who'd raised him since before he could remember.
"You have nothing to be sorry about." Martha turned her head to him, frown still present. "I'll manage something for this young man, I owe you that much Yusei." She focused her attention back on the young man, on the bandages around his waist that had been soaked through. As Martha changed those bandage and took out the last clean bandages she had left in the house, that was when Yusei remembered.
"Robert Axelrod." He muttered under his breath as he relived the encounter that led up to this moment.
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"Yusei Fudo." The words were spoken in cruel humor by a brown haired man seated on the peak of a pile of trash, broken boxes and empty bottles. "This is what you're looking for, isn't it?" He held one arm at length, and dangling from his hand was a circuit. "The last bit you need for that D-Wheel of yours, and the only one you'll find in all the junkyards of the Satellite." The man stood up and jumped down, landing right in front of Yusei, sized him up. "You really think this will break you out of this hellhole?" The humor was gone.
"What do you want?" Yusei had no time to waste with this man; whatever he wanted he would get, nothing else mattered in the face of what he had to do.
"To the point and not even the least bit interested in who I am; yeah, that's the Yusei Fudo I know, the one who didn't give a shit when his leader killed my little brother in cold blood."
"Rodney Axelrod." Yusei whispered the name, a flash of his former leader Kiryu with blood-soaked hands before his eyes.
"I'm Robert, and since you're the last one of your little gang left alive and well in Satellite, that means you're the one I'm taking my revenge on." It was then that Yusei noticed the far too small duel disc on his arm, one meant for a child years younger.
"I see." Yusei held no anger towards Robert, no frustration with him, only the grim resolution that his road went right through him. "Here?"
"No." Robert pointed to the west. "You haven't been subtle about your little quest, so I had time to set up a little arena just for you and me; I know the risks I'm taking here, but Rodney didn't die quick and easy, neither will you." His hand shook, and there were pock-marks on his veins.
"Fine." Yusei followed Robert, remembering more and more of that faithful day that cost him one of the few friends he ever had. It was one of the few days with fair weather he'd known, making it all the crueler in its timing. Kiryu had said he was just going on patrol, yet the way he carried himself, the hitch in his voice, it had given Yusei pause, and what he ended up seeing, what he was too late to stop, was even worse than he'd dared imagine.
"It took me months to find out the whole story, Yusei, to find someone who saw what happened and was willing to talk." Bitter venom dripped from each word he voiced. "Rodney, he was just going through the trash 'cause one of his friends told him that's where he could find an ultra-rare card, but as far as Kiryu was concerned Rodney was plotting against him, trying to overthrow 'Team Satisfaction'. A ten-year old kid, how goddamn paranoid do you have to be to be afraid of someone like that?" Yusei knew Robert was right, Kiryu had been afraid but it wasn't a child that him so scared; he was just a tragic scapegoat. "So he challenged him to a duel, right? He won of course, but he didn't take cards from him." No, he didn't; Kiryu had been so terrified that he lashed out against someone who had no power against him. "By the time I found my brother, it was too late to save him. And by the time I'd found out it was Kiryu who'd killed him, he'd already gotten himself killed trying to take on Security Forces." That day had also been a clear and sunny one, as though the heavens had refused to weep and wash away the blood of his crimes. "But now we're here, now something resembling justice will be had in this hellhole."
There was a raised metal platform at the far end of the junkyard, and on each end of the platform was a pair of shackles centered on a pair of foot-shaped slots. Upon climbing up onto it, Yusei could see the full horror of what Robert had in mind. "Do you really think this will work?" A pair of low set bars running from one end to the other on each side near the shackles, marked with life point totals to indicate the position of the chainsaws over the course of the duel.
"Would I have put in all this time and effort if I didn't? And remember…" He tightened his grip on the circuit.
"I will." Yusei stepped into the slots, causing the shackles to lock automatically around his feet. Robert did the same and then they both put on their Duel Discs and inserted their decks. The Duel Discs automatically shuffled their decks.
"Duel start." The moment both Duel Discs were armed the chainsaws activated, the shrill whir of the blades already maddening. "You go first Yusei." He could see it in his eyes, Robert wanted the first attack.
"I summon Shield Warrior in defense, and end my turn." A clear blue portal appeared before Yusei, and from out of it came a man with a spear in one hand and a long shield in the other. He crouched down, covering his body with the shield.
"Turn 2, 4000 life points left" Robert's duel disc called out.
"Defense? I thought you wanted this circuit Yusei, or do you think you can wait me out, exhaust my rage against you?" Robert drew his next card, a strange hitch in his motion. "If that's the case, you've made a serious mistake; I summon to the field, Infernity Knight!"
"What?" Yusei's eyes were drawn wide in shock as he watched the familiar monster take form, a knight in sleek armor wielding a sword shaped like a cleaver in one hand. "That's Kiryu's card." Yusei briefly saw the moment when Kiryu had first summoned that monster, when he and Jack and him were still friends, still certain that they could change life in the slums of the Satellite.
"Trust me Yusei, I'm no superstitious idiot, I just know that this is exactly the right deck to use against you, a vicious deck that'll give you no quarter." Yusei flinched inwardly; in all the times they'd dueled in the past, he'd had never won against Kiryu. "I now equip Infernity Knight with Cost of Slaughter, increasing his attack points by 600 when I attack a monster and allowing him to pierce defense." Blood dripped down from the Knight's blade as his gait became primal. "True, I'll have to discard a card when I attack, but you know what that means for this deck, don't you Yusei?"
"Zero hand." Nothing to hold, nothing to hide, giving everything you had on the edge, it mirrored Kiryu's philosophy on life too well. It was only near the end, when it was too late, that Yusei realized where that philosophy led. Robert ordered his monster's attack, the Infernity Knight's blade punching right through Shield Warrior and into Yusei himself. He flinched at the hyper-real sensation of the solid vision sword, and saw the chainsaw make its way towards him, stopping after completing one-tenth of its journey.
"400 points of damage for you, and three cards left in my hand." Robert grinned. "I set one of those cards and end my turn." Infernity Knight pulled his sword back out from Shield Warrior, causing the latter to vanish, and then returned to Robert's side of the field.
"Turn 3, 3600 life points left." Yusei's duel disc stated.
"You know Yusei, I didn't come up with this set-up all on my own; while piecing together Kiryu's old deck, I found an old article, written way before Zero Reverse; apparently the original Duel King got stuck in a duel a lot like this one in something called Battle City."
"Battle City." Yusei felt the words on his tongue, and found they worked too well in describing the state of Satellite.
"Of course, the big difference is that back they used keys for the winner to get out, but these locks are programmed not to release until the opponent's life points are at zero, his body shred into pieces. So come on Yusei, take your turn and bring yourself one step closer to the fate you deserve."
"That I deserve…" Yusei knew that the fate he deserved was not a bright and shining one, that when his time came it would not be a pleasant one. "Not yet." Even so, he still had things he had to do, a mission to fulfill, a path to follow for the sake of those he'd failed in the past. "I summon Bolt Hedgehog in defense, set one card, and end my turn." A large hedgehog with a dozen bolts sticking out of its back in the place of quills appeared before Yusei, crouched down low and defensive.
"Turn 4, 4000 life points left."
"Defense again?" Robert drew his next card. "I attack with Infernity Knight again, discarding a card for Cost of Slaughter's effect." Once more the bloody blade punched through Yusei's monster, but this time it went no further.
"I activate my trap card Defense Draw, reducing battle damage to zero and allowing me to draw one card."
"No matter how much time you spend dicking around Yusei, you can't delay the inevitable; bit by bit I'm going to break you down with this deck that Kiryu created, just the way he would have wanted it if he'd survived your betrayal."
"I did not betray him." Yusei's voice was absolute on this point.
"Right, of course you didn't." Robert grinned sarcastically. "That would mean that you'd ever been on his side in the first place, or anyone's side other than your own you selfish bastard. Now hurry up Yusei and get on the offensive."
"Turn 5, 3600 life points left."
"My turn." Selfish? Yusei had to admit, back in the days of Team Satisfaction he'd done what he'd done not for the greater good of Satellite, but to keep his friendship with Kiryu and Jack. Both now stood severed, one permanently, the other… "I summon Speed Warrior and activate its effect to double its attack power until the end of my turn." A man in an armored jumpsuit with a gasmask helmet and skates on the feet spun onto the field, building up momentum and power until he had enough to crash into Infernity Knight for four hundred points of damage. Now Robert's chainsaw was one step closer to killing him.
"About damn time Yusei, but then again, you knew this part was going to happen, right?" Robert discarded two cards in accordance with Infernity Knight's effect, special summoning it back to the field.
"I set two cards to end my turn." Robert was right, he did know; Yusei knew the ins and outs of Kiryu's deck, its strengths and weaknesses, weaknesses that only now would he be able to exploit.
"Turn 6, 3600 life points left."
"And now for mine." Robert drew his card and grinned. "I activate Infernity Demon's effect; if I draw this when I have no cards in my hand, I can show it to you to special summon it to the field. Then I use its other effect to add one Infernity Card from my deck to my hand." A baleful fire appeared next to Infernity Knight, and from that fire came an emaciated figure of a devil, horns and a shock of bright red hair. It pointed at Robert's deck, directing the fire to one card in particular. "And now I sacrifice my Infernity Knight to summon Infernity Destroyer." Infernity Knight vanished in a rainbow hued portal, giving way to a hulking monster with disproportionately large bony claws. "So long as I have no cards in my hand, when Destroyer destroys a monster in battle, you take sixteen hundred points of damage."
Infernity Destroyer advanced with speed unnatural to its size and build, but just as it was about to reach its target, a crude iron structure appeared to block its path.
"With Scrap Iron Scarecrow, I can negate one attack and then set it back on the field." But it was not to be; Infernity Destroyer merely sneered and the desperately cobbled together edifice fell apart.
"My trap card, Infernity Barrier; no cards in my hand, Infernity Monsters in attack, I get to negate and destroy your trap card." With nothing left to stop it, Infernity Destroyer brought its hands over its head and brought them down onto Speed Warrior's like a hammer. However, though the pain of the monster was clear and the chainsaw came 1400 points closer to taking Yusei's life, Speed Warrior did not perish.
"By removing Shield Warrior in my grave from play, I prevent the destruction of my monster in battle." For a moment, the spirit of Yusei's first monster could be seen, its soul severed in defense of its comrade.
"Huh, so that's what that monster of yours did; I suppose this is the payoff for being the quiet one of your sad, pathetic crew."
"You don't know as much as you think you do."
"What don't I know? Team Satisfaction was pathetic, a delusion of a bunch of dumb young punks who actually thought they could take on the world and win, and that's putting it generously. To put it realistically, Kiryu's bloodlust was exactly what he had in mind all along."
"No, he did want to change the world, that's why he…" Yusei cursed himself, in spite of his best efforts Robert had managed to pry something out of him after all.
"Why bother with the false martyr act Yusei? Everyone knows you betrayed Kiryu and struck a deal with Security to save your own hide, but they're not here to save you from this!" Infernity Demon channeled its fire into Speed Warrior, destroying it for 900 points of damage, and now Yusei could practically smell the oil of the chainsaw meant to end his life. "Go on Yusei, take your turn, but there's no way you'll be able to summon anything worthwhile with that piece-of-shit deck of yours to face down my Destroyer."
"Turn 7, 1300 life points left."
"My turn." Yusei drew his card. "There's more to my deck than just the cards in it."
"Preaching, or excusing your imminent cheating?"
"Neither; I summon Junk Synchron and activate its effect to special summon Speed Warrior from my grave in defense with its effect negated." A squat machine man in an orange mechanic's outfit emerged from the portal and swept his arm out, bringing back Speed Warrior. "Furthermore, since Junk Synchron is a Tuner Monster, I can activate Bolt Hedgehog's effect and special summon it back to the field."
"Tuner…you can't be serious!" This was the first time that shock had made itself known on Robert Axelrod's face.
"I tune the level three Junk Synchron to the level two Bolt Hedgehog." Junk Synchron revved the engine on its back, becoming three rings of energy around Bolt Hedgehog, who became a pair of brilliant shining stars. "The stars come together to call forth a new power! Become the path that lights the way! Synchro Summon!" A bright flash of light, and where Junk Synchron and Bolt Hedgehog once stood, a new monster appeared in blue armor, an oversized right gauntlet, and airplane wings on its shoulders. "Come, Junk Warrior!" Junk Warrior and Speed Warrior then shined with the same blue light. "When summoned to the field, Junk Warrior gains attack points equal to the total attack power of all the level two or lower monsters I control." Junk Warrior flew forth, spinning like a drill as it attacked Infernity Destroyer and bore through it for 900 points of damage. "And now I activate my trap card Guardian's Attack, and sacrifice one defense position monster I control," Speed Warrior vanished, "to let Junk Warrior attack another monster for half battle damage." Junk Warrior did as commanded, and now Robert was almost as near to death as Yusei was.
"Goddamn." Robert stared at the chainsaw so near his body. "You have Synchro Monsters; that was one hell of a sweet deal you must have struck with Security to get your hands on those." Yusei said nothing. "Makes sense though; no way in hell you could hope to chase after Jack in Neo Domino and dethrone him without them."
"…As I said before, you don't know as much as you think you do." It was everything Yusei could do to keep his fist from shaking. "I end my turn."
"Turn 8, 1650 life points left."
"Maybe." Robert drew his card. "But I do know enough to kill you." Black plumes of smoke appeared before him. "I activate ZERO-MAX; when I have no cards in my hand, I special summon an Infernity Monster from my grave and destroy all other monsters with lower attack power than it." A blood-thirsty roar tore through the air, the crimson abomination hunched over Junk Warrior, its face marked with disdain. "Since Infernity Killer has thirty-five hundred attack points…" It unleashed its breath weapon and obliterated Junk Warrior, leaving not even dust behind. "I can't attack on the turn that ZERO-MAX was activated, but I won't have to."
"During the end phase of a turn where you have no cards in your hand, the opponent takes 1000 points of damage." This was the monster that always decided their old duels; whenever Yusei had Kiryu backed into a corner, he would bring out Infernity Killer to finish it in his own favor.
"Yeah, I figured you knew about this monster. This should seem familiar too." Infernity Killer transposed its being around Yusei, permeating him with its suffering. The chainsaw was now a hand's length away from Yusei. "How do you like it now Yusei?" Robert seethed as he gave himself entirely to his fury. "How does it feel, knowing that no one's going to come and save your sorry ass? How does it feel to be completely helpless to save yourself?"
"Helpless…" A flash in his mind's eye, and Yusei found himself in a stormy day. He saw himself huddled over a body, a young boy with thick, curly red hair, soaked to the bone and choking on water not fit for rats. "No one to save him…" Yusei shuddered as his tears were washed away in the rain, the boy's small hands clutched around a small case, and in the distance somewhere was Jack, riding on the D-Wheel that Yusei had built. "That's why I can't die here."
"Huh?"
"Turn 9, 300 life points left."
"My turn." Yusei looked at the card he drew; it was as though Rally were there with him, helping him. "I summon One-Shot Rocket to the field." A red robot with a pair of giant rockets strapped to it appeared. "And since I just normal summoned a monster, I can special summon the monster I just drew, One-Shot Booster." A yellow robot with a pair of launch pads on either side appeared next to the first. "I tune the level two One-Shot Rocket to the level one One-Shot Booster." Stars and circles of energy spun about, clearing the path for a gleaming white robot with a pair of cannons. "This monster, the One-Shot Cannon, is why I can't lose."
"Really? With zero attack points?" Robert sneered.
"Yes." One-Shot Cannon prepared to fire. "Once per turn, I can destroy one monster on the field to deal damage equal to half that monster's attack power to the controlling player." One-Shot Cannon fired, disintegrating Infernity Killer and consuming Robert's body in light.
In that instant, just as Robert's life points approached zero, Yusei brought his hand down onto his deck to force surrender, dropping his own life points to zero. Yusei ran forward and slammed into Robert, knocking him down just as the chainsaw reached him. He screamed and passed out, his blood flowing freely. Yusei took him over his shoulder and ran as fast as he could, his subconscious guiding him to the one place where he could still find help. He reached his destination, slammed on the door, and then passed out in exhaustion.
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Yusei watched as Robert stirred. He merely opened his eyes, the sweat on his brow merely one sign of the strain even that effort took. "You think I'm going to forgive you, just because you saved my life?"
Yusei stood up. "I wouldn't deserve it even if you did." He made his way to the door, and stopped. "He wasn't really my little brother, but I still thought of him as one." He paused. "I had the chance to save him, but I failed." Yusei walked away with the circuit in hand, making his way to leave for good.
"Yusei." Martha's voice stopped him. "What do you plan to do when you reach Jack?"
Yusei glanced at the TV in the corner; Jack was on it, using a different D-Wheel from the one he'd stolen two years ago, when he stuck Rally in a death trap to force his hand. The volume was muted, but there was no doubt that the announcer was extolling the strength and virtue of the great King of Riding Duels.
"I will make him see what he's truly become." With that, Martha offered no further resistance, and Yusei left the home he grew up in, his path taking him far far away
Yusei Fudo was enveloped in soft, all-encompassing warmth from the tips of his spiky hair, the profile like a crab, to the ends of his feet clad in steel-tipped boots. It was nothing like the stifling heat of the summers in Satellite, nor the pounding rains that hammered down in the spring. The heaters used in the autumn, the blankets and comforters bundled up in winter could not compare to this sensation; it was utterly unlike anything he had ever known in his waking life in the slums of Satellite, and so he knew he was dreaming. It was one of two dreams that he'd known in eighteen years, and given the nature of the other, he was thankful that he was having this one. Still, the dream faded and gave way to reality, one where he was resting upon a hard cold cot in a dank room, buckets on the floor for when it rained. He looked over to the other side of the room and saw a man on the other cot, unconscious and in bad shape. Then Yusei heard heavy footfalls, ones he'd recognized from a very young age.
"Yusei." Martha's weary voice preceded her as she entered the room, her apron as clean as she could manage. She looked down at the other man in disapproval.
"I'm sorry." He owed her so much, the woman who'd raised him since before he could remember.
"You have nothing to be sorry about." Martha turned her head to him, frown still present. "I'll manage something for this young man, I owe you that much Yusei." She focused her attention back on the young man, on the bandages around his waist that had been soaked through. As Martha changed those bandage and took out the last clean bandages she had left in the house, that was when Yusei remembered.
"Robert Axelrod." He muttered under his breath as he relived the encounter that led up to this moment.
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"Yusei Fudo." The words were spoken in cruel humor by a brown haired man seated on the peak of a pile of trash, broken boxes and empty bottles. "This is what you're looking for, isn't it?" He held one arm at length, and dangling from his hand was a circuit. "The last bit you need for that D-Wheel of yours, and the only one you'll find in all the junkyards of the Satellite." The man stood up and jumped down, landing right in front of Yusei, sized him up. "You really think this will break you out of this hellhole?" The humor was gone.
"What do you want?" Yusei had no time to waste with this man; whatever he wanted he would get, nothing else mattered in the face of what he had to do.
"To the point and not even the least bit interested in who I am; yeah, that's the Yusei Fudo I know, the one who didn't give a shit when his leader killed my little brother in cold blood."
"Rodney Axelrod." Yusei whispered the name, a flash of his former leader Kiryu with blood-soaked hands before his eyes.
"I'm Robert, and since you're the last one of your little gang left alive and well in Satellite, that means you're the one I'm taking my revenge on." It was then that Yusei noticed the far too small duel disc on his arm, one meant for a child years younger.
"I see." Yusei held no anger towards Robert, no frustration with him, only the grim resolution that his road went right through him. "Here?"
"No." Robert pointed to the west. "You haven't been subtle about your little quest, so I had time to set up a little arena just for you and me; I know the risks I'm taking here, but Rodney didn't die quick and easy, neither will you." His hand shook, and there were pock-marks on his veins.
"Fine." Yusei followed Robert, remembering more and more of that faithful day that cost him one of the few friends he ever had. It was one of the few days with fair weather he'd known, making it all the crueler in its timing. Kiryu had said he was just going on patrol, yet the way he carried himself, the hitch in his voice, it had given Yusei pause, and what he ended up seeing, what he was too late to stop, was even worse than he'd dared imagine.
"It took me months to find out the whole story, Yusei, to find someone who saw what happened and was willing to talk." Bitter venom dripped from each word he voiced. "Rodney, he was just going through the trash 'cause one of his friends told him that's where he could find an ultra-rare card, but as far as Kiryu was concerned Rodney was plotting against him, trying to overthrow 'Team Satisfaction'. A ten-year old kid, how goddamn paranoid do you have to be to be afraid of someone like that?" Yusei knew Robert was right, Kiryu had been afraid but it wasn't a child that him so scared; he was just a tragic scapegoat. "So he challenged him to a duel, right? He won of course, but he didn't take cards from him." No, he didn't; Kiryu had been so terrified that he lashed out against someone who had no power against him. "By the time I found my brother, it was too late to save him. And by the time I'd found out it was Kiryu who'd killed him, he'd already gotten himself killed trying to take on Security Forces." That day had also been a clear and sunny one, as though the heavens had refused to weep and wash away the blood of his crimes. "But now we're here, now something resembling justice will be had in this hellhole."
There was a raised metal platform at the far end of the junkyard, and on each end of the platform was a pair of shackles centered on a pair of foot-shaped slots. Upon climbing up onto it, Yusei could see the full horror of what Robert had in mind. "Do you really think this will work?" A pair of low set bars running from one end to the other on each side near the shackles, marked with life point totals to indicate the position of the chainsaws over the course of the duel.
"Would I have put in all this time and effort if I didn't? And remember…" He tightened his grip on the circuit.
"I will." Yusei stepped into the slots, causing the shackles to lock automatically around his feet. Robert did the same and then they both put on their Duel Discs and inserted their decks. The Duel Discs automatically shuffled their decks.
"Duel start." The moment both Duel Discs were armed the chainsaws activated, the shrill whir of the blades already maddening. "You go first Yusei." He could see it in his eyes, Robert wanted the first attack.
"I summon Shield Warrior in defense, and end my turn." A clear blue portal appeared before Yusei, and from out of it came a man with a spear in one hand and a long shield in the other. He crouched down, covering his body with the shield.
"Turn 2, 4000 life points left" Robert's duel disc called out.
"Defense? I thought you wanted this circuit Yusei, or do you think you can wait me out, exhaust my rage against you?" Robert drew his next card, a strange hitch in his motion. "If that's the case, you've made a serious mistake; I summon to the field, Infernity Knight!"
"What?" Yusei's eyes were drawn wide in shock as he watched the familiar monster take form, a knight in sleek armor wielding a sword shaped like a cleaver in one hand. "That's Kiryu's card." Yusei briefly saw the moment when Kiryu had first summoned that monster, when he and Jack and him were still friends, still certain that they could change life in the slums of the Satellite.
"Trust me Yusei, I'm no superstitious idiot, I just know that this is exactly the right deck to use against you, a vicious deck that'll give you no quarter." Yusei flinched inwardly; in all the times they'd dueled in the past, he'd had never won against Kiryu. "I now equip Infernity Knight with Cost of Slaughter, increasing his attack points by 600 when I attack a monster and allowing him to pierce defense." Blood dripped down from the Knight's blade as his gait became primal. "True, I'll have to discard a card when I attack, but you know what that means for this deck, don't you Yusei?"
"Zero hand." Nothing to hold, nothing to hide, giving everything you had on the edge, it mirrored Kiryu's philosophy on life too well. It was only near the end, when it was too late, that Yusei realized where that philosophy led. Robert ordered his monster's attack, the Infernity Knight's blade punching right through Shield Warrior and into Yusei himself. He flinched at the hyper-real sensation of the solid vision sword, and saw the chainsaw make its way towards him, stopping after completing one-tenth of its journey.
"400 points of damage for you, and three cards left in my hand." Robert grinned. "I set one of those cards and end my turn." Infernity Knight pulled his sword back out from Shield Warrior, causing the latter to vanish, and then returned to Robert's side of the field.
"Turn 3, 3600 life points left." Yusei's duel disc stated.
"You know Yusei, I didn't come up with this set-up all on my own; while piecing together Kiryu's old deck, I found an old article, written way before Zero Reverse; apparently the original Duel King got stuck in a duel a lot like this one in something called Battle City."
"Battle City." Yusei felt the words on his tongue, and found they worked too well in describing the state of Satellite.
"Of course, the big difference is that back they used keys for the winner to get out, but these locks are programmed not to release until the opponent's life points are at zero, his body shred into pieces. So come on Yusei, take your turn and bring yourself one step closer to the fate you deserve."
"That I deserve…" Yusei knew that the fate he deserved was not a bright and shining one, that when his time came it would not be a pleasant one. "Not yet." Even so, he still had things he had to do, a mission to fulfill, a path to follow for the sake of those he'd failed in the past. "I summon Bolt Hedgehog in defense, set one card, and end my turn." A large hedgehog with a dozen bolts sticking out of its back in the place of quills appeared before Yusei, crouched down low and defensive.
"Turn 4, 4000 life points left."
"Defense again?" Robert drew his next card. "I attack with Infernity Knight again, discarding a card for Cost of Slaughter's effect." Once more the bloody blade punched through Yusei's monster, but this time it went no further.
"I activate my trap card Defense Draw, reducing battle damage to zero and allowing me to draw one card."
"No matter how much time you spend dicking around Yusei, you can't delay the inevitable; bit by bit I'm going to break you down with this deck that Kiryu created, just the way he would have wanted it if he'd survived your betrayal."
"I did not betray him." Yusei's voice was absolute on this point.
"Right, of course you didn't." Robert grinned sarcastically. "That would mean that you'd ever been on his side in the first place, or anyone's side other than your own you selfish bastard. Now hurry up Yusei and get on the offensive."
"Turn 5, 3600 life points left."
"My turn." Selfish? Yusei had to admit, back in the days of Team Satisfaction he'd done what he'd done not for the greater good of Satellite, but to keep his friendship with Kiryu and Jack. Both now stood severed, one permanently, the other… "I summon Speed Warrior and activate its effect to double its attack power until the end of my turn." A man in an armored jumpsuit with a gasmask helmet and skates on the feet spun onto the field, building up momentum and power until he had enough to crash into Infernity Knight for four hundred points of damage. Now Robert's chainsaw was one step closer to killing him.
"About damn time Yusei, but then again, you knew this part was going to happen, right?" Robert discarded two cards in accordance with Infernity Knight's effect, special summoning it back to the field.
"I set two cards to end my turn." Robert was right, he did know; Yusei knew the ins and outs of Kiryu's deck, its strengths and weaknesses, weaknesses that only now would he be able to exploit.
"Turn 6, 3600 life points left."
"And now for mine." Robert drew his card and grinned. "I activate Infernity Demon's effect; if I draw this when I have no cards in my hand, I can show it to you to special summon it to the field. Then I use its other effect to add one Infernity Card from my deck to my hand." A baleful fire appeared next to Infernity Knight, and from that fire came an emaciated figure of a devil, horns and a shock of bright red hair. It pointed at Robert's deck, directing the fire to one card in particular. "And now I sacrifice my Infernity Knight to summon Infernity Destroyer." Infernity Knight vanished in a rainbow hued portal, giving way to a hulking monster with disproportionately large bony claws. "So long as I have no cards in my hand, when Destroyer destroys a monster in battle, you take sixteen hundred points of damage."
Infernity Destroyer advanced with speed unnatural to its size and build, but just as it was about to reach its target, a crude iron structure appeared to block its path.
"With Scrap Iron Scarecrow, I can negate one attack and then set it back on the field." But it was not to be; Infernity Destroyer merely sneered and the desperately cobbled together edifice fell apart.
"My trap card, Infernity Barrier; no cards in my hand, Infernity Monsters in attack, I get to negate and destroy your trap card." With nothing left to stop it, Infernity Destroyer brought its hands over its head and brought them down onto Speed Warrior's like a hammer. However, though the pain of the monster was clear and the chainsaw came 1400 points closer to taking Yusei's life, Speed Warrior did not perish.
"By removing Shield Warrior in my grave from play, I prevent the destruction of my monster in battle." For a moment, the spirit of Yusei's first monster could be seen, its soul severed in defense of its comrade.
"Huh, so that's what that monster of yours did; I suppose this is the payoff for being the quiet one of your sad, pathetic crew."
"You don't know as much as you think you do."
"What don't I know? Team Satisfaction was pathetic, a delusion of a bunch of dumb young punks who actually thought they could take on the world and win, and that's putting it generously. To put it realistically, Kiryu's bloodlust was exactly what he had in mind all along."
"No, he did want to change the world, that's why he…" Yusei cursed himself, in spite of his best efforts Robert had managed to pry something out of him after all.
"Why bother with the false martyr act Yusei? Everyone knows you betrayed Kiryu and struck a deal with Security to save your own hide, but they're not here to save you from this!" Infernity Demon channeled its fire into Speed Warrior, destroying it for 900 points of damage, and now Yusei could practically smell the oil of the chainsaw meant to end his life. "Go on Yusei, take your turn, but there's no way you'll be able to summon anything worthwhile with that piece-of-shit deck of yours to face down my Destroyer."
"Turn 7, 1300 life points left."
"My turn." Yusei drew his card. "There's more to my deck than just the cards in it."
"Preaching, or excusing your imminent cheating?"
"Neither; I summon Junk Synchron and activate its effect to special summon Speed Warrior from my grave in defense with its effect negated." A squat machine man in an orange mechanic's outfit emerged from the portal and swept his arm out, bringing back Speed Warrior. "Furthermore, since Junk Synchron is a Tuner Monster, I can activate Bolt Hedgehog's effect and special summon it back to the field."
"Tuner…you can't be serious!" This was the first time that shock had made itself known on Robert Axelrod's face.
"I tune the level three Junk Synchron to the level two Bolt Hedgehog." Junk Synchron revved the engine on its back, becoming three rings of energy around Bolt Hedgehog, who became a pair of brilliant shining stars. "The stars come together to call forth a new power! Become the path that lights the way! Synchro Summon!" A bright flash of light, and where Junk Synchron and Bolt Hedgehog once stood, a new monster appeared in blue armor, an oversized right gauntlet, and airplane wings on its shoulders. "Come, Junk Warrior!" Junk Warrior and Speed Warrior then shined with the same blue light. "When summoned to the field, Junk Warrior gains attack points equal to the total attack power of all the level two or lower monsters I control." Junk Warrior flew forth, spinning like a drill as it attacked Infernity Destroyer and bore through it for 900 points of damage. "And now I activate my trap card Guardian's Attack, and sacrifice one defense position monster I control," Speed Warrior vanished, "to let Junk Warrior attack another monster for half battle damage." Junk Warrior did as commanded, and now Robert was almost as near to death as Yusei was.
"Goddamn." Robert stared at the chainsaw so near his body. "You have Synchro Monsters; that was one hell of a sweet deal you must have struck with Security to get your hands on those." Yusei said nothing. "Makes sense though; no way in hell you could hope to chase after Jack in Neo Domino and dethrone him without them."
"…As I said before, you don't know as much as you think you do." It was everything Yusei could do to keep his fist from shaking. "I end my turn."
"Turn 8, 1650 life points left."
"Maybe." Robert drew his card. "But I do know enough to kill you." Black plumes of smoke appeared before him. "I activate ZERO-MAX; when I have no cards in my hand, I special summon an Infernity Monster from my grave and destroy all other monsters with lower attack power than it." A blood-thirsty roar tore through the air, the crimson abomination hunched over Junk Warrior, its face marked with disdain. "Since Infernity Killer has thirty-five hundred attack points…" It unleashed its breath weapon and obliterated Junk Warrior, leaving not even dust behind. "I can't attack on the turn that ZERO-MAX was activated, but I won't have to."
"During the end phase of a turn where you have no cards in your hand, the opponent takes 1000 points of damage." This was the monster that always decided their old duels; whenever Yusei had Kiryu backed into a corner, he would bring out Infernity Killer to finish it in his own favor.
"Yeah, I figured you knew about this monster. This should seem familiar too." Infernity Killer transposed its being around Yusei, permeating him with its suffering. The chainsaw was now a hand's length away from Yusei. "How do you like it now Yusei?" Robert seethed as he gave himself entirely to his fury. "How does it feel, knowing that no one's going to come and save your sorry ass? How does it feel to be completely helpless to save yourself?"
"Helpless…" A flash in his mind's eye, and Yusei found himself in a stormy day. He saw himself huddled over a body, a young boy with thick, curly red hair, soaked to the bone and choking on water not fit for rats. "No one to save him…" Yusei shuddered as his tears were washed away in the rain, the boy's small hands clutched around a small case, and in the distance somewhere was Jack, riding on the D-Wheel that Yusei had built. "That's why I can't die here."
"Huh?"
"Turn 9, 300 life points left."
"My turn." Yusei looked at the card he drew; it was as though Rally were there with him, helping him. "I summon One-Shot Rocket to the field." A red robot with a pair of giant rockets strapped to it appeared. "And since I just normal summoned a monster, I can special summon the monster I just drew, One-Shot Booster." A yellow robot with a pair of launch pads on either side appeared next to the first. "I tune the level two One-Shot Rocket to the level one One-Shot Booster." Stars and circles of energy spun about, clearing the path for a gleaming white robot with a pair of cannons. "This monster, the One-Shot Cannon, is why I can't lose."
"Really? With zero attack points?" Robert sneered.
"Yes." One-Shot Cannon prepared to fire. "Once per turn, I can destroy one monster on the field to deal damage equal to half that monster's attack power to the controlling player." One-Shot Cannon fired, disintegrating Infernity Killer and consuming Robert's body in light.
In that instant, just as Robert's life points approached zero, Yusei brought his hand down onto his deck to force surrender, dropping his own life points to zero. Yusei ran forward and slammed into Robert, knocking him down just as the chainsaw reached him. He screamed and passed out, his blood flowing freely. Yusei took him over his shoulder and ran as fast as he could, his subconscious guiding him to the one place where he could still find help. He reached his destination, slammed on the door, and then passed out in exhaustion.
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Yusei watched as Robert stirred. He merely opened his eyes, the sweat on his brow merely one sign of the strain even that effort took. "You think I'm going to forgive you, just because you saved my life?"
Yusei stood up. "I wouldn't deserve it even if you did." He made his way to the door, and stopped. "He wasn't really my little brother, but I still thought of him as one." He paused. "I had the chance to save him, but I failed." Yusei walked away with the circuit in hand, making his way to leave for good.
"Yusei." Martha's voice stopped him. "What do you plan to do when you reach Jack?"
Yusei glanced at the TV in the corner; Jack was on it, using a different D-Wheel from the one he'd stolen two years ago, when he stuck Rally in a death trap to force his hand. The volume was muted, but there was no doubt that the announcer was extolling the strength and virtue of the great King of Riding Duels.
"I will make him see what he's truly become." With that, Martha offered no further resistance, and Yusei left the home he grew up in, his path taking him far far away