Soarin, knowing that the old workshop location was probably compromised since Sector Security had found it, drove his D-Wheel to the other side of Satellite, where they had a backup garage in case of situations like this. He breathed a sigh of relief when he pulled in and saw that Thunderlane, Clear Skies, and Rumble had all made it there safely. “Good news. I managed to shake security,” he told them, setting his helmet down on a workbench and standing up from the bike. “They should leave us alone for a while as long as we stay out of trouble.”
Thunderlane sighed. “We know that staying out of trouble isn’t an option for us,” he muttered.
“I’m just glad you’re out of danger,” Rumble said with a smile.
“Me too,” Soarin said, fixing the kid with a stern glare. “But I hope you realize that I wouldn’t have been in danger in the first place if you hadn’t stolen that control chip.”
Rumble looked away ashamedly. “I know,” he said. “I just wanted you to get to Spitfire by any means necessary!”
“Even dropping down to her level?” Soarin asked.
Rumble opened his mouth to give a rebuttal, but he paused when those words sunk in. “I… didn’t think of it like that…”
“Obviously,” Soarin replied. “And it’s not just that. You put yourself at risk, too. They already put a marker on you, and security isn’t gonna be fairer with you just because you’re a kid.” He glanced at the yellow mark on Rumble’s cheek, just below his left eye. “You have too much ahead of you to be thrown in prison now. The card Spitfire stole from us represents the bond we share, and I’m going to retrieve that bond. I can promise you that. Don’t go doing stupid things like this again.”
“I promise I won’t,” Rumble said, nodding once. “I’m really sorry, Soarin.”
“It’s okay, Rumble. I forgive you,” Soarin said. He smiled at his young friend and ruffled his hair. “Now, I have a few more tests to run before I’m ready to head into the city. Wanna help me out?”
Rumble’s face broke into a wide smile. “Heck yeah I do!”
[Meanwhile…]
Spitfire sat in her penthouse, looking over her cards. Some of them, she had had since her days in Satellite. One in particular, Stardust Dragon, she had since the day she got out of Satellite. That had been the day she had left all her friends behind to come to Neo Canterlot City and become what she is now.
But what exactly was she? Yes, she was the Queen of the Course, but she always felt that there was something else. Something that had to do with her dragon cards. Setting Stardust Dragon down, she held up her Red Dragon Archfiend. As she looked at it, her eyes drifted down to her right forearm and the red mark it bore. It was a strange symbol, neither a tattoo nor a birthmark, looking sort of like the wings of a dragon. She had that mark for as long as she could remember, and whenever she summoned her ace monster, it seemed to itch a bit.
She sighed. “Why would Red Dragon Archfiend be connected to that mark? It’s just a card,” she said to herself. But she knew that to a Duelist, a card was never just a card. Soarin had been the one to teach her that. When she thought about that, she was reminded of the first time the two of them had Dueled each other years ago…
Flashback…
“I’ll equip my Red Dragon Archfiend with Axe of Despair! Archfiend, attack Stardust Dragon and finish Soarin off!”
“You may defeat me either way, but I won’t let Stardust go down!” Soarin shouted. “I play Half Shut!” The attack landed, and it caused an explosion that threw Soarin back a few feet, and he landed heavily on his back.
Spitfire rolled her eyes. “You tried to protect your cards that entire match and didn’t give a damn about your Life Points,” she observed. “Why do you play that way?”
“Because they’re more than just cards to me,” Soarin answered as he stood back up. “Don’t you feel a special connection to your deck?”
“That is a weird mentality,” Spitfire said bluntly. “And yet so much like you. But you have to watch out for yourself. No use protecting the cards if you lose.”
“But it takes skill to keep my cards protected without damaging myself,” said Soarin. “And I definitely have the drive to find that winning strategy.”
“With an attitude like that, you could go far someday as long as you had the ability to back it up,” Spitfire replied. “If only we weren’t stuck in this heap forever.”
“But we won’t be. Not as long as we have hope.”
End flashback…
Spitfire shook her head. “Why am I thinking about Soarin so much all of a sudden?” she asked herself. “I haven’t thought about him in two years, and now suddenly he’s on my mind all the time. Maybe we do have some kind of connection…?” She sighed. “I’m going for a ride. That always clears my head.”
[The next day…]
Rumble looked up from a computer and grinned as Soarin pulled back into the garage after another test. “Levels are holding. I think it’s just about ready to make the trip.”
Soarin nodded in agreement. “We’ll run a few more tests just to be safe. Thunderlane and Clear Skies should also look over the machine when they get back. A second opinion always counts.”
Speaking of those two, they ran back into the workshop, panting and looking frightened. “We have company,” Clear Skies warned. “Some guys we ran into at the scrapyard are coming, and they are pissed off.”
“Why is that?” Soarin asked.
“Because we literally ran into them. We knocked them over and made a break for it,” said Thunderlane. “And I don’t think they’re ready to accept our apology.”
No sooner did he say that than the door was broken down by three muscular guys, all of whom had markers like Rumble’s, but more of them. The one who was obviously the leader had three; one under each eye that curved around his cheekbones, and one on his chin. “You’re gonna pay for what you did!” he growled at the two engineers.
Soarin stepped between them. “Leave them alone. It was a mistake,” he said.
“Sorry, but no one crosses Crusher and gets away with it,” said the leader, whose name was apparently Crusher. He then glanced to the back of the garage and smirked. “Of course… I might let it slide just this once if you give me that D-Wheel.”
“Not a chance!” Rumble shouted. “Soarin worked too hard on that to just give it up!”
“Seems like a fair trade,” said Soarin, causing everyone to stare at him in disbelief. “But I have a better idea. We Duel. If I win, you forget about what my friends did. If you win, the D-Wheel is yours.” He walked over to the D-Wheel and pressed a button, causing the screen to disconnect from the vehicle’s main body and become a regular Duel Disk. After strapping it on, inserting his deck, and extending the solid vision card tray, he turned to face Crusher again.
“A hybrid machine, huh?” Crusher said. “Alright, I accept your challenge.” He activated his own Duel Disk. “I’m gonna enjoy demolishing you.”
“Let’s Duel!”
Soarin
LP: 4000; Hand: 5
Crusher
LP: 4000; Hand: 5
“I’ll go first,” Soarin said. “I’ll warn you, though. I defeated a high-ranking officer of Sector Security.”
Crusher snorted derisively. “Big deal. That only makes you a big shot on their hit list. Just take your turn so I can win already.”
Soarin shrugged. “Alright, you asked for it,” he said. “I set two cards facedown, then put a monster in defense mode. That’ll be all.” The enlarged projections of his facedowns appeared, hovering a couple inches above the floor.
Soarin
LP: 4000; Hand: 2
Crusher
LP: 4000; Hand: 5
Crusher laughed. “Is that really the best you can do?! That’s hilarious!” he taunted. “My turn. I draw!” The card he drew brought a smirk to his face. “You’re about to see my raw strength. I summon Scrap Hunter!” A monster made entirely of scrap metal with tank treads for legs rose from the ground. “Since I have a Scrap monster on the field, I can summon out my Scrap Orthros! Since it was summoned this way, I have to destroy a Scrap monster on the field.” A mechanical canine with two heads leapt into place and sank its teeth into Scrap Hunter.
Soarin frowned. “Interesting monsters. Why would you summon that Orthros if it meant destroying your other monster?”
“Because I have no use for the weaker monster. Besides, when a monster I control is destroyed, I can Special Summon Interplanetarypurplythorny Dragon from my hand!” Crusher replied, slapping another card on his Duel Disk, causing a large dragon with black scales and purple spike to descend.
“Well, that’s a mouthful,” Soarin replied.
“And it’s gonna have a mouthful of your monster!” Crusher said with a sneer. “Interplanetary, attack the facedown!” His dragon shot a blast of energy at the monster, causing an explosion. But when the dust settled, the monster was revealed to be a small pink bird and completely unharmed.
“Nice try, but my Sonic Chick can’t by destroyed by battle with your dragon since it has more than 1900 attack points!” Soarin informed the Scrap user.
“Then it’s a good thing my Scrap Orthros has 1700!” Crusher said as his monster charged in.
“I activate Scrap-Iron Scarecrow to keep my monster safe a little longer!” Soarin countered. “And the best part is this trap sets itself facedown again after I use it!”
Crusher snarled. “There’s no use keeping that weak monster safe. For now, I end my turn.”
Soarin
LP: 4000; Hand: 2
Crusher
LP: 4000; Hand: 3
“My move, then!” said Soarin. “I draw! And I’m activating Graceful Charity! This spell card allows me to draw three cards, so long as I discard two afterwards.” He looked over the cards he drew before nodding once. “I’m discarding Speed Warrior and Digitron. Now, I summon the tuner monster Junk Synchron!” His small orange monster appeared, a determined look on its face. “With his special ability, he can bring back Digitron in defense mode!”
“Why are you summoning so many weaklings?” Crusher asked, his eyes narrowed.
“There’s no such thing as a weak monster if you know what you’re doing,” Soarin replied. “I’m equipping my Sonic Chick with Synchro Boost, giving it 500 attack points—!”
“Still not strong enough,” Crusher interrupted.
“AND one level!” Soarin finished. “Level three Junk Synchron tunes my now level two Sonic Chick!” The Synchron revved its motor and launched itself into the air as it morphed into the three green tuning rings, and Sonic Chick flew into the rings, turning into two stars. “The stars come together to form a new power! Become the light that shows the way!” Soarin chanted as the beam of light illuminated the garage. “I Synchro Summon! Come forth! Junk Warrior!”
Crusher took a step back. “It’s stronger than both of my monsters…!”
“And it’s about to get even stronger thanks to Digitron, a monster that you called weak!” Soarin said, grinning slightly. “When Junk Warrior is Synchro Summoned, it gains the attack points of all the level two or lower monsters that I control at the time! Digitron’s 1500 will bring Junk Warrior from 2300 to 3800! Now, Junk Warrior, use your scrap fist to attack his Orthros!”
Crusher grunted, wincing as his monster was punched into oblivion. “He used three weaklings to make a monster that I can’t beat the way I am now…!” he growled in frustration.
“I’ll play one last facedown and end my turn there,” Soarin concluded.
Soarin
LP: 4000; Hand: 0
Crusher
LP: 2900; Hand: 3
Crusher whipped a card out from his Duel Disk as the turn was passed over to him. “You’re gonna suffer for that!” he shouted. “I sacrifice my dragon to summon Scrap Golem!” His new monster seemed to be made mostly of old, very rusty appliances, and it stood at least three feet taller than Junk Warrior. “I activate Scrap Golem’s special ability! Once per turn, I can revive a level four or lower Scrap monster, so I’m putting my Orthros back together!”
“Why would you put them in attack mode?” Soarin wondered. “They’re just easy targets for Junk Warrior now.”
“Then I’ll just have to destroy it,” said Crusher. “I activate Double Summon to bring out my Scrap Goblin! And now, level three Scrap Goblin tunes level five Scrap Golem!”
Soarin gasped. “What?!”
“I Synchro Summon! You’re about to see a pretty nasty beast! Rise, Scrap Dragon!” Crusher yelled, and a large dragon made of rusty metal swooped in. “I’ll play Scrap Dragon’s special ability, destroying one card on my field and one card on yours! I have to give up my Orthros, but you’ll have to say goodbye to your little scarecrow!” His monster unleashed a flurry of metal shards, wiping out the aforementioned cards. “And when a Scrap effect destroys Orthros, I can take a Scrap monster from my Graveyard and add it to my hand. Welcome back, Scrap Hunter.”
“Irritating, but not devastating,” Soarin said.
“Oh, but it will be,” Crusher said with a smirk. “When I equip Scrap Dragon with Megamorph to double its attack points to 5600!”
Rumble gasped. “Oh no! Without his Scrap-Iron Scarecrow, Soarin will take a hit!”
“I won’t let Junk Warrior be defeated so easily!” said Soarin. “I’m using my facedown quick play spell Half Shut! For the rest of this turn, Junk Warrior may lose half of his attack point, but he can’t be destroyed!”
“I remember this card,” said Thunderlane. “He used it to protect Stardust Dragon long ago, even though it cost him the match.”
“And it looks like the same thing is gonna happen with Junk Warrior,” said Clear Skies. “When those attacks land, he’ll be running on fumes.”
Crusher laughed. “That’s just pathetic. I can reduce your Life Points to almost nothing with a single attack. Scrap Dragon, attack Junk Warrior!”
Soarin didn’t even flinch as the two metal monsters mounted their attack. “I’m still waiting to be impressed.”
This certainly got Crusher pretty angry. “Stop being so smug! You’ve lost!”
“Not as long as I still have Life Points,” said Soarin. “By the way, your Scrap Dragon is looking a little sluggish.”
“What are you…?” Crusher started to say as he looked up at his now exhausted-looking monster, then down at his Duel Disk’s screen, and his eyes went wide. “Huh?! How is it down to 1400 attack?!”
“You need to know your own card effects,” said Soarin. “Megamorph only doubles a monster’s attack points while you have less Life Points than your opponent. Now that you’re in the lead, your dragon is falling behind.”
Thunderlane grinned. “So there were two reasons why he used Half Shut,” he realized. “To intentionally lower his own Life Points enough to trigger the negative effects of Megamorph…”
“And to keep Junk Warrior around to win it for him next turn!” Rumble finished. “That big guy never saw it coming!”
Crusher narrowed his eyes. “I end my turn…” he hissed.
Soarin
LP: 300; Hand: 0
Crusher
LP: 2900; Hand: 1
“My turn!” Soarin said, drawing his next card with a flick of the wrist. “I switch Digitron to attack mode and attack Scrap Dragon with it!” His small monster fired a little digital blast at the enormous Scrap Dragon, destroying it easily.
“I never thought I would see this happen,” Crusher breathed. “My powerful dragon was taken down by a little guy.”
“And now, you’ll go down with it,” Soarin declared. “Junk Warrior, attack directly! Scrap fist attack!”
Winner: Soarin
Crusher deactivated his Duel Disk and grinned. “Well, a deal’s a deal. You’re off the hook this time. Just make sure your buddies don’t bump into me again,” he said as he turned around to leave. “And whatever you need to do with that D-Wheel that’s so damn important, good luck. As for me, I’ll keep in mind what you said about there being no weak monsters.” With that, he took his two cronies and exited the workshop.
Clear Skies sighed quietly. “Glad they’re out of here. But I’m gonna have to replace the door now.”
“And now I know for sure that I’ve gotten strong enough to do this,” Soarin added. “Now we just need to finish putting the D-Wheel through its testing phases, and then it’ll be off to Neo Canterlot City with me. Spitfire will regret the day she turned against us soon enough.”
Thunderlane nodded. “Your day of reckoning is at hand, Spitfire.”
Speaking of whom, Spitfire paused in the middle of another one of her rides and glanced toward the horizon and the skyline of Satellite, as if she could sense what her old friends were doing. “Hurry up if you’re coming,” she muttered. “This is gonna be a match for the ages.”