Dueling is Magic!

Many Futures

Chapter Eight

A Violent Wind

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“The feed’s been lost,” Luna answered. She grabbed a black device that was hanging from her belt, held it up to her face and spoke into it. “Luna to Aki,” she said. “What happened? The mess hall’s lost the duel feed.”

“Shellie says that we were kicked out of the H.M.S.,” came Aki’s voice. “She’s trying to get us back in, but it could be a while. She says it looks like the kind of programming that was used to block Marker signals before they went into disuse.”

“What’s that gizmo you got there?” asked Applejack, pointing a hoof at the black rectangle in Luna’s hand.

“This? It’s a walkie-talkie,” she said. “We use these to communicate around the base. They use radio signals so they don’t reach very far. They’re not hard to pick up on, but the limited range means that our messages can’t be intercepted by anyone outside the base.”

Applejack gave a confused look. “I understood everythin’ except ‘radio signals’,” she said.

“The Highway Monitor System,” said Luna. “It’s used to keep track of the duel highways and the people who use them. We mostly use it to keep tabs on the Dark Troopers, but the public channels allow us to watch Turbo Duels as well.”

“And if you’re kicked out, that means you can’t watch the highways or duels anymore?” Spike asked. Luna nodded.

“Yes ma’am,” said Shellie. She typed commands into the computer terminal then spoke into the headset she wore. “HQ to Jack Atlas, come in. Jack, come in... no good.”

“I don’t know, Twilight,” she said. Then her eyes widened and she said, “Wait... Shellie, didn’t you say the block you ran into looked like a Marker jamming program?”

“Then that’s it,” Aki said. “It’s a jamming signal. They aren’t just blocking our access to the Highway Monitor System, they’re blocking all long range communications.”

“If we had enough power, we could override the jamming signal,” said Shellie. “But we’re running on archaic gas generators! Without Momentum or a miracle, there’s no way we can get the power we need to get through to Jack or your friend.”

Two D-Wheels sped out of the highway gate- Jack first, then Crow- followed by a cyan pegasus and three more D-Wheels. As the overpass split, Jack and crow turned right, moving between buildings and looping around to an underpass. Rainbow Dash and the Dark Troopers continued straight ahead.

“You boys ready to rumble?” Rainbow Dash shouted over her shoulder. “Here are the rules: Three on one Battle Royal. Nobody can attack on their first turn, and I take the first turn.”

Jack looked on from the underpass, but quickly turned his attention back to the road as it turned to the left and took him and Crow back out to the bay.

“I’m placing a condition on this duel, Crow,” Jack said. “If I win, take me to Yusei.”

“I’ve got no problem with that,” said Crow. “I was gonna take you to him when I win anyway.”

“Yeah, yeah,” said Crow, drawing his five cards. “You were first out the gate, so the opening move is yours.”

“I won’t hold back against you, Crow,” said Jack. “I’m coming at you full force! By sending a monster from my hand to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon ‘Power Giant’ from my hand and decrease its Level by that of the monster I sent.” Jack slid “Battle Fader” into the Graveyard slot on his Duel Disk, then placed the “Power Giant” card in his hand onto the blade of the Disk. A giant figure composed of differently colored crystals emerged through a blue portal. A point counter appeared next to it. Its Level decreased from “6” to “5” with a beep.

“Next I Normal Summon ‘Dark Resonator’ to the field!” Jack continued. A new monster appeared, this one short, round, and grinning like an imp beneath its dull gray helmet. A red frill ran along the bottom edge of the helmet. Two tiny hands reached out from beneath its tattered, dark blue robe. In its left hand was a ball-tipped mallet. In the right, a long tuning fork.

“Level Three Dark Resonator, tune with the Level Five Power Giant!” Jack said. “The pulse of the king now forms a line here! Take witness to its creation-shaking power! I Synchro Summon my very soul, ‘Red Dragon Archfiend’!”

Claws and fangs erupted tore through light as if it were wax paper. Yellow eyes burned a path through to the city. Leathery, crimson wings carried the beast into the sky above its master, deep roars shaking the glass of the skyscrapers around them.

“Comin’ out swingin’, huh?” said Crow. “Guess that’s not too surprising. You always were a hothead.”

“I summon ‘Blackwing - Shura the Blue Flame’ in Attack Mode!” From the blue portal came a tall, thin creature carried through the air on wings like those of a giant raven. Its forearms were wide and tipped with claws, its legs thin and bare. Its head was that of a blue-feathered bird, orange crests running across the top edge of its eyes.

“Shura the Blue Flame, attack Red Dragon Archfiend!” Crow ordered. The bird-like creature flapped its wings and took off toward Jack’s dragon.

“So that’s your game, is it?” said Jack. “Trap activate: ‘Tuner’s Mind’! When a Synchro Monster I control is attacked, this card returns it to the Extra Deck and Special Summons its original Synchro Material monsters, then switches the attack target to the Tuner!”

Red Dragon Archfiend became a bright white silhouette of itself. The light separated into two masses that took the shapes of Power Giant and Dark Resonator.

Shura brought its massive, clawed hands down on Dark Resonator, but the imp parried the blows with its tuning fork and mallet. It chuckled as Shura flew back to Crow’s side.

“Such a weak creature could not withstand the might of Red Dragon Archfiend without help,” Jack replied. “I knew you had ‘Kalut the Moonshadow’ in your hand. With that to power up Shura, you would have been able to destroy Red Dragon Archfiend. I know you, Crow. Such an obvious strategy won’t work against me!”

“Then it’s a good thing that was just Plan A,” said Crow. “If I control a ‘Blackwing’ monster with a different name, I can Special Summon ‘Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind’ from my hand!”

A new bird appeared next to Shura, this one shorter and with green feathers on its head instead of blue. Its wings were wide, but it had no extra arms as Shura did.

“Level Three Gale the Whirlwind, tune with my Level Four Shura the Blue Flame!” said Crow. The smaller bird disappeared, leaving three bright stars in its wake. The twinkling lights drew green rings that encircled the taller Blackwing monster, stripping it of its form and leaving more stars behind.

“O blackened gales, become the wings that will soar to the heavens!” Crow chanted. “I Synchro Summon ‘Blackwing Armor Master’!”

Tall, muscular, and armored in black platemail, Crow’s new monster slashed its taloned hands through the green-white light that surrounded it and extended its blade-like black wings. Inside the beak-like opening of its helmet gleamed a giant red jewel that resembled a bright red eye.

“I Set two cards and end my turn,” Crow said. “Let’s see you get past this guy, Jack! Armor Master here can’t be destroyed by battle and I don’t take any damage from its battles.”

“I Summon the Tuner monster ‘Chain Resonator’ to the field!” Another imp-like creature appeared, bearing close resemblance to Dark Resonator. In its hands were a tuning fork and mallet. A chain circle constructed with thick chain links rattled across its back.

“When Chain Resonator is Normal Summoned while you control a Synchro Monster, I can Special Summon a ‘Resonator’ Tuner from my deck,” said Jack. “I Special Summon ‘Force Resonator’!” Yet another robed imp appeared, though this one’s hands were empty. Floating behind it was a black ball twice its size and covered in strange, white markings.

“Level Two Force Resonator, tune with the Level Six Power Giant!” Jack ordered. The tuning ritual began. Both monsters vanished, replaced by stars and rings, then light. As Jack chanted, Red Dragon Archfiend burst onto the field once more.

“That’s not the end of it, Crow,” said Jack. “Feel the power of my Burning Soul! Level Three Dark Resonator and Level One Chain Resonator, Double Tune with Red Dragon Archfiend!”

Jack’s remaining “Resonator” monsters banged their mallets against their tuning forks, then put the forks together. The two creatures vanished, replaced by four stars that drew flaming rings in the air. The rings encircled Red Dragon Archfiend and began to spin around it, faster and faster until they were a blurred inferno.

“"The King and the Devil, here and now shall become as one. A raging soul! Lift up the very cries of creation itself! Synchro Summon! Come forth, ‘Red Nova Dragon’!”

The fires died away, but their rage had taken crimson form. A massive dragon, far larger than Red Dragon Archfiend, emerged from the flames. Its blood red armor swirled across its body like the fires that birthed it. Four slender, curved wings flared out on its back. Its tail swung around, tipped with a massive axe-shaped club. Yellow eyes gleamed above a feral snout. Its face was framed by two thick horns extending from the back of its head. The top of its head was crowned with a long crest sweeping back behind it. A deep roar shook the world.

“Red Nova Dragon's Attack Points increase by five hundred for every Tuner monster in my Graveyard," said Jack. "Currently, there are three, powering it up to five thousand points! My ultimate power crushes everything in its path, and your Armor Master is no exception! Red Nova Dragon, attack Blackwing Armor Master! Burning Soul!” Red Nova Dragon folded its wings behind it, spun into the air, then dove at its foe.

“Did you forget about Armor Master’s effect, Jack?” Crow laughed. “I told you what it is two minutes ago.” Armor Master raised a fist and threw it forward.

“You take me for a fool,” Jack spat, “but you are the fool before me! I activate ‘Fiendish Chain’, negating your monster’s effects!”

Green chains appeared and wrapped themselves tightly around Crow’s monster, pinning its arms to its side. The diving dragon was enveloped in fire as it approached its target.

“Don’t count me out just yet, Jack!” said Crow. “I activate a Trap of my own: ‘Fake Feather’! By sending a ‘Blackwing’ monster from my hand to the Graveyard, I can copy a Normal Trap in your Graveyard. Tuner’s Mind is now my card!”

Blackwing Armor Master disappeared and was replaced by Shura and Gale, both with their wings crossed in front of them.

Gale didn’t last long in the fiery whirlwind that Red Nova Dragon had become. It shattered and vanished almost as soon as it made contact with the flames.

Crow sighed and drew a card to start his turn. “If I control a ‘Blackwing’, I can Special Summon this guy from my hand,” he said. “Come on out, ‘Blackwing - Bora the Spear’!”

Crow’s new monster was thin and covered in black feathers, much like Shura. However, its head was covered in bright orange feathers that looked wild and unkempt. Long yellow feathers extended from around the back of the bird’s neck. In its spindly hands it held a giant black spear.

“Next I play the Trap ‘Blackback’! This lets me Special Summon a ‘Blackwing’ with two thousand or less Attack Points from my Graveyard, but I can’t Normal Summon or Set during this turn,” said Crow. “Gale the Whirlwind, return to the field!”

As Crow’s monster reappeared above him, he gave it a new order. “I activate Gale’s effect,” he said, “cutting Red Nova Dragon’s Attack and Defense Points in half!” The tiny bird flapped its wings. Intense winds flared up that sliced against the red dragon’s hide like blades.

“Now for the fun part!” said Crow with a smug grin on his face. “Level Three Gale the Whirlwind, tune with Level Four Bora and Shura!”

Gale flapped its wings together and vanished. Its three stars moved through the air to create the familiar green Synchro rings... but they were darker. They encircled Shura and Bora, stripping them of their bodies and aligning their stars.

“The black hurricane falls, waging war against all that stand with pride! Synchro Summon!” Crow chanted. “Bring down your wrath! ‘Blackwing - Bayamo the War Hammer’!”

The head of a huge, black hammer emerged from one side of the beam of light above Crow and swung around to the other side, wiping the light away. A hulking figure shaped much like the taller Blackwings hovered in the air. Metallic, black wings fanned out behind the monster, each of its blade-like wingtips emitting blue-white flame like jets. Black armor trimmed with dark green and bright silver lines covered its chest, shoulders and midsection. Two yellow eyes gleamed in the darkness that concealed its face within its raven’s head helmet. In its hands rested a massive hammer. The head was pitch black, the front side perfectly flat, the back a sharp spike. The shaft was dark gray, with a single sapphire gem held in place by claws at the bottom.

“When Bayamo is Synchro Summoned, it gains four hundred Attack Points for each non-Tuner monster I used,” said Crow. “I’d say it’s time to take Red Nova Dragon down for good! Bayamo the War Hammer, attack Red Nova Dragon!”

“Red Nova Dragon’s effect activates!” said Jack. “I can negate your attack and banish Red Nova Dragon until the end of this turn!”

“Bayamo’s next effect activates,” said Crow. “While it’s attacking a monster, Bayamo can permanently negate that monster’s effects, but it also can never destroy that monster in battle.”

“What?!” shouted Jack. Bayamo flew toward Jack’s monster and aimed its wingtips forward, spewing jetfire onto the dragon. The creature roared as its skin began to char.

“Bayamo, attack with Typhoon Hammerblow!” Crow shouted. Bayamo shot up toward the sky. It did a flip and dove headlong at Red Nova Dragon, its hammer raised, its jets burning harder than before. It swung the hammer around, striking Red Nova Dragon in the side of its head. The red dragon tumbled clumsily through the air, flapping its wings to regain control of itself. The winds pushed against Jack, causing him to swerve for a moment.

“How do you like that, Jack?!” Crow jeered. “You always said power was everything. How’s your own medicine taste, huh?!”

Jack grimaced as he wrestled his D-Wheel back under control. “Bayamo the War Hammer...” he muttered. Jack looked over his shoulder at the beast. “That’s my opponent...”

TO BE CONTINUED

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Next time on Dueling is Magic! Many Futures

Crow continues a relentless assault with his new Synchro Monster, quickly overpowering Jack’s meager defenses! Can Jack turn the tide in this duel, or is the overwhelming might of Bayamo the War Hammer too much for him?

Chapter 9

Wounded Bonds

Dueling is Magic! Many Futures

by Wolfgang

Chapter 8: A Violent Wind