“Your terms are acceptable, mortal.”
Those words almost seemed to set the entire world into action. Seto Kaiba fully mounted his motorcycle and sped down the circular track to the accompaniment of screeching tires and burning rubber. Meanwhile the cosmic man floated closer. Not close enough to enter, or even touch Kaiba’s space station, but close enough that the Light’s starry eyes could track its opponent as he traveled around the loop. Shields were raised, not in preparation for the impending duel, but instead to ward off the chunks of debris from the destroyed satellite that were even now still spinning through the void of space.
Kaiba revved his motorcycle and glanced at the speedometer. Zero to one hundred in less than sixty seconds. Perfectly acceptable.
“I’ll let you take the first turn!” Kaiba sneered at the cosmic entity. Watching it helplessly float outside of his magnificent space station, what a truly comical sight! He hardly even waited for his opponent to respond, simply revving the engine of his Blue-Eyes motorcycle to increase the speed even more.
The Light’s eyes, or at least the stars that appeared to take the place of its eyes, watched Kaiba for a few seconds before blinking in affirmation.
“Arrogant mortal. Your foolishness shall be your end. To this date, you have failed time and time again to defeat the King of Games. Without that title in your hands, what makes you think yourself worthy to defeat this deity?”
The body of the celestial man pulsed for a moment. Its shimmering black suit parted to reveal a galaxy inside of its chest, which then parted to reveal another galaxy, and another, and another. Each one fit inside the Light's chest like a Russian Matryoshka doll.
The blindingly bright head of the Light nodded in place. “This is not the first world I have cleansed. It is not the first galaxy. All have resisted in their time. All have fallen. Either at the hands of my agents or at my own. Perhaps this world has resisted more than some. It matters not. In the end it shall fall. You shall fall. When that happens, I will not take your head. Your story shall not be told. None shall remember you, for who remembers what a handful of cosmic dust was once named?”
Then the duel disk of shining stars pulsed. In the middle of the duel disk, the black hole that formed the center, of which all the other parts of the device converged, swirled to spit out a hand of five cards, with a sixth being drawn as the Light's turn began.
“Regret giving this deity the first turn, arrogant worm! The spell card, Nadir Servant, is activated! By sending the fusion monster, Fossil Machine Skull Wagon, from my extra deck to the graveyard, I can add Dogmatika Ecclesia, the Virtuous (1500/1500) from my deck to my hand. Once that objective is achieved, I normal summon Ecclesia and activate her effect to add one Dogmatika Punishment trap card from my deck to my hand. Not only that, the glory of my field spell shall reveal itself! I activate Dogmatika Nation!”
As a blond-haired girl in pure white steel armor jumped onto the field, which was more of the empty void of space in between the Light and the space station, the void trembled. It trembled and shuddered as from chaos came order, from nothingness came structure. Thousands of white walls sprung out of nowhere, created from space dust and the remains of the satellite wreckage. Those white walls clustered together to form a mighty citadel, pure and unblemished. The sun, as distant as it was to the planet, brightened in synch to the pulsing of the miniature neutron star that formed the Light’s head to shine down upon the magnificent city – no, the magnificent nation that had just formed.
Kaiba twisted the accelerator on his motorcycle as the Light ended its turn with one card placed face down, sending the vehicle roaring across the loop. It was looking down on him. That thing, it was looking down at him!
At him!
At Seto Kaiba!
It was looking down at him!
"I draw!" Kaiba roared out the words as the needle on his speedometer brushed against the two-hundred-mile-per-hour mark. The sheer notion that a collection of worthless cosmic scrap was looking down at the King brought an infuriated rage that infused Kaiba's limbs and movements. In fact, even his motorcycle appeared to be infused with that rage, the snarling Blue-Eyes White Dragon that twisted around the body of the machine almost seemed to have narrowed eyes, and the snarling mouth looked far more aggressive than usual, like it was seconds away from literally spitting in rage from the slight against its master.
“I will use the effect of Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon (3000/2500) in my hand! By revealing one of my glorious Blue-Eyes White Dragons in my hand, I can special summon this dragon in attack position.”
A mighty blue and white dragon flew into the loop to soar right next to Kaiba like a mighty guardian of old. As soon as it settled in next to the motorcycle, it let out a fearsome roar that shook the very frame of the space station itself.
“Alternative has a special effect, I’ll have you know!” Kaiba smugly boasted. “Once per turn, I can order it to destroy one monster on the field with its effect! Though once that is done, my monster cannot attack, that hardly matters. Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon! Use your effect! Target that pitiful armored girl!”
A blinding beam of white light leaped out of the dragon’s mouth like a laser being fired from some futuristic cannon, evaporating the armored girl in an instant.
“That isn’t all, of course.” Kaiba revved his motorcycle. Two hundred. Two-hundred thirty. Two-hundred fifty. Three hundred miles per hour. He could feel the mighty frame of his steel chariot shaking. Shaking, but ultimately holding firm. That was good. He needed all the speed he could get if that boy was to be believed.
“I summon Protector with Eyes of Blue (800/1300) from my hand! His effect activates, allowing me to special summon the level one light tuner monster, Maiden with Eyes of Blue (0/0) from my hand in attack position. Then! The one and the eight make nine! Sending the tuner monster Protector with Eyes of Blue with the non-tuner monster Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon, I synchro summon! Heed your master’s summons, Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon (2500/3000)!”
Just as the mighty white dragon started to float down from the heavens accompanied by a chorus of angelic voices, the Light spoke up with its disgustingly arrogant voice.
“Ah, on the resolution of your summon, trap card, activate! Dogmatika Punishment! By targeting your synchro monster, I can send one monster from my extra deck to the graveyard with equal or higher attack points in return for destroying your monster!”
“Fool!” Kaiba snapped back. “The quick effect of Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon activates in response! I tribute my monster to special summon a light attribute dragon synchro monster from my extra deck in defense position. Reveal yourself, Azure-Eyes Silver Dragon (2500/3000)!”
Several things happened at once. A mighty blade of orange fire struck out at the nearly translucent Spirit Dragon, who responded with a defiant roar that saw it fade from the air to be replaced by a similar silver dragon, though this one was far more solid in figure than the previous. There was no movement from the Light’s extra deck – seeing as the target was no longer on the field, no monster could be sent from the extra deck as the card required a target to compare attack points with on the resolution of the effect.
“Of course, you have indeed foiled my attack for this turn, but I still have one trick up my sleeve.” Kaiba boasted. “Once Azure-Eyes enters the battlefield, its effect will activate! Until the end of the next turn, neither one of us can target any of the dragon monsters I currently control with effects, nor can they be destroyed by card effects. Considering that, I place one card face down and end my turn.”
The Light’s eyes danced like orbiting stars as it considered Kaiba’s field. While the entity’s movements were still soaked with arrogance, there was a hint of wariness peering out from its posture.
“Indeed. My turn shall begin! I draw!” The black hole in the center of its duel disk pulsed to spit another card into the Light’s hand. “I shall start by activating the graveyard effect of Fossil Machine Skull Wagon. By banishing it from the graveyard, I can target and destroy one spell or trap card on the field. My choice shall be your face down card, insolent worm!”
Kaiba clamped down on the flash of irritation that threatened to reveal his true feelings. It was what it was. He could do nothing about the activation aside from using his card at an inopportune time.
“Responding! Quick-play spell card Majesty with Eyes of Blue activates! By sending one Blue-Eyes monster from my deck to the graveyard, I can target one face-up monster on the field. While it stays face-up, it cannot attack. My target is Maiden with Eyes of Blue! Furthermore, Maiden’s effect activates! When a card is activated that targets her, I can special summon one Blue-Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500) to my field from my hand, deck, or graveyard.”
In an instant the face down card was revealed, right as the splinters of shrapnel from the exploding Skull Wagon reached it. One Blue-Eyes White Dragon was sent from the deck to the graveyard, while another burst into existence on the field right next to the gently smiling maiden, who watched the flurry of moves with a calm, almost expectant look on her face.
“Hmph. A waste of energy! Nothing more than the frantic wiggling of a worm before a bird! You possess a monster special summoned from the extra deck, so I activate the effect of Dogmatika Theo, the Iron Punch (1800/1500) to special summon him to the field in defense position. Then, as it possesses the same effect, I also special summon Dogmatika Fleurdelis, the Knighted (2500/2500) in attack position. Fleurdelis’s effect triggers, as I have another Dogmatika monster on the field. This allows me to negate the effects of your face-up Azure-Eyes Silver Dragon until the end of the turn.”
Kaiba’s eyes narrowed. “Azure-Eyes cannot be targeted until the end of your turn.”
“And Fleurdelis does not target.” The Light sneered back. The entity appeared almost amused that a creature it saw as nothing but an insect was talking back to it. “Not only that, but it is now time to reveal my ritual spell card. Dogmatikamacabre! By sacrificing my level four Dogmatika Theo, I ritual summon White Relic of Dogmatika (500/2500) from my hand in defense position. She is lacking in attack points, I admit, but that matters not! See, one interesting observation I have made in this duel is that your Azure-Eyes only protects your dragon-type monsters that were on the field at the time it was summoned. Meaning, your Blue-Eyes White Dragon is lacking in protection! I activate the effect of my White Relic!”
Another white-armored woman floated onto the field, though this one wielded a glowing yellow staff instead of a mighty hammer. The brightness infusing the staff increased to the point that it even managed to compete with the blinding light of the entity’s neutron star head.
“When my monster is ritual summoned,” The Light explained, “I can target two face-up monsters on the field. My targets will be your Blue-Eyes White Dragon and my Dogmatika Fleurdelis. Fleurdelis will then gain attack points equal to your monster’s attack.”
Dogmatika Fleurdelis, the Knighted (2500/2500 -> 5500/2500).
“Dogmatika Fleurdelis charges! Destroy Azure-Eyes!”
The silver knight, wielding a mighty greatsword and moving in synch to the chorus of a thousand angelic hymns sung by an invisible choir, struck at the side of the mighty dragon like a knight straight out of a fable. However, that was not all. Once the attack was declared, an additional effect of Fleurdelis was revealed, causing all Dogmatika monsters the Light controlled to gain 500 attack points – permanently!
Dogmatika Fleurdelis, the Knighted (5500/2500 -> 6000/2500).
Kaiba wrenched the handlebars of his bike to swerve around the bleeding corpse of Azure-Eyes, sending a silent word of thanks for its service. While it put him at an extreme disadvantage to lose Azure-Eyes, the fact that the Light had attacked his defense position monster, instead of his attack position Blue-Eyes, saved him quite a bit of life points.
“I place one card face down. My turn concludes.”
“And my turn begins! I draw and activate the spell card Melody of Awakening Dragon! By discarding Keeper of the Shrine from my hand, I can add two dragon monsters with 3000 or more attack points and 2500 or fewer defense points from my deck to my hand. Come to me, Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon and Chaos Dragon Levianeer! By revealing Blue-Eyes White Dragon in my hand, I can special summon Alternative Dragon. Alternative Dragon, activate your effect! Target and destroy Dogmatika Fleurdelis!”
A scorching blast of light sped from the mouth of Blue-Eyes Alternative dragon, but the Light was faster.
"That activates my trap card! Reveal yourself, Dogmatikaturgy! By sacrificing monsters on my field whose levels are the precise equal of the monster I wish to bring forth, I can ritual summon a monster from my deck! I sacrifice the level eight Fleurdelis! The level four White Relic! Come forth, the arbiter of madness and decay! Serve your master, loyal dog of destruction! I ritual summon the level twelve Dogmatika Alba Zoa (4000/4000)!”
Right as the blast was about to annihilate the knight in shining armor, the monster disappeared into nothingness, followed shortly by the staff-wielding girl. Those two monsters simply disappeared into thin air, as if they had never existed in the first place. There was a moment of pure silence in which even the sounds of Kaiba’s space station were muted. Then space itself tore. Behind the tear seemed to be another dimension of screaming entities and howling monsters that writhed in strange patterns and bellowed blasphemous phrases at targets that could not be immediately seen.
Kaiba clutched his head. Despite the phantom sensation of two cool hands pressed reassuringly against his back, simply looking at the tear in space made him feel like his mind was breaking itself apart attempting to understand what was going on.
The tear widened. It widened to the point that it was less of a simple tear and more of a gaping hole that soon saw two bloodred hands grasp at the sides to forcibly widen it. Soon after that a pale, eyeless monster pushed itself through the hole with a frenzied wail of what could either be horror or pleasure, or perhaps a strange mixture of the two. The monster was entirely pale, apart from its bloodred hands, and its ribs were parted in the middle to reveal a beating red orb with a long, yellow spike pierced through the middle of it as if it was a heart but also not quite a heart at the same time. Two wings of melting angelic feathers sprung from its back, the tips ending in dark claws that grasped at the sides of the hole to propel the monster fully into reality.
Kaiba could hear his men screaming over the intercom. Not from worry, but from pain. They were screaming in pain. Not only that, but the track laid around his space station in a perfect loop was now warped. Turns existed where there were once none, bumps were torn into formerly seamless floors, and even space itself was twisted in places, with parts of the floor now being the ceiling, and vice versa.
The radio clipped to the side of his bike crackled as Mokuba said something about entering the shelter, but Kaiba paid it no mind. He could feel it. Even though the literal presence of this new monster was enough to nearly end his own existence by simply being near it, the gentle and familiar voice of a woman spoke one sentence in his ear.
“I am here. I will protect you. Worry not.”
Kaiba ignored the Lovecraftian monstrosity in front of him, other than to briefly slot its existence into his plans for the turn. The monster was powerful. 4000 attack points was quite difficult to get over, and it doubtlessly possessed additional effects past its formidable attack points.
It was time to find out what those effects were.
“By banishing three light attribute monsters, those being Protector with Eyes of Blue, Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon, and Blue-Eyes Alternative Dragon, I special summon Chaos Dragon Levianeer (3000/0)! Its effect triggers immediately. Since the monsters banished to summon it were all light attribute monsters, I can resurrect the Blue-Eyes White Dragon I sent via Majesty with Eyes of Blue back to the field in attack position, though Levianeer will not be able to attack this turn as a consequence of that action. The funny part… is that last bit doesn’t matter at all!”
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Kaiba braced himself as his bike abruptly rose off the ground, the ceiling and the floor swapping places almost faster than he could react. Almost. As soon as his bike was an inch off the floor, Kaiba wrenched his body sideways, exploiting its temporary weightlessness to flip the bike itself so that it could land perfectly upside down on what was formerly the ceiling, and was now the floor. So quick was his reaction that his bike did not lose a shred of speed. In fact, it even increased, going from three hundred miles per hour to three-fifty in the blink of an eye.
“Synchro summon! Sending the level one tuner Maiden with Eyes of Blue with the level eight Chaos Dragon Levianeer, I synchro summon the Vermillion Dragon Mech (2700/1800)! It will activate its effect to banish a tuner monster from my graveyard, Maiden with Eyes of Blue, and target one card on the field to destroy. This target shall be your foul abomination!”
“Unfortunately, that is incorrect.” The Light sneered. “The effect of my field spell, Dogmatika Nation, prevents you from targeting any of my Dogmatika monsters with the effect of a card special summoned from the extra deck.”
Kaiba accepted those words with a nod. So that was the card’s effect. “Fine. The target shall be your field spell then! Fire at will!”
A salvo of explosive shells issued out from the muzzles of the red mech’s cannons to obliterate the shining white city in a burst of hellfire. The effect of the fallen field spell was then triggered, forcing both players to send one monster of their choice from their extra decks. Fossil Warrior Skull Knight was the Light's choice, and Kaiba's choice was Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon.
“Now that your field spell is dust, get ready for a fusion summon! While Blue-Eyes Alternative Dragon is on the field, its name becomes Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Considering that, I send my renamed Alternative with one of my two Blue-Eyes White Dragons to special summon Blue-Eyes Twin Burst Dragon (3000/2500)! By battle phase begins!”
Kaiba expertly swerved around a dip in the track and maneuvered his bike right off a ledge, using it to launch his bike into the air before declaring his attacks.
“Blue-Eyes Twin Burst Dragon! Attack Alba Zoa! You cannot be destroyed by battle, so strike with all your power so that your effect will be triggered!”
The twin-headed Blue-Eyes monster tore at the ritual monster's melting angel wings but was quickly batted away by one of the creature’s skinless fists, causing the giant dragon to crash against the side of the space station and crumple part of the asteroid-rated metal reinforcements. The arc of the fists did not stop there, however, continuing past the gaps in the dragon’s defense to rain a series of brutal blows that saw blood drawn from Kaiba’s abdomen.
Seto Kaiba: 3000 The Light of Destruction: 4000
“Twin Burst’s effect activates!” Kaiba fearlessly declared. He didn’t even appear to notice or even recognize that he was damaged from the backlash of his own attack. “At the end of the damage step, when my card attacks a monster but fails to destroy it by battle, your monster will be banished!”
“Foolish mortal.” The cosmic man rumbled, “Dogmatika Alba Zoa is unaffected by the activated effects of your fusion, synchro, XYZ, and link monsters! Your efforts are worthless, nothing more than a futile attempt to drag out the inevitable!”
So, activated effects of extra deck monsters could not harm the creature. Kaiba filed that information away for later. At this moment, though he was down by 1000 life points, unless that disgusting interloper had something else up its sleeve the duel wasn't quite over yet. Twin-Burst was immune to destruction via battle, and he could accept the loss of Vermillion Dragon Mech. It had served its purpose in removing the field spell, and it wasn't like it could harm Alba Zoa anyway.
“My second main phase begins.” Kaiba gruffly declared. “I switch my remaining Blue-Eyes White Dragon to defense mode and end my turn.”
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
A maiden with long white hair and crystal-like blue eyes silently watched the duel progress. She didn’t think the man in front of her fully realized he wasn’t alone on the motorcycle. Not since the beginning of the duel. Not since she had wrapped her hands around his chest as he sat on the motorcycle, lending her powers of protection against the Light’s influence. Without that, her dear Seto’s mind would have borne the full brunt of the cosmic entity’s gaze. Perhaps he would have survived. Perhaps he would not have.
It was a perfect excuse to draw him in tightly. To sit behind him on the compact, yet flashy motorcycle. To bury her head into his stalwart back.
Kisara sighed. Not in sadness, nor boredom, but with happiness. She sighed and held Seto Kaiba, her arms keeping her beloved close. It was a shame duels like these were far and few between. Only in times like these could a spirit of her power fully participate in the battle between magicians. All the other times she could only watch from the distance.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
“Draw card!” The Light immediately leaped into its own turn. “The effect of Dogmatika Alba Zoa will activate! Seto Kaiba, you have the privilege of choosing how you will die. Alba Zoa will allow you to choose between two effects to activate. Either you must send one card from your hand or extra deck to the graveyard for every two cards currently existing in your extra deck, or you must return all fusion, synchro, XYZ, and link monsters you currently control to the extra deck!”
"I get to choose," Kaiba muttered thoughtfully, and then his face warped into a sneer. “What an easy choice! How simple of a decision! I have thirty cards currently in my extra deck, so I’ll just send fifteen of those cards from my extra deck to my graveyard!”
A stack of cards was sent casually spinning into Kaiba’s graveyard. The man hardly even bothered to look at them or pick and choose. He simply grabbed the bottom fifteen and tossed them aside.
“Such cruelty. I wonder how the hearts of your cards see that?” The Light purred the words like a cat gorging itself on premium tuna.
Kaiba sneered in response. A truly worthless question. “They would expect no less! They would demand no less! Forget those weaklings that mewl about the heart of the cards! My cards demand strength and the ability to make hard decisions in a split second!”
The cosmic man’s star-eyes twinkled. “We may be more alike than I first thought.” The Light grudgingly admitted. “It will almost be a shame to erase your existence. No matter. I activate the graveyard effect of Dogmatikaturgy. By banishing it from the graveyard, I can target two Dogmatika monsters with different levels in my graveyard. One will be added to my hand, while the other will be placed on the bottom of my deck. Those targets shall be Dogmatika Fleurdelis to my hand, and Dogmatika Ecclesia to my deck. Then, as a monster special summoned from the extra deck is on the field, I can special summon Fleurdelis to my side.”
Once more the fully plated knight swooped onto the field and raised its greatsword in a warrior’s salute toward Kaiba.
“Fleurdelis, reveal your effect once more! Negate the effects of Blue-Eyes Twin Burst Dragon for this turn! Battle phase!”
As Alba Zoa swooped in to devour Kaiba’s fusion monster, Fleurdelis’s effect triggered once more to boost the attack points of all Dogmatika monsters by 500 points.
Dogmatika Alba Zoa (4000/4000 -> 4500/4000), Dogmatika Fleurdelis, the Knighted (2500/2500 -> 3000/2500).
The second the ritual monster’s bloodred claws touched Twin Burst Dragon, Kaiba’s monster simply no longer existed. There were no cries of pain, no shattering of a hologram. One moment the mighty dragon existed, the next it did not. However, even though the battle between dragon and monstrosity was rather subdued, it was still a battle that triggered the effect of Kaiba’s fallen Keeper of the Shrine (0/2100), causing it to be special summoned in defense position.
“Fleurdelis, destroy that synchro monster!”
Seto Kaiba: 1200 The Light of Destruction: 4000
Even as the mech was sliced neatly in half, Kaiba still kept moving on, regardless of the splatters of blood shooting out from behind his gritted teeth. His hands shuddered and the motorcycle swerved, but within seconds the machine and his own pain were both brought back under the ironclad control of Kaiba’s willpower. He would not be flung out of the duel by something as simple as falling unconscious. He would not allow it!
“The effect of Vermillion Dragon Mech activates! When it dies, I can add my banished Maiden with Eyes of Blue back to my hand.”
“Worthless.” The Light cackled as it ended its turn.
“We’ll see.” Was Kaiba’s only response. He drew a card, sparing only a brief glance toward it. Now not only was Alba Zoa still immune to the activated effects of his extra deck monsters, but it also had attack points that could rival his Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. “Trade-In, grant me the card advantage I so desire! By discarding my level eight Blue-Eyes White Dragon from my hand, I can draw two cards. Then, from the two cards I just drew, I activate Cards of Consonance! By discarding the dragon tuner monster The White Stone of Ancients, I can draw two more cards!”
In the span of two moves, Kaiba had drawn four cards, though two of those four had been Cards of Consonance and The White Stone of Ancients. His eyes sharpened as he looked at his new cards and the perfect strategy, though one still so fine it felt like threading a tiny wire through the eye of a needle, formed in Kaiba’s mind.
“I switch Blue-Eyes White Dragon to the attack position. My battle phase shall begin! Blue-Eyes, though it pains me to spend your rage on this monster, I order you to attack and destroy Dogmatika Fleurdelis! Charge and mutually destroy each other!”
The raging dragon and the defiant knight met each other in the empty space between the cosmic man and the space station, sending out ripples of force from the might of their clash that saw both monsters torn to pieces.
“Two cards shall be placed face down. During my end phase, The White Stone of Ancients activates to special summon Blue-Eyes Abyss Dragon (2500/2500) from my deck in defense position. Abyss Dragon’s effect triggers, allowing me to take one Chaos Form ritual spell card from my deck to add to my hand. Then, as it is currently the end phase, Abyss’s second effect triggers to add one level eight or higher dragon monster from my deck to my hand. Heed your master’s call, Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon!”
“Parlor tricks before the glory of the Light!” The entity shot back as it drew a card. “The continuous spell card, Dogmatikamatrix, shall reveal its effect. When it is activated, I can add a Dogmatika ritual monster or spell card from my deck to my hand. Come to me, Dogmatikalamaity! Then, as you control a monster, I can add an additional Dogmatika card from my deck to my hand. My choice is simple: Dogmatika Ecclesia, the Virtuous (1500/1500)!”
Once more the hammer-wielding maiden in solid steel plate armor danced onto the field, and once more her effect was activated to add a Dogmatika Punishment trap card from the deck to the hand.
“Now I activate the effect of Fossil Warrior Skull Knight in my graveyard! By banishing it, I can target your Blue-Eyes Abyss Dragon to destroy it.”
Kaiba nodded his assent to the play and Blue-Eyes Abyss Dragon was sent spiraling into the graveyard with one last roar of defiance.
“Alba Zoa’s effect activates once more! Make your choice, weakling.”
Another, much smaller stack of cards was wordlessly dumped into Kaiba’s graveyard from his extra deck and the Light attempted to enter its battle phase. At least, until Kaiba revved his motorcycle to jump over a large part of the damaged track while revealing one of his face down cards.
“Sorry, but I can’t allow you to end the main phase just yet! Enter from stage left, my quick-play spell card Ultimate Fusion! By shuffling two Blue-Eyes White Dragons, and one Alternative Dragon that is being treated as Blue-Eyes White Dragon back into my deck, I can fusion summon the harbinger of the new order! A great beast of destruction born and bred to tear apart the puny Light within its three mighty jaws! The 'glory of your Light'? Bah, it's nothing compared to the glory of my Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon (4500/3800)!"
Just like Dogmatika Alba Zoa split through space itself to enter the field, Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon tore through the blinding light brought forth by the sun and by the nebula forming the Light's true body like an eagle breaking through the clouds. Three majestic heads, each covered in brilliant silver scales polished more than any gem could ever be, roared with such strength that the hole in space, still torn from Alba Zoa's descent, shivered. The countless monsters, the countless terrifying existences beyond that hole all fell silent at once, as if they were taken breathless by the horrifying thought of drawing the attention of this apex predator – no, this apex monster. Its tail swished impatiently, as if the killing machine Kaiba had just summoned was itching for the chance to rip and tear into the enemies of its master with its three mighty jaws, its battle-axe tail, and the sturdy wings that propelled it through the vacuum of space like a fish in water.
“Nothing but a fool grasping at the last straws of his life! Your monster may be an even match for my Alba Zoa, but you forgot one thing, worm! You have 1200 life points left and my Ecclesia possesses an attack value of 1500! I will remain in my main phase long enough to activate my Fissure spell card to destroy your weakling Keeper of the Shrine, removing the final roadblock. Then with that in mind… Alba Zoa, unleash your rage on that false dragon! Drag it down to the depths of hell with you, all so Dogmatika Ecclesia can perform the finishing blow! Attack!”
“You’ve activated my trap card!” Kaiba thundered back with venom in his voice to match the Light’s. “My fusion monster is not so easily dealt with. The Ultimate Creature of Destruction activates! By targeting one Blue-Eyes monster, that being my fusion card, I can make that targeted monster immune to card effects and battle destruction for the duration of this turn!”
The rage of the maddened Dogmatika Alba Zoa crashed onto the stalwartly defending dragon like water against a cluster of steadfast cliffs. One head of the dragon bit deeply into the creature’s hands. The second tore off Alba Zoa’s wings. And the third, the third crushed the abomination’s head between its teeth.
The Light was practically spitting with rage in the face of Kaiba’s savage play, but with a bright pulse of the neutron star that formed the entity’s head, all was calm once more.
“I place one card face down and end my turn.”
Kaiba drew a card to start his turn, but as soon as that motion was completed, the Light activated its trap card, Dogmatika Punishment. One Five-Headed Dragon (5000/5000) was sent from the extra deck to the graveyard, and Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon was sent spiraling to its death.
"Only to be expected." Kaiba nodded. "For a so-called deity, you truly are predictable. In fact, you call me a 'worm', but I say that you are the worm! You are the worm for not realizing that as soon as you were forced to use your trap card on my Neo Blue-Eyes, your doom was sealed! In fact, it was sealed before that! Allow me to show you why!"
Kaiba revved the engine of his bike. It was far more than hot to the touch. The engine was smoking and even though his legs were quite removed from that part of the machine, he could feel the uncomfortable warmth on his skin.
Still, he pushed his motorcycle even further. Three hundred miles per hour turned into four hundred. Into five hundred. The frame shook. Kaiba increased his speed. The gentle warmth behind him, so completely different than the burning on his legs, pressed reassuringly into his back. Six hundred miles per hour. Shock waves tore at the track underneath his tires. Dimly, in the back of his mind, Kaiba registered that he should be dead by now, as unprotected as he was on top of his motorcycle. His neck should be snapped in two.
He supposed that was also a gift from his beloved. From the one woman he truly loved.
The speedometer climbed to seven hundred miles per hour. Seven hundred and fifty.
And just as the Blue-Eyes motorcycle broke past the speed of sound, Kaiba let out a maniacal laugh that was quickly torn away from his mouth and revealed the ritual spell in his hand.
“You fool! You’re nothing more than a worthless scrap of illumination playing at being a god! Prepare yourself to face the glory of my dragons once more! I draw, and then I activate Chaos Form! By banishing one Blue-Eyes White Dragon from my graveyard, I summon the engine of destruction and pure chaos! The ultimate embodiment of my tyranny! The doom of your disgusting, worthless Light! Serve your lord and master, Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon (4000/0)!”
The bottom half of the space station was torn to shreds as a gigantic blue dragon clawed its way out from inside the structure. Purple lightning spun from its wings, and it let out a roar of pure hatred that saw even the Light’s nebula forced back by a noticeable amount. This dragon was no less majestic than the Neo Blue-Eyes summoned earlier, nor was it particularly weaker. Its presence felt like simply being around it, everything was magnified. The world itself was more savage just because this dragon existed.
The station shuddered, but Kaiba had been prepared for this. Despite Mokuba and his men taking refuge in the premade safe rooms around the station to stay protected from the backlash of the duel, several automatic systems sprung into life to prevent the damage from spreading to destroy anything on the level of or above the motorcycle track.
“My quick-play spell card, Burial From a Different Dimension, will allow me to return my three banished monsters back to the graveyard. Then now that I have an Alternative Dragon back in the graveyard, one that is being treated as a ‘Blue-Eyes White Dragon’, prepare yourself! The graveyard effect of my fallen Blue-Eyes Abyss Dragon activates! By banishing it from the graveyard, all my level eight and higher dragon monsters gain 1000 attack points.”
Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon (4000/0 -> 5000/0).
“Not only that,” Kaiba continued, “I activate the effect of The White Stone of Ancients, banishing it from the graveyard to add Blue-Eyes Alternative Dragon from my graveyard to my hand. I will now activate my Trade-In spell, which allows me to discard my level eight Alternative to draw two cards.”
Kaiba revealed another monster in his hand. “Now I summon Tribe-Infecting Virus (1600/1000)! I immediately use its effect to discard Maiden with Eyes of Blue from my hand to the graveyard. In exchange for that offering, I can declare a type of monster and wipe out all monsters on the field with that type! My choice is Spellcaster!”
A pile of slowly moving monsters flopped onto the field, all clutching at their throats and screaming for mercy. It was not immediately clear as to what was afflicting them, until the fair-haired Dogmatika Ecclesia began to cough up blood, so much so that she soon collapsed and disappeared in a shower of rotting sparks.
“Battle phase.” Kaiba snarled. “I would say take this as a lesson, but lessons are meant for the living. The dead, on the other hand, are incapable of learning. Chaos MAX, ensure this filth dies screaming and in pain.”
The lightning clustered around the glowing blue dragon increased in intensity as the creature tensed its legs, bracing itself against the space station until finally it launched itself through space to dive into the crack Alba Zoa had opened out. For a moment nothing happened.
Then the Light screamed. It was the most horrendous scream Kaiba had ever heard. It made nails on a chalkboard sound like the peak of all music. The glowing nebula warped, twisting and turning, lengthening and shortening. The cosmic avatar summoned by the Light as a personification of itself flickered, then screamed as well, tearing at its own eyes as it searched for some way to soothe its agony. The duel disk formed from stars and a black hole blinked out of existence. The shimmering black suit melted. The star-filled tie tore itself to shreds. Every part of the humanoid entity was erased in its entirety, leaving only the screaming nebula in its place.
Yet, it was still not over. The nebula pulsed… but at that precise moment, a scream of pure volcanic rage came from the planet, one that was both equally male and equally female at the same time, followed by a colossal beam of black and grey energy that leaped from the surface of the world. Then a slimy, aquatic presence looked at the nebula and croaked its displeasure. The croak was booming and brought blood streaming from Kaiba’s ears, though any further aftereffects were stifled once a par of invisible, yet gentle hands protectively encircled Kaiba’s face.
On the island of Central Duel Academy, Sartorius Kumar had fallen to Jaden Yuki and his duel spirit, Yubel. On the island of Central Duel Academy, Phillip Jenson had fallen to the combined efforts of Bastion Misawa, Chazz Princeton, and Princess Rose. In the void of space, the Light of Destruction saw its life points brought to zero by the ferocity of Seto Kaiba.
All of those strikes blended together to slip into the hole in space and follow the warpath of Chaos MAX. A mighty blue jaw pierced back into the real world, appearing in the middle of the shaking nebula. The aquatic presence faded; its attention was required elsewhere. The jaws worked their way around the nebula to savage every single part of it while the black and grey energy beam constricted it down into a small cloud of cosmic dust barely larger than a house. The cloud trembled one last time, and Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon snapped it up within its jaws like a dog wolfing down a piece of well-hunted prey.
Seto Kaiba: 1200 The Light of Destruction: 0