The air inside the subterranean parking lot wasn't just cold; it tasted of ozone and impending ash. Above, the city of Maiami slept, completely oblivious to the localized war bleeding into its foundations. A lone stranger stood shrouded in the gloom, his coat swaying like a tattered battle standard and a red scarf obscuring his face with his sunglasses. Opposite him, Ryo adjusted his cuffs, his silver hair and red eyes catching the strobing blue light of his bootlegging Duel Disk.
There were no spectators. No stadium lights. Just a raw, unspoken premise of eradication.
DUEL
Ryo: 4000 LP
The Stranger: 4000 LP
"I will take first turn," Ryo initiated, taking the top five cards from his deck. "I activate the Continuous Spell: Dark Contract with the Gate! By it, I add a 'D/D' card from my deck. I take D/D Swirl Slime."
The stranger didn't flinch. His eyes, cold and hollowed out by horrors, remained anchored to Ryo's throat from behind his dark glasses.
"I use its effect. I fuse D/D Swirl Slime and D/D Berfomet from my hand!" Ryo's arm snapped forward as the two entities collapsed into a grinding, flesh-tearing vortex of violet plasma. "Ignite from the abyssal trenches! Iron-clad sovereign of the inferno underworld, claim your throne! Fusion Summon! Rise, D/D/D Flame King Genghis!"
[DARK / Fiend / Fusion / Level 6 / ATK: 2000 / DEF: 1500]
Ryo didn't pause to admire the projection. "I Normal Summon D/D Nighthowl!"
[DARK / Fiend / Tuner / Level 3 / ATK: 300 / DEF: 600]
"Fusion... You LDS lapdogs! Are you rubbing salt on me?!"
Ryo ignored a dog's bark. "Nighthowl's Normal Summon will Special Summon a 'D/D' monster from the graveyard, with its attack and defense becoming zero. Reclaim your flesh, D/D Berfomet!"
[DARK / Fiend / Level 4 / ATK: 1400 → 0 / DEF: 1800 → 0]
"Genghis's effect activates in the underworld! Flame King's trigger chain—Special Summon D/D Swirl Slime from the graveyard in defense mode!" Ryo's field was suddenly a claustrophobic nest of fiends. He extended two fingers. "I tune Berfomet with Nighthowl!"
"I tune the Level 4 Berfomet with my Level 3 Tuner, Nighthowl!" The ghostly avian dissolved into three blinding green rings of pure kinetic energy, binding the roaring Berfomet.
4 + 3 = 7
"Wield the tempest that shatters the heavens! Synchro Summon! Appear, Level 7—D/D/D Gust King Alexander!"
[WIND / Fiend / Synchro / Level 7 / ATK: 2500 / DEF: 2000]
"Synchro Summon...? What is that?" The stranger was confused.
"Synchro Summon. An evolution that extends and breaks the limits of law." Ryo set a single card face-down. "Your move. Try not to disappoint me."
This all just made the stranger more enraged. "Nothing new will work against me!" A low, terrifying chuckle vibrated in his throat. "You parade these digital illusions like they grant you authority. You know nothing of a true underworld." He ripped his card from the deck with enough force to cut the air. "My turn! Draw!"
He glared at his hand, the rage in his veins manifesting as a physical aura that made the air flicker. "Special Summon! Level 4! Raidraptor - Vanishing Lanius! And through its call, its twin tears through the rift! Arise, the second Raidraptor - Vanishing Lanius!"
A howling gale whipped through the warehouse as the mechanical birds materialized, their steel pinions screaming.
"Two level 4 monsters. Is he a Xyz user?"
"I'm not here to play a game, LDS dog!" The stranger roared. "I construct the Xyz network with my two Level 4 monsters!" The birds converged into twin streaks of violet lightning, detonating into a swirling golden galaxy.
"Obscured bird of prey, sharpen your talons in the wreckage of betrayal! Xyz Summon! Rank 4! Raidraptor - Force Strix!"
[DARK / Winged Beast / Xyz / Rank 4 / OU: 2 / ATK: 1000 / DEF: 2000]
"If I control Xyz monster than I can special summon level 4, Raidraptor - Singing Lanius! Detaching one material from Force Strix to add another Raidraptor - Singing Lanius into my hand! And since an Xyz monster is on my field, Singing Lanius deploys immediately!"
[OU: 2 → 1]
The stranger didn't wait for Ryo to process. He opened a second golden vortex beneath his feet. "I overlay both Singing Lanius! Open the second network! Rank 4! The second Raidraptor - Force Strix!"
[DARK / Winged Beast / Xyz / Rank 4 / OU: 2 / ATK: 1000 / DEF: 2000]
The twin steel owls circled the ceiling like vultures over a fresh grave.
"His deck is designed for a warfare." Ryo analyzed.
"Battle!" the stranger screamed, pointing aggressively. "Force Strix attacks Flame King Genghis! At this instant, the tactical network upgrades their parameters. For every Winged Beast on my field, they gain 500 attack and defense points! With two on the field, Force Strix ascends!"
Raidraptor - Force Strix ATK/DEF: 1000/2000 → 2000/3000
Raidraptor - Force Strix ATK/DEF: 1000/2000 → 2000/3000
"Now attack Genghis!"
"A mutual annihilation." Ryo stated coldly.
"Fool! I banish two Raidraptor - Booster Strix from my hand to destroy your so-called kings!" Missiles rocketed from the back, aiming straight for the kings.
"I use the trap card: D/D/D Human Resources!" Ryo shouted, his fingers striking his Duel Disk. "I take Flame King Genghis, Nighthowl and Berfomet back into my Deck, adding two new 'D/D' cards to my hand!"
The monster dissolved into data streams just as Booster Strix detonated. The resulting explosion tore a crater into the concrete floor, sending a spray of sharp rocks across the room. Ryo braced himself, but the shockwave hit him like an iron pipe across the ribs.
He staggered back, his boots skidding across the grit. He clutched his side, coughing violently. "What is this pain?" Ryo thought, his eyes widening in uncharacteristic shock. "The Real Solid Vision parameters are standard In the first place. Plus, it is off... there shouldn't be physical feedback! Why am I bleeding?!"
"You dodged one execution and some small amount of damage, but you left your throat exposed!" The stranger's voice was tyrannical. "I destroy your slime! And I direct Attack you! Force Strix, tear him apart!"
The massive mechanical owl swooped, its steel talons gleaming in the dark. It struck Ryo square in the chest. Just after other one had destroyed swirl slime. The impact wasn't a projection—it was a brutal, bone-crushing strike that launched Ryo backward. He crashed hard into a stack of metal shipping crates, the steel groaning under the weight of his impact.
Ryo LP: 4000 → 2000
"Ryo-sama!" Nakajima's voice exploded through the earpiece. "Your vitals are spiking! Internal bruising detected! Abort the duel! The local grid isn't running Real Solid Vision, but this unknown duelist's system is projecting real-world mass! It's lethal!"
Ryo pushed himself up from the ruined crates, spitting a splatter of crimson onto the floor. His silver hair hung wildly over his eyes, which were now burning with a feral, terrifying intensity. "Shut up, Nakajima... I... I don't run."
Reiji saw Ryo's duel with analytical eyes.
The stranger set a card. "Turn end. Enjoy your final breath? Were you disappointed?"
"My turn... Draw!" Ryo hissed, gritting his teeth against the searing agony in his ribs. "The Standby Phase demands payment. Dark Contract with the Gate claims its flesh!" Dark, agonizing lightning rained from the ceiling, frying Ryo's nervous system. He fell to one knee, a choked scream escaping his lips.
Ryo LP: 2000 → 1000
In the LDS observation deck, Reiji Akaba slammed his hands onto the panel, his glasses reflecting a terrifying vision of incoming data streams. "An unknown signature..." He ordered the analytical department. "Identify that energy! It's bypassing our safety dampeners entirely!"
"We... we can't, Reiji-sama! We have no data on this duelist in our global registry. It's like the cards themselves possess physical weight!"
Back in the dirt, Ryo forced himself to stand. The pain was absolute, but his mind was crystal clear. "I use the Gate. I add D/D Nighthowl and normal summon it."
Same monster appeared.
"Its effect, from the graveyard, I summon back Alexander."
The warrior clad in white armor was back from the Howling's big masm.
"Now, I tune Alexander with Nighthowl!"
The green rings bound the fiend. "Rule the bleeding edge of the cyclone! Synchro Summon! Appear, the second D/D/D Gust High King Alexander!"
A massive, gale-wielding warlord stood, its sword kicking up a hurricane that threatened to rip the roof off the warehouse.
[WIND / Fiend / Synchro / Level 10 / ATK: 3000 / DEF: 2500]
"So you evolved your monster, huh?" Stranger snorted in laugh.
"Battle!" Ryo screamed, his voice cracking with raw force. "Alexander attacks your Force Strix! Gust Calamity!"
The hurricane-force slash tore through the warehouse, obliterating the first Force Strix in a blinding flash of white-hot energy. The shockwave caught the masked stranger, lifting his body into the air and slamming him brutally against a concrete pillar. The sound of his breath being violently forced from his lungs echoed over the roar of the wind.
The stranger hung by the pillar, blood dripping from beneath his collar, a wild, unbroken grin on his hidden face. "I activated... my face-down... Raidraptor - Readiness! My Raidraptors cannot be destroyed... and I take zero damage!"
The Stranger LP: 4000 (No Change)
"I set one card and end my turn," Ryo gasped, clutching his bleeding arm.
"Now your execution has arrived," the stranger growled, staggering forward, his eyes burning behind his dark lenses. "Draw!"
He looked at the card, and a primal scream tore from his chest. "I activate the ultimate rebellion! Rank-Up-Magic Doom Double Force!"
In the LDS command center, alarms wailed in a symphony of terror. Nakajima backed away from his screen, sweating. "President! The card... it's rewriting the database rules!"
"'Rank-Up-Magic'? That doesn't exist anywhere in our network. It's a completely unknown card of Xyz Summoning."
Reiji's hands froze over the keyboard. His stoic facade finally cracked, his eyes widening in genuine shock at the unlisted data. "A methodology to force an Xyz monster beyond its evolutionary limits... Who is this person? Where did he come from?"
"I target the Force Strix you tried to slaughter," the stranger roared, his arm thrust toward the ceiling as a bleeding, dark vortex tore open the ceiling, dripping molten energy onto the floor. "I drag it out and perform a Rank-Up Xyz Change!
"Double the parameters!"
The spectral bird rose and was absorbed into the vortex, only to be crushed into a singularity inside the bleeding storm.
"Proud falcon! Rise from the ashes of our scorched homeland! Spread your wings of absolute, unmitigated destruction and execute the enemies! Appear! Rank 8! Raidraptor - Satellite Cannon Falcon!"
[DARK / Winged Beast / Xyz / Rank 8 / OU: 2 / ATK: 3000 / DEF: 2000]
A colossal, orbital superweapon forged of white metal and red thrusters dropped from the sky, shattering the pillars. The sheer weight of its presence made it hard to breathe.
"Bury him!" The stranger shrieked. "I detach one material! Once per turn, Satellite Cannon Falcon strips your king of 800 attack points for every Raidraptor slumbering in my graveyard! There are exactly four! Your Alexander is reduced to nothing!"
[OU: 2 → 1]
A beam of blinding, radioactive light shot from the satellite array, melting Alexander's armor and reducing his ATK to absolute zero.
D/D/D Gust High King Alexander ATK: 3000 → 0
Ryo's field was same as nothing. His hands barely had any card that could be used.
"This is for our fallen comrades! Eterna—"
"I don't think so!" Ryo's voice split the apocalyptic roar, as a giant cannon beam was approaching to nullify him, as if he was waiting for this exact moment. "You thought you had cornered me, but I kept one final variable hidden! I activate the Quick-Play Spell I had just set: D/D/D Fusion! Using monsters from my hand, I Fusion Summon using D/D Vice Typhon and D/D/D Dragon King Pendragon!
"Overwrite the contract!"
The air fractured as a monstrous hole materialized behind him. "Tremble before the pinnacle of evolution! Fusion Summon! Awaken, Level 8—D/D/D Flame High King Genghis!"
A warrior who resembled Genghis but only with four hands and two giant swords inflamed concretes.
[FIRE / Fiend / Fusion / Level 8 / ATK: 2800 / DEF: 2400]
"Furthermore, High King Genghis's override effect activates!" Ryo spat, blood dripping from his mouth to his chin as he forced his broken body upright. "Once per turn, when a Spell or Trap card, or a monster effect is currently activated—I can negate the activation for each 'D/D/D' monster I control! I target your Satellite Cannon Falcon and my Contract with the Gate! Nullify existence!"
High King Genghis unleashed a wave of absolute, searing anti-matter fire, directly intercepting the orbital bird. The plasma began to violently fold inward on itself.
"Its effect is negated! So Gust High King's attack returns!"
ATK: 0 → 3000
The melted armor once again manifested itself.
"Now attack all you want." He taunted the stranger.
The stranger crashed his fist against a pillar, in frustration.
But before anything could resolve, the warehouse doors didn't just open—they tore off their hinges.
A sudden, oppressive presence crashed into the room. A separate individual vaulted over the debris, dropping like a meteor between the two duelists. His black hair, streaked with sharp, standing light-purple bangs, stood wildly against the wind. His school blazer hung loosely behind his back like a tattered cape, a thick, spiked black choker around his neck, a tie was loosely thrown under his shirt's collar, and his clothes were completely ruined from some unseen combat. Military-style goggles gleamed atop his eyes, his face obscured by a dark, metallic mask.
With a single, violent motion, the newcomer jammed a heavy, modified disruption device directly into the terminal junction on the wall.
"This ends." The newcomer hissed through his mask.
Instantly, a catastrophic backdraft of raw, unstable energy surged through both Duel Disks. The terminal screens flared bright crimson.
CRITICAL ERROR: SIGNAL CORRUPTION
SYSTEM TERMINATING
A massive, unnatural cloud of dense, pitch-black smoke billowed out from the fractured Solid Vision generators, completely swallowing the warehouse in a blinding shroud. High King Genghis, Alexander, and Satellite Cannon Falcon shattered into digital dust simultaneously. Within the thick, suffocating fog, a strange displacement occurred—a sharp, mechanical hum, and then, absolute silence. Both the stranger and the masked newcomer vanished as if they had never existed.
The smoke slowly began to clear, carrying the smell of burnt plastic and concrete dust.
Ryo fell backward, his body hitting the cold, damp ground. His breathing was shallow, his chest aching violently from the phantom strikes that felt all too real. His vision blurred as he stared up at the cracked, empty ceiling.
"An unfinished duel..." Ryo muttered, his voice barely a whisper in the echoing quiet. He looked down at his trembling hand, feeling the fading residual heat and blue light of his Duel Disk. He smiled. "Heh... I was actually... having fun."
As his eyes grew heavy, his mind drifted away from the calculations and the data. For the first time, he wasn't thinking about LDS or expectations. Instead, his thoughts lingered on the remnants of those two enigmatic ghosts—the relentless avian hunter, and the masked warrior with the light-purple hair. A new war had found Maiami City, and Ryo Akaba had never felt more alive.
"This city has gotten new phantoms." He muttered under his breath.
On that day, only the shock and fury on concrete was left along with a sign of a fist attack on a strong pillar, only to be renovated again.
Within few seconds, people with stratcher came. Wearing LDS private hospital uniform.
Seeing the familiar people who Ryo thought he would never met again, nostalgic images of not far past hit him.