Chapter 129: Black Rose Dragon Ambush
Two D-Wheels cut across the track side by side, one red, one silver-white, each flanked by its own Synchro dragon in flight.
Rin Seiya had reached the three Speed Counter threshold and finally brought out Stardust Dragon, setting it against Crimson Nova the Dark Cubic Lord.
Fiona: "They're both Level 8 Synchros, but Stardust Dragon only has 2500 attack. Same gap as Dark Magician vs. Blue-Eyes White Dragon back in the original series. Five hundred points. You can't just crash them head-on and call it solved."
"But now that the speed's climbed, I have exactly what I need."
Fresh off summoning Stardust Dragon, Rin Seiya slapped another Speed Spell onto the D-Wheel's Duel Disk.
"Speed Spell: Speed Energy: activate."
Speed Spell: Speed Energy
[Can be activated while you have 2 or more Speed Counters. Until the end of this turn, one monster you control gains ATK equal to the number of Speed Counters you have x200.]
"I have 3 Speed Counters right now, so Stardust Dragon gains 600 attack points."
Rin Seiya's palm shot upward mid-sprint, channeling the magic that converted raw speed into combat power and poured it directly into Stardust Dragon.
Stardust Dragon: ATK: 2500 to 3100.
"That's me back in front, Jack."
She'd timed it perfectly. Three Speed Counters hit exactly when she needed them, flipping the attack differential by a hundred points.
"Battle. Stardust Dragon, destroy Crimson Nova."
On the high-speed track, Stardust Dragon drew brilliant energy into its maw, power that surpassed even Blue-Eyes White Dragon, and launched it forward.
"Shining Sorrow Strike--!!"
The beam of starlight crossed the track and hit Crimson Nova square in its soul-wreathed chest.
Amano LP: 4000 to 3900.
Crimson Nova: destroyed.
The burning dragon shattered into data fragments across the high-speed world.
"Yes." Rin Seiya pumped her fist. "I beat Crimson Nova with Stardust."
"Isn't it a little early to celebrate?"
Speed World carried Amano's voice cleanly through the wind and straight to Rin Seiya's ears despite the velocity between them.
"Our match has barely begun. Yusei."
"You just" Rin Seiya's face went red under the helmet visor. "I am going to combust, I swear."
Let her have the moment. Saying it once was about the limit of what Amano's dignity could absorb, but it was also the clearest acknowledgment he could give that yes, he was taking her seriously. That was what mattered.
"When Crimson Nova the Dark Cubic Lord is sent from the Monster Zone to the Graveyard, its effect activates."
[When this card is sent from the Monster Zone to the Graveyard: Special Summon 1 Red Dragon Archfiend from the Extra Deck as a Synchro Summon.]
This time. The real one.
A card wreathed in roaring flame appeared in Amano's grip as he rode, dragging a trail of red light behind him through the turn.
"The king's roar. Let it be heard. Feel the power that shakes heaven and earth."
He slammed the card onto the Duel Disk a second time.
"My soul. Wa ga tamashii. Synchro Summon. Red Dragon Archfiend."
Red Dragon Archfiend [DARK / Level 8 / Dragon-Type / Synchro / Effect]
ATK: 3000 / DEF: 2500
"ROAR--!!"
The true Red Dragon Archfiend descended after its forerunner.
The standoff on the high-speed track wasn't over.
The spectators who had stayed in Court A after the Emperor's match. Most of them had only stuck around out of mild curiosity, looking for a cheap way to cash in on lopsided odds. They hadn't expected much from the follow-up.
But somewhere in the rhythm of the duel, something had caught.
"It's not God Card level, but this Riding Duel. There's something in it."
"This is genuinely exciting. I don't know why, but I'm actually into it."
"Both of them are going so hard. Calling each other by their titles mid-duel and everything."
Titles might have been generous for people who didn't know 5D's. But the intent was clear enough.
"I set one card face-down. Turn end. Your move, Jack Atlas."
Turns cycled. Amano's Speed Counters climbed again.
"My turn. Draw."
Speed Counters: 3 to 4.
Four Speed Counters. That satisfied the condition on one of the Speed Spells currently in hand, and it was an important one.
"I Normal Summon Tuner monster Frequency Magician."
Frequency Magician [LIGHT / Level 1 / Spellcaster-Type / Tuner / Normal Monster]
ATK: 0 / DEF: 1500
The tiny, round little Tuner materialized next to Amano's D-Wheel, beating its small fluffy wings with what looked like tremendous effort just to keep pace with the vehicle.
"Next up, Speed Spell: Synchro Boost, activate."
Speed Spell: Synchro Boost
[Can be activated while you have 4 or more Speed Counters. Roll a die once. All monsters you control gain the following effect based on the result:
- 1 or 2: Level increases by 1.
- 3 or 4: Level increases by 2.
- 5 or 6: Level increases by 3.]
A Speed Spell that adjusted Levels on the field, gated behind four Speed Counters, with a maximum boost of three. With the depth of Amano's Dragon-heavy Extra Deck, whatever number came up, there was a Synchro dragon ready for it.
A massive die materialized in the high-speed world and tumbled across the track, spinning until it stopped.
One.
Field Levels increase by 1.
Rin Seiya: "Only a one. Luck's not on your side, is it, Jack."
Actually, one was perfect.
Time to set aside the Jack Atlas roleplay for a moment and show his upperclassman something from a different corner of 5D's.
With the Level boost applied, Frequency Magician was now Level 2. World Chalice Guardragon had climbed to Level 5.
Amano raised his arm mid-ride and lit up both monster cards on the Duel Disk.
"I tune Level 2 Tuner Frequency Magician with Level 5 World Chalice Guardragon."
Two rings of Synchro light spread from the little winged Tuner and passed through the sprinting Guardragon.
2 + 5 = 7.
From the expanding Synchro surge, countless crimson rose petals erupted and swept across the entire track.
Rin Seiya's eyes went wide. "Roses. Level 7. Do not tell me."
Amano pulled the Extra Deck card from within the rose-filled Synchro storm.
"Solitary rose blooming in an untouched garden, bathed in pale moonlight and morning dew, open at last."
Rin Seiya's expression shifted from shock to delight, then immediately into something uncertain. "It really is. Wait. The chant is different."
If this were Black Rose Dragon, the chant would have been: Cold flame that envelopes the world. Dark flower. Bloom.
That version came from the 5D's anime. This card, while it still belonged to Akiza Izinski, came from the 5D's manga instead.
"Bloom, proud flower. Synchro Summon. Black Rose Moonlight Dragon--"
Black Rose Moonlight Dragon [LIGHT / Level 7 / Dragon-Type / Synchro / Effect]
ATK: 2400 / DEF: 1800
From the torrent of crimson petals covering the track, a great dragon took shape, a dragon whose entire body was formed from blooming flowers, magnificent and vast, soaring into position beside Amano's D-Wheel.
"It actually is a rose dragon. Different name, but that's a rose dragon."
Under her helmet, Rin Seiya's excited flush had deepened into something she couldn't quite name.
He doesn't just have Jack Atlas's Synchros. He has Akiza's too.
Akiza Izinski was the female lead of 5D's, and her relationship with Yusei was, by any honest reading, obviously romantic.
Which meant --
An inexplicable warmth was spreading through Rin Seiya that she couldn't pin down.
"Aki...?"
Seiya. You just completely changed character arcs in real time.
First sworn enemies. Now wife. What kind of combined setting is this?
And now for the dangerous part.
Amano placed the rose Synchro card on the Duel Disk and announced the effect.
"Black Rose Moonlight Dragon's effect activates on Special Summon."
[When this card is Special Summoned, or when an opponent's Special Summoned monster of Level 5 or higher is Special Summoned: target 1 Special Summoned monster your opponent controls; return it to the hand.]
"Wait, what?" Rin Seiya snapped out of her immersion immediately. "That's not Black Rose Dragon's effect. Black Rose destroys the entire field."
This wasn't how the show went.
You were supposed to use Black Rose Dragon's destroy-everything effect. Then I stop it with Stardust Dragon and say I'll accept everything about you. Then we naturally confirm our relationship in front of everyone.
But bouncing to the hand. That's a targeted removal effect. Against me, specifically.
"Seiya, I'm not an idiot."
Obviously Amano knew what would happen if he used a destruction effect in front of Stardust Dragon. In the anime, Akiza's Black Rose Dragon was completely countered by Yusei's Stardust Dragon every time.
But in the manga, the dynamic between the two reversed entirely. Black Rose Moonlight Dragon's bounce-to-hand effect had no such weakness. Stardust Dragon couldn't stop it.
"Black Rose Moonlight Dragon's effect: return the Special Summoned Stardust Dragon to the Extra Deck."
A bounce targeting an Extra Deck monster didn't send it to the hand. It went straight back where it came from.
"Black Rose Rite--"
Dense waves of overlapping petals enveloped Stardust Dragon's body on the track.
"Even so. I'm taking you with me, Black Rose Dragon."
Rin Seiya raised her arm and flipped the face-down card trailing her D-Wheel.
"Trap Card: Sakuretsu Armor, activate."
Sakuretsu Armor, Trap Card
[Target 2 face-up monsters on the field; while this card is face-up, if either of those targets leaves the field, destroy this card, and if this card is destroyed, destroy those targets.]
A binding trap that chained two monsters together like an iron link. If one leaves, the other gets destroyed, and vice versa.
Sakuretsu Armor paired with Stardust Dragon's own self-release effect could produce unusual results: negate a destruction, drag away one opposing monster, and then Stardust Dragon would return to the field at the end of the turn.
But not against Black Rose Moonlight Dragon.
Rin Seiya pointed into the center of the rose storm. "I use Sakuretsu Armor to bind Stardust Dragon and Black Rose Moonlight Dragon."
From within the sweeping rose storm, Stardust Dragon surged forward and locked its claws around Black Rose Moonlight Dragon, holding on.
When a genuinely threatening monster was on the table, even Rin Seiya couldn't maintain the destined-rivals framing and simply let Stardust Dragon trade with Red Dragon Archfiend. The stakes were real.
If Black Rose Moonlight Dragon stayed on the field, its effect would trigger every time Rin Seiya Synchro Summoned a Level 5 or higher monster, bouncing Stardust Dragon back to the Extra Deck every single time she brought it out. Completely shut down.
Thoroughly countered by her own wife, it seemed.
The trap detonated. Stardust Dragon and Black Rose Moonlight Dragon were both swept into the blast of light.
When the fire faded and the petals dispersed and the stardust settled, both monsters were gone from the field.
Stardust Dragon: returned to Extra Deck.
Black Rose Moonlight Dragon: destroyed.
Amid the explosion's aftermath, Rin Seiya steadied the D-Wheel. "You can even use Akiza's monsters. Amano, I seriously underestimated your range."
"You're finally calling me by my name, Seiya."
Amano twisted the throttle, accelerating alongside Red Dragon Archfiend's trailing flames.
"Battle phase. Red Dragon Archfiend, direct attack."
The dragon gathered every trace of fire scorched across the track into its mouth and let it all go at once, aimed at Rin Seiya.
"Scorching Crimson Hellfire Cannon--!!"
Rin Seiya: "I activate a monster effect."
A hand trap.
Somewhat uncommon in this format, Amano noted. Rin Seiya's field was empty, her back row was empty, and her Graveyard had nothing immediately usable. A hand effect was her only remaining option.
"I activate Interrupter from my hand."
[Can only be activated when an opponent's monster declares a direct attack. Special Summon this card from your hand in Defense Position. After that, end the Battle Phase.]
"I Special Summon Interrupter in Defense Position and your Battle Phase ends."
Interrupter [DARK / Level 1 / Fiend-Type / Effect]
ATK: 0 / DEF: 0
The pendulum-shaped demon materialized and dug into the field, forcibly closing the Battle Phase.
Amano: "You're saying I use Akiza's card, but you've been running Jack's cards this whole time, haven't you."
He'd noticed it a while ago. Rin Seiya's deck carried cards from Jack Atlas, including the Abyss Dragon she'd summoned in the Dark Duel, which was Jack's as well.
Rin Seiya replied breezily: "Using the card gifted by your fated rival is an essential part of the experience."
Amano thought: you just like the effect. That's it.
"Since the Battle Phase is over, I set one more card face-down. Turn end."
Amano's back row now held two face-down cards. The one he'd set in the opening turn, still untouched, plus the new one. His field still had Red Dragon Archfiend holding it together.
Rin Seiya's field, by comparison, was looking strong in a different way. She had the advantage in position.
"Incredible, Amano. You've actually pushed me into a corner during a Riding Duel. My turn. Draw."
Speed Counters: 4 to 5.
After drawing her opening card, Rin Seiya had two cards left in hand.
Fielding nothing, resources running thin, and yet her composure on the D-Wheel hadn't shifted at all.
"I Normal Summon Turbo Synchron."
Turbo Synchron [WIND / Level 1 / Machine-Type / Tuner / Effect]
ATK: 100 / DEF: 500
A Tuner monster shaped like a turbine engine chassis materialized and fell into a sprint beside Rin Seiya's D-Wheel.
Two Level 1 monsters on the field. Rin Seiya's fingers traced lightly across the Duel Disk and lit up both cards.
"I tune Level 1 Tuner Turbo Synchron with Level 1 Interrupter."
1 + 1 = 2.
A single Synchro ring passed through the small Level 1 monster, guiding a Level 2 Synchro into the track.
"The gathered wishes lead toward a new horizon of speed. Let them be the shining path forward."
"Synchro Summon. Power of hope--"
"Synchro Tuner. Formula Synchron--"
Formula Synchron [LIGHT / Level 2 / Machine-Type / Synchro / Tuner
ATK: 200 / DEF: 1500
The Synchro light flashed into the track like a burst of acceleration and resolved into the shape of a Formula-style racing chassis, blazing down the course.
"When Formula Synchron is Synchro Summoned, I draw 1 card from my deck."
Rin Seiya's fingertip pressed the Duel Disk.
"Come on, Yusei No. 2. I need more speed. Fast enough to break through the limit. Draw."
The card came. Rin Seiya looked at the Speed Spell she'd pulled, and a satisfied smile settled across her face.
"This turn, we go all the way to the top. Speed Spell: Overboost, activate."
Speed Spell: Overboost
[Your Speed Counters increase by 4. At the end of this turn, your Speed Counters decrease to 1.]
The moment the Speed Spell resolved, Rin Seiya's D-Wheel engine opened up with a roar that filled the entire circuit.
Rin Seiya's Speed Counters: 5 to 9.
Nine Speed Counters. Rin Seiya's D-Wheel surged ahead of Amano's position on the track in an instant.
"Finally, Speed Spell: Synchro Panic, activate."
Speed Spell: Synchro Panic
[Can only be activated while you have 7 or more Speed Counters. Special Summon from the Extra Deck as many monsters as possible that share a name with monsters that were Synchro Summoned to the field during this Duel. Monsters Special Summoned by this effect have their ATK become 0 and their effects are negated.]
This was what all that speed had been building toward. The Speed Spell locked behind seven counters. That was the real objective of the acceleration.
"Stardust Dragon: Special Summoned from the Extra Deck, ATK becomes 0, effects negated."
Starlight descended again. The Stardust Dragon bounced back to the Extra Deck last turn returned to the field on the back of the Speed Spell.
Zero attack. No effects. But that wasn't what Rin Seiya needed it for.
At the edge of her speed limit, Rin Seiya swept her arm across the field, lighting up both monster cards simultaneously.
"Level 2 Synchro Tuner Formula Synchron, Accel Synchro with Level 8 Synchro Stardust Dragon."
The monster that had shown up in the joint tournament. More than that. In the full run of the 5D's anime, it had been Yusei Fudo's strongest card right up until the finale.
"Accel Synchro--"
Even in the VIP box, the Emperor's expression shifted. Surprise crossed his face for a moment.
"Rin Seiya. I didn't expect this girl to have the same power as Fioré."
Surrounded by the streaming starlight and the howl of the high-speed world, Rin Seiya felt something settle inside her, a stillness unlike anything she'd felt before.
"Clear Mind--! The crystallized dreams gathered here will open the gates of new evolution. Be the shining path forward--"
The entire arena erupted in a single collective gasp.
"She disappeared?"
Rin Seiya's D-Wheel, and Rin Seiya herself, vanished in plain sight from the high-speed track.
"This is the moment I've been waiting for."
Facing a track where Rin Seiya had accelerated into nothing, Amano reached out from within his own stillness and grabbed hold of something she'd left behind.
The trap card he had set on the very first turn.
He'd known from the start. Rin Seiya was going to Accel Synchro. There was never any doubt.
So to keep pace with that speed--
"Trap Card: Synchro Striker Unit, activate."
[Can only be activated when an opponent successfully Synchro Summons a Synchro Monster. Special Summon 1 Tuner monster used as Synchro Material for that Summon from the opponent's Graveyard to your side of the field.]
Amano reached into Rin Seiya's Graveyard and pulled out the key she'd used to unlock Accel Synchro.
"I Special Summon Formula Synchron to my field."
Red Dragon Archfiend on his left. Formula Synchron revived and charging back into the track on his right.
"We're not getting left behind in a destined duel. Red Dragon Archfiend, Accel Synchro."
A Synchro performed during the opponent's turn. That was Accel Synchro at its most complete.
***
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