"We won, Paradox."
The beautiful Majestic Star Dragon soared through the sky, then turned gracefully before reverting to Stardust Dragon's form, fading into the blue sky.
Yusei looked down at the fully restored Stardust Dragon card in his hand and approached Paradox—who had been thrown from his D-Wheel—with the others.
Because of timeline shifts, or perhaps because this worldline was simply different to begin with, the Malefic World Paradox used did not possess Shadow Game properties.
His one-against-four challenge had been nothing more than an attempt to validate his ideals—even though he had stolen Stardust Dragon and had previously caused untold casualties.
Regardless, now that Stardust Dragon had returned to him, and all those "casualties" had vanished due to their time-reversal, Yusei no longer felt the same hostility toward Paradox. More importantly, he cared about the relationship between Synchro Summoning and the ruined future Paradox had described.
"Ah, that's right. I did say I'd explain everything after the Duel, didn't I?" Paradox patted the half-broken frame of his D-Wheel with a sigh, then stood up and brushed off the dust on his clothes. "Let's find somewhere to sit. We've been standing around Dueling forever. Riding Duels really are more convenient."
Helping Paradox move his D-Wheel aside, the group settled into an empty booth—vacated earlier thanks to the chaos caused by Youmi and Jaden.
"First, let me apologize for the trouble I caused. Yusei, I stole your Stardust Dragon for the sake of my plan."
Paradox removed the stolen, empty black-frame card—as well as the three Malefic Stardust Dragons—from his Duel Disk. "Jaden Yuki, in your era, I fought you and caused you some serious injuries. And lastly, Yugi Muto… since you're from this era, you would have been caught up in my plan if not for Yusei and the others interfering."
He actually had succeeded once.
"Don't worry about it! My body's tough, and getting smacked around by monsters isn't too bad of an experience. Neos probably enjoyed it too, right?"
Jaden glanced over his right shoulder, where Neos's form faintly appeared. Neos said nothing—just nodded calmly, showing no anger.
"Yeah, I wasn't happy at first, but since nothing ended up happening, I'm fine with it now. Though it was pretty bad for Grandpa's back."
Now reverted to Yugi Muto, he shook his head, indicating he wasn't upset. "More importantly, tell us about this 'ruined future' and how Synchro Summoning connects to it. You're curious too, right, Yusei?"
He looked toward Yusei, who nodded in response.
"And remember to give those cards back to the Duelists you stole them from after you're done talking. You've already got a copied Deck anyway, don't you?" Youmi grabbed a drink from the nearby stand and took a sip. "Not bad."
"Then I'll tell you about my future… a time when energy was depleted and the world was destroyed."
Paradox cast a sidelong glance at Youmi, then emptied every stolen card from his Deck onto the table. "First—just as you heard, Yusei. Synchro Summoning is inseparable from the ruined future.
"To explain that, we need to start with your father—Dr. Fudo.
"He discovered a new particle known as the Momentum Particle and used it to create a perpetual-motion engine. These particles, capable of reading the human heart, generate immense energy during Synchro Summons in Riding Duels. The engine absorbs the activated Momentum Particles' kinetic energy and feeds it back into the D-Wheel, generating more Momentum Particles. Thus, a limitless cycle—breaking the laws of physics."
Paradox operated his Duel Disk, projecting a diagram of the perpetual engine's mechanics.
"However, all of this depends on the engine operating in a positive cycle—made possible because Momentum Particles respond to positive emotions, becoming active during Synchro Summoning. After the Zero Reverse incident, people's lives gradually returned to normal, the Satellite Sector reunited with the city thanks to you, Yusei—so in your era, positive emotions that sustain Momentum were still in abundance."
"Positive emotions… and Zero Reverse… meaning—" Yusei, being no stranger to physics, immediately understood where Paradox was leading. "The perpetual engine relies on Momentum reacting to human emotions. Under normal conditions, it wouldn't stop. The only thing that could make it halt—or even reverse—would be… a repeat of Zero Reverse?!"
Jaden and Yugi didn't fully understand the physics, but they clearly sensed Paradox was connecting "negative emotions" to the fall of the world.
"Exactly. And as you know, the population of your world is enormous, and in countless years, it only increases. Even now, there is conflict and injustice—people cannot always maintain the positive emotions Momentum responds to. As the population grew and demands for limitless energy swelled, humanity's desires twisted into greed."
Paradox slammed his fist onto the table, anger on his face.
"Soon, Momentum became driven not by hope, but by negative emotions. The engine stalled—energy production ceased. Worse yet, that was only the beginning. As negativity grew, the perpetual engine reversed and ran wild… and in the end, humanity chose the path of self-annihilation."
Lowering his head, Paradox fell into a long, somber silence before looking up at Yusei—almost as if regarding an old friend.
"My dearest friend, Z-ONE, tried to emulate the history you created… how you led people to defeat the Dark Signers, restoring hope. He attempted to guide humanity back to positive hearts to save the world.
"But it was already too late. There wasn't enough time to spread that hope to all humankind. A tiny spark of hope was swallowed by a flood of despair. We had no choice but to travel to the past—to carry out our own plan to save the world."
Leaning back in his chair, Paradox seemed like a weary, aging man burdened by his memories.
"I never imagined it would be like this…" Yusei looked at the dejected Paradox. "Anyhow, if that's the case, couldn't you have just come to my era and warned everyone? Isn't there some way—"
"Perhaps. And… that's something I only realized after Dueling all of you. That said, my comrades would never think that way. The future we witnessed was so nightmarish it clings to us like a curse. Without facing you directly, none of us would have wavered."
"In order to save the world, we carried out countless plans. The plan I chose was to travel to the earliest era of Duel Monsters—when the game was still in its infancy—and eliminate the father of Duel Monsters before the game could truly develop.
"That way, the perpetual engine of the future would never be invented. Humanity's technological progress would fall drastically backward, yes… but at least the world wouldn't be destroyed."
Rising from his seat, Paradox remotely transformed his D-Wheel back into motorcycle mode and mounted it. "But now, I've seen hope in you. If you, who know of the ruined future, can change what lies ahead, then perhaps things will be different. That is why I'm telling you all of this."
Saying this, Paradox tossed a card toward Yusei. "Take this card. Then return to your time and confront my comrades. If they can witness for themselves the potential you hold to change the future, they may allow you to join us—to fight against the ruined future.
"As for me, I need to return these Duel Monsters cards to their rightful owners."
Yusei caught the card Paradox threw, looked at it, and asked, "Formula Synchron… I remember this was a card your comrade entrusted to you. Are you sure it's alright to give it to me?"
"He's your biggest fan. He'd never mind. In fact, I'm sure he'd want to see how far you can evolve Synchro Summoning. In any case, my final destination is your era… we will meet again. Youmi, I'll also return the card you lent me to the you of that era."
Paradox revved his D-Wheel and vanished across time.
Only the four Duelists with the character "Yu" in their names remained.
"Yugi, Youmi, Yusei—this might sound weird, but… all our names have the character 'Yu' in them. Pretty crazy coinci—no wait, why am I the only one whose 'Yu' is in my surname?! Everyone else has it in their given names—you're Youmi, Yousei, Yuugi—and then it jumps to me, Jaden! So weird…" After waving goodbye to Paradox, Jaden suddenly slumped over the table.
After hearing Jaden complain, Yusei noticed something else. "More importantly, during the Duel—Youmi used Sphere Kuriboh, Jaden used Winged Kuriboh, Yugi used Kuriboh… but I never used any Kuriboh-related card at all. Luna has 'Fluff Token' but that has nothing to do with me… Also, I think I'm the only one whose Duel Disk doesn't transform?"
After sending Paradox off, the four of them chatted happily in the temporarily empty plaza.
"Well, I should hurry back and finish my Duel with Yugi. I was pulled here right before our match—I need to get back immediately… I guess now I understand why Ten Thousand Dragon gave me this Deck. It was to help me get back." After finishing his drink, Youmi stood up and summoned Time Thief Bezel Ship from his Duel Disk. "Yusei, make sure you bring Jaden back to his own era."
"Leave it to me. Take care, Youmi—and you too, Yugi."
Helmet on, Yusei pushed his D-Wheel forward.
"See you two later! What a great experience. I'm definitely writing about this in my diary when I get back."
Jaden hopped onto Yusei's D-Wheel, striking his signature pose.
"Take care, all of you. Both me and the other me will remember this day."
After exchanging farewells, Youmi activated Time Thief Bezel Ship and returned to his own timeline.
...
"Where did Youmi get taken by that red dragon? If he doesn't show up in the next fifteen minutes, he'll be disqualified, right?"
Standing on the Duel Stage, Yugi anxiously tapped his foot. Just as he thought that—
A silver-white figure plummeted from the sky, falling straight toward him.
"You could've WARNED me before sending me back—Ahhhhh!"
...
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