# Chapter 122: Accel Failure
"My Turn! Draw!" Yūga Hōzumi drew a card.
"Shooting Star Dragon's effect activates! Once per turn, I can reveal the top five cards of my Deck, then return them to the Deck. This turn, this card can make a number of attacks equal to the number of Tuner monsters revealed."
"What?!" Bruno was stunned. "How many effects does this monster have?!"
"First card! A Tuner monster, Junk Synchron!"
"Second card! A Tuner monster, Stardust Synchron!"
"Third card! A Tuner monster, Unknown Synchron!"
"Fourth card! A Tuner monster, Harmonizing Gum!"
"Fifth card! A Tuner monster, Accel Synchron!"
"No way?! Five Tuner monsters in a row? Doesn't your deck brick?!" Bruno was dumbfounded, his eyes wide as he watched Shooting Star Dragon roar in the sky and split into four multicolored duplicates.
Yūga Hōzumi also breathed a sigh of relief at the sight. This impromptu deck really came through for him, revealing five of them. If this effect had instead shuffled the deck and prevented this card from attacking this turn, he would have been utterly humiliated.
"So what if it can attack five times? My T.G. Blade Gunner's ATK is higher right now!" Bruno said.
"Is that really so?" Yūga Hōzumi smiled, revealing a card. "I activate the Spell Card, Synchro Release!"
"Target one Synchro Monster on your opponent's field; return that monster to the Extra Deck. Then, if all the monsters that were used as its Synchro Material are in the Graveyard, you can Special Summon them!"
"I don't think so! T.G. Blade Gunner's effect activates! When an opponent's Spell or Trap Card that targets this card is activated, I can send one card from my hand to the Graveyard to negate its effect!"
"It's no use! I activate the Trap Card, Infinite Impermanence! I target one face-up monster on your field; that monster's effects are negated until the end of the turn." Yūga Hōzumi revealed the set card on his backrow. "Although your monster's effect doesn't have a once-per-turn restriction, you don't have any cards left in your hand, do you?"
Ultimately, T.G. Blade Gunner was dismantled by Yūga Hōzumi's Spell Card, reverting to two T.G. monsters.
T.G. Star Guardian DEF: 2200
T.G. Power Gladiator DEF: 1000
"Why? I remember this card lets you choose whether to Special Summon the material monsters! Why would you activate the follow-up effect?" Bruno asked, confused, looking at the two Synchro Materials that had appeared on the field.
"To give you a chance, of course," Yūga Hōzumi said with a smile. "If you want to survive this turn, then follow up with an Accel Synchro!"
"Battle!" Yūga Hōzumi declared the Battle Phase. Just then, both of their Duel Disk interfaces responded with a timing prompt.
Seeing this, Bruno gritted his teeth and slammed on the throttle. His D-Wheel's engine, pushed to its limit, let out a roar, and in an instant, it accelerated to its maximum speed.
"Empty your mind and feel with your heart the unique frequency of your Synchro Tuner monster, contained within the wind around you! Then, control your heartbeat to resonate with it! This is Clear Mind!" Yūga Hōzumi's voice echoed in Bruno's ear. This was the system's tutorial explanation for the state of Clear Mind.
"Empty my mind...?" Bruno murmured, closing his eyes, trying to feel the resonance of the Synchro Tuner monster that Yūga Hōzumi spoke of, hidden within the surrounding wind.
But just as Bruno was about to grasp that subtle ripple hidden in the wind, countless scenes flashed uncontrollably through his mind.
"What decent monsters could a pauper from the lower class have? What are you doing here, trying to join in on the fun?" a staff member at the registration desk said disdainfully when Bruno, as a child, first learned Duel Monsters and participated in Neo Domino City's children's duel tournament.
"Hahaha, do you think I'm like you paupers from the lower class, only able to duel with a single ace monster?" the duelist born into The Top Echelons scoffed after the young Bruno had put all his effort into defeating his opponent's ace monster, only for the other boy to immediately summon a new, top-tier monster on his next turn.
"Could the miracle of Accel Synchro truly be reborn in this child?" a few Revolutionary Army warriors said, patting the slightly older Bruno on the head with anticipation. By chance, he had joined the Revolutionary Army and acquired the Accel Synchro deck they had guarded for generations.
"Run, Bruno! Leave the rearguard to us! You, who have been acknowledged by the Accel Synchro deck, are our hope! You mustn't fall here!" a Revolutionary Army warrior who stayed behind to cover their retreat shouted roughly at Bruno, who had also wanted to stay and hold the line, during an encirclement operation by Security against the Revolutionary Army.
...
Scene after scene flashed through his mind, and the chaotic memories brutally tore apart the glimmer of inspiration for achieving Clear Mind that Bruno had just managed to grasp.
"Hiss..." Because Bruno failed to enter that mysterious state, his D-Wheel's engine, pushed to its absolute limit, finally gave way. It spewed out thick white smoke, and the D-Wheel lost control, wobbling and sliding off the track.
"Did he fail?" Yūga Hōzumi stopped his D-Wheel, frowning as he looked at the sea of flames off the racetrack. Just then, the words "Training Complete" appeared on his sunglasses, and shortly after, he was kicked offline.
Inside Bruno's room.
"Huff..." Startled awake, Bruno gasped for air, his hair already soaked with cold sweat.
He slowly calmed down only after turning his head and seeing his Duel Disk and deck lying quietly on the nightstand.
"So it was a dream?" Now calm, Bruno picked up his Duel Disk, took out his deck, and examined the cards one by one. "But why was this dream so vivid? I can recall every single detail, even of that dragon."
"And that feeling of being surrounded by wind in the dream..." Bruno murmured, looking up at the gradually brightening sky outside the window. "Who exactly was that senior?"
...
In Yūga Hōzumi's room, after returning his sunglasses to the System Warehouse, Yūga Hōzumi carefully recalled everything that had happened during the dream tutorial.
"What's up with this guy?" Yūga Hōzumi wondered. "He was clearly on the verge of performing an Accel Synchro; how did he fumble at the last step?"
"Whatever. There's still almost a month left, anyway. If I duel him every day, I should be able to teach him before the Friendship Cup," Yūga Hōzumi said with a helpless shrug.
For the next few days, Yūga Hōzumi settled into a rare, regular routine.
Yūga Hōzumi began living a life where he worked as a mechanic during the day, modifying Duel Disks and D-Wheels for the Revolutionary Army warriors, and at night, he would race in his dreams, teaching someone Accel Synchro.
There were a few moments when Yūga Hōzumi felt he should be called Antinomy. However, Bruno's learning made no progress; he kept getting stuck at the final step, which greatly frustrated Yūga Hōzumi.
...
(end of chapter)