Day 1: BANG! and Day 19: War
It was quiet. Too quiet. In fact, if there was anything that Barret, and any Academia soldier that was with him at the time, had learnt about the Synchro Dimension in their previous excursion, in the few hours they had been there, that was that there was no such thing as silence in the City. Crazy reporters, worn out, enraged, rioting crowds with tattoos on their faces, duels on motorcycles of all things, infrastructure that changed locations, and a zombie-like police force, there was hardly anything in this Dimension that could called normal – much less quiet.
Therefore, the sight that greeted Barret was more than just a little confusing. It was downright wrong. There was not a single soul in the streets, not even the countless homeless people that usually littered it. There was not any sound other than the occasional stray dog or cat. The night sky with its stars and the galaxy in the distance, was visible plain and clear to see for the first time in forever, with all the light pollution finally gone. All the power in the City had gone out – in the City! The Synchro Dimension! The very symbol of endless energy and resources! Honestly, no matter in which area of this glass, steel and concrete white colossus you lived in, the lights going out outside a duel was unheard of.
That being said, the lights going out during duels was actually quite common. The most powerful cards here could bring not only the opponents, but the entire City to its knees. It was a mild concern for Barret; the Academia was still unable to determine whether the City's complicated power network, based on duel energy, the Duel Runners of its very citizens, and a central core at an unknown location, would affect their Academia-made Duel Disks. There was high chance that even if a single Obelisk Force soldier decided to summon Antique Gear Chaos Giant, every duel going on at the time would have to be stopped simply because of lack of sufficient energy. Considering that the Duel Energy was up until very recently monitored by Jean-Michel Roget, a former Academia agent, that was a very likely scenario.
However, right now, there was obviously no one dueling. No, this feeling was more than just a gut feeling. There was something terribly wrong here. The whole setting made his instincts scream "It's a trap!", but him mind dismissed that as nonsense. There was simply no way for the entire population of a city of over ten million residents to just vanish, was there?
"Sir, please take a look at this!". Barret turned his searching, one-eyed gaze to the soldier who had called out to him, and then to the direction said soldier was pointing at.
"What in the-?". It was a wormhole. There was a gigantic, inter-dimensional, and very much unstable wormhole in the sky, just above the City's Security Headquarters, sparkling with swirling green light and crackling with lightning. The wormhole was enormous, far larger than anything Barret had ever thought possible, and it could easily absorb the entire City in the near future. It was a miracle it had not already done so. In fact, the skyscraper that once housed the most prestigious law enforcement unit in the City was now apparently gone, though from their angle, and since they were on ground level, it was hard to tell. Yet another consequence of Roget's betrayal.
The residents of this Dimension cannot have possible been swallowed by the wormhole, thought Barret to himself. If they had, this Synchro Dimension would be highly unstable. Did they evacuate the City to avoid such a risk?
Barret contemplated on his current predicament for a few moments, and then proceeded to contact the other squads Captains. "This is Captain Barret, of the eighth squad, to all units. Do you copy?". The question was met with several affirmative responses. As the experienced war veteran half-expected, there were no sightings of people in the other regions either. "Do not enter any establishments yet.", warned them Barret, playing it safe. "More than likely, this City has been evacuated. Priority should be the investigation of the wormhole. Keep your guard up, and report anything unusual.". With a threat like that literally over their heads, there was no telling what would happen to them.
All the teams did as asked. Slowly but surely, the various Academia squads started making their way towards the center of the City. For as long as long a minute could be, that is.
Then, there was a bang.
"It's a fiiiIIIIIIGHT!" – the lights came back.
Within a single second, light came back to the City, restoring it to its former extravagant glory, and effectively blinding any and all Academia soldiers. "Welcome, Academia!", a voice sounded from the City's monitors. "In case you couldn't tell, we came up with a plan to kick your asses!".
It was an ambush. It was a freaking ambush. And they fell right into it.
The City came back to life with a roar, both literal and figurative, as a whole bunch of people jumped out of the buildings surrounding them, shouting "Revolution!", while all bridges, streets and Duel Lanes came to life, emerging from the ground. Barret dodged just in time to avoid an incoming street sign, but not to avoid the gunshot. The shot hit him on the left shoulder, but the wannabe assailant was already gone – even as the bullet hit one of his men.
This Dimension had no intention to Duel. Their intention was to get rid of the threat by any means necessary. This invasion would be nothing like the XYZ Dimension.
His squad managed to get out alive, as expected – but not without any scars. Only thirty seconds and Barret had already lost a few men, and more than half of the assailants had managed to get away without getting carded. The horn of a vehicle came from behind him and Barret slammed himself on the wall to avoid being run over by the mini-van that barely fitted in the alley. Not all his men were that lucky. The driver did not even slow down. From the distance several gunshots, screams, yelling and very loud music were heard.
"IS THIS YOUR PLAN, YOU COWARDS?!".
He gathered his remaining, still shocked men and ordered them to ready their Duel Disks. Barret summoned Panther Predator just in case.
This City had no intention to Duel. Barret barely noticed the music that started playing behind them as they left.
In the other alleys the situation was even worse, just as he had feared. He found several collapsed soldiers and citizens, along with other people struggling in more "old-fashioned" duels, betting everything on their physical prowess. Why haven't they returned to the Academia? Aren't their Duel Disks- His thought was cut in half. The soldiers had been stripped of their Duel Disks. Barret helped the soldiers take out the remaining citizens. "Was it just them?", he asked the survivors.
"No, sir.", replied one of them, a Ra yellow. "They ran as soon as they were done. They took the Duel Disks and the cards of the sealed Duelists with them.". A hit-and-run strategy, to ensure as little losses as possible. As much as he hated to admit it, it was clever.
Several minutes later – or was it a few hours? – Barret was certain that someone, or many, were targeting him. He had had to avoid countless gunshots as he tried to reach the Duel Palace. He was certain that whoever was calling the shots in this operation here, they had made their base there. However, in order to get there, he had to get on the Tops' regions and reach the port. Barret was only left with four men by this point, and the music was louder than ever.
Speed was of outmost importance here.
Gritting his teeth to endure the pain from his bullet wound on his left shoulder, and not even turning around to help the other soldiers, Barret made a run for the Duel Palace. He hated this. He absolutely hated this. Leaving comrades behind. Honorable soldiers. Lost to all this scum. He was a man of moral. He always took care of his squad better than he took care of himself. He had always faced the danger bravely, all by himself. He had never ran away. This City had no such morals. To them "protecting" meant running. "Protecting" meant gather as many people as they could to overwhelm their enemies. "Protecting" meant get done with things as fast as possible.
These people had no honor. They had nothing. Nothing but their lives. They were like savage beasts. He noticed them dumping several Academia Duel Disks in the sewers.
Soon, Barret found a way to get to the higher levels, through the Duel Lanes. Countless Duel Runners and vehicles, whether on their own or in large groups, were running on the streets at full speed. There were not as many people here as before, and no one was fighting. Barret could tell that every person here was a duelist. Finally.
Music echoed from bellow. Barret was getting an increasingly ominous feeling by it.
Barret and his few men started jogging towards the Duel Palace. If any duelist approached, they would see them coming easily. He was certain that his skills would be enough to face any duelist of this Dimension. Are you sure?, asked him a little voice in his head. He ignored it.
For a long time they managed to proceed undisturbed, and Barret was pleased to notice that several Obelisk Force units had made it to the Duel Lanes as well. Finally, they were getting the upper hand!
He was wrong. "It's a Revolution!", roared the voice on the speakers once again, and the citizens roared back. Then the Duel Lanes started moving, and everyone was astonished to witness all the roots that connected the Tops' regions with the Commons' regions disconnect. "Are they abandoning their own people?!", roared Barret in shock and rage.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that.", a man said. The war veteran was stunned to hear the voice from earlier come out from his own Duel Disk's communication system. "Every single Academia unit is on the Duel Lanes. Those who are left bellow do not stand a chance, even if you call for reinforcements. This is how we fight. Just like a hundred soldiers from your Dimension do the job of one man, moving as one unit stripped of their individuality, we reflect this City's summoning method; by ourselves, we can't do much. But once something triggers our reaction – the tuner monster – we all aim towards a single goal – the summoning – and by putting together our efforts one by one – the levels – we create something huge!". The connection was suddenly cut, leaving Barret questioning. How was this person so sure of themselves?
"Squad, follow me.", he ordered him men. "Avoid the larger groups. We're heading to the Duel Palace.". It was the thing he could think of.
"Yes, sir!".
Very soon, the movement on the streets was replaced by chaos, as fights between the soldiers and the turbo duelists broke out. Things seemed to be more or less even, and that was not a good sign. Fortunately, the power was not out yet, and Barret's squad was lucky enough not to run into anyone. They still had a long way to go, and Barret was not abandoning any more men. The same could not be said for the other squads, by the looks of it.
"Sir, there is something that has been bothering me.", said one of the men, sounding serious and perplexed at once.
"What is it?", asked him Barret.
The soldier seemed hesitant. "There is no sign of leadership other than the individual in the monitors, but they only made themselves known twice. There is also no way for them to relay orders in secret, because no one was carrying a Duel Disk in the lower regions. Yet in spite of all that, their attacks are coordinated!".
Barret pondered on it. It was true the residents of this Synchro Dimension were strangely coordinated. While they were still on the Commons' District, Barret had noticed how reinforcements would arrive just in the nick of time, or how good his wannabe assailant was at tracking him down. Combined with the stolen Duel Disks, Seal Cards and the unreasonable presence of music during the entire operation… His eyes widened in realization. Could all this be a secret communication code?!
Suddenly everything clicked. The music symbolized which areas were under the citizens' control. The Duel Disks were taken to prevent contact with the Academia. The citizens were shouting "It's a Revolution!" when they were initiating an ambush to alert all nearby areas of their actions, and thus alert them whether they needed reinforcements or not. The assailant(s) were following the oldest trick in the book – take out the leaders first, then the others are easy pickings. The person in charge must have had a way to monitor everyone, and their shouts of "It's a Revolution!", signaled the next phase of their plans.
As if to confirm his thoughts, as soon as the Antique Gear Chaos Giants were summoned and everyone waited for the power to come back on, the voice from the monitor was heard once again, and a few moments later any and all access to the Duel Palace and to the wormhole was cut off, and the Commons' District with the Tops' regions were reconnected.
"You bastards are Academia?". Barret and his squad turned around, only to find themselves face-to-face with an explosive Jack Atlas.
This war had truly started with a "Bang!", and the explosions would not cease until one enemy was completely exterminated. And among the now constantly shifting duel lanes…
"DUEL!".