Verity: Okay, now you're really pushing it.
Dai: Well, this was actually the first story I had ideas for. I just needed some time to fine tune my characters. By the way, this starts off somewhat canon and works its way to being an AU. So if you don't like AUs, this is not for you.
BlackGatomon: We own nothing.
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The girl was running through the darkness, her Duel Disk at the ready. There were others besides her, who she could only see shadows of.
"Sunny, look out!"
BEEP! BEEP!
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Sunshine Akarui blinked awake, trying to remember her dream. There had been others, but she drew a complete blank at their identities.
"Another one of those dreams?"
"Yeah, but don't worry, Okita, it was nothing."
The thing was, she had been having dreams like that ever since the current Duel Monsters champion, Jack Atlas, got his title. You see, Sunny had amnesia. The cause was unknown, but she had her suspicions.
"Sunny, it's not nothing. You've been having these dreams for... how long again?"
"A year and a half, two years, somewhere around that."
"Hey, Sunny, Okita! We should be going to breakfast now!" The speaker was Liquid, Sunny and Okita's roommate, and one of five members of what the city called the Arcadia Gang. The other members were Sunny, Okita, and the twin witches, Akiza and Samantha Izinski.
They were called the Arcadia Gang because they were members of the Arcadia Movement who could actually be seen around town on occasion. The Arcadia Movement was a place for Duelists with special powers. Most were telekinetic, or Psychic Duelists, but Sunny was what the leader of the Movement called a Spirit Duelist, or someone who could speak with Duel Spirits and visit the Spirit World, and although Sunny had never been to the Spirit World, she got on great with her Psychic Lifetrancer.
Yeah, the Movement was crazy about psychic cards. Sunny actually ran a psychic deck, although Lifetrancer was the only monster she got along with and was more friends than business partners. Now, where were we? Oh, right, breakfast.
"Coming!"
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Breakfast was always something of an ordeal. While most ate out for lunch and dinner, by the time most woke up most restaraunts had closed down the breakfast menu. This was one of the hazards of training beginning at eleven. Fortunately, the three of them woke up relatively early.
When they arrived at the cafeteria, they passed the leader of the Arcadia Movement, Sayer. Sunny didn't trust him. Maybe it was the way he was covered in hair gel, or maybe how unnaturally smooth his voice was, or maybe even the fact that he had made her room with two boys, but she found something unsettling about him. Most, however, didn't feel that way.
Of course, there were a few on her side, a few meaning all of the Arcadia Gang but Akiza. When she and her sister were treated as outcasts by their parents, Sayer had offered them a home. She had worshipped the very ground he walked on ever since. Samantha, or Sammy, however, kept her distance.
Either way, when she told the others about her dreams, they swore to secrecy. What she didn't tell them about, however, was that she had snuck into his office and saw that a document on his desk was about brainwashing experiments. After that, she had tried to stay on his good side. It might have been too late, however, if her amnesia was the result of brainwashing. Either way, getting him to like her certainly wouldn't hurt.
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When the Izinski twins came up to the breakfast table, Akiza was ecstatic.
"I got an invitation to the Fortune Cup!"
"Really? That big tournament?"
"Yeah. It's too bad you weren't invited, Sunny. I mean, you never lose."
"There's a first time for everything. I'm really not confident in my abilities to Duel professionals."
"Really? Despite being one of the best Duelists in the Movement, if not the best?" Psychic Lifetrancer asked from behind her.
Sunny spun around. "Lifetrancer! Don't do that!"
The others just sighed. Sunny was the unofficial leader of the Arcadia Gang, and founder, so they were well used to her behavior. This was good, as she was the only Spirit Duelist currently in the Movement. Odds were, if they weren't, she would be facing the same treatment that Akiza and Sammy did before Sunny arrived.
"By the way, Sunny, I figured out how you might get answers about those dreams."
Sunny stopped her ongoing argument with her Duel Spirit and turned her attention to Sammy.
"Really? How?"
"Well, if your dreams started when Jack Atlas became champion, maybe talking to him would help."
Sunny sighed. "Yeah, right. I just go up to the reigning champion, who has an attitude problem, and say 'Hey, Jack, do you know me? I kind of have amnesia, and you seemed familiar'? That would definately work out."
"I'm just saying, it's a possibility."
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It certainly was a possibility, and the prospect of learning about who she was before joining the Movement was tempting for Sunny. Which was why she was at Rex Goodwin's doorstep, hoping Sayer wouldn't hear about it.
"State your business."
"Tell Jack that someone called Sunshine Akarui wishes to speak to him."
A few minutes later, the intercom by the gates had a reply.
"You may come in."
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Dai: In next chapter, our protagonist meets with Jack. She also stays the night with a friend in town.
Verity: Bonus points if you can guess who the friend will be.
