Thanks to Green Phantom Queen, Villain Princess, nightshroud96, and hlglh for reviewing the last chapter! The positive reception kind of caught me off guard, so as thanks, I tried to push out this next chapter earlier than expected.
The drive to LDS was fairly uneventful, as Yuya spent most of it contemplating his situation in the back seat. Shuzo didn't want to pressure the boy with more questions, so what resulted was a deathly silent awkward car ride. Yuya thought about informing the principal about Yuzu's disappearance, but decided against it knowing Shuzo didn't have anything, not even a memento of hers to jog his memory.
Yuzu… I promised everyone I would bring you home. It feels so long ago, but I'm not going to break that promise now, not while you and the other girls' lives are counting on me, Yuya thought determinedly.
"Here we are," Shuzo's voice brought him back to reality as he parked beside the Leo Corporation's tower that loomed over the city. "Do you, uh, want me to wait in the car or…"
"You can just head back to You Show now and take the kids to the arena. I prefer walking there," Yuya replied while opening the car door.
"Alright then, Yuya. Just be careful, okay?" the dueltainer nodded in response before Shuzo continued. "Don't want any more incidents today."
Yuya's face twitched slightly at the mention of his 'accident', but said nothing as he entered the building. Despite everything he had seen, the duel school still impressed him with all its fancy décor and intricate design as he ventured through the main lobby. He couldn't help but notice all the stares he received as he walked by, hearing snippets of conversation here and then, all of it praise and excitement over being in the presence of an 'interdimensional savior'.
"Oh great, you have a fanbase now," Yuri groaned inwardly. 'This will get old fast.'
Yugo was far more effusive in his demeanor, "Speak for yourself, it's been my lifelong dream to earn the cheers of the crowd at the Friendship Cup. This is great!"
"How long before you become an interdimensional celebrity, Yuya?" Yuto added with a slight smirk on his face.
"Did… did you just make a joke, Yuto? That's gotta be one for the record books," Yuri gasped in faux shock. "And to answer your question, isn't he one already?"
Yuya chuckled at his counterparts' banter; with them around, there would never be a boring moment. "I think we're all starting to rub off on each other," he deduced. "At least from what I've seen."
"Well, that does make sense. After all, we were initially one and the same person," Yuto pointed out.
During his internal conversation, Yuya had made it to the front desk, a disinterested woman typing rapidly on a desktop computer. She glanced up momentarily when noticing him, but immediately went back to her business when she saw that he wasn't an employee in any capacity.
"Okay, I take that back, having the spotlight on you is much preferable to this kind of treatment," Yuri said, retracting his original statement. "What is wrong with this woman?"
After clearing his throat a few times, Yuya managed to get her attention again, "Hello? Hi, I'm Yuya Sakaki, I'm here to speak to Reiji Akaba about something important."
"Do you have an appointment or are you here for official business?" the receptionist asked monotonously.
"Er… no. But if you pass on the message to Reiji, I'm sure he'll—"
"The president's schedule is full at the moment in preparation of the Junior Arc League Championship reopening, please come back at a later date."
"Wait!" Yuya shouted before the lady dismissed him entirely. "I'm actually here on official business for the Junior Arc League Championship!"
"What is your business with Mr. Akaba then?"
"I, uh, have to meet with Reiji to help coordinate the event. Yeah, we're, um, working on a custom Action Field to be revealed for the finals. And we have to discuss my role in the opening ceremonies and some other stuff. Please, just tell Reiji, he'll know what I'm talking about."
Nice save, Yuri commented with a smirk.
The receptionist sighed as if she'd rather be anywhere else in the moment, "Very well, I shall inform one of his associates." She picked up a phone and dialed, explaining the situation to whomever was on the other line.
After a few moments, the lady shook her head, much to Yuya's surprise. "Mr. Akaba says he will see you at the tournament this afternoon and that there is no reason for you two to interact at the moment."
"Wait, just one last thing!" Yuya exclaimed before the woman became too engrossed in her work.
She gave him a death glare, "Kid, you're leaving now, otherwise I'm calling security."
Yuya then leaned in, meeting her eyes. The woman was taken by surprise, raising an eyebrow in questioning, "Tell them I know how to fix Reira, that I can free him from Zarc and bring him back to normal."
After a few moments where neither of them made a move, Yuya relented, "If Reiji still doesn't want to see me, I'll leave. Peacefully. Please, just make the call."
Eventually, she did, informing someone of the new detail Yuya had just put out. The woman looked to him with a bewildered face once she received an answer.
"The president wants to meet with you immediately. Nakajima will come to escort you now."
"Apologies for the treatment Mr. Sakaki, our receptionist just transferred here recently from overseas. When we first got the call, all she told us was that 'some kid in the tournament wants to meet with the president', but when we got her second message, we knew it was you," Nakajima explained, fiddling with a tablet the entire time up the elevator.
"No worries, I'm just glad Reiji allowed me to come here in the first place," Yuya told the man, relieved that everything was cleared up now.
"You've done quite a lot for him, for all of us, Yuya. The Leo Corporation will always be indebted to you and the other Lancers for the things you've accomplished," Reiji's right-hand man replied offhandedly as the elevator reached the top floor with a ding.
Yuya was quickly escorted to Reiji's private office, a quaint room decorated with several paintings and glass shelves, topped off with a view out the window overlooking the entire city. Nakajima brought him in and promptly closed the door, leaving Yuya and the three spirits with him alone with Reiji and a baby in a stroller.
The young President of the Leo Corporation was currently sitting behind his desk with his hands folded together, studying Yuya closely as he pushed up his glasses. Yuya wasn't sure what to say; should he just get right into describing the situation Ray had outlined to see if that would trigger something in Reiji's memory regarding the other counterparts?
"I've been expecting your arrival, Yuya," Reiji began, beckoning the boy to have a seat across from him as he spoke again. "When Reira sealed away Zarc's essence, I suspected there were great consequences in doing so. That is why you're here, isn't it? To discuss those consequences?"
"I, uh, yeah, you're right," Yuya stuttered, "How is Reira doing anyway?" He shuddered at the thought of the demonic duelist threatening to corrupt the young boy.
"You can see for yourself," Reiji gestured over to the stroller, connecting the dots for Yuya.
"You don't mean…" he was almost breathless at this revelation.
"I do. When Reira absorbed Zarc, he was transformed back into a toddler, and it seems to have brought out a more feminine quality in he—her. We think it was likely a defense mechanism to minimize the damage Zarc can do should he reawaken, he can't cause much destruction while possessing a three-year-old. But just to be safe, we've also removed Reira's duel disk."
Yuya peered over at the baby, whose face was entirely vacant, no hint of emotion whatsoever appearing. Blank, dull eyes stared back at him, the girl Reira remaining disturbingly motionless the entire time he looked at her.
"We've run some tests, and Zarc's presence has already had an effect on her, ranging from irregular heartbeat, low brain activity, and as you just saw, high inactivity in general. She's a shell of her former self and I doubt Zarc has fully awakened at this point," Reiji explained calmly, despite the grim situation he had just described.
"If you don't mind me asking, why is Reira a girl now? I know it isn't all that relevant, but still…" Yuya trailed off as he pondered the question.
"We believe it was a side effect of her allowing Ray to use her body as a conduit to duel Zarc. Her presence still lingers within Reira according to our tests, a purifying force to contrast Zarc's darkness."
"So, you do remember Ray," Yuya said quietly. This certainly changed things if everyone's memory of her was still intact, maybe it wouldn't be so hard to convince people of her reincarnations' existence.
"Of course I do, she saved the very fabric of existence twice now," Reiji replied, trying to hide his annoyance for how Yuya was approaching the situation. The president could sense the aspiring dueltainer was hiding something, judging from the way his eyes darted around, never quite meeting his, and how his hands shook every so often, as if he was rattled in some way. "But I believe this wasn't supposed to be a debriefing. You said you have a solution to expel Zarc's presence from Reira, let's hear it."
Well, this is it. All or nothing now, guys, Yuya told his counterparts before diving into the scenario mapped out by Ray. During parts of it, his claims were met by skepticism from Reiji, though Yuya could hardly blame him. After all, how could you possibly pacify the bloodthirsty duelist who only sought to destroy?
"It'll work Reiji, trust me," Yuya said, meeting the president's eyes.
"It still sounds like a long shot, Yuya. I don't know how you could possibly pull it off, but seeing as though we have little to no other options… I'm not going to stop you from trying," Reiji concluded, resigned to Yuya's plan. "How will your dragons play into this though, assuming you still have them?"
"I'm going to use them too, they share the deepest connection with Zarc, if I can help them renounce their anger and desire for revenge, I can definitely purify Zarc's heart of it too."
"It could be dangerous, seeing as though summoning the dragons will only make Zarc stronger, but at the same time, there may be not another way. Very well then, Yuya, you have my full support on behalf of the Leo Corporation," Reiji said with a nod.
"I won't let you down, Reiji. I'm going to free Reira of Zarc, let him and Ray pass on in peace like they should've long ago, and then bring back Yuzu and the others," Yuya told the president.
"Yuzu?" Reiji repeated, the name rolling off his tongue easily, but still sounding unfamiliar.
"Guess it was too much to hope Reiji remembered too. Looks like Ray was right, it'll be up to us," Yuya informed his other counterparts.
"Anything to save Rin! Together, there's no way we can fail!" Yugo started to get pumped up at the prospect of reuniting with the green haired Ray reincarnation, even if it was through Yuya.
"As long as we work as one, we can do it. But we have to be on the same page, all of us," Yuto aimed that last comment at Yuri, everyone still not all that enamoured with the Predaplant user.
"Kinda ironic that you're preaching about harmony when your Phantom Knights rely on stealth and working in the shadows," the Fusion duelist quipped. "But yes, I agree that we'll have to work cohesively, don't worry, I'm on board."
Yuya shifted his attention back to the conversation at hand, "You mean you don't remember, Reiji? Just like how I'm Zarc's reincarnation, Yuzu is Ray's. Think about it, why would Ray not be reborn if she was exposed to the same energy Zarc was with the En Cards?"
Reiji frowned and thought this over. It sounded plausible enough, however… "My father scoured out all the dimensions for signs of Ray, Yuya. All he could find were traces of her life force spread around, nothing more. If Ray was in fact reborn, Yuya, my father would've tracked her down a long time ago."
Yuya did his best to take in this new information in stride. In the manufactured timeline Reiji recalled, Ray had supposedly never been reborn, only her energy was spread throughout the dimensions. An explanation with no glaring holes in it, difficult to debunk. It did make sense, so Yuya changed tactics in trying to remind Reiji of her existence.
"Reiji, do you remember the time we dueled after the Battle Royal?" he asked, knowing the answer already.
"Yes, you were dueling me with everything you had out of anger for how I used the Battle Royal to find duelists to join the Lancers. At the time, I was quite impressed with how far you had come in such little time. It gave a glimpse of just how fierce a duelist you could be when you dueled with all you had. Why do you ask?"
"Because it wasn't just about you using the Battle Royal to find duelists for me. Back then, I made it personal because the Battle Royal was how Yuzu ended up disappearing. I wanted to finish you with a burning passion, you must remember that at least. I-I wouldn't have lashed out had only strangers to me been carded," Yuya insisted, hoping with everything he had that he could trigger something, anything, in the president's mind.
Meanwhile, Reiji was beginning to wonder if Zarc had left some imprint of PTSD regarding Ray on Yuya, to the point where Yuya's mind was inserting flashes of Ray's supposed reincarnation throughout his memories. Nothing else made sense otherwise. There was no person in Miami City named Yuzu who had any connection to Yuya, Reiji knew that through the extensive background check his team had done on Yuya after his Pendulum cards were introduced.
"I'm sorry, Yuya, but you've said nothing to prove your claim that Ray had a reincarnation of her own. No one, not even my father knows how close Ray was to Zarc when she activated the En Cards. Your outburst at the Battle Royal was simply because you care so much about others, even people you don't know. I suspect Zarc's influence may have altered your memories; after all, he's been humiliated by Ray twice now."
"Reiji, I swear I'm telling the truth, I—"
"And I'm suggesting that you may need to sort that out, Yuya. A psychiatrist will help, because even now, Zarc may be manipulating you. Now then, I believe we have a tournament to finish today."
"But—"
"I look forward to seeing you compete. Nakajima, please escort Yuya out."
Before Yuya could even get another word in edgewise, Reiji's close associate grabbed him by the arm and promptly had him exit the room. The elevator ride down was utterly silent, Yuya still lamenting over being unable to convince Reiji of anything. Soon enough, he found himself back in the grand lobby in the blink of an eye.
Trudging out of the building, the idea of a long walk appealed to Yuya, just so he could think amongst himself and the others. Unfortunately, that plan was short lived, as a squeal of joy came from his left, and before Yuya knew it, he was sprawled on the ground for the second time today, his neck wrung up in a tight hug.
"DARLING! I JUST KNEW I'D FIND YOU HERE! MY DIVINATION WAS RIGHT! IT'S BEEN TOO LONG, WHAT DO YOU SAY WE—"
"Mieru, please stop," Yuya didn't have the energy to push her away, not that his counterparts were helping with all their snickering.
"My, my, is this your special someone, Yuya?" Yuri remarked teasingly. "You might as well kiss the bride at this point!"
"Man, and people said I was bad for my overly affectionate hugs," Yugo said with a chuckle.
"Is this a normal occurrence? I was there for it a few times but…" Yuto bit his lip, struggling to hold back his own laughter.
"Unfortunately, yes. Speak for yourselves guys, I'm the one seeing double right now. She just won't let… go!" Yuya groaned in frustration.
Finally, the girl relinquished her grip on Yuya after a few more seconds, the incident being caught on plenty of cell phones with them being out in the open. Yuya groaned, reminding himself to delete every copy of that video in all the dimensions before Yuzu and the others were revived, for his own sake. As he struggled back to his feet, Mieru was still latched onto him, and Yuya swore she gasped in awe when he used his hand to push her away gently. Unfortunately, this did little to deter the fortune telling prodigy, who was still raving about Yuya.
"Now, I know this isn't very practical, considering you can control and create your own destiny, but why don't we see where the future takes us, darling?" Mieru asked with a dreamy look on her face as she pulled out her trademark crystal apple. Peering at Yuya's face through the lens, she gasped in shock at what she saw, her lip quivering in fear before she fainted altogether.
"Well, we got of rid of her easier than I expected," Yuri commented. "Shall we get going then?"
"Yuri, I can't just leave her here, especially not out in public," Yuya argued, appalled by his counterpart's nonchalance. "Besides, I have a pretty good idea on what just freaked her out and it could help our case."
Cautiously, Yuya leaned down and hoisted the girl on his back, drawing the attention of passersby on the sidewalk. His counterparts were certainly enjoying the spectacle, and Yuya knew they wouldn't let him live this one down for a while. He had no idea how he would defuse the rumors that were bound to surface because of this, but that was hardly his concern in the moment.
"While we're on the topic, just what exactly freaked her out so much?" Yugo inquired.
"It was you guys," Yuya's response was definitive, leaving no room for doubt.
"Us? That's certainly a surprise, guess we aren't total ghosts then," Yuri added.
"How… how can she tell?" The Speedroid user wondered.
"Let's just say that apple of hers isn't just a prop to look good," Yuya said simply.
"Back when I was first merged with Yuya, Mieru detected my presence within him along with Zarc's using that apple. I think it's pretty safe to say her fortune telling has some merit to it," Yuto elaborated further, filling in the blanks.
The four of them were silent for a moment while thinking over the situation, that is, until Yugo asked where he could buy one of those crystal apples. His question was met by a trio of glares and a 'Yugo, I swear you're going to be our undoing one day' comment made by Yuri. Yuya was sure a fight would've broken out then and there had Mieru not regained consciousness in that moment. Yuya felt the girl stir on his back, her curly hair jolting up and down.
"Ugh… what happened? My brain feels all bamboozled… Darling?!" the girl exclaimed once she realized the position she was in, a blush spreading on her face.
I think you can let the lady down now, Yuri said with a devilish grin on his face.
Yuya did so, explaining to her what had just transpired. Mieru's embarrassment grew upon the realization she had fainted in public, but at the same time, she wished she had been more discreet upon waking up so that she could've savored the experience of being carried by her long-time crush.
"So, uh, what did you see that caused you to black out like that?" Yuya asked, pretending as though he hadn't already deduced it himself.
"I thought it was just my imagination at first… but I saw three other souls residing inside you. But it seems that darkness I sensed last time has been extricated," Mieru was still trying to comprehend this new information, searching for some rational explanation as she spoke again. "How can you survive like this, darling? Can you sense their presence trying to suppress you for control of your body?"
"That girl has way too little faith in us! Come on, forcibly taking over Yuya's body? Does she really think that after seeing us for 2 seconds that we would do such a thing?" Yugo shouted, hoping that by projecting his voice loud enough, maybe Mieru could hear him. Beside him, Yuto let out an audible cough, the topic a sore spot for him.
Yuri picked up on his discomfort right away, "You've done it before, haven't you?"
"Only twice," the Phantom Knights user replied with a sigh.
"Only twice? That's…" Yugo couldn't find the proper words to berate his Xyz counterpart.
"I was pissed off, okay? Yuya was fighting Edo Phoenix the first time and was at risk of being carded had I not stepped in."
"You did only manage a tie in the end," Yuya pointed out.
"Only because he had some stupid convenient card in his hand that had the exact effect he needed to avoid losing! And the second time was fighting Ruri with the parasite in her head and Yuya was in need of some serious emotional support," Yuto argued.
"Hmm, I had no idea you were so, what's the word? Possessive perhaps, Yuto?" Yuri put in, boasting a sly grin. "Not that I blame you too much, I'm sure you were just doing what you had to in order to survive."
"Darling?" Mieru gave Yuya a cautious look, having just saw him zone out. "Don't let those souls consume you, fight!"
Her words snapped him back to the real world. "I'm-I'm fine Mieru, the souls—no, the people inside me, we're living together as one, in peace."
"Y-you mean you knew about the others residing inside you this whole time? How long have you been living like that?" Mieru was in shock at seeing Yuya dismiss her revelation as old news while also appearing to be at peace with it. The dueltainer truly was unpredictable.
"Well actually, I just found out a few hours ago. But trust me, the people within me," Yuya then put a hand to his heart, "they won't be forgotten. They've touched the lives of so many others around them. I'm going to carry on their memory through me and remind everyone that they aren't truly gone."
Mieru's eyes scanned the area furtively; the two of them were alone. "No one else knows about this, right?" she asked, lowering her voice to a whisper.
Yuya shook his head, "You're the first one."
"Okay, okay then…" the girl took deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself, "Is this going to be our little secret, or…"
Yuya was conflicted on what to do now that they had someone else to verify the existence of the other three boys; while he would've loved to open everyone's eyes to the fact, there wasn't even a trace of their existence remaining in all the dimensions. Even if people didn't just dismiss Mieru's crystal apple as a symbolic token that had no real merit, there would be no one to care about them being stuck in Yuya's body unless he could jog people's memories.
"Let's just keep this between us for now, Mieru," Yuya decided to play it safe until he had more definitive proof, "I don't want to freak everyone out like I did to you."
As expected, she had no qualms about this, and enthusiastically replied, "Sure thing, sweetie pie! You can always trust Mieru Houchun when it comes to these things!" She began to scurry away, though not before passing on a dreamy smile to Yuya and some more good fortune. "Good luck with your duel tomor—wait… isn't your duel today?"
Yuya had to stop himself from groaning in disappointment, but Mieru had already put it together before he even had the chance. "It is today! The arena, that's where you're headed, right? Since we already went this far together, I'll walk with you the rest of the way!"
He stifled a sigh this time as Mieru rejoined him at his side, gushing about how she's sure his dueling talents reached "a new quota" when traversing the dimensions, asking when she could meet his parents, while also not so subtly proclaiming her love for him every now and then. With her near constant chatter and his counterparts' never-ending teasing, Yuya was sure he'd have a major headache by the time he got to the arena, that is, assuming he'd even make it there without losing his mind.
This was going to be a long walk.
This chapter was pretty plot based and just setting things up for later chapters at the moment. Reira is indeed a toddler, but hey, I gave a pretty reasonable explanation for it, I think. So Reiji now thinks Yuya's deluded, poor tomato boy just learned his lesson about trying to convince others about the counterparts. But hey, now he has another believer in Mieru (aka best girl in the anime, don't at me), so that's pretty cool. Yuya's also got some celebrity status now, something I wish the anime touched on a bit considering all the stuff he did for the dimensions.
So just to reiterate, it's everyone's memories that are altered, not the timeline itself. Yuya's not in any sort of alternate reality, it's just that all the memories of the Bracelet Girls and Yu-boys have been erased and promptly filled in with fake ones, like how Reiji recalls Ray's life force being distributed throughout the dimensions instead of reincarnated into four.
Next chapter, we'll be getting into the actual duels, and it will be an actual tournament setting for the conclusion of the championships, not a Battle Royal like the anime did, just to let you all know ahead of time. The duel featured will probably catch you guys off guard, but just know the only reason it's happening is because of everyone's perceived memory of the canon tournament back in Season 1 being altered. You can probably put two and two together from there, but if not, next chapter's coming out soon.
And now to address the reviews from last chapter since every Fanfic writer seems to do this nowadays: (plus I gotta increase my word count somehow ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)
Green Phantom Queen: Thanks for the compliment! I too have been reading plenty of fix it fics and was actually thinking of writing one from all the way back to Season 2 canon, but the amount of work I'd have to put in deterred me in the end. It definitely annoyed me how little Yuya and the others remembered initially and how we had to spend episodes of them floundering around while Reiji (because he's… Reiji?) remembered everything right away. Yuri's redemption is kind of a tricky thing to address, he'll be compliant because he has no other choice of course, but the main issue is ensuring his heart is truly committed to what Yuya and the other counterparts want to accomplish.
Villain Princess: Thank you! Haven't heard that about my writing in a while!
nightshroud96: Wow, you expanded a lot on how the dragons were shafted in the anime. Honestly, I found Yuya's egao philosophy along with the rage of the dragons for humanity encouraging their destructiveness to be a treacherous precipice in the anime. It was a difficult thing to balance, and towards the end, it was clear the writers missed a few steps in having the dragons accept it with their own heart, not just Yuya using them when he's ready. I'm of the opinion that being with him the longest, Yuya's dueling reminded Odd-Eyes of how Zarc used to be before he got corrupted, and caused at least some change of heart, if not completely. As for Dark Rebellion, he's been with Yuya less, but hey, you can't tell me that dragon is inherently evil/seeking vengeance when it grins like a damn idiot inside a colourful rocket ship (see Episode 108). At the end of the day, it was Zarc who ultimately caved in at the end, though he did grant humanity their wish… but everyone's at fault for that outcome. It's a shame we got little closure for the dragons in the anime.
Regarding your other point, I'm not too sure all the dragons necessarily wanted to be reunited the second time, despite all evidence pointing to the contrary. Sure, the first time it was of their master's own will, but the second time, they had formed bonds of their own with Zarc's fragments (though you could suggest they shared no lingering emotional attachment but I disagree). As for Yuya deliberately destroying Odd-Eyes at the end with Smile Universe, that was pretty messed up, but it was Zarc's corrupted Odd-Eyes in his defense lol.
Raging Dragon was an interesting concept for sure in the anime, but I think the writers made the right decision in deferring back to Rebellion Dragon after Zarc was dispersed from Yuya. It may have resonated with how the dragons felt towards humanity, but at the same time, the duelist who wields the cards has to be of a similar mindset.
hlglh: Yeah, Arc-V gets a lot of hate nowadays, don't get me wrong some of it was warranted, but it had so many things going for it for the first two seasons, even if it dragged on. It really wasn't outlandishly bad or rushed until late in the Xyz Dimension with Kaito and Edo's sudden change of heart, followed by the mess that was the Fusion Dimension arc, yeesh. Unfortunately, people tend to remember the negative things, especially when the series fell so hard at the end, but ah well. I just imagine a better canon Season 3 to go with the first two seasons and smile. :) Appreciate the comment, thanks!
Be sure to review, rate, follow, fav, and whatever other cool features this site has if you're enjoying the story so far! Always appreciate any kind of support I get, I'm just a guy trying to write for the hell of it. I'll attempt to update this story about once a week or so, though schooling will likely conflict with that schedule later on. So next chapter ought be out by about next Friday, Sunday at the latest. Standard/Pendulum Dimension will be getting a lot of focus next couple of chapters, just as some further closure, development, and appearances for characters who were written off in the anime.
That's about all I can reveal for now in terms of story, until next time,
-BasketballIsFun
