Here is the fourth chapter! Please enjoy! I am still accepting OCs, so look back on the last couple of chapters for info on how to submit. Again, please enjoy.


*Hallway, Tokyo University Duel Academy*

There was a board on the wall that had a bunch of paper tabs with writing on them. Spiral and Shroud were both staring at the wall, with Naoto right next to them.

"So, what are these exactly?" Spiral had to ask.

"These are missions that the students here can choose to complete." Naoto explained. "These act as a mandatory homework assignments in addition to what is given in class. Unlike class homework, you must complete one of these missions every week. Once you've picked one, you need to inform your homeroom teacher and through your Duel Disk and Duel Gazer, they keep track of your progress. When you think you've finished, you report back to the teacher and you won't have to do any more missions until next week."

"So, what happens when you complete more than one?" Spiral asked again.

"Then you don't have to do a mission the next week." Naoto answered. "However, you must complete the mission by the deadline or else you get a 0. You can make up for it by completing two missions the following week, so you almost always have an opportunity to redeem yourself."

"What is the objective of these missions?" Shroud asked this time.

"They all involve dueling and the missions vary in objectives and difficulty." Naoto continued to explain. "Some might require you to complete a particular number of duels or win a duel in a particular condition or just successfully summoned a particular type of monster a certain number of times."

"Interesting…" Shroud said as he was stroking his chin like it was a beard. "I'm going to take the hardest mission possible. That will make my triumph even that much sweeter."

Shroud looked over the missions, took one and walked away.

"At least Shroud's idiosyncrasies are making our lives easier this time." Spiral said.

Just as Spiral said that, Camaru walked up to the board and was looking at the available missions.

"It sounds like your friend is a bit quirky." Camaru started talking to them.

"Please, Shroud's gotta be looking at quirky in the rearview mirror." Naoto made a witty comment.

Camaru took a mission from the board. "I've seen you duel yesterday, Spiral. You're pretty good. How did you get those cards? I never heard of them before."

"Well, it's a little… complicated." Spiral gave an answer.

"Well, how about we duel so we can further complete our respective missions for the week?" Camaru offered. "Plus, I would like to see more of that Deck of yours!"

"I accept that challenge!" Spiral agreed. "I'll pick out a mission and we can meet after school."

"You got it!" Camaru was excited as he left.

"Come to think of it, I've never heard of those Legend cards either." Naoto brought up. "How did you come across those?"

"The Guardians appear whoever they deem the most worthy."

Hikari walked up to Spiral and Naoto.

"He or She who carries the heart of a hero is granted the power of the Guardians as their chosen one." Hikari continued to preach like a priestess. "It is truly an honor to meet you, chosen hero." Hikari bowed to Spiral. "If you'll excuse me, I need to get to class."

Hikari left almost as soon as she came.

"That was weird." Naoto said.

*I wonder…* Spiral thought to himself. *… could that explain how I got them?*


After classes had ended for the day, Spiral and Camaru went out onto the duel field and took their positions.

"I saw you duel the other day." Camaru pointed out. "Even though you won by surrender, you still seem like a strong opponent."

"I'm glad to know you're not underestimating me." Spiral wittingly said.


Back in the girl's dorms, Aura and Momo were busy with their homework, but something was on Aura's mind.

"Um… Momo, mind if I ask you something?" Aura asked in a stuttering voice. "How do you and Spiral know each other? I remember him saying that he lived with you and your family, but I think I would like to know the whole story."

"If that's all you wanted to ask, you could have just done so." Momo reassured her. "It was quite some time ago, I think I was about 4 when we first met and Spiral was 2."

"He was that young?" Aura asked.

"I remember it was a dark night and a woman came to the door." Momo continued her story. "My grandfather talked to her like he knew her and…"

Momo had just stopped talking for a moment, as though something was going through her mind.

"Excuse me, but 'like her knew her and' what?" Aura tried to bring Momo back to Earth. "Oh, sorry, something just crossed my mind. Anyways, I couldn't hear the conversation, but I could tell that they knew each other because they spent quite some time talking. When all of that was going on, Spiral was asleep the whole time. He was 2 after all. When the woman left, my grandfather came up to me and told me that we would be looking after Spiral. He wouldn't say why and I didn't ask, and that's how we met."

"Okay, but who is Daisuke?" Aura gave Momo another question.

"Right, none of you know." Momo kind of chuckled. "That was some time after Spiral came to live with us. Probably about 7 years since he started living with us. Because we lived in a village in a forest, we were naturally curious as to what the cities were like."

"So you snuck out into the city?" Aura guessed.

"Actually, no." Momo rejected that guess. "He came wandering into the forest one day and during a training exercise, we found him wandering around and tried to send him back home. We had to do it indirectly, however. We were members of a ninja clan that had rivals; we had to keep it secret. Unfortunately for us, he found us and the jig was up."

"If you knew this guy, then why do you think he's responsible for what happened to your family?" Aura kept pouring on the questions.

"We were told different things from the same source and the evidence is stacked against him." Momo explained. "The most likely suspect has to be him, but that doesn't explain what happened to my grandfather."

"You said your clan was attacked, right?" Aura wanted to clarify. "How many people did you lose?"

"… Only my grandfather and I remained after that incident." Momo said in sorrow and grievance.

"I'm sorry for you losses." Aura consoled her. "You must miss your parents."

"Actually… my parents were dead well before that." Momo looked even sadder. "You see… my mother died giving birth to me and my father committed suicide from the grief."

"I'm sorry I brought that up." Aura apologized. "It was inconsiderate of me."

"Don't be sorry." Momo reassured her. "You didn't know. And we're friends, so you have a right to know."

Both Aura and Momo smiled at each other and continued to work on their homework.


Both Spiral and Camaru had their Duel Disks and Duel Gazers activated. All that was left was for them to start the duel.

"Let's duel!" They both shouted as the Duel commenced.

Spiral (LP 4000) Camaru (LP 4000)

Chan and Chun came by and sat next to Naoto.

"Spiral duelin'?" Chun asked.

"Yeah, against Camaru." Naoto answered.

"Who's he?" Chan asked this time.

"He sits in front of me in class. He's been here as long as I have. That was back in April, so we've been friends for about 5 months."

"Is he any good?" Chan asked again.

"He sure is." Naoto said in confidence. "This is going to be an interesting Duel."

"Is he roommates with you guys?" Chun wondered.

"No, he lives in the city. I believe he actually lives in a penthouse."

"He's rich? !" Chun seemed surprised.

"Not him; the owner of a hotel took him in some time ago." Naoto clarified. "I think he told me it was because he reminded the owner of his own son."

"So he's an orphan, like Momo is now?" Chun tried to clarify.

"I guess, but he was alone most of his life, having to duel for food and survival." Naoto continued. "He hasn't told me anything that happened before that."

"Sounds like he has had it tough." Chun said. "Aura, Chun and I are lucky to have been born into wealthy families."

"I'll make the first move!" Camaru drew his first card. "I'll summon a monster face-down in defense mode, set one card face-down and end my turn!"

"Then it's my turn!" Spiral said as he drew his first card. "I summon Legendary Guardian Force Breaker (Lv.4 1900/1100)!"

A completely armored humanoid with spikes on the fists of his armor appeared on the field.

"Force Breaker, attack his face-down card!" Spiral declared his attack.

Force Breaker charged in with his spiked fists, but Camaru's face-down card was revealed as a long-haired knight with armor shaped like shields and blocked the attack with its armor.

"My Gardna Champion (Lv.3 600/1900) has enough defense points to block your attack! You take no damage, but neither monster is destroyed!"

"I'll set one card face-down and end my turn!" Spiral ended his turn.

"My turn!" Camaru drew another card. "First, since I have a Champion on the field, I can Special Summon Gusto Champion (Lv.4 1600/1200) from my hand!"

A knight in green armor with wings and goggles appeared on Camaru's side of the field.

"Then I Normal Summon Shining Champion (Lv.4 1700/1200)!"

A ninja knight with bright armor and a shining katana appeared alongside Camaru's other Champions.

"As long as Shining Champion is out, all of my Champions gain 500 attack points!" Camaru pointed out. "Shining Champion, attack Force Breaker!"

Shining Champion took his katana and slashed Force Breaker, destroying him and inflicting Spiral with 300 points of damage.

Spiral (LP 3700) Camaru (LP 4000)

"Now, Gusto Champion will attack you directly!" Camaru made another attack.

Gusto Champion dived right into Spiral and inflicted him with 2100 points of damage.

Spiral (LP 1600) Camaru (LP 4000)

"I activate the Trap Miracle's Wake!" Spiral responded to the damage. "This allows me to bring back a monster that was destroyed in battle this turn!"

Spiral used his Trap to bring back Force Breaker to his side of the field.

"Why didn't Spiral bring back Force Breaker before the direct attack?" Chun wondered. "He would have taken less damage."

"Isn't it obvious?" Chun pointed out. "He needs Force Breaker for something else and couldn't risk losing him."

"I end my turn!" Camaru ended his turn.

"Are you calling me stupid? !" Chun got angry.

"I don't know, you seem to be taking this the wrong way." Chan talked back to her sister.

"I am not stupid! I'm just not particularly perceptive!" Chun retaliated to Chan's comment.

"Hey girls, calm down." Naoto tried to calm them down.

"STAY OUT OF THIS!" The twin yelled at Naoto.

"Wanna settle this the old fashion way?" Chun challenged Chan.

"Let's fight! Kung Fu style!" Chan accepted her sister's challenge.

Chan and Chun got into a chaotic fight as the duel went on and Spiral drew his next card.

"I summon Legendary Guardian Wave Fighter (Lv.3 1400/800) and since I successfully Normal Summoned a Legend-type card, I can Special Summon the Tuner Legendary Guardian Aviary (Lv.3 1500/700)!" Spiral summoned two monsters in the span of 10 seconds. "Then I activate Wave Fighter's ability! Each turn, I can select a card you control and that card cannot activate its effects or change Battle Positions and all effects are negated until the End Phase! I choose to negate Shining Champion's effect!"

Wave Fighter shot a sound pulse from her fist at Shining Champion and its effect was negated, returning all of the attack points of Camaru's monsters to their original power.

"I think I'll now tune Aviary with Wave Fighter to Synchro Summon Legendary Guardian Echo (Lv.6 2400/1900)!"

Wave Fighter's armor was mostly removed, revealing her flowing purple hair and black leather suit that lied underneath it.

"And now I use Echo's ability! Each turn, I can inflict you with 400 points of damage for each card you have on the field!"

Echo shot a sound wave at Shining Champion, which bounced off him to Gusto Champion, then to Gardna Champion, then to Camaru's face-down card and then to Camaru, inflicting him with a total of 1600 points of damage.

Spiral (LP 1600) Camaru (LP 2400)

"Now, Echo, attack Gusto Champion!" Spiral declared his counterattack.

Echo dashed toward Gusto Champion, but Gardna Champion took the attack instead and was destroyed.

"Thanks to Gardna Champion being in defense mode, you could only attack him!" Camaru explained.

"That won't protect your monsters this time! Force Breaker, attack Shining Champion!"

Force Breaker punched Shining Champion with its spiked fist, destroying him and inflicting Camaru with 200 points of damage.

Spiral (LP 1600) Camaru (LP 2200)

"And since Force Breaker destroyed a monster in battle, I can destroy a card on the field!" Spiral described Force Breaker's effect.

Force Breaker then punched Camaru's face-down card, which was A Hero Emerges, and destroyed it.

"I'll set one card face-down and end my turn!" Spiral concluded his turn.

The twins were still fighting with each other. Unfortunately, Chun managed to send Chan flying right into Camaru, knocking him to the ground in a dust cloud. When the dust settled, the pendant that was around Camaru's neck had ended up in Chan's hand. As soon as the pendant came off, something about Camaru had changed. He got back up and the look on his face was much different than before.

"Anyway, it's my turn now." Camaru said in a different tone of voice as he drew his next card. "First, I summon Ninja Champion (Lv.4 1500/1300)."

A ninja in a blue outfit wearing a red scarf that covered his mouth appeared on the field.

"Next, I activate the Spell Card Ray of Champions. By discarding a Champion from my hand, I can Special Summon a Champion from my Graveyard. I discard Death Champion (Lv.4 1600/1200) from my hand to bring back Shining Champion."

Shining Champion reappeared on the field in a ray of light. After the summoning, a girl demon dressed in white and black with a dark shadow floating behind her appeared behind Echo and the demon went inside of Echo.

"When Death Champion is sent to the Graveyard, I can equip her to one of your monsters and decrease its attack points by 600." Camaru explained in that unusual tone again. "Now that I have 3 Level 4 monsters, I can now construct the overlay network."

Shining Champion, Gusto Champion and Ninja Champion transformed into streams of light that entered a cosmic vortex that appeared in front of Camaru.

"I Xyz Summon Sage Champion Kadoe (Rank 4 2700/2100)!"

Out of the vortex appeared a magician in dark blue with four glowing swords on his back.

"Now, Kadoe, attack Echo and end him."

Kadoe threw one of the glowing swords at Echo.

"Hold on!" Spiral interrupted. "I activate the Continuous Trap Legendry Magic Barrier! As long as I control a Legend-type monster that is a Light, Water or Wind Attribute, all monsters I control aren't affected by your card effects!"

The demon that was possessing Echo was forced out of her body and she regained her attack points. However, Kadoe's sword still went through her and inflicted Spiral with 300 points of damage. Then the sword went into Spiral.

"When Kadoe destroys a monster, I can detach a Xyz Material to inflict you with damage equal to half of the destroyed monster's attack points."

Spiral (LP 100) Camaru (LP 2200)

"I end my turn. Make your pathetic move." Camaru insulted Spiral.

"Camaru, what's going on with you? !" Naoto shouted at him. "I know that you've always enjoyed dueling and you never care if you win or lose!"

*Naoto's right.* Spiral realized in his thoughts. *Camaru has been acting kind of like a jackass in his last turn. Ever since… since…* "Chan, put that pendant back on Camaru!"

"Huh? Why?" Chan asked as she was tending to her own injuries.

"Just do it!" Spiral insisted without telling her.

Chan did what Spiral said and put the pendant back around Camaru's neck. After it was put back on, Camaru experienced another change.

"… oh, what happened?" Camaru asked in a groggy state. "Huh? Wait, when did I summon… oh, I think I know what happened. I'm sorry if I said anything out of line."

"It worked." Spiral said with relief.

Naoto was also relieved to know that his friend was all right again.

"Camaru what exactly happened to you?" Spiral asked.

"Well, you see, I was born with a split personality: one that isn't very nice." Camaru began to admit. "This pendant is the only thing that keeps that personality within me. I'm sorry for whatever he did or said."

"… There's no need for you to be sorry." Spiral assured Camaru. "Some people are born with conditions that are out of their control. I'm just glad you're the 'good' personality."

*Actually, there is more to that story…* Camaru thought. *My parents were trapped in the Shadow Realm before I was born there. That's what caused this other me to be created. I'd still be stuck in the Shadow Realm if it wasn't for my parents' cards. If it weren't for my parents, I wouldn't be here right now. I wouldn't have made any friends."

Camaru smiled at everyone and they smiled back.

"Now, let's end this duel!" Spiral stated as he drew his next card. "I summon Legendary Guardian Setsuka (Lv.4 1700/1600)! And since Setsuka was Normal Summoned while I control a Legend-type monster, she can destroy one card on the field!"

Setsuka unsheathed her sword, disappeared and then reappeared behind Kadoe, sheathing her sword. As soon as she sheathed it, Kadoe was destroyed.

"And now I overlay Force Breaker and Setsuka!"

Force Breaker and Setsuka became streams of light that entered a dark space hole that appeared in front of Spiral.

"I Xyz Summon Legendary Guardian Twilight Angel (Rank 4 2500/1900)! Camaru, I summoned Twilight Angel because she's much like you. She has two personalities to her: one of light and one of darkness. And it will be her to defeat you! Twilight Angel, attack Camaru directly!"

Twilight Angel created a dark spear in her right hand and a light spear in her left. Both of the spears were thrown at Camaru, reducing his Life Points to 0.

Spiral (LP 100) Camaru (LP 0)

The augmented reality had vanished and the duel had ended. Camaru was smiling as Spiral walked up to him.

"That was… an AWESOME DUEL!" Camaru became ecstatic. "You really are an amazing duelist!"

"You definitely weren't bad at all, yourself." Spiral complimented him back. "I haven't had a duel that intense since I dueled Shroud."

"Thanks, you guys." Camaru seemed grateful. "For understanding me, and being my friends."

Camaru gave a smile to Naoto and Naoto smiled back.

"All right, let's get back to our homes so we can finish our homework and then play Tekken Tag 2!" Chun said.

"I'll pair up with Spiral!" Chan called dibs.

"But we always fight as a tag team!" Chun complained.

"Not after today!" Chan gave an excuse.

Everyone laughed as they all went back to their respective homes.

When Spiral and Naoto got back to their room, Shroud was working on the computer.

"No Shroud for a few hours…" Naoto suddenly spoke. "It was nice while it lasted."

"Oh, Spiral, there was a package delivered to you." Shroud said.

Spiral looked on the desk and saw a box with his name on it. Spiral opened the box and saw a bracelet in there. It wasn't a fancy bracelet and not too fashionable or flashy either. Spiral then noticed there was also a letter in it.

"Who's it from?" Naoto asked.

"I'm not sure." Spiral answered in confusion. "The note only says 'There will be a time when this bracelet shall lead you to the answers. Keep this on your person at all times.' There's no name or return address. I wonder what this means."


English Voice Cast

Todd Haberkorn Spiral

Kyle Herbert Camaru

Yuri Lowenthal Naoto

Alison Viktorin Chan/Chun

Alexis Tipton Aura

Monica Rial Momo

Maxey Whitehead Shroud

Laura Bailey Hikari


Preview

Camaru: I didn't think I'd get a chapter dedicated to me so soon!

Spiral: Well, the author's acknowledging anyone who submitted an OC before the true story begins.

Naoto: Speaking of true story, who do you think gave you that necklace? A secret admirer perhaps?

Spiral: Then wouldn't the letter have hearts in it or a line stating 'I feel I must confess my love to you'?

Naoto: You got a point.

Camaru: Oh, that reminds me. Spiral, which of the girls do you like best?

Spiral: Huh?

Camaru: Is it Aura? Momo?

Spiral: Uh, the next chapter of Awakening of the Soul! Hikari the High Priestess!

Camaru: You still haven't answered my question.

Spiral: I'm not answering!


Spiral's Cards

Legendary Guardian Force Breaker

Legend/Effect (ATK 1900 DEF 1100)

Level 4/EARTH

As long as this card remains face-up on the field; your opponent cannot select another monster you control as an attack target. When this card destroys a monster as a result of battle: You can destroy 1 card on the field.

Legendary Guardian Echo

Legend/Synchro/Effect (ATK 2400 DEF 1900)

Level 6/WIND

1 Tuner + "Legendary Guardian Wave Fighter"

As long as this card remains face-up on the field; other cards you control cannot be targeted or destroyed by card effects. Once per turn: You can inflict 400 damage to your opponent for each card your opponent's side of the field.

Legendary Magic Barrier

Trap/Continuous

As long as you control a face-up LIGHT, WATER or WIND Legend-type monster: All face-up monsters you control are unaffected by your opponent's card effects.

Camaru's Cards

Gardna Champion

Warrior/Effect (ATK 600 DEF 1900)

Level 3/EARTH

As long as this card is in face-up Defense Position; your opponent cannot select another monster you control as an attack target.

Gusto Champion

Warrior/Effect (ATK 1600 DEF 1200)

Level 4/WIND

If you control a face-up "Champion" monster: You can Special Summon a "Champion" monster from your hand.

Shining Champion

Warrior/Effect (ATK 1700 DEF 1200)

Level 4/LIGHT

As long as this card remains face-up on the field; face-up "Champion" monsters you control gain 500 ATK.

Ninja Champion

Warrior/Effect (ATK 1500 DEF 1300)

Level 4/DARK

When this card is destroyed as a result of battle: Special Summon 1 "Champion" monster with 1500 or less ATK from your Deck.

Ray of Champions

Spell

Discard 1 "Champion" card from your hand: Special Summon 1 "Champion" monster from your Graveyard.

Death Champion

Warrior/Effect (ATK 1600 DEF 1200)

Level 4/DARK

When this card is sent to the Graveyard: Equip this card to a face-up monster your opponent controls. If this card is equipped to a monster; Decrease the ATK of the equipped monster by 600.

Sage Champion Kadoe

Spellcaster/Xyz/Effect (ATK 2700 DEF 2100)

Rank 4/DARK

3 Level 4 Monsters

When this card destroys a mosnter as a result of battle; you can detach 1 Xyz Material Monster from this card and, if you do, inflict damage to your opponent equal to half the ATK of the destroyed monster.