Welcome back everyone!
And now the duel between Yuya and Sora will start, and with Ruri in there too things will not go out as usual. And Yuto, Shun and Shark will get in the scene!
It was rather tiring for me to write this chapter as school schedule is very tight and I only got 4 reviews. Did I do something wrong? Please read and review, your appreciation will help me a lot in finding motivation to continue writing.
I forgot to say one thing during the last chapter, but Action Traps will appear more in this story. This is a really nice concept that sadly was only used in two episodes.
To Guest, Ruri will meet up with Yuto later, but not in the way you may have wanted though. And if you can, please create an account so I can distinguish you from other guest accounts.
To Imagine97, thank you for reviewing my story. Ruri beating goons was from a logical reason: she is at war, so she must know some right? Shark will definitely affect the story a lot.
Let's get started!
Chapter 8: One-way-ticket to the unknown
Three days…
Three long days, hopeless days…
Three days since Ruri disappeared and he fought another person who looked exactly like him. The event of that painful day still resided deep within him, creeping his heart, devouring his soul from life…
Three days he had to put up a strong façade in front of his friend, his mother and his comrades, avoiding the questions and the attempts to talk to him…
Three days he fought the enemy with an emotionless face, almost saying nothing during his fights, scaring the enemy and, unintentionally, his comrades somewhat…
Three days he struggled to cuddle himself on the bed, covering his entire body in a ragged blanket, hiding his eyes from any sources of light to sleep, but he could not hide his sadness. The sadness of losing Ruri, his friend, his comrade, his girlfriend. He could not sleep, he could not get rid of that feeling, he could not find even a little piece left in his mind, at all…
Luckily, or maybe worriedly, the third night, he was able to sleep for a few hours, probably because of the slowly draining emotion…
"Wake up Yuto! Eisuke called everyone for a meeting right now! We gotta hurry!"
Yuto woke up to a voice and a poke in the ribs. He stirred, wiping his eyes, trying to wake up. After letting out a yawn with his left hand covered his mouth to preserve modesty in front of someone who had woken him up, he opened his sleepy eyes and saw his mother there, looking at him in worry.
"What's up Mom? Why did you wake me up?" He asked her in a tired voice.
"Kaito's father called all of the Resistance members to a meeting, a very important one. About taking leverage in this war or something!"
"What? You sure?" Yuto asked in wonder.
"Yes. We need to go now, your friends and others are coming too!"
Yuto quickly got up, not forgetting to put on his Duel Disk and came out of the tent with his mom, going to the meeting room where something important will be held. Along the way, they saw Shun, Ryoga, Rio and Kaito among the Resistance members.
"Everyone!" Yuto told them. They turned around and greeted him and his mother.
"Hey Yuto!" Shun spoke.
"Hello Akio-san!" The Kamishiro siblings greeted the woman.
"Hi kids!" Yuto's mother told them.
"Come on, my father is waiting for all of you!" Kaito reminded them. They all walked faster and after a short while, they were at the gate of the meeting room, which used to be a theater. They walked inside and took the front row seat.
"My father wanted all of you to sit here."
"Why Kaito? What does he need from us?" Yuto wondered.
"You don't wanna know…" was Kaito's cryptic answer before he went to the backstage. Yuto looked at his mom and saw her worry over him had increased. He realized it must be something from him. However, he decided not to press his mother for information and just wait.
After a while, a man in his 50s came out. He wore a ragged black shirt, a dark blue pants and a glass on his eyes. He also had a Resistance scarf worn on his right arm. He cleared his throat before asking the audience to keep quiet.
"Hello everyone, I am Tenjo Eisuke, the lead programmer in this city. And I called all of you here because I have found out a useful information that could end this war!"
"What?" All of the people here were surprised of course, for since the war began, they had always been on the defense, trying their best to fight back Academia, but to no avail.
"Yes, I have found out a clue to our counter against the enemy. However, where to find it… is not here!"
"Where?" One man asked.
"Standard." Eisuke finished.
"A different dimension?"
"Yes." The programmer then remained silent for a while to let the information sink in. Yuto, Shark, Rio, Shun looked at him in interest while Akio was frowned.
"The information I have found out is, the headmaster behind this war, Akaba Leo, has a son in the Standard Dimension, and I want some of our members to go there and capture him, using him as leverage to force him to end this war!"
All of the people here were lit up with hope. Hope for the horrible, meaningless, disastrous war to end. Hope for a means to change tables. Hope for bringing back piece and smile to their damaged homeland. After a while, a man stood up.
"I volunteer Eisuke-san!" Everyone looked at him in admiration.
"Me too!" Another one stood up.
"Me too!" A girl did the same.
"Of course I am too! I wanna end this war quickly!" Another girl...
"I appreciate for your heroism. But my father has already chosen the volunteers!" Kaito suddenly came out to the stage and talked.
"Who, Kaito?" Yuto asked.
Kaito looked at Yuto with a serious look before eyeing the stage again.
"We took the Academia's Duel Disk and reverse-engineered their dimension transporting program. However, to make sure that the mission is successful, my father and I had chosen 3 members of us, the best, to do this! And they are the three men who are sitting at the front row right now!" Everyone turned to the front row seat to see Yuto, Shun and Shark panicked, surprised for being chosen for this mission. Rio was fearful, and so was Akio, but she managed to keep a straight face.
"Can't… can't be! Shark is not doing this! I will!" Rio defied.
"Rio, this is the final decision. It has been discussed for an entire day!" Kaito told Rio, who was panicked and near tears.
"Now, come over to the stage, our dear members!"
Reluctantly, Yuto, Shun and Shark came out of their seats and walked into the stage. They faced the audience, all nervous.
Kaito told the group "Now, remember this! You three carry on the will of the Resistance, the spirit of us! You get to Standard, you bring in the son back here, and we will win this war! There is no going back from this! My father had chosen all three of you after watching your experiences during the war! Which means you are very strong, very brave and very courageous! You finish the mission, and we will celebrate the freedom, all right?"
Moved by the speech, they froze for a while before loudly declared "YES!"
All of the Resistance members cheered at this 'death squad' with hope, while Rio and Akio could not stop their tears flowing down…
After giving their Duel Disks to Kaito so that Eisuke can install the program, Yuto, Shun and Shark returned to their tents. Despite being called brave by Kaito, Yuto knew he was just boosting the member's morale to entrust their wishes to them. Inside, Yuto was scared, very scared. Now he had to go to a completely different dimension, an unknown place, to capture the son of Akaba Leo, which he had no idea who that man was, or whether he is dangerous or not. He thought back of the times before, with his parents, his friends, and Ruri.
Ruri…
The very girl who kept his sadness, his grief, and his anger in control. The girl who taught him to keep his optimism and his smile, to keep who he is. Now, she was gone, and it was his fault. He couldn't do anything. But now, facing the chance to bring her back and end the war, Yuto was filled with hope. The hope to save her, the hope to bring back her beautiful smile, and the hope to end this war. He allowed himself to smile a little, a small one but filled with hope.
"You love her don't you?"
His face reddened by the exact thing that he did not want to tell to anyone yet. He turned to the source and saw his mom standing there, smiling at him.
"How… how do you know?" Yuto wanted to know.
"Usually when being given a serious objective like this, you would be very serious, and especially in this situation, you would be scared or a lot like a baby. But I saw you smile at this. Which means only one thing is in your mind right now… You want to bring Ruri back."
"Y…Yes…" Yuto managed after freezing for a while, staring at his mother in disbelief at her perspectiveness.
She walked to him and sat next to him. She looked at her son.
"Look. I was shocked and scared too when Eisuke told me. Every voices in my head wanted to disapprove this, they wanted to tell me to say to him that he forgot that stupid thought in his mind. But I held back, because I knew why he chose you and Shun and Shark. Your bravery made him choose you for this mission. I really wanted to cry, to beg him to not bring you in this, but I had to remain strong, for you Yuto!"
Yuto nearly cried at her struggle not to cry. He knew she did not want this just as much as him.
"You're a brave man, Yuto, just like your father. I know you are strong, you really are a man even though you do not know it. Don't be afraid of yourself. Be strong, and do your best to bring Ruri back and to end this war!" With that, Yuto couldn't stop his tears anymore. He cried and hugged his mother deeply, who hugged him gently.
"I… I… I don't wanna do this Mom! I'm not strong and I'm not brave! I'm scared Mom! I don't know if I could do this! I'm scared Mom! I'm scared…"
"Ssshhhh…" Akio calmed Yuto down. "Just believe in yourself Yuto, I know you can do this!" She encouraged him, even though she tried her best to hide her own tears…
"Here, this is your Duel Disk!" Kaito gave the purple resistance Duel Disk to Yuto, who took it and wore on his right arm.
"Press the left icon, it's the dimension transport program!" Yuto did that and the interface appeared. There were 2 locations: Heartland and Standard.
"So I just have to press the Standard word and I will be in that dimension right?" Yuto asked.
"Yes." Kaito confirmed.
"Wait, Kaito. Shark I can understand. But why Shun?"
"Because he's strong and capable. He is a really good fighter!"
"But you know his recklessness and the distrust he is having right now right! Bringing him in will cause a lot of unwanted attention, and even pulling innocents on the way!" Yuto protested.
"We have no choice, Yuto. To be honest, Kurosaki is surely on edge right now, but his skill is the reason we chose him for this mission. Maybe that recklessness and distrust will help you three get closer to finish your mission somehow." Kaito reassured Yuto.
After thinking about what he said for a while, Yuto sighed, giving in. "Fine… But I'll make sure to watch out for him."
Kaito touched Yuto's shoulders. "Hope so. Good luck buddy!"
"Yeah." Yuto told him. Kaito walked away to greet Shark and Shun.
"Me and my father entrusted you with this mission. Don't fail us." Kaito told them. He then gave them their Duel Disks back.
"Whatever you do in that dimension, please come back home safe oni-sama! We have already lost our parents in this war, and I can't stand losing you too!" Rio told Ryoga, who reassured her with "Sure, I promise that my sister!" Rio then embraced him, tightly, both not wanting to let go of the other. But then things got to happen and they knew it. They separated. She finally kissed him on the forehead and turned to Shun.
"You too Shun. And remember don't be too reckless!"
"… uh… Yeah. Thank you Rio." Shun told her after thinking what to say at her warning.
Shun and Shark then walked to the center of the camp, waiting for Yuto to do the same, who is talking to his mother.
"I promise I will be back home with Ruri and end this war! I promise Mom!" Yuto said to Akio.
"Just be safe out there!" Akio simply wished him luck. Then she once again hugged her son. A warm, loving one, lingering the feeling of a mother having to see her offspring going out for battle with each passing second.
"OK Akio-san. Yuto, come with us!" Shun told them.
"It's time… Be safe Mom." Yuto whispered.
"Same to you." Akio told him.
Yuto released himself from his mother's hug and walked to his two friends, not looking back at her even once. She internally felt proud of her son for the maturity and manliness he just showed. Though from the inside, she knew he was just as afraid as everyone else. He simply took a façade in front of everyone.
"Good luck guys!" Kaito wished the trio luck.
With that, Yuto, Shun and Shark activated their Duel Disks, choosing Standard. They slowly turned into blue digital particles, disappearing from the Resistance camp while everybody was watching in hopefulness.
"WE'LL BE BACK!" They shouted one last time to their comrades before they were completely gone, no longer in sight. Everyone returned to their usual duties, besides Akio who went back to her tent and began crying freely. Rio followed her to the tent and confronted her, for they were sharing the same despair right now…
The despair of losing their loved ones by a suicide mission…
A morning, a beautiful morning, just like any other times. The sunlight went through the windows, hitting Yuya. Feeling something warm hitting his face, he tiredly stirred, took of the blanket and woke up. After wiping his eyes, he looked at the sunrise, admiring the gift the very Earth gave to him every morning to make a warm smile appear on his face. He then took a look at his pendant, a blue one. He grabbed the strings and shook it a little, making it swing like a pendulum like one from a Physics lesson he learned. Looking at it, he thought back for the advice his father made to him, the Pendulum Summon, the meeting with Ruri and Sawatari. That boy Sawatari, despite stealing his Pendulum Magicians, he really was competent. Cornering him to 600 LP and Pendulum Summon, the summon method belonging to him only, along with his serious demeanor during the duel. Yuya noted to himself that he must be careful with him from now on.
Stretching his stiff body, he took off his grey pajamas and worn on his usual clothing, an orange T-shirt, a dark green pants with two large pockets on its sides, a goggle with a star-shaped paper on the left mirror and a Miami School jacket on his shoulders, wearing it like a cape. For unknown reasons, he always managed to wear it like that without the jacket falling off. Yuzu, Shuzo, the kids and his mom usually joked him for this but he did not mind a bit about it. Yuya then opened the door to get out, wondering why that kid Sora came out knocking Sawatari and the gang like that and more of that, he did not know why the kid want to be his apprentice. It's not that he is a bad teacher, he just found it annoying, also taking his free time away as well. He did not think much of it anymore as two cats were running at him from his right.
He greeted the cats and took the brown one named En up. He complimented that En had grown up ever since his mom Yoko took it from the streets. The cat smiled in return. He then looked down and greeted Core, the white cat who was hugging his left foot.
"I knew you were hungry kid! Eat more!" His mom's voice spoke up downstairs.
Yuya slid down from the pole, wondering whether his mom brought home another cat, only to realize that the supposed 'cat' was actually… Shiunin Sora…
"Ah! Teacher!" The kid smiled at him. Yuya became shocked and ran to him.
"Why… why are you…"
"Ah, about that…" Yoko told him. "He was just walking around our house. I found him hungry so I 'picked' him home!"
"Picking a human is not right!"
"But, is this kid your apprentice?"
"NO!" Yuya loudly objected by knocking his fists down the table, making Yoko looked at him and Sora stopped eating, making an "Ehhh?"
"No "Ehhh"! Tick… Talking nonsense, freely going to another person's house and eating my breakfast too!"
"Come on! Your sister's pancakes are really good!" Sora turned to Yuya's mother, who looked surprised.
"Uh? Sister?"
"Eh, no? I'm sorry, it just that you looked pretty young so…" He did not realize that Yoko's face was filled with pure joy.
Yoko gladly forgave Sora and called him an honest child for complimenting her youth and beauty. She allowed Sora to have more pancakes as she… took Yuya's plate of pancakes and gives it to Sora.
"Eh mom! It's mine!" Yūya protested but Sora took his words away.
"Thank you nee-san!"
Deeply frustrated by the situation, he could only sigh in annoyance while Sora asked his mom for more food.
After a horrible breakfast, he walked to school with Yuzu.
"So that kid, Sora-kun right? He's in your house now?" Yuzu asked him.
"Eh… don't know how he could find my house…"
"Teacher!"
"HEH?" Yuya looked back in surprise to see Sora running after him. The kid simply gave him a sly smile.
"What are you doing here?"
"Cuz I'm your apprentice! Teacher goes to A, apprentice gotta go to A with teacher as well!" He innocently answered.
"I told you I did not take you in as my apprentice! Told you many…"
"Come on! Make me your apprentice! Watching your duels make me enthusiastic! Pendulum Summon is awesome! I wanna do it too!"
"But you can't Pendulum Summon without Pendulum Cards!" Yuya tried to reason with him.
"Then show me again! Please, please, please!" Sora requested with a begging face. Yuya and Yuzu looked on in disinterest. He then turned to Yuzu. "Nee-chan can you ask him to show me that again?"
Feeling a little troubled at the request, Yuzu asked him "Why should I do that?"
The answer from the blue-haired kid made her, and only known to Sora, Yuya blush "Because, teacher might do it if his girlfriend asks him to!" She wondered "Gir-girlfriend?"
"Heh, did I say anything wrong?" Sora asked after seeing that Yuzu and Yuya are rather unnerved.
"Of course you did!" The two glared and yelled at him at the same time.
"We're not boyfriend girlfriend or anything Sora! We're just friends!" Yuya hugely protested in embarrass then he turned to Yuzu, not caring about her blush. "Right Yuzu? We're not a couple of anything!"
"Uh? What Yuya?"
"Don't tell me you actually believe what he said? Your face is too red!" He told her.
Blushing further at his implications, Yuzu did not know how to respond. Too many things flooding her mind right now, tons of yes and no shouting within her. So she grabbed the big fan of hers from her bag and… SMACK!
"Don't ever think about it again Yuya!" She yelled at him in her moment of losing control and walk away, a blush still on her face. Yuya looked at her from behind, wondering what he did wrong, not noticing Sora was wondering for his well-being.
Time for class, the subject: Maths. He always dreaded that subject, for he is not too good with it, along with the embarrassing situation happened yesterday. So he grabbed a book, put it up in front of his face to cover him from the teacher and grabbed a pen, pretending to write on his notebook. He suddenly remembered the duel yesterday, especially about Sawatari Pendulum Summoning. He took the two Magicians out from his bag and inspected it.
"So… it's right. Anyone can Pendulum Summon with Pendulum Cards… It all came down to the cards…"
"What the hell is Sawatari planning to? I remembered there was a camera at the far corner of the stadium… and it was activated at that time. Which means someone was watching my duel… someone else wanted my Pendulum Cards too? If so, Sawatari wanted to take my cards to that person… yeah… my pendant created them anyway… no one can replicate one…"
The frowned look that he had on his face during his loss to his own world did not escape the watchful eyes of his childhood friend, who was sitting next to him right now. She looked at him, worryingly. "Was the event yesterday affecting him this much?"
The two, along with the entire class, was in the view of a binocular… of Shiunin Sora… who was hanging upside-down with his legs on the tree…
"Huh… Teacher is really depressed right now…"
So he decided to cheer him up… by constantly stalking him… during his soccer match, behind the chair, hiding under Yuya's table, and during… his private moment at the toilet…
"GRRRRRAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
…
…
…
"Heh~~" Yuya sighed in tiredness during his walk after school.
"Come on Yuya, you wanna wear that face for how long?" Yuzu tried to cheer him up.
"But…"
Yuzu suddenly touched his shoulders, causing him to jot up in surprise.
"When you go to school, remember to smile. Our school is always in bad shape. "Be enthusiastic for Entermate" is your motto, right?" She told him with a smile.
Looking at Yuzu, the main and always number one source of joy, he sighed in relievement, then the trademark smile appeared again on his face.
"Alright! Let's burn real hot today! Let's go to You Show!"
"That's Yuya!" Yuzu complimented him.
The two then ran to You Show Duel School together, smiling at each other.
Yuya and Yuzu arrived at You Show. Still excited, Yuya opened the door and ran to the meeting room.
"Hi everyone, the Entertainment Duelist Sakaki Yuya has shown… HUH?"
"Ah, teacher!"
Yuya literally slammed his face down on the ground after hearing those dreaded words. He managed to get up and went to Sora.
"You came here as well?"
"You're late Yuya-niichan!" Futoshi told him.
"Forcing the apprentice to wait!" Ayu added.
Troubled by the kid's words, he did not realize someone was walking behind him. He only did when that person yanked him off the ground, letting out a "Eh" in surprise. He turned around to see Shuzo was the one who did that. He wrapped his hand on his shoulders.
"Yuya, is your apprentice gonna enroll in this school? Nah nah nah!"
Yuya protested "I told you he's not!"
Ignoring his words, Sora begged him to duel. He really wanted to see Pendulum Summon again.
Yuya then asked him "What if I don't?"
Sora then made a cute, innocent face, making others felt pity for him. Seeing this situation, Yuya knew he could not decline this anymore, so he sighed in defeat and told him.
"Ok I will duel."
"Yeah!" Sora exclaimed.
"But! There is one condition!"
"Heh?"
"If I win, you will not follow me around anymore! No 'apprentice' or 'teacher' anymore!"
"Yeah, of course you know what will happen if I win right?"
"Uh…"
At that point, Ruri came up. Seeing the strange situation happening right now, she asked "What's wrong everybody?"
Everyone turned to her, including Sora.
"Ruri-neechan!" The kid greeted Ruri, who smiled at them in return.
"This kid Sora wanna duel with Yuya." Shuzo told her.
Ruri then looked at the blue-haired kid in black T-shirt.
"Oh, it's you from yesterday!"
"Yeah, you came here to see Yuya Pendulum Summon?"
"Nah, I just came here after a sleep to see if there is anything I can do."
"Well, you came here at the right time Ruri! Yuya will duel with Sora!" Yuzu told her.
"Oh! Well, in this case, do your best, Yuya, Sora!" Ruri encouraged them.
"Yeah!" Sora returned, while Yuya simply smiled.
Ruri felt something uneasy from this Duel, especially from Yuya, but she decided to pass it for not wanting to make others worried needlessly.
Standing at the action field were Yuya and Sora, with Yuzu, Ruri, Futoshi, Ayu, Tatsuya at the watching room and Shuzo at the Solid Vision machine.
"The last man standing in this battle, will it be you, or me?" Shuzo chanted. "Action Field On! Field Magic, Wild West Duel Town, activate!" He clicked the Enter button. On cue, the machine started working, changing the duel room into the typical Wild West town in America with the ficitional name Hell River. However, Sora started complaining.
"Eh~ eh~ eh~ how boring! I will not accept! Is there a better field?"
Both Yuya and Shuzo sighed. Eventually, he declared a new Action Field.
"Neo Action Field On! Sweets Island!" The west town turned into dust, in its place a wonderful field with a lot of candies, creams and breads appeared. Sora became elated. He complimented the field and thanked Shuzo for it. He became overjoyed, neglecting the sighed Yuya on the far side of the field.
Both Yuya and Sora activated their Duel Disks, a pink one for Yuya and a yellow one given by You Show School for Sora. Both contestants were in fighting stance.
"Duelist locked in battle!" Yuzu recited the Action Duel chant.
"Kicking against the earth and dancing in the air alongside their Monsters!" Tatsuya spoke.
"They storm through the field!" Came Futoshi. Ayu then continued "Behold!"
"The ultimate evolution of Dueling!" Ruri spoke up, having memorized the chant from Yuzu.
"ACTION…" Yuya said.
"DUEL!" Yuya and Sora both yelled at the same time.
Yuya: 4000 [5]
Sora: 4000 [5]
"I take the first turn! Entermate Discover Hippo summon!"
Entermate Discover Hippo EARTH Beast Effect LV3 800/800
"Turn end!"
"Boku no turn! Draw!" Sora drew his card, Toy Pot. He smiled at the sight of the Continuous Magic and activated it immediately. A large pot containing balls appeared, it is shaped like a big toy.
"By its effect, I can discard 1 card." He discard another Magic Card, Fusion Recovery. But Ruri caught a glimpse of the image of the card and she slightly felt unpleasant.
"Then I draw one card! Draw!" Sora drew a card and revealed it.
"Furnimal Bear, level 3! Yeah!" Sora smiled, then he slapped it onto the blade. The pot slammed a rod it held to the ground, making one of the balls in the pot came out. It slid on the slide then flew up, a swirl of energy came out, forming a cute pink bear with angel wings.
Furnimal Bear EARTH Angel Effect LV3 1200/800
Sora slapped another card, a cute lion appeared.
Furnimal Lio LIGHT Angel Effect LV4 1600/1200
Shuzo complimented to Sora's play, special summoning two monsters at once. Yuzu, Ruri and the kids, especially the girls, squealed at the sight of the cute animals. Yuya became slightly annoyed at their antics while riding Hippo, forgetting that he was about to hit a lake of juice. He suddenly looked at the lake and realized what might happen, but he instead jumped right into the lake, making Hippo wondered what happened to him. Yuya immediately climbed up shore and got up.
"Battle!" Sora declared. "Furnimal Lio, attack Discover Hippo!" The lio jumped at the pig, preparing to hit the latter. But Yuya smirked and sliding one card into his duel disk, then he jumped back into Hippo. The pig then made a side roll, avoiding the attack.
"What?" Sora exclaimed.
"Action Magic, Evasion!" Yuya explained.
"Eh~~ It's not fair~" Sora detested.
"Not fair? This is how "Action Duel" works!"
"So he found an Action Card in the lake and dove in to catch it?" Ruri realized.
"Wow! He's smart!" Ayu exclaimed.
"Oi Yuya watch out!" Yuzu suddenly told Yuya.
"Eh?" Yuya then looked at the front, and saw a big bread in front of him. He went right through it, making the others worried. They soon relieved when Yuya rose up from the top, along with Hippo.
"Furnimal Bear, attack Hippo!" Sora ordered the bear, who pounced at Hippo. Once again, Yuya held up an Action Card and activated it.
"Action Magic, Candy Shower!" An orange orb shot up to the sky and exploded, causing candy to rain down. Sora is in awe, but turned to find the bear eating a pile of candy in front of it.
"Oi! Why are you eating candies instead of attacking?" Sora complained.
"Because Candy Shower changed it to Defense!" Yuya explained.
"Eh? Well, I end my turn here. I should get an Action Card now!" Sora told him and ran away.
Yuya jumped down and drew his card, but he was surprised to find Sora… trying to get an Action Card by using his two animals as ladders. Sighed, Yuya jumped up. Sora was about to get an Action Card when suddenly, Yuya flew past and grabbed it. He looked at hit but…
"What the? Action Trap?"
"What? Action Trap?" Sora was blinded when the card suddenly turned red and went to the pig, making it gain a red aura.
Entermate Discover Hippo ATK 800 - 0
"Haizz… Break Shot…" Yuzu sighed. She knew what that trap was for she had seen it during Yuya's duel against Sawatari.
"It reduces ATK by 900…" Ayu chimmed in.
"So Action Cards are not always advantageous."
"Yeah…" Yuya bitterly spoke, remembering the unfortunate events happening yesterday. "But I got them in my hand anyway. You ready Sora?"
"Wait! Is that…" Sora realized.
"I, using the Scale 1 Stargazer Magician and the Scale 8 Timegazer Magician, Pendulum Scale setting!" The iconic special summon method returned in glory.
"It's here, it's here!" Futoshi shouted excitedly.
"Pendulum Summon!" Tatsuya did the same.
"Swing, Pendulum of the Soul! Draw an arc of light across the ether! Pendulum Shōkan! Appear now, my monsters!" Three mosters appeared.
"Entermate Amenboat! Entermate Sword Fish! And… Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!"
Entermate Amenboat WATER Insect Effect LV4 500/1600
Entermate Sword Fish WATER Fish Effect LV2 600/600
Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon DARK Dragon Pendulum Effect LV7 Scale 4 2500/2000
Sora was definitely happy with this. He complimented Yuya with a bright smile. "Amazing amazing teacher!"
"Not done yet! The real fun starts now! Sword Fish effect's activate!"
Furnimal Lio ATK 1600 - 1000
"Battle! Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, attack Furnimal Lio!" The dragon ran a little before jumping up, readying its signature red blast attack.
"Odd-Eyes, burn everything in front of you with that dual-colored eyes of yours! Rasen no Strike Burst!" The attack proceeded, destroying the lion. Sora was blown back from the top of the house to a pillow of marshmallows.
Sora: 4000 - 2500 [3]
Yuya concluded his turn but was worried to see Sora still not moving. Suddenly, he heard the boy laughed and saw him got up. Ruri was slightly nervous about this, for the smile is pretty similar to something she knew back home.
"Yes! It's like that!" Sora got up. "Such an amazing Pendulum Summon! Boku no turn, draw!" Sora drew his card. He closed his eyes.
"When I get this card, which means…" He opened his eyes. "My deck can really put on a show!"
"What? You were not playing seriously all the time?" Yuya was surprised.
"Really shine up after seeing a single card?" Ruri thought. "No… can't be…" Something certain that she knew might happen, but she still doubted it.
"You'll find out soon. Now I discard one card." He discarded another Magic Card with a picture of a noodle.
"What will come out, what will it be?" Sora chanted before drawing a card.
"Yoss! Edge-Imp Scissors level 3!" The ball once again came out of the pot, releasing the monster with malicious eyes and a lot of scissors joined together.
Edge-Imp Scissors DARK Demon Effect LV3 1200/800
"And now… Magic Card, Yugō, hatsudo!" Sora showed a card with an image of two orange swirls of energy joining together in a spiral. Then he activated it.
"What? Yugō?" Yuya was caught off-guard.
"Yu… Yugō…" Ruri was shocked.
"Claws of the demon! Fangs of the beast! Become one and reveal a new form and power!"
Sora clapped his hand together, which shocked Ruri even more. "Yugō Shōkan!"
"Eh, what is that?" Futoshi wondered.
"That's Fusion Summon! Monsters joining together to awaken a power residing in the Extra Deck!" Tatsuya told him.
The Extra Deck slot on Sora's Duel Disk opened, allowing a card to show up. Sora took it out and showed it to Yuya, a purple-framed card. "Appear, horrifying beast that shreds everything! Death-Toy Scissors Bear!" Sora slapped that card into the blade. A bear with red eyes inside its opened mouths and scissors piercing through its abdomen, the blades opened showed up, scaring Ayu, who clung into Yuzu for support, and Ruri, who was slowly beginning to breath heavily, her face horrified.
Death-Toy Scissors Bear DARK Demon Fusion Effect LV6 2200/1800
Sora smiled "So… teacher… from now I will show you what will happen when I duel seriously…" Those words made Yuya harden his face in anticipation, and Ruri became more horrified, her right hand clapped into a fist, trembling…
"Using Magic Card Yugō to join two monsters together and awaken the new monster!" Shuzo said.
"That is… Yugō Shōkan!" Yuzu and Shuzo finished.
"I heard LDS has only taught it recently… is he from LDS?" Shuzo wondered.
"He planned to join LDS but quit!" Yuzu explained.
Ruri managed to think despite the shock. "So he is not from LDS! Which means…" She realized something between hysterical breaths.
"Battle teacher! First let's make you unable to run anymore on the hippo!" The bear swung its fist into the hippo, making him fall down to the lake again. He managed to surface and got back shore. Everyone was relieved, especially Ruri, for she feared something bad might happen to him after the attack from the dreaded Fusion Monster.
Yuya: 4000 - 2600 [0]
Suddenly, the bear slammed its fist into the lake, pulling out the hippo and devoured it, shocking the people outside the field.
Death-Toy Scissors Bear ATK 2200 - 3000
"So, teacher, where is your seriousness before?" Sora taunted Yuya, then he set two cards down.
"Ore no turn, draw!" Yuya declared his turn. "Entermate Sword Fish's effect!"
Death-Toy Scissors Bear ATK 3000 - 2400
Yuya climbed onto Odd-Eyes "Battle!" The dragon began to run to the bear.
Sora quickly countered. "Trap activate! Jack in the Box! Now you lose one monster, Odd-Eyes loses ATK and the attack is negated!" Sora told him.
"Not gonna happen! Timegazer's effect activate! Inverse Gearwidth!" The trap re-set itself.
"Yeah yeah yeah, the time control effect! But… what about the second one?" Sora asked Yuya, who was unprepared. Sora activated the second trap, which is identical to the first one.
"He prepared by using two same traps?" Tatsuya and Yuzu realized.
"Typical…" Ruri thought, still breathing heavily.
"Now bye bye, Amenboat!" A big red hand joined to a large spring came out from the trap, grabbing Amenboat, turned it into energy and threw it at Odd-Eyes, making Yuya flew out from the dragon, and the dragon loses ATK.
Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon ATK 2500 - 900
"Come on, you look scary teacher!" Sora taunted Yuya, who simply switched Sword Fish to Defense Position and set the remaining card on his hand.
"Playing on the defense now, teacher, how boring~"
Death-Toy Scissors Bear ATK 2400 - 3000
Yuzu became worried for his friend. It was then that she realized heavy breathing sounds from behind. She turned around and was shocked to find who did that, Ruri. She was eyeing Sora (unknown to Yuzu), looking pale, only horror on her face, very near to losing sanity. Concerned, Yuzu nugged Ruri's shoulders. Ruri turned towards Yuzu, nearly screaming in surprise, luckily she only grasped low enough.
"You're ok, Ruri?" Yuzu asked.
Ruri managed to breathe in and out and regain her composure. "I'm fine Yuzu." She said with a smile. But a fake one, which Yuzu quickly realized. She shook her head in disapproval. Ruri frowned, she simply told her pink-haired friend.
"I'll tell you later. We got a duel to watch." With that Ruri returned to watch the duel again. Yuzu knew she could not press Ruri for information right now, so she did the same.
"Boku no turn, draw!" Sora drew his card. Another Magic Card, a card that will end the duel with his win.
"Let's finish this teacher! Magic Card, Toy Parade!" A card with the image of a parade consisted of toy soldiers appeared.
"It let my bear here attack for a number of times equal to the number of Equip Cards it has!" Sora explained.
"What?" Yuya shocked at this.
"Wait… which means…" Yuzu realized.
"It can attack three times!" Ruri finished with a stern face.
"Wait! How?" Futoshi wondered.
"Scissors Bears turns the destroyed monster it battles into its Equip Card!" Tatsuya told him.
"If it destroys Yuya's monsters now it can attack 2 more times!" Shuzo continued.
"Yuya…" Both Yuzu and Ruri became concerned for Yuya, albeit each with a slightly different reason.
Regaining composure, Yuya ran to the candy cane, where an Action Card is stuck at.
"I don't think so!" Sora jumped on the hand of Scissors Bear and it threw Sora to the Action Card, surprising everyone and making Ruri become tenser. He grabbed it before Yuya did and jumped down to the ground in a fluid motion, using the big candies to slow down his fall.
"Amazing!" Both Yuzu and Ayu said.
"Such perfect moves! Where did he learn it from?" Shuzo wondered.
"You may never know…" Ruri thought.
"It's good that I got rid of Discover Hippo! You cannot get Action Card that fast without it right?" Sora told Yuya, who noted the kid's cunning anticipation.
"Scissors Bear, attack Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!"
"Not a chance! Trap activate! Entermate Flash! I can change your monster to Defense!" A bright light emitted from Sword Fish, blinding Sora. But he used the Action Card that he snatched earlier.
"Action Magic, Candy Coat!" A big glass appeared, putting itself into the bear.
"Death-Toy Scissors Bear is unaffected by your Magic and Trap effects and cannot be destroyed by battle this turn!" Sora explained with a smile. "So sad, teacher!" Sora taunted Yuya, who gritted his teeth.
The bear punched the dragon, sending Yuya flying and Odd-Eyes to the pool.
Yuya: 2600 - 500 [0]
Yuya slowly got up, looking at Sora like telling him to attack him.
"And now, Scissors Bear, equip Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!"
Yuya did not say or do anything while Scissors Bear used its scissors to grab Odd-Eyes from the lake.
But it did not catch it.
The bear continued…
… in vain.
"Eh? What happened?" Sora wondered.
"What is happening here?" Shuzo also asked the same thing, and so did others.
"You cannot catch it…" Yuya finally spoke. "Because Odd-Eyes is not in the grave!"
"WHATTT?" Sora was shocked.
"Odd-Eyes is not in the grave?" Yuzu wondered.
"How?" Ruri did the same thing.
Yuya answered by showing the Duel Disk. The trio was shocked to find Odd-Eyes… in the Extra Deck!
"Why? Why is Odd-Eyes in the Extra Deck?" Sora asked him.
"Because Pendulum Monsters will go to the Extra Deck when they the field, allowing me to Pendulum Summon it back again if I want!" Yuya revealed.
"What? So this is why you overslept two days ago!" Yuzu realized.
"Uh!" Yuya told her. "To find the possibilities Pendulum Monsters can do! And this is it! Pendulum Monsters unique trait!"
Not being able to hide his excitement any longer, Sora yelled in joy "Interesting teacher! Pendulum Monsters when destroyed will go to the Extra Deck! Such a beast! If so, then I end my turn here! Teacher, it will be very interesting now right?"
"Uh, ore no turn, draw!" Yuya drew his card, another Pendulum Monster. "Good! The cast is all here now!" Yuya did a front flip.
"Everyone, please watch carefully!" Yuya told them. "Swing now, Pendulum of the soul! Draw an arc across the ether!" The big pendulum pendant identical to Yuya's drew past the magicians.
"Pendulum Shōkan! Firstly, I will show all of you a new Pendulum Monster! Entermate Cheer Mole!" A mole with two ring poms appeared. It look around frantically in shy before diving underground.
Entermate Cheer Mole EARTH Beast Pendulum Effect LV2 600/1000
"And now another monster!" A bright light shone up from the Extra Deck. Yuya took a card out.
"Be reborn with striking radiance! Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" The iconic red dragon appeared on the stage again.
"And now, I will show all of you the emotional support friends… to create the success of the show!"
"Everyone, I have a simple math question! If I use the effect of Sword Fish, 3000 minus 600 equals?"
"2400!" The kid shouted.
"Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon can now finish Death-Toy Scissors Bear!" Ruri realized.
"Yoss!" Yuya confirmed.
"But if that happens, I only lose 100 ATK, you cannot beat me with that!" Sora told him with a straight face.
"Really?" Yuya told him. "Now is the turn for the new cast! Entermate Cheer Mole! Everyone, watch this beautiful cheering!" The mole cheered at Sword Fish, making Ayu squealed.
"The change in ATK will be increased further by 1000!"
"Which means… 1600?" Sora realized.
Death-Toy Scissors Bear 3000 - 1400
"Shiveru!" Futoshi uncomfortably hugged Tatsuya.
"Furthermore, Bear is level 6, higher than 5!" Ruri told from the sidelines, smiling at the spectacular show Yuya was doing.
"What?" Sora asked.
"The battle damage between Odd-Eyes and Scissors Bear will be doubled!" Yuya told him.
"What? So…" Sora realized he will lose. He even forgot an Action Card was literally above him, just a 2-meter jump would do the job.
"Everybody! Cheer up!" Yuya asked the audience, who all said the same thing "Battle!"
"Odd-Eyes, burn everything in front of you with that dual-colored eyes of yours!" The dragon jumped up high.
"Rasen no Strike Burst!" It fired a red energy blast at the bear, destroying it. Sora covered himself from the blast.
Sora: 2500 - 300 [0]
"Now, Cheer Mole!" The mole digged under the ground before rising up at Sora, hitting him with the blade's sides, knocking him to the dollop of whipped cream. Sora rose up with cream on his head, sighed in defeat.
Sora: 300 - 0 [0]
A hologram projection showed up with an image of Yuya.
WIN
"He did it!" Futoshi yelled in joy.
"Yuya-niichan won!" Tatsuya continued.
"Fantastic!" Ayu finished.
Yuzu breathed out in relief that her friend had won. Ruri also had a bright smile on her face, seeing Yuya in a fun, entertaining duel. She once again thanked Yuya internally for making her relive this exciting moment that she thought she had lost forever to the raging war back home.
The action field disappeared. Yuya found Sora sitting down with his face looking down. Feeling pity, he came to him.
"Remember the promise? Cuz I won, you can't be my apprentice…"
Sora suddenly laughed at faced Yuya.
"Interesting! Such excitement I've felt! My duel with you!"
"Huh? But why do you call me by name?"
"Well I can't be your apprentice, now I can be your friend! And friends call each other by name right?"
"Eh? Who gave you-"
"Yo! You two become friends now?" Shuzo suddenly interrupted. He then held Sora's shoulders. "So? You wanna enroll in You Show Duel School?"
Sora immediately agreed "Course I will!"
"Good! I'll get the paper work!" Shuzo ran away to his room.
Yuya took the chance to ask Sora "But hey, if you're not LDS then where did you learn Fusion Summon?"
"Fusion? Where I live, is common!"
"So where? Overseas?"
"Doesn't matter!" Sora immediately answered "We're friends anyway!"
These words confirmed Ruri's suspicion.
"So he is not from Standard! He must be from Fusion then…"
"What do you mean? I did not say we're gonna be-"
Sora interrupted him by putting his hand on his shoulders.
"Nice to meet you, Yuya!" He said.
With these words, Yuya completely lost patience. He turned to Sora with an angry look and chased him all over the action field, with his friends and kids laughing…
Expect Ruri…
Yuzu turned around to the unusual silent space and found Ruri, face very tense, looking at Sora with a hint of rage. She immediately became concerned for her new friend. Not wanting to break the laughter, she decided to ask her later at home…
After eating dinner, Yuzu dragged Ruri to her room. This is the opportunity to ask her about what she did back there.
"So what happened back there Ruri?"
Ruri looked troubled, not knowing what to say. She eventually came up with something, something she knew she will definitely regret.
"It… it just seeing Sora Fusion Summon reminded me of some people who bullied me before. Which is why I also learned some self-defense moves that I showed to all of you yesterday."
Yuzu looked at her confused and more concerned, thinking something was wrong with that explaination. It doesn't make sense at all. "Did they use Fusion Summon a lot?"
"Y-Yeah! A lot actually. They beat me in duels using them and proceed to harass me. No big deal."
Just from hearing her tone, Yuzu knew Ruri hid something, but knowing she could not pry anymore lest ruining their newly formed friendship, she gave her a quick reply "OK… if you say so…"
"Well, nothing to say more Yuzu?" Ruri asked.
"No. If you do not feel good today, just rest. We'll talk tomorrow."
Ruri nearly got out when
"Ruri?"
"Yeah?" She turned to face her.
"We're friends right? We need to be there for each other when we need to…"
Ruri looked at Yuzu sadly before going back to the guest room.
"Ruri… Whatever you're hiding, please let us know one day…" Yuzu thought before getting ready to sleep.
Ruri went back to her guest room, looking very frowned and saddened.
"Yuzu, Yuya… I'm sorry… But I can't put any of you and others in danger… It would crush me… beyond repair…"
She then thought about Sora "So Sora is obviously an Academia soldier. He befriended them very quickly. What does he want? What does Academia want from them, from Standard? At least I'm in the clear for now, but if he does find out where I really come from, what will I do? What will I do to protect my friends?"
"I really don't want to hurt them… like my brother does… It's not right for some reason… even though I really want to… And please… Yuto… don't fall into your own darkness…" She tried her best to hold back her tears.
For now, she will not say anything and see what will happen, as she cannot do anything for now…
The night crept everything all the time. A poor old yellow leaf left a tree, slowly falling down to the ground, swept by the flowing wind. It eventually touched the ground, outside of an alleyway, before being pulled up briefly again and finally rested peacefully on the dirty ground. The yellow suddenly turned bright blue, not from some blue chemical water falling down from above, but from a shining light suddenly shone up at the alleyway. The bright light continued to illuminate the usually dark town before dimming, revealing three young males. One tall, blue coat, long bangs across his face; one just as tall, purple hair in weird shape, spiking up at its tails; and one slightly shorter, purple and black spiked hair, black cape. All in goggles and masks.
"So… this is the Standard Dimension." The man in blue coat muttered.
"So lively… just like Heartland…" The man in purple shirt commented.
"OK, Shun, Shark, we're new here. Let's find a hiding place first, then we'll proceed with the mission!" The last man reminded the other two. "And Shun, don't even think about assaulting people in here. We need to be careful!"
"But Yuto-"
"No but! You wanna get us all in trouble and go to jail, or even worse, die?" Yuto warned Shun with a stern look on his face.
"Fine… Yuto…" Shun growled. Despite wanting to capture the son of Akaba Leo immediately, he knew Yuto would never let him do it under his watch, besides, this place is completely strange to all of them after all.
After about 30 minutes evading people and cameras, they managed to find an abandoned building in the slums quite far from their original place. A room used to be a motel, with evidence from two used condoms at the far corner used by young couples eating out of each other. Slightly disgusted, Yuto grabbed them and threw them away with more force than required.
"What's wrong Yuto?" Shun asked him.
"Uh… Nothing. These things are just annoying!" Yuto told him. He did not want to imagine how he and Ruri would do the thing, these images distracted him from the mission. Luckily for him, Shark knew of that too.
"Yeah, those two condoms are pretty suggestive Shun. I guess you cannot control yourself for long!" Shark made a joke, which Shun and Yuto cracked a little smile at it. At least it helped ease the tension right now.
They finally got a chance to take off their goggles and masks, which to be honest, was slowly making them sweat all over their face.
"It's night anyway, we need to sleep first before finding the son. Objections?" Yuto asked Shark and Shun.
"No!" They both said at the same time, but Yuto could hear the slight annoyance on Shun's answer.
"Deal with it Shun, we still need to take care of ourselves first!" Yuto told him. "Now get some rest!"
With that, the three got ragged pillows and blankets for themselves and slept next to each other, with Yuto staying awake to make sure Shun was asleep before he did. Shun struggled for a while before finally giving in to the sleepiness. Yuto sighed.
"Don't be so reckless, Shun… I'm just as lost as you are now…" With that, he sat down, covered himself by the blanket and went to sleep as well.
"Ruri… please wait for me… I promise I will bring you back…"
Phew! A setup for the interesting part.
Am I making Yuto rather controlling? I wish I did not.
Please like or review~
And now the usual Next chapter preview
Fang of Rebellion and the unexpected enrollment.
Yuto found Yuzu, who he thought was Ruri, in danger. Meanwhile, Shark got a pretty interesting idea…
This is matrixnis, out!
