"…You let him go?"
…
"Keeping him here would have changed nothing. I've seen it."
…
"…I was lying to him. It was nowhere near ready yet."
…
"Hoh? I'm surprised that you'd lie to him."
…
"It doesn't matter, he's already long gone. With any luck, he's at least found my brother…"
…
Chapter 9: Standard's Tricks
…I messed up big time, didn't I? Reizo thought as he stared up at the new monster.
His answer came a moment later when Shun said, "Because I Xyz Summoned Raidraptor - Revolution Falcon this way, I can target one Special Summoned monster you control, destroy it, and inflict half its ATK to you as damage!"
As the green-haired teen pointed at Amethyss, Demon Queen of Dark World, Reizo bit his lip. He could save Amethyss from destruction with her own effect, and stop his Life Points from taking such a huge hit in the process. However, he still had no idea what Revolution Falcon's other effects were. If he got rid of Hallowed Life Barrier, he could very well lose. Which do I choose…? He closed his eyes. …Sometimes sacrifices must be made for victory in the end. Even if Amethyss is my strongest piece…
The black-haired boy braced himself as the mechanical falcon let off a volley of bombs on his queen. The explosion completely clouded his vision, and he almost coughed as though the holographic projection was real smoke.
Reizo's Life Points: 2500 - 3500/2 → 750
He shot a glare at the falcon—Shun's cards were ridiculously powerful against Special Summoned monsters, and he was definitely at a disadvantage because of that. Still… depending on what he drew on his next turn, it could still be possible to turn the Duel around. "I'll Set one card face-down and end my turn," he decided.
"My turn then, I draw!" Shun drew his card, looked at it for a second, and switched it to his other hand. He didn't need it. "I activate the second effect of Revolution Falcon! By detaching an Xyz Material from it, Revolution Falcon can attack all monsters you control this turn!"
Reizo narrowed his eyes. There has to be more than that, if he attacks any of my monsters, it's suicide.
"Revolution Falcon's final effect: any Special Summoned monsters it battles with lose all their ATK and DEF during the damage step!"
Oh. Fun. Reizo secretly heaved a sigh of relief; if he'd tried attacking last turn, or if he'd chosen to save his monster, he definitely would have lost. But instead…! "I activate my face-down, Hallowed Life Barrier! By discarding Dark Deal from my hand, I can protect my Life Points and my monsters for this turn only!"
A thin barrier of blue light surrounded all of Reizo's monsters, causing the mechanical falcon's attacks to do nothing.
Shun frowned for a moment, looking back at the card he'd drawn that turn. His confidence never wavered, though. "I didn't think you had that card," he said. "Then again, many of the cards you use are old."
"I won't argue with that." Reizo rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "But I've used these cards for so long, they don't feel old to me. They do sometimes throw my opponents off, though."
Shun chuckled. "Well, aside from your unique Summon methods, you haven't shaken me. I end my turn. Can you make a comeback despite my monster?"
"I certainly hope so, I can't afford to lose!" He closed his eyes, saying a silent prayer for his next card to be something he could use. "I draw!" In one swift, arcing motion, he pulled the card from his Deck.
Kahkki, Guerilla of Dark World.
A genuine smile crossed his face. Bar the card in Shun's hand or some effect in his Graveyard, there was no way he could stop this. He… would win. "I activate the effect of my Field Spell once more! I banish Amethyss from my Graveyard and discard Kahkki, Guerilla of Dark World to draw a card!"
Ambur, Ensign of Dark World. It didn't make any difference.
"Now then, because Kahkki was discarded by a card effect…" Reizo paused for a moment—he felt so… right, standing in the spotlight like this; a huge contrast to his previous feelings about Duel Monsters—wanting to build suspense. He could practically feel the hushed whispers in the crowd, trying to figure out what he was going to do. And he smiled. "Because it was discarded like this, Kahkki lets me target and destroy a monster you control! Oh, but you only have the one. Not too hard of a choice, then!"
Shun's eyes widened in surprise as purple spikes exploded from the ground, piercing Revolution Falcon in various places. The mechanical bird that had been his only defense shattered into a million different golden shards that vanished within seconds.
"It's checkmate then! Colorless, Chaos King of Dark World attacks you directly!" Reizo declared, a hand outstretched. "Colorless Chaos Wave!"
The lordly demon swung its massive broadsword. It seemed to cut the very sky in two, the slice of his sword sending a sonic wave directly at the other Duelist. It struck Shun square across the chest, and the rush of light was enough to knock him backwards.
Shun's Life Points: 2300 - 3300 → 0
The crowd erupted in cheers for both Duelists, the Duel having entertained them all. For once, Reizo looked all around at the smiling faces of the audience, an even bigger smile than theirs on his face. For once, he waved to them all. For once, he crossed over the field to his defeated opponent, and helped him back to his feet. For once… he felt like he belonged.
"Good game, Reizo," Shun said as they shook hands. "If you hadn't used that effect, and you'd just attacked with Lucent…" He held up his remaining card—some monster called Raidraptor - Booster Strix. "…I would have turned the tables back to my favor."
"That was easily the toughest Duel I've ever had—and won. You're no pushover, Kurosaki-san."
Shun laughed. "Please, you're one of my sister's friends. Just call me Shun."
"Oh, okay."
Then, suddenly, both boys were pulled into headlocks from behind by a girl with dark purple hair and pink eyes. She giggled as she awkwardly held on two both of them. "That Duel was amazing!" Ruri exclaimed.
Shun freed himself from her grasp and sighed. "Ruri, how many times do I have to tell you not to do that?"
"Aw, lighten up, nii-san! You're way too serious when you aren't Dueling!"
"I'm 'too serious'?" The teen grinned, a sly thing like he was about to do something. In an instant, he plucked the feather-shaped clip out of his sister's hair, and held it as high as he could—nearly half a foot higher than she could reach.
"Wha—no fair! Give it back!"
"Only if you promise to stop jumping me!"
"No way!"
As Ruri attempted to drag Shun's arm down to her level, Reizo awkwardly shifted his weight.
"This happens sometimes," Yuto said to Reizo. "Shun hates it when Ruri pulls him into a headlock—which she does frequently—so he does that. It's best to let them be."
Reizo stared at the two Kurosakis, expressionless. Reiji had never really played with him—it had always been lessons, study, Duel, we have to be perfect for the company and especially for Mother. It was… different seeing these other siblings interact like this.
"Good win, by the way," Yuto said, breaking Reizo out of his thoughts. "There's no way they'll send you back to Heartland Academy. You beat one of their best students."
"I could tell he was that good," Reizo replied, starting to walk back to the stands with Yuto. Shun and Ruri were still fighting over the hair clip. "I nearly lost. …But, winning this Duel doesn't automatically get me into HDS?"
Yuto shook his head. "Not necessarily, the administrators look for how well you Dueled, not necessarily if you won. I bet you would've gotten in even if you'd lost, though."
The violet-eyed boy smiled, forgetting about his troubles. "Thanks, Yuto."
"I should be thanking you for such an entertaining Duel, Akaba Reizo," a new voice said—one that made Reizo's blood run cold because he recognized it (how could he not when watching that person Duel was the only truly fun thing he did with his older brother?), he recognized the voice even though it should be impossible.
The man standing before him was in red, his pants matching his coat. The coat itself had long coattails, ending with a pattern of black diamonds atop white trim. There was also an orange patch buttoned across his front, trimmed with yellow, that led up to his collar—blue, but lined with the same yellow. A staff made of red wood stuck out of a belt loop on his right side, while a purple top hat with green goggles attached to it rested atop the man's head. His golden-orange eyes sparkled with delight.
"S-Sakaki Yusho?!" Reizo practically screeched, drawing the attention of a few nearby students, who observed the situation quizzically.
Yuto stared at Reizo. It wasn't like him to get so flustered.
Yusho regarded Yuto for a moment, an odd look on his face. But he quickly turned his attention back to the stunned Reizo, dramatically bowing to him. "The one and only. I see you're a fan of mine?"
"But—you—Standard—how—?" With that, Reizo's voice quit working entirely, so he just stood there with his mouth agape at the sight of the most famous Entertainment Duelist in Maiami City.
Yusho had led Reizo aside, into a nearby empty classroom, away from the prying eyes of the residents of the world neither male should be in. Even Yuto had stayed behind in the arena—he'd made the excuse to watch the next Duel, that was just about to start.
The layout was definitely different from other classrooms he'd been in. There were no desks in the room, only chairs that lined the walls. The front of the classroom held a tinted glass floor, underneath it a machine Reizo recognized—the Action Field generator, that turned the Solid Vision holograms into Real Solid Vision. If he'd tried to think this Yusho was a fake, this was proof it wasn't—the Xyz Dimension didn't have these. The ceiling had even been modified, raised to grant even more room to to Duelists within. Meanwhile, cushions lined the walls around the front.
"I built this system myself," Yusho said, tapping his staff on the glass above the system. "At least here, I can continue the same Entertainment Duels I love. The students here love them too."
I can imagine why. But that isn't what matters now. "How are you here?" Reizo demanded. "I've been stuck here for months, but I ended up here by… by accident." A very, very crazy accident… "There's no proper way to travel between dimensions yet!"
"Hm. No, there isn't," Yusho replied.
"Then how did you—"
"I was too impatient." Yusho sat on one of the chairs, closest to the windows. He stared out it, with the view of bustling streets outside.
And then he told Reizo the story of what he could remember, before he got to Heartland.
"I would like you to be that leader!"
Sakaki Yusho regarded the boy in front of him, hiding his distaste in what he was faced with. Not because of Reiji himself—the young teen had done nothing wrong—but because of the situation he was in. Akaba Reiji had only turned thirteen a month ago, and with that had inherited the corporate empire his father had abandoned over a decade ago. He was far too young to be running a business, far too young to have to hunt down his own little brother in another dimension, far too young to be planning to fight an interdimensional war (and against his own father, no less), far too young for any of this.
And Akaba Himika only stood by and let her eldest son suffer through all of this.
He couldn't say no. Not in good conscience. But a war fought with Duel Monsters? It was all kinds of wrong. Duel Monsters were supposed to spread smiles. It was the very reason he'd worked with Akaba Leo all those years ago to create the first Real Solid Vision System. Smiles, not fear. And now that man was using the same system as a weapon.
"I'll help in any way that I can," Yusho said, standing up from the seat he was on.
The boy visibly relaxed, tense shoulders sagging with relief, hints of a smile on his lips. "Thank you. Thank you so much. That's one less thing for me to worry about…" As soon as he'd finished speaking, though, the tense worry returned to his form.
Yusho couldn't very well leave now, not after what he'd seen. "Is there anything else I can help with? You have… a lot on your plate for a thirteen-year-old."
Reiji sat at the desk far too big for him, in a chair that easily dwarfed him, as he began scrolling through the hologram above it that depicted his father's own research. His hand stopped when the display showed information about the Xyz Dimension, and his eyes could not hide his sorrow. "…I don't think so," Reiji replied after a moment of thinking. "Not unless you know how to build a dimensional transporter. Aside from hunting down the strongest Duelists in our world, that's my biggest concern. Work on it is… far slower than I'd like. My father left hardly any of his research behind, and what I've found of it is more or less buried in code that takes weeks to decipher…"
Research left behind by Akaba Leo, buried under a tough code. Could it be…? "May I see some of what hasn't been deciphered yet?" Yusho asked, a feeling in his gut he hoped was right.
Reiji narrowed his eyes as he adjusted his glasses with two fingers. "You think you could…?"
"You're forgetting that I helped your father build the Real Solid Vision System," the performer replied. "I may be an Entertainment Duelist, but I know my way around technology."
"R-Right…" It seemed the boy had forgotten. Or at least it hadn't crossed his mind.
Reiji flipped back through the holographic screen, until all the information on it was an endless sea of numbers and letters, seemingly in a random order.
I was right. Yusho smiled warmly at the young teen before him. "I know this code, I helped develop it. It looks like Leo changed some of it, but I should be able to decipher it faster than your systems can."
"You'd… really do that?"
"Of course."
The boy steadied himself on the desk, trying to stop himself from trembling. It looked like he was about to break down—Yusho wouldn't blame him if he did—but he had to be strong, so he drew in a deep breath. "I'll have a copy sent to you in the morning. I'm… I'm in your debt, Yusho-sama."
The entertainer left after that, crossing paths with Akaba Himika on his way out. He stopped, grabbing her attention with a stern look. "Himika."
"Yusho," she replied, equally distasteful in the person she was speaking to.
"How can you do this to your own son?"
The woman narrowed her blue eyes, her lips tightened into a frown. "I'll have you know that Reiji-san is more than capable to handle this all himself. In fact, he asked to do so."
"That doesn't make it right," Yusho retorted. "He's still just a child!"
"And so is my other son, lost in a world we know little about. Reiji-san was there when Reizo was ripped away from us—naturally, he's going to do everything in his power to bring him home." Himika folded her arms across her chest. "Are you telling me I should force him to stay out of something that directly relates to him?"
Yusho had no response to that, so he simply bid the woman goodnight and left to return to his own family. He still found the situation wrong.
Within two weeks, Yusho deciphered the rest of the research Leo had left behind. Much of it was superfluous, random observations and thoughts about them, that had nothing to do with traveling across dimensions. However, there was still a good chunk that detailed exactly how a proper transporter could be made—information that was immediately put into practice by Reiji and his team of researchers. Within a month, a prototype had been built: a chamber of glass and metal, with a massive control panel next to the entrance.
Yusho went to the prototype that day with a mission. It was a stupid, stupid idea, but it was certainly worth a shot if it was possible to stop the looming threat of an interdimensional war. If anyone could do talk to Akaba Leo, convince him to stop his foolish plans, it was him. And if it didn't work…
He only hoped his wife and son would forgive him for disappearing without a word.
Reiji was in the facility—like he always was when he wasn't handling the affairs of the Leo Corporation—overseeing the work on the transporter with a small glint of hope in his eyes. Like today would be the day the transporter worked and he could bring his brother home.
Yusho cleared his throat, causing the boy to almost jump in surprise.
"Yusho-sama!" Reiji adjusted his glasses. "I wasn't expecting you today."
"I wasn't planning to come either," the lie burned in his throat, but he hid it because he didn't want anyone to stop him, "but I decided to stop by on the way to my match with Strong Ishijima to see how the transporter was coming along."
Reiji turned back to the machine. "We're in the final testing phases. By the end of this month, we should be able to travel freely back and forth between all four dimensions."
By the end of the month. That wasn't good enough, Leo could start his war any moment now. "That's good news," he said, still masking his intentions.
Yusho moved away after that, in the direction of the control panel, but stopped when Reiji grabbed his arm. Yusho turned his head back to look at the boy—his eyes were hidden by the reflection of his glasses. "…Is something wrong, Reiji?"
The boy dropped his hand, chewing on his lip. "…No, I just… wanted to thank you again. For all your help."
So that was it. Yusho smiled again at the boy. "It's been my pleasure. And because of that… I'm sorry for what I'm about to do."
"Yusho-sama?"
As the entertainer in red forced his way into the transporter, setting it to go off once he got inside, Yusho looked back at the startled researchers that screamed at him because the machine wasn't ready, it hadn't been tested with humans yet, and there was no way back yet.
In the moment before his body faded away, he caught a glimpse of Reiji, still standing where he had been. The boy… did not look surprised in the slightest.
"…After that, I found myself in Heartland rather than at Academia. I've been stuck here ever since, and decided to make the best of my stay here," Yusho finished.
Reizo pulled out his LDS pin, rubbing it with his thumb. He hadn't been abandoned, his brother had been trying all this time to get over here. Though… if the transporter was almost done, why hadn't anyone else come after him and Yusho?
Maybe they don't know where in the Xyz Dimension we are… Heartland itself is a big city, but there's the rest of the world too. That's what Reizo wanted to believe.
"I… I see," he said quietly.
The two went silent for a good several minutes, until Yusho cleared his throat. "…By the way, that friend of yours from earlier. The one you were heading back to the stands with. What's his name?"
"Yuto. Tenjo Yuto. Why?"
"Yuto…" Yusho mused to himself, emphasizing the second syllable. Fishing through his pockets, he pulled out a picture of a boy—and Reizo gasped upon seeing him.
For a few moments, the boy in the picture looked exactly like Yuto, dressed in green-striped white pajamas. But as Reizo stared at the image, he could see the differences. Spiked-up black-and-purple hair faded away to a flop of green hair with red underneath. Grey eyes morphed into bright red ones, happily staring at the camera as the boy held up some new Duel Monsters.
"This is my son, Yuya," Yusho explained.
"…The resemblance is uncanny," Reizo muttered. He remembered his first meeting with Ruri—she'd also had a strange resemblance to that girl from Fusion, Selena. Was there a connection, or…? …No, it had to just be a strange coincidence. "They have totally different hair and eye colors, but everything else looks the exact same. Weird."
Yusho stared at the picture of his son for a moment, lost in thought. "…Yes, weird…"
A/N: So, the Duel ended with Reizo's victory, Yusho's made an appearance, and he's already noticed the resemblance between Yuya and Yuto. Good chapter, I'd say.
…The flashback was ENTIRELY improvised, by the way. I was going to just have him tell Reizo what happened, then muses decided, "You know what? Let's make it a full flashback. Aaaand while we're at it let's throw in some major foreshadowing." Hence the flashback becoming a thing.
I'll also go ahead and apologize for any typos or things I let slip through this chapter; I typed almost the entirety of this chapter offline and on my new smartphone, so not only did I not have spellcheck, I also had autocorrect trying to "fix" every other word.
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Please, continue to leave reviews!
(I don't own Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion, Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V, or Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL.)
Cards from this chapter:
Amethyss, Demon Queen of Dark World
DARK Fiend/Synchro/Effect
Level 8
1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner "Dark World" monsters
Effect: When this card is Synchro Summoned: Draw 3 cards. This card gains 200 ATK for each card in your hand. Once per turn, if a face-up "Dark World" card you control would be destroyed: You can negate its destruction, then discard 2 cards from your hand. During each of your End Phases: Place 1 card from your hand to the bottom of your Deck or destroy this card.
ATK: 2600
DEF: 1800
Colorless, Chaos King of Dark World
DARK Fiend/Fusion/Effect
Level 8
2 "Dark World" monsters
Effect: If you control another face-up "Dark World" monster, this card cannot be targeted or destroyed by card effects. Once per turn, you can target 1 banished "Dark World" monster; add it to your hand, then discard 1 card.
ATK: 3000
DEF: 2100
Ambur, Ensign of Dark World
[Unknown stats/effects]
Reizo's first day at Heartland Duel School brings him several new friends—friends he will truly miss when he would have to go home. But how long will the peaceful days last, and just who is this "Aria Fiore"?
Next time: Days of Smiles (Calm Before the Storm)