Alright, I feel like I have to address this particular issue I am having with a couple of guest reviewers that are major fans of this story. You guys NEED to stop going onto my other stories, telling me to continue writing this one. It's rude, it's annoying, and it honestly makes me want to write this story less and less each review I see! I, like many on this site, don't feel like I write well if I do not have inspiration. I don't want to rush anything when it comes to this story, so if I am not updating for a while, I am either planning or looking for the inspiration I need to write, or suffering writers block. On top of that, I am a college student getting my Computer Science degree, therefore I don't have tons of time to write. Also, I do like simply relaxing with a video game or watching an anime some days instead of writing. Add this all together, and I am suprised I even found time to write my Naruto story or my Teen Titans story, especially since we're in the final month of the semester.
A great man named Shigeru Miyamoto once said this about video games: "A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad." I feel as though the same philosophy applies to a ton of things, like drawings and especially in writing a story. While I understand that you guys do want me to continue writing the story, I don't want to rush myself and produce a bad chapter. One bad chapter can ruin an entire story, and I have seen it happen to many great stories on this site, so please understand that I do need time to produce my best work and draw inspiration. If people continue demanding updates, I will begin blocking them. If guests continue doing it, then I will disable guest reviewing, even if I have to appeal to the admins of fanfiction to do it, as they don't particularly have a button to disable guest reviewing. If i cannot get guest reviews blocked... well I guess I deal with it, though guests will immediately be stripped of their shoutouts when I write new chapters. I know that's not fair to all guests out there, but it only takes one bad carrot to ruin a stew they say. I just recommend creating an account for reviewing should this happen. Speaking of the guests doing this though, I'd like to see them try their hand at writing stories, to see how hard it really can be!
On a lighter note, welcome to the long awaited Chapter 11. Thanks to Erik Dokuryuu Cobra, D3lph0xL0v3r, FanOfKings and Komori Rias for the reviews on Chapter 10. With that said, enjoy this chapter!
Professor Takada took the duel disk Ruka was handing to him, before sitting down in a chair in the lab and plugging in a cord into the duel disk, before plugging the other end into the computer. "Using this, we can access the data your duel disk captured in the last duel, and with that we should be able to see the Duel ID of the last duel disk you were connected to."
Ruka nodded, frowning as she watched the loading bar appear on the screen of the computer. Yuga and the others were standing behind her, having volunteered to join her for support, but Ruka also realized they must be curious about all of this as well. She defiantly was, as whoever she was dueling was very skilled with the deck they were using.
"This is interesting…" Takada muttered to himself, as he scanned through the data that was on the screen.
"What is it professor?" Roku asked. "Did you find anything?"
"Surprisingly, I am not seeing any recorded Duel ID of the duelest Ruka fought last night." Takada stated, to the shock of everyone present. "I was thinking this wasn't going to be as simple as plug and see, but to have an entirely black Duel ID…"
"But the duel is still present in the database of the disk, right?" Naomi asked.
"Yes, the information about the duel Ruka was in is here." Takada said, pulling up what looked like a duel simulation. Yuga watched as the first two turns of Ruka's duel played out in front of his eyes. "But the opponents duel disk information is completely blanked out. It isn't even fabricated, just wiped entirely."
"A corruption in the data?" Yuga asked.
"No." Takada stated. "If that was the case, Kaiba Corp's backup system would have resubmitted the data to your disk the moment a corruption happened… I think whoever you dueled last night is craftier then we believe. As far as I can tell, this duel wasn't even done with Kaiba Corp satellites, as you need a valid register Duel Disk with a Duel ID to even access the system."
"Shouldn't that be impossible?" Shin wondered out loud.
"Improbable in a small form factor? Yes." Takada stated. "Impossible? Duels on systems that are not Kaiba Corps have been done before. Yugi Moto's famous duel with Arkana the Rare Hunter was done on system not linked to Kaiba Corps, but that was done through an entire server, which if any such servers existed on this campus, they would be detected and terminated at once. Perhaps this duelist's disk had this technology entirely inside of the disk itself…"
"Is it possible to fit that kind of technology in a single duel disk?" Asami asked. "I don't know much about technology, but it seems impossible to do."
"We can create Solid Mass with our disks alone." Takada stated. "Thinking an entire dueling server with every card known to man, with the capacity to handle an entire duel, is stretching it, but with a modified duel disk and the latest technology, it could be done with much spending. But we wouldn't know for sure unless we got our hands on such a disk…"
At once, the lab door burst open. Takada turned quickly to the door to see Himura standing there, bags under his eyes, and a look of fear on his face. "T-Takada, sir! My deck… my precious level deck…"
"What about it?" Takada asked, a worried look forming on his face.
"Gone…" Himura muttered in shock. "It's gone…"
"Gone." Takada repeated. "I think we know the deck you dueled last night, Ruka. Himura, please come over here and look at this duel. Tell me if the structure of this deck is familiar to you."
Himura walked over and watched the duel with his tired eyes. By the end of it, his fear only was worsened. "Yes, yes. That is my deck. I know my cards and I can tell you this deck is mine!"
"Then we found a link." Takada stated. "Whoever stole Himura's Level Deck was the same duelist that dueled Ruka the night of the Homecoming Dance."
"Please tell me he treated my cards with care!" Himura cried, clinging onto Ruka.
"Um… he didn't bend them." Ruka awkwardly said. "Please let go…"
"Himura, where did you store your deck?" Takada asked, looking at his fellow teacher.
"The same place I always store my decks, sir." Himura stated. "If they are not on my person, I lock them inside of my safe that is inside of my office wall."
"Then if you don't mind me sending security to your office, I shall begin an investigation." Takada said. "Not only did this masked individual steal your deck, but he copied unknown information from our database. They must be found."
"Do you mind if we come along?" Ruka asked. "I want to know more about this."
"I don't see the harm in letting you at least look around the office with us." Takada nodded. "But don't get in the way of the police when they are here."
XxXxXxX
"There's no damage on the safe at all." The male police officer muttered as he looked at the outside of the safe.
"No severe break in damage either." The female officer said, examining the door. "But I do see some chafe on the lock. Whoever stole the deck picked the lock to get into the office."
"Any leads on how they broke into the safe?" Roku asked the male officer.
"Not sure." The male stated. "My best guess is they already knew the code."
"B-but how can that be?" Himura exclaimed. "I never, never, never share that combination with anyone!"
"We can't say for sure." The female officer sadly stated. "But we will begin conducting an investigation on the matter, starting with the evidence we gathered here and through the dueling files on this students duel disk. We should head to the second crime scene, the 10th floor laboratory."
The male officer nodded, turning to Yuga and the others. "Sorry kids, but this investigation is to be handled by the FCPD (Fortune City Police Department). If we need your assistance, we will let you know."
Knowing they couldn't fight it, Yuga and the others took their leave, walking slowly back to their dorm rooms, all while thinking to themselves about this whole situation.
"This is all very strange." Roku said as they stepped outside. "Why would the thief feel the need to steal Himura's deck in the first place? If they owned the kind of technology to duel without Kaiba Corp's satellite systems, surely they can afford a good deck."
"You don't think Himura lied to cover up something, do you?" Shin asked, appalled.
"Of course not." Roku said. "I don't see Himura stealing important school files like that."
"But what kind of files could have been copied?" Asami wondered.
"School plans, banking information for school funds… could have been almost anything." Ruka said. "For all we know, the entire school database was stolen that night. I have no idea how big that drive was."
Silence fell between them as they continued back to the dorms, each one of them wondering what exactly could have been stolen that night. Suddenly, Yuga gasped as he stared down at his duel pad. "Guys! The front page of the news!"
They all gathered around Yuga and began to read, Shin's face fell as he read on.
Jirou Kenyo Arrested!
Famous Cyber Duelist Jirou Kenyo, who was crowned World Dueling Champion after his defeat of Hero, has been dethroned and arrested by police after his loss against Raven last night. The two duelists had a fearsome riding duel, trading blows until Raven pulled out a spectacular from behind win and defeated Jirou's infamous Cimeratech Overdragon, the same monster known for hospitalizing Hero, with a special trap card, followed with a fearsome assault with his signature Blackwing Monsters. Afterwards, the policer stormed the field as Jirou…
"I can't read this anymore!" Shin cried, backing away from the group. "I mean, I didn't know anything about this!"
"This is the first I've heard about it too, and I usually hear all the gossip from my room." Roku muttered. "This was kept away from Union eyes, but why?"
No one could figure out the answer.
XxXxXxX
Monday was a rough day for everyone in their circle of friends. Multiple questions were being asked from all sides, the news that Ruka and her friends got involved with a hacker who broke into the building to steal not only Himura's signature deck, but important top secret information, had somehow leaked its way throughout the entire school. That wasn't the worst of it, as every student seemed to read the article published on the arrest of Jirou, and watch the duel on YouTube. The entire morning and early afternoon was filled with people asking all sorts of questions, so by the time Advanced Summoning Methods was beginning, all of them were tired and had splitting headaches.
"For the last time, I just want to be left alone!" Shin snapped at a group of students, who sulked away shortly after getting yelled at.
"People are crazy." Yuga muttered, keeping one eye on Vince, but found to his surprise the red headed teenager seemed more preoccupied with something else to bother bullying Shin. In fact, Yuga noticed he seemed to be stopping people from approaching them.
"Is it just me, or is Vince protecting us?" Asami asked, noticing it as well.
"He's probably doing it just for Ruka's sake." Naomi muttered.
Ruka huffed. "If he thinks that'll make me fall for him, he's delusional."
The door opened at that minute, and everyone looked right at the doorway, expecting Himura to be standing there. Yuga sighed, fearing the poor man was going to be bombed with questions. But to Yuga's shock, standing there wasn't Himura, but an older man with grey hair, wearing a completely black suit and holding a cane with a yellow orb on the top of it. Yuga looked closer, seeing that the orb also had a black star inside of it. The old man walked forward, slowly making his way to the front of the room as every student's eyes were locked on him. Once he got to the front of the room, he slowly began writing "Jin" on the board in chalk, before turning back around and smiling warmly.
"Greetings, students." He said. "My name is Mr. Jin, and I am the Xyz Summoning teacher here at Union."
"Excuse me, professor?" Ruka asked. "Where is Mr. Himura?"
"Ah, yes, but I am sure he told you." Jin said. "You will have four teachers for this class, no?"
Yuga suddenly recognized Jin's name from the beginning of the semester, seeing his name on the class schedule for the class. However, Ruka was still confused. "But I thought he would be spending one more day with us."
"Sadly, the loss of his deck left poor Mr. Himura depressed. He decided to help the police investigate in an attempt to locate his missing cards." Jin replied. "I am sure you all would do the same if you were in his shoes… why, I couldn't imaging losing my cards." Yuga had to admit, if he lost his deck, he would probably do the exact same thing. His cards were too precious to just abandon, especially his Odd-Eyes. He snapped back to reality to hear Mr. Jin speaking. "Therefore, you will begin your Xyz Summoning basics early. Now, to motivate you on learning about all these summoning methods, the other teachers and I decided to motivate the students by holding various contests, as I am sure you have already been told about my Mr. Himura, yes?"
"Himura did mention it on the first day of class." Vince stated. "But what the heck kind of contest is it anyway?"
"A dueling survival course." Jin stated with a smirk on his face. "You and your fellow students that enter will have to get through the course while dueling one another, using Xyz Summoning to the best of your ability. You will get points based on not just getting to the end of the course, but also you will get points on how you use Xyz Monsters to help you win the various duels that you come across. The course will be structured in such a manner that you will be forced to engage your classmates in combat, meaning that many of you will be defeated. Upon lossing, you will be disqualified, but I will explain more about the contest once we get there, but to get you motivated on what prize you will be getting, allow me to show you…"
Suddenly, Jin pulled out a black duel pad, strapping it to his arm and igniting a yellow energy blade. "I summon the Level 4 Alligator Sword (1500/1200) and the Level 4 Flying Penguin (1200/1000)!"
"Wait, two level four monsters?" Naomi said in shock.
"So he can summon a Rank 4 monster." Shin stated.
"Using the Level 4 Alligator Sword and the Level 4 Flying Penguin, I construct the Overlay Network!" Jin shouted, the two monsters turning into orbs of energy and entering a vortex that appeared in the ground. "Formed from pitch black darkness, to fight those foolish enough to oppose it with its treacherous fangs! Xyz Summon! Appear, Rank 4! Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon! (2500/2000)"
The monster that emerged from the vortex was a black and purple dragon, a sharp spear like point as its chin. The students couldn't help but stare in shock and wonder at the yellow eyed beast, including Yuga. Suddenly, Yuga felt a strange pull and pulled out his deck, noticing his Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon was glowing. Ruka also noticed it, looking at the card in wonder. "What's with Odd-Eyes?"
"Not sure." Yuga admitted. "But I think he's calling out to that card for some reason… like they know each other."
"Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon." Jin stated at the awe struck students. "This will be your reward for clearing the obstacle course at the end of the semester. His devastating effect can tip duels in your favor, so he is a very useful card, and his summoning methods grant him a place in any deck you can imagine. His special effect, like all Xyz Monsters, include detaching overlay units, in the case of Dark Rebellion you detach two."
"Wait, so you summon him with two monsters, giving him two overlay units." Roku said. "So by detaching both you can only use his effect once?"
Jin nodded, smiling. "But his effect is worth it. It reads as follows… You can detach 2 Overlay Units from this card, then target 1 face-up monster your opponent controls; its attack becomes half of its current attack, and this card gains that lost attack."
"Wait, it doesn't lose that attack?" Shin asked, shocked.
"Nope!" Jin said, smiling again. "As long as Dark Rebellion remains on the field, that gained attack is kept."
All the students instantly began muttering in shock, saying things like "What a powerful card!" or "That is some reward for us to do well in this section of the course!"
"If Dark Rebellion were to battle something like a 4000 attack point monster, it could cut that monster's attack to 2000, and Dark Rebellions attack would be 4500." Roku muttered. "That's some card, and as a Rank 4, it's very easy to get out…"
"That card must be mine." Vince growled. "Crushing Yuga with that would be a cake walk!"
"What do you think, Yuga?" Shin asked his best friend. "You going to try and get that monster too?"
Yuga, meanwhile, was looking at Odd-Eyes, who was still glowing brightly in Yuga's hand. "You know what, Shin? I think I have to get that card… because it's not just for me… Odd-Eyes wants to be with that card too."