Episode 11: The Mind's Eye, Part 1

Yuya awoke with a start. He rubbed his head, trying to remember what just happened. He remembered laying down in the dojo, hearing Henshuta mumble some sort of words, then nothing.

Yuya looked around and found himself in a city. And not just any city. It looked like a city of the future! There were many large, hi-tech looking buildings, some of which were floating in the air. Much of the city were floating islands in fact, connected by bridges.

As he walked around, Yuya saw people go about their business. There were kids playing duel monsters, adults working and walking to their jobs, and a general air of peace.

"What is this place?" Yuya asked himself. "And why does it feel so familiar? You know anything about it guys?"

Yuya was trying to ask his counterparts about the city. There was no answer.

"Uh, hello?" Yuya said. "Anyone there? Yuri? Yuto? Yugo?"

"You ok kid?" a passerby asked Yuya.

"Um, yeah, I'm fine." said Yuya casually. "Nice weather, huh?"

"Uh-huh." said the guy. "Do I know you? I feel like I've seen you before."

"I don't think so." said Yuya.

"Weird." said the guy, walking away. "You look so much like him."

"Like who?" Yuya asked.

The guy continued to walk off. Yuya shrugged and kept walking himself.

Eventually, Yuya stumbled upon an arena. It was a spectacular looking building, full of flashing lights and roaring fans. Yuya noticed a bunch of people heading inside, so he decided to see what was going on.

"Hey." Yuya said to a person in line. "What's on for today?"

"A duel." the person said. "With one of the greatest duelists who ever lived!"

"Sounds exciting." Yuya smiled.

Yuya then searched his pockets and, to his surprise, he found that he already had tickets. And they were front row.

"Front row?" the person said excitedly. "How did you get those?"

"Uh, I dunno." said Yuya. "Got lucky I guess."

"Then you better get in that line." the person said, pointing to a shorter line to the left. "That's where pre-purchased tickets are."

"Thanks." Yuya nodded.

After he showed his ticket, Yuya went to find his seat. The arena was enormous, like the one at the Leo Institute. After a few minutes, the lights turned down and an announcer in a blue suit came in.

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen!" the announcer said excitedly. "It's time to begin today's spectacular duel! Is everyone ready?"

The crowd roared in excitement, ready to go.

"I said, ARE YOU READY?!" the announcer asked more fiercely.

The crowd roared louder, a deafening sound that made Yuya think of the Junior Arc League Championship.

"Then it's time to begin." the announcer said. "Our first combatant, the mysterious, powerful, and mystical, Cam 'The Phantom' Harris!"

A young man in a magician's outfit with a pale white mask then came out. Yuya heard the crowd give some polite shouts of encouragement, but there was a general air of distaste, as if nobody cared about this duelist.

"And our main event." the announcer said. "The greatest dueltainer that the world has ever seen. He's tough. He's vicious. He's tenacious. But above all, he's a lot of fun. Give it up for our very own, Zarc!"

"Zarc?!" Yuya said loudly in shock as the crowd gave another deafening roar.

Yuya looked down to the other end of the arena as the next duelist came in. Sure enough, it was Zarc, but not the Zarc Yuya was familiar with. This must have been the Zarc that existed before he became the Supreme King.

The resemblance between him and Yuya was uncanny. The two had the exact same face, except Zarc has yellow eyes and looked a little bit older than Yuya. Zarc has silver hair with light green highlights, having striking similarities in hair design to the dual-hair color of all of his dimensional soul fragments and Yuri's side-parted hair. He wore a blue and white jacket with orange borders, like Yugo's Turbo Suit, and a black undershirt. He also had thick red-brownish gloves, black pants with brown chaps, faded gold knee pads, dark-blue suspenders with faded gold buckles hanging from a red-brownish belt with two large holsters, like Yuto's belt, a large faded gold buckle, and brown shoes with dark-blue outlines and straps.

He waved cheerily to the crowd as they they applauded his entrance. Yuya was amazed at how nice of smile Zarc had. To think that this guy would become the monster that he was, then eventually become Yuya himself, was beyond Yuya.

"Ladies and gentlemen." the announcer said. "It's time to begin!"

Zarc and the other duelist then activated their duel disks, staring each other down.

"Let's duel!" They both said together.


Sylvio walked around the forest, the sunlight shining through the leaves. The forest was very pretty and had an atmosphere of peace to it.

"What is this place?" Sylvio said to himself. "I've never been anywhere like this."

Sylvio remembered the last time he was in a forest even close to this. He was much younger and his father was taking him on a camping trip. It was one of he few things he got to do with him when he was younger, as his father was constantly working and Sylvio was constantly being home schooled.

Sylvio remembered practically begging his dad to spend a weekend with him. Eventually, his father relented and took him camping. Though this wasn't what Sylvio had in mind, he still had a great few days with his dad, fishing with him, hiking with him, and telling stories around the campfire. Sylvio smiled, having not thought about that trip in ages.

"I miss those moments." said Sylvio. "Nowadays it's just politics this, and mayor that. Maybe I should try to get him camping again."

Sylvio kept walking, eventually reaching a small lake. The water was calm and clear. A few fish jumped out of the water nearby. A good distance away, deer came by to drink from the lake.

Sylvio bent down and looked at the water. A few fish scurried away when they saw him. Sylvio looked at his reflection and sighed. Lately, he had been trying to avoid mirrors as much as he could, only using them once a day when he got up. He couldn't stand the sight of himself these days and looking at his reflection only made it worse.

"Look at yourself." said Sylvio. "Your not even half the man you were meant to be. Your not a good duelist, you've practically lost all of your skills from the stuff you learned growing up, and your own father would rather worry about his stupid political image than his own son. You're supposed to be the best. You're supposed to be on top of the world!You...you should have been able to save the world!"

Sylvio then angrily swatted at his reflection. As he did, the feeling in the air seemed to change. The deer looked up and hopped away. The sky began to turn dark and full of clouds. A breeze began to form.

Sylvio looked around, wondering what was going on. He wanted to leave, but found that he couldn't move. He then looked down at his reflection again. His reflection looked back, then gave him a smile.

"AGGGHHHHH!" Sylvio cried out, jumping a few feet away.

Sylvio's reflection then began to rise out of the water. His body rippled like the water as he rose. Sylvio then watched his reflection turn normal as it stepped onto the land. It was like looking into a mirror, except there was something different about this one. This reflection seemed to radiate confidence and, strangely, looked better than Sylvio despite looking exactly like him.

"Who...Who are you?" Sylvio stammered.

"Isn't it obvious?" his reflection smirked. "I am you. The you you want to be."

"The...the one I want to be?" Sylvio asked.

"That's right." said the other Sylvio. "And I'm also the one who's gonna destroy you, weakling!"


"Odd-Eyes Dragon, attack!" Zarc cried out atop his dragon. "Spiral Flame Strike!"

Zarc's dragon released a beam of crimson energy, destroying his opponent's monster. The duelist was sent flying, landing hard nearby as his life points reached zero. The crowd roared in excitement as the announcer took center stage.

"Another thrilling victory from our very own, Zarc!" the announcer said. "We hope you all enjoyed the duel-"

Zarc then grabbed the microphone and addressed the crowd.

"Stay in your seats ladies and gents." said Zarc. "We're not done here. I'm still raring for another duel. What say all you?"

The crowd cheered Zarc's name, eager to see him duel again.

"I don't have an official opponent lined up for another duel." said Zarc. "But I don't care, cause I'm gonna take someone from the audience. Let's see."

Zarc then looked around the audience, pointing his finger out. Many people waved their hands in excitement, hoping that Zarc would pick them. Yuya heard a few of them call out things like "right here!" or "pick me!".

"How about." said Zarc, pointing his finger at Yuya. "You!"

Everyone looked in Yuya's direction as Yuya was put on the monitor.

"Woah, am I seeing double?" someone near Yuya whispered.

"They look like they could brothers." someone else whispered.

"Even twins." another whispered.

"Well?" Zarc said, still pointing at Yuya. "You gonna chicken out, or you gonna duel?"

This must be my test. Yuya thought to himself. I have to beat Zarc.

"Your on." said Yuya. "Time to put your deck where your mouth is."

Zarc gave Yuya a confident smirk as the crowd began to boo.

"Take Em down Zarc!" an audience member shouted.

"Put him in a body bag!" another shouted.

"Go Zarc!" a group of girls shouted.

The crowd then chanted Zarc's name again as Yuya and Zarc took their positions.

"Well ladies and gentlemen, we seem to have another duel!" said the announcer as Zarc returned his microphone. "It's our main eventer Zarc vs. a random fellow from the audience. Eh, what's your name kid?"

"Yuya." said Yuya. "Yuya Sakaki."

"Alright then." said the announcer. "Let's begin the duel. Zarc vs. Yuya Sakaki!"

The crowd roared as Yuya and Zarc activated their duel disks.

"You're going down Zarc." said Yuya. "I'm gonna show what true dueltaining is."

"Is that so?" Zarc chuckled. "I look forward to seeing you try."

"Let's duel!" Yuya and Zarc shouted.

"I'll start!" said Zarc. "I'll begin by summoning Dwarf Star Dragon Planeter."

Zarc summoned his dragon (1700atk/1200def), a dragon that had it's left half covered in gold light.

"I then special summoned the monster, Kagetokage." said Zarc. "I can special summoned this monster while I summon another level four monster."

The shadow of lizard then appeared (1100atk/1500def), with two red eyes popping out from it.

"I then overlay level four Kagetokage with level for Planeter!" said Zarc. "With these two monsters, I build the overlay network!"

I had a bad feeling I'd see this. Yuya thought.

Zarc's monsters then turned into orbs of yellow and purple light, which burst into the air before landing in a black and yellow portal that appeared on the field. Once the two monsters were inside, a burst of lightning shot out of the portal as a new monster began to materialize.

"Cloaked in shadows." said Zarc. "And relentless in its objective, I call upon the most dangerous of dragons. I XYZ summon, Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon!"

Yuya looked upon the familiar sight of his own XYZ monster, the dragon letting out a mighty roar as it appeared on Zarc's field (2500atk/2000def).

"I then play two face-downs, then end my turn." said Zarc. "And when my turn ends after I summon Dwarf Star Dragon Planeter, I can add a level 7 Light or Dark dragon from deck to my hand."

Zarc then added his Odd-Eyes Dragon to his hand, showing to Yuya.

"Now, let's see what you've got kid." said Zarc.

"My draw then!" said Yuya, drawing his card.

Yuya then took his usual stance as he addressed the crowd.

"Ok everyone." said Yuya with a huge grin. "Time to get this show on the road. As you can see, I've got quite the competition in front me. We've got a prime time champ with a prime time dragon that I'm all to familiar with."

"Huh?" a member of the crowd said. "What's that guy babbling on about?"

"Yeah, what's he trying to do?" another crowd member said.

"Time to get my turn under way." said Yuya. "And I'll start by setting my pendulum scale, with scale one Performapal Gumgumouton and scale eight Performapal Card Gardna. I'm taking control of this duel, starting now!"

Yuya then put his monsters into the pendulum scale as it lit up with the word PENDULUM.

"Now I can summons monsters between levels 2-7 all at the same time!" said Yuya.

"You can what?" Zarc said in shock.

"Swing far pendulum." said Yuya. "Carve the arc of victory!"

A pendulum then appeared above Yuya as it twirled around and made a portal.

"My monsters are ready." said Yuya. "To swing into action!"

Two beams of light then burst out of the portal, taking the field.

"Bring in the peace, Harmonizing Magician." said Yuya. "Hop on in Performapal Turn Toad!"

Yuya two monsters then appeared, ready to fight back.

"Incredible." said Zarc.

"He cheated!" an audience member shouted.

"He can't do that!" another one shouted.

The audience roared in anger, booing Yuya like crazy.

"ENOUGH!" Zarc shouted.

The audience stopped their jeering, though a few angry mumbles were heard.

"Now this is interesting." Zarc said to Yuya. "I look forward to seeing what comes next."

"You won't have to wait much longer." said Yuya. "Cause Harmonizing Magicians effect activates when it's special summoned. I'm allowed to special summon a magician monster from my deck to my field. I choose level three Timegazer Magician."

Timegazer Magician then appeared, landing right next to Harmonizing Magician.

"I then tune level four Harmonizing Magician with level three Timegazer Magician." said Yuya.

The tuner monster then burst into a green light and turned into four, gear like rings. Yuya saw Zarc look on in amusement as the rings then formed a line as Timegazer went between them. The monster became transparent and then turned into three shining orbs. Lightning then burst in between the rings as Yuya's new monster formed.

"Beat your wings to whip up a whirlwind of destruction!" said Yuya. "I Synchro Summon! Clear Wing Synchro Dragon!"

Clear Wing then appeared (2500atk/2000def). It flew around the arena before landing behind Yuya, letting out a roar like a battle cry.

"Rip-off!" crowd members began to shout.

"Yeah, that's Zarc's card!" another person shouted.

"Hmph." said Zarc. "I'm not sure whether to be insulted or impressed. Still, I'm not too nervous. You may have one of my dragons, but that doesn't mean you know how to use it."

"I'll show you what I've got." said Yuya. "Clear Wing, attack! Spinstorm Skystrike!"

Clear Wing then went high into the air and readied it's attack.

He'll probably try to use XYZ Dragon's effect. Yuya thought. Which would lower my dragon's attack points. However, Clear Wing can use it's own effect to destroy Dark Rebellion and gain it's attack points.

"Bad idea." Zarc smiled. "I play the trap, Fiendish Chain!"

Zarc's trap then flipped open as chain shot out of it.

"I activate Clear Wing's effect!" said Yuya. "This negates and destroys your trap. Go, Reverse Revenge!"

Clear Wing stopped it's attack as beams of green light shot out of it's wings, destroying the chains.

"Then I activate Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon's effect." said Zarc. "I release an overlay unit to steal half of your dragon's atk points. Go, Treason Discharge!"

Dark Rebellion absorbs one of it's overlay units. Once this happens, it's wings open and purple lightning shoots out. The lightning wraps itself around Clear Wing, absorbing it's attack points.

"Gumgumouton's pendulum effect activates!" said Yuya.

"Hm?" said Zarc.

"If my monster attacks, I can prevent it from being destroyed by that battle." said Yuya.

Gumgumouton then blows several chunks of wool at Clear Wing, creating a barrier.

"Not bad." said Zarc. "But you still take damage."

Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon then launches itself at Clear Wing Synchro Dragon. Yuya's dragon is knocked back and lands in front of him. The impact sends Yuya a few feet away, dropping his life points to 1500.

"What a display!" the announcer said excitedly. "We've seen a monster like Clear Wing Synchro Dragon wipe out many a opponents, but Zarc is making one of his own monsters look like a helpless gecko!"

"Yeah, take out that faker!" said a fan.

"Wipe him out!" another shouted.

The crowd continued to chant Zarc's name as Zarc looked upon Yuya with a twisted smile.


Sylvio looked upon his mirror image, slowly getting up.

"What do you mean that you're the me I want to be?" Sylvio asked.

His counterpart smiled, a sick strange smile. He then snapped his fingers and the whole scene changed.

They were no longer in the forest. They were in a dark void, looking at many different images below them. Sylvio gasped as he saw himself doing dozens of different activities. Horseback riding, playing the violin, acting in a play, and being surrounded by dozens of adoring faces. Most prominently, he saw himself dueling and, most importantly, winning. He saw himself defeat duelists like Gong, the Sledgehammer, Iggy Arlo, Yusho Sakaki, even Declan.

"I...I can't believe it." said Sylvio. "That can't be me."

"Cause it isn't." Mirror Sylvio smirked. "It's ME. The one you'll never be."

Sylvio looked upon the other Sylvio with anger.

"Don't mock me!" He shouted. "I can be all of those things if I wanted to be!"

"No you can't." Mirror Sylvio said. "You never have been and you never will be. There's only room for one Sylvio Sawatori and that's me!"

The doppelganger then ignited his duel disk, placing his deck in it.

"Your right, there is only room for one Sylvio Sawatori." said Sylvio, doing the same. "Because Sylvio Sawatori is one of kind!"

"Let's duel!" the two Sylvio's said together.

"I'll start things off." said Mirror Sylvio. "I'll begin by setting the pendulum scale with scale one Abyss Actor-Evil Heel and scale 9 Abyss Actor-Twinkle Littlestar."

Mirror Sylvio then set his pendulum scale as his duel disk lit up with the word PENDULUM.

"I then play one face-down and end my turn." Mirror Sylvio said.

"My turn then! I draw!" said Sylvio. "I'll set my own pendulum scale, with scale three Abyss Actor-Leading Lady and scale eight Abyss Actor-Funky Comedian."

Sylvio then set his own pendulum scale as his duel disk lit up with the word PENDULUM.

"Now I can summon monsters between levels 4-7 all at once!" said Sylvio. "In fact, I'll do that now!"

A portal then appeared above Sylvio's head as two lights shot out of it.

"Looks like this Duel's about to swing my way!" said Sylvio with a smile. "I pendulum summon Abyss Actor-Superstar and Abyss Actor-Sassy Rookie!"

Sylvio's monsters then appeared, with Superstar (2500atk/1800def) doing a bow and Rookie (1700atk/1000def) doing an excited dance.

"Pah!" Mirror Sylvio laughed. "You still use a worthless card like Superstar?"

"Don't you disrespect Superstar!" Sylvio shouted. "Especially not when he activates his effect! I add an Abyss Script card from my deck to my hand, as long as it's sent to the graveyard at the end of my turn. And I think Abyss script Opening Ceremony will suffice for now. I play it to gain 500 life points for every Abyss Actor on my field. In this case, it'll be 1000."

Sylvio's life points then raised to 5000.

"Now, Superstar, attack!" said Sylvio.

Superstar attacks the Mirror Sylvio, lowering his life points to 1500.

"Nice try." Mirror Sylvio smirked. "But it won't make a difference. Especially not while I have my Golden Apples trap card!"

"Oh no, not that one!" said Sylvio.

Mirror Sylvio then revealed his trap. He then regained his life points as a rainbow colored flame with one eye appeared.

"Not only are my life points restored." said Mirror Sylvio. "But I gain a Malus Token that has the same atk and def points as the damage I took."

"Fine." said Sylvio. "I end my turn with a face-down. Your move then."

"Gladly." said Mirror Sylvio. "I draw."

Mirror Sylvio looked at his card and gave a nasty grin.

"As I said earlier, your wasting your time with cards like Superstar." said Mirror Sylvio. "I dumped worthless cards like that ages ago. Especially when I get cards like this!"

A portal appeared above Mirror Sylvio's head as a blast of light burst from it.

"Meet MY Ace Monster!" said Mirror Sylvio. "And the face of your defeat. I pendulum summon, Abyss Actor-Hall of Famer!"

His new monster emerged (3000atk/2800def). This monster was taller than Superstar, with a grey beard and a short white victorian wig. Half of it's face was hidden behind a gray mask that had the Abyss Actor insignia on it. It had grey formal attire with a long black cloak. By it's side was a rapier. The monster stared Sylvio down with it's green eyes.

Sylvio had never seen a monster like it. He noticed that his hand was shaking. He didn't understand why, but there was something terrifying about this monster.

"Now it's time to take you down!" Mirror Sylvio laughed. "And prove who is the better man!"


Yuya slowly got up as the crowd continued to cheer. He panted, strangely feeling fatigued. He didn't understand why, but that last attack took a lot out of him. His dragon slowly got up, also weakened from it's failed attack.

"You mock me with that attack!" said Zarc. "Admittedly it was interesting to see your pendulum monsters effect save you, but only a fool would have walked into such an obvious trap. So, you gonna just stand or am I going to see this dueltaining that your bragging about?"

Yuya heard the crowd boo him, his head swimming with their shouts.

I better get my act together. Yuya thought to himself. Or I may lose more than just this duel.


Authors Note: So I'm going to start adding the attack and defense points of monster now. I realize I should have been doing it sooner, but oh well. Better late than never. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the start of this duel. How will it end? Find out next time in Chapter 12