I own nothing. Warning, may contain Out of Character moments.
Yuya stared sadly at the corpse that they had laid down on the floor as Yuzu covered it with an old bed sheet. He didn't know who this was, but any death should be mourned for. Even more so considering that this woman might not have anyone left to remember her.
"May your soul find peace… Let's go Yuya." Yuzu said before facing the entertainer.
"Are… Are we really just going to leave her here?"
"There's not much we could do Yuya, we don't have any tools to give her a proper burial. But I'm going to leave a symbol at the front gate for the Lancers and they'll handle this."
"That's good… Do you think I should meet them? The new Lancers?" Yuya asked.
"Well, that depends on your steward…"
"You better not be doing weird things to Lord Yuya up there!" Iris shouted from beyond the hall door. Yuya stared at Yuzu as she gave a shrug, though the Standard Vassal had no idea why she was doing so in the first place. But he shook his head, not important right now.
"Is there anything else you need to do here?" Yuya asked.
"Why are you asking like I have some unfinished business here? All of us just came down to look for you, not wander off to do our own thing."
"Right… Sorry for giving you guys a headache. I must've scared you when I jumped overboard." Yuya apologized nervously. Looking back, jumping head first off of the Litany was a stupid idea, especially since he never bothered with a parachute and went with summoning a monster. Speaking of which…
"Did Spike Eagle let you in? He kind of perched on a branch and started to watch over the place."
"He did, though Iris was kind of confused as to why it wasn't wary of me. I don't think she gets that we've grown up together and I know every monster in your deck." Yuzu answered, gesturing to the still active duel disk on Yuya's arm.
"It's probably the prejudice, something I have to try to fix. Anyway, let's get going, there's not much left to do here." Yuya said. With a nod, Yuzu followed the entertainer out of his old room and the two made their way back down to the living room. When they arrived, they see Yuya's steward petting the bird that brought the Vassal down. But the moment she sees Yuya, the small girl went into an exasperated tirade.
"WHY DID YOU JUMP SHIP!? YOU COULD'VE WENT SPLAT AND – UGH! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DID THAT! AND YOU RAN RIGHT INTO ENEMY TERRITORY! DO YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED I WAS!? WHAT IF YOU WERE KIDNAPPED!? BLOWN UP!? SHOT!? SHANKED!?"
"I don't think any of that could've happened… Would it?" Yuya said before turning to Yuzu, sounding unsure.
"It would. In fact, I agree with Iris, what you did was stupid. There's still a few mines hidden around in this area, you were very lucky to not step on one. Then there are the squatters…"
"Squatters?" Iris and Yuya asked.
"People who haven't joined the Resistance and wanted to survive on their own or with a smaller group. Problem is that they rarely keep to themselves and would go out to attack our scavenging parties. And they usually hang out in abandoned buildings and houses, like this one. Again, you're VERY lucky you didn't run into anyone living or you could've been mugged... Or eaten…"
"EATEN!? DO YOU SEE IT NOW MY LORD!? THE DANGERS!?" Iris shouted.
"Alright, alright, no need to yell, I'll be on my best behavior from now on."
"Good… So… What now?" Iris asked, looking at the two.
"Let's contact the others and meet somewhere…" Yuzu answered before tapping the screen of her duel disk. Looking over her shoulder, the entertainer could see his friend punching in a bunch of numbers and letters. And once she stopped, the duel disk displayed the message…
"ACCESSING CHANNEL 092… ENCRYPTION PATTERN 'WAXING CRESCENT' IN EFFECT… COMMUNICATION ROOM STATUS… ACTIVE. WELCOME, C. JUNOS." Yuya read to himself.
"This is C. Junos, I've found the VIP." Yuzu said. It wasn't long before the display began listing three other code names, Lunar Azure, Riveter, and Svecica. Which was followed by the voices of the people who were assigned those names, the other girls.
"Copy that, where should the rendezvous point be?" Serena, Lunar Azure, asked.
"Meet us at the You Show Duel School Ruins, do you know where it is?"
"Me, Yugo, and Cassandra are already here." Rin, Riveter, said.
"And man, it's like a dump here." Yuya heard Yugo say in the background. While the Vassal wanted to rush over there to slap his Synchro counterpart upside the head, Yuya knew he wasn't wrong and could only imagine the kinds of damage the school went through.
"How do we get there? Galahad, Yuto, and I are at Miami Middle." Ruri, Svecica, asked.
"I'm sending you the coordinates now, meet you there. C. Junos out."
Before closing communications, Yuzu began typing an address number into her duel disk before lowering her arm. "Alright, let's get going." She said as she faced Yuya and his steward again. He nodded and began following Yuzu the moment she started moving towards the door, Iris following them both as she held Spike Eagle in her arms. At some point, the Standard Vassal returned his monster to its card an deactivated his duel disk. This was done mostly to prevent others from mistaking him as a threat.
However, that would be the least of his troubles.
Wandering the desolate cityscape, Yuya almost kept taking the wrong turns due to the streets being bombarded into an unrecognizable mess. How he found his way back home in the first place was a mystery. He was thankful that Yuzu was there to lead him back onto the correct path. But he was also concerned about his Steward, as she kept one hand on her dagger's hilt for the whole trip.
"Maybe we should meet back at the Litany instead… I do not like any of this…" Iris whimpered as she looked around the desolated streets. Yuya slowed down and patted the girl on the head, cooling her nerves a bit. Her feelings were understandable, standing amidst a ruined city for the first time creeped him out too. From the oppressive silence to the darkness within damaged buildings, it made the Standard Vassal shiver thinking about what is or isn't there.
Matter of fact…
"Hey Yuzu, if this is Lancer territory… Shouldn't there be patrols or something?" Yuya asked. Iris squeaked as her free hand went to grip her Lord's pants. Looks like Yuya was correct to assume that this was the first time the girl was on an old battlefield. Yuzu looked in several directions, as though searching for something, before looking back ahead.
"We like to keep things small and stealthy whenever we're out here, minimizes the chance of enemy contact."
"That makes sense… But I was hoping we'd find someone." Yuya replied. Yeah, it would no doubt create a confrontation between them and Iris. But when the Vassal saw that mother and child in the Heartland ruins, it made him hope that life will flourish again. That everything would work out in the end.
Yet here he was, standing in another desolate city. Trying to find an answer to this.
"Lord Yuya? We're here." The Standard Vassal felt Iris tug his pants and upon looking around, he saw his father's school. Though certain points were demolished, and the outer paint was faded, You Show still stood.
"Dude? You okay?" Yugo asked, shaking his shoulder. The entertainer turned to his Synchro counterpart and just nodded. Really, he wasn't completely. But Yuya, at the very least, felt a little more at ease. And that feeling compounded when the rest of the group arrived.
"Alright, we're all together again. What now?" Serena asked, sitting down on a large chunk of rubble.
"I say we go back to the Litany. We're done here right my Lord?" Iris asked. All eyes turned to Yuya and he shook his head. To which he received some questionable stares.
"Yuya, we're in a known conflict zone. And considering about half of our party, if you include Yuri, are enemies to the Lancers, we might be pulled into a fight. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they already dispatched some troops to engage." Yuto argued. Now that put the four stewards on high alert, all of them ready to draw their weapons. But the Fusion Vassal held his arm out, halting their actions.
"Draw your arms and they'll immediately assume we've found something to attack. Stay calm, we'll be fine." Yuri said. The stewards relaxed, but he can tell they were still on edge. The soldier then shifted his violet eyes towards the entertainer, waiting for an answer.
"Well, I as thinking… Maybe we should try to contact the Lancers so that Yuzu, Serena, Rin, and Ruri can join them again. That's a radio on your back, right?" Yuya answered, gesturing to Ruri. She nodded, though the girl looked to her Standard counterpart for the final call. And as Yuzu thought about it, Yugo voiced his own opinion on the matter.
"Hang on, Rin's staying with me. With her memories gone, she should stick with someone she's familiar with."
"Lord Yugo, that will cause several issues when we get to your place of residence. The Spirits in the Synchro domain aren't exactly friendly with Humans, even towards those of the Blank Slate Program. She'll be discriminated against." Cassandra explained. With Galahad and Iris nodding to that, so there was truth behind it. Now this was a major concern and Yuya could see everyone discussing it. Excluding Yuri, who was wandering in his own thoughts.
It was hard to decided what's the correct move for Rin. Personally, the entertainer believes that the girl should stick with Yugo. He's by far the best person to fill in his friend's missing memories, having grown up together. But then again, she might be put in danger if the Spirits dislike her too much and decided to do something about it.
"Can I say something?" Rin said, raising her hand. The others looked towards the girl and waited for her thoughts. Rin then turned to the Synchro Vassal, approaching him and took his hand. He, understandably, began getting embarrassed and jittery.
"R-Rin?"
"You're a nice person Yugo. But I feel more comfortable being wherever Yuzu, Serena, and Ruri are. They've been my only friends since I woke up like this and it feels wrong to turn my back on them for someone I've only just meet. I'm really sorry." She said, bowing her head. They could all see it, the way Yugo's heart was dropped onto the floor and shattered. However, before too much damage was done, Rin went to cup his face and it brought his focus back to her again.
"But… On the day where everything between us and the Spirits have been fixed, I want you to come find me again. And from that point on, I'll stay with you."
"Rin…" Yugo then proceeded to hug the girl tightly. She was startled, but eventually mellowed and returned the gesture. This sight brought smiles to all who witnessed it, even the stewards and Yuri. This is what Yuya wants to bring back to this world. So he committed this scene to his memory, a motivator on his quest for peace. And he was certain his counterparts were doing the same, especially Yugo. Once the two broke apart, Yuzu approached with her decision.
"Rin, if that's your decision, then here's what we're going to do… We're going to contact the Lancers."
And that has been Chapter 4 of Act 2. My God, this was one challenging chapter to write.
"Do tell Writer man."
You see, this point is a transition into a major set of events and I'm having a rough time figuring out how to do that. And this is the result of that blundering around, it's not great and I can't do much to improve it. So please dear audience, tell me what I need to improve because this is where I'm weakest.
"Remember, kick a person's weak point enough and it'll transform into a strength. Kick this son of a bitch where it hurts, tear him apart with your words!"
Don't mind Eris, she's cranky because I'm tried. But she does have a point, I need you all to hit me with your sharpest criticisms. Otherwise you might find more of this terrible writing later in the future. Only those who offers their critiques can stop bad writers from writing any more bad stories.
"That was my line!"
Too bad, I'm taking it back for today. Anyway, that's all I have for this update. So with that said...
Until Next Time. T1.