Episode 103: Emergence Part 1

Vanquishing Crusader, Earth Orbit

Everyone is right where they were where the last episode left off. Brutus is leaning over Yuni, who is still recovering from his near defeat at the hands of Cassius. Tori runs over and hugs Brutus from behind. She proclaims, "Brutus, I'm so glad you're back!"

Brutus turns around, picks her up, and bear hugs her back. "I'm glad to be back Tori." After she grunts, Brutus puts her back down.

Seto steps forward and remarks sarcastically, "While this has been such a touching reunion, I must remind you that we have wasted far too much time already. The Yugohan Emperor probably knows we're here by now."

Yuni grunts as he starts to get up. Tori objects, "No Yuni, you need rest after that."

Yuni shakes his head and stands up. "No, he's right. We have lost a lot of valuable time."

Zenith steps forward. "No, had the emperor known we were here, this place would be swarming with troops by now. There's something even more important we must do first."

Brutus, having apparently not noticed Zenith until now, turns towards his voice in shock. An intense look of rage crosses his face and he charges at Zenith, delivering a punch to his stomach, and knocking him back. Brutus shouts, "What are you doing here!?"

Zenith grimaces in pain and suggests, "You shouldn't get so angry, emotions like that make it easier for a Mind Partner to assert control over a host body."

Yuni walks over to Brutus and puts a hand on his shoulder. "Please Brutus, calm down."

Brutus demands, "Why!? Why should I listen to anything he has to say!? You don't know what he did to me Yuni! He tortured me! He put me through the most painful experience you can imagine!"

Zenith stands up. "That I did, and I most definitely deserved that punch – and much, much more – but you need me right now."

Yuni explains, "Zenith claims that he has defected. After what he did to you, he couldn't stand to serve New Yugoha anymore."

"What about his Mind Partner, Xenox?"

Zenith answers, "I know techniques to suppress the Mind Partner, and I can help you do the same. You need to calm down."

Yuni adds, "I don't trust him either, but right now he's our best chance at stopping this invasion."

Brutus takes a deep breath. In a calmer state he asks, "What is it we need to do then?"

Zenith answers, "We need to take a small detour to the Neural Lab. It's too much of a wild card to leave Cassius in you and Xenox in me. There's equipment in the Neural Lab that can remove a Mind Partner from the host."

Brutus looks skeptical. "Will it be anything like it was inserting the Mind Partner in the first place?"

Zenith shakes his head. "Luckily, it is a relatively pain-free procedure."

Brutus mumbles under his breath, "Anything would be relatively pain-free when compared to that."

Yuni nods. "I think he's right. We need to do this." He looks to Ma'at and Seto. "What do you two think?"

Ma'at agrees, "Mind Partners present too much of a wildcard. If there's a way we can get rid of them, it's worth it."

Seto says disapprovingly, "It would appear that we must."

"Alright." He looks back to Zenith. "Lead the way."

Trope is leading a strike team of several soldiers of the Society of Chaos. They are in a chamber. On one side is a raised platform, and on the other is a control station. Trope is overseeing an operation of sabotage of the room. The various society members are using their powers over Chaos to create small orbs of energy that placed at several key locations around the room. Trope declares, "Charges set. Everyone take cover." They slip out of the room, and as the door closes, an explosion can be heard.

They go back into the room to survey the results. The room is completely wrecked. When the door is suddenly heard opening, the strike team instantly finds a place to hide. Two New Yugohan technicians walk in. They survey the room. One says, "This is the second transporter room to experience a sudden explosion. This can't be random."

The other agrees. "We should alert Command."

They turn back towards the door. Trope stands in their way. He's holding up two ninja stars, one made of light, the other darkness. One of the technicians reaches for his communicator. Trope suggests, "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

The technician slowly lowers his hand. "Who are you?"

"A concerned citizen of Earth." Trope steps forward. "Now, allow me to explain how this is going to work. You are going to use your communicator to tell whoever you work for that this explosion, as well as the last, and any others ones that may occur, are not due to sabotage. If you do that, you and your partner get out of here unharmed. If you do anything else…you won't be so fortunate."

"How am I supposed to explain that?"

"I don't know. You're the technician. Make something up."

The technician grimaces. He reaches for his communicator again and activates it. "Sir, we've just made it to Transporter Room Four, we can now confirm that this explosion as well as the last is due to a system-wide malfunction in the pattern buffers. There's nothing much that can be done while we're in the middle of a battle."

A voice responds, "Understood. See what you can do short of shutting down the entire system."

"Yes sir." He deactivates the communicator and looks to Trope. "There, happy?"

Trope nods. "Yes, very much." Two members of the strike team appear behind each of the technicians and use their Chaos powers to cause them pass out. Trope puts away his ninja stars. "Good job." The other strike team members come out from hiding. "Let's take anything we can from them. Their communicators for sure, those could help a lot. Once you're done with that, hide the bodies."

Two members go over the bodies, taking anything of strategic value. One says, "Sir, look at this." He holds up a handheld device with a holographic screen. "It seems to be some sort of personal, handheld terminal."

Trope takes it and activates it. "Good find, this could have strategic information in it." Trope takes a few moments to look over its contents. He finds something surprising. "Men, we have a new priority."

The screen can be seen. It reads, "General Notice: There has been a High Value Prisoner transfer to Detention Block 47."

Zenith leads the group into a new room. Brutus is supporting Yuni, who still appears weak. This room is full of various pieces of technology, mostly control panels and display holograms. There are also several clear cylindrical chambers. Zenith says, "This is it. From here we should be able remove the Mind Partners."

Yuni asks, "What does Xenox have to say about that?"

Zenith almost smiles. "He's giving me one of the worst headaches I've ever had."

Brutus puts a hand to his forehead. "Yeah, me too."

Tori looks over some controls and asks, "How do you work this thing?"

Zenith walks over the controls. "You'll have to leave the controls to me." He looks to Yuni, "That, if you're okay with that."

Yuni responds, "It would appear that we don't have much of a choice."

Zenith nods. He beckons to Brutus. "I need you to step into the Neural Chamber."

Brutus nods. Ma'at walks over and takes over supporting Yuni. Brutus walks to the chamber, which has a door automatically open. Brutus steps in. He says, "Alright, let's get this over with."

Zenith states, "Affirmative." He taps away at the control panel, entering several commands. He warns, "You'll feel a slight electric shock travel through your system, it shouldn't hurt too much, but try to move as little as possible." He presses a few more buttons, "Activating the Neural Chamber in three…two…one." He presses another button.

Brutus' chamber fills with a green gas. A few uneventful moments pass. The chamber opens back up and the gas spills out. Brutus stands there silent.

Tori asks, "Brutus, did it work?"

Brutus slowly nods. "Yeah…it did…he's gone, Cassius is gone!"

"That's great!"

Yuni asks Zenith, "Alright, it worked. What about you? How do we get Xenox out of you?"

Zenith responds, "That shouldn't be a problem, I should be able to enter all of the settings from here, then one of you just have to press the activation button once I'm in." Brutus walks over to Zenith. Zenith points to a button. "That one right there." Brutus nods. Zenith then proceeds to enter in more commands. As he is about to press one last button, his hand freezes as if in hesitation. He then lifts his hand and presses a different button. "Okay, I'm ready." He walks over to the chamber. Before stepping in, he turns around and faces Yuni. He takes a deep breath. "I really hope that the fact that I'm willing to do this proves my sincerity. By removing my Mind Partner, I am forfeiting my identity as a Tyrian."

Yuni responds emotionlessly, "We'll have to see."

Zenith sighs. "I know I can't expect you to ever trust me again, but I can only dream that doing this can at least help to mend the bridge." He turns back around and walks into the chamber. The door closes behind him and he takes his position. Brutus presses the button. The same process occurs as before. A few more moments and the door opens again, releasing the gas once more. Zenith steps out. Something is off though. There is an odd look on his face; one that demonstrates anger and hatred.

Yuni asks, "Is something wrong Zenith?"

Zenith grins malevolently. He chuckles. He says, in a voice completely different from his own, "Zenith is no longer with us, he has been relieved from duty. You may address me as Grand Admiral Xenox."

Trope and his strike team are in a darkly lit passageway of the ship. Trope stops his team and says, "Alright, according to the schematics we took, we are now entering Cell Block 47. From everything I can gather, this cell block will contain the two prisoners Cosmo and Celestia. They are both refugees from Old Yugoha, and are being held for unknown reasons. Lord Ragnarok has made it clear that they must be freed. It's time for a jailbreak."

The team all say in unison, "Yes sir."

They move forward until they make it to a door. Trope creates an orb of Chaos energy, similar to the ones used to destroy the transporter room earlier. The team steps back and the orb explodes, cracking the door open. The team filters in.

The room is a dark hallway with black and red walls. Lining the walls are prison cell after prison cell, each one blocked not by bars, but by force fields. The team fans out and checks every cell one by one. One declares, "Sir, come over here! I found them!"

Trope rushes over to the mentioned cell. Across the field he can see Cosmo and Celestia sleeping in the cell. Trope states, "Leave this to me." He holds up his arms, and his hands begins to glow, one black and the other white. With his energy covered hands, he reaches towards the force field and pushes his hands through. Once partially through, he grabs the field and stretches apart, as if he's ripping a fabric. Once he's opened it up enough for someone to make through he calls, "Cosmo, Celestia, wake up."

The father and daughter slowly regain consciousness. Cosmo looks at them with surprise. "Who are you?"

"I serve Yuni Oha, we have come to rescue you. Please, follow us."

Cosmo and Celestia quickly get up and climb through Trope's breach in the field. Once out, Trope beckons them towards the exit. Cosmo asks, "Impressive job. How did you manage to shut down the security alarms?"

Sounding concerned, Trope asks, "Alarms?"

As if on cue, the sound of an alarm goes off.

Back in the Neural Lab, Yuni, Brutus, and Tori are looking at Zenith's body being controlled by Xenox. Xenox asks, "My, my, what's wrong?"

Yuni demands, "What have you done with Zenith?"

Xenox laughs. "I've taken his place. Is it not obvious?"

Brutus shouts, "But he was supposed to have deleted you!"

Xenox laughs again. "He tried, but that plan backfired on him. While his mental stamina may have been too much for me to take over for any good amount of time, I was able to assert my will just long enough to make him program the Neural Chamber to delete his mind instead of mine."

Tori asks in disbelief, "So…he's…"

Xenox finishes, "Yes, he's gone. And since his mind has never been saved as a Mind Partner pattern, he's gone forever. This body is now back under the control of a loyal Tyrian. Now that introductions are out of the way, it is about time that I destroy you. I could just contact security, and there'd be more guards here than you could ever fight off here in moments, but I feel more invested in this than that. I will destroy you myself." He holds up Zenith's Duel Gauntlet.

Yuni steps away from Ma'at's support, but staggers. He grunts, "I'll take you."

Tori says, "No Yuni, you're still weak from your last duel. You can't do this."

Ma'at offers, "I'll take your place Yuni."

Brutus objects, "No, let me. Crushing this guy is the next best thing to crushing Zenith."

Lux and Nox both say, "We will do anything to protect you my lord, let us."

Finally, Seto steps forward and declares, "No, I am the best duelist here. I'll handle it."

Yuni shakes his head. "No, this has to be my duel. Zenith went undercover as our friend in order to get to me. He kidnapped Brutus because of me. I'm the one who decided to trust him to help us here. This is all on me. This duel has to be mine."

Xenox laughs once more. "It honestly doesn't matter which one of you duels me first. I'll destroy you all."

Yugi asks, Are you sure you want to go through with this?

Absolutely. I meant everything I said. I have to do this.

Okay, just remember, I'm here for you to support you in anyway. My strength is your strength.

Thank you.

Yuni steps closer to Xenox. "I'll be your opponent."

"So be it. As you might say, duel on."

Yuni activates his Duel Gauntlet. "Duel on indeed!" Xenox activates his Duel Gauntlet as well.

The Duel Computer declares, "Duel now commencing. Yuni Oha vs. Xenox. Scanning decks…decks accepted. Commence dueling."

Yuni draws. As he draws, he flinches in pain. He quickly recovers and declares, "I summon the Cyber-Tech Avenger (Fire/Level 4/Machine/Effect/ATK 2200/DEF 0)! Then I'll fortify my defenses with two facedown cards (Yuni's hand: 3)!"

Xenox states, "I've come to expect so much more out of you Yuni. You disappoint."

Yuni counters, "I feel no need to impress you."

"Touché." As Xenox draws, his card glows green. "I activate the Malevolent Soul Engine of Tyria!" The Soul Engine appears and casts its barrier across the field.

Yugi warns, Now any damage we take will be for real, brace yourself Yuni!

Xenox continues, "I summon Spearman of the United Front (Earth/Level 4/Warrior/Union/ATK 1700/DEF 500)." A large, engraved spear appears on the field. It transforms into a slim soldier, whose armor is reminiscent of the engravings on the spear. It is empowered by the Soul Engine (ATK: 2121) "When I summon this monster, I can automatically equip it with another Union Monster from my hand, such as the Archer of the United Front." The soldier is equipped with a bow and a quiver of arrows. "The monster equipped with the Archer of the United Front gains 500 attack (ATK: 2621). I'll finish my turn by setting a card (Xenox's hand: 3)."

Yuni states, "Now it is you that is falling short, you didn't even attempt an attack! How is it I who fails to impress you?"

"Why don't you take your move, and we'll find out."

Trope, Cosmo, Celestia, and the strike team find their exit blocked by several New Yugohan soldiers. Trope announces, "Our cover has been blown! We have no option but to fight our way out now!" The team charges forward to attack. An all-out battle begins.

Trope attacks with a pulse of Chaos energy that blasts back several soldiers. He then jumps out of the way, just dodging an energy attack from a New Yugohan. He lands next to Cosmo, they assume a back-to-back position as they are surrounded by several soldiers.

Cosmo declares, "Power of Yugoha, grant me strength!" He begins to create a ball of light.

Trope does similar with a ball of darkness. Both unleash their attacks and defeat their surrounding opponents. Cosmo asks, "By the way, do I know you?"

Trope responds, "We've never directly met, but you did banish the mind of my master to the Darkness."

Cosmo nods. "Right…sorry about that…"

Trope states, "The past is irrelevant. Lord Ragnarok says we need you, so I am here to protect you."

Celestia calls, "Daddy, that's all the soldiers, we'd better get going!"

Trope and Cosmo look at each other and nod. They turn to leave the cell block, the strike team follows them.

Once outside Trope realizes something is wrong. In front of them a large group of at least 50 New Yugohan soldiers are waiting for them. The one front of the group declares, "Surrender now, it's all over for you!"

Trope and Cosmo looks to each other in uncertainty.

Yuni draws. Upon drawing, Xenox declares, "I activate my Trap Card, Soul Weapon! Now by destroying my own Union monster," the bow and arrows shatter away (ATK: 2121), "I can destroy your monster!" Yuni's Cyber-Tech Avenger is destroyed in an explosion. "On top of that, you then take damage equal to the attack of your monster!" The blast hits Yuni, knocking him back (Yuni's LP: 1800).

Yuni is down on the ground, he looks badly beat up by the last attack. Yugi cries with worry, Yuni, get up!

Xenox begins to laugh malevolently. "You are weak!"

Tori cries, "Yuni!"

Brutus shouts, "Come on Yuni, you can take this!"

Yuni remains on the ground, unable to respond.