Chapter 49

Escaping the Facility's chains

(Facility office)

"This is not good! This is not good!" The facility head (The man Roger spoke to in episode 60) was acting frantic and crazed out seeing how the inmates were running wild and out of control in the tower, "Just when I gave the okay for a great duel tournament to be held, THIS happens! Also, the Director's on his way here! When he sees what I let happen…He'll…."

His self worrying was interrupted as a person walked into his office. He was a tan-skinned guard who wore the same green uniform and as the others in the facially, but was large with muscular arms and also a thick, fat, and slightly jutting/overhanging belly, giving him a generally bulky and stocky overall appearance. He also had a black beard which stretched around his lower face.

"Boss, mind if interrupt your….private moment?"

The chief then looked up, "Takasu! Can't you see I'm trying to think of something!? The inmates are getting far out of hand! For all I know, some of them may be escaping as we speak!"

'About that sir. That's why I'm here. As one of the top guards here, it's by my request that you trust me to handle the situation."

"You? And just how do you plan on doing so?" The chief asked suspiciously.

He then grinned, "Simple, if you would allow me the use of 'the deck'."

The chief's eyes widened in shock, at how he was demanded, "The deck!? You must be joking! Director Roger strictly stated that deck is to be used only in a dire emergency only!"

"But sir, surely this counts as one of those times. Like you said, if we waste time arguing now, who knows how many more will get away!" he turned around to leave, "Then again, it's your choice chief." smirking his boss' back.

The chief thought for a moment, gritting his teeth and sweating from having to make a difficult to choice before deciding, "Urgh…Alright." He then began dialling on a safe before taking out a deck and duel disk from inside, and handing it to his guard, "Here. Make sure you round up every last inmate or runaway. Do not allow a single common to leave this facility no matter what!"

"It's my job sir. Consider it done!" he saluted before exiting the room. The moment he stepped out of the door he grinned slyly to himself, "Hehehe! Finally it's mine! Now, to take this deck out for a test run, and see if it's all it's cracked up to be! And I think I know just the escapees to use it on!"

(Meanwhile)

"Huff…Hufff…You think we lost them?" I gasped as I looked around the corridor I was in. Red eyes then took a look around the corner, 'Sniff….We're in the clear, at least for now."

"That's good to know." I felt relieved, acting as a decoy for the guards to allow Gongenzaka and Dennis to sneak by was NOT how I planned our rescue operation, but considering how the 3 of us got caught in the hall earlier, I had to act on my feet.

"Hope they're okay."

"You should not worry. Noboru is strong in body and spirit, while Dennis is crafty yet positive. Have faith in the 2 of them." Bahamut assured me.

"Okay, I suppose you're right as usual Bahamut." I replied before running onwards, "Blue eyes, do have any idea where they may be keeping our duel disks."

"I sure do, we're not too far from the storage depot. With a little luck it should be unguarded with the commotion spreading throughout the entire facility." Sure enough she was right, with word of a breakout spreading through the towers, most of the guards bolted to secure the out of control inmates, and when we made it to the storage we found it completely deserted!

"What luck!" I cheered, "Now to get back our disks." Only problem was…which one? They all looked the same to me and no labels either, this was going to be a bit tough.

"Over here!" I heard Red eyes call as I saw his head phasing through a locker, "Our gear's in this one!"

"Thanks Red eyes! But…" I looked around the desks hoping to find a key card or something, but I guess they must have remembered to take some precaution. I tried to type in whatever random combination there could be on the lock but every one ended with denied…

I was beginning to lose my marbles with impatience, anyone could just come in through the door right now! "Come on…." Suddenly I heard running foot steps and I jumped back as someone came in!

"Oh it's you…"

"Shun!?" I was surprised to see him out, "You got out!"

"Hmph! You insult me if you thought these mere cells could hold me." he muttered, "So did you find anything?"

"Yeah, all our disks are inside this locker, I tried getting it open but no luck."

"Tch! Move aside." he then shoved me, still same Shun…

"But how are you going to.."

SMASH!

My eyes widened in surprise seeing how easily he made scrap out of that locker with a few punches! Better not get on his bad side….

"Remind me not to insult his feathered friends Blue eyes." Red eyes said blankly, not knowing how to make of what he witnessed.

"Indeed…" she stated in a similar tone, "He's no mere mortal that's for sure."

"Here." he said as he tossed me back my disk.

"Err….Thanks?"

Bahamut only narrowed his eyes, still seeing how Shun was still filled with distrust and hatred, hoping someone would free him from himself one day.

"Hey! We don't have time to waste on pointless things…" I then saw Gongenzaka rush to the entrance, and almost immediately, Shun returned the other duel disks to him.

"You plan to escape unarmed? Out of my way!" he yelled as he pushed aside Gongenzaka and ran off.

"Hey, what're you-?!" As he was about to follow Shun, he turned around to see me, "Ryuga!" Gongenzaka called, "You escaped those blasted guards!?"

"Yeah..but barely. How's Dennis and Selena?" I asked worried, hoping nothing bad happened.

"I am afraid I do not know. But we mustn't waste time! Let's move while we have the chance!"

"Right!" then we both took off after Shun, man he really needs to learn the definition of teamwork! Didn't his resistance buddies teach him that!?

While trying to catch up with Shun, we overheard a bunch of footsteps and we turned around, 'HALT!" a large bunch of security guards were charging at us with their sticks and at full force!

"Tch! Of all the times…" Before he could activate his duel disk I stopped him.

"Gongenzaka! Go and back Shun up! I'll hold them off!"

"What!?" he gasped, thinking I was out of my mind, "You against all of them!? I cannot allow this! I shall aid you in…"

"There's no time for that now! Go and help Shun! I won't risk the both of us getting held up before we get to Yuya, besides, I have a plan to get myself out of this, I just need you to trust me."

"Tch! Ok fine! I wish you the very best! Good luck!" he called before running off around the corridor where he believed to have saw Shun go.

"You won't escape!" one yelled as they headed to me.

I then took my cards out and looked at them, "Well guys…Let's go." They then nodded, as if they couldn't wait to sink their fangs into fresh meat!

"Using scale 1 magician dragon and scale 9 gator dragon! I set the pendulum scale!" I laid out my 2 pendulum monsters which rose in pillars of light, stopping the guards in their tracks!

"What is this!?" they gasped.

"With the current scale i can summon monsters from levels 2-8 simultaneously! Alright Bahamut! Red eyes! Blue eyes! Come on out!" The 3 dragons shot out from the portal and glared down at the guards who appeared as finger food to them!

ROOOAARRR!

"YEEEEAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!"

Shun eventually made it to the back entrance of the facility, in a large hall and proceeded to go through before being called, "Kurosaki!"

He turned around and saw the steadfast duelist trotting after him.

"Took you long enough." he scoffed before looking around, "Where's Shirogane?" he asked slightly uninterested.

"He…He used himself as a diversion, to allow me time to escape." Gongenzaka grunted, being unable to live with the fact he had to leave behind his friend.

"Hmph! His loss then…" Before Shun could leave, he was grabbed by the shoulder!

"Kurosaki! I have had enough of your selfish attitude! As a lancer, do you not have even the slightest bit of concern for any of our comrades?! He sacrificed himself trying to help us!"

"Unhand me!" Shun yelled as he pulled back, "It's his decision not mine! Besides, we can't waste any more time worrying! Our opportunity to escape will disappear soon if we keep dwelling on the past. Now are you going or not?" he scoffed.

"Kurosaki…" Gongenzaka sighed, just before they could take another step, suddenly a pair of metal chains struck out from the ground and ensnared the both of them, retraining their arms and they couldn't reach their disks! It was really tight and even Gongenzaka who was really strong could not make it budge!

"What the!?"

"Argh! I cannot move! Such grotesque binding!" He wa used to not moving in an action duel, but being forcefully restrained like this was ridiculous!

They then heard footsteps from a corridor and out came a large guard with an activated duel disk, 'Hahaha! Well well what do we have here? Looks like I nabbed myself a couple of runaway rodents! Today's my lucky day! Haha!"

"Grrr!" Shun grunted as he tried to wriggle his way out but to no avail, "When I get out of these chains…I'll..!"

Takasu grinned disgustingly seeing his valiant but futile efforts, "Heh, don't even bother, these iron chains are state of the art! Courtesy of the facility's most advanced deck! Struggling like a worm will do you no good, wait you are a worm! Haha!"

"Tch!" they both grunted as they couldn't do a thing as he walked closer.

"Now to take you both back and when I do, you can both kiss your futures goodbye!"

"Sorry! But none of us intend to make new plans let alone stay here in this rotten facility!" a voice yelled.

"Huh!?" They all looked to the side and saw me running towards them with Black Brutdrago charging forward!

"Go Brutdrago! Smash those chains and set our friends free!" My dragon roared and charged towards them, 'Agh!" the big guard gasped as he barely jumped out of my dragon's way, who easily made short work of the chains with his massive teeth!

"You guys alright!" I called as my dragon disappeared and I came to them.

"I am deeply in your debt Ryuga! How did you escape those security guards?" Gongenzaka asked after graciously accepting my help.

"Let's just say….I have my ways." I replied sheepishly before tuning to Shun and giving him a hand.

"Hmph, I don't need your help. I could have dealt with it myself." he grunted as he stood up.

(Well that's being grateful…) Red eyes snarled.

"Sigh…Look Shun, just be thankful I came along in the nick of time okay?"

He turned away before asking, "Tell me, why did you even bother to give me a hand after I shot you down many times?"

That was an odd question, "Isn't it obvious? Because as lancers we should all look put for one another right? We never leave anyone in need behind, especially our comrades, and we always come back for them in the end. Didn't you and your resistance do that?"

He then grit his teeth and looked away, realising I was right but not wanting to admit it. I could tell while he was tough on the outside, he still meant well.

"Aww, isn't that just sweet." we then looked to the side and saw the guard had gotten up. "Too bad I don't have a care about it! Now you 3 are going to be put away behind bars forever!"

"I've been waiting for this…" Shun said as he proceeded to make his move I stopped him, "Get out of my way!"

"He's not worth the time Shun. You both go help Yuya and the others, I'll take care of things here."

"Are you mocking or doubting me!?" Shun hissed annoyed, "I can take him out easily in a single turn on my own!"

"I'm confident in you, but right now Yuya and the others are no doubt in more danger and they need your help more! Also, I don't want them to be boxed in or overwhelmed like the last time! So go help them now while you still can!"

"He's right, we have no time for pointless banter! Have faith in him and come Kurosaki!" Gongenzaka yelled as he managed to pull Shun with him.

"Tch! Fine, but I'm not doing this for you." he said as he followed the burly man out.

(Thanks for the vote of confidence…'friend'.) Red eyes snarked as we faced the guard who began chuckling, "Pfft! Hahahaha!"

"What's so funny?" I asked with a hardened gaze.

"I don't know what is! The fact that you think you can take me on! Or the fact you gave yourself up for a couple of vermin who'll end up getting caught anyways!"

"They won't. Also, i was able to deal with a big bunch of you guys earlier, so you won't be that different."

Hearing that made his eye twitch and his smile vanished, "Grrr, you dare compare me to those lightweights!? You don't even know who you're dealing with!" he boasted as he readied his disk and deck, "I'm Takasu, one of the TOP guards here at the facility, and my specially is wrangling up any of you punks who try to escape, or even entertain such thoughts! And I'll be sure to use you as an example to anyone else who would be stupid enough to try!"

"Bring it!" I yelled as I activated my own duel disk.

DUEL!

Ryuga: 4000

Takasu: 4000

"Field Open! Crossover!" The space then turned blue and platforms appeared in the sky, and the action cards dispersed across the room.

"Eh? What's this?" Takasu said in confusion as he looked around, "Whatever it is, it ain't gonna help you one bit you scum!" he taunted.

"Want to bet?" I replied while loading Red eyes' deck inside. (I've been waiting for a chance to chomp down on a chump!)

"I'll go first! My draw!" he stated, "I summon iron chain repairman!" A large man monster with a big hammer appeared with 1600 atk. "I'll also place a card facedown. Your move you trash!"

I grit my teeth in frustration, "I draw!" I'll be sure to make him regret it! "I summon vanguard of the dragon in attack mode!" My dragon man warrior with a long spear and big shield took its stand at my side, ready to serve. "I'll also activate his special ability! By discarding a dragon from my hand, he gains 300 attack points! So i'll discard my level 6 black dragon jungle king in order to grant my vanguard even more strength!" My jungle king's soul infused with vanguard's spear, changing its' shape into a form similar to its own.

1700-2000

"Now attack iron chain repairman with javelin joust!" My dragon then jumped up and threw its spear at the opposing monster!

"Too bad that attack's gonna slam right into my kunai with chain!" Takasu yelled as he opened his trap and a big chain with claw shot out of it! It knocked the javelin away as they collided, before ensnaring my dragon, forcing it into defence mode!

"No!"

"Hehe, too bad kid! Not only does this trap forces your monster into defence mode, it also grants my iron chain repairman an additional 500 points!" The large man then grabbed hold of the chain and pulled down vanguard, forcing it into defence mode while it got stronger!

1600-2100

"Take a good look scum! This is exactly what I plan on doing to you and all your precious friends after they're all rounded up!" he taunted.

"Tch! Guess I have no choice but to place 2 cards facedown and end my turn." I said as I laid 2 cards, traps that would be really helpful in getting backup.

Red eyes snarled as he looked at my opponent, "This guy's no laughing matter like the others…Keep sharp."

"I agree.." I replied softly.

"Guess it's my turn again! Draw!" he then smirked seeing his hand, something I did not like one bit. "Gahaha! This is just perfect! Brace yourself punk for a shocking surprise! I activate the continuos spell paralysing chain!" He activated a spell which depicted a man suffering from an electrifying chain! Suddenly some chains shot out of the ground and snared my duel disk!

"Hey! What gives!?"

"You'll find out soon enough, but you're gonna wish you haven't! But first I'll summon iron chain snake!" A chain like snake monster emerged from the ground and hissed at me, "Now I'll use it's special ability! It can equip itself to an opponent's monster, causing it to lose 800 attack and defence points!" The snake launched itself at my chained vanguard, as it added much more weight onto it while it was still lying down helpless!

1300-500

"Even if you do that, my monster's in defence mode! I still won't take damage!"

He then grinned, 'You sure about that? Wishful thinking."

"Say what now?" I gasped, "I need an action card!" I tried to run to a platform.

"I don't know what you're planning but I won't let you! Iron chain repairman! Smash that lizard into the ground!" The repairman then jumped up and smashed his hammer down onto my dragon along with the equipped iron chain snake! As it did, the sparks then flew at my face and then the vibrations felt from the slamming hammer threw me off my feet!

"Oof!" I went as I hit the ground!

Ryuga: 4000-3700

"How did I?" I grunted as I got back up.

"Simple, when iron chain repairman destroys a monster, you take 300 points of damage! But the fun doesn't stop there! You see, since your monster was equipped with iron chain snake when it was destroyed, you've got to discard cards from your deck equal to the level of your monster!"

"Great…" I grunted as I begrudgingly began to pick up the top cards.

"Now go! Toss out the top 4 cards of that weak deck of yours!" He was getting on my nerves, but I had to. When i discarded, I noticed some of my best cards were lost! (Red eyes black flare dragon, red eyes fusion, polymerisation, mirror force)

"Now the effect of my paralysing chain activates! Whenever you discard cards from your deck, you take 300 points of damage!"

My eyes widened in shock as I noticed the chain on my deck began sparking and then I felt a surge of electricity shocking me! "Aargh!"

Ryuga: 3700-3400

"Hehehe! Told you this would be shocking!"

"Tch! You won't be laughing for long! Since you'd destroyed my dragon, you triggered my 2 trap cards! Reveal bond of dragons and den of dragons!" I activated my traps, "Bond of dragons lets me summon a level 4 or lower dragon from my deck while den of dragons lets me summon a dragon from my hand with the same level! So come on out and avenge your ally! Red eyes wyvern and red eyes retro dragon!" Both monsters took to the sky and shrieked at Takasu, who only scowled.

"Hmph! Whatever! I'll do away with those flying pests just like your lousy lizard earlier! But for now, I'll activate my pot of greed! This lets me draw 2 more cards!" After he drew he took one of them, "I'll place this facedown and end my turn. Go on and make your move kid, I don't have all night!" he said impatiently.

"My draw." I said, angrily, "This card could come in handy, if I'm correct about what he's planning red eyes."

"Agreed…" he replied snarling at my opponent.

"Get ready Takasu! Using my 2 level 4 monsters I'll build the overlay network and xyz summon!" Red eyes wyvern and red eyes retro dragon changed into green and purple lights before diving into the xyz portal, "Great queen of dragons, appear right now in all your beauty and grace, lead your fellow fire breathers on to victory! I xyz summon! Rank 4 queen dragun!" My dragon woman xyz monster emerged from the portal with 2 purple overlay units orbiting her, she had noticed my torment and was prepared to fight for me!

"Xyz summon? Guess I haven't been in a duel for a while." he muttered to himself.

"I'll also use her special ability! By using an overlay unit, I can special summon a level 5 or higher dragon from my graveyard, under the condition that it can't attack this turn nor activate any effects! I choose my level 6 black dragon jungle king which I discarded earlier!" Queen then took in a unit with her staff, so she shot a blast to the ground and revived my earlier normal monster, "But he won't stay on the field for long, because now I sacrifice my reborn dragon king to summon genesis dragon!" My black dragon disappeared and was replaced with a shining stronger dragon with 2200 points!

(Nice work Ryuga, with genesis dragon you can add a dragon to your hand from your graveyard by discarding another from your hand, meaning next round victory will be assured if you draw another dragon next round.) Blue eyes complimented, seeing how it was one of her monsters she had me include in red eyes deck.

I hoped that I would be able to get a red eyes monster or a polymerisation later in order to fuse with genesis dragon later, allowing the burn damage to bring a quick win to this situation before it gets even more worse, also if it were to be removed from the field to the grave I could return all my dragon monsters to my deck..

"Get ready to feel the burn! Queen dragun attacks your repairman with blaze burst! Let him have it full force!" I commanded with determination, she nodded and shot a stream of fire from her staff straight at her target!

"Oh no! I'm done for!….Just kidding!" Takasu went as his face changed from shock to a smirk in an instant, "That xyz summon thing is different from what I'm used too, but did you really think I wouldn't see something like this coming? Think again!."

"What!?" I gasped as I quickly noticed his facedown, "That can't be another…"

"I activate my No entry!" The trap opened and many bars shot from the ground blocking the attack, releasing shockwaves forcing my 2 dragons to land down in defence mode! "With this card, your monsters switch to defence mode, so no more attacks this turn!"

"Not again…" I grunted seeing how my move was blocked again, "I…end my turn."

(This guy is really starting to get on my nerves…)

"Hahaha! That look on your face was hilarious! You thought you had me but you were so wrong! It feels so good smash down your hopes the moment you've gotten them high!" he tainted, now I understood why the commons hated these guys so much, "Well punk! Prepare for more pain! I draw!" he then grinned slyly once again, "Wahaha! Today just isn't your lucky day! Then again luck favours the powerful and I'll be sure to prove to you that in this here facility, you commons have none! I activate my repairman's special ability! By preventing him from attacking this turn, I can summon an iron chain monster from my graveyard so say hello again to my iron chain snake!"

"That monster again…" I scowled as I saw it emerge again.

"I'll also summon from my hand iron chain blaster!" Takasu then called out a gun shaped warrior monster targeting me, despite their weak attack strengths, there was definitely much more to this than meets the eye. "Now I'll put you behind bars! Literally with nightmare steel cage!" He played a continuos spell which locked me and my monsters inside a giant trap!

"Ack! I can't go after action cards like this!" I grunted.

"I thought you going after those floating cards or whatever was your plan, so I used this to make sure you don't pull off any miracles!"

"He actually thought that ahead….He's planning to restrict my movements…."

"This spell prevents either of us from attacking, but it's a huge plus for me! Especially with this second continuos spell! Poison chain! As long as this continuos spell remains on the field, if my iron chain monsters don't attack, you automatically have to discard cards from the top of your deck equal to their combined levels!"

"No way!" I gasped in shock before looking at the situation, "Their combined levels are 9…"

"That's right! I'm surprised you could actually add!" he gloated, "That means now have to discard 9 cards! And I'm sure you know what happens if your deck runs out of cards don't you?"

"I lose…" I stated as my deck gained a purple aura from the chain it was ensnared with.

"Now I hope you or your pals didn't have anything planned for the next couple of years, because once you lose and every single one of them are rounded up you guys can wave bye bye to your futures! HAHA!"

"I don't plan on letting that happen anytime soon!" I retorted before taking 9 cards, seeing them all go to the grave like that was really painful as I let go.

"With those 9 cards gone, you've got like 19 or so left!"

I then grit my teeth in frustration, if things keep up like this, not only will by best cards be lost before I play them, I won't last for more than 2 rounds!

"What's the matter? Sad to see your precious deck get torn apart little by little?" he taunted.

"I won't let you get away with this…" I growled.

"Tough talk coming from someone who's going to lose. In the meantime, how about my paralysing chain shock you back into reality!"

I then turned to my disk where the chain began sparkling and then i received another big jolt! "AAAAHH!"

Ryuga: 3400-3100

I then began to kneel down a bit as I tried to recover from the shocks, and then struggled back to my legs.

"Now now, this is just a game, of course if you happen to lose, you're gonna have to kiss your freedom goodbye!"

"You disgust me…" I grunted as I stood up again.

(Dragon POV)

(So that's his game…He plans on restricting us so much that we can't do a thing to fight back as he continues destroying whatever chances we have of winning. As well as damaging us slowly, while forcing to endure the pain of losing what we hold most precious. The belief and faith in our cards….) Bahamut stated as he came back.

"What a sickening act!" Blue eyes snarled not just at my opponent's sadistic attitude but also with his cowardly tactics.

Red eyes only said nothing but just growled and bared his fangs, realising how I lost plenty of my best cards already and how a number of our comeback strategies have gone down the drain.

"Don't worry you guys, he won't get away with this, I promise." I said to them as I drew my next card.

"Are you talking to your deck? You say you plan on avenging them? Hahaha! That's just hilarious! I'd love to see you try! With this unbeatable combo, you're gonna feel the sting of defeat sooner than you think! Maybe now that you've realised your hopeless situation, you commons will learn your place in society and just give up whatever worthless dreams and hopes you have of 'equality'! Whatever that is. Come to think of it, all these mishaps started ever since our new batch of captures came along and after that entertainment duel whatever it was, things have been acting out of order. All cause of that Saki guy or whatever his name was."

"Yuya!" I gasped in shock, realising who he was mentioning.

"Yuya? So that's his name eh? I take it you're friends then? Hahaha! This is just perfect! Once I have you in my custody, you'll make perfect bait to bring them all back! And I'll be sure that you bear witness each and every one of them suffering before I lock you up in maximum solitary! Hahaha!"

That was the last straw for us, his taunts were just the spur I needed to push me on! "I've had enough! My friends and deck and I have been through so much and not once have they ever let me down! I'll show you what we're truly capable of because I believe in them! Both my deck and my friends! And I'll never let you guys lay a finger on any of them! I promise that!" I yelled as I drew.

"Hehe, how noble. Well then, perhaps after this duel I'll be sure to crush that said faith once I have your deck confiscated and all your precious friends locked away in solitude after this…" Takasu thought as he smirked to himself. (This is perfect, once word gets out that I single handedly rounded up all of these runaways, Director Roger will no doubt put me in charge of this here Facility!)

As I drew, Bahamut came to me to try and bring some comfort, "Ryuga…"

"Bahamut, don't worry, I think I have just what I need to break out of this."

"I know you do, but, I sense something peculiar from that man's deck." He said as he eyed my opponent, making me look as well.

"What? Is it something evil?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No, in fact, I actually sense, a powerful dragon…."

"A dragon? He has a dragon in his deck?" I was surprised to hear that, and got a bit interested.

"He's right, I can feel it too…" Red eyes said, "What do you say we draw it out and see what it's made of?"

"Sounds risky, but I like it." I said as I smiled excitedly, to which Takasu noticed.

"What's so funny trash? Don't you realise how hopeless you are in the face of power?!"

"No, in fact I'm smiling because things about to swing my way now! I activate the spell Pot of avarice, now I can take 5 monsters from my graveyard, shuffle them back into my deck and draw 2 cards!" I took red eyes black flare, chthonian emperor dragon, black dragon jungle king and red eyes meteor dragon from my graveyard and drew 2 cards. "Now I'll use pot of benevolence, I can now take 2 cards from either of our graveyard and return them to our decks." I took 2 cards from my graveyard and returned them, "Pot of benevolence banishes itself instead of going to the graveyard." I said as it vanished into a portal.

"So you lasted a little longer, big deal! With my steel cage still in play, you can't attack, and I'll just reduce your hard work to nothing on my next turn!"

"I plan on taking care of that with the second card I drew! Go harpies' feather duster! This lets me blow away all spells and traps on your field!" The spell sent a massive wind storm which destroyed the cage I was in and shattered those troublesome chains!

"My cards! How dare you!?" he yelled angrily.

"There's more! Now I switch my 2 dragons back into attack mode!" Both my dragons went back into a fighting stance, ready to unleash their combined rage!

"H..hold up! You can't do this!" he begged.

"Queen dragun! Incinerate iron chain repairman with blaze burst!" She then shot a stream of fire which turned the repairman into ash, sending a number of flames at Takasu himself as well!

"Yow! Hot! Hot!"

Takasu: 4000-3900

"Now genesis dragon attacks iron chain snake! Go beam of the beginning!" The second dragon shot a shining stream of light which destroyed the snake!

"GRRRAAAAAHHH!" he went as the stream blew him back!

Takasu: 3900-2500

"How does it feel? Not so fun to be on the receiving end of oppression is it?" I questioned.

"You…little…. vermin!" Takasu growled as he got back up, he did not look happy one bit, "Unforgivable! A pile of scum like you assaulting a higher up of society like me! Unheard of! You maggots are all the same! Always demanding rights and equality! Well guess what? You try standing up to order, now prepare to get knocked back down! Maybe then you'll learn your place and submit to your superiors!"

"Hmph, you're clueless just like all the other tops. I'm not surprised if your perfect order comes crashing down, then again, it's bound to happen sooner or later." I said narrowing my eyes at him.

"Grrr, that tears it! You've made it personal! Now the gloves are off! My draw! I activate the spell tuning! This lets me add a tuner monster from my deck to my hand, and then as a small price I have to discard the top cards from my deck equal to that monster's level! I choose my level 4 iron chain coil!" When he added the tuner, he discarded the top 4 cards, which revealed to be 2 iron chain snakes, iron chain repairman and iron chain blaster.

"A tuner monster…Guess he's going to bring it out…" I thought.

(Whatever happens Ryuga, do NOT let your guard down.)

"I never do."

"I summon iron chain coil!" He summoned the machine tuner he just acquired, "Now I tune him with my level 2 iron chain blaster!" The tuner exploded into 4 rings for blaster, "Unleash your iron will upon all who oppose order! Imprison them for eternity with your unbreakable chains! I synchro summon! Level 6 iron chain dragon!" A beam of light shone which revealed a ferocious dragon which let out a loud roar at me and my monsters!

"I was definitely NOT expecting a monster like that…" I gasped. Even RE and BE were impressed and shocked that this guy had such a monster, it was almost too good for him…

"Haha! Where's all your tough talk now huh punk!? Here's where it gets fun, for every chain monster I've got in my graveyard, my dragon gains an additional 200 points! Right now I've got 7, giving my synchro an additional 1400 points!"

The dragon powered up and it became stronger than by best red eyes monster!

2500-3900

"There's more! When it destroys an opponent's monster in battle you need to discard cards equivalent to the level of that monster!"

"That's not good!" I gasped, realising no matter what monsters I put in defence mode to protect my life points, he'll just wear me down through sheer deck destruction! "In that case, I'll tell you something! My queen dragun's special ability means all dragons on my field can't be destroyed by battle except for her."

"Then I'll just destroy her then! Iron chain dragon! Obliterate that bad excuse for a monster using dragon fire blast!" His monster then blasted my xyz, who jumped in front to try and protect me before being destroyed herself!

"AAAAHHH!" I was flown into a wall and collapsed forward, that impact knocked most of the wind out of me.

Ryuga: 3100-1400

(Ryuga!) my friends cried in shock as they came to me, Red eyes then glared at Takasu, wanting to tear him apart himself.

"Get up! I'm done with you yet!" he yelled impatiently.

"Urgh…ugh…" I groaned as I stood up, "I…won't….lose! Especially not to someone like you!" I yelled defiantly despite feeling a bruise here and there.

"Deluded dummy, get it through that skull of yours! You can't win! Especially since my iron chain dragon's special ability forces you to give up cards equal to your monster's level!"

"Xyz monsters have ranks not levels, so I'm afraid you're going to have to wait a little longer before locking me away." I chuckled.

"Say what!? They don't have levels?! So that means they're level is like 0!?"

(Poor guy doesn't have a clue does he?) Red eyes chuckled to which I smiled back.

"Tch! Fine! But you're still just a cockroach! And here, pests like you get exterminated!" he roared angrily.

"True…But, at least they're resilient and never give up." I replied unfazed despite the situation.

(Ooh nice comeback Ryuga.)

"Grr, I'll wipe that smirk off your face with card of demise! Now I draw till I hold 5 cards, and in 5 turns, I've gotta toss my entire hand away. Not that it matters, I'll beat you way before then!" He then drew before gaining another nasty look in his eyes. "Perfect! With this card I can end that miserable brat's insolence once and for all!" He then took another card, "I play smashing ground! This destroys a monster on your field with the highest defence! Since all you've got left is genesis dragon, it's destroyed by default! Say goodbye!" he said as the spell realised a big fist which slammed down on my dragon!

"Urg!" i went as the sparks flew at my face, before smirking, "Thanks for helping me out!"

"Say what!?"

"When genesis dragon is sent form the field to the graveyard, it's special ability lets me return every dragon monster in my graveyard to my deck!" I then took every single dragon monster I had lost since the start and shuffled them back in.

"Grrr…You won't be smiling for long! I'll lay 2 facedowns and pass it over to your last turn."

I then scoffed at his arrogance,"Hmph, don't count your victory just yet, a duel's never over until the last card is drawn or until the life gauge hits 0."

As I placed 2 fingers on my deck and drew he then spoke out, "Then allow me to make it so! With my trap Final attack orders!" he then revealed one of his facedowns showing it to be a continuos trap.

"As long as this trap remains face up on the field, all face up monsters on the field are forced into attack mode! Also, we now have to choose 3 cards from our decks and any cards that weren't chosen are discarded!"

"You can't be serious!" I gasped, "How could you be willing to destroy your own deck like that!?"

"Anything to get the job done! Besides, they're just cards! It's not as if they have any actual feelings, they're just there to do as you say and nothing more! Now pick your last 3 cards because I already have!" As I heard him say that, I noticed his iron chain dragon turning his eye at Takasu, snarling a bit in anger of being thought of as a servant and nothing more. As he discarded all except for 3 cards, he sent every last iron chain monster in his deck to the grave bringing his dragon to full power!

3900-4900

(3 copies of iron chain blaster, snake, coil and repairman in total, along with various cards like chain whirlwind, fair exchange etc.)

I didn't know what was worse, that guy's sheer mistreatment of his deck, what he just forced me to do, or the odds.. As I took my deck out I found it difficult to choose, seeing how didn't have a monster or enough cards to destroy his remaining life points. As I sweated, Bahamut came to me.

"Bahamut, what do you think I should do? He's really limited my options this time…"I asked worried.

He observed the situation and then at iron chain, "Tell me Ryuga, what do you think of his dragon."

I found it odd how he changed the subject suddenly but decided to trust him, I looked and saw how iron chain dragon was filled with sadness and anger, of having been contained within the walls of the facility for many years as well as being mistreated like a forced animal. "He's really sad and oppressed…"

"I can see that too." Red eyes stated with a serious tone before brightening up with something he recalled putting in my deck, "Hey I know! I've got a idea that can help out, but you'll need to trust me on this!" he said as he whispered to me and I took out one card.

"This card? Could it…"

"Relax, it's perfect for this situation, also, I've got a nice surprise for you if you choose these other cards." After whispering I then smiled, realising his idea, 'I've decided my 3 cards!" I told him as I bid farewell to the rest of my deck.

"About time! Now to speed things up with my second trap gift of greed! Now you get to draw 2 cards and now you're just one card left from certain defeat!"

"Tch! Fine then…" I grunted as I drew 2 cards, leaving me with just one left in my deck.

"Aww what's the matter? Aren't you happy with my little gift?" he taunted, but thanks to his move, I was ready to turn this duel around!

"Your trap works only on face up monsters, so I'll place this monster in facedown defence mode." I laid a facedown monster, "Now I'll place a card facedown, and end my turn."

"Good! Now get ready for me to end you!" Takasu called as he drew, "Iron chain dragon! Destroy his monster and finish this match now!" To our surprise, his monster hesitated a little, it didn't want to be ordered around unfairly until Takasu yelled again, "What's going on!? Attack already you useless monster! Or would you rather I tear your card up this instant!" The dragon then began prepared to launch its attack, which gave me a enough time to grab an action card in the nick of time!

"I activate the action spell evasion! This negates your monster's attack!" My facedown monster swooped to the side and avoided iron chain dragon's attack at the last second!

"What the!? Action card!? You slippery slime!" Takasu growled before facing his dragon, "Don't think I'll let this go unpunished." he gritted his teeth, blaming it for my escape. "So you lasted one more turn, enjoy it now cos it won't last! I place 3 facedowns and end my turn!" (Bring it kid, knowing you, you would use a card that would destroy my dragon and then sacrifice your facedown monster for one with 2000 or more attack points, but the moment you attack, you're mine!)

I breathed a sigh of relief, seeing how everything worked out in the end, also, this duel was now more than just winning and getting out of the facility.

"So what do you think Bahamut?" I asked.

"He is indeed worthy."

"I agree, he deserves way better than this." Red eyes stated with Blue eyes in agreement. So I turned back to the duel. "My draw!" I yelled as I drew my last card, seeing it was what I needed.

Takasu saw it was my last card and began laughing, "Woo Hahaha! Now you're done! All you have is that one facedown monster but no facedown cards! Your deck's empty and I on the other hand have my iron chain dragon ready to tear you apart!

"I know, but all I need to win is this card…And a little of your help." I smirked.

"My help?" he muttered confused.

I then looked towards them, "Hey you. You're way too good for this place and you're not getting the proper respect you deserve. Tell you what? Once we get out of here, I promise you'll have a way better life if you come along with us."

"Huh? You talking to me? Have you hit your head hard or something? I'm trying to capture and bring you all in! You're out of your darned mind if you think I'd just LET you escape! Let alone go WITH you!"

"I was talking to your dragon." I replied looking up at the synchro which then looked back with a surprised expression, not expecting me to even consider talking to it, despite what it was forced to do against me. "I can tell you've been treated like a caged animal for as long as you can remember in this facility. If you come along with us, we can give you a new lease on life and you'll get to experience a real life outside, not to mention the new friends you'll make too on our journey."

The dragon then lowered it ahead in thought as if pondering what to do, only to be interrupted by Takasu, "Pfft! WAHAHAHAHA! Now I know you're nuts! Talking to a monster?! They're just cards with no actual feelings! And even if they were real which they aren't, they're just creatures you call out to do your will and nothing more! So just shut your trap and give it a rest already!"

After hearing Takasu's laughter and insults iron chain then snarled a bit before responding to me with a low growl, which Bahamut understood. "He is interested. However, he is unwilling to align himself with a weak duelist. He wishes for you to prove yourself worthy by defeating him first."

"Is that so? Heh, well I don't intend to defeat him, I plan on befriending him!" I said, "And I have just the card for that!" My facedown monster which I was able to save with evasion earlier.

"Now, I flip over my facedown monster! Reveal dragon manipulator!" The monster flipped over showing a warrior riding on a small dragon.

"Pfft! Hahaha! That worthless weakling was what you were protecting?! That's hilarious! Then again you commons value your cards so much so its not big a surprise."

"You should never underestimate the power of any card, especially this one." I said pleased everything was going according to what we planned and how this guy's arrogance was going to be his downfall, "When dragon manipulator is flipped face up, he allows me take control of a dragon monster on my opponent's field until the end of the turn! So welcome to my side iron chain dragon!"

"Say what!?" Takasu gasped as dragon manipulator flew up to iron chain's face. He then said some kind of chant which put the synchro into a calmer mood, causing it to leave Takasu's side and on to my field, willingly! "Grrr! You trash! First you assault a superior officer and now you steal MY monster!? You've gone too far now!" he yelled furiously, seeing my moves as insults to him!

"You're one to talk!" I retorted, "You guys force your prisoners to give up their precious cards and treat them as common money! You're the ones who are unforgivable!"

"Grrr….Just try and attack me, then I'll make you BOTH sorry for crossing me and security!"

Bahamut was able to draw out a new monster using the synchro dimension's power and using Red eyes' fusion energy signature, I had myself a new ally ready to fight for us! "Now I play polymerisation! Which I'll use to fuse iron chain dragon with my warrior type dragon manipulator!" Both monsters rose into the air and changed into orbs of yellow and red light before fusing! "Dragon imprisoned by chains of oppression, become free by the great tamer and join together in united might! I fusion summon! Level 10 dragon knight draco equiste!" My new dragon fusion emerged from the light and it amazed me to see what Bahamut and Red eyes together were able to do for me and for iron chain dragon. I even saw the spirit of iron chain appear above dragon knight, which nodded to me in acknowledgement.

"Fusion summon!? With MY monster!? Just who are you?!"

"The one who's going to take you down and get my friends out of this prison! Draco Equiste! Attack Takasu directly with jousting javelin blast!" In a split second my fusion dragon threw his spear straight at Takasu!

"Idiot! You'd think I'd let you! By attacking you only sealed your own doom! I activate the trap damage lance! When a monster with 2000 or more attack points attacks directly, this trap not only lowers your attacking monster's strength by 1000, you also take 1000 damage!" The trap shot a shockwave which pushed by Draco a bit and made it lose 1000 points!

3200-2200

"I'm far from done, I'll chain this with chain strike (chain link 2 so 400x2=800) and chain detonation (500)! Now the combined damage you'll take is 2300! Which is more than enough to wipe you out so adios! Gahaha!" he mocked as the combined damage merged into a beam of light aiming at me! I however remained unfazed but only smiled, as Draco swooped in to block the attack with a single hand!

"What the!?"

"Sorry to disappoint, but as long as dragon knight draco equiste is in attack mode, all effect damage from my opponent's cards are dealt straight back at them!" I then looked up at draco as a thanks, to which he nodded (You helped me, now I help you). "Let him have it draco! Send that damage flying back with wave force!" Combining the energy into a single orb, he launched it straight back at Takasu who was blown back by the impact!

"AAAARRGH!"

Takasu: 2500-200

"The best part is, even though my dragon lost 1000 points, he still has more than enough points to take you out of the duel!"

"No! This can't be! I can't lose to trash like you!"

"Draco Equiste, unleash the full force of your rage and anguish with a direct attack! Spiral javelin!" Without hesitation, he threw his spear straight at Takasu and took him out of the duel!

"GAAAAHHH!" he cried as the impact sent him into a wall and knocked him out cold!

Takasu: 200-0

Ryuga: WIN!

As the field disappeared, iron chain dragon's card then flew out of Takasu's deck and into my hand, "We'll take better care of you than they ever did here." I said to my new dragon to which the others gladly accepted. "Ok guys, now we need to meet up with the others!" I said as I quickly made my way out of the exit and through a big pipe.

It took a little while but eventually I was able to rendezvous with Shun and Gonegnzaka. What surprised me was that Yuya, Shingo and the others had made it out too, with Chojiro even! Damon then explained how we had to swim to the other side, once we got the signal a light flashing at the other side) one by one we plunged into the water and started swimming.

Before leaping Shun turned to me, "Hey," he said, "Glad you made it out alright."

"Thanks. You guys too." I replied glad everyone was okay.

"Tell me, why did you bother to help me, despite everything that happened?" he asked with narrowed eyes. "I nearly carded you, pushed you around and disrespected you many times since we were all put on the same team. Why would you even bother…?"

I was taken aback by the odd question, not to mention it coming from Shun, "Well…umm…Cos we're all on the same team and we should look out for one another as such. Besides, if we continued fighting amongst ourselves we'd never be able to defeat Aacdemia or save everyone captured. Also, I'm not the kind of guy to hold on to old grudges. I prefer to just forgive and move on."

He then turned around, "Hmph! You're still naive as ever." he scoffed. I was a little disappointed he didn't change much, but what he said next surprised me, "Thanks." he then jumped into the water below and started paddling off.

"D..don't mention it…" I replied awkwardly. As I was about t move on, Selena then tapped me on the shoulder, "Yes Selena? Something the matter."

She found it difficult to say her mind, conflicted about having to swallow her pride or admit her mistake, "Umm, I've been thinking about what you said to me earlier ever since being locked in that room. And…well…I'm sorry too, for being so inconsiderate to the team. Guess I still have a lot to learn, and I'll try to think more for the others next time." she said as she plunged in next.

I wasn't expecting that. Soon Crow and Shinji then walked up to me with smiles, "Hehe, I never knew you had such a great talent for making friends Ryuga!"

"I'm just doing what a teammate naturally does and that's to make sure we resolve conflicts and issues amongst ourselves best we can out of concern."

"You're a good kid, sure wish we could have you with us full-time but…" they both then shoved me into the water next suddenly without warning!

"AAAAHHH! COLD!" I yelled as I came back up for air and noticed the 2 of them dive in next, splashing me as well! "It's freezing you jerks!"

"Hehe, better start moving then!" they chuckled as they began swimming themselves.

"You won't get away with this!" I growled as I gave chase. (Finally we're out, now we can go look for Yuzu!) Was my other thought.

We only made it halfway across the bay when suddenly spotlights fell on us! We looked up and saw a bound up guy pushed in front of us by a security. "Shinji, Damon, I'm sorry…."

"Tony…." Damon said.

Suddenly, another person stepped out of the shadows and into the light, "I heard there was a Duel tournament in the detention facility. Did I mistake it for a swim meet?" The person coming out was dressed in long purple clothing and had neatly combed hair and piercing green eyes.

"Who's that?" I asked turning to Crow, who looked on tensely.

"H-He's…"

"I should have mentioned this first," he said overhearing me, "I am the person in charge of order in this city. I am chief of the security bureau, Jean Michel Roger. We finally meet everyone."

"Great…Out of the frying pan and into the fire…."

Hope this duel lived up to your expectations, now we're all set for the friendship cup. So stay tuned. Always look forward to your reviews and feedback and your support is greatly appreciated as always.

In case anyone is confused, I used the anime effects of final attack orders and iron chain dragon, and anime level for iron chain coil for this duel, so look it up in case you are confused. Also, Genesis dragon's manga effect makes no sense so I used its tcg effect instead. Also dragon knight drago equiste is one of a few fusion monsters I'll be using in later chapters of the friendship cup which require synchro monsters as fusion material.

For a little trivia, Ryuga's red eyes deck utilises a number of level 6 dragon monsters like B dragon jungle king, tiger dragon, des volstaglph and krystal dragon, for easy summon of falling meteor black dragon, as well as his gemini dragons like chthonian and dark storm (Basically a combination of his old gemini deck and his red eyes deck).

As for some character trivia to point out when doing this story, I had Bahamut and his siblings Jormangandr, Tiamat and Fafnir based off a certain japanese folklore involving the 4 sacred beast guardians being the blue dragon, white tiger, black tortoise and red phoenix.

Bahamut is silver/white, Fafnir is blue, Jormangandr is brownish red and Tiamat is black.