*yawn* Disclaimer...
I don't own ARC-V...blah blah bla-bee-dee, too lazy to credit everyone...Enjoy this *yawn* apple-flavoured one-shot. Heavily inspired by CorinneTheAnime's "Voice of Freedom" (Seriously guys, go check it out. It's an amazing story, just like Corinne's other works)
"We are fighting to create a utopia..."
It was another sunny day in Amethyst City. Birds were chirping, tress were rustling, and kids were running around the parks in joy, Dueling and having fun.
Two kids in particular were really enjoying this day, evident by the massive grins on their innocent faces.
"Here we go! I activate the Magic card, Fusion!" An eight-year-old Sora Shiun'in declared, sliding the card into his Duel Disk, his teal green eyes glimmering with excitement as his light blue hair fluttered in the wind.
Across from him, a five-year-old girl with similar features began cheering and jumping as she brushed her bangs and some leaves off her eyes, excited to see her big brother perform his first Fusion summon.
"Fusion Summon! Level 6, Death-Toy Scissor Bear!" On command, a pink bear animatronic that was literally cut out from Five Nights at Freddy's, with red eyes gleaming within its mouth and pair of scissors cutting through its stomach appeared with a roar.
Death-Toy Scissor Bear/DARK/Level 6/ATK 2200/DEF 1800/Fiend/Fusion/Effect.
Upon seeing the Fusion monster, the girl couldn't contain her excitement, so she jumped over her brother, squeezing him in a bone-crushing bear-hug.
"You did it, Sora nii-chan!" The girl cheered "You actually did it!"
"M-Miu, I c-c-can't b-breathe!!" Sora wheezed, and the girl, Miu, let go of him in an instant.
"Whoopsie!" Miu whispered "Sorry, nii-chan. But I'm just so happy! You've just did your first Fusion summon!"
"I did?" Sora asked before looking over the field and realizing what Miu's statement meant "Yes! I did! I did a Fusion summon! I DID A FUSION SUMMON!"
"A place where everyone-from every dimension-can live in peace..."
"Mmm! I love this flavor!" Miu said, voice slightly muffled by the huge apple lollipop in her mouth as she moved closer to Sora, pink leaves flying in the wind around them.
"Me too." Sora agreed, sucking on his own lollipop, lost in the peaceful air of his favourite park "Apple lollipops are amazing.."
There was silnce for a couple moments, then Miu turned to Sora.
"Sora nii-chan?" She called, and her brother turned to her, snapping out of his daze.
"What's it, Miu?"
"I'm just thinking.." Miu started, taking the green lollipop out of her mouth so her voice can be clearer "Will you always be with me, no matter what?"
Sora couldn't understand the question, or why she asked it in the first place "What do you mean?"
"I don't know.." Miu paused to gather her words, then she resumed in her innocent, childish tone "Promise me you'll always be with me, Sora nii-chan."
Sora wasn't exactly sure of what to say, and Miu's puppy eyes weren't helping "I.."
"Promise me!" Miu pleaded, inching even closer to Sora, her green, orb-like eyes growing bigger by the second "Pleeeeaaassseeee????"
Still not sure of what Miu meant, Sora decided to play along "I promise, Miu. I will always be with you, no matter what."
Miu smiled and shoved the lollipop back into her mouth again as she hugged her brother "Thank you, nii-chan. I love you."
Sora didn't know what drove Miu into thinking in such a way, this wasn't something a five-year-old should normally think of, but since his little sister was happy, he was happy too "I love you too, sister."
The two Shiun'in siblings just sat there under the cherry tree's shade, hugging each other, not realizing that this was their last moment together.
"Where there are no wars, where no one would know the meaning of loss.."
"MIU!!" Sora screamed, frantically searching for his sister along the park's destroyed sidewalks, carefully avoiding the rubble in his way. All it took was two hours to turn the kid's life upside down. And why?
Academia.
Academia has invaded his home.
But why..?
Everyone in the city knew that Duel Academia was a high-class Dueling school, and while rumors spread about their...unusual methods regarding student recruitment, Sora could never believe that they would resort to something as gruesome as destroying a whole city.
He couldn't believe it...Until he saw it with his own eyes. How their monsters burnt down everything that stood in their way, and everyone who dared stand in the face of their 'orders'. Sora just couldn't understand why they would do all this, when all they wanted was to find new students.
Right now, however, these thoughts didn't matter. The only thing that required Sora's attention was to find his younger sister.
Miu, where are you?-
-"AAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!"
"MIU!!" Sora yelled, taking a sharp turn to the right, where he heard the voice of his little sister.
And then he froze.
One of the Obelisk Force -Academia's elite students- stood under the cherry tree the two siblings used to sit under, looming above a cowering Miu. From the corner of her eye, the little girl spotted her brother and screamed "Sora-niichan!"
However, the Obelisk Force who heard her and turned to see the paralyzed blue-haired boy. A wide grin spread on his face as he locked eyes with Sora.
"Well, well, well, look at what we have here. A new unit, and a rather young one at that.."
A cold chill went down Sora's spine as his eyes darted back and forth between the Obelisk Force and his little sister, still cowering in the shade of the half-scorched tree. This guy obviously wanted to take him to Academia, but...
"Now, little one." the Obelisk Force sneered "Don't resist and it won't hurt. I'm going to take you somewhere very, very nice."
Sora knew better than to try and run. If he did, the Obelisk Force would simple hunt him down until there is nowhere to run, and who knows what he would do to Miu? But if he went with him, that would mean abandoning his sister, since Academia doesn't take kindergarten-age kids. Didn't he promise her that he would always be with her, no matter what?
"So..What do you say? I don't have all day to wait for your answer, you know?" the Obelisk Force said, getting impatient.
Out of the two choices, the second was the safest one for him..and for Miu. But..even if this one didn't get her, others will, and..Sora didn't want to think of what would happen after that-
-"Leave Sora nii-chan alone!" Miu exclaimed, snapping her brother back to reality and forcing the Obelisk Force unit to face her.
"Aww, isn't that cute?" He mocked "Sorry, sugarcube, but your nii-chan is going with me now.." He turned back to Sora with a smirk "Whether you two like it or not."
"No!" Miu protested, running to her brother and stretching her arms in front of him in a protective stance . Sora tried to say something to stop her, but he was too caught up in his own fear that words dissolved in his mouth before he spoke them. He felt quite ashamed of himself; he should be the one protecting Miu, not the other way around. But he was too afraid, too afraid to say anything or even move. Unlike his siter, he knew what happened to those who tried standing up to Academia. He heard too many stories about it, but they couldn't prepare him enough for this..
"Sora isn't going anywhere! He promised me that he would stay with me!" Miu's eyes welled up with tears as she looked at her still-stunned brother "Isn't that right, Sora nii-chan?"
Sora didn't know what to say, not that he could say anything in the first place. He wasn't going to abandon Miu just like that, but he didn't want her to get hurt because of his actions, coupled with his straining fear of what would happen if they resisted.
"Listen, little girl.." the Obelisk Force began, steadily losing his patience "I don't care about your little pinky promises. The Professor himself assigned us to this mission, and if I were you, I wouldn't stand in the way of his orders.."
The Professor? He's the one who's behind all this?
"..So step aside or else I'm going to make you do it the hard way!" He finished, brandishing his Duel Disk.
But Miu didn't budge, instead she fixed the Obelisk Force unit with a determined look, activating her small Disk. She wasn't going to let this guy take her big brother away from her, even if she had to fight him herself.
"Miu..Please go. Just run, I'll come back to you.." Sora finally managed to mumble from behind his sister. She shouldn't get dragged to this. He wants him, not her.
"No way!" Miu exclaimed "I'm not letting this guy take you away, even if I have to Duel him to do so!"
Sora was shocked, to say the least. She was fighting to protect him, even though it's almost impossible for her to stand up to an elite member of Academia. But..If she was going to fight..
Finally mustering enough courage to get over his initial shock, Sora stepped forward, activating his own Duel Disk, then giving his sister a soft, encouraging smile (or at least, the closest to one, given the situation) "Well, Miu, if you're going to fight, you'd better not do it alone! Let's take this guy down together"
"Yeah!" Miu agreed, both Shiun'ins turning toward the Obelisk Force unit with a determined look. Neither one of them was going to leave his sibling without a fight, and if they lost, then they'd better lose together.
"You wanna do it the hard way? Fine then." the Obelisk Force snorted, before the three Duelists yelled "DUEL!!"
"That..is the true power of Fusion."
They lost.
They did everything they could, but they still lost.
Sora knew they would, but that didn't prevent him from fighting, just for his sister's sake.
And now, who knows if they would see each other again?
"Antique Gear Golem, attack the little boy's Death-Toy Scissor Bear!"
On command, the Obelisk Force's Antique Gear Golem smacked Sora's Fusion monster, obliterating it in a blast of cotton and metal shards. Sora had to shield his sister from the impact, but their little feet couldn't stand the blast, and both were knocked hard on the ground as their LP tumbled to Zero. The two landed with a loud thud, Sora landing face-first into the dirt, and Miu slamming into the tree.
"So..I believe I won, which means the little boy goes with me.." the Obelisk Force began, slowly advancing on the two siblings.
"..But first, I need to get my prize. Then, I'm going to take you to your new home." His face sported an eerie grin as he stopped just above Sora, before turning to Miu and pressing a button on his Duel Disk.
Miu and Sora looked on, unable to guess what was about to happen, but then a bright purpled flashed-
-And she was gone.
The blue-clad soldier picked up a card and flipped it over to show it to Sora. It was a perfectly normal card, with yellow borders like a Normal Monster, but the image on it had Sora's heart skidding to a sickening stop, as if time itself has stopped for him.
W-What?He did try to blink, but he couldn't take his eyes off the image of his wide-eyed sister, her face forever frozen in shock. Miu..
She was gone. Carded.
Sora couldn't contain the waterfall that began spilling down his face as he clenched his fists, droplets of water staining his yellow shirt.
"Why?" He gagged, voice muffled and throat dry. Was he screaming? He didn't know. He couldn't feel anything around him anymore. He knew he was on the way to Academia now, if the change in his surroundings proved anything, but he didn't care..
He failed her.
He promised her that he would stay by her side, no matter what. No matter what..But he failed.
"I'm sorry, Miu. I couldn't protect you.."
And with that, Sora gave in to the reality of his new life.
"GLORY ON THE ACADEMIA!!"
GODDAMMIT!! It took me some good time to write this, and I'm still unsatisfied with the result!
Reiko: It's fine, Pink. Everyone has their rainy days, you know?
Shut up, Reiko! I'm not in the mood for your pep-talks!Wait..What the heck are you doing here! You're supposed to show up in chapter 3 of Dimensional Requiem!
Reiko: I..Uhhmm..