Prototype's First Test

Things had changed in Miami City after Academia's attack. This was even more evident after the Lancers, this world's defense against the forces of the Fusion Dimension, departed for the Synchro Dimension. Elite LDS Students, along with Leo Corporation's security were patrolling the city, covering every meter to make sure that a second surprise attack wouldn't happen and that the regular citizen wouldn't be dragged into the grim reality of war.

But despite their best efforts, there was only so much space that a small handful of people could do. There would always be some spots left unchecked, a small alley, or a warehouse where they would forget to check, and somebody from another Dimension would teleport without being caught. It just so happened that when a radiant flash of purple light came out a small warehouse at the docks, there was no one around to check what it was.

The new arrival shook his head, feeling dizzy from teleporting so soon after leaving the laboratory. The boy raised his arm, a black shield-shaped Duel Disk attached to it. He pressed a button on the large orb-like screen and Doctor Polk appeared on the other end.

"Professor Cobra told me that you wanted me to call you once I arrive in Standard Dimension." The boy said. "It's about my mission I presume?"

"The Professor wants you to eliminate Sora Shiunin for betraying Academia, but I've still got use of him," Polk answered. "I want of you to bring him to me for reprogramming, along with any useful asset in Standard that you could get your hands on. For this purpose, I've had your Duel Disk reprogrammed so the carding function would teleport your targets to my location instead of turning them into an ornament. Just be careful with how you use it. Teleporting takes much more energy than simply carding a person."

"Understood." The boy nodded. "From Haou's report I understood that the Greysons have joined the Lancers, so I should be able to sneak into Leo Corporation relatively easily, right?"

"I can't be a hundred percent sure, better to be careful than sorry." Polk sighed. "Oh, and before I forgot, the Professor wants information about the whereabouts of Yuzu and Serena – the latter of which is an Academia student gone rogue. If found, they must be brought alive."

The boy raised an eyebrow but said nothing. For the Professor to show mercy to someone who has gotten against him wasn't something he was programmed to believe. These girls must have had some important role in that man's plans for Academia if he wants them to be brought alive – more of a reason to just disintegrate them and say that he found nothing about them. But then again, Polk didn't tell him to disobey these orders, therefore he wasn't allowed to do what he wanted.

The boy turned off his Duel Disk and walked into the shadows of the warehouse, his black uniform bending perfectly with the darkness as he disappeared completely from view.


Masumi took a deep breath. She was sitting on a bench outside LDS' training arenas, a bottle of cold water and a towel next to her. She's been dueling four hours every day since Reiji announced the Lancer Program. She wanted to become stronger, become a Lancer and fight against Academia, avenge all of her friends and schoolmates that were wiped out during Academia's attack. She wanted revenge for Hokuto and Professor Marco, who she had no doubt, had disappeared because of Academia.

"How is your training going?" Yaiba sat down next to her.

"I'm not sure." Masumi shook her head. "I keep dueling for hours on end, but I don't feel like I've improved much. It's frustrating. I thought that I was strong, believed that Professor Marco's teaching was enough, but then this enemy appeared and… I'm not sure anymore."

"I know that feeling." Yaiba sighed, leaning back. "I never really believed that I was the best, but I thought that my Synchro Dueling was powerful. Then this Academia appeared and I realized how far behind I am. I know how angry it makes you feel to know that your strength doesn't measure to anything and I know that of us two, you've lost much more from this conflict. That's why you're pushing yourself so far."

"You know that I can't stand aside when serious things like these are happening." Masumi closed her eyes. "I also can't forget that a few weeks ago we've been dueling You Show Duel School to close it down, thinking that we were better than them, but now they are the ones out there, fighting on the frontlines against Academia while we're here."

"Yeah, I understand that too." Yaiba nodded. "Since I taught Gongenzaka how to Synchro Summon, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth that he became a Lancer while I'm sitting here doing nothing."

Masumi smiled slightly. "Say, do you want to have a practice match? Since we already know each other's Decks, we could tell best if one of us has improved their skills, right?"

"Sounds better than sitting and doing nothing." Yaiba smiled back. "But let's rest a bit first. We won't be able to bring out our A-game if we're tired."

Masumi nodded, agreeing with her friend. Still, she was impatient. She wanted to LDS to acknowledge her skills already so she could join the Lancers in the fight. The fact was that despite everyone else training harder to improve their skills, most of the Duelists at LDS that she talked with wanted to stay back and protect their world instead of becoming a Lancer. She and Yaiba might have been the only ones who were aiming for a position in Reiji's elite force, so if they didn't make it, no one else was going to go help the Lancers. Also, something that might be even more important, if they didn't become Lancers, Sawatari wouldn't let them live it down.

"I'll go grab a bottle of water," Yaiba said, standing back up.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Masumi asked, causing the Synchro Duelist to stop and think for a moment.

He wasn't going to be gone for more than a minute, but Masumi probably didn't want to be left alone with her thoughts. Her heart was already scarred with grief from Professor Marco's disappearance, and it must have gotten worse when she found out that he wasn't kidnapped, but turned into a card. She needed something to keep her mind of these dark thoughts, which for the most part she achieved through training…

"Only if you want to," Yaiba answered after a few seconds, shrugging.


"How's the new training program going?" Himika asked.

Sitting in Reiji's officer, with several employees of the company standing across from her, Himika was in charge of the Lancer Program and both LDS and Leo Corporation since Reiji decided to lead the Lancers himself. Being a chairwoman wasn't easy, but now she had more responsibilities that ever and had to also train as many powerful Duelists as possible before Academia's second attack, which could happen at any moment.

But just overseeing the training wasn't enough. All of their elite Duelists that she had put her hope onto, the Senior Lancers Candidates got wiped out, which put a large dent in their forces. The students at LDS had to be taught faster and become better if they were to stand a chance against Academia's elite troops.

"Our duelists are showing great improvement, miss." An instructor spoke up. "With the information provided by the Fusion defectors, we began studying Academia's tactics and teach our Duelists how to counter them. But I have to ask, is it a wise idea to let a former Academia agent stay at our facilities?"

"These instructions came from Reiji himself," Himika replied, tapping the table irritated by her son's decision to trust the enemy. "I did, however, order for security to observe every move he makes. If he tries to contact Academia or sabotage our program, our security is more than capable of neutralized, and if need be, eliminate him. For the time being, however, we're getting valuable research from him, and we should have the coordinates of Academia by the time Reiji's mission in the Synchro Dimension is complete."

"We've also been getting multiple requests from students of other schools wanting to join the Lancer program." Another instructor added. "Many of these Duelists show potential, but we wanted to ask you first, Ms. Akaba, if we should accept them for the program since they aren't part of LDS."

"What school they're affiliated with shouldn't matter when we're looking for candidates," Himika answered. "If they show the potential of being useful assets, we will accept them. Given the nature of the threat our world is facing, dividing ourselves will only make Academia's job easier. Now if there's nothing else that you've to ask, the meeting is over."

The instructors and other staff nodded and turned to leave. Himika sat down to continue with her other responsibilities for the day, when one of the guards came inside, causing the chairwoman to raise an eyebrow.

"I'm sorry for intruding." The guard bowed. "But one of the Lancer has been spotted in the building by both the staff and surveillance cameras."

"What?!" Himika jumped from her chair. "There's no way that Reiji's mission has been completed so quickly! Were you able to confirm the identity?"

"Yes, ma'am. We use every facial recognition software, and they all confirmed that the person is Evan Greyson." The guard answered.

Himika bit her lip. These Greysons were another mystery that Reiji hasn't been able to piece together, but it's impossible for the Lancers to have returned and Reiji to not contact her. On the other hand, Reiji had found that there existed people in other Dimensions that could share the same face as a person from Standard.

"Put the building on high alert, immediately!" Himika ordered. "I want the intruder captured at any cost. Don't let their face trick us, chances are that we're dealing with another enemy spy!"

"Right away!" the guard ran off.

Watching the man leave, Himika sat down and rubbed her forehead. Why were things like this happening while Reiji was away?


"What's going on!?" Masumi exclaimed, watching staff running around in a hurry.

There were alarms ringing and instructors were leading the younger duelists outside, while the building's security was rushing in. And in the middle of it all were Masumi and Yaiba, watching back and forth as people ran around them without saying a word on what's going on. Masumi kept on asking what was happening, but no one was answering, or even acknowledging them, forcing Yaiba to grab one of the staff and ask more forcibly.

"There's an intruder in the building!" the man told them. "Security is going to handle this, you kids should evacuate as the rest did!"

"Like hell, we're Lancers candidates!" Yaiba shouted back. "If that's an Academia spy, we would be of help catching them! Where have they been spotted?"

The man looked at Yaiba, then at Masumi, who nodded. Starting to understand that they were being serious and seeing the benefit of having a pair of Lancers or at least candidates help out, he told them. "He has been spotted near the data bank. Reports say that he looks like one of the Lancers."

"We should head there immediately!" Masumi exclaimed and ran off, leaving Yaiba to follow after her.

The data bank was three levels above the training arenas and it was a space that students weren't allowed to enter it, but given the urgency of the situation, an exception could be made. The elevators were shut down and all staircases were guarded heavily by LDS' security.

"I can't believe that this is happening again in what? Three days?" Yaiba fumed.

Masumi opened her mouth to respond, but she was stopped by the sight that they came across. Large cuts covered the walls and floor with bodies of several men from the security staff lying on the ground. The two duelists walked over to them and checked for a pulse. Their hearts were still beating, there was also no blood or sights of other injuries and they weren't turned into cards either, which meant that the enemy must have only knocked them out – pretty unusual given Academia's track record.

"My work is done here." A voice that sounded familiar to Masumi came from the open doors on the duelist's left.

After a few moments, a boy, around sixteen years old walked out of the doors and stopped in front of them. His outfit resembled a military uniform, but it was completely black with a spaulder on his left shoulder where a purple cape was attached, draped over the boy's left arm, covering his Duel Disk. His hair was a crimson red with white highlights and his face… His face was the same as Evan's. The same crimson eyes, the same smirk. A perfect copy of the boy Masumi had met before the tournament.

"E-Evan!?" Masumi exclaimed. "You… You're the enemy!?"

"Hmm…?" the boy turned toward the pair, noticing their presence for the first time. "Evan… you know Evan Greyson, right? You know where I can find him?"

Masumi gave him a look. "Don't play dumb! I thought you were with the Lancers! Why are you here, attacking LDS?"

The boy chuckled. "Oh, sorry. I forgot that we had the same face for a second. I'm not Evan Greyson. I might look like him, but my name is Avon. I'm here to do my work, so stay aside, and I'll not harm you."

"He's crazy," Yaiba commented. "We should jump capture him now, and ask questions later."

"Right!" Masumi nodded, activating her Duel Disk. "I thought that you were with us, that you were a Lancer, but in the end, you were just another one of Academia's spies!"

"Tch, I keep telling you that I'm not Evan, but you won't listen." Avon sighed, shaking his head. "Luckily for you, I've been told to test out the strength of this Dimension's Duelists, so I'll accept your challenge."

"Duel!" All three shouted.

Avon, LP: 4000 Hand: 5 (VS) Masumi, LP: 4000 Hand: 5 & Yaiba, LP: 4000 Hand: 5

"Since you are the challengers, I'll let you take the first turn." Avon gestured toward them. "May the best duelist or duelists win, right?"

"He feels a lot different from when I meet him." Masumi frowned, feeling that something wasn't right. "It's my turn then! I Normal Summon Gem-Armadillo (Lv.4, ATK: 1700)! When Normal Summoned, this card lets me add a Gem-Knight to my hand. I add Gem-Knight Obsidian!"

Masumi showed the card to her opponent, then grabbed two more cards and placed one of them in her Duel Disk.

"I activate Gem-Knight Fusion to fuse together Gem-Knight Obsidian and Gem-Knight Garnet" two knights, one black and one red appeared above Masumi before falling into a whirlwind of colors.

"Sharp jet-black darkness! Crimson stone of flames! In a whirlpool of light combine to bring forth a new dazzling radiance! Fusion Summon! Appear! The one that pursues his objectives with unmatched passion! Gem-Knight Ruby (Lv.6, ATK: 2500)!"

A large crimson knight with a blue cape and armed with a spear appeared out of the whirlwind, landing behind Masumi.

"Hmm, a Fusion Summon so early on?" Avon raised an eyebrow. "That's interesting…"

"Gem-Knight Obsidian's effect activates!" Masumi pointed at the ground. "If it's sent from my hand to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon a Gem-Knight Normal Monster from my Graveyard! Reappear, Gem-Knight Garnet (Lv.4, ATK: 1900)!" another red knight appeared, but this time without any weapon.

"I'll then set a card and end my turn." Masumi finished, placing a single card face-down before turning toward Yaiba. "Now show him what you got!"

"I sure won't disappoint." Yaiba rubbed his nose. "It's my turn! I draw!"

Turn 2 [Yaiba] LP: 4000, Hand: 6

"I Normal Summon XX-Saber Boggart Knight (Lv.4, ATK: 1900) and activate its effect to Special Summon XX-Saber Fulhelmknight (Lv.3, ATK: 1300) from my hand!" two monsters appeared on Yaiba's field one after the other. "And because I control two X-Saber monsters, I can Special Summon XX-Saber Faultroll (Lv.6, ATK: 2100) from my hand as well!"

A large warrior in red and black armor carrying a huge broadsword appeared between the other two X-Sabers.

"Now I tune my Level three Fulhelmknight to the Level Four Boggart Knight!" The two monsters flew up and a beam of light landed behind Yaiba.

"Wielder of crossed blades of light, trample over this mountain of corpses! Synchro Summon! Come forth! Level Seven! X-Saber Souza (Lv.7, ATK: 2500)!"

A warrior carrying a pair of swords appeared out of the light, grinning like a mad man. The monster landed behind Yaiba and crossed its swords in front of itself.

"Next, Faultroll lets me revive one of my X-Sabers! Come back, XX-Saber Fulhelmknight (Lv.3, ATK: 1300)!" a blonde-haired girl appeared next to the huge warrior. "Next, I tune the Level three Fulhelmknight to the Level Faultroll!"

The girl swung her sword, turning into three energy rings that surrounded Faultroll as a second beam of light engulfed them and fell behind Yaiba.

"Let your silver armor shine and crush the hope of everything that opposes you! Synchro Summon! Come forth! Level Nine! XX-Saber Gottoms (Lv.9, ATK: 3100)!"

A huge warrior covered in armor from head to toe appeared on the field carrying a broadsword, just like Faultroll did before it.

"Magnificent." Avon applauded. "Two Synchro monsters in a single turn and by re-using a single turn. You're not half bad yourself."

"I'm far from done!" Yaiba shouted. "I activate Gottoms' Second Call, which, when I have an X-Saber on the field, let's me Special Summon two X-Sabers from my Graveyard by changing their attack to zero! Come back, Faultroll and Boggart Knight!"

Gottoms slammed its sword against the ground, opening a large crack that the two X-Sabers jumped through, and landed on each side of the Level 9 Synchro.

"Then I activate Faultroll's effect once more to bring back Fulhelmknight!" the blonde woman appeared on the field, swinging her weapon.

"Another Synchro Summon?" Avon raised an eyebrow.

"No, Gottoms' effect!" Yaiba pointed at his Synchro monster. "By Tributing an X-Saber, I discard one random card from your hand! I tribute Faultroll, Fulhelmknight and Boggart Knight to discard three cards!"

"Hand destruction…" Avon sighed, dropping the cards into the Graveyard. "Your deck is really dangerous to go against. Well, then again, any deck can be dangerous in the hand of a good duelist."

"I'm starting to get confused if you're going to duel us or compliment our dueling skills?" Masumi muttered.

"It doesn't matter." Yaiba took another card from his hand, placing it into his Duel Disk. "I set a card and end my turn."

"Hmm, I might be your opponent, but that doesn't mean that I have to be hostile toward you," Avon replied. "After all, what are we all if not equals? You saw what I did to the first team that tried to stop me and you still decided to fight me, that bravery is deserving of admiration on its own."

Masumi looked down. Something about this person wasn't right, he looked like Evan, the annoying guy who gave her that embarrassing nickname, but now it seemed like his personality has taken a full one-eighty. Maybe he was acting like this to confuse her and get into her mind. Maybe he was trying to use psychological warfare, and if he was, it was working because she was now doubting if this was the same person.

"Well, it's my turn now," Avon said, smirking. "Let's see what the best that I can do is! My turn, draw!"

Turn 3 [Avon] LP: 4000, Hand: 3

"First I'll activate the effect of Chroner-! ChronalC-Chronel…" Avon paused for a moment, raising his hand to signal for a time-out. "Small pause, please. I… I can't pronounce this."

Masumi and Yaiba glanced at each other, unsure how they should react to this. Their opponent was unable to spell out the name of the cards he was playing.

"C…C… ChroneAlity? Yes! Chroneality!" Avon shouted, turning back to his opponent with a large smile on his face. "I got it! Whoohoo! I activate the effect of Chroneality Illusion Mage from my hand! I send the top two cards of my deck to the Graveyard in order to Special Summon it from my hand!"

Chroneality Illusion Mage had a pair of large hands that looked like they were cartoonish and a blank face with a red question symbol in the center of it. The monster had a black top hat with a large clock in the middle. It was also wearing a large red coat with a yellow lining that had six buttons in the form of clock gears and a white cloak with purple linings and small bells attached to the ends. Instead of legs, it had four metal branches-like forms that had a few similarities to Shooting Quasar's limps.


Chroneality Illusion Mage

LV: 5/DARK/Machine/Effect

ATK: 2000/ DEF: 600

Effect: You can Special Summon this card (from your hand) by sending the top 2 cards of your Deck to the graveyard. When this card is sent to the Graveyard add 1 "Chroneality" card from the Graveyard to your hand.


"Now I activate the effect of Chroneality Cuden Curtain from my Graveyard! I return Illusion Mage to my hand to Special Summon Cuden Curtain and one more monster from my Graveyard, as long as their combined Levels are lower than the level of the monster I'm returning!" The robotic mage disappeared from the field as two portals appeared in front of Avon. "Appear, Chroneality Rush Tuner and ChronealityCuden Curtain!"

From the first portal appeared a ball of blue metal with two big green eyes staring at Masumi and Yaiba from behind the metal plates that covered its body.


Chroneality Rush Tuner

LV: 1/DARK/Machine/Tuner/Effect

ATK: 100/ DEF: 200

Effect: If you control no monsters, you can Special Summon this card (from your hand). When this card is sent from the field to the Graveyard, draw 1 card.


A dark blue cloak with golden borders flew out the portal second portal. The monster hand to limbs or body, just a golden clock floating over the cloak, acting as its head, if the monster even needed one.


Chroneality Cuden Curtain

LV: 3/DARK/Machine/Effect

ATK: 200/ DEF: 1700

Effect: During either player's turn: You can return 1 face-up "Chroneality" monster on the field to the hand; Special Summon this and one other "Chroneality" monster from your Graveyard. The combined levels of those two monsters must be less or equal to the returned monster's in order to activate this effect. You can only use the effect of "Chroneality Cuden Curtain" once per Duel.


"A deck with effects that activate in the Graveyard?" Yaiba's eyes widened. "By discarding those cards from his hand I've been helping him!?"

"In your defense, there was no way for you to know what my deck was before I played my cards, but yes, you've been helping me out." Avon nodded. "But here comes the cool part! Illusion Mage isn't a once per turn effect, so I send two more cards from my Deck to the Graveyard and Special Summon this card once more!" The robot magician appeared once more next to Avon's other monsters.

"But it's not over! Continuous spell activate - Chroneality Assembling! When there are two or more Chroneality monsters on my field, I can Special Summon one from my deck, as long as his level is less or equal to that of those who are already on my field of course." A card popped out of Avon's deck and he took it. "I Special Summon Chroneality Timerush Dragon!"


Chroneality Assembling (Spell) Continuous

Once per turn, if you have two or more "Chroneality" monsters on your side of the field: Special Summon 1 "Chroneality" monster from your Deck whose Level is less that or equal to the combined level of all "Chroneality" monsters on the field. If this card is in your graveyard, you can target 1 other "Chroneality" card in your Graveyard; banish both this card and that target, and if you do, take control of 1 monster your opponent controls, but banish it during the End Phase.


The monster that appeared was a humanoid robotic dragon made of white armor with blue hands, legs, and chest plate. The beast's had yellow eyes and four small golden spikes right over them. Its shoulders and knees had large clock gears connected to them with a small blue clock ticking on its chest. The dragon's tail was ending with a golden clock blade and there were wheels connected to the back of its legs. Instead of wings, Timerush Dragon had two large blue jets.


Chroneality Timerush Dragon

LV: 6/DARK/Machine/Pendulum/Effect

P. Scale: 2

ATK: 2500/ DEF: 1500

Pendulum Effect: Once per turn. If a monster is Special Summoned from your Extra Deck, except by Pendulum Summon: You can target 1 monster your opponent controls with less ATK than that monster; return that target to the bottom of its owner's deck.

Effect: The first time each "Chroneality" card you control would be destroyed each turn, by battle or card effect, it is not destroyed. If this card is Special Summoned from the hand or Main Deck it gains the following effect:

When this card is summoned: Banish all Spell/Trap Cards on the field, expect "Chroneality" in the same position they were on the field, then inflict 400 damage to each player for each of their cards, banished by this effect.


"As I expected, a Pendulum monster appeared." Masumi narrowed her eyes. True, the deck was different from ChronoDevils, but the two appeared to function the same way, not to mention the Pendulum Monsters, which most duelists still didn't have access to. That had to be Evan!

"And now for the fun part!" Avon pointed toward his new dragon. "When Timerush Dragon is Special Summoned from the Main Deck, I can banish all Spell/Trap Cards on the field, except for Chroneality cards in the same position in which it was on the field!"

"What!?" Masumi exclaimed, as a black portal formed in the center of the field, sucking in Masumi and Yaiba's face-down cards.

"I activate Gottoms' Emergency Call!" Yaiba shouted, activating his face-down card. "When I have an X-Saber on my field, I can Special Summon two X-Sabers from either player's Graveyard! Return again, XX-Saber Boggart Knight (Lv.4, ATK: 1900) and XX-Saber Fulhelmknight (Lv.3, ATK: 1300)!"

"Not a bad move!" Avon applauded, before turning toward Masumi. "Sadly, your card is getting banished, and you take four hundred points of damage!" the black portal exploded, sending debris in Masumi's way.

Masumi, LP: 4000 – 400 3600, Hand: 1

"Next I activate Chroneality Fusion!" Avon slapped another card on his Duel Disk. "I fuse together my four Chroneality monsters to summon a completely new Chroneality monster!"

The four monsters all fell into a black whirlwind and flames of various colors exploded outward as Avon pressed his arms together and began to chant.


Chroneality Fusion (Spell) Quick-Play

Fusion Summon 1 "Chroneality" Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck, using monsters from your hand or your side of the field as Fusion Materials. If your opponent controls 2 or more monsters you can also use up to 2 "Chroneality" monsters in your Extra Deck as Fusion Materials. If a "Chroneality" Fusion Monster leaves the field while this card is in the Graveyard; add this card to your hand.


"The warriors lost a millennia ago within the cursed void of time! Become one and revive in the form of a new devil! Fusion Summon! Freeze this fragile world! Level Six! Chroneality Zero Inferno!"

A slender humanoid body made out of rusty clocks and other gears with big claws appeared from the flames. Instead of legs, the beast had a large piece of ice. The monster's head had sharp teeth metal and two small black clock arms as horns. A pair of hallow black eyes completed its fiendish appearance.


Chroneality Zero Inferno

LV: 6/DARK/Machine/Fusion/Effect

ATK: 2400/ DEF: 700

1 "Chroneality" Monster + 1 or more DARK monsters

Effect: If this card is Fusion Summoned: Inflict 400 damage to your opponent for each "Chroneality" Monster used as Material for this card's Fusion Summon. Once per turn, during either player's turn, when a monster effect is activated that would destroy a "Chroneality" card(s) on the field: You can negate the activation, and if you do, destroy it. Then inflict damage to your opponent equal to the DEF of the destroyed monster.


"Zero Inferno's effect now activates!" Avon raised his arm. "When this card is Fusion Summoned, you take four hundred points of damage for each Chroneality monster used as material!"

Ice spikes formed on the backs of Zero Inferno's hands and it threw them at Yaiba. The force of the impact sent him skidding backward, but he was able to keep himself on his legs.

Yaiba, LP: 4000 – 1600 2400, Hand: 1

"Due to Rush Tuner's effect, I draw a card when it leaves the field." Avon looked at the card he got and grinned. "I activate the Continuous Spell - Chroneality Unit Returning! When this card is activated, I return one Chroneality card from my Graveyard to the hand. I choose Chroneality Turret Carrier and with that, I end my turn!"


Chroneality Unit Returning (Spell) Continuous

When this card is activated, return 1 "Chroneality" card from your Graveyard to the hand. "Chroneality" cards that you control cannot be destroyed by card effects. Once per turn, during either player's turn: You can target 1 other face-up "Chroneality" Spell or Trap Card; destroy both this card and that target, and if you do, all damage you take for the rest of the turn becomes 0. During the End Phase of the turn this effect was activated, add two "Chroneality" cards from your Deck to the hand.


Chroneality Turret Carrier

LV: 5/DARK/Machine/Effect

ATK: 1200/ DEF: 2200

Effect: During your opponent's turn, if this card is in your hand: You can target 2 face-up cards you control; destroy those cards, and if you do, Special Summon this card, then deal 400 damage to your opponent for each "Chroneality" card destroyed by this effect (this is a Quick Effect). You can only use this effect of "Chroneality Turret Carrier" once per turn.


"He dealt serious damage in just one turn without declaring an attack," Yaiba growled. "That guy is serious trouble."

"But we're not going to lose here," Masumi said determinedly. "If we defeat him now, they will probably make us Lancers! Everyone else's doing their best to keep our world safe."

"If you manage to beat me now, LDS won't have a choice, but to acknowledge your skills," Avon told them. "But do you think that you could pull it off?"

"Of course!" Masumi declared. "It's my turn! I draw!"

Turn 4 [Masumi] LP: 3600, Hand: 2

"I activate Absorb Fusion! With this card's effect, I add Gem-Knight Lazuli to my hand, then I Fusion Summon by banishing Fusion Materials from my hand and Graveyard! I banish Lapis and Obsidian to Fusion Summon!"

A small female monster appeared above Masumi along with the black knight and the three of them fell into a whirlwind of colors.

"The blue and black stones that hide mysterious power. Now, become light and appear! Fusion Summon! Level Five! Gem-Knight Lady Lapis Lazuli (Lv.5, ATK: 2400)!"

A female-looking monster made of white stone with a blue dress appeared on Masumi's field, next to all her other monsters.

"I activate Lady Lapis Lazuli's effect!" Masumi declared. "By sending a Gem-Knight monster from my Extra Deck, I inflict damage to you equal to half of Lady Lapis Lazuli's attack power, plus a hundred points for every Special Summoned monster on the field."

"There are eight monsters that were Special Summoned!" Yaiba exclaimed, smirking. "That means two thousand points of damage!"

Lady Lapis Lazuli created a sphere of energy and threw it toward Avon. Of course, that wouldn't be enough to knock him out, but Masumi also had one more card in her hand - Gem-Knight Alexandrite. With it, she could Special Summon a new Gem-Knight while also placing a card that could be banished by Gem-Knight Fusion and let Masumi Summon her ace - Gem-Knight Master Diamond, who would copy Lady Lapis Lazuli's effect!

They were going to win!

"Sorry, but I can't take this damage," Avon replied. "I activate the effect of Chroneality Turret Carrier in my hand! I target two cards on my field and destroy them, then I Special Summon this card and you take four hundred points of damage for each Chroneality card I destroyed!"

"That won't stop the damage from going through!" Masumi shouted back.

"No, but I'm not done!" Avon smirked. "I chain Zero Inferno's effect! When a monster effect is activated that would destroy Chroneality cards on the field, I can destroy that monster and inflict damage to you equal to the destroyed monster's defense! Then, I also chain the effect of Chroneality Unit Returning! I destroy both Unit Returning and Assembling to make all damage I take for the rest of this turn zero!"

"But then that means…" Yaiba stared in shock.

"I'm the one who's going to take damage!" Mazumi cried out.

"Sorry, you almost had me." Avon winked. Chroneality Unit Returning and Chroneality Assembling burst into particles as Zero Inferno flew in front of the incoming sphere of energy and fired a barrage of ice blades that destroyed Lady Lapis Lazuli's attack and hit Masumi directly. The girl cried out as she was flung back and slammed into a wall.

Masumi, LP: 3600 – 2200 1400, Hand: 1

"I'm… not done…" Masumi pushed herself out of the wall and stepped forward. "I Normal Summon Gem-Knight Alexandrite (Lv.4, ATK: 1800) and Tribute it to Special Summon a new Gem-Knight Lapis (Lv.3, ATK: 120)!" Another small female monster that appeared almost the same as Lazuli appeared to Masumi's field.

"I activate Gem-Knight Fusion's effect from the Graveyard! I banish Gem-Knight Alexandrite to add Gem-Knight Fusion to my hand and then I activate Gem-Knight Fusion to fuse Gem-Knight Garnet, Gem-Knight Lapis and Gem-Knight Lady Lapis Lazuli!"

Avon watched on as the three monsters joined together, becoming a brilliant flash of light.

"Greem stone that hides mysterious power! Crimson stone of Flames! Gem that illuminates our path! In a whirlpool of light, combine to bring forth a new dazzling radiance! Fusion Summon! Dazzling lady, Gem-Knight Lady Brilliant Diamond (Lv.10, ATK: 3400)!"

A female monster made of stone and diamonds came out of the whirlwind with a sword in her right arm.

"Gem-Knight Lady Brilliant Diamond's effect!" Masumi threw her arm upward. "I target a monster on my field and using it as the full material, Fusion Summon! I choose Gem-Knight Ruby! Come forth, Gem-Knight Master Diamond (Lv.9, ATK: 3000)!" A large knight monster with armor and sword covered in gems appeared beside Gem-Knight Lady Brilliant Diamond.

"Master Diamond gains a hundred attack points for every Gem-Knight in my Graveyard," Masumi explained. "There are currently five, therefore it gains five hundred attack points."

Gem-Knight Master Diamond, ATK: 3000 + 500 3500

"Now battle! Gem-Knight Master Diamond attack Zero Inferno!" The large diamond knight raised his sword and swung it at the machine, cutting it in half and destroying it. As it did, however, a barrier formed in front of Avon, protecting him from the damage.

"When a Chroneality Fusion Monster leaves the field, I can add Chroneality Fusion from my Graveyard to the hand," Avon stated, taking the card back into his hand.

"I change Gem-Armadillo to Defense Position and end my turn," Masumi said, stepping back.

"At the end of your turn, Unit Returning lets me add two Chroneality cards from my Deck to the hand! I choose Chroneality Spacebreaker Tiger and Chroneality Maiden Arlim!"


Chroneality Spacebreaker Tiger

LV: 6/DARK/Machine/Pendulum/Effect

P. Scale: 8

ATK: 2500/ DEF: 1500

Pendulum Effect: You cannot Pendulum Summon monsters, except "Chroneality" monsters. This effect cannot be negated. Once per turn, during either player's turn: 1 face-up "Chroneality" card on the field; that target is unaffected and cannot be targeted by other card effects, until the end of this turn.

Effect: Once per turn, during either player's turn: You can Tribute 1 other "Chroneality" monster on the field, return 1 monster on the field to the bottom of the deck, then your opponent must Special Summon a monster from their deck with the lowest level (they get to choose if tied) in face-up Attack Position. If this card is Special Summoned from the hand or Main deck it gains the following effect:

When this card is Special Summoned: Shuffle all Special Summoned monsters into the deck, expect "Chroneality" monsters, and then inflict 400 damage to each player for each of their card(s) that left the field by this effect.


Chroneality Maiden Arlim

LV: 4/DARK/Machine/Pendulum/Effect

P. Scale: 2

ATK: 1900/ DEF: 400

Pendulum Effect: Once per turn, during either player's turn: You can discard 1 "Chroneality" Spell or Trap Card, and if you do, activate its effect as if you control it.

Effect: If an opponent monster activates its effect: You can discard this card from your hand and reveal 1 monster in your hand whose Level is lower than that monster's Level/Rank; negate the activation, and if you do, Special Summon the monster revealed by this effect.


"He replenished his hand…" Yaiba clenched his fist. "That bastard… is there nothing that can harm him?"

"It's your turn now." Avon turned to Yaiba. "But before you start, I have to warn you. Maiden Arlim's effect can be activated from my hand, when one of your monsters activates its effect, negating it and then Special Summons a monster with a lower level from my hand. That means, since Spacebreaker Tiger is a Level Six, the moment you activate the effect of any monster with Level higher than Six, you're going to lose this duel."

"So my Synchros' effects are useless?" Yaiba chuckled. "But the thing is, I don't need to use any of my Synchros' effects since your field is wide open for a direct attack! My turn, draw!"

Turn 5 [Yaiba] LP: 2400, Hand: 2

"I'm not going to waste any time and attack you directly with X-Saber Souza!" The first Synchro monster charged at Avon, swinging its twin swords at the Academia Duelist.

"I activate the effect of Chroneality Double Time from my Graveyard! During either player's turn, I can shuffle this card along with Chroneality Unit Returning from my Graveyard into the Deck to activate Chroneality Time Fix from my Graveyard!"


Chroneality Double Time (Spell) Quick-Play

Target 1 monster on the field, then, tribute 1 "Chroneality" you control; that target gains ATK equal to that of the tribute monster, until the end of this turn, and if it does, it can attack twice during each Battle Phase this turn. During either player's turn: You can shuffle this card and 1 other "Chroneality" card from your Graveyard to the Deck: activate 1 Trap Card in either player's Graveyard on your side of the field.


Chroneality Time Fix (Trap) Continuous

If you control a "Chroneality" monster, you can activate this card the turn it was Set. The first time each "Chroneality" monster you control would be destroyed each turn, by battle, it's not destroyed. All battle damage you take from battles involving "Chroneality" monster(s) you control is halved. When an opponent monster declares a direct attack: You can destroy this face-up card; all battle damage you take from direct attacks this turn becomes 0, and if you do, at the end of this turn, gain LP equal to the total amount of damage reduced to 0 by this effect.


"From the Graveyard?!" Yaiba exclaimed in surprise. "That doesn't matter! I still attack you directly with -Saber Souza!" The Synchro monster continued its attack, hitting Avon with both of its swords, knocking the duelist back.

Avon, LP: 4000 – 2500 1500, Hand: 3

"Next, I attack you directly with XX-Saber Boggart Knight!" The Level Four charged at Avon next, swinging its sword at him.

"I activate Time Fix's effect! By destroying it, I make all damage from direct attacks this turn zero" Avon exclaimed, a barrier-forming in front of him to block XX-Saber Boggart Knight's attack.

"So you withstood that as well." Yaiba frowned. The X-Saber Duelist looked at his cards – Saber Hole and Saber Reflection, there wasn't much else he could do this turn. "I set two cards and end my turn!"

"At the end of this turn, the effect of Time Fix increases my Life Points by the total amount of damage that got negated by its effect." Avon closed his eyes and a bright light covered his body.

Avon, LP: 1500 + 1900 3400, Hand: 3

"You managed to drop my Life Points below Four thousand," Avon said. "You two are skilled duelists. Your skills are being wasted here."

"What are you saying?" Masumi asked.

"Nothing that you will have to concern yourself with," Avon answered. "Anyway, let's end this duel, ok? My turn, I draw!"

Turn 6 [Avon] LP: 3400, Hand: 4

Avon looked at the card that he drew and his eyes widened. It was that card… The Chroneality Duelist closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening them once again. He was going to use it!

"I activate the Field Spell – Timestream City!" Avon's Duel Disk flashed, covering the floor and walls with clock gears of various shapes and forms. But more important than the change in scenery were the changes in Masumi and Yaiba's monsters. Their color faded away and their faces were replaced by a black void, leaving them cold and motionless.


Timestream City (Spell) Field

The card name of all monsters in both players' hand, Graveyard, and field is "Nothingness", expect "Chroneality" monsters. Either player can use monsters whose name is "Nothingness" from both side of the field as tributes for the Tribute or Ritual summon of a "Chroneality" monster, or as materials for the Synchro, Fusion or Xyz Summon of a "Chroneality" monster. Once per turn, during either player's turn: You can declare a Level, Monster Type, and Attributes; all monsters whose name is "Nothingness" in the hand, Graveyard and face-up on the field become the declared Level, Monster Type, and Attributes.


"What happened to our monsters?" Masumi asked.

"The effect of Timestream City took them," Avon explained. "While Timestream City is on my field, all of our monsters that aren't Chroneality will have their names changed to Nothingness and while their names are nothingness, I can control them!"

"That's bullshit!" Yaiba yelled.

"But it's my bullshit so it's fair," Avon replied. "Timestream City's effect activates! Once per turn, I can change the attribute, type and level of all Nothingness monsters to whatever I choose! And I think that right now I need, Level One, Machine, Dark!"

{Nothingness} Gem-Knight Master Diamond, Lv. 9/EARTH/Rock Lv.1/DARK/Machine

{Nothingness} Gem-Knight Lady Brilliant Diamond, Lv. 10/EARTH/Rock Lv.1/DARK/Machine

{Nothingness} Gem-Armadillo, Lv. 4/EARTH/Rock Lv.1/DARK/Machine

{Nothingness} XX-Saber Boggart Knight, Lv. 4/EARTH/Beast-Warrior Lv.1/DARK/Machine

{Nothingness} XX-Saber Fulhelmknight, Lv. 3/EARTH/ Warrior Lv.1/DARK/Machine

{Nothingness} X-Saber Souza, Lv. 7/EARTH/ Warrior Lv.1/DARK/Machine

{Nothingness} XX-Saber Gottoms, Lv. 9/EARTH/Beast-Warrior Lv.1/DARK/Machine

"I Tune all four Level One X-Sabers together!" Avon threw his arms upward as all of Yaiba's monsters flew behind him and the Nothingness that used to be Fulhelmknight turned into a single green ring that surrounded everyone else.

"The dark blade created by the deeps of Earth, break through the hearts of the weak! Descend now! Synchro Summon! Level Four! Chroneality BreakSword Gram!"

A beam of light shot through the ring and formed into the monster. Made from grey armor that covered its black mechanical parts and its entire head, except for three soulless yellow eyes that stared into the distance. The machine had no arms, with just a large blade for legs and two large metallic rings coming from its shoulders.


Chroneality BreakSword Gram

LV: 4/DARK/Machine/Synchro/Effect

ATK: 2200/ DEF: 800

1 Tuner monster + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters

Effect: Once per turn, you can equip this card to a monster. While equipped to a monster by this effect, that monster loses 2200 ATK. When this card is destroyed by a card effect and sent to the Graveyard, or when this equipped to a monster card is sent to the graveyard: You can target 1 Level 4 or lower monster in your Graveyard, except this card; Special Summon that target.


"And next, I activate Chroneality Fusion to fuse all three Gem monsters!" Masumi's monsters moved to Avon's field next, falling into a black vortex with flames of multiple colors igniting inside the vortex.

"Soulless warriors from the grim dark future, awaken from the illusion of this world and burn through its limitation! Fusion Summon! Beast with wings blazing for uprising across time and space! Chroneality Rebellion Phoenix!"

Flames burst from around Avon and formed a bird that flew into the sky. After a few moments, the flames died down revealing a mechanical bird. Its armored skin was yellow with green eyes and two orbs of the same color on its chest. The phoenix had a clock gear that was sticking out of its chest, going through the wings and coming out from its back. Another gear was sticking out of its head as flames were coming from its back.


Chroneality Rebellion Phoenix

LV: 7/DARK/Machine/Fusion/Effect

ATK: 2500/ DEF: 2000

3 DARK Machine monsters

Effect: This card cannot be destroyed by card effects. When this card banishes a card by its effect it gains 500 ATK until the end of this turn. You can only use 1 of "Chroneality Rebellion Phoenix" following effects per turn, and only once that turn:

During either player's turn: Banish 1 Trap Card from your Graveyard; this effect becomes that card's effect.

During either player's turn: Banish 1 Trap Card from your opponent's Graveyard; this effect becomes that card's effect.

During either player's turn: Banish 1 Trap Card from your Hand; this effect becomes that card's effect.


The two LDS Duelists took a step back. Their monsters, their entire fields were turned against them in an instant and now, a pair of twisted mechanical beasts were staring down at them.

"Checkmate." Avon clicked his fingers. "Don't feel bad for losing. The power of space and time have enmeshed themselves with the Chroneality deck. Reality itself was on my side in this duel. Phoenix! Gram! End this pitiful duel at once!"

The Phoenix spread out its wings wide, unleashing massive green flames as BreakSword Gram placed itself in front of the Phoenix's attack. The Fusion Monster then fired a massive blast that enveloped the Synchro and sent it toward Avon's opponents.

Masumi, LP: 1400 – 2200 0, Hand: 0

Yaiba, LP: 2400 – 2500 0, Hand: 0

Winner: Avon

Avon observed the corridor once more. The floor and walls have been melted and destroyed by his final attack, but luckily the people he knocked out earlier were ignored by Rebellion Phoenix, so they weren't burned to ash. Said Fusion monster stood behind Avon, had not disappeared despite the Duel's end.

The Chroneality Duelist walked over to Masumi and Yaiba, who were lying unresponding covered in bruises and wounds. If anyone other than Avon was sent on this mission and had to duel these two, they would have lost and been caught by LDS.

"Academia could use Duelists such as you two," Avon said, raising his Duel Disk toward them. "And they will. Thanks for supporting our cause."

With that, Avon pressed the button to card them, and a blue flash of light engulfed both Duelists, teleporting them to Polk. They would make for excellent guinea pigs, and maybe sometime in the future, excellent comrades too.

"I guess that's the end of that." Avon sighed, deactivating his Duel Disk. "But since LDS already knows that I'm here and they are preparing an army to fight Academia, I should probably do some more damage to this place before I drag Sora home. Phoenix, shall you?"

Phoenix opened its peak, a green ball of intense heat already starting to form inside. The monster turned its head toward the ceiling and unleashed the beam. Like a super-laser, the attack melted through anything it came in contact with, erupting from the roof of the building, some sixty floors above Avon's current location.


Previews!

Chapter 53: A Phoenix with Heart of Ice

Summary: Avon successfully dispatches of the Lancer initiatives and launches a full-on attack against LDS. In the mids of all the chaos, Sora Shiunin decides that he wouldn't let any more people be harmed because of his betrayal and faces Avon. The former Academia soldier manages to drive his opponent into a corner with the help of Action Cards, but his strength isn't enough to defeat Avon's mechanical monsters.

Chapter 54: Secret of the Dragons

Summary: Secretly betrayed by the Greysons, Yuzu and Yugo are captured by Sector Security and sent to the Facility. After Yuzu's separation from her friend, Yugo is sent to Yuya and the other Lancers, all of which have been captured. At that moment, however, something happens, causing the two look-alikes to fall into a fit of uncontrollable rage. The rest of the Lancers choose to use the ensued chaos to escape, but Ventus declines to leave anyone behind and goes to face the two dimensional counterparts on his own.


And that's two chapters in four days! I might get back to regular uploads at this rate!

But let's focus more on the chapter itself that my non-existent schedule. Avon finally got put into action and boy, is his deck something else. For those who follow me since before this story was made might remember the Chroneality as Evan's deck.

Truth be told, I haven't changed much from it, except for the monster's Attribute and Type (since the original Chroneality was a Multi-Attribute deck), as well as giving the Fusions new summoning conditions (again, that was necessary because of the change in Attributes and Types for the deck). Most of the cards used in this chapter were, in fact, used in the previous story, as for those who weren't, such as "Timestream City" they were already made back then and I just copy-pasted them to this chapter.

Also yes, I know how batshit insane Timestream City is. Even I don't know what I've been thinking when I made that card, but I guess it's fitting to the Chroneality's theme as they are a deck that controls ALL of reality, rewriting history and changing the rules of time and space to what benefits them the most.

Heh, even I can't think what bullshit Evan will have to pull out of his ass to ever beat this card. Who knows, maybe he will have an overpowered Field Spell on his own...

But onto the reviews now!

First, a response to BlaiseCandell: Thanks a lot! I'm not sure how many duels with the Yu-counterparts I'll have in this story (though Yuya will have several more duels because there are many of his cards I want to feature in my duels), but I try to use old cards that I've already made at least twice.

Response to Insertname: About the Special Forces I'm not sure 'when it is implied that they'll never be seen again' but if it was, I'm sorry and that wasn't my intention. They still got uses in this story, but I won't say anything more than that. As for Evan and Avice being equal. Yes, that's true. But remember, even Evan struggled during his first duel against the Special Forces, even though back then they used the same decks are their moves were more predictable. If Avice were to fight these guys again, chances are that she would perform much better, like how Evan did.

Or maybe not? As Oni said, she's becoming weaker. Love, sympathy, desire to protect others, those are the green kryptonite of the Greysons. So, in order to regain her strength, Avice will have to either discard those feelings and return to her former self or find a way to turn them into a strength.

Thanks to all who read this far and I'll see you next time!

Diabolic Tracer out!