Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V: Pendulum of Connections

by Imagine97

(Remake of the Arc-V series starting from the beginning.) What would happen if Yuya was more confident and skilled as a duelist? What if he had an older brother? What if Yuya had slightly different beliefs in dueling but the same intentions? Conflict never ends. Everyone is tied by bonds they don't know that exists which lead to two choices: Peace or Destruction.

28. The Inner Darkness of the First Round

Thank you to everyone who read the last chapter. Also, thank you to GUIPA, Above the Winter Moonlight, Germancardfightfan, Performapal writer, FlameFireZero X and CodeTalker69 for commenting. Here's some of my responses:

GUIPA - Some of it I did. I also referenced some other stories that have similar scenarios like this and put my own spin on it. Regardless, I'm glad you liked it.

Above the Winter Moonlight - Thank you.

Germancardfightfan - I will admit that I did also use references to the Fifth Factor (Great story by the way. I would recommend it to any Arc-V and/or Yu-Gi-Oh fan.). And when I was making this, I did use some of the same stuff but I didn't change anything cause I thought it would either mess up the flow, wouldn't make sense, etc. Point is that I didn't change the sentences much cause it was already good and changing it might have messed up the story/impact a little bit. I just kinda did what dvdryms did and put my own spin on it. Besides, I do believe that I made it plenty different enough than how it was before. Now, whether you think that is good or bad is up to you. I'm at least glad you liked the chapter.

FlameFireZero X - In a future chapter, yes.

CodeTalker69 - I don't know much about TvTropes but thank you for doing that. :)

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Chapter 28 - The Inner Darkness of the First Round

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MAIAMI CITY - MAIAMI DUEL STADIUM

During the aftermath of the duel between Yuya and Shingo, many people in the audience looked satisfied as they were happy while talking amongst each other, "That Pendulum match was amazing, wasn't it? I'm still shaking from it!" "Me too! Dueling is really fun to watch!" "This year's tournament was too crazy!"

Yuya sat down in the spectator seats next to Yuzu, smiling in content from the fun duel he just had. His eyes shifted as he noticed Yuzu smiling at him and wondered, "What's wrong?"

Yuzu gestured towards the audience, who were mostly all excited from seeing the recent match, "You and Sawatari really got everyone excited." Yuya grew a small smile on his face as he got people to enjoy their match at least.

"Congratulations on the win, Yuya." Yuya turned to see Ruri with a sweet smile on her face. Afterwards, he felt someone playfully punching him in the shoulder before turning to see Rin standing behind him with a supportive smile on her face, "You did a great job." Yuya rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, feeling a little embarrassed.

Tatsuya leaned into his chair and looked at Yuya with his fists out, "That was awesome, Big Bro Yuya!" Ayu smiled in excitement, "That new monster you brought out was cool!" Futoshi danced a little in his seat in happiness, "It gave me the shivers!"

As Yuya laughed a little and talked with everyone else about the match, Mikleo watched the exchange with a small smile, happy to see his brother growing more and more. However, he then heard a voice next to him, "Um….excuse me, Mr. Mikleo?"

He turned to see a young kid around the other kids' age wearing a blue shirt, pale shorts and had short green hair. He was holding onto a sketchpad while having a nervous look on his face and shifted his feet a little. Mikleo was confused from seeing the kid and wondered what he wanted.

The boy shifted around nervously for a moment and wasn't saying anything as he just looked at the ground. Suddenly, he held up the sketchpad along with a pen while looking determined, "Um...Can I get an autograph? Please?" Mikleo was taken aback as his expression showed surprise in it, not expecting something like this. Meanwhile, the others stopped talking as they noticed Mikleo with the kid and wondered what was happening. Some of the people in the audience nearby noticed this and watched in silence as they wondered what would happen.

As he still showed surprise written on his face, Mikleo looked down at the sketchpad to see a simple doodle drawing of himself when he was wearing a mask as the Chrono Emperor and Helios besides him. As he stared at the image and wasn't saying anything, the kid looked at him in anticipation and anxiousness, as if waiting for his response. However, after a few seconds of pausing, Mikleo soon reached out with his hand and grabbed the pen from the kid. The kid was taken aback for a second before Mikleo's stoic expression grew into a small smile while holding up the pen, "...Sure, kid." The kid gasped before forming a happy smile on his face as Mikleo reached down and wrote his signature onto the sketch with the pen.

After he was done and gave back the pen, the kid smiled happily and bowed his head, "Thank you so much!" The kid then turned and ran off with his sketchpad to wherever he originally came from in the stands.

While Mikleo watched the kid leave, Tatsuya, Ayu and Futoshi looked at the scene curiously as well as both Rin and Ruri, wondering what Mikleo was thinking. Sora just watched while eating some chocolate in his hand. Yuya, Yuzu, Gongenzaka and Shuzo smiled from seeing that nice display from Mikleo and the young kid.

Mikleo didn't know what to say to that whole thing as he was shocked that kid wanted his autograph, even though his expression didn't show much surprise. He then felt a hand on his shoulder before a voice spoke, "You know...this reminds me somewhat of your father." Mikleo turned to see Yoko with a smile on her face, "Even though he was an entertainer, there are some people that still don't like Yusho despite him putting a smile on a lot of people."

"What do you mean?" wondered Yuya.

Yoko turned back to Yuya, "Your father was the best at entertaining people. But even if with that, there are still some people who show disdain towards Yusho. Whether it is jealousy, disagreement, or just not liking his talent at all, who knows." Yoko turned back to Mikleo while smiling warmly, "In life, you really can't please everyone but that hasn't deterred your father from doing what he loves. Even if some people don't like you, what really matters is how you respond to people who do appreciate you. You too as well, Mikleo." Shuzo smiled as he nodded in agreement, acknowledging that not everyone likes Yusho or what he does but it didn't matter much to either one of them. Yuya and Mikleo lowered their eyes and looked down at the ground, both pondering what their mother had said.

Suddenly, Nico appeared on the big screen again with an excited smile on his face, "Now, it is time for our fifth match of the day!" He held out his hand towards the field, "This time, it's Eiji Suzuki of Union Duel School versus Chihaya Kotona!" Some people in the audience gasped when they heard the name, including Yuya who looked surprised, as Chihaya came out of the entranceway and walked through the arena gate with a neutral expression on her face.

As he watched Chihaya enter the center court, Yuya lowered his eyes in deep thought, "She did enter the tournament." He wasn't sure if he would actually see Chihaya again through this tournament as it was just a rumor that she might've been participating.

Yuzu leaned her head towards Yuya while not shifting her gaze on the field, "Yuya, is that her?" She and the others had heard about Chihaya from Yuya and Mikleo and wondered if she was the one. Yuya nodded in response which made Yuzu frown in concern, knowing that this girl had hurt Yuya a little when he last met her. Although, she still is confused as to how she did it even after Yuya explained what happened about it being some kind of "curse" Chihaya mentioned.

Suddenly, everyone started hearing some chatter in the background as the audience were talking amongst each other, "Is that the duelist that's cursed?" "I think it might be!" A teenage girl in the audience commented, "Really? Isn't that rumor considered nonsense?" A boy next to her replied, "Well, I don't know but at least I heard that she's really good."

Chihaya stared down at her opponent who was a boy with blonde hair and green eyes wearing a plain blue t-shirt and pants while being a few feet away from her. The boy named Eiji nodded his head to her, "I won't hold back against you!" Chihaya didn't respond as she just took out her duel disk and placed it on her arm. She stared back at him with a neutral expression as the boy activated his duel disk.

Nico smiled excitedly as he held up his hand while holding up the mike, "Now, let's start this exciting match! Action Field, on!" Everyone in the audience shouted in excitement as the two duelists shouted the starting line for the duel, with the arena materializing in front of them.

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During when the duel started, Shingo was walking across the hallway where the arena entrance was as he frowned a little, "Man, what am I supposed to do now?" He had just finished his fun duel with Yuya and wasn't upset as much that he lost, but now he was suddenly a little bored as he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do going forward. Even so, he swears he will get better as a duelist especially with his own new deck.

However, just as his thoughts were preoccupied, Shingo heard a pop sound for a second before looking up and saw a purple ball of light coming towards him at high speed. Shingo yelled as he just now saw it and was panicking for a moment before he bent down backwards. The ball of light missed him by a couple inches as he waved his arms in panic. It then hit a wall nearby him which created a small fracture in the wall.

Shingo had a panicked expression on his face as he looked at the wall, "Hey, hey, what the hell was that?!" He didn't understand what just happened. All that he knows that he saved himself from being hit by that whatever that was.

"Well, damn. I didn't think I'd actually miss you." Shingo turned around in shock to see a tall, muscular man in a white uniform with blue stripes and wearing a black hat, black shirt and brown pants. He had yellow eyes and short black hair that was cut in a thin hairstyle. On his left arm, he had a duel disk out with an energy blade in the shape of a sword that white-trimmed with a purple body and violet on the rest. He sighed before he took a magic card off his duel disk and looked at Shingo with a smirk, "Guess I'll have to do things the hard way."

Shingo stared at him in shock for a moment before he glared at him, "D-Did you do that?! Were you just trying to kill me?!" While trying to assess the situation, he at least understands that the blast could've hurt him just like the duel with the masked boy that resembles Yuya.

The man's smirk grew even bigger, "Something like that. I just wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. But now…" He held up his duel disk as he walked closer to him, "There's no way around it."

Shingo took a step back as he looked back at the man with a wary expression, "Wait a second? Tell me what's going on!" He was getting a feeling like this man is dangerous especially since he tried to blast him.

"My name is Laburo. By direct orders from my superior, you're coming with me." The man called Laburo replied before he threw his hand out and launched a red energy line from his duel disk onto Shingo's right wrist, catching him off guard as he was yanked for a moment before it quickly went away. As Shingo was confused about what just happened, Laburo smirked at him, "A Duel Anchor. With this, until you and I conclude a duel, you won't be able to escape." He held up his activated duel disk, "You'll be escorted out of here, conscious or not."

Shingo stared at him for a moment before he let out a chuckle and closed his eyes, "I don't know what's going on…" He opened his eyes before he brought out his deck and duel disk, "But Shingo Sawatari doesn't turn down a duel! I will make you regret trying to hurt me!" He doesn't know what or why this guy wants him to go somewhere but he is not going anywhere. Laburo tried to hurt him and nobody will order him around without having proper respect. Looking to give this guy a proper lesson, he activated his duel disk and looked back at Laburo with a confident smirk on his face.

Both duelists stared each other down with their disks activated, ready to begin as they both shouted out.

[DUEL!]

SHINGO LP: 8000
LABURO LP: 8000

Laburo had his fingers on his deck, "The first turn is mine. I draw!" After drawing and looking at the card, he picked up a different one from his hand, "I summon Acid Wyvern (ATK: 1000, DEF: 800, LV: 3) from my hand!" A small, purple wyvern with green liquid acid overflowing from its mouth appeared next to Laburo. He looked up at Shingo, "I'll end with that."

While Shingo frowned a little from seeing the monster in disgust, Shingo placed his fingers on his deck as he drew, "My turn!" He looked at the card and held it out, "I Normal Summon Abyss Actor - Wild Hope (ATK: 1600, DEF: 1200, LV: 4, PS: 2)!" Wild Hope appeared from a portal with his pistol in hand.

Shingo looked at his monster, "Battle! Wild Hope attacks Acid Wyvern!" Wild Hope spun the pistol in his hand before firing a spark blast that disintegrated the purple dragon.

After the explosion passed, Laburo suddenly smiled in response, "Acid Wyvern's effect activates. When this card leaves the field, both players take 1000 points of damage!" The residue acid left behind appeared right below the both of them before it rose into a pillar towards the ceiling, burning Shingo with the acid as he screamed a bit while Laburo had a hurt smile while taking the same blast.

SHINGO LP: 8000→7000
LABURO LP: 8000→7000

After the acid waterfall died down, Shingo was sweating as he looked at the ground, "What's with this Solid Vision?" He doesn't remember the Solid Vision system being that painful before. It didn't really hurt him much but it felt more intense than a normal tournament match would.

"I activate the effect of Acid Sentry in my hand." Laburo declared as he held out a monster. "When an "Acid" monster is destroyed, I can Special Summon this card!" Acid Sentry (ATK: 700, DEF: 1800, LV: 4) appeared which was a rusty blue metal robot with purple acid dripping from the holes and cracks of the machine.

Laburo looked at Shingo with a calm expression, "When I summon this card this way, Acid Sentry brings back the monster that was just destroyed. Revive, Acid Wyvern (DEF: 800)!" The robot punched a crater in the ground, creating a hole that the dragon materialized from and roared with acid in its mouth.

Shingo clicked his tongue in annoyance, "You like to make things more complicated, don't you? Well, at least this won't be boring if it were too easy." He then picked up a monster and showed it, "I set the Scale 2 Abyss Actor - Pretty Heroine in my Pendulum Zone!" As only one pillar of light showed up, Pretty Heroine appeared inside with her usual appearance with a cute smile.

"So, these must be the Pendulum Cards my superior mentioned." Laburo commented as he looked at Shingo calmly, "But don't think you Standard duelists are stronger than us because of it."

Shingo raised an eyebrow in confusion, "Standard? What the hell are you talking about?" While he doesn't have a clue what this guy is saying, he grunted a little in annoyance as Laburo wasn't responding. He looked down before placing a card in his duel disk, "I set a card and end my turn."

"My turn, draw!" Laburo drew a card and looked at it before he smirked at Shingo, "I believe it is time you realize how powerless you are against me." He placed a card in his duel disk, "I activate the Magic Card: Polymerization!" As Shingo was surprised when hearing the card name, Laburo continued, "With this card, I can Fusion Summon using monsters in my hand or field as Fusion Material!" He held out his hand towards his field, "I fuse Acid Wyvern and Acid Sentry on my field!"

Acid Wyvern and Sentry both flew and were absorbed into the colorful vortex as Laburo chanted, "Destructive forces damaged by the world, combine together to form a new power! Fusion Summon! Appear, Acid Mutation Beast (ATK: 2000, DEF: 2000, LV: 6)!" From a dark portal, a grotesque blue beast materialized that had a wolf's head on the main body while having its arms resemble a gorilla; parts of its chest and right leg were replaced with machine parts. Purple acid was flowing from the holes in the machinery as well as the joint area that connected the beast's gorilla arms with its other body parts.

Back in the LDS control room, while the big screen was showing Chihaya's duel currently going on, several alarms were going off as some of the other screens blinked red. While Reiji remained calm and Reira looked alarmed, Nakajima had a concerned expression on his face, "What's going on?!"

Several people were typing at their keyboards and several graphs popped up on screen with one of the employees speaking, "We've detected a high energy summoning method! We're running an analysis!" A woman spoke up as something was loading, "The result is...Fusion!" The words Fusion Summon popped up on screen as they identified the energy reading from a duel.

Reiji narrowed his eyes, "What?" The duel that is currently going on right now, Chihaya vs Eiji, wasn't using any Fusion Summoning. If that is the case, he suspects that there is probably another duel happening somewhere in the arena or in the city.

Nakajima had a similar idea that Reiji was thinking and held out his hand, "Check through the security cameras and find out where the reading is coming from." All of the employees nodded their heads as they began typing away with a second screen popping up, showing multiple camera views shifting in-between throughout the arena.

Eventually, after a few seconds of searching, a woman spoke up, "I've found it!" Everyone turned to see the screen shifting to a camera view that showed Shingo and some strange uniformed man holding their duel disks out activated, indicating they were dueling along with their monsters outside, inside of one of the hallways.

"That's...Shingo Sawatari! Who is he dueling?" exclaimed Nakajima in surprise, not knowing why or who Sawatari was dueling right now.

Reiji looked up at the screen, "That uniform…" He noticed the uniform right away and recognized its design. From the high energy readings of Fusion Summoning that appeared to be similar to Sora Shiunin's Fusion along the uniform and duel disk the man was wearing, he came to a possible conclusion as he spoke, "It appears that man might be working for Academia." It was the only possible explanation to explain this man's origins as he doesn't recall seeing anyone like this in any database of Maiami City. Reira gasped a little in alarm from hearing that.

Nakajima gasped in shock and turned to Reiji, "What?!" He turned back to the screen to get a closer look at the man before his eyes widened in realization under his glasses. He then stepped forward and looked at the staff hastily, "Where is this happening right now?"

"Hallway 3A, sir!" replied one of the staff members.

Nakajima threw out his arm, "Contact the security team and inform them to head over there right away!" They cannot let an enemy harm or endanger the participants and the citizens.

"Yes, sir!" All of the staff members shouted out before typing on their keyboards to inform the security team immediately. As Nakajima pulled out his tablet and scrolled through it hastily, Reiji kept a calm expression as he watched the duel happening on screen with the sound going through so everyone can hear.

Back at the duel, Shingo looked at Laburo in surprise, "You're a Fusion user?"

Laburo simply smirked in response as he pointed at Shingo, "Since Acid Wyvern left the field, its effect activates where we both take 1000 damage!" Before Shingo could reply, an acid waterfall spouted from beneath both duelists' feet and burned them a bit, with Shingo yelling in distress while Laburo just winced a little.

LABURO LP: 7000→6000
SHINGO LP: 7000→6000

After the acid spout died down, Shingo was sweating a little as he frowned, "Hey, are you out of your mind? You realize you keep damaging yourself, don't you?"

"However many Life I have won't matter in the slightest. The only thing that matters is victory." replied Laburo before he pointed at Shingo, "Battle! Acid Mutation Beast attacks Abyss Actor - Wild Hope!" Mutation Beast generated acid in its mouth before spitting it out onto Wild Hope, destroying the cowboy in an acid explosion.

SHINGO LP: 6000→5600

After the blast made him stumble back a bit, Shingo looked back at Laburo, "Wild Hope's effect activates! When this card is destroyed by battle, I can add an "Abyss Actor" card from my Deck to my hand!" He added a card to his hand before he looked up at his monster, "Then, Pretty Heroine's Pendulum Effect activates! Once per turn, since I took battle damage from an opponent's attacking monster, I can activate the first effect where your monster loses ATK equal to the damage I took!" Pretty Heroine winked her one eye as a red aura surrounded Mutation Beast momentarily.

Acid Mutation Beast (ATK: 2000→1600)

Laburo remained unfazed as he smirked in response, "I end my turn. And since it is the End Phase, the effect of Acid Mutation Beast activates! It deals 1000 points of damage to my opponent!" Mutation Beast spew acid from its mouth and directed at Shingo, creating a small rupture that made him wince while being pushed back a bit.

SHINGO LP: 5600→4600

Shingo gritted his teeth as he knelt down a little, "What is with this…?" This kind of duel feels a lot different than what he's used to. It feels like there is more violence especially with this guy trying to hurt him for whatever reason.

Laburo tilted his head a little in wonder as he smiled calmly, "What's wrong? Are you feeling the pressure of a true fight?"

Before Shingo could question what he said and retort, a voice was heard shouting in the distance, "There they are!" Shingo turned around toward where that was coming from as he saw a lot of security guards running towards them through the hallway. Shingo blinked his eyes in confusion, wondering why and what the security team was doing here.

Laburo watched the guards running towards them with an arrogant smile, "What a nuisance." Suddenly, he then threw something towards an archway above Shingo by a few feet. It appeared to be a little chip that stuck to the ceiling before it generated small electricity, making a shutter door slide down from up in the archway and blocked the guards from going further just as they reached it. Laburo then turned and threw another chip at the archway near him, also barricading the hallway with another shutter door closing.

"Hey! Open this door!" One of the guards were yelling as they were struggling to get past the door with them banging on the shutter metal. Shingo could only watch in surprise as he saw the guards were intercepted and blocked off from the both of them.

Nakajima slammed his fist into the table in frustration, "Damn it! The enemy has somehow activated the security doors!" Now, the security team has no way of getting in or out of that section until the doors are unlocked. He asked the staff to look into this as they were looking to try and manually open the doors but found that they were disabled and unable to be open at the moment.

Reiji narrowed his eyes in suspicion as he observed the image, "An EMP chip…" From what he had seen, if he had to guess, what that soldier had thrown was a chip that was capable of emitting electromagnetic pulses. With it, he was able to discharge an electrical field to activate and disable the security doors. He will admit that he wasn't sure how well a normal soldier would be equipped with devices like that but it is interesting to take note of.

Nakajima frowned as he looked at the staff in front of them, "Find a way to hack into the security walls and unlock those…!"

"Tell the security team to stand down for the moment." Reiji interrupted Nakajima as he held a hand up. As Nakajima was confused, Reiji lowered his hand as he looked at the screen, "Let them be for now. This could be a prime opportunity." Nakajima was taken aback even more and confused as Reiji looked calm while staring at the screen in interest. He was thinking that this might be a good chance to witness how strong an ordinary soldier of Academia is.

After watching the door being close, Shingo turned back to Laburo in curiosity and confusion as he frowned, "Why was the security team so quick to arrive here?" Even though he didn't think about calling for assistance, he didn't imagine they would arrive so early. He narrowed his eyes as he felt something seemed fishy about all of this. He is aware that they were probably notified because of the duel he's having but would they respond immediately just because of that?

After thinking about it, Laburo heard Shingo chuckle a little while smiling before he looked at him, "What's so funny?"

Shingo stopped laughing as he smirked while getting back up on his feet, "I think I get it now…" He kept the smirk up as he pointed at Laburo, "You must be the part of the enemy Reiji was talking about before!" It was the one and only simple conclusion he can come to as to why this situation seems fishy and dangerous.

Laburo raised an eyebrow in amusement, "Oh? You've heard of us?"

"I have! And since that's the case…" Shingo said before holding a hand to his chest while having a prideful expression on his face. "As the strongest member of LDS, I, Shingo Sawatari, will take you down!" It is his duty and honor as a duelist to protect LDS and any potential threats to himself. He will gladly take the challenge of defeating this threat in front of him.

Laburo stared at Shingo for a moment before he scoffed in response, "Don't get cocky with me, brat. You can keep barking all you want but it won't change your inevitable defeat."

Shingo smiled in resolve as he placed his fingers on his deck, "My turn!" After drawing the card, he immediately showed it from his hand, "I set the Scale 8 Abyss Actor - Funky Comedian in my other Pendulum Zone!" Funky Comedian appeared as he immediately floated up into the second pillar of light.

"Before I call my cast in, I activate the Trap Card: Abyss Actors Back Stage!" Shingo shouted as a trap flipped face-up. "Since I have two "Abyss Actor" cards in my Pendulum Zones, I add two "Abyss Actor" Pendulum Monsters with different names from my Deck to my Extra Deck face-up!" He picked up Big Star and Eccentric Composer from his deck before placing them both in his Extra Deck.

"With the set Pendulum Scale of Scale 2 Pretty Heroine and Scale 8 Funky Comedian, I'm able to summon Level 3 to 7 monsters simultaneously!" Shingo pointed up into the air as he chanted, "Entertainers of the underworld! Take the stage upon the grand light inside the abyss! Pendulum Summon!" Purple lightning appeared from the portal before three lights emerged from them and morphed into monsters. "From the Extra Deck, Abyss Actor - Wild Hope (ATK: 1600), Abyss Actor - Eccentric Composer (ATK: 2200, DEF: 2500, LV: 7, PS: 8) and Abyss Actor - Big Star (ATK: 2500, DEF: 1800, LV: 7, PS: 3)!" All three monsters appeared on Shingo's field as Big Star took a short bow in elegance.

"Pendulum Summon, huh?" Laburo mused, "While the summoning itself is a mystery, doing a flashy trick won't help you Standard duelists in the slightest."

"I have no idea what you're going on about but you'll see how awesome I am with Pendulum Summoning." replied Shingo before he held up a card, "To start with, I activate the Magic Card: Abyss Script - Opening Ceremony! I gain 500 LP for every "Abyss Actor" monster on my field!" He had Big Star, Eccentric Composer and Wild Hope all glowing on the field before he was showered with confetti in the air.

SHINGO LP: 4600→6100

Shingo turned to his monsters as he smirked, "Then, Eccentric Composer's monster effect! For every "Abyss Script" in my Graveyard, my opponent's monsters lose 100 ATK!" He then took a card out of his deck, "And since I activated an "Abyss Script" Magic, once per turn, I can add a Level 4 or lower "Abyss Actor" from my Deck!" He added a monster to his hand as Eccentric Composer wrote some notes on a piece of paper, creating an effect that sapped some of Acid Mutation's strength.

Acid Mutation Beast (ATK: 1600→1500)

Shingo then pointed at his monster, "I activate Big Star's monster effect! Once per turn, I can select an "Abyss Script" Magic from my Deck and set it onto my field!" Big Star held out a script book and a set card appeared next to Shingo before he threw out his arm, "I now activate the card I set, the Magic Card: Abyss Script - Rise of the Demon King! For every "Abyss Actor" on my field in Attack Position, I can target and destroy face-up cards on my opponent's field!" The card flipped face-up as Big Star read through the script pages, "And since I control the Level 7 Big Star, you can't activate cards or effects in response to this!" Big Star unleashed a purple blast from his hands that connected with Acid Mutation Beast and destroyed the monster.

"How do you like that?!" Shingo shouted with a proud smirk on his face, "With my super combo, all I have to do now is attack you directly with my monsters and…!"

"It's true when they say that LDS students bark more than they bite." Laburo interrupted while he was still in the smoke, confusing Shingo at the moment. As soon as the smoke cleared, Laburo had a calm smirk on his face, "I activate Acid Mutation Beast's monster effect! When this card is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, I send an "Acid" monster from my Deck to the Graveyard and Special Summon this card back from the Graveyard in Defense Position!" After Laburo sent Acid Gargoyle from his deck to the Graveyard, Acid Mutation Beast (ATK: 2000→1800, DEF: 2000) appeared back on the field from a puddle of acid in the floor.

Shingo was irritated for a moment before he nervously smiled while holding up his arm, "But I still have options available for me. I won't let you get off that easily." He placed a card in his duel disk, "I equip Big Star with the Equip Magic: Abyss Costume - Tribal Spear!" A spear that had cloth wrapped around the metal tip appeared before Big Star caught it in his hands. He then spun around and changed his outfit into a tribal costume.

"Tribal Spear allows Big Star to gain 500 ATK. And since he is an "Abyss Actor" monster, when it attacks a monster in Defense Position, it can inflict piercing damage!" Shingo clarified as Big Star spun the spear in hand while crouching in a fighting stance.

Abyss Actor - Big Star (ATK: 2500→3000)

Shingo pointed at Laburo, "Battle! Big Star attacks Acid Mutation Beast!" Big Star jumped in the air, while almost touching the ceiling, before lunging with the spear and stabbing Mutation Beast in the chest, creating a smoke explosion for a moment.

Shingo smiled as he knew that he at least dealt damage to him before he heard chuckling in the smoke and, to his surprise, Laburo seemed unharmed when the smoke cleared. Shingo's eyes widened as he saw Mutation Beast was also still on the field, "What? How'd you not take any damage?"

"I told you before that whatever you do won't change your defeat. Acid Mutation Beast cannot be destroyed by battle and I take no damage from battles involving this card." Laburo explained as his monster was able to protect both him and itself from any harm.

Shingo frowned in annoyance, "I end my turn."

Laburo smiled as he drew a card, "My turn, draw." He took a quick look at the card for a second before his smile grew more arrogant, "I believe it is time I show you what true power is." He placed the card in his duel disk as he continued, "I activate the Magic Card: Acid Fusion! By banishing Acid Wyvern, Acid Sentry and Acid Gargoyle in my Graveyard, I can Fusion Summon an "Acid" monster using them as Fusion Material!"

Wyvern, Sentry and a purple gargoyle with acid dripping from its mouth all were banished and absorbed into the colorful vortex as Laburo chanted, "Chemical liquid beings formed from mutations, absorb each other into a new destruction! Fusion Summon! Appear, monstrous creation of corrosion! Acid Gastric Medusa (ATK: ?, DEF: ?, LV: 8)!" A monstrous green lady with hair full of snake heads appeared on the field while wearing a purple dress and having the lower body of a snake as its tail replaced where her legs would be. The snake deity had a hungry look on her face as green acid dripped from both her own mouth and each of the snakes' mouths.

"Unknown ATK and DEF?" wondered Shingo as he backed up a step in surprise from seeing how grotesque that monster was.

Laburo looked at Shingo as he replied, "Acid Gastric Medusa's ATK and DEF become equal to the combined original ATK of all "Acid" monsters in my Graveyard. Also, Gastric Medusa cannot be destroyed by card effects." Since there were no "Acid" monsters in his Graveyard, especially because Laburo banished them all just now, Gastric Medusa gained no power in its current state.

Acid Gastric Medusa (ATK: 0, DEF: 0)

Shingo stared at the monster in shock for a second before he smirked, "You summoned this monster only for it to have no ATK? You honestly cannot think you'll be able to do something with that." He was a little shocked and surprised by the second Fusion Summon but having 0 ATK is honestly a letdown.

Laburo smirked for some reason as he held up a card, "That impatient and dull-witted attitude of yours will be your downfall. I never said that I would keep it this way." He flipped the card around as he continued, "I summon another Acid Wyvern (ATK: 1000)!" A copy of the purple acid dragon appeared next to Laburo's other two monsters.

He then held up another card from his hand, "Then, I activate the Magic Card: Acid Disposal! By sending Acid Wyvern on my field and Acid Gargoyle from my Deck to the Graveyard, I gain 1000 LP." Acid Wyvern vanished from the field with Gargoyle following behind, leading to granting Laburo more life.

LABURO LP: 6000→7000

"And since Acid Wyvern left the field, its effect activates where we both take 1000 damage!" An acid waterfall spouted from beneath both duelists' feet again and burned them a bit, with both duelists gritting their teeth in response.

LABURO LP: 7000→6000
SHINGO LP: 6100→5100

After the acid spout ended, Laburo formed a smirk on his face again, "Now, with Acid Wyvern and Acid Gargoyle both in my Graveyard, Gastric Medusa gains their ATK." Two silhouettes of Wyvern and Gargoyle appeared as their energy flowed through Medusa's body.

Acid Gastric Medusa (ATK: 0→2900, DEF: 0→2900)

As Shingo's eyes widened from seeing how much stronger his monster got, Laburo placed another card in his duel disk, "To finish this, I activate the Continuous Magic: Acid Swamp!" An acid pond formed around the entire field with the edges being near both duelists' feet. While Shingo had a confused expression on his face when watching this, Laburo continued, "With Acid Swamp, as long as I have an "Acid" monster on my field, my opponent's monsters lose ATK equal to their original DEF." Shingo was then shocked by this as the acid made his monsters weaker, causing all of them to fall on their knees from loss of strength.

Abyss Actor - Big Star (ATK: 3000→1200)
Abyss Actor - Eccentric Composer (ATK: 2200→0)
Abyss Actor - Wild Hope (ATK: 1600→400)

"I switch Acid Mutation Beast into Attack Position." said Laburo as the beast stood up and looked menacingly at Shingo's monsters.

Acid Mutation Beast (DEF: 2000→ATK: 1800)

Laburo smirked as he pointed at Shingo, "I will now battle! I attack Eccentric Composer with Acid Gastric Medusa!" The snakes on Medusa's head hissed before the monster slithered into Shingo's direction as Laburo continued, "At this moment, Gastric Medusa's effect activates! When this card battles an opponent's monster, you take damage equal to half of your monster's original ATK!" Medusa screamed while slithering as the snakes spit out acid and pelted Shingo with it, leaving him hissing out in pain as it burned a little.

SHINGO LP: 5100→4000

"That pain is only the beginning. Gastric Medusa, destroy Eccentric Composer! Abyss Dissolve!" Medusa's eyes glowed green as she screamed again, wailing and spouting acid from her mouth. Eccentric Composer was soon covered in that acid before he was melting and soon destroyed altogether. The explosion made Shingo gritted his teeth as he slouched a bit while feeling a little hurt from the attack.

SHINGO LP: 4000→1100

Since Eccentric is no longer on the field, the effect that made Laburo's monsters weaker is also gone.

Acid Gastric Medusa (ATK: 2900→3100)
Acid Mutation Beast (ATK: 1800→2000)

Shingo frowned as he stood fully back up, "I activate Pretty Heroine's Pendulum Effect! Your attacking monster loses ATK equal to the battle damage I just took." He just took 2900 damage which made Gastric Medusa feel woozy as a result of Pretty Heroine's power.

Acid Gastric Medusa (ATK: 3100→200)

"It is time to put an end to this!" yelled Laburo as he smirked while holding out his hand, "Acid Mutation Beast, attack Abyss Actor - Wild Hope!" Mutation Beast howled for a moment before jumping up towards Wild Hope with his arms raised to strike.

While Shingo was sweating a little, he looked determined as he held out a fist, "Like hell I'll let it end like this! I activate the Trap Card: Abyss Actors' Exit Cue! When my "Abyss Actor" battles an opponent's monster, you take the battle damage instead!" Just as he was finished, Mutation Beast crushed and destroyed Wild Hope but the blast went straight to Laburo instead as he was taken aback a little.

LABURO LP: 6000→4400

Laburo moved his arm to look at Shingo in annoyance, "Damn you…"

"Wild Hope's effect activates! When this card is destroyed by battle, I can add an "Abyss Actor" card from my Deck to my hand." Thanks to the effect, Shingo was able to add another card to his hand.

Laburo stared at Shingo with narrowed eyes for a few seconds before he scoffed, "Fine. Keep up this pointless struggle if you wish. You're only deluding yourself." He placed a card in his duel disk, "I set a card and end my turn with that." However, he wasn't done as he smirked cruelly, "But Mutation Beast's effect still activates which means you take 1000 damage!" Mutation Beast spewed acid from its mouth which sent Shingo crashing into the barricaded shutter metal, making him cry out a little in pain.

SHINGO LP: 1100→100

Nakajima slammed his fist into the desk, "At this rate, Sawatari won't last much longer!" He turned his head to Reiji while frowning, "Please, President, let security interfere and stop the match." It would pain him to see a young student fall under the hands of their enemy, even if it was Sawatari.

Reiji stared at the screen for a moment before closing his eyes, "Very well. Try to see if the security team can open that door but do not engage until I say so." They can prepare to open the door whenever but only when he gives the signal. Nakajima nodded in understanding before he made a call on his earbud to give instructions to the security team. Reiji clasped his hands together and rested them under his chin, watching Sawatari very carefully.

Shingo coughed a little before he got back up on his feet and glared at Laburo, "My turn!" After drawing a card, he looked up at the field, "With the set Pendulum Scale, I will Pendulum Summon!" Four lights appeared from the portal and morphed into monsters, "Appear from the Extra Deck, Abyss Actor - Eccentric Composer (DEF: 2500) and Wild Hope (DEF: 1200)! And introducing from my hand, Abyss Actor - Sassy Rookie (ATK: 1700, DEF: 1000, LV: 4, PS: 2) and Abyss Actor - Dandy Bi-Player (ATK: 700, DEF: 700, LV: 2, PS: 8)!" Standing beside Big Star, Eccentric, Wild Hope and Sassy Rookie all appeared along with a blue old man who was wearing a purple and red circus outfit, complete with a jacket and a red tophat while carrying a trumpet in his left hand. Since Eccentric was on the field again, its effect also returns as it weakens Laburo's monsters.

Acid Gastric Medusa (ATK: 200→0)
Acid Mutation Beast (ATK: 2000→1800)

"To think you can summon this many monsters at once with Pendulum Summon…" Laburo mused before he smiled again. "But no matter how many you bring out, Acid Swamp is still affecting your monsters." He was correct in that sense as Acid Swamp still made Shingo's monsters weaker, making them all feel dizzy from feeling the acid on the ground.

Abyss Actor - Eccentric Composer (ATK: 2200→0)
Abyss Actor - Wild Hope (ATK: 1600→400)
Abyss Actor - Sassy Rookie (ATK: 1700→700)
Abyss Actor - Dandy Bi-Player (ATK: 700→0)

"I am well aware of the effect and I don't care." Shingo replied before he pointed at his monster, "I activate Big Star's monster effect! Once per turn, I set an "Abyss Script" Magic straight from my Deck!" Big Star opened up his script book as Shingo revealed another Opening Ceremony before placing it face-down. Shingo threw out his arm while flipping the same card up, "I now activate the set card I placed, the Magic Card: Abyss Script - Opening Ceremony! I regain 500 LP for every "Abyss Actor" monster I control!" There were five Abyss Actors on Shingo's field as they all glowed for a moment.

Laburo smirked arrogantly in response, "That effect is pointless if you can't use it." To Shingo's confusion, Laburo then threw out his arm, "I activate the Continuous Trap: Fusion Field Stun! I can activate this since I have a Fusion Monster on my field and as long as this card is on the field, the effects of your Magic and Trap Cards are negated." Shingo could only watch in surprise as the effect of his magic card was negated, electricity then shocked throughout the card before vanishing entirely.

Acid Mutation Beast (ATK: 1800→1700)

Laburo held out his hand as he had a confident expression on his face, "Now, I know you rely on using your "Abyss Script" Magics with your Abyss Actors but you can't do that now." His smirk grew bigger as he sneered, "What will you do now?"

Shingo gritted his teeth in response, "Damn it. At this rate..." He looked down at the cards in his hand, which contained three magic cards, before he narrowed his eyes. He knows he'll lose if he doesn't do something this turn especially because of Laburo's formation.

"If I were you, I would surrender right now." Shingo turned to look at Laburo who had a mocking smile on his face. "Your Life is at a mere 100, your monsters cannot do anything in their current state and your Magic and Traps are useless right now. If you want less pain than you have already taken from this duel, you should save both of us some time by just quitting." He is confident that he knows he has already won this as all he has to do is wait for his next turn to use his monsters' effects to end this nonsense.

Shingo stared back at him for a second before he chuckled a little, "As much as you would hate this, I never surrender a duel. If I am to become the strongest duelist in the world, I must overcome any hurdle in my way. And to throw your words back at you, however many Life Points I have won't matter as long as I take you down." Despite this desperate situation he is in, he has never quit on a duel no matter how strong an opponent is. He'll make sure he'll get a glorious comeback from this somehow.

Laburo scoffed in response when he heard that, "You still think you can win despite all of this? It seems your idiocy knows no bounds as you still do not understand how powerless you are. But if you want to keep struggling all you want, that's fine by me." He'll take pleasure in shutting up this Standard duelist on his next turn.

Shingo narrowed his eyes before he wondered what he could do in this situation. It does seem like he can't do much else and attacking is not an option right now. After a few seconds, his thoughts turned to Yuya in his head as he remembered what he might say when he was in a tough spot during their duel.

From seeing the memory, Shingo smirked before he picked up a card and showed it, "From my hand, I activate the Continuous Magic: Abyss Script - Abysstainment!" A face-up magic card appeared before it was quickly shocked and negated of its effects.

"Have you not been paying attention? With Fusion Field Stun on my field, the effects of your Magic and Traps are negated!" retorted Laburo.

Shingo's smirk grew bigger as he replied, "It may negate the effects but it didn't negate the activation of my card." To Laburo's confusion, Shingo pointed at his field, "And because I activated an "Abyss Script" Magic, I activate Eccentric Composer's monster effect! Once per turn, I can add a Level 4 or lower "Abyss Actor" from my Deck to my hand!" After Eccentric Composer wrote some notes in his sheet music, Shingo was able to add Abyss Actor - Young Apprentice to his hand.

He then turned to look at Dandy Bi-Player, "Then, I activate Dandy Bi-Player's effect! If I have 2 "Abyss Actor" cards in my Pendulum Zones, I can tribute this card to Special Summon a Level 1 or 8 "Abyss Actor" Pendulum Monster from my hand or face-up from my Extra Deck!" Dandy Bi-Player blew into his trumpet before he was released and Shingo showed the same monster he added earlier, "Come, Abyss Actor - Young Apprentice (ATK: 400→0, DEF: 600, LV: 1, PS: 4)!" A young blue teenager with green eyes, showing an eager expression on his face, appeared in Dandy Bi-Player's place while wearing a combination of white pants, purple jacket, black boots, and a white fedora.

Shingo then raised his head to look at Laburo, "I switch Big Star into Defense Position and end my turn." Big Star knelt down as he took a defensive stance in front of Shingo.

Abyss Actor - Big Star (ATK: 1200→DEF: 1800)

Laburo narrowed his eyes for a moment before he scoffed, "You did all of that effort just to summon that weak monster? What a waste. If you want to be defeated that badly, then I'll gladly do it right now!" He placed his fingers on his deck, "My turn, draw!"

After he took a quick look at the card he drew, Laburo immediately pointed at Shingo while smirking, "Battle! Acid Gastric Medusa, end this by attacking Sassy Rookie! Abyss Dissolve!" Medusa gathered acid in her mouth before spewing it towards Shingo and created an explosion that limited vision around the area.

"Finally, this is done and over with." commented Laburo with a satisfied expression, knowing that the duel is over now. He proceeded to take a few steps forward before he felt something tugging at his arm holding his duel disk. His eyes narrowed his eyes in confusion as he saw that the red cable tied to his duel disk was still there, "My Duel Anchor? Why is it still active?" The cable should've disappeared since the duel concluded; however, his eyes widened in shock and realization as he looked up towards the smoke, "It can't be…"

For a while, the smoke was obscuring everyone's vision so everyone couldn't see what was happening. However, it eventually cleared, revealing Shingo having a smirk on his face with his life points remaining the same along with his field except that Young Apprentice was missing from his side.

Laburo was shocked for a second before he looked at Shingo in disbelief, "How? How did you survive that?"

Shingo smirked before he held out his hand, "I activated the effect of Young Apprentice. By tributing this card, neither one of us takes any damage for the rest of the turn." By using his monster's effect, while the explosion was happening, Young Apprentice shielded him by absorbing the blast and disappearing from the field as the smoke was clearing.

After hearing the explanation, Laburo clicked his tongue as he was annoyed, "Tch. To think you would survive thanks to a weak monster."

Shingo shrugged his shoulder as his smirk grew more cheeky, "Hey, even though it was a weak card, they have their uses from time to time." He lowered his eyes for a moment, "A certain guy showed me that…"

Nakajima moved his hand away from the earbud to face Reiji, "President, the security team has restored the release lock and is ready when you give the command." He turned to the screen as he frowned, "Should we proceed right now?" Thankfully, Sawatari managed to last a bit longer in this duel long enough to buy them time.

Reiji closed his eyes in response, "Not yet. Let us wait a little longer to see how this unfolds." He raised his head to look at Shingo with an unfathomable expression on his face as Reira watched the screen while looking a little frightened.

Laburo gritted his teeth in irritation before he sighed and smirked again, "Fine. I end my turn." Because of Young Apprentice's effect, Mutation Beast didn't deal any damage as Laburo continued, "So you survive for one more turn. But all you're going to do is struggle in useless resistance again."

Shingo gritted his teeth before he smirked back, "You don't believe in my skill? Then, I will prove you wrong right here and now!" He placed his fingers on his deck and drew, "My turn!"

His eyes were closed while frowning in soliciting, praying for the right card to be drawn while not saying anything. Then, Shingo opened his eyes to look at the card he drew before his expression turned hopeful and immediately smirked at Laburo, "Alright, my luck is turning! This turn will be your defeat!"

While Laburo had a confused expression on his face, Shingo held up the card he drew, "I release Sassy Rookie and Wild Hope from my field in order to Tribute Summon this monster, Abyss Actor - Brawny Officer (ATK: 3000, DEF: 2000, LV: 8, PS: 5)!" After Sassy Rookie and Wild Hope disappeared from the field, Shingo summoned a large, purple muscular man that was wearing a blue officer outfit complete with black pants. He had one eye covered by his security hat as he flexed his large muscles.

"A monster with 3000 ATK?" commented Laburo before he smirked in arrogance. "But it doesn't matter what ATK it has. After all, your monster is already weakened due to Acid Swamp's effect."

Abyss Actor - Brawny Officer (ATK: 3000→1000)

Shingo waved his finger dismissively before he pointed at his monster, "Don't underestimate my new deck! I activate Brawny Officer's monster effect! When this card is successfully Normal Summoned, I discard an "Abyss Script" Magic from my hand…" He held up Fantasy Magic as he continued, "In order to target up to two cards on the field and return them to their owner's hand!" As Laburo was shocked when he heard that, Shingo sent his magic card to the graveyard before Brawny Officer yelled really loudly and smashed the floor with his large hands, creating a shockwave that sent both Acid Swamp and Fusion Field Stun back to Laburo's hand.

Acid Mutation Beast (ATK: 1700→1600)

"No way…" muttered Laburo in disbelief as he was forced to return both cards to his hand. Since Acid Swamp was no longer on the field, the effect that made Shingo's monsters weaker vanishes. Also, electricity was no longer shocking Abysstainment and the Abyss Actors in Shingo's Pendulum Zones because Field Stun left the field as well.

Abyss Actor - Brawny Officer (ATK: 1000→3000)
Abyss Actor - Big Star (ATK: 1200→3000)
Abyss Actor - Eccentric Composer (ATK: 0→2200)

Shingo looked up at this field, "And now, with the set Pendulum Scale of Scale 2 Pretty Heroine and Scale 8 Funky Comedian, I will Pendulum Summon!" Purple lightning appeared from the portal before two lights emerged from them and morphed into monsters. "Welcome back from the Extra Deck! Abyss Actor - Sassy Rookie (ATK: 1700) and Abyss Actor - Wild Hope (ATK: 1600)!" Rookie and Wild Hope materialized back next to Shingo's other three monsters.

"I then switch Big Star into Attack Position!" Shingo called out as Big Star returned to a fighting stance with his tribal spear in hand.

Abyss Actor - Big Star (DEF: 1800→ATK: 3000)

Laburo looked a little nervous for a moment before he smiled, "You may have gotten rid of my Magic and Traps but it is still useless. After all, you can try attacking my monsters but the moment you do, you'll take damage thanks to Gastric Medusa's effect. And Mutation Beast prevents me from taking battle damage." There was sweat forming on his forehead but still felt confident he's winning this.

Shingo chuckled a little in response, "The one who is going down is you." He held up a card afterward, "Now that my Magic Cards are no longer negated, I activate the Quick-Play Magic: Abyss Script - Binding Chains! For every "Abyss Actor" Pendulum Monster face-up in my Extra Deck, I target face-up cards on the field and negate their effects this turn! I select your Acid Gastric Medusa and Acid Mutation Beast!" As there were two Abyss Actors cards currently face-up in Shingo's Extra Deck, transparent purple chains bound themselves around both of Laburo's monsters as they both groaned, feeling drained of some of their power.

Acid Mutation Beast (ATK: 1600→1500)

Laburo took a step back in shock, "Then that means…"

Shingo had a smirk on his face as he pointed at Laburo, "It's curtains for you! Brawny Officer, attack Acid Gastric Medusa!" Officer charged forward and slammed Medusa in the face with a lariat, launching the monster before it exploded and made Laburo yell a little as he took the blast.

LABURO LP: 4400→1400

"Now, Big Star, attack Acid Mutation Beast!" yelled Shingo before Big Star spun his spear and jumped forward to Laburo's direction. While the monster was groaning, Mutation Beast tried to counter by spitting acid from his mouth before Big Star dodged and stabbed the monster in retaliation, creating another large explosion. Laburo yelled as he was sent flying backwards before landing on his back, seeing a somewhat dazed expression on his face.

LABURO LP: 1400→0

SHINGO: WIN
LABURO: LOSE

Shingo raised his fist in excitement, "Alright! That's what you get!" He placed his hand on his chest while closing his eyes and having a satisfied smirk on his face, "After all, only strong duelists such as myself can defeat me." He didn't receive a reply as Laburo was still lying on the ground which annoyed him a little.

However, immediately afterwards, Reiji yelled at the screen, "Now!" Nakajima shouted into his earbud, "Right!"

To Shingo's surprise, the barricaded door shifted upwards and cleared the way with the security guards yelling and ran right past him, running straight to Laburo. As the guards were approaching, Laburo was still dazed as he muttered, "Forgive me...Albel-sama…" His arm was reached out as he quickly pushed a button on his duel disk, shining a bright blue light from his duel disk that blinded everyone around and stopped the guards in their tracks. Everyone was blinded for a moment before the shine eventually died down and when their vision came back, Laburo was nowhere to be found.

Most of the guards looked angry as each of them ran off in different directions with some of them yelling, "Damn, he couldn't have gotten far!" "Search the place!" They were scrambling to look around the area with some of them going in different hallways to search for the intruder.

Shingo could only watch in a mixture of shock and confusion, not knowing what exactly is going on or what that whole duel was about anyway. Although, he didn't mind proving someone that was insulting his pride wrong.

Meanwhile in the control room, Reiji had his hands under his chin as he was still looking at the screen, "Have the security team search the entire arena in case the enemy is hiding elsewhere and tighten the guard around." He turned to Nakajima in seriousness, "Also, make sure that Kurosaki doesn't find out about this yet. He needs to focus on preparing for his upcoming match." Nakajima nodded before he held up his tablet and typed a message to send to security. Then, the screen shifted to where it focused on the match between Eiji and Chihaya that happened in the center court at the same time as Reiji looked at it, "Now then…" It seems that the duel in the main area is also over as well.

---

Back in the center court, Eiji was screaming as he was launched in the air by an attack before landing back on the ground in defeat. Crystron Ametrix was seen on the field with its arm reached out, showing that it was the one who attacked with Chihaya just watching while holding up her duel disk.

EIJI LP: 1400→0

CHIHAYA: WIN
EIJI: LOSE

An image of Chihaya appeared on-screen as the action field full of flowers vanished with Nico announcing, "It's settled! The winner of the fifth match is Chihaya Kotona!" Most of the crowd was cheering though some of them were silent and looking at Chihaya warily.

Rin looked at Chihaya in wonder, "Wow, she's good." She was impressed by her mastery over Synchro Summoning especially with her deck.

As Eiji was being helped up by the arena staff, Chihaya just watched before turning her head towards a certain person in the audience. She was looking at Yuya with a blank expression as he looked back at her with narrowed eyes. After staring at each other for a few seconds, Chihaya suddenly turned around and walked away off the center court.

Yuzu turned to Yuya who she saw was watching Chihaya and frowned, "Yuya…" She'd be lying if she said she wasn't worried about him wanting to confront Chihaya after what she had heard happened.

Sora got up from his seat while having a smile on his face, "Well, guess it is time for my match now." Everyone watched Sora walk away to the gate that led to the center with a smile.

At that moment, Nico spoke with his mike raised, "Next up is today's sixth match! You Show Duel School's Sora Shiunin vs Leo Duel School's Shun Kurosaki!" He held out his hand towards the center court where Sora was waving at the audience with a smile, "Everyone, please, your applause for these two duelists!"

"Sora! Make this our fourth win in a row!" yelled Shuzo with his fists out.

The kids were excited as Ayu held her hands to her mouth, "Beat those…" Tatsuya and Futoshi finished her sentence, "LDS guys!"

Sora looked at his friends with a smile as he gave them a thumbs up, "Okay! Leave it to me!" Everyone cheered for Sora in support except for Ruri who just watched with a sad frown on her face before she gasped as she saw someone else approaching the center court.

On the other side of the court, Shun walked up to the field with a solemn expression on his face. Ruri let out a small happy smile on her face, "Shun…" However, she then frowned in sadness again because while she is so relieved to see him, she never thought she would see him under these circumstances. She wanted to call out to him so badly but thought it was too risky given that Sora could find out his relation to her, but that's only if he hasn't already which she suspects that he probably does. However, she would also have to explain to Shuzo, Yoko and the kids about this whole situation and she doesn't want that. She's already involving her friends in this, she doesn't want to put any burden on the others as well. They might find out eventually but not right now.

Yuya narrowed his eyes at Shun, "So that's Ruri's brother…" Taking another look at him, he is definitely the one he saw in one of his dreams of Heartland. His thoughts turned to that one Xyz Monster he saw that was summoned, though he didn't get a good look at its features and just saw its shadow.

"Yuya!" Yuya turned to see Sora waving his arm at him in excitement, "This time I'll be sure to excite you too! Look forward to it!" Yuya smiled at seeing Sora's excitement, but behind his smile, he was conflicted. On one hand, he still considers Sora his friend and wants to cheer for him but on the other hand, he knows his affiliation with Academia which is making him hesitant to cheer for him. There is a part of him that wants Ruri's brother to win but he is hesitant about that as well.

Meanwhile, in the control room, Nakajima arrived back and was walking towards Reiji, "President." Reiji kept his gaze on the big screen, "What's the status?" Nakajima stopped to where he was right next to Reiji, "Sawatari has been sent home for now while being safeguarded by two men. Security has been searching all around but it seems that the enemy got away."

Reiji closed his eyes while leaning his chin on top of his hands, "Well, we'll have to investigate further after today's matches. Tell security to be more cautious for today. For now, we'll witness this man's current strength." Reiji was looking at the screen showing Shun glaring at Sora and not saying anything.

---

Flashback (An hour ago)

Inside the Leo Corporation, Shun was walking away from a meeting with Reiji until he heard Nakajima call out to him. He turned to see what he wanted.

Nakajima held up a card towards him, "This is a Pendulum Card made for you. Please take it. From what we have seen, you should be able to use it better than Sawatari."

Shun looked at the card for a moment before looking back at Nakajima, "I have no need for it." Nakajima had a shocked expression on his face as Shun turned around and began walking away with Nakajima speaking, "You...Wait a minute!" Shun didn't stop and continued walking.

Flashback End.

---

Nakajima was frustrated as he looked at Shun who was on the monitor, "You even went out of your way to make it for him, President..."

Reiji just looked at the monitor as his expression didn't change, "It's fine. Rather than the potential of Pendulum Summoning, I'm more interested in seeing the full extent of his abilities." If they can, they'll test him with Pendulum Cards much later. Also, Reira was watching the screen with a blank expression.

Nico had an excited smile on his face while holding up his arm, "Today's sixth event starts now! First up is selecting the Field Magic!" The sphere of glowing cards in the sky scattered before revealing a giant field magic that flipped face-up, showing a colorful city in the image. Nico held up a fist as he continued, "The field is City of the Future: Heartland!"

Shun was shocked when he heard the card name and looked at the field magic in both shock and anger. Sora caught Shun's reaction and was confused by it. Ruri, however, had her eyes widened in shock as well, "Did he say…?!" Yuya, Yuzu, Rin and Gongenzaka were confused for a moment before their eyes widened in realization from hearing the name while Mikleo narrowed his eyes.

"This is the perfect stage for the two who will show us the future of dueling!" announced Nico with a smile before he then threw out his arm, "Now then, Action Field on! Field Magic - City of the Future: Heartland, activate!"

The Solid Vision system right below the field then activated and started materializing objects around the area as Shun had a pained expression on his face, "Heartland…" A beautiful futuristic city appeared around the field that contained many stairs, brightly lighted towers, highways, and a river flowing in the middle of the city while everything was filled with colorful lights to make it lively. Shun was standing on one side of the river while Sora was facing him on the other side. The audience were amazed as they were witnessing this beautiful city that also had a tower in the middle with a large crystal on top of it.

Ayu had a happy smile on her face as she was in awe, "It's so pretty!" Tatsuya also smiled, "It's like we're inside a sci-fi movie!" Futoshi was in stunned silence before he danced a little in happiness.

Yuya, however, was looking at the city in wonder and surmised something, "This looks like…" It looks like Heartland like he saw in his dreams except he believes that it was before it was ruined by all the destruction.

Yuzu and Rin turned to see Ruri clenching the railing with her hands tightened as Yuzu looked at her in concern, "What's wrong?"

Ruri's eyes were in disbelief as her expression turned into one of pain and anxiety, "This...looks like my home…before that day..." It was a lot similar to how her home used to look before Academia came. She felt a hand on her shoulder which was Rin showing comfort but was too distracted as seeing this beautiful city is starting to bring back painful memories deep in her memory.

Gongenzaka's expression hardened as Yuzu and Rin frowned while looking at the city, all of them wondering how beautiful Heartland must have been if it looked like this. They all felt bad for Ruri being reminded of it. Shuzo, Yoko and the kids weren't noticing Ruri's visual sadness as they were too engulfed from looking at the city.

Mikleo frowned as well but was wondering what the purpose of this was; the field that was chosen had to have been on purpose unless it was a huge coincidence that it looked like Heartland. He looked down at the field to get a closer look before immediately having a theory once he saw Shun's expression.

Meanwhile, Yaiba and Hokuto were sitting in the same seats from before in order to watch this. Hokuto gritted his teeth in irritation, "I don't like that guy basically got off easily."

Yaiba sighed before he frowned, "I don't like it either but we can't do anything about it. We just gotta watch and see what he's made of."

Hokuto scoffed before he had an expression full of shame on his face, "Don't remind me. We've already witnessed some of it." They still don't fully trust Kurosaki but they're being open-minded about it for now, even though they fully remember the humiliation they suffered at his hands.

Sora looked around the city with a smile on his face, "I'd be more excited if it were a town of sweets though. But it looks like everyone is enjoying it, so I guess it's fine if it's not." He turned towards Shun, "Right?" However, he was confused as he saw Shun's pained expression as he was holding a fist clenched to his chest.

Reiji looked at Shun's expression on the monitor, "It seems he's taken a liking to it." Nakajima turned to Reiji in shock, "Wait, then this field is…" Reiji held out a hand towards the monitor, "It's just a modest present from me to him. In order to light his fighting spirit."

Yuya looked at Shun and saw his pained expression as he frowned, "Given from what I've seen and heard, seeing must bring back painful memories of him and Ruri's home before it was...destroyed."

Sora looked at Shun in confusion, "What's wrong? Do you have a stomachache?" Shun closed his eyes and move his fist away as Sora continued, "Hey, will you really be able to duel me?"

While his expression was still full of pain, Shun opened his eyes and looked at Sora with hate filled in them, "You should worry about yourself first! If you really are a true Fusion user, then I will show no mercy!" Sora had his head tilted in confusion as Shun activated his duel disk while looking at Sora in resolve.

Sora got a smile on his face, "Heh. Interesting, aren't you?" He then activated his duel disk while narrowing his eyes at Shun, "Based on your reaction, you are one of them. An Xyz remnant just like Ruri. Her brother. Before I'll take my time eliminating you, I'll have the people enjoy this."

Sora turned to where his friends in You Show were sitting with Gongenzaka and Yoko. Shuzo shouted with his fists raised, "We'll cheer as hard as we can!" Yoko looked at him with a smile, "If you win, you'll get all the pancakes you can eat!"

The kids raised their fists in excitement and cheered, "Go! Go! Sora!"

Sora nodded his head as he smiled, "Then, with that, let's get started!" Sora turned his attention to Shun who just glared right back at him. The air was intense for a moment with both duelists staring each other down before they both shouted.

[DUEL!]

SHUN LP: 8000
SORA LP: 8000

"I'll go first! Draw!" Sora called out as he drew a card before he picked up a different one, "I Normal Summon from my hand a very cute bear monster, Furnimal Bear (ATK: 1200, DEF: 800, LV: 3)!" The pink stuffed bear with angel wings appeared on the field.

As Furnimal Bear landed on the field, many kids in the audience squealed, "So cute!" Sora turned to the audience, "Isn't it?" He then turned back to his monster, "But I've got even cuter ones coming up!"

Sora looked at Shun while holding up a fist, "When there is a "Furnimal" monster on my field, I can Special Summon this cute sheep monster from my hand! Furnimal Sheep (ATK: 400, DEF: 800, LV: 2)!" The stuffed sheep appeared on Sora's field also, much to the audience's delight as they squealed again. Shun was not amused as he kept his serious glare on Sora.

Sora placed a card in his duel disk, "I set a card and end my turn." He looked up towards Shun with a smile, "Now then, you're up! Let's both give the audience the greatest show!"

Shun looked back at Sora before narrowing his eyes, "The greatest show? Once, dueling was the greatest show in my home as well. That's right...the greatest…" He closed his eyes at the last part with a pained expression, much to Sora's confusion. He eventually reopened them, "Whether they were children or adults, everyone enjoyed it without a care." He turned to look around the city, "It was a town where duelists were adored by the public. Until that day..." His eyes were filled with anger as he continued, "On that day, our enemy attacked us without warning and turned our town into a battlefield."

Sora's expression was full of confusion, "Enemy? Battlefield? What are you talking about?"

Shuzo, Yoko and the kids were confused as Tatsuya asked, "What is that guy saying?"

Yuya frowned in thought, "Is he talking about…?" He must be talking about the times before Heartland was attacked. Mikleo had the same thoughts as he wondered if Heartland was as beautiful as this action field.

Yuzu narrowed her eyes, "He said something similar back then." She recalls that Shun called this city his battlefield and remembered that he tried to duel Masumi before. Gongenzaka's expression hardened when hearing this and Rin narrowed her eyes before she turned to Ruri in concern, who had a sad frown as she looked around the city in sorrow.

Hokuto frowned as he had his arms crossed together, "He's talking like that again. What is up with that?" Kurosaki said something similar back when they had their duel with him and it didn't make any sense. A thought came to his mind as he looked at Yaiba puzzled, "Say, come to think of it, where is Kurosaki from anyway?"

Yaiba shrugged his shoulders, "Don't know. I haven't asked or even talked to him that much." Not that he's making a conscious effort to befriend him, but it seemed like Kurosaki didn't want to talk with anybody in LDS much even if they allied with each other.

Sora looked at Shun with a troubled expression on his face, "Jeez...You really are oblivious, aren't you? I even went out of my way to play two cute monsters to liven this up." He held a hand while frowning, "Don't go and ruin it! I said we should both make this exciting, didn't I? If I go "Ka-boom", then you've got to follow up with a "Ba-bang" or it won't…!"

However, at that moment, Shun interrupted him by placing his fingers on his deck, "My turn." As Sora pouted from being interrupted, he drew his card while having a bitter expression on his face, "We were thrown into disarray by the sudden assaults. Just mounting a defense took everything we had."

Sora looked back with a tired expression, "Are you even trying?"

Shun held up a card from his hand, "I Normal Summon Raid Raptors - Vanishing Lanius (ATK: 1300, DEF: 1600, LV: 4) from my hand!" Shun brought the green mechanical bird monster onto his field.

Yuya's eyes widened a little when he saw what was summoned, "Raid Raptors…" It was one of the same monsters he'd seen Shun summon in one of his dreams. Ruri lowered her eyes a little from seeing the monster.

Shun held up another monster from his hand, "Due to Vanishing Lanius' effect, since I summoned this monster this turn, I can Special Summon a Level 4 or lower "Raid Raptors" from my hand. I summon Raid Raptors - Napalm Dragonius (ATK: 1000, DEF: 1000, LV: 4)!" Shun summoned a light green mechanical bird that resembled a wyvern with a blue-green helmet and armor as well as having a serpentine-like tail.

Shun looked at Sora with a serious expression, "Napalm Dragonius' monster effect. Once per turn, this monster can inflict 600 damage to my opponent! Fire Bomb!" Napalm opened its mouth and launched a fireball at Sora, who was directly hit by it and just smiled a little in response.

SORA LP: 8000→7400

Shun then held out his hand towards his monster, "Battle! I attack Furnimal Bear with Vanishing Lanius!" Vanishing Lanius screeched as it flew towards Furnimal Bear, scratching the monster with its claws and destroying it. Sora just smiled as the wind from the blast blew in his face.

SORA LP: 7400→7300

A small girl in the audience had tears in her eyes, "Mr. Bear…" She then started crying from seeing the cute monster destroyed. Sora chuckled a little while smiling, "I'll save it for you right now." He held out his hand, "I activate the Trap Card: Furnimal Crane! This card returns a "Furnimal" monster that was destroyed to my hand. And lets me draw a card from my Deck!" A toy crane claw came down and picked up Furnimal Bear from the Graveyard which allowed Sora to add it back to his hand before he drew a card. While looking at the card, Sora had a cute smile on his face as he winked, "You've got to react like this, got it?"

However, Shun didn't seem to care as his hand was still out, "I attack Furnimal Sheep with Napalm Dragonius!" Dragonius also screeched before launching a fireball from its mouth again, engulfing Furnimal Sheep and burning the monster entirely.

Shun narrowed his eyes as he held up a card and placed it in his duel disk, "Because a "Raid Raptors" monster declared an attack this turn, I activate the Magic Card: Raid Raptors - Symbol. I can add one "Raid Raptors" monster from my Deck to my hand. I add Raid Raptors - Carrier Lanius." With the effect activated, Shun took a monster from his deck and added it to his hand while showing it for a moment.

"It's nice that you were able to respond so quickly, but there's no point in hiding behind those monsters, you know?" said Sora, referring to both Vanishing Lanius and Dragonius.

Shun placed a card in his duel disk, "I set one card and end my turn." A face-down materialized next to him as he ended his turn.

Nico then spoke up, "Both players have ended one turn by summoning two monsters on their field! Right now, Kurosaki has the advantage in terms of monsters but that could all change! I wonder what twists this battle will take! Will the goddess of victory smile upon Sora Shiunin, or perhaps Shun Kurosaki!?"

Sora's smile grew bigger, "Isn't it obvious? The one who makes this duel more exciting, of course!" He gave everyone a thumbs up, "And I will make sure everyone has their fill!" Reiji was watching him on screen with a stern expression.

"Let's go! My turn, draw!" said Sora as he drew a card before holding up a monster, "I Normal Summon Edge Imp Scissors (ATK: 1200, DEF: 800, LV: 3) from my hand!" Sora smiled again as he showed a certain card in his hand, "And now, I activate the Magic Card: Polymerization!" Shun's eyes widened and looked angry as he heard and saw the card that was shown. Ruri frowned a little as she felt concerned with how her brother would react.

Sora held up the Polymerization card as he looked at everyone in the audience, "Now, everyone! What you're about to witness is a real, full-fledged Fusion Summon!" As the audience got excited, he placed the card in his duel disk and held up Furnimal Bear, "I'm going to fuse Edge Imp Scissors and Furnimal Bear in my hand!" When he was done, Furnimal Bear appeared back on the field next to Scissors.

Many kids in the audience were happy to see the adorable monster again, "Mr. Bear!" "Cute!" "It's back!"

Furnimal Bear and Edge Imp Scissors were absorbed and fused into the colorful vortex as Sora held out his hands and chanted, "Claws of the demon and fangs of the beast! Become one and reveal to us your new form! Fusion Summon! Come forth, horrifying beast that shreds all! Death-Toy Scissors Bear (ATK: 2200, DEF: 1800, LV: 6)!" Furnimal Bear tore itself into pieces as scissors broke out and formed the horrifying Scissors Bear monster onto the field.

Shuzo had an excited smile on his face, "What school?! You Show Duel School!" Futoshi did a little dance on the spot, "Shivers!"

Sora held out his hand towards Shun's monsters, "Time to battle! I attack Napalm Dragonius with Scissors Bear!" Scissors Bear spun around before lunged forward with its claw, scratching Dragonius as it screeched while being destroyed. Shun covered his face from the explosion by using his arm.

SHUN LP: 8000→6800

The kids looked happy as Futoshi had a smile on his face, "He did it!" Tatsuya held up a fist, "He took down at least 1200 LP in one shot!"

Sora had his hands on his hips as he smiled, "I didn't do just that! Don't forget, when Scissors Bear destroys a monster by battle, it can equip that monster onto itself!" Bear used its mouth to create a suction vacuum that was pulling a silhouette of Napalm Dragonius over to it.

"So then, that means Napalm Dragonius's ATK will be added to Bear's?" asked Ayu.

Tatsuya's smile grew bigger, "That's right! And it would go up to 3200 ATK!" Futoshi then rubbed his cheeks against Tatsuya's in happiness as Tatsuya looked a little uncomfortable, "So many shivers!"

However, at that moment, Shun held out his hand, "I activate the Trap Card: Raid Raptors - Return! When my "Raid Raptors" monster is destroyed by battle, I can add a "Raid Raptors" monster back to my hand from the Graveyard!" Before Scissors Bear could finish, Napalm Dragonius was dragged back from the field and returned to Shun's hand, much to Sora's surprise.

Ayu had a shocked expression on her face, "It got taken back!" Tatsuya looked a little troubled, "To think he had something like that ready…" Gongenzaka narrowed his eyes, "It seems he was well prepared for it, shouldn't we say?"

After putting the card back, Shun looked up at his field, "At this moment, Napalm Dragonius' effect activates! When it is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon a "Raid Raptors" monster from my Deck with its effects negated. I summon Raid Raptors - Rescue Condor (ATK: 1400, DEF: 1700, LV: 4)!" A red armored bird that looked similar to a condor, with yellow and white stripes on the wings and one white eye on its head, appeared on the field in Dragonius' place.

Sora looked at Shun for a second before he smiled, "Well, if you didn't do this much, it wouldn't be any fun." He placed a card in his duel disk, "I set a card and end my turn."

"It is as if they're one with their decks!" Nico announced with an excited smile on his face, "They're trading blows as easily as if they were just drawing breath! I have a feeling this sixth match is going to be an amazing one! In fact, I can't deny that it's already amazing at this point in the game!"

Sora smirked as he held up a lollipop, "Well, isn't that all counting on him?" Shun narrowed his eyes while Sora continued, "You said you'd show no mercy, but you'd better start trying now." He tossed up the lollipop and caught in his mouth with a smile, "Or could it be you're so focused on defending yourself that you can't fight back?"

Shun kept his narrowed gaze on Sora, "At first that was the case…We could hardly manage to protect ourselves against such an overwhelming foe." Many people in the audience were muttering and asking each other what Shun could be talking about as Ruri had a sad frown on her face while clenching the railing a little. Sora frowned in confusion as Shun continued, "But we hardly had any organized resistance. Pushed to our wit's end, we started losing comrades one by one..." Yuya, Yuzu, Rin, Gongenzaka and Mikleo listened to all of this with pensive expressions on their faces. Yuto and Lucine were watching the whole thing in the shadows of the corridors, having a serious expression on both of their faces. On the other side, Kyo was watching this too nearby another corridor with a stern expression on her face with narrowed eyes.

Reiji sat in his chair and watched Shun speaking on the monitor, "However, our leader always managed to give us hope and we never surrendered. And then, in those hopeless battles, we learned something...the only way to survive is to fight back and win!" Reiji frowned while he had his hands clenched together tightly as he listened to this, making Reira look at his brother with a concerned expression while clutching his teddy bear.

Shun looked up and glared at Sora, "Only those with hope in their heart and who beared a steeled will to win would live through that hell!" Sora stared at him in surprise before he frowned and narrowed his eyes back at him. Shun placed his fingers on his deck, "My turn!" He looked at the card he drew before putting it back and picking up a different one, "I summon Napalm Dragonius (ATK: 1000) from my hand!" Napalm Dragonius appeared back on the field next to Vanishing and Rescue.

"I activate Napalm Dragonius' effect! This card inflicts 600 damage to my opponent! Fire Bomb!" Shun shouted as Napalm launched another fireball from its mouth at Sora, making him shield himself using his arm as he winced a little.

SORA LP: 7300→6700

Sora narrowed his eyes even further while moving his arm back, "He has three Level 4 monsters…"

Shun held his hand up in the air, "I overlay the Level 4 Vanishing Lanius, Rescue Condor and Napalm Dragonius!" All three bird monsters turned into dark energy that went into a portal in which a pillar of light then came out, forming a monster as Shun chanted, "Obscured falcon, raise your sharpened talons in front of adversity! Spread your wings of rebellion! Xyz Summon! Come forth, Rank 4! Raid Raptors - Rise Falcon (ATK: 100, DEF: 2000, RNK: 4, OVU: 3)!" Rise Falcon materialized onto the field with its jet boosters, claws, and red eyes activated as it screeched. Sora had a surprised expression on his face when he saw Rise Falcon's ATK.

Gongenzaka narrowed his eyes, "So, he was an Xyz user?" He sounded surprised but he already heard about that from both Ruri and Yuya; he is purposely just trying to sound shocked so that Shuzo and the others don't notice.

Yuya looked at the bird monster with a troubled expression, "That monster…" It was the one he saw Shun Xyz Summon in his dream but was unable to see its features before.

Yuzu had a surprised and confused expression on her face, "But why does that monster only have 100 ATK?" Rin frowned a little, "My guess is maybe the effect is powerful…" Ruri just lowered her eyes, knowing that her brother would be alright for now and is aware of Rise Falcon's true abilities.

Rise Falcon was flying above both Shun and Sora with its purple orbs floating around it. Sora looked up at it with a calm smile, "So this is you getting serious?" He looked back down towards Shun with his smile growing bigger, "You've got to be kidding me!" This is immediately reminding him of how Ruri's monsters appeared to be underwhelming at first; now he wonders if it's the same with her brother.

Shun looked at Sora with a serious expression, "This monster can attack all Special Summoned monsters once each on the Field."

"Even if you can attack my monster, with just 100 ATK…" replied Sora with a carefree smile.

Hokuto frowned while crossing his arms together, "Enjoy that carefree thinking while you can…" Yaiba gritted his teeth before he frowned as well, "You'll soon find out how absurd that monster is…"

Shun calmly held up a monster from his hand, "I activate the effect of Raid Raptors - Carrier Lanius in my hand. I can target a "Raid Raptors" Xyz Monster and attach this card as Xyz Material." After he was finished, a large gray mechanical bird, with wind sails attached to its wings and having two black eyes on its head, appeared as a silhouette before transforming into a dark sphere that went to Rise Falcon. Rise Falcon screeched as it gained another Overlay Unit and flew around the arena.

Raid Raptors - Rise Falcon (OVU: 3→4)

Shun pointed his finger towards his monster, "I activate Rise Falcon's effect! By using one Overlay Unit, it gains ATK equal to the total ATK of all of my opponent's Special Summoned monsters!" Scissors Bear glowed for a moment before an Overlay Unit vanished and Rise Falcon's whole body burned up in flames while screeching as it grew more powerful.

Raid Raptors - Rise Falcon (OVU: 4→3) (ATK: 100→2300)

Sora was shocked when he saw this, "An ATK of 2300?!" The kids were shocked by this as well as Shuzo, Yoko, Yuzu, Gongenzaka, Rin and even Mikleo when watching this while Ruri's calm expression didn't change. Yuya's eyes were widened in surprise, "Whoa…"

Shun's eyes widened in intensity before he pointed two fingers at Sora, "Battle! Raid Raptors - Rise Falcon! Rend and tear all of our enemies! Brave Claw Revolution!" Rise Falcon flew high into the air before diving down at maximum speed, releasing all of its strength as it tore through Scissor Bear with its claws and destroyed the monster. A lot of the audience screamed in shock by the brutality of the attack while Sora was sent flying by it as he screamed.

SORA LP: 6700→6600

After the attack was over, pieces of the staircase near Sora were broken and torn apart with smoking rising from the blast damage. Nico looked shocked as he stuttered a bit, "Wh-What just happened?! Scissors Bear was taken out in an instant…!" Sora landed on top of where the staircase was and groaned a little as he was laying down on the floor. He then slowly sat back up to look at the damage done before looking at Shun with a frown and narrowed eyes.

Shun grabbed a card in his hand, "I set a card and end my turn." A set card appeared next to him before vanishing, "At this time, Rise Falcon's effect ends and its ATK returns to normal." Rise Falcon flew down to where it floated above Shun, appearing to have calmed down a bit.

Raid Raptors - Rise Falcon (ATK: 2300→100)

Sora quickly wiped some dirt off his face with his hand before he smirked excitedly, "Now you've done something pretty interesting! Well then guess I have to..." He jumped up and landed on his feet before walking up towards the top of the staircase and looked down at Shun, "Go all out a bit against you." As he said the last part, his smile turned a little menacingly to no one's notice, except for Ruri who immediately saw it and her eyes widened as she felt concern for her brother.

"Sora Shiunin's monster just got completely wiped out by Kurosaki's attack! How will he mount his counter-attack?!" announced Nico.

Sora smiled as he placed his fingers on his deck, "My turn, draw!" He looked at the card he drew and placed it in his duel disk, "I activate the Magic Card: Fusion Recovery! I add Polymerization and Edge Imp Scissors that was used as Fusion Material back from the Graveyard to my hand!" He took both cards from his Graveyard and added them back to his hand.

"Next, I activate the Magic Card: Polymerization!" said Sora before placing the card in and then holding up two monsters. "With it, I fuse Edge Imp Scissors and Furnimal Rabbit in my hand!" Edge Imp Scissors appeared along with a stuffed toy rabbit that had angel wings on its back and was carrying a red satchel around its waist.

Both monsters were absorbed into the colorful vortex as Sora placed his hands together and chanted, "Sharp blades of the demons and fangs of the fluffy mammal! Become one in order to show a new nightmarish power! Fusion Summon! Come forth, lone beast that cuts everyone in its sight! Death-Toy Scissor Wolf (ATK: 2000, DEF: 1500, LV: 6)!" A giant purple stuffed wolf bursted its parts open before the nightmarish Scissor Wolf came to life onto the field.

Sora looked up at the field with a smile, "When Furnimal Rabbit is sent to the Graveyard as Fusion Material for a Fusion Summon, I can add an "Edge Imp Scissors" or a "Furnimal" monster from my Graveyard to my hand!" Sora added Furnimal Sheep back to his hand as a result.

Sora turned to Shun who narrowed his eyes back at him, "You caught me off guard with that effect before but your Rise Falcon can't do anything during my turn." His smile turned a little menacingly, "It is defenseless during your opponent's turn, isn't it?" After saying that, he pointed at Shun, "Battle! Scissor Wolf, attack Rise Falcon!" Scissor Wolf sprinted using its limbs and lunged forward with its furry sharp claw.

Shun didn't appeared to be fazed before he threw out his arm, "I activate the Continuous Trap: Overlay Breast Armor! If my "Raid Raptors" Xyz Monster would be destroyed by battle, I can detach an Overlay Unit to negate its destruction!" Rise Falcon made an Overlay Unit vanish and covered itself in a thin purple coat before Scissor Wolf then scratched the bird with its claw, pushing the monster back as it wasn't destroyed. Shun was pushed back a few feet before stopping to brush off some dirt off his shoulder.

SHUN LP: 6800→4900
Raid Raptors - Rise Falcon (OVU: 3→2)

Sora was surprised by this before he let out a scoff and smiled, "Your monster may be safe for now. But you are still taking a lot of damage! Scissor Wolf can attack as many times up to the number of monsters used for its Fusion Summon!" Since two monsters were used to summon Scissor Wolf, it is able to attack twice each Battle Phase. Sora pointed at Shun again, "Scissor Wolf, attack Rise Falcon again!" Scissor Wolf scratched Rise Falcon again after it used another Overlay Unit to protect itself, with Shun still not being fazed by it.

SHUN LP: 4900→3000
Raid Raptors - Rise Falcon (OVU: 2→1)

"I end my turn." stated Sora with a smirk on his face.

Nico held up his mike in excitement, "Kurosaki has managed to save his monster with his Trap Card but has taken heavy damage as a result! Can he recover from this as well?!"

Shuzo held up a fist with an excited smile, "That's it, Sora! Keep on fighting!" Yuya smiled a little while holding up his hand, "Be careful, Sora!"

Sora smiled and waved back at them, "Yeah! I'll be fine." Yuya moved his hand away before he frowned in sadness, feeling bad for trying to keep this up. He cheered for Sora just so the Principal or his mother wouldn't get suspicious. He does want to cheer for Sora but, knowing his origin, he is feeling conflicted about how to feel about Sora entirely.

Shun narrowed his eyes a little before drawing a card, "My turn." He took a quick look at the card before raising his head up, "I banish Raid Raptors - Carrier Lanius from my Graveyard in order to activate its effect. I add a "Raid Raptors" monster from my Graveyard to my hand." Carrier Lanius was banished before Shun took Vanishing Lanius and added it back to his hand.

He then held up the card he just added, "I Normal Summon Vanishing Lanius (ATK: 1300) from my hand!" Vanishing Lanius reappeared back on the field before Shun continued, "And due to Vanishing Lanius' effect, since I summoned this monster this turn, I summon another Vanishing Lanius (ATK: 1300) from my hand!" A second copy of Vanishing Lanius appeared next to the first one.

Sora narrowed his eyes in confusion, "Is he Xyz Summoning again?" Shun had two Level 4 monsters on his field this time.

Shun held out his hand towards his field, "I overlay both of my Level 4 Vanishing Lanius!" Both bird monsters turned into dark energy that went into a portal in which a pillar of light then came out, forming a monster as Shun chanted, "Blazing falcon with crimson light! Set flames from your thirsting wings to light the soul of rebellion! Xyz Summon! Come forth, Rank 4! Raid Raptors - Blade Burner Falcon (ATK: 1000, DEF: 1000, RNK: 4, OVU: 2)!" Another mechanical falcon clad in blue-colored armor appeared with yellow round plates at the joint areas of the wings, which had sharp feathers made out of metal attached, and a large sword underneath its body, attached to the gray armor on its chest. The falcon screeched as the compartments in the wings activated and produced fire around the feathers.

Sora made a small gasp in surprise as Nico held up his mike again, "Oh my! Kurosaki has managed to summon another Xyz Monster to his field!"

"Other than Rise Falcon, that is Shun's favorite monster." thought Ruri as she saw the other falcon, knowing full well that he likes to use it as much as Rise Falcon.

Shun looked at Sora with a serious expression, "Blade Burner Falcon's effect activates! When this monster is Xyz Summoned while my opponent's Life Points are at least 3000 higher than mine, it gains an additional 3000 ATK!" Blade Burner screeched even more as the flames covering its wings were getting more intense.

Raid Raptors - Blade Burner Falcon (ATK: 1000→4000)

Sora took a step back in shock, "What? 4000 ATK?!" He couldn't believe how strong the monster had gotten from a mere life point difference before his eyes widened in realization, "You did that on purpose? You wanted to lose that much life?!" Did he sent him up by letting him attack his life on purpose?

The others were in shock, save for Ruri and Mikleo who just raised an eyebrow, from seeing how strong that monster just got.

"From the battles we've fought, we've learned to take the pain we've endured from battles and use it as strength!" replied Shun while glaring at Sora, who frowned in annoyance from being tricked like that. Shun then held up his hand, "I activate Rise Falcon's monster effect! By using one Overlay Unit, it gains ATK equal to the total ATK of all of my opponent's Special Summoned monsters!" An overlay unit went to Scissor Wolf and vanished beside it, making a red aura surround the monster and transferring its power over to Rise Falcon.

Raid Raptors - Rise Falcon (OVU: 1→0) (ATK: 100→2100)

Shun jumped up and landed on Rise Falcon's back to ride it as the monster flew up a few feet with Blade Burner flying beside the other. As soon as it stopped ascending, Shun stood up on the monster's back as he looked down at Sora, "Battle! Blade Burner Falcon, attack Scissor Wolf! Blaze Shot!" The wings on Blade Burner transitioned to where the falcon's body resembled more of a cannon before opening its mouth and firing a blazing fireball at Scissor Wolf.

Sora pressed a button and threw out his arm, "I activate the Trap Card: Death-Toy Backup! It negates the destruction of a "Death-Toy" monster and increases its ATK by 800!" A barrier formed around Scissor Wolf as the fireball connected with it, creating a blazing fire blast that made Sora wince a little.

SORA LP: 6600→4600
Death-Toy Scissor Wolf (ATK: 2000→2800)

Shun narrowed his eyes before holding up a monster in his hand, "I send Raid Raptors - Pierce Snipe from my hand to activate its effect! I target a "Raid Raptors" monster on my field and it gains 1000 ATK & DEF until the end of the turn!" A silhouette of a black mechanical snipe bird, with little cannons attached to the gray wings, appeared above Rise Falcon before it vanished and gave the monster more power.

Raid Raptors - Rise Falcon (ATK: 2100→3100, DEF: 2000→3000)

"Go, Rise Falcon! Attack Scissor Wolf! Brave Claw Revolution!" Shun declared as he held onto his monster while it flew down and scratched Scissor Wolf into pieces, destroying the monster and sent Sora flying as he screamed.

SORA LP: 4600→4300

After falling on his back, Sora sat back up and gritted his teeth at Shun. Meanwhile, Shun held up a card as Rise Falcon descended near the ground, "I activate the Magic Card: Xyz Donation. I detach two Overlay Units from Blade Burner Falcon and draw that many cards from my Deck!" Both of Blade Burner's Overlay Unit orbs disappeared before Shun drew two cards from his deck as a result.

Raid Raptors - Blade Burner Falcon (OVU: 2→0)

Still maintaining his serious expression, Shun then showed another card in his hand, "Then, I activate the Magic Card: Xyz Unification. When I have two Xyz Monsters on my field, I can transfer Blade Burner Falcon as an Overlay Unit for Rise Falcon!" As soon as he said that, Blade Burner transformed into a purple orb that immediately went to orbit around Rise Falcon.

Raid Raptors - Rise Falcon (OVU: 0→1)

Sora had a confused expression on his face before he frowned in irritation, "What is with this guy? Why would he do that?" Not only is he getting annoyed by how this guy keeps destroying his monsters, but the fact he got rid of an Xyz Monster that had a strong ATK just to make it into an Overlay Unit is telling him that this "Xyz Remnant" is underestimating him, which angers him.

Shun wasn't done as he placed another card in his duel disk, "I activate the Magic Card: Treasure Cards of Xyz. Since I control a Rank 4 or lower Xyz Monster, I can draw cards equal to its Rank!" Rise Falcon's rank is 4 which allowed Shun to draw four more cards from his deck.

Shun looked at the cards he drew for a moment before picking up two of them, "I set two cards and end my turn." Two face-downs materialized next to Shun before vanishing. Since it is the end of the turn, the ATK and DEF boosts given to Rise Falcon are over as well.

Raid Raptors - Rise Falcon (ATK: 3100→100, DEF: 3000→2000)

"This time Kurosaki has managed to make things almost even between the two but this is still anyone's game!" announced Nico with an excited smile on his face.

Sora frowned for a second before he smiled and drew a card, "My turn, draw!" He then held up the card he drew, "I activate the Magic Card: Fusion Recycle! I return a Fusion Monster from my Graveyard to my Extra Deck in order to draw two cards!" Scissor Wolf was moved back into the Extra Deck which allowed Sora to draw two cards from his deck.

He looked and saw what cards he drew: Edge Imp Saw and a trap card. Sora's smile grew bigger as he took out one of those cards and placed it on his duel disk, "I Normal Summon Edge Imp Saw (ATK: 500, DEF: 1000, LV: 3)!" The demonic metal saw appeared as its saw blades made a screeching noise.

He then held up Furnimal Sheep in his hand, "When this card is Summoned, I can draw two cards by sending a "Furnimal" monster from my hand to the Graveyard!" He discarded the monster before he proceeded to draw two more cards.

He saw that he drew Furnimal Lion and Edge Imp Chain before his smile grew a little more sinister while looking at them, "All right, now all of the preparations are complete." He turned towards the audience while waving his arms around, "Your attention please! Make sure the spotlight is only on me!"

The spotlight then fell on Sora before he smiled and placed a card in his duel disk, "I activate the Continuous Magic: Death-Toy Factory from my hand! I can banish one "Polymerization" or "Fusion" card in my Graveyard to Fusion Summon a "Death-Toy" Fusion Monster! I'm going to fuse Edge Imp Saw and the Furnimal Lion in my hand!" Furnimal Lion appeared on the field as it let out a cute growl, much to the happiness of the kids in the audience.

Both Edge Imp Saw and Furnimal Lion were absorbed into the colorful vortex as Sora placed his hands together and chanted, "Steel blades possessed by demons! Become one with the fanged beast and reveal to us your new form! Fusion Summon! Come forth, king of beasts that shreds all! Death-Toy Wheel Saw Lion (ATK: 2400, DEF: 2000, LV: 7)!" Furnimal Lion tore itself apart before revealing the nightmarish Wheel Saw Lion on the field as it laughed maniacally. The kids in the audience were crying from how scary that monster had become.

Shun narrowed his eyes at the monster before motioning to Rise Falcon to fly up in the air, with both him and the bird ascending at the rooftop levels. Nico held up his mike in shock, "Oh! The tides have turned on Kurosaki!"

Sora chuckled a little before smiling at Shun, "What's this? Are you scared?" Shun didn't answer as he rode on Rise Falcon's back who just kept flying nearby some rooftops while still in sight.

Sora narrowed his eyes while his smile grew bigger, "You can't escape…" He then held out his hand, "I activate Wheel Saw Lion's monster effect! Once per turn, it can destroy an opponent's monster and deal damage equal to its ATK to my opponent!" Wheel Saw Lion let out a squealing roar before it detached the saw blades on his head and launched them towards Rise Falcon while glowing orange.

Rise Falcon let out a screech while air dodging the blades as they kept trying to hit the bird. Eventually, Shun stood up on his falcon while looking determined and threw out his arm, "I activate Overlay Breast Armor's other effect! If a "Raid Raptors" Xyz Monster would leave the field due to an opponent's card effect, I can destroy this card instead!" The trap was destroyed before a transparent barrier formed around Rise Falcon and blocked the energy disks.

Sora had a shocked expression on his face when he saw Shun dodged that. Wheel Saw Lion tilted its head before giant mirror-like walls came down in front of it and eventually surrounded the monster, causing it to roar in anger.

Futoshi had a frustrated expression on his face, "Dang, he even knows how to use his Trap Cards to save his monster." Ayu nodded her head, "He was waiting for the right time!"

Nakajima looked up at the monitor, "Just before, he used Raid Raptors - Return and now Overlay Breast Armor...It seems that man is well-versed in the use of Magic and Trap Cards." Reiji also watched the monitor closely, "Those are skills that must have been polished in actual combat…When he fought for the Resistance." Reira looked at his brother with a shocked expression as he said all of that.

Sora held out his right arm while smiling, "Break it down! Wheel Saw Lion!" The saw blades on Wheel Saw Lion's head began to spin as the monster rammed into one of the mirror walls and smashed right through it. He then ran towards one of the buildings and smashed right through its walls.

Nico looked troubled by what the monster was doing, "Umm...even if it is Solid Vision, destroying it for no reason is a little…"

Sora held out his hand and smiled in a nonchalant manner, "Oh, sorry! Cats just don't like being out of the spotlight!" Nico was confused by what he said. Wheel Saw Lion then broke through another wall in a building before turning to face Rise Falcon who was flying across from a few feet in the air. Sora narrowed his eyes, "But thanks to that, I've found another one...an opponent I should destroy!"

As Shun gritted his teeth and glared at Sora, Sora looked up and smirked back in response, "You did well to protect your monster with a Trap, but too bad! Now that Rise Falcon can be destroyed by battle, you can't run away from the king of beasts that shreds all!" Sora's smirk turned a little more menacing, "You'll take some huge damage when your 100 ATK monster gets taken out by a 2400 ATK Lion, won't you?"

Sora pointed at Shun, "Time to battle! Wheel Saw Lion, attack Rise Falcon!" Wheel Saw Lion ran forward and jumped high in the air before lunging towards Rise Falcon with its claw reached out.

Shun retaliated by throwing out his arm, "I activate the Trap Card: Adversity!" A trap flipped face-up as Wheel Saw Lion got closer, "When a monster I control is attacked by a monster with higher ATK, I take no damage and my monster isn't destroyed!" Saw Lion rammed its claw into Rise Falcon and caused it to fall through the air for a moment before quickly recovering with Shun hanging on, "And my monster's ATK is increased by 1000!"

Raid Raptors - Rise Falcon (ATK: 100→1100)

Sora looked up in shock when he heard that, "What?!"

Nico looked up at Shun with a smile as he raised a fist, "And there's another Trap! This time, he fended off Wheel Saw Lion's attack and boosted his own monster's ATK with a previously set card!" The audience were getting hyped up from the match and Nico's commentary. Shun was standing back up on his monster's back since the battle was over.

Nakajima had an impressed smile on his face, "Impressive! He'll be useful, won't he?" Reiji didn't reply as he just watched in silence.

Sora looked frustrated as he stomped on the ground and pointed at Shun, "Damn it! I'll definitely get you next time!" Sora quickly placed a card in his duel disk, "I set a card and end my turn here!" A set card appeared before Sora held out his fists with an irritated expression on his face.

Most of the You Show students were in shock by Sora's behavior, having never seen him like this before. Yuya looked on in surprise, "Sora's usually so laid back…" Yuzu nodded her head as she was shocked, "I've never seen him that annoyed…" Gongenzaka looked on neutrally while Rin just watched in surprise as she said, "What's happening to him?"

Ruri narrowed her eyes while frowning, "He's getting frustrated." It seems that Shun's constant counterattacks and will to not give up are causing Sora to lose his cool, which is showing in his attitude. If this keeps up, he might actually be showing his true colors soon. She just wonders if everyone can handle it if it happens. Mikleo had the same suspicion as he narrowed his eyes in deep thought, "We might actually be seeing who Sora really is…"

Shuzo stood up with his fists out in resolve, "Don't sweat it, Sora! Keep your heart burning, but your head cool! Have a fire only in your heart!"

Sora turned towards them and waved at them with a huge smile on his face, "Don't worry I'm fine! I'm not really letting it bother me! I'm just having fun!" However, the moment he turned back to Shun, his expression turned bitter as he glared at him.

Shun placed his fingers on his deck and drew a card, "My turn!" He looked down towards Sora, "I activate Rise Falcon's monster effect! By using one Overlay Unit, it gains ATK equal to the total ATK of all of my opponent's Special Summoned monsters until the End Phase!" Rise Falcon's last remaining Overlay Unit shattered over to Wheel Saw Lion's side before a dark aura surrounded Lion and it shot a purple beam of energy to Rise Falcon's head.

Raid Raptors - Rise Falcon (OVU: 1→0) (ATK: 1100→3500)

Shun held out his hand, "Battle! I attack Wheel Saw Lion with Rise Falcon!" Rise Falcon screeched and unleashed a sound wave from its beak towards Wheel Saw Lion.

Sora jumped up and held out his hand, "Not happening! I activate the Trap Card: Suture Aid! This negates an attack targeting my "Death-Toy" monster!" A trap flipped face-up as he said that.

"Pointless." Shun retorted before opening his eyes at Sora, "Counter Trap: Raptor's Storm, activate!" A trap also flipped face-up as Shun continued, "If I control a "Raid Raptors" monster, it negates the activation of an opponent's Magic or Trap Card!" Sora's trap was negated as a result before Wheel Saw Lion screamed as he was being hit by the sound wave and was then destroyed. Sora screamed while being launched into the air by the explosion and landed on his back again.

SORA LP: 4300→3200

Yuya, Yuzu and Rin gasped in slight concern for Sora as Shun placed two cards in his duel disk, "I set two cards and end my turn!" Two face-down materialized in front of Shun before vanishing, "At this time, Rise Falcon's effect ends and its ATK returns to normal."

Raid Raptors - Rise Falcon (ATK: 3500→1100)

Sora slowly stood back up and then turned towards Shun with an angry expression on his face, "You really...are pissing me off, you know that? How many times have you destroyed my monsters now?!" Shun didn't answer as he just kept his glare on Sora.

Sora stood fully back on his feet, "No more Mr. Nice Guy! This time I'm really going all out!" He held up a different lollipop as he said that last part. He then tore off the paper using his teeth before placing it in his mouth.

Sora smiled as he placed his fingers on his deck, "My turn, draw!" He held up the card he just drew, "I activate the Magic Card: Suture Rebirth! I Special Summon Furnimal Sheep from my Graveyard with its effects negated!" Stitches were placed on the monster card as Furnimal Sheep (DEF: 800) appeared back on the field while letting out a baa.

Sora's smile grew bigger while he held out his hand, "Next, I activate the effect of the Continuous Magic: Death-Toy Factory! By banishing one "Fusion" card in my Graveyard, I can Fusion Summon a "Death-Toy" Fusion Monster!" Fusion Recovery was banished as a result before Sora showed a monster in his hand, "I'm going to fuse my Furnimal Sheep on the Field and Edge Imp Chain in my hand!" Both Furnimal Sheep and Edge Imp Chain were absorbed into the colorful vortex as Sora placed his hands together.

"Fluffy creature of wool, nightmare of chains!" Sora chanted. "Combine together in a deadly combo and show us a new form and power! Fusion Summon! Come forth, chained beast that binds everything! Death-Toy Chain Sheep (ATK: 2000, DEF: 2000, LV: 5)!" Chain Sheep appeared on Sora's field after Furnimal Sheep tore itself apart with chains.

"When Edge Imp Chain is sent from my hand to the Graveyard, I can add a "Death-Toy" card from my Deck to my hand! I add Death-Toy March!" Sora smirked as he added a card to his hand and showed it momentarily before looking at Shun, "When this monster attacks, my opponent can't activate cards or effects until the end of the Damage Step!" He narrowed his eyes as his smirk grew bigger, "Now that little specialty of yours has been sealed!"

Reiji looked at Sora on the monitor with narrowed eyes, "But I wonder if that will actually work…"

Sora pointed at Rise Falcon, "Battle! Go, Chain Sheep! Attack Rise Falcon!" Chain Sheep clanged the chains in its mouth before unleashing a red energy beam from it towards Rise Falcon. The falcon quickly turned around and flew away with the red beam chasing after him. He managed to avoid it for a moment before the monster finally flew high into the air and was hit by it, causing him to get destroyed. Shun was falling through the air since he had nothing to hang on now.

Ayu had a huge smile on her face while holding out her hands, "He did it!" Tatsuya smiled as he commented, "He really has no outs if his Magic and Trap cards are sealed!" Futoshi also smiled before he danced a little in his seat, "As expected of Sora! Shivers!"

SHUN LP: 3000→2100

Shun had his eyes closed as he continued falling, like he was waiting patiently for something. He then opened his eyes and dived down towards two buildings nearby, using one of them as a springboard to launch himself towards the other. He jumped back and forth between the two until he landed on the ground safely by performing a forward roll. He eventually stopped and got up on his feet to brush some dirt off his coat, "And with that, your monster's attack is done. So that effect has ended as well."

Sora looked at him in surprise and confusion, "What was that?!"

Shun opened his eyes before holding out his hand, "I activate the Quick-Play Magic: Rank-Up-Magic - Raptor's Force! It Special Summons the destroyed Rise Falcon and makes it Rank Up to a "Raid Raptors" monster that is 1 Rank higher!" Rise Falcon appeared briefly before transforming into a dark orb that went upwards.

Sora was shocked when he heard that, "What did you say?!" The kids, Yoko, Shuzo, Rin and Gongenzaka looked shocked when they heard it as well. Yuzu's eyes widened in surprise, "That's…!" She recognizes that move as well as Yuya whose eyes were widened too. Even Mikleo was surprised as he had never heard of something like this. Ruri was the only one who wasn't surprised as she watched carefully.

A purple beam went up and formed into a hole in the clouds of the sky and created a dark portal, forming a monster as Shun chanted, "Ferocious falcon, break through this fierce battle and spread your wings! Destroy our gathering foes! Rank-Up Xyz Change! Come forth, Rank 5! Raid Raptors - Blaze Falcon (ATK: 1000, DEF: 2000, RNK: 5, OVU: 1)!" The monster from before appeared to form into a falcon wearing crimson red armor that was a similar structure to Rise Falcon except its wings were wider and had more yellow round plates at the joints. Blaze Falcon screeched as its form was finally materialized. Sora looked at it with a shocked expression on his face.

Reiji looked at the monitor showing Blaze Falcon with Nico announcing, "Wh-wh-What?! His supposedly destroyed Xyz Monster was reborn with its Rank increased!"

Reiji's eyes slightly widened as he looked at the close-up image of the monster, "Rank Up?"

Hokuto looked shocked when he saw the new monster, "What is that Xyz Summon? I've never even heard of it!" Yaiba's eyes widened as he was overwhelmed by it, "Me neither. He's not just on a different level than you, he's on a different Rank!"

Shun held up a monster that he took out from his duel disk, "I activate the effect of Raid Raptors - Pierce Snipe in my Graveyard. When a "Raid Raptors" Xyz Monster is Special Summoned to my field, I can banish this card to have it gain 1000 ATK until my next End Phase!" Pierce Snipe was banished as its power was transferred over to Blaze Falcon with a purple aura surrounding it temporarily.

Raid Raptors - Blaze Falcon (ATK: 1000→2000)

Sora looked at Blaze Falcon in shock for a moment before he smiled and started laughing while Shun glared at him. Sora looked at Shun with a smirk while holding out his lollipop, "Nice! Very nice! You're quite amusing, aren't you? Let me thank you for making this so exciting! The audience is loving it!" His smirk grew bigger as he continued, "I'm so excited and having so much fun that I can't contain myself!" He placed the lollipop in his mouth and placed a card in his duel disk, "I set a card and end my turn!"

Sora's smile grew more ominous as his hair overshadowed his eyes, "Now then, why don't you let me enjoy this even more!"

Shun looked at Sora, "Enjoy?" He narrowed his eyes even further at him, "What you will experience now is the agony of death and defeat!" Sora let out a sound in confusion while his eyes were still narrowed.

Shun had his fingers on his deck as he drew, "My turn!" After taking a quick look at the card drawn, he raised his head back to Sora, "I activate Blaze Falcon's monster effect! By using one Overlay Unit, it destroys all Special Summoned monsters my opponent controls and deals 500 damage per monster destroyed this way!" Blaze Falcon screeched as an Overlay Unit shattered before small laser pointers that resembled claws came out of its wings and flew in Sora's direction.

Raid Raptors - Blaze Falcon (OVU: 1→0)

Nico held up his mike with an exciting and nervous smile on his face, "Wh-What a ruthless card effect!" The flying weapons then fired lasers at Chain Sheep and destroyed it, with Sora grunted a bit as he was pushed back a few feet.

SORA LP: 3200→2700

Sora narrowed his eyes before throwing out his hand, "You won't get rid of it that easily! I activate Chain Sheep's effect! Once per turn, when it is destroyed by my opponent's card effect and sent to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon this card back to my field and it gains 800 ATK!" Chain Sheep was brought back to the field, to Shun's annoyance and Sora's delight.

Death-Toy Chain Sheep (ATK: 2000→2800)

"And Shiunin manages to bring his monster back to the field while taking a little damage! And on top of that, it increased its ATK!" announced Nico with an excited smile while also pointing at the monster.

However, the kids had surprised expressions on their faces while looking around the field as Ayu muttered in worry, "But the city is…" Yuya, Yuzu, Rin and Ruri all turned to see the city and gasped in shock. A lot of buildings were destroyed as well as fire burning large parts of it. Ruri's expression turned one of grief and anxiety as this is bringing back more painful memories of her destroyed home. A lot of people in the audience also looked at the scene in shock while a lot of parents tried to calm down their children who were crying.

Shun looked at Sora before holding his hand out, "Blaze Falcon can attack my opponent directly! Go, Raptor's Break of Thunderclap!" Blaze Falcon screeched as it flew towards Sora who ran in the opposite direction while looking at his duel disk, frantically trying to see if he has any options.

"Kurosaki continues his attack! Shiunin is in a pinch!" announced Nico.

Blaze Falcon caught up to Sora and scratched him with its claws, causing him to scream as he was flown into a wall and made a dent in it. Sora slid down and landed on the ground while groaning in pain a little.

SORA LP: 2700→700

However, a rumbling sound can be heard above him and everyone turned to see the building Sora crashed into was badly damaged. It began to collapse with the top half of the building falling right where Sora is.

Nico looked worried as he yelled into the mike, "The building's collapsing! Look out!"

Yuya walked up and grabbed the railing in worry, "Sora! Get out of the way!" Ruri frowned as she felt worry for him too, but had a small feeling they didn't need to be concerned.

Sora looked up in shock as he saw the large rubble coming towards him. He gritted his teeth before he quickly got up and jumped from one large falling rubble to another at high speed and quick reflexes. He used the momentum to jump away from the spot he was just at.

Yoko looked at Sora in shock, "Wow!" Shuzo had a shocked and confused expression on his face, "What's with that movement!?" Eventually, Sora jumped high enough to land a few feet near where the top half of the building was falling, smiling menacingly as he landed on the ground and away from the building that hit the ground. Yuya, Yuzu and Rin looked shocked and surprised when they saw the movement Sora performed while Ruri narrowed her eyes. Mikleo raised an eyebrow as he saw that it must be a duel soldier's physical capabilities.

Shun held out his hand towards Sora, "When Blaze Falcon deals damage from a direct attack, it can destroy one of my opponent's monsters!" Blaze Falcon screeched while the compartments in its wings opened up, shooting multiple missiles from the holes at Chain Sheep.

Sora gritted his teeth as he yelled, "Like I'll let you!" He then pressed a button and threw out his arm, "I activate the Counter Trap: Death-Toy March! This card negates the activation of a Magic/Trap Card or Monster Effect that targets my "Death-Toy" monster and destroys it!" The trap flipped open which projected a barrier that was protecting Chain Sheep from the missiles as they were raining down.

"This time, he defended with a Counter Trap! Similar to what Kurosaki used before!" announced Nico has held a fist in excitement.

Shun threw out his hand in retaliation, "Counter Trap, open! Raptor's Gust! If I control a "Raid Raptors" card, it negates the activation of an opponent's Magic or Trap Card and destroys it!" Shun's trap opened which caused the barrier to disappear with one of the missiles finally destroying Chain Sheep as soon as it passed the barrier.

Nico leaned on the table with an excited smile, "And we have another turnover!" He held up his fist and clenched it before looking up into the sky, "If they get you, get them back! This clashing and exchange of blows has gotten me so excited!" A lot of people in the audience cheered for the intensity of this duel, although some of them looked uncomfortable and even cried from seeing the brutality in this match also.

Yuya stared at the destroyed Action Field with narrowed eyes and a stunned expression, "This is almost like…" This is reminding him of the destruction he saw in Heartland. Ruri's frown grew deeper as she finished, "A battlefield, right?" She had the same thoughts as she looked around the field with a pained expression.

Shun stared at one of the cards in his hand before looking up and placing it in his duel disk, "I set one card and end my turn!" Since it was the End Phase, the attack boost Blaze Falcon received ended.

Raid Raptors - Blaze Falcon (ATK: 2000→1000)

After placing his card face-down, Shun closed his eyes, "Where'd that grin of yours go?" Sora gasped and looked at him shocked for a moment before he gritted his teeth in irritation. Shun opened his eyes and looked at Sora, "Now do you understand a bit of what it feels like to be hunted?" Ruri narrowed her eyes as she looked even more sad than before.

Shun narrowed his eyes at Sora and glared at him, "You bastards would always laugh while you continued to attack my comrades!" Painful memories were swirling around his head, reminding him of the pain everyone went through as his glare grew more intense, "But we are no longer submissive prey for you to hunt!"

Yuya's hands were shaking as he gripped the handlebar harder while looking at Sora with a conflicted expression on his face, "Sora...Is he really like that…?" Ruri turned her head to look at Yuya as she frowned in worry, knowing that this will be hard to watch.

Sora scoffed a bit before he had a mocking smirk on his face, "Huh? Aren't you getting carried away? Me, hunted by you?" He sneered as his smile grew more insane, "Don't even joke about it! I can win a duel like this while licking some candy!"

He took out a large lollipop and bit off half of it, chewing it down in his mouth before looking at Shun with a twisted expression, "It's just a game! There's no way I need to get so serious! That's the same with my friends as well!" He then bit the rest of the lollipop and ate it. While Shun glared at him, his twisted smirk grew even bigger, "We all hunted you just for fun! Because all of you are just prey for our hunting games...including your sister!"

Shun's eyes widened when he heard that before his glare grew more intensely angry at Sora, "You bastard…" Ruri frowned while feeling bothered by that callout.

Kyo narrowed her eyes at Sora, "Now, you've done it, Sora Shiunin…" This could complicate some things now that his cover has been blown. Not to mention, she doesn't approve of the attitude he's showing.

Rin watched all of this before she looked completely disturbed by what she was seeing, "Is this...really the same Sora we all knew?" She had never seen Sora act like this and, knowing what he is talking about, found herself completely astonished, disgusted and alarmed by this behavior. Yuzu had the same expression on her face as she stared at Sora sorta blankly with her mouth slightly open. Gongenzaka narrowed his eyes before closing his eyes in deep thought, though also feeling disturbed from seeing this.

While also feeling disturbed by this, Yuya's pained expression got worse as he frowned at Sora with his teeth showing, "Sora…" He never thought he would see his friend acting like this. Ruri stared at Yuya in understanding before turning back to Sora with a miserable frown, regretting that it has to be like this. Mikleo felt a little perplexed by this while narrowing his eyes, "He's finally showing his true feelings…" Tatsuya and Futoshi looked freaked out from what they were seeing while Ayu looked like she was a little afraid.

Sora drew his card while keeping his twisted smile on his face, "My turn!" His expression grew even more twisted as he held up the card he drew, "I activate the Magic Card: Death-Toy Fusion! I banish the Scissor Bear, Wheel Saw Lion and Chain Sheep in my Graveyard and Fusion Summon a "Death-Toy" Fusion Monster using them as Fusion Materials!" All three monsters were banished as they were absorbed into the colorful vortex.

"Unusual plaything possessed by demons!" Sora chanted while clasping his hands together. "Destroy and root out the plebeians who dare rebel against you! Fusion Summon! Come forth, a chimeric fusion of all playthings! Death-Toy Mad Chimera (ATK: 2800, DEF: 2000, LV: 8)!" A large monster appeared on the field that consisted of three heads attached to four anvil-like shoes in a grotesque manner by using springs with them piercing right through the heads. The first head resembled Furnimal Bear except it didn't have wings and there were yellow horns sticking out of its head. The second one looked like an orange stuffed cat with a wrench, claws and other stuff piercing from its head. Finally, the third head was brown that looked like a sock puppet with two box-ended wrenches sticking out of its head and had fangs as teeth. Mad Chimera took a large step and created a crater in the ground as all three heads laughed maniacally. Many kids in the audience were crying and hid in behind their parents as they were scared of that ugly and terrifying monster. Shun just looked at it while Ruri gasped in concern for her brother.

Sora smiled twistedly at Shun before throwing out his hand, "Battle! Mad Chimera, attack Blaze Falcon!" The mouth of the head resembling Furnimal Bear opened its mouth and launched a missile towards Blaze Falcon, destroying the monster as Shun ran and did a forward roll to dodge most of the blast radius before standing on one leg.

SHUN LP: 2100→300

Sora's smile grew bigger, "I activate Mad Chimera's effect! If it destroys a monster in battle, I can Special Summon that monster to my field!" Blaze Falcon (ATK: 1000) was then summoned over to Sora's side of the field, next to Mad Chimera. His expression became more twisted as he held up three fingers, "Mad Chimera's ATK increases by 300 for each monster I gain control of this way!"

Death-Toy Mad Chimera (ATK: 2800→3100)

Sora looked at Shun both confidently and smugly while holding his hands to his hips, "Now your monster has become mine!" He closed his eyes, "Do you understand now? You can never hunt me!" He opened his eyes to smile at Shun, "The ones being hunted are always you! Now and forever more!" Shun didn't reply as he kept his narrowed eyes on Sora.

Yuya almost couldn't believe what he was hearing as he stared at Sora with a stunned expression, "...Are these really Sora's true feelings?" Yuzu held her hands to her heart as she frowned, "Sora…"

Sora closed his eyes while having a mocking expression on his face, "I'll at least give you the honor of dying to your own monster's hand." He opened his eyes and smiled menacingly at Shun, "With a direct attack from Blaze Falcon's 1000 ATK, you and your last 300 LP will surely…"

"Ridiculous." interrupted Shun which surprised Sora. Shun had a look of resolve on his face while closing his eyes, "We of the Resistance always fight prepared for the worst-case scenario! All while considering the possibility that our comrades might be captured by the enemy..." Yuzu gasped in surprise as she remembered her talk before with Yuto and Lucine. Meanwhile, Yuto and Lucine narrowed their eyes and grabbed the red scarfs they were wearing as Shun continued, "But even if they're taken away, we will never abandon them!" Shun then opened his eyes to show an intense glare, "We will always take back our comrades!" Sora took a step back in shock when he saw the look in Shun's eyes.

Yuya gasped as he looked at Shun, "Those eyes…" He recognizes those eyes. They resemble Mikleo's when he has had enough in a duel and was willing to end it once and for all.

Shun had a resolved expression on his face as he pressed a button and threw out his hand, "I activate the Quick-Play Magic: Rank-Up-Magic - Revolution Force! With its second effect, I can take control of an Xyz Monster on my opponent's field…" To Sora's surprise, Blaze Falcon disappeared which caused Mad Chimera to lose its strength boost.

Death-Toy Mad Chimera (ATK: 3100→2800)

Blaze Falcon then reappeared over to Shun's side who looked up at Sora, "And make it Rank Up to a "Raid Raptors" monster that is 1 Rank higher!" Blazing flames surrounded the falcon as the monster soon began to change form.

"What?!" exclaimed Sora in shock.

"Prideful falcon." Shun chanted. "Spread your wings dyed in the blood of heroes! Advance through the path of revolution! Rank-Up Xyz Change! Come forth, Rank 6! Raid Raptors - Revolution Falcon (ATK: 2000, DEF: 3000, RNK: 6, OVU: 1)!" Blaze Falcon morphed into a large mechanical falcon that had no claws, just wings which were protected with heavy black armor. The chest and the top of its head were blue which highlighted the red plating around the eyes while the rest was gray armor including its tail.

Nico placed a foot on his desk while looking at the monster with a shocked but excited expression, "Wh-what is this?! Kurosaki's Xyz Monster has Ranked Up even further!" The audience were in surprise at the new monster summoned, though some of them were a little alarmed by it as well.

Reira had an alarmed expression on his face and was about to turn away before he felt a hand on his shoulder. He stiffened before he turned Reiji in confusion. Reiji was looking at him before he turned back to the monitor, "Watch closely, Reira. For the sake of our future…" Reira was shaking before he gasped when hearing the last part and turned to the monitor in wonder.

Sora stared at the monster in shock before he scoffed and smiled confidently, "What? You start talking about revolutions and nonsense, but it's just 2000 ATK?!" His smile grew more twisted again, "You can't defeat my 2800 ATK Death-Toy Mad Chimera with that!"

"Oh, is that so?" retorted Shun as he narrowed his eyes.

Sora was shocked when he heard the retort before he smiled again, "That's just a bluff, isn't it?!" He looked around the field, "Because you don't have any more set cards on your field at all!"

Yuya frowned while watching Sora with a pained expression, "Sora…" It really hurts him to see his friend act like this. He almost wished he didn't have to see this. Ruri frowned with a pained expression before she turned away and looked at the ground, not wanting to see what will happen next.

Shun looked up at Sora, "Revolution Falcon's monster effect activates! When this monster is Xyz Summoned by using a "Raid Raptors" Xyz Monster as Material, I can destroy one Special Summoned monster my opponent controls and deal damage equal to half of its ATK to my opponent!"

Sora looked up at the monster in shock, "What?!"

Shun's eyes widened in intensity before he pointed two fingers at Sora, "Go, Revolution Falcon!" Revolution Falcon screeched as it flew high above Sora with the compartments in its wings opening up, "Burn and scatter in the flames of revolution!" Revolution Falcon dropped down missiles from its wings and bombed the entire city.

Yuya gripped the railing tightly with his fists, watching this whole duel with a pained expression as he saw that dueling was being used like this.

Sora was running away as the missiles were exploding all around him before he stopped to check his duel disk with a look of desperation, seeing if there's anything he could do. However, he then heard a rumble before he looked up in shock to see one of the towers falling towards him. Sora could only watch in stunned silence as the tower was getting closer and he didn't have enough time to get away. Afterwards, the next moment, a giant thud was heard around the arena with a giant dust cloud obscuring everyone's view.

Yuzu, Rin and Ruri all gasped in concern with Yuya looking concerned as he yelled, "Sora!"

The smoke eventually vanished which revealed the action field disappearing and Sora was lying face-down in the center court.

SORA LP: 700→0

SHUN: WIN
SORA: LOSE

Nico, who had ducked under his commentary table amidst the chaos, carefully looked around before he gasped at Shun on the big screen's win image. He then stood up and held out his mike, "Th-The winner is Kurosaki!" The audience were stunned and in shock from how violent and brutal that match was. Tatsuya, Futoshi and Ayu all looked unnerved by what they've witnessed.

Shun walked over to Sora and stood over him while holding up his duel disk. He was about to press a button before a signal beeped and a voice came out, "That's enough." He looked at his duel disk confused as Reiji's voice was heard, "I forbid you from taking further action in the eyes of the general public."

Reiji was watching on the monitor with his hands clasped together, "He will be a useful experiment material for us." He closed his eyes, "Experiments to understand Academia." They will need him alive if they are to learn any more about their enemy so turning Sora into a card would be a waste.

Shun narrowed his eyes as he looked at Sora before he turned around and began walking away. However, he stopped when he heard a weak voice behind him, "Wait…This match isn't over..." He looked over his shoulder and saw that Sora was trying to get up.

Sora lifted his head and glared at Shun while feeling weak, "There's no way I can lose! To you Xyz scum, I could never…!" Shun watched him quietly before he turned his head back and began walking away again.

Sora held out his hand after Shun, "Wait! Don't run away!" He tried to reach out farther while looking desperate and in pain, "Again...Duel me...again…!" However, he felt his breath give away at the last word and collapsed on the floor, losing consciousness from the pain.

Yuya ran right toward the gate which caused some security guards to hold him. He looked at Sora frantically, "Sora!" Yuzu followed him behind before she gasped in worry from seeing Sora collapsed. As he was being pushed back by the guards, Yuya looked worried as he yelled out, "Sora!" He didn't get an answer as Shun continued walking away, with Ruri watching him with a sad frown on her face.

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Fanfiction OC Memo:

Acid Wyvern
(LV: 3, Aqua, DARK, ATK: 1000, DEF: 800)
Monster Effect: If you control an "Acid" monster: You can Special Summon this card (from your hand). When this card leaves the field, both players take 1000 damage.

Acid Sentry
(LV: 4, Aqua, DARK, ATK: 700, DEF: 1800)
Monster Effect: If an "Acid" monster you control is destroyed and sent to the GY, you can Special Summon this card (from your hand); then, Special Summon 1 "Acid" monster from your Graveyard that was destroyed this turn.

Acid Mutation Beast
(LV: 6, Aqua, DARK, Fusion, ATK: 2000, DEF: 2000)
(2 "Acid" monsters)
Monster Effect: Cannot be destroyed by battle, also you take no damage from battles involving this card. If this card is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard: You can send 1 "Acid" monster from your Deck to the GY and, if you do, Special Summon this card in Defense Position. During your End Phase, inflict 1000 damage to your opponent.

Acid Gargoyle
(LV: 6, Aqua, DARK, ATK: 2100, DEF: 600)

Acid Swamp (Continuous Magic) - As long as you control an "Acid" monster, monsters your opponent controls lose ATK equal to their original DEF.

Acid Fusion (Magic Card) - Fusion Summon 1 "Acid" Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck, by banishing Fusion Materials listed on it from your field or your GY.

Acid Disposal (Magic Card) - Send 2 "Acid" monsters to the Graveyard (1 from your Deck, and 1 from your field); Gain 1000 LP.

Acid Gastric Medusa
(LV: 8, Aqua, DARK, Fusion, ATK: ?, DEF: ?)
(1 Level 5 or higher "Acid" monster + 2 "Acid" monsters)
Monster Effect: Cannot be destroyed by card effects. The original ATK/DEF of this card each become equal to the combined original ATK of the "Acid" monsters in your Graveyard. If this card battles an opponent's monster, before the start of the damage step, inflict damage to your opponent equal to half of that monster's original ATK.

Fusion Field Stun (Continuous Trap) - Activate only if you control a Fusion Monster. As long as this card is face-up on the field, the effects of Magic/Trap Cards on your opponent's field are negated. During the End Phase, if you do not have a Fusion Monster on your field, destroy this card.

Abyss Costume - Tribal Spear (Equip Magic) - If you activate an effect that would add or target an "Abyss Script" Magic Card from your Deck or GY: You can choose this card. The equipped monster gains 500 ATK. If the equipped monster is an "Abyss Actor" monster, if it attacks a Defense Position monster, inflict piercing battle damage to your opponent. You can banish this card from your GY; Special Summon 1 "Abyss Actor" Pendulum Monster from your hand. You can only use each effect of "Abyss Costume - Tribal Spear" once per turn.

Abyss Actors' Exit Cue (Trap Card) - When an "Abyss Actor" monster you control battles an opponent's monster: Your opponent takes any battle damage you would have taken from that battle. If you have a "Abyss Actor" monster in your Graveyard: You can banish this card from your Graveyard; you take no damage this turn.

Abyss Actor - Young Apprentice
(LV: 1, Fiend, DARK, ATK: 400, DEF: 600, PS: 4)
Pendulum Effect: You can destroy this card; Add 1 "Abyss Script" Magic from your Graveyard to your hand. You can only use the Pendulum Effect of "Abyss Actor - Young Apprentice" once per turn.
Monster Effect: When a monster declares an attack: You can Special Summon this card from your hand in Defense Position. (Quick Effect): You can tribute this card; neither player takes any damage for the rest of the turn.

Abyss Actor - Brawny Officer
(LV: 8, Fiend, DARK, ATK: 3000, DEF: 2000, PS: 5)
Pendulum Effect: If an "Abyss Actor" monster you control is destroyed: You can Special Summon this card from your Pendulum Zone in Defense Position.
Monster Effect: If this card attacks a Defense Position monster, inflict piercing damage to your opponent. If this card is Normal or Special Summoned: You can discard 1 "Abyss Script" Magic in your hand, then target up to 2 cards on the field; return them to the hand. You can only use this effect of "Abyss Actor - Brawny Officer" once per turn.

Raid Raptors - Rescue Condor
(LV: 4, Winged-Beast, DARK, ATK: 1400, DEF: 1700)
Monster Effect: Once per turn, if this card was Normal or Special Summoned this turn: You can target 1 Level 4 or lower "Raid Raptors" monster in your Graveyard; Special Summon it, and if you do, this monster's Level becomes the same as the monster Special Summoned by this card's effect. If a "Raid Raptors" monster you control would be destroyed (by battle or card effect), you can banish this card from your Graveyard instead.

Raid Raptors - Carrier Lanius
(LV: 3, Winged-Beast, DARK, ATK: 1200, DEF: 1100)
Monster Effect: If this card is in your hand: You can target 1 "Raid Raptors" Xyz Monster you control; attach this card to it as an Xyz Material. You can banish this card from your Graveyard, then target 1 "Raid Raptors" card in your Graveyard; add it to your hand. You can only use each effect of "Raid Raptors - Carrier Lanius" once per turn.

Xyz Donation (Magic Card) - If you control an Xyz Material that has Xyz Material: Detach up to 2 Xyz Materials from a monster you control and draw that many number of cards.

Xyz Unification (Magic Card) - If you control at least 2 or more Xyz Monsters: Target one of them; attach that monster to another Xyz Monster you control as Xyz Material. (Xyz Materials attached to that target also become Xyz Materials on the second Xyz Monster.)

Raid Raptors - Pierce Snipe
(LV: 5, Winged-Beast, DARK, ATK: 1700, DEF: 2000)
Monster Effect: (Quick Effect): You can send this card from your hand to the GY, then target 1 "Raid Raptors" monster you control; it gains 1000 ATK/DEF until the end of this turn, also, if that monster attacks a Defense Position monster, inflict piercing battle damage. If a "Raid Raptors" Xyz Monster is Special Summoned to your field: You can banish this card from your GY; that monster gains 1000 ATK until your next End Phase.

Fusion Recycle (Magic Card) - Target 1 Fusion Monster in your Graveyard; return that target to the Extra Deck, then draw 2 cards.

Suture Aid (Trap Card) - When your opponent's monster declares an attack on a "Furnimal" or "Death-Toy" monster you control: Negate the attack, then you can target 1 "Furnimal" or "Edge Imp" monster in your Graveyard; Add it to your hand.

Some OCG, TCG, Anime and/or Manga effects are changed for the sake of convenience

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Changes to Actual Cards

Overlay Breast Armor (Continuous Trap) - If a "Raid Raptors" Xyz Monster you control would be destroyed by battle, you can detach 1 Xyz Material from it instead. If a "Raid Raptors" Xyz Monster would leave the field because of an opponent's card effect, you can destroy this face-up card instead.

Death-Toy Mad Chimera
(LV: 8, Fiend, DARK, Fusion, ATK: 2800, DEF: 2000)
(3 "Death-Toy" monsters)
Monster Effect: If this card battles, your opponent cannot activate cards or effects until the end of the Damage Step. If this card destroys an opponent's monster by battle and sends it to the Graveyard: You can Special Summon that monster to your side of the field. While it is on your side of the field, this card gains 300 ATK.

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So, this time we're back with my written version of Shun vs. Sora along with Shingo winning against his first opponent from Academia. Honestly, it boggles my mind that Shingo didn't AT LEAST get a single one-on-one victory on-screen so he deserves to show off some of his strength. Like I mentioned before, besides Yuzu, I'm definitely going to expand more in the amount of chances other characters get to shine.

By the way, apparently thanks to CodeTalker69, there's a TvTropes page about my story now and that's honestly kinda cool. If you're interested, probably go check it out if you want.

Anyway, I hope y'all like the chapter and I'll see you in the next one.

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NEXT CHAPTER PREVIEW:

A Destined Encounter Set in Motion - After being confronted by Yuto and Lucine, Sora escapes from the hospital and chases after them. As Yuya and the others rush to find them, Sora challenges both Yuto and Lucine to a duel after being denied a rematch with Shun. Yuya and Ruri soon find them as Yuya tries to talk to Sora. Then, someone unexpected soon arrives...

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Like or please review ~