Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh in any way, shape or form. Also, by the time of writing this, Yu-Gi-Oh SEVENS hasn't been released, but this story will include Yuuga Oudou and mentions of the other cast. (Even though I don't know what his actual personality is like, so this is my rendition)
[Chapter 1: Roads That Have Intersected]
It's been a solid month since the battle between Playmaker and the Dark Ignis, Ai. All of the people he has met has no idea where Playmaker has gone to, or his real self in general. Yusaku Fujiki is that certain individual that was Playmaker, and he hasn't been seen by Kusanagi, Takeru or anyone since he has cut all contact with them. He's all alone in the middle of a flat field up on the mountains near Den City. He found an old house that he fixed to make it his new home, a home that cannot be seen or located since it's on the outskirts of the city. He's been thinking of a way to restore his lost life after the Lost Incident and losing his own "partner": The Dark Ignis. A partner is an understatement deep in Yusaku's heart, he was annoying during duels, but it was his way of showing support. He misses that deeply, but doesn't show it.
'Why...? Why can't I get this feeling out...? I must-'
Yusaku was deep in his thoughts until a person near the house appeared. That person, didn't look like a person from the back, in fact, they have a dark aura that Yusaku feels his skin crawl. He had an instinct not to mind that "person" but after a few seconds, they were walking away while mumbling something. It wasn't heard but Yusaku can make up some parts of it; it was saying something about dimentions, but it must be unrelated. The "person" then dissapeared into thin air, Yusaku was in awe but was in a state of question.
'How-How did they do that...?'
He then shook his head multiple times.
"It must be that I slept less last night... Speaking of, I need to check my deck."
His routine contains that he checks his deck so that he can make small changes that can put him in an advantage, he was having the mindset of something similar to the Lost Incident happening, but in a larger scale possibly. Even if the Knights of Hanoi now work in keeping the peace of VRAINS, along with SOL Technologies, he still can shake the feeling inside that even with them, something like that can't be handled by them alone.
"... That won't work..."
Yusaku continues to fix his deck until he had a minor headache. It felt painful for a bit, but it wasn't enough to make his vision blurry an then all of a sudden, that headache was amplified and he somehow passed out.
When he woke up, he noticed that his cards are gone and started hearing some screams coming from Den City. He then saw that the city was crumbling into ashes, he rushed near the city that Aoi was running with a little boy.
"Ah! Yusaku!" Aoi yelled at the blue haired teenager.
"Aoi!" Yusaku rushing near the brunnete. "Save the little reunion here, what's happening?" He asks.
"I don't know! The city started doing this a few moments ago!" Aoi yelled out.
"Really? This dosen't look like an affect of a natural disaster..." Yusaku wonders. The boy near Aoi was whimpering while Yusaku ponders on the situation.
"Miss..." The boy mumbles out to Aoi, then she notices.
"Don't worry. Everything will be alright, let's find your mom." Aoi says to the boy, and then she looks at Yusaku. "Please, find shelter. I'll see you later."
Aoi and the boy run of to the nearest shelter, and Yusaku tried to run when all of a sudden he had another headache. But this headache was far worse than the ones he had earlier, he felt like he was being dragged, until he saw someone. Their silhouette looked faint, but Yusaku recognized that person as the same "person" that was mumbling and dissapeared. Before Yusaku blacked out, he heard the "person's" voice for the first time. It sounded dark and it was on a constant state of growling, and it was a male.
"So, this is the great Playmaker? Good. You'll be perfect for the ritual."
Yusaku wondered, but as he started he lost consiousness. The "person" was looking down at Yusaku's still body and moved closer to pick him up.
"This will be enough, we've erased all your annoying Link Cards and took your deck at your base... All according to plan." The "person" said out loud.
"You won't get him!" A voiced boomed.
"Grr... It's him again." The "person" mumbled.
Suddenly, a field formed around Yusaku and the "person" and within a moment, a slash was formed and caused the "person" to flinch. The slash was from a sword of a dark long robed man with a mask that covered his left eye. His hair was on fire, litteraly and he grins at the "person". Appeared next to him was a boy that looked like he was around 11, he had a combination of dark orange and yellow hair and a red jacket and black shorts with his hands in blue fingerless gloves.
"Nice one, Sevens Road!" Sevens Road looked at the boy and nodded.
"You still plan to ruin this, boy?" The "person" taunted.
"You won't get away with what you've done to Luke!" The boy shouted.
"Oh, you mean taking this from him." The person held up a card. The card was the afformentioned "stolen card". The young boy started grunting but heard something.
"Yuuga, remember what you're there for!" A voice shouted.
"Okay, I get it!" The boy, Yuuga, said.
Yuuga looked at the "person" for a bit before looking at Yusaku, who was still unconsious.
"Alright then, time to go into action! Sevens Road Magician!" Yuuga commanded Sevens Road.
Sevens Road Magician's sword started glowing and it blinded the "person". Yuuga then grabbed Yusaku and activated a spell card, and in that moment, the "person" was left alone, with Yusaku's body gone as well as Yuuga and Sevens Road Magician.
"Yuuga Oudou... " The "person" said out loud.
It was then another person appeared, she was human, she had a long robe that almost reached her feet. She had long black gloves that almost covered her arm, and on her left was a small disk that was a duel disk with the center being a dark gold. Her silver hair was in a bun like state with a black rose pin holding it all up and her lower wear consisted of shorts and boots that went up to her knees. Her gold eyes were starring calmly at the "person".
"Really now Telhin, don't get so upset losing Playmaker." The girl said.
"But, Your Highness... What will your father say about this?" Telhin complained as he revealed his true self in front of the girl.
Telhin was around 18, he was covered in a warrior robe with his upper wear that resembled modern day army uniform. The difference was it was in a dark gold, along with his pants and boots. His hair was a navy blue and his eyes are dark grey, not black but being close.
"Don't fret over this, we still have the others." The girl said. "Besides, Father predicted that the boy you met before would come and stop us."
"I-I see..." Telhin said.
"What he didn't predict was that someone is helping him." The girl said.
"Wh-What?! He had a companion?!" Telhin shouted. "But, I didn't see anyone around, nor sense their pressence..."
"That's because they're not in the same place as him." The girl explained.
"Are you sure, Your Highness?" Telhin asked.
"Of course, don't mistake the Great Ael, for such a fool!" Ael boasted. 'And I have a faint idea on who that person is afterall...'
Ael laughed as she watched Den City turn into nothing but ashes.
"Is he gonna be alright?" Yuuga asked as he was looking at Yusaku.
"He's gonna be alright. So stop asking me!" The voice from before yelled out.
"I can't believe you're so calm about this!" Yuuga yelled. "But, are you sure that this is that 'Playmaker' guy? I mean, he only looks like the guy in the pic." Yuuga took out his phone and looked at the picture he was talking about. It was a photo of Playmaker.
"Yes! Can you not see it?!" The voice yelled at Yuuga again.
"Ugh, it would be better if you came closer!" Yuuga yelled harder at the voice. So hard, that Yusaku heard it in the depth of his black out, and was about to regain consiousness.
"Here, I'm closer! What else do you need from me about him?!" The source of the voice appeared near Yuuga and Yusaku. The latter awoke and started getting up.
"Ugh..." Yusaku moaned.
Yuuga saw Yusaku getting up and started asking.
"Ah! You're awake! Are you alright?" Yuuga asked.
"See, I told you he's gonna be alright." The voice said. Yusaku looked at the source of the voice. It was a boy around the age of 14, he had hair that was black and some of the sides are in green. He was wearing a normal blue vest with a green under shirt and his pants were in a dark navy blue, and the only thing that stood out to him was a scarf that has it's ends to be around his knees.
"Wh...Where am I...?" Yusaku asks.
"You're in my base." The boy answered.
"'Base'?" Yusaku wondered.
He looked around, and it was quite futuristic, more futuristic than Den City. The TV was imbedded onto the wall and he looked at the bed side table to find some buttons on it. The room itself was in a turquiose color with an orange mat on the floor, and everything else looked to be semi-old and semi-new, like some toy chests and figurines.
"Yeah, more specifically my room." The boy said, as he scratches the back of his head. "Oh right, introductions. That's important, but you don't have to introduce yourself." Yusaku looked bombarded.
"How do you know who I am?" Yusaku said. He said this in a semi-threating tone. No one knows Playmaker's true identity other than a few close comrades he had before, so this boy might have found some trace of him, which dosen't make sense to him.
"You're on Den City's history books! Of course, you wouldn't know that... And I think-" Theboy rambled on, before Yuuga intrupted.
"Dude! Stop rambling and get to the intro! We'll talk about that later!" Yuuga yelled.
"Oh! Yeah, anyways, I'm Kuminori Miratetsu. I'm called Codelinker around here, so you can call me that if you like." Kuminori said and Yusaku nodded.
"Codelinker, why?" Yusaku asks.
"I want to become the one that links the past and the future through dueling and coding! Even though there are new ways to duel, we can't just forget about the origins of the card game that's so popular today!" Kuminori grins as he said so exitedly. He then turns red in embarasment. "S-Sounds stupid when I say it out loud... but it's true..." He said and mumbles around the last part.
Yuuga then steped forward and introduced himself.
"I'm Yuuga Oudou! Pleased to meet ya, Playmaker!" Yuuga smiled, but Yusaku stayed silent as he wonders deep in thought.
'How do these guys know who I am? There maybe 3 reasons, but they seem connected. First; The rumors of Playmaker has spread so much since I last left VRAINS. Second; I maybe somewhere where technology has advanced further, judging by this place. And third; I may have left some data in the VRAINS that I forgot to erase. Codelinker said that he codes, so he must've found some traces of data and decided to debug it, but there's not a single memory of me forgetting to erase my data whenever I log out...'
Yusaku was so deep in thoughts that he didn't notice Yuuga after he said "Playmaker". Yuuga tried to get his attention by screaming in front of Yusaku's face.
"Playmaker!"
It was enough to get Yusaku back to reality, and enough for anyone near the house to hear him.
"Geez, don't ignore someone like that..." Yuuga complained. "Anyways I'll continue, I made this new style of dueling called Rush Duel and I go to Goha 7 Elementary School-" Yusaku cuts him off.
"'Elementary School'? You're a Grade Schooler?" Yusaku asks.
"Huh? Yeah, I am, what's wrong? Never heard of a kid that can make a new style of dueling?" Yuuga boasted, and is proceeded to be yelled at by Kuminori. "Please stop boasting about it to strangers! There are some people that like the Master Rule becasue of preference!"
"Ahhhhh... You don't have to yell it on my face!" Yuuga yelled back.
"Honestly, that's actually pretty impressive." Yusaku stated and Yuuga and Kuminori looked at him, with the former red haired looking very happy and the latter being surprised. "If you managed to create a whole new style of dueling, it would've taken you a very long it to make all the duel disks in the world fit that rule, while at the same time, retaining its shape so that it can be used in a Master Duel. So I applaude you Yuuga Oudou." Yusaku continued.
He knew that something like that was difficult in the real world, compared to VRAINS, the duel disks can be used as long it has the hardware and software can be compatible. The real world is a whole different story, he heard that there are physical duel disk that come in all kinds of styles, but they all work the same. To make a new style of dueling work for all the different duel disks out there, even in VRAINS, is hard to do.
Yuuga was smiling so much and thanked Yusaku for the compliment.
"Thank you so much, Mr. Playmaker!" Yuuga said.
"Anyways, I should tell you why you're here right now, Yusaku." Kuminori stated.
Yusaku was finally going to get all the answers he needs in order to understand. Where is he? Where is Den City? What happened to him? And more importantly, who was that person that he felt a dark aura from?
"Your deck was gonna get stolen from that horrible man by the way, so it's over there." Kuminori pointed to a shelf with a deck in one of the sections, along with some books on how to code and some history books. Yusaku then took the deck and started looking over it. He had almost every card he had before the incident in Den City, speaking of...
"What happened to me? What's going on in Den City?" Yusaku asks. Yuuga and Kuminori looked at each other before the latter spoke up.
"Den City no longer exists." Kuminori stated. Yusaku just stood there in disbelief, as expected. The city he lived in, where all his painful and solem memories had taken place, all erased.
"H-How...?" Yusaku asks.
"It was all the work of a group that man tried to take you away is in." Kuminori stated, but Yusaku was confused on the part of the person taking him.
"He probably wanted you, or a monster that has a bond so deep to take." Kuminori continued.
"Why does he want that?" Yusaku asks.
"I... I don't know the answer myself. All I know is that he plans on taking a lot of people's cards or energy in order to achieve a goal." Kuminori said.
"I had a dream, there was this person telling me that the end of history is about to come... It was confusing at first, but the more times I had that dream, the more I understood it. There's an evil force trying to end the card game we all know and love, and the only way they can do that is by getting a lot of energy from cards or people."
The trio stayed silent for a second until Yuuga spoke up.
"And this is where I tell my part of the story." Yuuga explained. "I was having a duel with my friend Luke with other of my friends watching. Then there came this big adult that wanted to duel me, but then Luke took my place. That adult accepted and when Luke summoned his ace monster, Rush Dragon Dragears, that horrible adult stole it." Yuuga clenched his fists as the thought crossed his mind. "And that's when the whole city started falling apart. After he got Luke's card, a lot of the place started dissapearing for some reason, then Kuminori and his monster appeared and said he needs help on fixing the whole mess. Luke offered himself, but I said I'll be the one." Yuuga said as he puts his hands behind his back and Yusaku asks why.
Yusaku wonders why would a kid like Yuuga take part in something as dangerous as this, and on top of that put himself as a volunteer of something that could tramatize him.
"Because that was Luke's own monster. He fought a lot of battles with him, and seeing him get stolen like that gets me real mad! And besides, if Kuminori needs a strong helping hand, I think I'm the next choice next to Luke!" Yuuga explained.
"I did say before we're going to need a whole lot more help than you and Yusaku." Kuminori stated and Yuuga is surprised at that.
"Huh? Me and Playmaker aren't enough?" Yuuga asks.
"Please call me Yusaku, Yuuga." Yusaku said.
"Huh? O-Okay, Yusaku." Yuuga said.
"What do you mean, 'aren't enough'?" Yusaku asks and Kuminori followed.
"This threat is really big, big enough that it's causing a change in the timelines you two are from."
"Timelines?" Yuuga and Yusaku asks.
"That's right, as of right now, Yuuga and Yusaku's timeline completely collapsed. That means that the time before Yusaku's is now under a change of a paradox." Kuminori states.
"Uhhh... I don't get that last part to be honest, what does that mean?" Yuuga asks, confusingly.
"It means that my time and yours has completely changed under the influence of the action before my time." Yusaku explains.
"That's right, and remember, this is a group that we're dealing with. A group of really powerful duelists if they can travel through time like this. That's why, I need to find the ones that can help me restore the time of Duel Monsters!" Kuminori stated.
"Who are the ones you need? We'll help out!" Yuuga stated. Yusaku nodded to that in agreement.
"We need to find this person." Kuminori got a book from his shelf and flipped until he stopped at a section called "The Beggining of The Swinging Pendulum". He pointed to the boy on the picture, he was a 14 with a jacket worn as a cape, has googles, baggy pants and some form of pendant. His hair was red with a layer of green on top, and under the picture, the caption read as: "The Founder of Pendulum Summoning".
"'Pendulum Summoning'? What's that?" Yuuga asks.
"Pendulum Summoning is a Summoning Method that requires special monsters known as 'Pendulum Monsters'. There are 2 zones on the field that are treated as scales, and the numbers on the scales determine the range of the monster's level. Meaning you can summon as many monsters as you like as long it falls under the range of the scales." Kuminori explains.
"Wow..." Yuuga stares in awe.
"What's even more amazing is that when a pendulum monster is destroyed, it dosen't go to the Graveyard. Instead, destroyed Pendulum Monsters go into the Extra Deck." Kuminori continues.
"I wonder if the adults use this kind of summoning...?" Yuuga wonders.
"Not as frequent as you might think." Yusaku states. "Since Pendulum Monsters are sent to the Extra Deck when they're destroyed, it will be harder to get more monsters from the Extra Deck. As any monster that comes from the Extra Deck must be placed in a zone called 'Extra Monster Zone'."
"And that zone is specifically for monsters that are from the Extra Deck, right?" Yuuga continues the conversation. "But, if we want more, how can we do that?"
"There is a special monster known as a 'Link Monster' that can counter that." Kuminori states. "Link Monsters have special markers called 'Link Markers' that point to 8 different directions. If one of those markers point to a slot in the Main Monster Zone, you can treat it as an Extra Monster Zone."
"Aha! I get it! It's like actual linking of 2 machines!" Yuuga pointed out the similarities.
"Anyways, let's find this person." Kuminori said. "Let's see... 'Yuya Sakaki: The Duelist That Entertains'. Okay, I got the face and looks recognized, let's prepare to find him."
"This is actually getting exciting! I'm gonna meet other cool duelists that came before us!" Yuuga jumps in excitement. "I can't wait to work together with them!"
While Yuuga was getting all the excitement out, Yusaku asks Kuminori something important.
"Codelinker, how can we get there? To the said time of Pendulum Summoning?" Yusaku asks.
"There's actually something in my duel disk that can take care of that, but I need to make sure it isn't broken. In the meanwhile, you guys can fix your decks up." Kuminori said. With Yuuga, he punched the air and made a very bold statement.
"This is where the future and past's roads intercept!"