"Understand, my dear friend, that I will not tolerate any form of duplicity if you are to follow me. If you so much as think for a solitary second about betraying me, I will not hesitate send you to an early grave. Speaking of betrayal, I trust that you haven't been thinking of stealing my life's work, have you?"
"No, I haven't. Your work needs improvement anyway. You're too self-centred to see it, you need me and I need you."
"Ahahahahaha! Of course you'd say that! You put it so succinctly as well, nothing like my other associate. But it's interesting, he likes the sound of his voice a little too much whilst you don't talk a lot at all. Not even when I was in the confessional with you, you mainly just listened to me."
"That's talk then. I don't talk. I speak. Needless chatter will only lead to distractions."
(Standard Dimension)
Reiji's departure had left behind a vacuum of silence that no one wanted to fill. Not Yuzu, not Sora, not the kids, not Shuzo, and even the usually talkative Shiki and his group decided to zip their mouths as Yuri lay still in the Duel area.
It wasn't like he was lying face down or anything like that, he was bruised but not injured and could still stand. They would have to spend more money to repair the cage from the damage that Kali Yuga had caused by sending Yuri into it, but that was the last thing on their minds.
Yuzu looked through the glass, touching it tentatively. She knew something bad was going to happen, a small part of her was secretly happy that it wasn't that the school her father had put so much work into maintaining following Yusho's disappearance would be swallowed up by LDS, but the rest of her was wrecked with immeasurable sadness at the sight of her childhood friend just standing there. She couldn't imagine what was going through he was going through.
This was all her fault. She knew that no one would want her to blame herself, least of all Yuri, but she had to even if it meant being irrational.
If she hadn't been so useless during her duel with Masumi then none of this would've happened. Yuri had won and Gongenzaka had managed to snatch a draw from the jaws of defeat in a situation that was far worse than the one Yuzu found herself in against Masumi.
To see Yuri suffer because of her own failing was something that Yuzu could no longer abide by.
She watched with her heart in her mouth as Yuri trudged out of the area and into the same room as the rest of them. His head hung low as his eyes were firmly locked on the ground. Yuzu had only ever seen Yuri depressed a handful of times and those were the early days of their relationship, a few months into Yuri's arrival in Standard. Since then, Yuzu had only known Yuri as, smug, a bit annoying, but ultimately intelligent, and caring. He had helped her with the Yuya situation at the end of the day.
Yuri seemed to move in slow motion over to the wall as he slumped against it. Yuzu could only hope to think what was going through his head. As much as she had grown close to Yuri over the past seven years, she could never figure out the inner workings of his mind. He had always been so obsessively secret about where he came from too, a place that when prompted he would answer "Not in this city." Maybe that place had played a role in moulding his mind set from the off and why he seemed so shocked by everything he saw when he first met everyone and had his first Action Duel.
Surprisingly to some, it was Shiki that decided to go over to Yuri. Another fact that made Yuzu loathe herself even more, why was it that a man they hadn't even personally known three weeks ago had gone over when she should've done it?! Was she just that useless!?
Shiki grasped a hold of Yuri's face, raising it up so he could stare into Yuri's eyes. Yuri had never realised up until now just how sharp and green they really were, they were almost predatory in nature and yet shone so brightly. "Is this it? Is this all you can do after that? Where is your spirit? The belief that you can come back and prove Reiji Akaba wrong, where is it in you at this moment in time? Is it there to begin with?"
Yuri's mind was still in the process of starting up, that blow to the wall had temporarily caused him to black out so it wasn't like he was going to be able to process the speed at which Shiki was speaking. "Why does it matter? It's not like he's coming back. You saw it. He said that he was going to take over Pendulum Summoning regardless of whether or not he won the duel."
"Is that what this is all over?" Shiki stared down at him with a weird look in his eyes, Yuri couldn't properly register it, but it almost looked like a mixture of anger and excitement. Although his tired mind just waived it off as Shiki being his usual weird self "Jesus wept, you need to get a grip on things. Look, I taught Akaba, I know exactly how he thinks, he's lying to you to get you riled up. You see those Pendulum Cards he has? They're more than likely just prototypes that he had to take the second they were done, they're nothing compared to yours."
"That's not the point. You don't know what it feels like to have something stolen from you like that." Yuri's dullness to pain made him miss the way Shiki's hand clasped harder around his face as he said that "This school, my father's, has been in disrepute since he vanished, no one wants to come to a school that has a coward for a founder. You wouldn't know any of that, your school rose to the top almost instantly. You never had to deal with all the strife that we have. Does the name Ryozanpaku mean anything to you?"
A playful smile spread over Shiki's lips as he closed the distance between their faeces "Sure, it does, I mentioned them earlier. The barbarians that they were. I'm not going to lie to you, Yuri-kun, I enjoyed watching their despair over losing their place. But, pray tell, what do they have to do with anything?"
"They were a school with extremely violent methods that won championships despite the distaste over their methods. That was until your school showed up to them one day." Yuri's weary eyes had a sudden spark to them as his tone became more forceful "I've been researching you lot since our duel with you, I've had a few sleepless nights wanting to figure out just where you came from because I frankly hadn't heard of you until a few weeks ago. It took a while but I chanced upon an article, one that dictated a duel that had occurred that during one of the minor duelling championships. One in which your student crushed his opponent with no mercy, telling a story about the fall of a giant and the rise of the underworld."
"And? What does that mean? And how is it relevant to what's going on here?" Whilst before Shiki had been calm and confident, this time he seemed genuinely perplexed by what Yuri was saying.
"Ryozanpaku are rarely heard from now and many people have accepted that they are no longer in the top rank of schools. Applicants dried up, titles they usually would've won either went to you or LDS. They're just a name lost to the annals of history now, one of many duel schools in this city." Yuri then grasped Shiki's arm, the Baltic temperature of said arm not being mentioned, and steeled his gaze into those predatory eyes "What I am saying is that one duel inadvertently caused an entire school, one of the best, to functionally cease to exist. I wanted to use Pendulum Summoning to put You Show back on the map, to show that this school had something that wasn't available to anyone else. We tried after the Strong Ishijima duel but they called me a "cheater" since no one else could have them. Regardless, I needed a way to carry on my father's legacy and I failed that by allowing Pendulum to slip into Reiji Akaba's hands. He'll turn it into a perversion of what it was supposed to be!" The dark tone he slipped into at the end could only be described as obsessively possessive and almost demonic.
"So that's why you're so beat up about it." Shiki released his grip and motioned for Kichirou to come over to his side. "I see, I see. Such a narrow minded view to take of things." If glares could kill a man, Shiki would be dead a thousand times over with an extra hatchet in his back "I notice that you don't quite agree with me on this, perfectly logical, so I have a proposition for you. How's about we have a duel, hmm?"
"Wh-what?!" The You Show crowd screamed, Shuzo scrambling over to the epicentre "Wait, wait, wait, wait! What do you think you're doing, Sogami-san! Can't you see that Yuri can't duel?"
Yuzu, once again, watched silently and made no action. A niggling voice in her head sounded like it was laughing at her for being so weak willed.
Shiki looked incredulously back at Shuzo, eyes briefly scanning the other adult in the room, before he threw up a dismissive hand "So what? He's going to preserve his father's legacy isn't he? It's not a question of whether or not he can duel, it's a question of will he duel or not. If he wants to show me just why Pendulum Summoning will put you on the map then he has to show it to me, Teru-kun and Bitch-chan may have locked you out of it but I assure you that I will not do such things. So what do you say, Lily? Action or moping, the choice is yours."
Yuri wasn't an idiot, he actually considered himself to be near enough a genius (But that was a story for another day). He saw through Shiki instantly once his mind was finally able to catch up with everything going on. It was painfully obvious what he was trying to do and even more painful was that Yuri couldn't help but fall into no matter how much the logical part of his brain told him not to. "So be it! I'll prove it to you if you want it so much! I'll show you my untapped power, I'll show it all!"
The sandy haired male then looked back at Shuzo and spoke like he was an emperor talking to a serf "I know you were planning something similar." At that Shuzo puffed out his cheeks like a petulant four year old, not bothering to answer or question how Shiki knew that "So go ahead and load up the field that you were going to use. Ki-kun here will provide me with his duel disk since I broke mine earlier. Turns out I'm a lot stronger than I think!" His tone had shifted once more at the end, sounding much more like his jovial nature as Kichirou handed him his duel disk.
Yuri watched the man carefully as he walked past him and back into the duelling arena. Some of his bones were creaking and there was a definite twinge of pain which should've been obvious to everyone that was irritating him, however, his attention was laser focused on Shiki. He knew nothing of the man's deck or playstyle, if he was indeed the mentor of Teru and Kioka then he could make a guess at how he carried himself but even during his research the man's duelling remained in a shroud of impenetrable obscurity.
"Just like you, Yuri-kun, I will be going all out as well. I mean, what's the point in doing anything if you don't give it your all?" The sandy haired adult said with a casual loosening of his shoulders. "Although, if I were to say something before we begin, it has been a while since I duelled at that level so I may be the slightest bit rusty."
Yeah, good. Ok. That was the biggest load of bullshit that Yuri had heard in his life so far and it made him angry. Angry irrespective of whether or not it was actually the truth. If it was the truth then he was underestimating him and laughing at him in his moment of weakness. If it was a lie then the man simply couldn't be trusted from this point on, if he was willing to lie about something as trivial as how often he duelled then his other statements would have to be brought into account.
He was too caught up in the thought though to catch Shuzo declaring the name of the action field, however, his eyes widened as it came into being. His duel against Reiji had been with his own specialist field.
His duel against Shiki would be on his father's specialist field.
Showtime Street. A glitzy, dazzling, capitalistic, street with ads left, right and centre. It was offensively bright and flashy, something that fit Yusho rather well but not something that Yuri could really stomach much. His love of nature made him disgusted at these concrete jungles, no matter how digital they may be.
Shiki spoke up again, clarifying what was about to happen "Now, I'm not here for the good of my own health. As I may have mentioned the original goal of this escapade was to undertake recon and gain information, however, I'm not so interested in that anymore. I already got what I wanted even before you duelled Reiji-kun, I'm here for something else now. Something that you're going to have to figure out. Something that I won't leave or be defeated over until I hear it from your mouth."
The hairs on the back of Yuri's neck stood straight up as he felt a cold chill assault his nerves. If he thought it through carefully there was the chance he could hazard a guess as to what Shiki was after, but that just increased the likelihood that the man would stay. Their conversation the day he had gotten out of hospital had taught him one thing about Shiki that was just like his adoptive father only worded differently. They both believed in the force of changing fates, his father had said "Just like a pendulum, a duel and life itself will keep swinging back and forth. Whenever times feel bad smile because you know if you try hard enough the pendulum will swing in your favour." Whilst Shiki had espoused his stubbornness on the belief that luck would swing back in his favour if he pushed hard enough. Shiki wouldn't take half assed guesses, he would keep pushing until the truth laid itself bare.
In the observation room, Yuzu noticed that Kichirou was standing particularly close to the window this time after having been stuck to the wall he had made a hole in. He was rubbing his arm a lot and seemed to radiate some kind of odd sense of detachment from what was going on, if Yuzu waving her hand in front of his face and getting no response meant anything.
Erstwhile, Kioka and Teru seemed to be whispering amongst themselves, Teru bending down so his sister could have an easier time keeping the conversation with the giant confidential. The kids were on their tip-toes and looked expectantly with stars in their eyes at the thought of their big brother duelling not one, but two big shots within the same day. Despite knowing how Yuri felt, they couldn't help but have a childish sense of envy about it.
"Action Duel!" Both of them declared simultaneously as multi-coloured lights streaked across the skyline.
Yuri's LP: 4000 Shiki's LP: 4000 Cards x5
Turn 1
"I hope you don't mind that I go first, Lily? It's just so I can give you a fighting chance. I'm taking no prisoners here." Shiki said smugly, earning a grin in return from Yuri for the cockiness "Keh, very well then. I shall begin my turn by first activating the effect of my Failed Ascension spell card." The card art showed a scene of a man ascending a heavenly golden staircase at one side, only to be forced down the spider's thread to hell on the other end. "This card gives me the ability to add one Level 5 or higher Tainted Angel effect monster from my deck to my hand."
The ejected card rested easily between Shiki's index and middle finger as he flipped it around to show Yuri "Why Level 5 or higher? That's what I bet you're thinking since it is so common nowadays for Level 4 or below to be the target, especially for an XYZ user such as myself." Shiki smirked, loosening any remaining tension from his shoulders and taking a deep breath "That is because LDS teaches its students to streamline the process to make it as efficient and quick as possible on the first turn. But I can show you exactly how XYZ is meant to be. Using his effect, I summon forth Tainted Angel Belial!"
Light up by the dazzling street, Shiki's first monster initially appeared to be angelic with large white, feathery wings and a calming looking serene smile on its face. However, as soon as it came closer into view, the veneer was pulled away. The wings were set on fire, resulting in them becoming an ashen black. Any sense of holiness was also washed away as more traditional demonic appendages came into being.
Tainted Angel Belial, Level 5, LIGHT, Fairy, Effect (1000/1000)
"When I don't control a monster, Belial can be summoned to the field at cost of all of its attack points being erased from existence. I suppose that's just the price to pay, Belial is a Tainted Angel after all…" Any sort of sheen or grace that may have originally been there was snuffed out as the monster fell to earth.
Belial's ATK: 1000 – 0
"Now, Belial's second effect takes the stage as the story begins to be told! Whenever Belial has been successfully summoned using its first effect I now have the ability to summon one more of my wondrous Tainted Angels to the field." The next card ejected itself from Shiki's deck and was instantaneously on the blade of his disk. "Appear before us, Tainted Angel Bernael!"
Bernael, following along to its namesake, was a much more evil looking version of Belial. Whilst Belial still had signs of its angelic beauty and grace, Bernael betrayed nothing to the mind and held every demonic trait imaginable. The only thing that tied it to its former nature were its bright, shinning, white wings. It hovered next to Shiki on his left.
Tainted Angel Bernael, Level 5, DARK, Fairy, Effect (1500/1500)
"Bernael's effect! Whenever this card is summoned to the field by card effect, its attack and defence points are decreased to zero for as long as it remains on the field." Bernael fell to the earth and crumpled in a heap on the ground. Any sort of power it would've had being stripped as a sort of divine punishment.
Bernael's ATK: 1500 – 0
Bernael's DEF: 1500 – 0
Inside the observation booth, Tatsuya looked visibly confused "Wait… Why is Sogami-san taking away his monsters' attack points?" The other kids, hands under their chins, nodded along with him, similarly confused by the situation. Shuzo and Yuzu were more apprehensive to question the situation, Shuzo knew very well what Shiki was capable of, no one who had ever heard of the Enchanted Underworld Duel School didn't know about the power of its principal.
Yuzu's view was a lot less analytical, there was just this prevailing… Feeling that she didn't know how to explain. It was a truly awful feeling, pulsating and growing darker by the second. She was too preoccupied by this feeling, however, to notice that her bracelet was beginning to glow a soft pink.
"Wait and…. See…" Teru punctuated clearly, the finality with which he spoke scaring the kids into silence. Not really helping was the fact he was stood directly behind them as he said it, causing all three of them to have their souls leave their body as said bodies threw themselves against the glass.
Kioka sighed, shaking her head at such unbecoming antics. She glared up at her brother as he returned to his space on the wall. "Seriously, Teru-nii. Don't do that again! Shiki has already told you to stop doing it several times this week! How can you be so silent anyway? You're massive!"
Teru didn't reply, not even bothering to meet his sister's wrathful glare. Instead, his focus was on Kichirou beside him. The pink haired magician was kneading his bottom lip against his teeth, his eyes were laser focused on every single movement on the field. The green haired giant sighed, why were people being so troublesome today?
"Now, since I control two Tainted Angels, both with the same level as a matter of fact, I can use its effect to summon Tainted Angel Kokabiel!" Coming into view in the middle of the other two monsters, Kokabiel was the most clearly angelic of them all. It held a handsome, clean male face with a gentle, charming smile. Soft, snow white wings flowed gently from their shoulder blades. Archetypal angelic clothing was draped over its body. The only remotely demonic sign was the sharp talons and claws that adorned their feet and hands respectively. Yellow fire also circulated around their waist. "Similarly to the rest of my monsters, Kokabiel, if summoned by card effect, must lose its attack points. A sad price to pay.
Tainted Angel Kokabiel, Level 5, LIGHT, Fairy, Effect (2000/2000)
Kokabiel's ATK: 2000 – 0
Yuri watched on cautiously, analysing the field closely for action cards and Shiki's next possible move. With those three monsters all of the same level, it was obvious what he was going to do next and Yuri needed to be vigilant for when the inevitability became a reality. Still, he remained confident. He had already taken down one XYZ duelist today, and unlike Reiji, he was sure that Shiki only knew this one method.
"The situation now would dictate that I must now preform an XYZ summon, isn't that right?" Shiki asked in a thoughtful voice, the question clearly rhetorical in nature as evidenced by the smirk on his face. Although said smirk quickly fell and replaced by a frown which was soon replaced by full blown panic "My deck doesn't have any Rank 5 XYZ monsters! How could I be so stupid and forget something as simple as that!? Stupid Shiki!"
Yuri wasn't, not in a million years, going to fall for that bullshit. Honestly, the man was either a terrible actor or very good at acting as one. "Give it up, you're awful. I'm losing brain cells having to store this, y'know?"
Ceasing his charade at the rebuke, Shiki smiled at Yuri "Well, little Lily, that was awfully mean of you no matter how correct you are." He then pulled out the card sat in the middle of his hand "That's why I'm not going to prolong this any further. I did say I would be coming at you with all that I have, I now activate the Spell Collective Spirit of Tainted Angels!" The card art showed four monsters, the three that were currently on Shiki's field with the fourth one being shrouded in an impenetrable fog, the one sign of the fourth monster was the blazing blue fire coated hand that stuck out from the fog, ready to rain down hell alongside the other three monsters. "I can only activate this card if I control at least two Tainted Angel monsters with different names on my field. Pay attention, Yuri-kun, here's what's about to happen and why you need to learn your lesson quickly. For each Tainted Angel on the field with a different name, all of my monsters' levels will increase by one. I currently have three, so that means all of my monsters are going to level eight."
Belial's Level: 5 – 8
Bernael's Level: 5 – 8
Kokabiel's Level: 5 – 8
All three of the Enchanted Underworld duelists suddenly sucked in a harsh breath, making the You Show crowd turn to them with a quizzical look.
"Umm… Is there any reason why you did that? Should Yuri be worried?" Yuzu asked, no one noticing the glowing beacon that her bracelet had become.
"Worried? No. He has no need to be worried." Kichirou spoke, his voice an absolute monotone. "Scared. He should be scared." Subconsciously, Kichirou began to scratch harshly at his neck and head. Repeatedly and violently until could could be seen beneath his fingernails.
With their focus on Kichirou, the You Show crowd failed to spot the Shion siblings having similar reactions. Teru had pushed the hair over his right eye out of the way and was covering that specific eye with his hand, his usually blank face bearing an unusual grimace. Kioka, erstwhile, was holding her stomach, a hand covering her mouth in a desperate attempt to prevent any vomit from leaving it. She seemingly had it the best.
"Tainted Angel Kokabiel, Belial, Bernael, build the overlay network!" Instead the normal overlay portal, a new one appeared high in the sky. It engulfed everything that it could as divine lightning began to rain down on the field, striking the billboards and buildings wantonly. The three Tainted Angels quickly dissolved into pure energy, two yellow and one black, ascending rapidly to the portal. "Prostate thyself, ye who disobey the heavens!" Shiki chanted as the portal exploded "Show this world the pure grace of the eternal fire that blazes within your soul, a fire that only the Devil himself would be capable of withstanding! Rank 8! Tainted Angel Loveless!"
Shiki's new monster sent Teru, Kioka, and Kichirou into overdrive with their respective actions. Meanwhile, that awful feeling that Yuzu had been getting was just amplified a thousand fold. Even Yuri felt simply wrong, his knees felt like jelly and he gulped as the monster began to claw its way out of the portal.
Tainted Angel Loveless' appearance caused a bout of silence to descend over You Show as they all took in its appearance. Loveless was large, very large, with grand, sweeping black wings that were as black as the night itself. It had bulging muscles and ebony skin that was set ablaze with a navy blue fire that had already torched one person this week. The same fire was curled around its face, forming pseudo spiky hair and a small beard. A tiny inferno also raged over where its heart would've been. Like Kokabiel, Loveless had sharp claws and talons. Also similar to one of Shiki's other monsters were the medium sized horns poking out of its forehead. Loveless stood protectively to the side of Shiki, levelling Yuri with a maddening gaze.
Tainted Angel Loveless, Rank 8, DARK, Fairy, XYZ, Effect (2900/2900) OLU's: 3.
"My wonderful Tainted Angel Loveless! My, it's been such an awfully long time since I summoned you!" Shiki proclaimed happily, flashing Loveless a toothy grin and looking at it as if they were long lost lovers. "I truly am so sorry that I've abandoned you for so long, I know how disappointed you were that I couldn't use you properly when I had to deal with that thug that interrupted Yuri-kun and I's conversation, however, I'll make it up to you if you lend me your power again."
As Loveless shifted everyone held their breath, Yuri thought back to that situation he had found himself in at the docks. The "thug" Shiki was referring to was capable of causing explosions, whether it was through a card or genuine didn't matter, and Shiki had walked out unscathed because of this card. What power did it hold?
Loveless then extended its hand, the fire over its heart area zipping over to its outstretched palm. "Ooh! You're feeling generous, aren't you? You want me to preform another experiment again, don't you? So be it." Shiki pulled down the brim of his fedora before swiftly flinging it off of the top of his head and into the unknown. The fire from Loveless engulfing his hand as soon he was finished talking. A mirthful giggle escaped his lips as it spread further up his arm. "This feels really nice. I've missed this feeling…"
Yuri didn't know what to say, Yuzu didn't know what to say, the Enchanted Underworld group didn't want to say anything.
To Yuri it was madness, pure and simple madness. He knew perfectly well what the capability of Real Solid Vision was, it allowed you to touch your monsters as if they were really there, however, at the end of the day they were still just holograms. You weren't supposed to be able to do that. To have your physical body properly interact with a monster that seemed… Alive.
"I think it's time to reveal something about myself to you, Yuri-kun. I'm not an ordinary duelist as you now see, I'm a Psychic duelist, a type of duelist that was thought to have been a fixture of the past." Shiki smirked, letting the fire in his hand dance around his fingertips "We Psychic duelists have a greater connection to the spirts that dwell within our cards, allowing us to bend the reality of them and realise their true power. I'm going to test you, I said I would, Loveless is your test. My strongest monster and my strongest power, beat him and learn the lesson you need to succeed." He then pointed to the observation deck, at his students in particular "My pupils will know what Loveless is capable of."
Yuri craned his head over his shoulder, his eyes widening alongside the rest of the You Show group's when he saw the state of them. They had somewhat calmed down, Teru being the one closest to normalcy, although, no one could actually see what had happened to him. Kioka was seemingly fine too, if not a bit nauseous and green in the face. It was Kichirou that was still the one that had most of their attention. Sora and Yuri had seen his breakdown at losing the duel the other day, this was something else, his neck was covered in scratches and he looked extremely disturbed. "What happened?" Yuri found himself asking.
Shiki shrugged, placing a finger to his lips as Yuri turned away from the scene with a disgusted look in his eyes. "I can't reveal my methods, but know this, every stereotype comes from a place of truth, Yuri-kun. Although, if you did research me and my school, you'll at least know something."
"Tch, so what I read and what Shuzo said was true." Yuri replied, his gut churning at the thought of what the man at the other side of the field had done to his own students.
"I activate Tainted Angel Loveless' effect!" Shiki brazenly ignored Yuri's comment as one of the blue overlay units orbiting around Loveless was sucked into the blazing angel "Once per turn, I can detach one overlay unit and activate the following effect. By discarding one card in my hand, I can summon one Loveless token." As soon as the selected card hit the graveyard, a miniature version of Loveless materialized from the small ball of fire that streaked down from Shiki's hand. "May I add as well that so long as there is at least one overlay unit attached to Loveless, Loveless will gain 300 attack points for each monster I control, tokens included."
Loveless Token, Level 1, DARK, Fairy, (0/0)
Loveless' ATK: 2900 – 3200
Loveless' OLU's: 3 – 2
"The effect of the monster I discarded now activates! Whenever Tainted Angel Alloces is discarded from my hand via card effect, I can pay 400 Life Points and then summon him back to the field provided I drop his attack points to zero." Alloces was the most regal looking Tainted Angel so far, true to the name it held, it took the form of a duke with a pair of devilish black wings and long, purple hair. It lounged casually against the wall behind Shiki, a sleazy grin on its face. Its tail stabbed into Shiki's back, sucking away a moderate amount of Life Points.
Tainted Angel Alloces, Level 5, LIGHT, Fairy, Effect (1300/1300)
Shiki's LP: 4000 - 3600
Alloces' ATK: 1300 – 0
Loveless' ATK: 3200 – 3500
Shiki moved swiftly into his next move, nothing was going to stop him from proceeding with his plan "I activate the effect of Bernael in my graveyard! By banishing it, I can add one Tainted Angel from my deck to my hand! Now, since I control two or more Tainted Angels, I can use its effect to summon Tainted Angel Azza!" Azza wasn't all that different in appearance from Bernael, the one defining trait being the bulging muscles it sported. "Because of how it was summoned, Azza loses its attack points."
Tainted Angel Azza, Level 5, DARK, Fairy, Effect (1200/1200)
Azza's ATK: 1200 – 0
Loveless' ATK: 3500 – 3800
"I overlay Tainted Angel Alloces and Tainted Angel Azza!" The normal network portal appeared this time, no pomp and circumstance about it. Two streaks, one yellow and one a deep purple, raced towards it "Descend! Heavenly angel tainted by your desire to ascend! Render your judgement on this world of filth! Rank 5! Tainted Angel Uriel!"
Uriel slowly came into being, unlike Loveless, Uriel was only marginally bigger and taller than Shiki. Uriel was also by far the most angelic out of the other monsters Shiki had summoned so far, it had black hair with a peculiar strip of white down the middle, red eyes that store intently into Yuri's own. On its back was a set of two pairs of black wings, the ones at the top being larger than the ones at the bottom. Two white overlay units floated around it
Tainted Angel Uriel, Rank 5, LIGHT, Fairy, XYZ, Effect (2400/2400)
Loveless' ATK: 3800 – 3500
"Wait, I thought Sogami-san said he had no Rank 5 monsters!" Yuzu exclaimed, one XYZ monster was usually bad enough to face, especially one that looked as powerful as Loveless, but with this second monster it was looking really bad. To make matters worse, Shiki claimed that he was rusty, what would he be like if he was at full strength?
"Shiki's a liar." Kioka replied curtly, her face looking a lot healthier now. "He lies like the truth when he's dueling, it's because he believes that the best thing you can do is lull your opponent into a false sense of security before destroying their hope. It's just another one of his idiotic teachings!" She said to Yuzu, yelling the last part loud enough to make doubly sure the object of her irritation.
"But at least he's exhausted all of his cards. That should mean that all Yuri needs to do is beat what Sogami-san has on the field and then he's won!" Yuzu said, desperately trying to find a way to spin the situation in Yuri's favour. Meanwhile, her bracelet had gone to another level since Loveless had hit the field, the soft glow now replaced by a rapid pulsing, it was only because of the laser focus of everyone on the duel that no one had noticed it.
"Uriel gains 200 attack points for every Tainted Angel Monster in my graveyard. Although, as of present there aren't any. That's soon to change though! I activate Uriel's effect! By detaching one overlay unit from it, I send one Tainted Angel from my deck to my graveyard. So, on top of that monster I just sent to the graveyard, th detached Azza adds another 200 attack points onto Uriel, making its attack now 2800!" The angelic aura around Uriel flared up, signifying the boost I attack power.
Uriel's ATK: 2400 – 2800
"One last thing, Yuri-kun, then I'll let you go on with you turn." Shiki turned the last card around in his hand and loosely in between his middle and index finger "I activate Reparations of the Tainted Angels!" This card's art decapitated both Uriel and Loveless being compensated handily by some shady figure as a group of their fellow Tainted Angels were being led away behind them. "For all the Tainted Angels that I discarded this turn or tributed from hand or field, I get to draw one card. As it is, this is just a like for like replacement as the only card I discarded this turn was Alloces." Shiki drew swiftly, then extending his arm out to Yuri "That shall conclude my turn, it's your move, Yuri-kun. Remember, I'm here until you learn your lesson."
Shiki's cards x1
Turn 2
'He's already got two XYZ Monsters on the field, this isn't good.' Yuri took a quick glance at his hand before retuning his gaze to Loveless and Uriel 'I can't do what I usually do, Shiki almost certainly has a way around that. One positive is that he only has one card in his hand and no Spell or Traps on the field too, he's looking to beat me down in one go.' Yuri took two cards from his hand, if he was going to beat Shiki as quickly as possible this was going to be his best shot "With Scale 1 Predator Plant Moray Nepenthes and Scale 8 Predator Plant Fly Trap I set the Pendulum scale!" Both monsters than began to appear in blue pillars of light. Moray Nepenthes to the left had a large one underneath it whilst Fly Trap had gained an eight below it.
"Huh, so this is Pendulum..." Shiki muttered, taking in the bright columns that outshone even the gaudy strip they were on "So much different in person…"
"I activate the Pendulum effect of my Predator Plant Fly Trap! With it, I can place on Predator Counter on each monster you control for every card in my hand. You only have two, while I have four cards in hand, that means both of your monsters are getting a Counter!" Fly Trap slinked out of its column, growing massively in size as it snapped its now gigantic jaws shut over Loveless, coating it in a disgusting, venomous saliva.
Loveless' Predator Counter(s): 0 – 1
"Uriel, whilst it still has material, cannot be effected by Card effects. Only Loveless will feel that pain. Poor Loveless…" Shiki said, battering his eyes over at Loveless with said monster setting part of the saliva on fire with its flames.
"I now Normal Summon Predator Plant Ophrys Scorpio!" Yuri's trusty plant/scorpion hybrid came to his side, to the surprise of literally everyone watching the duel. Yuri smirked as he imagined hearing the sound everyone's jaws hitting the ground "Patience is a virtue, everyone. As much as a loathe to admit it, Reiji may have taught me a thing or two." He said, wagging his finger over his shoulder. Mainly aiming it at the Enchanted Underworld group.
Predator Plant Ophrys Scorpio, Level 3, DARK, Plant, Effect (1200/800)
"I activate Ophrys Scorpio's effect! I send one card from my hand to my graveyard, such as Predator Plant Cordyceps, and then summon one Predator Plant from my deck to the field. I summon Predator Plant Chlamydosundew!" Sundew had the build like that of a triceratops, a blooming flower with numerous spores hanged around its neck as it stood lopsidedly to the free side of Yuri.
Predator Plant Chlamydosundew, Level 2, DARK, Plant, Effect (600/200) PS: 2
"Sundew's effect, you'll see now why I didn't want to Pendulum Summon just yet! With Sundew's effect, I can Fusion summon one Dark Fusion Monster from my extra deck without using Polymerization, the best part of this is that I can also use any monster with a Predator Counter on the field as material for the summon!" Yuri declared, watching in glee as Shiki's smirking face momentarily faltered. In the background he could vaguely hear something that sounded an awful lot like Kichirou shouting "Useless Fuckwit!" But he didn't much care anymore.
"I'm going to use your Loveless alongside my Sundew to Fusion Summon!" Shiki looked positively heartbroken as Loveless was torn from his field and sucked into the Fusion vortex alongside Sundew. Yuri clasped his hands together fervently "Come to my aid, my wonderful botanical nightmare that buries their enemy under their thorns! Fusion Summon! Level 7, Predator Plant Chimera Rafflesia!" Rafflesia sprouted from the ground drooling nectar from both mouths.
Predator Plant Chimera Rafflesia, Level 7, Plant, DARK, Effect (2500/2000)
Uriel's ATK: 2800 – 3400
"Now, using the Scale 1 Predator Plant Moray Nepenthes and Scale 8 Fly Trap, I am now able to summon monsters from hand between the levels 2 and 7! Swing pendulum of the soul! Drawn an arc of light across the sky! Pendulum Summon!" Two dark blasts flew out of the portal that had appeared between the columns, resulting in the appearance of "Level 3, Predator Plant Darlington Cobra and Level 7, Starve Venemy Dragon!"
Starve Venemy Dragon, Level 7, Dragon, DARK, Effect (2500/2000) PS: 1
Predator Plant Darlington Cobra, Level 3, Plant, DARK, Effect (1000/1500)
"I'm still not done! I activate the Polymerization in my hand to fuse together Ophrys Scorpio and Darlington Cobra!" Another vortex appeared another grin from Yuri, another slamming together of his hands. This was going perfectly "Two beautiful flowers with a deadly alluring fragrance, join together and create a new terror from the hell that lies beneath your petals! Fusion Summon! Come forth, poison dragon with hungering fangs! Level 8! Starve Venom Fusion Dragon." Starve Venom burst onto the field with Yuri hopping on top of his faithful dragon.
Starve Venom Fusion Dragon, Level 8, Dragon, Fusion, Effect, (2800/2000) Pendulum Scale: 4
"Oh yeah, Yuri-oniichan!" The kids cheered in unison, their infectiously happy attitude spreading to the other You Show members. Yuzu, in particular, was the main beneficiary of the growing positive atmosphere. For the first time in a few days, she allowed a smile to cross her lips and to let herself feel hope that Yuri had everything under control. Her bracelet had also stopped glowing and that dark feeling had been lifted as soon as Loveless had left the field, her whole body just felt lighter in general.
Sora looked at the last move with envy, he grinded the sweet he had been sucking hard between his teeth. Reiji had been impressive enough with his mastery over multiple methods, not like any other one other than Fusion really mattered though. But Yuri managing to clear the board of what looked to be the most dangerous monster AND being able to Fusion summon twice in a turn, was something that only the higher echelons of Academia could accomplish. It made him feel so… Inadequate. His mentor would be so disappointed in him the second he saw what Yuri was capable of.
Yuri grinned, even if Uriel's attack had increased, he had Rafflesia's effect to make sure that Uriel lost those extra attack points. Running his hand across the back of Starve Venom, confidence returned to him in full force, his earlier sadness becoming a distant memory. Sure, Reiji had been him. Pretty badly, too. But it was all for nought if Yuri kicked his ass at the upcoming championship, he could get his revenge and destroy LDS' reputation in one fell swoop.
However, just as he was about to declare Rafflesia's attack, Shiki spoke up. His voice taking on an almost evil quality to it. "Gravity. Space. Time. Avalon. Secret Emperor. Tainted Sorrow. Pater. Crimson." Yuri felt Starve Venom shifted underneath him uncomfortably, it gave him flashbacks to what had happened when Starve Venom had gone berserk during his duel with Hokuto "Purity. Darkness. Control. Avalon. Gravity. Vengeful spirits." Starve Venom threw its tail out, smashing he area behind it and reducing everything to ruins. Yuri and everyone else's eyes widened "Time. Secret Emperor. Avalon. Heaven!"
With the last declaration, Starve Venom cried out, an ear piercing screech that deafened anyone who heard it for numerous seconds.
Meanwhile, three other dragons, in three different places, cried out simultaneously with Starve Venom.
"Starve Venom! Calm down!" Yuri yelled, trying to soothe his dragon. However, as he was doing so, there was this feeling in his core that ate him from the inside. He felt so soul crushingly empty for some reason, it was like his soul was only a part of something for just the slightest second. He had never felt this ever before, not even the last time when Starve Venom berserk or when he first arrived in Standard which would've been the most opportune time for him to get that feeling.
"Your Starve Venom isn't going to calm down." Shiki drawled, flashing a grin and sharp canine that only Yuri could see from behind his hand. His eyes were coated in bloodlust "Perhaps… Perhaps if you hadn't made the mistake of tainting Loveless by turning him into one of those shitty Fusion Monsters… I wouldn't be as angry as I am right now, Yuri-kun. If you want to know what is happening to your dragon, I did say I was a Psychic duelist, didn't I? I simply appealed to its spirit, turns out that it's quite the malignant one."
Then Yuri had an epiphany, the reason behind the previous episode was now laid bare before him "That last time. That was you as well, wasn't it?"
"Correct. Only that I didn't fully complete it last time, like I have now." Shiki replied, folding his arms behind his back "Truly, this was just a test since I wasn't so sure on it last time. It would seem that your dragon, Yuri-kun, holds a secret that you don't know about and likely will never know about until it is too late."
Yuri looked down at Starve Venom, the dragon having moderately calmed down from earlier. There was a secret that he didn't know? Starve Venom had been with him since birth as far as he could recall, if there was something about his Ace that he didn't know about, it would be a major event for him. But now that he thought about it more, when he had arrived in Standard Starve Venom had been glowing strongly the past couple of days before that. He still didn't know what the reason behind that was, did Shiki know?
Shaking the thought out of his head, Yuri hopped down off of his dragon and picked up an action card on the way down. He would end this quickly and get that answer from Shiki. "Battle! Starve Venemy attacks Tainted Angel Uriel!"
Starve Venemy charged wantonly through the strip, looking to snap Uriel like a twig. The Tainted Angel looked back at its master with a smug grin, leading Shiki to respond "Uriel still has more attack points. You're going to regret this attack, Yuri-kun."
"I activate the Action Card Showstopping Strike!" The action card was rather basic, simply showing a black featureless figure bathing in the limelight while a beam appeared out of its hand "With this card, my beautiful Venemy gains 1000 attack points but all battle damage done by it is now halved!"
Venemy's ATK: 2500 – 3500
Starve Venemy followed through, powered up by all of the lights of the strip around them. Its vines extended out and latched onto Uriel, the constrictions crashing clean through the Tainted Angel's mid-section, making the monster slowly fade away into a bright light for the briefest moment "Uriel's other effect! By detaching one Overlay Unit, Uriel isn't destroyed in battle!" Uriel returned but looked notably more worn out despite an increase in its attack power.
"But you still take the damage!" Yuri retorted.
Shiki's LP: 3600 – 3550
Uriel's ATK: 3400 – 3600
"Rafflesia! Take out Uriel once and for all! At this moment, Rafflesia's effect activates! Whenever it battles a monster, Rafflesia gains 1000 attack points and the monster it attacks loses 1000 attack points!"
Rafflesia's ATK: 2500 – 3500
Uriel's ATK: 3600 – 2600
Rafflesia bolted from Yuri's side and snapped Uriel in half again, a painful screeched tore itself from the mouth of the Tainted Angel as it shattered under the pressure. Shiki's field was now totally bare except for on the one Loveless token that floated around aimlessly, Yuri had his eyes set on that for his next attack.
Shiki's LP: 3550 – 2650
"Yuri-oniichan only needs Starve Venom's attack to connect now and then he's won!" The kids and Shuzo cheered. Yuzu and Gong were also smiling, even though it had only been two turns, it looked like Yuri had this one totally wrapped up. Although, if they took the time to look over to their sides and peak at how Kioka, Teru, and Kichirou were acting they would find out that their assertion was dead wrong.
"Now, Starve Venom Fusion Dragon! Attack that token and end this!" Starve Venom rose up majestically, and despite Yuri still not knowing what Shiki's whole point for this duel was, he was more than comfortable to beat him first and then get the answers. How he was able to cause Starve Venom's episodes, also played on Yuri's mind.
As Starve Venom's attack came closer and closer, Shiki made no effort to move despite the appearance of an Action Card right next to him that may have helped save him in this instance. "There's poem I used to tell my son, Yuri-kun." Eyes widened, including the Gothic trio's, at that admission. Shiki had a son? "The poem itself is centuries old, old enough to be traced to the very start of our family history. In it included a line that went something like "If you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two imposters just the same, if you can keep your head and others around you are losing theirs, yours is the Earth and everything in it!" I'm not on speaking terms with him, as you can guess, but that's not the point here. The point is that I'm still very much in control of this duel. I activate the effect of my Tainted Angel Kokabiel from my graveyard! By banishing this monster from my graveyard, I can negate your attack!"
Starve Venom's attack was stopped dead in its tracks as it hit the brick wall of Kokabiel. The Tainted Angel emerging out of Shiki's graveyard in a spectral form and taking the attack, before vanishing once more. The token still aimlessly flying about the place.
"Ugh! So close!" Ayu moaned, frustrated by Shiki's ability to wriggle out of what looked to be a certain win.
"I end my turn." Yuri said with a grumble as Starve Venom retreated to his side.
Yuri's cards x0
Turn 3
"My turn, I draw!" As soon as Shiki ripped the top card off of the top of his deck, the ground began to rumble. A blazing circle of navy blue fire encapsulating the entire field appeared out of nowhere as its flames licked the entire area, reducing most of it to ash as soon as they touched it. Shiki smirked as he saw Yuri's face twist into panic "Yuri-kun~." He sang "I bet you thought that you had gotten rid of Loveless forever, didn't you? Well, there is a reason he is my Ace after all! I activate Loveless' effect from the graveyard! By banishing one Tainted Angel XYZ Monster and paying half of my remaining Life points, I can summon him back to the field!"
"What!?" Was the collective screech of everyone who didn't already know of this effect. The flames burned larger and hotter, their power building to a crescendo as some of them moved back onto Shiki's body and some pooled in the middle, taking the form of Loveless as the hulking Tainted Angel made its reappearance without so much as a bother.
Loveless' ATK: 2900 – 3200
Shiki's LP: 2650 – 1325
Shiki smirked, he understood perfectly what Yuri was going to try and do now. He could already see him doing it by looking for Action Card. Yuri was going to stall him on this turn so he could win when it flipped back to being his turn.
That simply would not do. He had to teach Yuri his lesson, regardless of the methods he used to force it into that boy's thick skull.
And he had just the right person to teach the lesson to as well, killing two birds with one stone.
Flicking the card to end it all around in his hand, Shiki began to speak. "Now. During your duel with that Hokuto boy from LDS, he used a method of XYZ summoning that you hadn't seen before, he rebuilt the overlay network with his own Monster, correct?" Yuri nodded "Good, so you can remember that. But as the saying goes, there's more than one way to skin a cat. His method of doing it isn't the only way for you to summon another XYZ Monster with the XYZ before it as the network. Watch closely, I activate the Spell Rank-up Magic of the Tainted Angels!" A mass gathering of all of the Monster Yuri had seen so far, spattered the artwork of the card. "With this card I target one Tainted Angel XYZ Monster I control and then summon one XYZ Monster from my extra deck that's one Rank higher! Using Loveless, I rebuild the Overlay Network!"
In LDS, the Summoning Sensors they had were going haywire and without their President being back yet, they had no clue how to respond.
You Show was thrown into a state of disarray, the sight of this new way of XYZ summoning shocking all of them. A collective "WHAT?!" Was screeched the second Shiki had explained his card's effect, the already extremely powerful force they had felt with Loveless' Summon had magnified ten-fold and threatened the limitations of their ARC system. In the background of all of this, however, Sora felt a sense of irrational anger build up in him.
That card was a card that shouldn't have existed. Not anymore…
"By the sacred name, obey me world! Prostate thyself! O ye who dare to disobey the heavens!" The Overlay Network, with the resurrected form of Loveless slipping back into it, exploded in a sea of navy blue flames that properly incinerated anything and everything that dared to get in its way "XYZ Summon! Rank 9! Tainted Angel Supreme Deity Loveless!" Tainted Angel Supreme Deity Loveless' appearance wasn't all that different from the original Loveless, at least in size. It was still very, very large, with even grander, sweeping black wings that were as black as the night itself. It had bulging muscles and ebony skin that was set ablaze with a navy blue fire that blazed even stronger and more powerfully than before. The same fire was curled around its face, burning down any flesh that may have existed at some point. This time round, it formed pseudo long hair with trails that were torching the ground next to Shiki further and a full beard. A massive inferno also raged over where its heart would've been. There were large horns poking out of its forehead.
Yuri could just feel the oppression that Supreme Loveless oozed from its existence. His knees felt weak and simply standing still was becoming an arduous task. Staring at Supreme Loveless' blazing features for even a second, made his heart race unreasonably fast and his mouth turn into the Sahara desert faster than what he would've wanted.
Tainted Angel Supreme Deity Loveless, Rank 9, DARK, Fairy, XYZ, Effect (3500/2200) OLU's: 1
"That's it…" Teru spoke, heads instantly snapping 90 degrees to where he was standing "What we were… Reacting too was… Not so much Loveless… But what it meant… For him…" The constant pauses caused by Teru's impediment, albeit unintentional, only added to the growing sense of foreboding that blanketed the observation room.
Yuzu, taking this time to look down at her wrist for the first time, hitched her breath. Her bracelet wasn't just glowing or pulsating rapidly, but it was now a sustained beam of pink that even the others around her were being to take notice of. "Yuzu-oneechan…" Ayu said, looking into the bright light "Has it always done that?"
The pink haired girl looked down at the younger red haired one, initially she wanted to say that she did in fact know the reason behind it. However, as soon as she went to open her mouth, the words died on her tongue. She turned her gaze away and bit her bottom lip back, unwilling to lie to such an innocent, young child.
Back at the duel, Shiki grinned at Yuri from ear to ear "First things first, Yuri-kun, I'm sorry for lying to you and building false trust by saying that Loveless was my Ace Monster. Personally, it's very degenerate to do so, but the reality was that Loveless was only one step along the path to this singularity point. I need you to understand this one point before we proceed, you now no longer have a chance in hell of winning this duel through normal means."
Yuri curled his top lip at that remark, scoffing. "What makes you think that? As far as I'm aware, I have more Life Points and more Monsters. You're the one who is not going to ein as far as I'm concerned."
"Keh, there's that attitude again. Ah, whatever I'll I do with you?" Shiki said with a sigh, dropping his hands to his hips. Turning his head up to his new monster, an idea entered his head as he smirked deviously "Hey, Lily? Do you remember how I said I was going to tell you a story just before I summoned Bernael? Well, I'm sorry it took me so long, but we have finally reached the point where I can start to regal with a tale that begins with this here XYZ Monster. Tainted Angel Supreme Deity Loveless."
Shiki started to move forward, swiping a soot covered action card off the ground as he did so "The Tainted Angels are an old collective, older than the oldest known human families that still exist to this day. I'm not about to bore you with the details about their entire history or how they came into being, that's far too long a story for this day and I intend to sleep tonight too." The gap closed between them as fire trailed behind Shiki wherever his foot was placed "But it all starts with one Monster, Tainted Angel Supreme Deity Loveless. Deity Loveless is the God of these Tainted Angels, as the name would suggest, all of them are answerable to him and all of them will do nothing that dares to threaten its power. However, there was this one Tainted Angel in particular that stood out to it. The card that you so callously destroyed. Tainted Angel Uriel."
A deep inhuman growl and the increase of the searing flames had Yuri sweating bullets from the heat alone. He knew it wasn't natural, Shiki had said as much, but just how powerful was this so called "Psychic Duelist"?
"Now, Uriel was a younger member of the collective. At most, Uriel had only been around with the others for about 150 years. Hence, why he is still the most angelic out of all of them despite his fall to such depraved levels. His crime? He took the life of a fellow angel known as El, such a sad and sordid story between them, but as with before, it is already too long for me to recite in one go." The distance between them was barely the size of Chimera Rafflesia, all three of Yuri's monsters huddling inwards to protect their master from the perceived threat. "Uriel was a kindly angel, no matter what the story about its fall says. They were unfairly punished for taking pity and they sure as hell didn't like how they had been kicked out. This is where Deity Loveless comes into play, Yuri-kun, Deity Loveless saw the potential in this new addition. Deity Loveless wanted to see this new member succeed, so they trained and trained and trained and trained, the bond they formed was unimaginably strong. Like a Father and Son."
Shiki was right up in Yuri's face now, this sharp, predatory eyes now ramrodding their way through Yuri's and making him feel like a weak, insignificant pest. They had been face to face so many times in these last few, yet this one was entirely different to all of the other occasions. So used to playing the predator, Yuri was very much the prey before the person in front of him. "And take it from me, boy. Father-son relationships are very, very, important. I take it that you understand my point? Yuri Sakaki."
The way Shiki leered in, the way the tenor of the conversation was going, the cadence, the emphasis on the last part. He knew something, something that he shouldn't have known. Yuri remembered at the docks that he had told Shiki his cover story, that he was simply adopted following the disappearance of his supposed "brother". Whilst not the best explanation, nobody bothered to question it.
The rational side of him wanted to believe that Shiki had bought into it too, that he was merely bringing up the adoption fact that Yuri had told him to emphasise his point further. However, the paranoid and irrational part of him was fearing the worst. Something he didn't even want to entertain the thought of.
"Tainted Angel Supreme Deity Loveless' effect, by using one Overlay Unit, it gains 500 attack points for every Tainted Angel Monster in my graveyard!" The fire pulled back and fed into Deity Loveless' body, allowing Yuri a reprieve from the heat but not from Shiki "I was never very good at maths but if I'm correct, the Tainted Angels in my Graveyard total three, so that means that Deity Loveless will be gaining 1500 until the end of the next turn!" The already impressive totally grew larger.
Deity Loveless' ATK: 3500 – 5000
"Then I activate this card from my hand, Halberd of the Tainted Angels!" The card art wasn't all that fancy, simply showing the looming shadow of Deity Loveless clutching tightly onto the silver Halberd in question. "I equip this card to a Tainted Angel XYZ Monster I control, such as Deity Loveless', and that Monster will now be able to not only make a second but during the damage step it will gain 600 attack points and your monster loses 600 attack points!" The Halberd appeared fully, flames spreading rapidly as Deity Loveless took hold of it.
Walking back to his side of the field, Shiki made a cursory glance over his shoulder at Yuri "Lily, do remember that I made you duel me so that you could learn a lesson. You've made no progress so far."
Yuri's brain was still too busy going at a mile a minute over the previous comment Shiki had made about Father and Son relationships to even think about what was properly going on. However, when he did realise the situation that had unfolded upon him and heard those words that Shiki uttered so coldly, he started to think through what Shiki could possibly want. 'Lesson? So far, all he's done is blow smoke up his ass and then try to lecture me in a roundabout way about Father and Son relationships. He hasn't tried to teach me anything, what the hell is one about?!'Carefully avoiding the stray patches of fire, Yuri moved for an action card. If he could prevent that second attack from happening, he still had a good chance of winning this duel. That's all that mattered.
Seeing this, Shiki shook his head 'So… So… Disappointing, Yuri.' This was really was turning out to be a tremendous waste of time. "Battle! Tainted Angel Supreme Deity Loveless attacks Starve Venemy Dragon! Flaming Halberd Desolation!" Everything was set alight, nothing was left untarnished as Deity Loveless streaked wantonly to cleave Starve Venemy in two "Remember, whenever a Monster equipped with Halberd attacks they gain 600 attack points whereas your monster loses 600!"
Deity Loveless' ATK: 5000 – 5600
Starve Venemy's ATK: 2500 – 1900
The fire raged and cut Yuri's path off, the Action card he could see, and was aiming for, was trapped in them with no hope for escape. The resulting blast from Starve Venemy's destruction was like nothing he had ever felt in his life. Unspeakable power and force sent everything that hadn't been destroyed already around them careening away into the distance, the glitzy strip that had existed at the start of the duel was now a total barren wasteland all because of one man.
Said man laughed loudly as he witnessed the destruction of Starve Venemy, admittedly he did think he had been a little too destructive this time round and that Yuri was lucky to escape from the blast with no visible physical damage, although Shiki wasn't too sure about the mental side if Yuri's thousand yard stare was any indicator. Thinking with sympathy for a second, Shiki had just witnessed what had happened with Kali Yuga and Reiji, the fallout of that, and with what had happened at his own school, so realistically he shouldn't have put that much force into this attack. But sadly, sometimes you had to give stupid, stupid humans that extra push into figuring something out.
Yuri's LP: 4000 – 300
"Do you have a way to get out of this one, Yuri-kun?" Shiki chirped, his tone once again being totally inappropriate for the situation "You know I hate to mention this, but even going for an Action Card in this situation would be a stupid move." Brandishing the card his hand, a card with art of a green 'A' with a red 'X' going through it, Shiki moved towards the Predator Plant duelist for the last time "The fact of the matter is that you've lost this duel already. You didn't even think to plan ahead for your next turn, did you? If there is one big criticism of you think of, it is that you are too one note. You have no strategy nor contingency plan if your first move doesn't go off properly."
"Was that what you want to teach me?" Yuri replied dully, numb to yet another defeat. That card in Shiki's hand effectively killed off any of his remaining vestiges of hope.
"Don't be an idiot, boy!" Shiki snapped suddenly, the vigour and anger in his voice shocking everyone listening in. Realising the scene he caused, Shiki cleared his throat before speaking again ""If you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two imposters just the same, if you can keep your head and others around you are losing theirs, yours is the Earth and everything in it." That's the poem that I taught my son. No matter what he may think of me now, I know that he has taken that belief to heart. I told you before that I'm relentlessly stubborn when it comes to things, I believe that luck will always eventually side with me in all matters and do you know why? Because I refuse to believe in an outcome that doesn't benefit me. I'm not saying that it always works but you should always fight on regardless of the situation. What's the point in believing something if you never take action? A spider doesn't stop building its web if it breaks once, does it?"
"Was that what you want to teach me?" Yuri repeated dully, still dead to the world around him.
Shiki shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. He had forgotten how difficult it was raising teenagers. "Do you want to learn something? If not, then I won't bother wasting my time on you again. If you were so shook because one person got hold of something that you had, it makes you no better than a petulant six year old child. If you were so shook that there was someone better than you out here in the world, it makes you no better to that ignorant fool Sawatari."
'Wait… He knew about that?' Yuri and the You Show group thought, bar Shuzo whose brain had long since stopped processing any information when he saw the devastation of Yusho's favourite Action Field.
"If you were so shook that your weak ass field was destroyed for two turns in a row and you had no discernible back up plan, it makes you no better than a duelist starting out for the first time." Shiki turned his gaze next to his students, all of them snapping to attention "If you were so shook by one defeat that you felt the need to think the world was over, it makes you less than any students at their worst. If you were so shook that you can't even think clearly… Do you deserve to have Pendulum Summon? It's very clear Reiji made better use of it, I could make better use of it, Ki-kun, Teru-kun, and Bitch-chan, could all make far better use of it. Seeing it now, even Yusho Sakaki, a coward of a man that vanished and ran away from fate, would make better use of it. Your use has been nothing but a failure, an utter failure."
He had been numb for a while, Shiki's words being nothing but white noise to him, but Yuri couldn't abide by the slander he had just heard drip from Shiki's lips. There was great rumbling his soul as the words seeped further into his brain.
"COWARD."
"Ran away."
"Failure."
"Failure."
"FAILURE!"
Abuse. He had suffered so much abuse because of day in Standard and years of living in Academia. He was the Demon Prodigy in Fusion and the son of a coward in Standard. Sometimes it felt like he was hated by life itself, like it had some sick and twisted sense of humour.
But one bit of abuse that he wasn't going to take, absolutely no way in hell, was from this man who had barged his way into his life, sent his cult of students to attack him, and was now insulting everything about him. His father too. By extension, he was insulting Yuzu and all of Yow Show as well. It was an anathema to Yuri.
If Shiki was going to insult them all, Yuri would just prove to him that everything he had said was wrong "Don't you ever say that again! Why does what I do matter to you? Why are you so obsessed with me? And what makes you think you have the right to give me the whole "Reason I suck" speech? Honestly, I'm used to people talking down to me, I hate it, but I can deal with it. What I won't ever tolerate is someone talking ill of my friends! What have you got to be so proud of, Sogami? All of your protégées are head cases, in case you haven't noticed! I'd take this school any day of the week over your cult! And if you or LDS ever come back here, I'll put it all on my back, I won't ever let them suffer the same hate I have, I'll protect this school!"
Ah. The push worked. A ghost of a smile fluttered onto Shiki's lips. Still. He couldn't play his whole hand just yet. This little livestock need to realise one more thing "Yes, protect your school. That's good. But you'll never do it at this rate." Raising up his hand and letting it erupt into flames, Shiki motioned Deity Loveless "If you can make one heap of all your winnings and risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, and lose, and start again at your beginnings, never breathing a word about your loss. You might still be a man yet, Yuri-kun. Attack Starve Venom! Flaming Halberd Desolation!"
It was instantaneous, Shiki not caring enough for power or theatrics this time round. He had made his point already and wasn't in the business of losing more time. Plus, if the feeling he was getting in his chest was anything to go off of, he was getting too close to this place.
Starve Venom befell a similar fate to Starve Venemy, although this time instead of it going somewhat peacefully, Starve Venom shrieked and screeched as it was incinerated. Yuri clutched his chest, this had never happened to him before and he didn't know why it was now of all times. His soul felt like it was shattering even further, maybe it was the words spoken by Shiki earlier in duel that were having this effect.
Yuzu's bracelet also died down, not that she had been paying attention to it for the last while as she watched the final moments of the duel unfold.
Yuri's LP: 300 – 0
Shiki: Win!
The field depleted, the desolation rolling back into the standard cage arena set up. Yuri had stood his ground in the final moments, he saw the man in front of him pick up his fedora and make a move to leave. Yuri wasn't going to let him out of his sight until the sicko left You Show "I lost. Huh, it seems to be happening a lot recently. But know this, Sogami, whatever your sick mind is planning, whatever twisted fantasy your mind is playing out for your amusement, I'll become even stronger. You say I'm too predictable? Just you wait, I'll become even stronger and I will take that trophy at the championship! I will become everything and more!"
Shiki folded his arms and looked down at the ground, slinking past Yuri, his freezing body just grazing Yuri's red-hot one. Just for an instance, their eyes met and Yuri felt his blood run cold. "Good, very good. Aggressive Livestock are the best Livestock. Deity Loveless and the rest of us will be waiting…"
Falling into lockstep behind their Principal, Teru, Kioka, and Kichirou, who had been remarkably silent, more so on Kichirou not swearing up a storm, looked back at the rest of them with a sneer on all of their faces. They looked as if they regarded You Show as nothing but shit to be scrapped off of their boots, it was more contemptuous than even the LDS sneers that had been haughtier in nature.
True to his own mental promise, Yuri followed the quartet until every last bit of them had left the Duel School. His goal had always been to be the strongest, it was a goal that had felt naturally right to him and he still longed to stand at the top of the world, but who was stopping him from having a little supplementary goal in the process? He was going to take down Enchanted Underworld Duel School and, by extension, Shiki Sogami. LDS would just have to wait.
If he couldn't beat this challenge, he wouldn't bother carrying on Yusho's legacy.
But he wasn't going to fail.
He was going to win.
…Winning was everything!
(Synchro Dimension)
Yugo stirred. His groggy eyes not fully registering his surroundings. It wasn't helped by the fact his head hurt like a bitch. It felt awfully breezy wherever he was, a dopey smile started to cross his lips as he dreamed about feeling the breeze flowing through his and Rin's hair and propelling them to their future. Like a free bird, he would spread his wings and fly through that liberating breeze, soaring with Rin at his side above the society that would try to clip their wings.
As function returned to his ears, he picked up the noise of a gentle, rhythmic taping. Practiced and poised, as if the source was intentionally sending out a message through it. Yugo could never understand Morse code or code in general, that had always been Sakura's thing…
Wait.
Sakura.
Rin too.
Where were they? The first thing he should've heard after waking up was the collective wrath of his two best friends for being such an idiot. For how he had risked everything just because of the bastard that had taken Rin away from him and how reckless he had been in getting her back. Instead, all he heard was that inane tapping.
Until a voice, bored and tired, decided they were finally going to cease the tapping and speak "Ah, you're finally awake. I was wondering if you'd ever do that."
Through his blurry vision, Yugo could scarcely make out what the person looked like. They were definitely male and an adult with insanely pale skin. The parts he could make out included the man's two toned spiky longish hair with the top half being brown and the bottom half being green, the green section rests on his shoulders while the brown section is spiked up, a small braid with the green hair also was present. He had particularly long eyelashes and generally looked rather effeminate the closer Yugo looked at him. A small scar was just above his lip. His outfit was too blurred for him to notice but played second fiddle to what he saw as the man came closer into view.
The man leaned down, giving Yugo a lazy smirk and flashing his eyes. Eyes that suffered from sectional heterochromia in a very beautiful way, glowing gold and deep purple made them look like gemstones glinting in the darkness. They were mesmerizing. "Would you care to explain to me why I found a kid like you in rags and in a dumpster? Are you on drugs?"
What? Yugo snapped out of his trance as soon as he heard those words spill. He stared quizzically at the man who he was now able to see wearing a surgical mask around his neck and a pair of latex gloves. Had he found him? Was that really what happened? His head hurt too much too think straight. If he could pierce through that cloudiness then he might have been able to answer the question, but as it was, the man spoke again "Actually. Don't answer that. You ain't in the proper state, even someone like myself knows a concussion when he sees one and I ain't getting much else but gibberish. Name's Sigma by the way, got any friends? Although I couldn't imagine them leaving you out there if you did."
Sigma. That was a false name so obvious that a brain dead rat could've figured it out, it should've been ringing alarm bells in Yugo's mind. However, his own grogginess was his worst enemy as the thought was shot down as soon as it had entered his head. As he tried to sit up, the man's hand immediately forced him back down "No way. Like I said, I ain't a doctor but if you try to do anything at this point in time you may as well have a death wish."
Yugo grumbled but relented. He watched Sigma as carefully as he could as the heterochromatic male lit up a cigarette and placed it between his lips, an ugly sight on a beautiful face "Honestly, brat. You've got some nerve to be hanging around that area all by yourself, judging from how you were when I found you I can only assume that you got yourself into some deep ass shit." Sigma sighed, rubbing his temples "If you do have friends; or God help it a girlfriend, you must be awfully good at making them worry. I'll be frank with you, it looked suspicious as all hell when I had to carry you to my place so don't go out and get yourself into even more trouble. You got lucky that they obviously didn't want you."
Knowing that Sigma didn't expect him to respond, Yugo tried to look around the location. Presently he was in a bed, a bed of such high quality that if he was in it under any other circumstance it would have him crying for days. It was already the nicest thing anyone had ever given to him. However, there was more he need to take notice of than just a bed. Already from the bed he could glean that he was in the Tops district. That feeling only increased as he looked around the bedroom, a large cupboard, full to the brim with clothes, stood tall and proud not far away. There was what looked to be an en suite bathroom on the other side of the room and Sigma himself was sat on a table with an ashtray that was close enough to the bed for it to be next to useless except in these situations. A book the man had been reading was strewn across the table with its cover flapping over the edge. "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" was the title Yugo caught sight of. That's what Sigma must have been tapping on earlier, Yugo mused.
"You want something to eat?" Sigma then asked out of the blue, making Yugo crane his head over just a little too fast causing a bout of pain to shoot through him "Oi, calm yourself, if you hurt yourself I ain't going to help you. Although, I'll take that as a yes, I do suppose it's only natural since you were out for a few days or so."
Yugo balked and felt vomit race up his throat. Days? He had been knocked out for days?! How long exactly! What the fuck was he doing here in the first place?! He was losing valuable time on finding Rin! Whatever sicko had her was probably having his way with her at this very moment and that sent off this strangely dark, possessive side of him that ate at him from the inside. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! No way are you standing up! I literally just said that! Jesus, kids these days!"
The Speedroid duelist blinked, he hadn't noticed that his body acted on its own and had jumped from the bed. Instantly, Sigma shoved him back down, cigarette hanging in his mouth by the thinnest of margins. "Honestly, think about your health for just one goddamn second! Look at you damn skin!"
He did as instructed and felt that vomit, which he had previously been able to force down, collate on his tongue. His skin was splotchy, dark purple bruises littered it and contrasted heavily with the deathly white tone of his skin. Makeshift bandages had been wrapped around other areas and Yugo frankly didn't want to know what lay underneath. Raising his hand to his head tentatively, he touched another wrapping of bandages and frantically lowered his hand.
"For all that is good in this world, don't do anything more. I don't know what happened in there, how long you were there for, and frankly I don't wanna know. I'd much prefer to keep my lunch down and thinking about this shit is just making me sick at the moment." Sigma bemoaned as he stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray before standing up and walking to the door. "I'm going to get you something to eat, that much is final. When I come back, I will see you still in that bed having not moved a muscle. Ya got that, brat?"
Not waiting for a response to an obviously rhetorical question, Sigma flung the door open and thundered down the stairs with footsteps that sounded like a giant's, leaving Yugo all by himself and alone with his returning thoughts.
With cognition actively functioning again, Yugo began to think through the situation. Everything prior was still a blur, he vaguely remembered something about being out on the search for Rin and an image of a man played large in his mind. He felt his body shiver as he pictured him, whoever this person was must have had one hell of an effect on him if he couldn't remember who they were but was still terrified.
Another face, one with royal purple hair, also entered into his mind. One with cracked skin, chapped lips and a bright blood orange eye staring at him from the shadows. A face he had never seen before in his life stood the clearest in his memory, jeering at him ghoulishly with its decayed look. He was lucky he couldn't see the rest through his hazy memory, the implications of what the rest of it looked like made him actually throw up this time. Vomit coating the floor next to the bed now. Shit, Sigma was probably going to be really pissed now.
That thought made him think more about the man who was now looking after him, bringing back his initial suspicions of the heterochromatic male. The obvious false name aside, why on earth would be hanging around somewhere where Yugo was? The man's room was enough for him to figure out that Sigma was likely a Top, something that made the situation even stranger. Tops never usually bothered themselves in going into Commons districts. For some reason, Yugo couldn't remember the exact location of where he ended up when searching for Rin, but he distinctly remembered that it couldn't have been anywhere near the Tops district and there strangely wasn't any Security presence. A place like that would've been a death knell for a careless Top like Sigma.
Another thing he now picked up on was how Sigma had mentioned the time length, now able to think it through calmly and without the need to suddenly rocket up from the bed. Days. He had said that he had been out for "a few days" at the very least. Was that from when Sigma found him? Or was it from when he was apparently knocked out? How long had Sigma been watching over him?
As he thought harder, fought harder to clear that fog encapsulating his mind. An image snapped through that darkness and acted as the light that lit up reality.
A terrible screeching wrenched from him, his insides felt like they were on fire and that fire was screaming to be released. Dark, oh so dark flames were torching him. His body felt like it was morphing into a monstrous shape, his tailbone hurt, his eyes burnt, his hands felt like they were shifting and becoming something inhuman.
WhAt WaS ThAt FaCe?!
Panic swelled up in him as he breathing increased rapidly and fervently. It HuRT! WhAt WaS ThIs BuRiNg?! That face, that face, that face, that face, that face, that face, that face, that face, that face, that face, that face, that face, that face, that face, that face, that face, that face, that face, that face, that face.
ThAt FaCe ShOuLdN'T HaVe ExIStED!
All of that haziness was dispersing and leaving destruction in its wake as his mind was torn apart by what had bulldozed its hideous way to the forefront.
It started tame enough. Right after the duel, he had regained consciousness for just long enough to hear two people talking.
"Kuh, shitty kid didn't do anything. What a fucking waste. Once we get what we want from him, dump him. Don't care where, just do it. That aura of his is a pain in the ass too, dunno what sort of fucked up shit is going on in his mind."
"Junichiro, perhaps it would be best to consult with Master first. He wouldn't take too kindly to you blowing up his plans like that."
"Nah, it's a cinch. I'll have Arlond-san talk to him and convince him of the merits of what I'm trying to do. By the by, Mukami-san, know any doctors?"
"One."
But quickly his mind brought up another scene. He was consciousness but felt dead simultaneously. His limbs stapled and bolted to an operating table, his voice wanting to scream out despite not having the power to do so, his body crying out for someone to save it as someone cut deep in. Standing next to them was that face that shouldn't have existed anymore.
ThEy WeRe SuPpOsEd tO bE dEaD!
"Hold it. You're not out to hurt them."
"I'm going to do whatever it takes for the key to be brought out of him. In order to keep on living, sacrifice is necessary." The doctor replied, cutting and pulling at bits of skin. Wantonly, he carried on with no regard for Yugo's well-being. There was no rhyme or rhythm
Then the fucker laughed, a filthy, disgusting laugh that made his soul feel corrupted "Then please, show me how far you can go. Zared was so looking forward to reuniting with number one but if Junichiro thinks that we can be better served from proceeding in this manner, who am I to judge? They're more down to earth. Not like I'll allow my son near a demon to start with."
Whoever this doctor monster operating on him was, they violated every part of the Hippocratic oath as they cut in deeper. It may have only been his arm that he remembered them digging into, but if the bandages on his arms hid scars… What did the bandages on his head hide?
"How's it feel, demon boy? You ripped me apart, so now my associates will do the same. It's funny! Hey, l look forward to seeing you again!"
A crunch followed as the bottom of the fucker's face leered over him, it looked even worse when it was as clear as day. It frightened him, to put it bluntly.
But what frightened him more was the thought of what could happen to his friends. Rin. She mightn't be here but something about the monster who stood next to the doctor that day oozed confidence and supremacy. It was almost as if he could wipe a person from existence with just the snap of his fingers and the single thought was petrifying.
Sakura too was at risk, more so than Rin due to two main facts. 1) She wasn't in some unknown location, although the peppy girl could literally be anywhere if the mood struck her which made Yugo feel just that bit more comfortable. 2) She was too much of a snooper, always had been since he and Rin had known her. She was almost guaranteed to already be prowling around looking for him.
She was going to get caught.
She was going to get caught.
She was going to get caught.
They were going to do the same to her as they had done to him.
His breathing was increasing once again. Even more fervent than before. His chest tightening, barely resting before going back down, nothing going into his lungs. It felt like he was drowning in fresh air.
Then he was back in that room. Back in that cage with the shitbag shortass watching over him with his creepy right hand man. They were tormenting him for his failure. For how he couldn't save his friends. How he would always be their pet. How Commons were below Tops and his failure only fuelled that fire.
It was hopeless and he felt so goddamn alone. No Rin. No Sakura. He didn't even know where his deck was, Clear Wing must've been hurting so bad.
Then the door opened again. An event that was quickly followed by a clatter and crash and Sigma glomping him.
"Oi, oi, oi! Yugo! Yugo! Yugo! Shush, shush, shush." The effeminate male cooed, rubbing Yugo's back "Focus on my eyes. Focus. Everything's alright now. Why? Because I'm here and I will not allow a kid like you to go back to a place like that."
Following his orders, Yugo, still hyperventilating, looked into Sigma's mesmerising eyes once more. The trance like state fell upon him again, he felt an overwhelming need to lose himself in them as his ears focused in on Sigma's voice and Sigma's voice alone. Nothing else mattered. "It's alright. You can cry, you can say whatever you want, you can do absolutely anything. But you are not to panic, panicking about non-entities is something that only leads to pain. Believe me, I know how much pain you must be going through. Memory is a very fickle thing and to have them all come at you like that must be hard." Yugo towed the line and began to sob silently into Sigma's shoulder. The white overcoat slung around his shoulders now dripped with the salty tears of the Speedroid duelist. "Let your breathing steady."
As Yugo's breathing returned to normal levels, palpitations in his heart quelling, Sigma gave another lazy smile as he pulled Yugo off of him and looked down "Here. Lemme tell you something about myself. I know what it's like to deal with memory issues or having a rush of them, I know how fickle memory can be. Hell, I don't remember how old I am!" The puffy eyes of Yugo widened at that moment as Sigma scratched the back of his head sheepishly "Yeah, it's a funny thing memory. Mine is even worse, it's like Retrograde Amnesia but is more in line with something called Psychogenic Amnesia, and I don't really know what to call it. Basically, I have a lotta gaps in my memory and don't blame me if I end up forgetting this conversation. My short term memory is pretty good but if I'm honest I can't for the life of me remember much about myself, my name and job are the only things which are absolute."
Then Sigma smirked, looking as if he had reached enlightenment in that very moment "But don't get any ideas. I ain't going to tell you my real name, brat. You ain't there yet, but once you get better and I mean better better, I'm going to show you something. Something wonderful." He looked down at Yugo's face and bore into his eyes "Anyone tell you that your eyes are like sapphires?"
Yeah.
They did.
Once.
When they still cared.
Sigma bit on the back of his thumb, muffling a small cough "Yeah. Now I'm really close I can see it. There's an interesting fact about sapphires that I know has always played a role in how I view this world. You know, better than I do, what this city is like. This city is an absolute wasteland run by sordid people that would rather sniff their own shit than actually help people like you. It's part of the reason I go out searching the streets for people like you that they've just dumped. Like, honestly! Each one of them have their snouts in the trough! It's almost funny how you get those people who come up from the Commons proclaiming that they're going to change the system and then proceed to be puffed full of hot air!"
Huh, that sounded an awful lot like Crow, although they were different people. Crow was more like Robin Hood and, even though he hadn't known Sigma for long, he knew Crow was more down to earth. Sigma was a weird one to place, he mused.
"Ah, I'm getting off topic. What I was going to say was how my view of this city is much like that of a gemstone. I know it isn't particularly obvious but I'm a jeweller and this place is the second floor of my store, and before you ask, people don't know about this so you don't need to worry about it. Most folks and Security think I live in some other place." Sigma rattled off, once more going slightly off of topic.
But he had said earlier that people had watched him carry Yugo to his place, now Yugo didn't know whether to trust that or not
Sigma's face darkened, his beautiful features turning harsh and incendiary "Speaking of Security, I see ya got posters about the place, ya must've done some shit or those assholes who did this to you had contacts."
Another thing that didn't make sense. Yugo's memories told him the exact opposite. Junichiro and Makato had dumped him, a strange contradiction considering what Makato had said to Yugo before the ill-fated duel took place. Why would they want to find him again if they had dumped him? He hadn't done anything worthy of Security's intentions…
Okay, maybe sneaking into the Tops districts for parts to the D-Wheel that one time constituted minor issues with Security.
But if that was the case… He did that before Rin had been kidnapped and had seen no posters.
Either Sigma was lying or those two creeps and the bastard watching the duel wanted him back.
It made no sense.
"Aww, I did it again." Sigma sighed and pouted, slapping himself across the face. Bringing Yugo's attention back to him "Right. This time. This city, and individuals for that matter, are like gemstones. Gemstones are one of a kind but have varying levels of beauty to them as well as colours. You know that sapphires aren't necessarily blue despite being typecast as blue? I have a few different types downstairs, I'll show them to you at some point. But I digress, beauty is often the most important quality to the gemstone. You know that saying "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder"? Yeah, it's true here. Beautiful gems are merely someone's perspective on what is beautiful and not so much on the actuality of where it comes from. This city is one of them, Neo Domino is an ugly looking gem from a beautiful place. You are a beautiful gem from an ugly place. If I were to sum up my view in a quotation it would be "All that glitters is not gold". Only the beauty of the gems I collect are truly gold."
All of a sudden, Sigma levelled Yugo with the most aggressive glare he had seen in a while. A razor sharp grin stretching from ear to ear coated his lips. "Personally, call me a hoarder if you want, once I find a gem I deem beautiful, it is forever in my collection. They're always mine until their beauty no longer enchants me."
The enigmatic male, Yugo really had no better way to describe him, then turned around and carefully sidestepped the vomit and spilt food. Yugo's stomach grumbled as he did that, he was looking forward to that and he wasn't about to demean himself by going down on all fours to lick the floor no matter how clean it was.
As Sigma reached the door for the second time, he stopped and swung his head over his shoulder "Sleep well, Yugo. Tomorrow, you'll soon see my collection, know why I can't help myself and those who lose their lustre must be disposed of."
The door shut.
Sigma smirked.
"But I'm sure you won't disappoint, the Pale Qilin is never wrong and I intend to keep it that way."
A/N: Yeah... Late again... Sorry... I don't even really have an excuse this time, I was just not wanting to finish this chapter. But, I'm going to try and make it up with another chapter this month. In addition to the possible starting of a SEVENS story sometime next month if I see enough in the first few episodes.
Anyway, usual stuff, what did you think of this chapter? And leave a review if you wish.
See ya in the next chapter.