Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh Arc V
"President," Tio called out from his communicator. "We've arrived at the designated area."
"I see," a calm yet serious voice answered. "What have you found?"
Tio rubbed his head annoyed. He didn't think his answer would satisfy but proceeded, nonetheless.
"Honestly, nothing," he admitted.
"Please elaborate," the president requested.
"There is some damage to the surrounding area, however, it's not as serious as the previous incidents," Tio explained. "Also, get this. Unlike the previous incident with Marco, there's no duel disk belonging to the victim left behind."
Tio was greeted with silence on the other end. Now the president was definitely intrigued. No victim, and lesser destruction, as far as attackers went, they usually stuck with one pattern of assault, they didn't swap. Perhaps it wasn't an attack, but simply a regular duel, though he wasn't about to jump to conclusions just yet. When he'd first heard the report of a high energy XYZ summon he had been surprised, not because it had happened but because it occurred in the same place as the first incident, or right next to it.
This presented a unique situation for him. The previous assaults had been more violent and had left greater damage, however with this one there was less. It was possible that the duellist was holding back this time, but for what purpose?
There was something else. Given how different the assailants attack pattern were to the previous one, it suggested that there wasn't one but two or more assailants from the XYZ dimension that were attacking LDS. He wasn't stupid, far from it. The readings they gave off when performing their dimensions summoning betrayed their presence.
"Perform a full sweep of the area and report to me on your findings," he ordered.
"Understood, President," Tio acknowledged before cutting the line.
Reiji Akaba stood up from his chair and gazed out the window at the vast city expanse. From a normal person's point of view, Maiami City could have been considered beautiful as it lit up, and to a certain extent peaceful. Unfortunately, he was not a normal person. He knew that whatever peace this city possessed, would soon be shattered.
Last week, his team had detected a high-powered Fusion Summon in the city, and now it seemed XYZ summon was factoring into it. XYZ was concerning, but Fusion even more so. It meant they had been infiltrated. For what purpose, he did not know, yet.
'Leo Akaba, I don't know what your goal is by sending agents to my dimension, but I swear I will stop you!' Reiji vowed. 'No matter the cost, I will put an end to your ambitions!'
And it was a promise he would work hard to keep.
With Yuto
Yuto was walking towards LDS while keeping out of sight of the general populace. The reason, LDS Main Building was where Shun was most likely to be. Thinking about it logically, LDS was there enemy (allegedly), so Shun would likely try and spy on them when they weren't out and about.
Once he arrived near the building, Yuto kept to the streets as he searched for his comrade. He was careful enough to ensure no one saw him. When he couldn't find him on the ground, Yuto took to the rooftops to look around.
That's when he saw him.
In the distance, wearing a blue trench coat and red scarf to cover his face, was none other than his comrade and best friend, Shun Kurosaki. He was standing on a building rooftop while aiming his duel disk at the building. Yuto was able to tell he was examining how many people were inside the building, or rather how many enemies he would have to fight.
"Shun," Yuto called out.
Shuns concentration broke the second he heard Yuto's voice.
"Yuto," he replied gruffly. "Where have you been?"
"Reconnaissance," he answered while doing his best to remain calm. "Where have you been?"
"Same as you," Shun replied dully.
Yuto wasn't buying it.
"Really? You just observed the people from LDS, you didn't duel anyone?" Yuto pressed.
Through his shades Shun narrowed his eyes at his best friend.
"And what if I did?" Shun growled. "What's it to you?"
Having heard that, Yuto didn't need any more evidence to know Shun was guilty of what he suspected.
"Shun, I am only going to ask you once," Yuto said barely containing his anger. "Did you attack a professor from LDS?"
Shun blinked surprised.
"How'd you find out?" Shun asked.
"So, you did do it?" Yuto interrogated. "Why?"
Shun glared at his companion. That question was stupid in so many ways. Shouldn't it have been obvious.
"Why? Because he was an enemy that's why," Shun snarled. "He used Fusion Yuto, I saw it with my own eyes. When we duelled, he used that evil card on his first turn. Only someone associated with Academia would do that. As such, I did what needed to be done."
"Shun, these people, the members of LDS aren't working with Academia," Yuto argued. "I have duelled a few recently and the way they fight is nothing like Academia. Their attacks lack the strength and sharpness Academia's duel soldiers possess."
"So what!" Shun snapped. "Fusion is Fusion! And anyone who uses that evil method is an enemy of mine! Have you forgotten what those people did to us Yuto? To our friends, our families, our homeland?"
"I could never forget," Yuto argued back. "However, these people are not out enemy. Standard utilises all summoning methods, Fusion included. Are you going to attack everyone here who uses that summoning, even if they are not associated with LDS or Academia? Speaking of LDS, there are those who use XYZ and Synchro, are they enemies of yours?"
Shun didn't need to think about any of those questions.
"Yes to all of those," he stated. "Anyone who uses that summoning method is evil, and I will deal with them as see fit. And those who use XYZ and Synchro from LDS, if they align themselves with them, then they will be considered enemies as well. No exceptions!"
Yuto groaned at how stubborn Shun was being about this. He wasn't even thinking about the factors involved or the consequences surrounding it, he was just unleashing his rage at whoever crossed his path.
"How did you even find out?" Shun asked curiously.
"I overheard a couple of students talking about it," Yuto lied. 'There's no way I'm telling him about Yuzu. If Shun finds out there was a Ruri lookalike here in this dimension, there's no telling what he would do. Also, I would like to teach her XYZ Summoning without any interference.'
Shun didn't seem to pick up on it so they just left it at that.
"They said the professor went missing," Yuto continued. "Shun, please tell me you do what I think you did."
Instead of answering him Shun held up a card. Within it was man with fluffy red and blonde hair holding his arms up with a terrified expression.
Yuto could only stare in horror at what his best friend had done. He carded another person simply because he declared him an enemy, and worse, he had done it like it meant nothing. It made Yuto sick to his stomach.
"How could you?" Yuto growled. "HOW COULD YOU DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS SHUN?! These people aren't Academia, they aren't out enemy! You can't just go around attacking and sealing them into cards just like that!"
"THEY'RE MY ENEMIES!" Shun shouted back. He turned and pointed at the main building. "That man's son is in there running this corporation. The only way to get to him is through his people, and if I have to card each of them one by one just so he comes out of hiding then so be it! If it ends with Ruri being rescued, then that's all that matters. Anything and anyone else is trivial."
It was amazing how their arguing hadn't attracted any attention from nearby bystanders, even if they were on the roof.
"Shun, I miss her to, but this isn't the way," Yuto pleaded. "Ruri would never tolerate what you're doing."
"Ruri. Isn't. Here." Shun stated. "She's locked away, God knows where, by those Academia scum where they're doing who knows what to her." Shun took a moment to compose himself. "This may not be your way, but it is mine. I will do whatever it takes to rescue my sister, even if I have to card everyone in my path."
Yuto felt disturbed by Shun's attitude. The invasion had changed him, but Ruri's disappearance had turned him into something else. Yuto understood why, but that didn't mean he agreed with it.
"No," Yuto said finally.
Shun raised an eyebrow. "No? No what Yuto?"
"No, I won't support you on this one," he said. "I will continue to monitor and investigate LDS my way, however I will not card anyone. If it turns out they are working with Academia, or if Academia comes to this dimension, then I will stand by you and fight. However, you go down this path, and you are on your own."
To him it didn't matter what anyone else thought, he would do what he felt was right.
Shun seemed to understand this, however he couldn't accept it. Turning his back to his best friend Shun started to walk.
"So be it," He said softly, yet there was also a hint of sadness in his voice. "But Yuto, please don't get in my way."
Yuto didn't say anything, not that he wanted to. He was hoping that Shun would see reason, but the opposite had taken place. With a sad expression, he turned in the opposite direction to leave.
He was relieved he'd agreed to be Yuzu's teacher now. With the way he was feeling, it would be a good distraction.
The next day
Yuzu woke up early as usual that morning and went about her usual daily routine. Her father was still upset that she wasn't coming to duel school anymore.
"Dad, I already told you, I'm doing this to get stronger in time for the tournament," she told him.
"I get that, but why can't you do it at the school?" Shuzo huffed. "Is my hot-blooded training not good enough for you?"
"I never said it wasn't good," Yuzu argued. "I just need this training to be a secret. I want to be able to wow you all when the Maiami Championship begins. Trust me dad, you won't be disappointed."
Shuzo sighed in annoyance. He didn't know what had caused this sudden change in his cute daughter (though he had a very good idea) but he had to admit he kind of liked it. Yuzu was aiming to become stronger, to become a much better entertainment duellist than she already was, and he couldn't fault her for that. Why he had been the same during his youth when he was on his path to becoming a pro.
"Fine, if it makes you happy then I won't argue," Shuzo said much to Yuzu's delight. "I will hold you up to your end though."
Yuzu nodded, thrilled she'd gotten his approval.
"By the way, did you hear about Yuya getting four matches to qualify?" she asked in attempt to change the subject.
"Yeah, I was there for it when Nico Smiley came around with the news of Yuya having a free pass into the Championship," Yuzu was still surprised that actually happened. The match against Strong Ishijima was just an exhibition, winning it shouldn't have meant Yuya automatically got a free pass. "While it was a good offer, I'm actually glad Yuya turned it down and is trying to earn his way in." Yuzu couldn't help but agree with that. "Hey is Sora entering do you know?"
Yuzu furrowed her eyebrows.
"Not that I know of," she admitted. "Honestly, I don't know what Sora's duel record is. He only recently came to Maiami so it couldn't be that much. I'll ask him if I see him."
Shortly after that she quickly finished up breakfast and headed off to school. While on the way she met up with Yuya and Sora. She asked Sora about his participation in the tournament to which he said he only found out this morning and asked Yuya to ask Nico Smiley to arrange six matches so he could enter.
At school, things lew by really quickly. Nothing unusual happened. Lessons ran normally, she smacked Yuya with her fan when he fell asleep in class, and they ate lunch together. Luckily, she didn't see Sawatari again. It seemed that he was staying away from Yuya until the tournament started. Perhaps so he could use whatever new Pendulum cards he got. While she did not like him, Yuzu didn't doubt his words about LDS creating new Pendulum cards. Reiji Akaba had managed to do it albeit with a few flaws in the design.
Towards the end of the day however, something did happen. An announcement from the Principal telling them that school would finish this week. Apparently, the LDS Corporation had managed to authorise it so participants in the tournament could focus training on that. How they did that Yuzu never found out, but it didn't matter, it worked out perfectly for her.
'Great, this means I can spend more time training with Yuto,' Yuzu thought.
Once the bell rang, Yuzu gathered her things and left as quickly as possible, while telling a confused Yuya that she had somewhere to be.
Later she arrived at the designated location twenty minutes early, which was at a local park. Much to her surprise, Yuto was already there.
"You're early," Yuzu exclaimed.
"As are you," Yuto countered. "I must say I'm surprised. Most people generally wouldn't show up on time."
Yuzu couldn't argue against that.
"That's true. Since I'm the one who asked you to do this, it would be rude if I didn't," Yuzu explained.
Yuto nodded. "Very well then, let's get started. To start I had us meet here because it's a change of scenery and because we aren't duelling today. There will be time enough for that later. Today we're going to focus on your deck and how to structure it. From what I gathered last night, it's a Light Fairy type deck that focuses on swarming."
"Yes," Yuzu confirmed. "It's mostly so I can summon my ace Mozarta, and then get more monsters out on the field."
That was her primary strategy. And it had won her many duels.
"Would it be alright if I took a look at your deck?" Yuto asked politely.
He received a good look at it last night but he wanted to know what else was there. The more he knew the better he would be able to help her.
Trusting him, Yuzu handed over her deck, to which Yuto quickly skimmed through, reading each card and their effects. It was definitely suited for XYZ Summon, and perhaps Synchro.
"Pretty good. I can think of a few strategies you could use," Yuto admitted. "There's one matter we need to deal first though. We need to get you an XYZ monster."
Otherwise all of this, would be pointless. However, that's where the difficulty arose. First, they needed to find a place that sold the right cards. Yuto knew there were card shops in this city, he had seen them although he never entered. Therefore, he didn't know what shops to buy them in.
"Do you know any stores that would sell XYZ monsters or support cards?" he asked.
"I could look it up. There's this card store app that allows people to look for specific cards and what shops they might be in near you," she explained. "It's quite convenient. I've only used it to get a few Light support cards though."
"Does 'Melodious' have any XYZ monsters in their group?" Yuto asked. "If not, we could look at other monsters. Based on what I've seen from your deck a couple of Rank 4's would suit you."
There were many different archaetypes in this dimension to his own though there were a few cards he recognised.
"I'll look it up now," Yuzu said as she took out her duel disk. She activated the app and typed in what she needed. "Huh, well what do you know, there is an XYZ monster, and it's in a shop I know."
"In that case," Yuto removed his mask. "Let's get moving."
Seeing his face for the second time, Yuzu was genuinely surprised at how much he resembled Yuya. Their faces were almost identical. If you took away eye and hair colour you could say they were twins.
"Is something wrong?" Yuto asked.
"Nothing," Yuzu denied. "It's just that you look a lot like a friend of mine."
Yuto narrowed his eyes. Thinking back when he first met Yuzu, she had called him someone else's name.
"This friend is yours? By any chance, would he be called Yuya?" Yuto enquired.
Yuzu nodded affirmatively. "Yeah. Also, you might find this hard to believe, but he has the same face as you."
'The same face! That's just like when I thought Yuzu was Ruri,' Yuto thought incredulously. 'That seems too much of a coincidence.'
Instead of continuing the conversation, Yuto had them go straight to the store.
Elsewhere
It was a beautiful day in Maiami city. The sun was shining throughout the city as its citizens buzzed with energy. Most were excited for the upcoming Maiami Championship, whether they were participating in it or not, while others were scrambling to gain entry as quickly as possible.
One such participant was walking through the city after a long dance rehearsal. Today's particular lesson had been particularly tiring but well worth the effort. If she continued at the rate she was going, she would achieve her dream with no problems. And participating in this tournament would help her achieve that.
She walked through the streets with no intention other than finding a café to sit down and enjoy some nice 'Blue Eyes' tea at her favourite café, Shining Friendship. At least that's what she was planning until she caught a glimpse of pink across from the street. She stopped suddenly to get a better look.
'Is that?' she wondered. Then pink turned and she got a good look at her face. 'It is her! Gosh it's been so long! I'd better go say hi.' She noticed another person beside Yuzu, a boy with purple hair as they both wandered into a card shop. 'Who's that with her. A boyfriend! Wait, hold on, don't jump to conclusions! He could just be a friend.' There was only one way to find out. 'See you soon Yuzu!'
Inside the card shop
Yuto had to admit he was impressed with some of the cards he was seeing. Standards duellists may not have been the strongest, but they did have some really good cards.
'I honestly wouldn't mind using some of these cards in my deck,' Yuto thought. 'If I had the money that is.'
Since they came to this dimension, Yuto and Shun had been living off rations Sayaka packed for them. They didn't bring any money, not that it would have worked here. The currency was different to what he normally used in his own dimension. When they ran out, he wasn't sure what they would do. Yuto really didn't want to resort to stealing but if things came to it, they would have no choice.
"Excuse me sir," Yuzu addressed holding out her duel disk. "I was looking for a certain card, and I found out it was here. Would you by any chance still have it?"
The shopkeeper examined the card and his eyes widened in recognition.
"Oh, 'Strauss the Melodious Apprentice', yeah we've got it," he informed her. "You a fan of the 'Melodious' Archaetype?"
Yuzu nodded. "Yeah, my deck focuses mostly around that."
"You're in luck then Miss, in addition to Strauss, two more 'Melodious' XYZ monsters came into today, a rank 3 and a rank 5. I could show them to you if you'd like," he offered.
Yuzu hadn't expected this but she jumped at the opportunity. One monster was good, but three was better. Granted the only level 5 monster she had in her deck was Elegy, so she would have to get another.
"Yes please," she quickly agreed. "If you have them, I'd like to take a look."
The shopkeeper went into the back while Yuzu waited with Yuto.
"Well, I must say I didn't expect this," he admitted.
"I know right, I didn't even know they sold 'Melodious' XYZ monsters," Yuzu agreed. "Then again, it's been years since I first got them, so it makes sense."
Yuto could sort of relate. When his parents first got him his Phantom Knights deck, it only had two XYZ monsters related to the archaetype. As years went on, the card company developed a few more without him knowing. It was only by chance he had come across them in a shop and tracking them down was no easy task either. Oddly enough, 'Dark Rebellion' had always been apart of his deck even before he got it, but he couldn't remember how or where.
The shops bell chimed as a new customer entered. For a few seconds nothing happened, until this.
"HEY! Don't you lay a finger on that girl!"
Before anyone could react, Yuzu instinctively whipped out her fan and attempted to hit whoever was coming up from behind her, only to be met with nothing.
Yuto was somewhat intimidated by Yuzu at that moment. An expression of pure rage was painted across her face as she emitted a dark and powerful aura.
'Note to self, don't make her too angry!' Yuto thought frantically. 'Where did she get that fan? Did she have it on her the entire time? If that were the case, where would she keep it?'
Yuzu scanned the room for the perpetrator only to realize there was only one other person in the shop. As soon as she saw her, Yuzu nearly dropped her fan.
The girl was taller than she was. She possessed shoulder length brown hair, and blue eyes. Her attire consisted of a pink coat, a white oxford shirt, a blue tie, a blue pleated skirt, black thigh-high socks, and brown shoes.
The girl smiled warmly and gave small wave to Yuzu.
"Hey Yuzu," she greeted. "Long time no see."
Yuto was now aware that Yuzu knew this woman, albeit he couldn't tell if she was a friend or not.
"I don't believe it," Yuzu exclaimed. "Is that really you, Tea?"
Hi there. Well, what did you think of that? I bet you didn't expect to see Tea Gardner in this story. Since Arc V has legacy characters in three dimensions related to a different series, Asuka and Edo from GX, Jack and Crow from 5D's, Kaito from Zexal, the Standard dimension would likely host individuals from the original series.
The reason I chose to include Tea was because I thought she would be a good friend for Yuzu. You'll see a bit more of their relationship in the next chapter. And before anyone asks yes she can duel. Tea will be participating in the Maiami Championship in the Senior Division.
There will be other Legacy characters showing up in the future, some as antagonists, others as protagonists. I also have plans to introduce an OC as a Lancer who I hope you all will like. Speaking of which, the Lancers will be comprised differently this time. There will be some from the original, but a few extra that weren't like my OC.
The app Yuzu and Yuto used to find the cards they were looking for was something I came up with. In the anime, I can't understand how Sora and Yuzu came across the Melodious Fusion cards unless they went store to store looking for them.
Next chapter will feature Yuzu and Tea reunite as Yuto gets to know them both. It will also feature a duel between Tea and an old adversary. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please review!
