FYI: Thank you all for supporting this fanfic! I am pleased to see that so many people enjoy this! However, I have some slightly bad news for you all. I have decided to take a four-month break that will pop up for, at least, every four months to write this fanfic, starting next month. So you may not be able to see any new chapters for at least four months. I'm open to your opinions and your comments. As they will be great invoices for me to help improve the story. If you are seeing this after the story is complete, you can ignore this.
Ruins of the Duel Sancutary - Heartland City - Xyz Dimension
When Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon stopped glowing, Yuya blinked and found that he was back where the Duel Sanctuary once stood. Celina was looking at him in concern.
"What just happened? One second ago, I was battling the Tyler Sisters. No, I know what happened. I must've had my mind cross-wired with Yugo's again." Yuya held his face with his right hand as he summarized what had happened. Just for a second, he felt that familiar spark whenever he was dueltaining. But that warm feeling did not stick around as Yuya's doubt came back. "But what's the point anyway? How can I dueltain my way into their hearts when I can't even understand them? And in the end... they'll just do it again..."
"Yuya, are you okay?" Celina asked again with great worry. He hadn't been looking good for a while now.
"...I'm okay... it's just..." Yuya trailed off, not knowing what to say. He then proceeded to cover his eyes with his goggles as he continued to frown.
"Yuya! Celina!"
Yuya and Celina turned to the stairs. Declan and Riley had arrived, how to take a breath after running so long before approaching them.
"Declan! Riley!" Celina stood, relieved to see her comrades again. "Are we glad to see you!"
"We're also glad you're doing well." Declan told them with his usual monotone voice. Turning to Yuya, he realized that there was something off with the boy.
"Yuya, we just heard that you were able to return those that were turned into cards back to normal. Is that really true?" Riley asked, approaching the older boy. To his surprise, Yuya just nodded his head without saying anything or even looking at them.
"Yuya, what's wrong?" Riley asked the same question Celina had asked before. But Yuya just sat there, merely nodding with a dejected face.
Declan thought to himself as he observed Yuya's dejected look. "Yuya must have gone through something before we got here. But we can worry about that later. We have much more pressing matters to attend to." "Let's get going. We need to help our allies bring the peace back to this dimension. Didn't you say you want to make people smile?"
"... What's the point...?" Were the unexpected words that came out of Yuya's mouth. Declan turned to Yuya fully upon hearing those words.
Yuya looked down, not showing his face, as he started to remember the differences of how the dimensions saw dueling. "This isn't Paradise City... not New Domino... How could I possibly make people smile, when the audience is in the middle of a giant battlefield?!" Yuya's muttering was loud enough for Declan, Riley, and Celina to hear him.
Yuya clenched the dirt as he bit his lip and closed his eyes tightly. Aster's hatred, Duel Academy's duelists laughing while turning those helpless into cards, and most of all, the terrified faces of Heartland's surviving civilians after he went berserk. These moments were repeating on and on in his mind like a broken record.
"At the end of the day... am I just doing this for my own selfishness?!" Yuya said aloud, confusing his three friends. "I say that dueling is for making people smile... but is it really just what I solely, selfishly believe?!"
"Am I actually just forcing others to believe in something only I do? Without understanding them...?" Aster's angry and hate-filled face flashed in Yuya's mind as he thought this. "Is that why Aster got so angry...?"
Yuya closed his eyes tighter as he remembered the fear that was on the faces of Heartland's survivors when he mercilessly defeated the Obelisk Force. "When things didn't go my way, I let anger get the better of me and did the exact opposite of what I wanted to do. Instead of bringing smiles with my dueling, I brought only more despair, sadness, and anger." As it was plainly obvious, the last duel had significantly increased Yuya's self-doubt to the max.
"Maybe I am just a fool... 'Cause in the end, the only thing I've ever brought to this dimension is sorrow! All my actions... for nothing!" Yuya finally broke down. He felt like he didn't understand what he believed in anymore.
Declan, who had been silent this whole time, walked over to Yuya, hovering over him. Taking Yuya by the collar of his shirt, he forced him to stand. The next thing anyone knew, Yuya landed on his side in the dirt, wincing.
"B-b-brother?!" Riley exclaimed, completely surprised by his older sibling's action toward his friend.
"All your actions... for nothing? Those are the last words I would expect to hear from the mouth of the son of the great Yusho Sakaki!" Declan told the dueltainer, who was looking at him in confusion.
Declan crossed his arms as he continued to speak. "Wondering things like if you are just being selfish, is it the right thing to do, are not things that you should be thinking about right now. You should just let your own actions speak for you."
As Declan continue to scold, Gong, Sylvio, and Yugo arrived, giving a questioning look at Celina and Riley as they saw the scene before them.
"Have you forgotten what happened during the Arc League Championship? The Friendship Cup? Have you learned nothing from it?" Declan indirectly demanded Yuya to remember what happened in the Standard and Synchro Dimensions.
During his duels with Sylvio, Dennis, and Sora, he simply didn't think about being selfish. Instead, he was just focused on trying to reach his opponents and the audience with his dueltaining. He didn't think, he just did what he felt was right.
Yuya remembered Zuzu's duel, which had reminded him that he wasn't alone in his goals. Out of all the Friendship Cup duels he had watched, hers was the most encouraging of them all. It soothed his aching heart and mind when he was troubled by the injustice and cruelty of the Friendship Cup and New Domino's views on its citizens.
The finale of the Friendship Cup. Jack Atlas helped him realize that he was only mimicking his father's dueltaining, instead of taking what he learned and weaving it into his own style. By doing so, he was able to reach the hearts of everyone in New Domino and bring the chaos of the city to a grinding halt. And, in the process, help put smiles on everyone's faces.
"But this isn't Paradise City or New Domino... It's a completely different audience I'm trying to communicate with. Everyone here is either filled with fear and despair, or don't see anything wrong with what they are doing. How could I ever reach the people if I can't understand them?" Yuya questioned the leader of the Lancers as he stood up.
Declan gave Yuya a look that said, "isn't the answer obvious?", which caused the boy to look at Declan as if he was crazy.
With the citizens having a severe traumatic stress disorder (or T.S.D.) after watching all their friends and family turned into cards, they were unable to participate in dueling anymore. Now they could only blame it for being the sole cause of their pain. The confusion of how he could possibly show them is dueling anymore had been the confusing part of Yuya ever since he saw how the Xyz Dimension's people viewed dueling now in such a hostile and tense environment.
"You want to stop Duel Academy's heinous actions? Do you want to help the people of the Xyz Dimension? Then stop thinking about what you can't do and do it! In this world or any other, there's no such thing as a truly unselfish person. We are all capable of having a bit of selfishness in ourselves." After saying all that, Declan didn't wait for Yuya's response. Instead, he just returned to the battlefield, with Riley following close behind, leaving Yuya to figure out what that meant.
Listening to the conversation, the others got the gist of was happening. In fact, it explained Yuya's strange behavior since arriving in the Xyz Dimension.
Celina removed Yuya's goggles from his eyes and placed them back on his head. "Yuya, do you remember your duel with Officer 227?"
Yuya meekly nodded. How could he have forgotten? He had accidentally defeated him with ruthlessness. An action he still regretted. Celina poked her fingers on Yuya's forehead. "You may have defeated him, but you were able to reach his heart with your duel against Jack. So you can be sure you can do that again here. If you show the people of Heartland your actual dueling, their fear will dissipate, and be replaced with smiles, as well."
Yuya slowly looked at Celina, remembering his duel against Jack. How Jack had harshly berated his dueling in the last match, when he could barely remember his duel with Crow. The only thing he could remember clearly was that he had forgotten completely about making the crowd smile and entertained. Instead, he had just attacked Crow with brutal strength and ferocity, no style, whatsoever. So Jack demanded that he show his style of dueltaining. He successfully did that during the finale of the Friendship Cup, where everyone cheered, smiled, and acted like they were always best friends. He was able to properly convey his feelings towards them.
"You're definitely not alone in your goals, Yuya. That much is certain!" Yugo patted Yuya on the shoulder.
"Yeah! They just haven't gotten to know you well." Gong added. "But it's never too late to show them your true self!"
Yugo took a card from his pocket. "New Domino, nor I, can't thank you enough for all you did for us. It was thanks to you that we realized what was truly important. It doesn't matter where we were from, as long as we work together, that's all that matters. And I'm sure that RinRin will be glad to see that our home will be a better place to live now." Placing the card in Yuya's hand, Yugo successfully got his attention. "Who cares if you're doing it selfishly? But they're not for nothing! It was because of those actions that New Domino City it's now united as one! That entire city's feelings have been entrusted to you and will always be with you, never forget that."
Gong patted his best friend's back, sharing the same smile that Yugo wore. "Even if you strayed a bit far from what you were going for, never forget that you have your friends to back you up. Gong will always be with ya."
Sylvio slapped Yuya's back before crossing his arms at the back of his head with his usual grin. "You're not the only star of the show. Even the main star needs to have supporting roles to back him up while he's on stage."
Celina continued the talk with remanence of her past. "Whether or not your voice will reach Duel Academy, it's something you've gotta try to do... I have spent most of my life there, and only focused on being a good soldier. I never once thought that dueling could be for fun. The same goes with everyone else from that place."
Giving a slight glance at Yugo, remembering her duel with him, which was probably the only time she actually had fun dueling until then. "But during our time in the Synchro Dimension, I finally learned that dueling could be fun."
She then refocused her full attention on Yuya, making sure that he was also looking at her. "I now somewhat understand what you are fighting for. And how wrong I was about dueling being all about strength and power. But more importantly, I realized how much I love dueling."
Celina then glanced at the Duel Academy duelists still fighting. "The same principle applies to them. They only know how to be cold and calculating in a duel and not enjoy it. They simply don't know anything else."
Celina took Yuya's hand into hers. "That's why you have to stay true to your beliefs. Help them understand like you did for me and Sora, help them understand that there's more to the dueling than just beating an opponent."
Yuya stared at Celina as her face superimposed with Zuzu's. Unconsciously, he started to hold Celina's hand as well.
"Zuzu..." Yuya muttered under his breath. For just a second, he thought he saw his pendant blink a bit.
"Try to take your dad's advice, Yuya. Try to laugh when you feel like crying. And when things get tough, respond with a smile. It will give you the strength to keep moving forward."
"Dad..." Yuya clenched his pendant to his chest. Shifting his eyes to the battlefield, he saw the Duel Academy forces fighting the Lancer-alined forces.
"If you were ever to lose yourself to darkness, we will stop you and remind you what you truly stand for." Celina gave her word to Yuya, meaning every single word and that their friends agreed to do the same.
"She's right. I'm not alone in my goal to bring smiles to everyone's faces. My friends trust me to be their guiding light in this chaos, so I shouldn't be crying! I know what I am fighting for, and so do they!" A small tear of happiness formed in Yuya's eyes. Quickly wiping them away, he decided to save them for after the battle was over.
Yuya looked again at the battlefield engulfed by burning hot fire, where he could only hear the cries of battling duelists and shrieks of terror. Duel Academy soldiers laughing as it were a fun game they were playing. They also didn't think it was the wrong thing to do. Yuya remembered when he and his friends told them that their actions were wrong.
"It's just like Celina said. They don't know anything about the world outside Duel Academy. They don't know that dueling is for fun, because the people at Duel Academy never taught them that. They just have a hard time understanding that there are other ways to view dueling."
Yuya's eyes widened as a realization hit him. Once it did, things started to piece together. Aster's furious face. The words and their underlying message within them. "That's it! That's why Aster carries half of my Dad's Smile World!"
"Aster's... actually confused..." Yuya murmured as his eyes focused on the remains of Heartland Tower, the symbol of the city. His grip tightened on his pendant as light returned to his eyes.
"You want to stop Duel Academy's heinous actions? Do you want to help the people of the Xyz Dimension? Then stop thinking about what you can't do and do it!" "I'll have to thank Declan for that advice later... but for now..." Yuya thought with a quiet laugh while rubbing his sore side where he landed on the ground.
"Thanks, guys. Now I know what must be done." Yuya turned to his friends with a grateful smile on his face. That was all that was needed for Yuya's four friends to let out a smile of relief and encouragement as the Yuya they knew returned as the resolve was regained.
"By the way, before we get goin', I should let you know that card is now yours." Yugo told Yuya while motioning to the card he gave him. "Not letting me "borrow" it?" Yuya asked again, inquisitively. "Nope. Take it as a sign of me and my dimension's people's gratitude toward you." Yugo affirmed, confirming that the card was now Yuya's.
Yuya nodded, accepting the card. Hw then pointed at Heartland Tower.
"Let's get goin'!"
"Yeah!" The rest of the group agreed as they ran toward the direction Yuya led them.