Chapter 33: Fusion Fall
Yuto carefully made his way across the Arctic area, keeping an eye out for Pendulum Cards or other duelists. Having grown up in a eternal war zone, he had honed his senses to the point where he was always alert. Still, he wasn't without his blind spots, and a hand grabbed him from behind and pulled him behind a glacier. When he got a chance to see his kidnapper was...
"Lulu?"
"No, but I can help you get her back. Listen, I know what this looks like..."
Then Yuto got a good look at her uniform, and gasped in horror, throwing her off him while raising his Duel Disk.
"You're from Duel Academy! So, one dimension wasn't good enough for you, you had to try and take this one too?"
"Please, let me explain! Believe me, I'm on your side!"
"And why should I believe that?"
"If I wanted to capture you, wouldn't we be dueling by now?"
Realizing she had a point, Yuto lowered his duel disk, but made sure to keep his eyes squarely on her.
"Good, glad we've come to an understanding."
"Alright, fine, you're not trying to capture me. Then why are you here?"
"To bring The Professor down!"
Yuto quirked an eyebrow. He thought every student of Duel Academy was loyal to the Professor. But before he could ask any questions, a large, burly man came up dragging Shay.
"I found the other Xyzian."
"Let me go! You may be tough, but I can take you in a duel..."
"Shay, stop. They're here to help."
Shay stopped when he laid eyes on the girl, but she raised her hand for him to keep quiet.
"Yes, I look like your sister. No, I'm not her. My name is Serena, and my associate is Barrett, my adopted father."
"Alright fine, you know our names and we know yours. But what is this about taking down the Professor? I thought you were all loyal to him."
"Believe me, I was. When I first came to Duel Academy, he took me under his wing. He taught me how to duel, and introduced me to Barrett, who took me into his home. But when it came time for the invasion of the Xyz Dimension, he completely glossed me over. He told me that I was "too important" to risk on the frontlines. Pah, like I couldn't take care of myself!"
"That's great and all, but get to the part where you decided to risk carding to escape!"
"I was getting to that, you impatient twat!"
"Why, i outta-"
Fortunately, Barrett and Yuto got in the way, preventing them from ripping into each other.
"Shay, stop it! If she can help us rescue Lulu, we should hear her out!"
"Serena, calm down."
Luckily, the two settled down, and Serena resumed her story.
One night, I got restless and snuck out of my room and into his throne room. He think its SOOO secure, but I've been able to sneak in and out plenty of times. At the moment, Barrett and one of his aides where in there, discussing the Arc Area Project.
"Barrett, how is Serena doing?"
"She's spirited, but I've kept her at bay."
"Good. Remember, we can't allow her to escape. She's too valuable to my plans."
"Yes, sire. But is it worth it? Is it worth it all to sacrifice the lives of 4 girls?"
"Compared to the lives we'll save by uniting the dimensions, then yes."
As you can probably imagine, that got my blood boiling. All of our sessions, all of his advice, everything I did for him...meant nothing?
At this point, Barrett took over.
"What? Sir, you can't mean that! She looks up to you as her father!"
"And I see her as a daughter, but sacrifices need to be made. My only hope is that she may find happiness in whatever afterlife exists."
I...I couldn't believe it. This man, who I considered my closest friend...would sacrifice my daughter for his twisted plans? I was so mad I stormed out right after that.
"Barret! Get back here!"
But I didn't turn back. My mind was racing so fast, I couldn't make sense of any of it. But I knew one thing, I had to get Serena out of there. If sacrificing innocent people was the price of utopia, then I didn't want any part of it.
"Oh, but you're willing to card an entire city of people for his sick plan?"
"That's different. The carding process can be undone, but not what he had in store."
That sentence intrigued Shay enough to remain quiet, allowing Serena to take back over.
The minute I got back to my room, I had only one plan: RUN. I grabbed a bag and started throwing my belongings into it. I was halfway through when I heard a knock at my door.
"Serena, its me. Please, open the door."
"Barrett, they're going to kill me! I...I'm scared."
"I won't let that happen. Please, just let me in."
Realizing he was the only one I could trust, I opened the door. With the two of of us, I had everything packed away in a manner of minutes.
"What are we going to do? Duel Academy has eyes all over Fusion, we'll never escape The Professor here."
"Then we won't stay here. Look what I managed to snag."
What he grabbed was a miniature dimension hopping device, used for small teleportation.
"Oh, you sly dog."
"I guess you're rubbing off on me."
"And that's how we came here."
Shay slumped over, tears in his eyes.
"My sister...he wants to..."
"We can still save her. He can't move forward with his plans unless he has all four of us."
"But if we're going to save anyone, we need to work together."
Realizing the severity of the situation, Yuto stepped in.
"We can take you to see Declan Akaba. He's organizing a resistance movement to stop Duel Academy."
"Good. Lead the way."
But before the four of them could move any farther, a loud beeping noise came from Barrett's Duel Disk. Checking it, his eye went wide with fear.
"God Dammit!"
"What?"
"Duel Academy. They're here."