IT'S HERE! After so long waiting, which I apologize for but at least I still got it done, let's begin!

Ch.33: Living the Prisoner Life

The door to the Detention Facility's security office opened up and an officer stepped inside. The man was holding a clipboard with a few sheets of paper attached to it that had the picture of the captured Lancers.

"Hey, we have some new arrivals coming." He informed a second officer who was busy playing on his duel disk. "Don't put them in the same cell, separate them and keep an eye on them." The officer looked up at the other who was lounging back in a roller chair messing with his duel disk. "Hey, are you listening?"

"Yeah yeah, go on." The second officer spoke, obviously distracted as he continued playing the video game he downloaded onto his duel disk.

The first officer sighed, but continued nonetheless. "And put the girl with them in special confinement."

"Got it."

"You better inform them." The officer warned with narrowed eyes.

"Yeah, I said I got it, jeez." The second growled, having nearly lost the game he was playing in his distraction.

. . .

"You over there, girl." A woman who worked at the Detention Facility looked over to Serena. "You're being placed in separate quarters from these four. Come with me."

Once they had arrived at the huge prison, Yuya and the rest were forced out of the truck and into a line. The Detention Facility had two huge cylinder-like towers that expanded near the bottom, and a smaller tower in between the two buildings with multiple branching bridges to either section. It was most likely one huge tower was for the females whilst the second was for the males.

Sylvio, who had made a huge ruckus as soon as the truck doors were open, was grabbed by the back of the neck by one of the Security officers like a kitten. The tight grip on the boy's neck forcing the burnette to become silent lest he face the consequences.

With not much choice other than to comply, Serena stepped forward towards the woman with ease as if she wasn't the one in handcuffs. Sensing Yuya's distress at being forcefully separated again immediately, she whispered. "It's fine. Just don't make a scene."

With those final words, Serena was off on her own in the Detention Facility.

"You guys are this way, let's get a move on now." The one officer who was playing videogames on his duel disk gestured for the other four boys to follow him. A Security officer made sure to keep vigilant watch on the prisoners from behind as they went towards the men's area of the Detention Facility.

Only once two sets of thick metal doors were closed behind the group did the Security officer leave them.

"Your duel disks will be confiscated during your stay here." The blonde officer droned on, twirling his baton like a marching stick in boredom. "Dueling isn't allowed here unless it's authorized. Take this with you." The officer took each person's duel disk, but gave their decks back to them with zero fuss.

"What? You're going to take our duel disks but not our decks? What kind of logic is that?" Sylvio asked incredulously, not realizing that being able to keep their decks was a GOOD thing. Shinji, who was beside Sylvio, casually stepped on his foot to make him stop talking.

The officer merely laughed at Sylvio as if he were a naive child, which in this situation, he kind of was. "If there's one thing you need to understand down here kid it's that your deck is as valuable as your own life." He shrugged, not caring for these fours' plight. "You'll learn eventually, but make sure to treasure it while you still can." With those words said, the officer put in a key card and the metal doors in front of the group opened loudly. "Welcome to the gathering place of scum and darkness." He grinned widely. "You're going to hate your stay here."

The officer walked forward, making the others follow behind him. The floor they had just entered must have been the cafeteria area, and up above were countless floors and a seemingly endless number of jail cells. Railings and levels seemed to keep going until they blurred near the top. Where there was a thick, bullet-proof glass roof to allow natural sunlight in during the day, and inactive spotlights for at night.

At the ground level, old wooden tables and long benches were pushed on either side of the room in a circle, leaving the middle rather spacious. On the opposite side to the entrance was a stairway to access the other floors of the prison, and to the left of that was the kitchen area. On the right side of the wall were four doors leading to different parts of the Detention Facility, while beside the kitchen was the storage closet.

Otherwise, everything was grey, tiled, or some piece of dull metal that wouldn't shine no matter how hard you polished it.

All in all, it looked very grey and empty. The atmosphere was gloomy with despair, anger and most of all, hatred.

Sylvio took all of it in with a critical, disapproving eye. "Well from that greeting, I suppose we can forget expecting a soft bed and full course meal. People can be so rude and barbaric."

"You're not helping Sylvio." Yuya hissed softly, not wanting to gain the officer's attention.

"Besides a few dangerous groups and people, almost everyone here is a Common arrested under false charges." Crow spoke somberly. Both his and Shinji's forms were tense as they evenly matched the eyes peering out from the darkness of their cells at the new greenhorns.

"Here there are only two types of people you need to learn and know about." Shinji glared at a prisoner who hit the bars of his cell and laughed down at the four. His dull gaze and leering grin directed down at Yuya and Sylvio. "The people with no life left in their eyes, and those whose eyes still glow."

The Pendulum user looked absolutely disheartened at Shinji's words. "That's terrible." However, Shinji was more focused on another group of prisoners. One of which gave a subtle nod which the purple haired duelist returned just as subtly.

"Come on now get a move on!" The officer leading them yelled. "I'm not standing here all day waiting for you four to move your ass." The man banged his baton on some bars, making the loud bang reverberate throughout the huge building and kickstarting the four into moving towards their cell. "Get a move on."

The four walked until they were on the fifth floor, not even close to halfway up the building, before they entered their cells. Only there were they finally freed from their cuffs and the door closing resoundly behind them with the click of the lock. "From now on, this cell will be your home sweet home!" The officer grinned darkly. "Make sure to get along with your fellow trash."

Finally, the man left with a bark of laughter at his own comment, making Crow growl. "Like hell this is our 'home sweet home'. Not if I have anything to say about it!"

Crow adjusted his fingerless gloves as the sound of the officer questioning their shared cell echoed quietly before he was gone. "Hmm… wasn't I told to do something about that…? Oh well."

"So, what do we do now?" Sylvio asked once he stretched his now free arms and rolled his shoulders. "You two are the experts here."

"Looks like we've got some newcomers." One of the four inmates within their shared cell spoke. The man had light brown hair and brown eyes.

"Hey, aren't you going to greet us?" The second inmate in the cell beside the first called out. He had short black hair and black eyes as he scowled over at the group.

"Uh.. hehe." Yuya's shoulders hunched as the two advanced till they were looking down at his smaller form. "Um.. Hey, nice to meet you?-"

"You call that a greeting?!" The first inmate barked out angrily.

"You should be sitting down with your head bowed saying, 'Nice to meet you, sir!'" The second snapped.

"Hey! Back off!" Crow snapped aggressively, putting an arm between Yuya and the inmates.

Yuya furrowed his eyebrows, confused yet concerned. Meanwhile, Sylvio merely smirked and put a hand on his hip. "If you want me to sit down you should at least bring out a sofa for me."

The two seemed at a loss of words on how to respond to that statement.

However, they didn't need to, because the third inmate for their cell stepped forward and grumbled. "Quit acting so rudely." Stone sandals clicked onto the cold hard floor loudly as a big sturdy teen stepped out of the shadows. A figure that once you saw and became familiar with you would never forget.

A big grin inched its way up Yuya's face at the sight of the third inmate. "Gongenzaka!" The Pendulum user was just radiating energy now that he had been reunited with his best friend. "We knew you and Dennis would be in here somewhere, but I didn't think-"

Any other words Yuya could have said were cut off when the Steadfast Synchro user grabbed the tomato haired teen and pulled him into a back breaking bearhug. "Yuya! I'm so glad you're safe!"

Crow's eyebrows rose and jaw dropped in shock whilst Shinji only widened his eyes. Sylvio, obviously used to this, merely smirked and curled one blonde bang around his finger as he laughed.

"Gongenzaka…" Yuya rasped, voice muffled and incomprehensible to everyone else, but the idea was there. "I… Can't… Breath!..." The Entertainment duelist's struggles began to cease more and more with each passing second. What was once a fierce fight merely turned into a pat on the back before Yuya's arms turned into noodles.

"Just as I was thinking I'd never see you again you arrive here! I can't believe we finally met back up in a place like this." The sturdy teen tightened his hold on Yuya, a distinct crack echoing around the cell and making everyone cringe as Yuya's attempts to get away suddenly sparked back to life. The mother bear of the Lancers unable to contain himself as he began to cry whilst speaking.

Crow seemed a tad concerned for Yuya's life, but otherwise his expression returned to a rather bland look at the scene. "And who's the overly affectionate guy?"

"You're overreacting Gongenzaka. I told you we'd meet them here eventually." The final occupant of the shared cell spoke, revealing his identity to be none other than Dennis Macfield. "Hello Yuya!" Light blue eyes grew somewhat worried as the Performage user spoke to Gongenzaka again. "Uhh, Gongenzaka? You may want to let Yuya get some air before he suffocates."

The Synchro user blinked, before finally releasing Yuya from his deadly affectionate grasp. "Oh, sorry about that." Gongenzaka's grey eyes widened in shock as he took in Yuya's face. "Yuya! What happened to your face!?" One huge hand took in his best friend's face and examined the bad bruise on it that was now completely purplish black.

"It's alright Gongenzaka it's nothing serious!" Yuya waved his hands frantically as his best friend's frame shook with rage. "I got it when we got caught by Security, it's nothing life threatening."

"Nothing serious?!" Gongenzaka cried out incredulously. "Yuya, someone hit you in the face! A Security officer no less!"

"You would think Security would be defending its people, not hurting them." Dennis muttered darkly from the side. Light blue eyes a darker shade to express his own hidden anger at Yuya's injury.

The tomato haired teen was mostly focused on getting air back into his lungs before speaking again. "It's fine Gongenzaka. I don't mind at… all." Yuya's grin twitched slightly at that, before he stretched his back and a distinct 'pop' echoed out and Yuya sighed in untold relief. Now able to properly function, scarlet eyes turned over to meet the orange haired Lancer. "It's nice to see you here too though, Dennis."

"You act like you expected us to be here instead of surprised." Dennis observed. Finally standing up from his bed, which gave a pitiful creak as if it were a dying animal.

"Serena and I saw what happened to you guys from those screens scattered around the City." Sylvio shrugged his shoulders, answering for Yuya. "Zero and the others managed to get away, but they have quite the price on their heads. I wouldn't be surprised to find them heading here sooner or later."

"I'd imagine if they got caught we wouldn't even recognize Zero." Dennis stated casually, and to everyone's sudden inquiry he winked. "They would have forced Zero's mask off if they catched him, so we'd get to see his actual face."

"Oh yeah you're right." Sylvio added in, excitement in his voice. "I'm so used to seeing the guy with no face that I was beginning to think his mask was his face." The burnette put a hand under his chin. "I bet he has some wicked scar on his face that he doesn't want anybody to see or something else cool."

Dennis rubbed the back of his head and laughed. "Maybe! It is a conversation starter."

As Gongenzaka was clearing things up with the two unknown inmates, both of which seemed to look up to him after an incident, Yuya furrowed his eyebrows at Dennis and Sylvio's conversation. Or maybe demonic red eyes…

"So, do you guys have any idea where Reiji is alongside everyone else?" Gongenzaka asked, bringing everyone back on track. "I mean, we know where Zero, Shun, and Yuto are, and Serena came here with you guys, but where is Reiji, Riley, Ruri, and Tsukikage? Then there's Yugo and Yuzu to consider." Grey eyes looked over to Crow and Shinji. "And who are you guys?"

"I'm Crow Hogan." The orange hair Synchro citizen introduced himself. "Managed to run into Yuya and his friends in trouble with Security, so I took them in until we all got caught."

Shinji held his hand out towards Gongenzaka, but immediately regretted it when his hand got crushed in greetings. "A-nd my name is-" The purple haired duelist pulled his hand back with a hiss of pain. "Shinji Weber. I'm Crow's friend, and I helped Crow save your friends until now."

Gongenzaka grinned widely in greetings, and gave Crow a huge pat on the back that sent him forward a few steps. "Well, any friend of Yuya's is a friend of mine. Thanks for all of your help so far."

Yuya smiled up to his best friend, who was getting along nicely with Crow and Shinji. "Riley is safe." The Pendulum user began to answer the rest of Gongenzaka's questions. "Tsukikage picked him up before Security caught us, so he's probably wherever Reiji is right now." His smile dimmed somewhat as he thought about the rest of their group. "Yugo and Yuzu were originally with Zero as far as I knew, but they weren't involved at the casino. They're probably safe, and who knows where Ruri is. I haven't seen hide nor hair of her since we arrived here. We have to hurry up and get out of here and search for them unless someone else gets to them first."

"Aren't you the boss around here Gongenzaka?" Sylvio asked, walking over to sit on one of the beds by the door with his legs crossed on the mattress. "Can't you do something?"

Gongenzaka gave him a sour expression. "I'm not exactly the boss around here. I've only been in here for about half a day. Only a few people have come to respect me at all, like these two." The sturdy teen nodded his head over to the other two inmates of the shared cell.

"That's right." Dennis nodded, and stuck a finger out towards the floors above them. "The boss around here is in another cell, and from what I've heard, he's been ruling this place for over 10 years!"

"We should probably avoid gaining his attention." Crow stated, crossing his arms as he looked outside of the cell bars. "We don't need more trouble following us around then it already will, much less attention."

"I agree with you there." Shinji added, before going over to claim a bed for his own. "We should probably get some rest. They're going to drive us into the ground because it's our first day here. You two especially." Green eyes looked over to scarlet and greyish blue, before Shinji laid down to take a nap.

"How about we get everyone caught up to speed before we move forward?" Dennis suggested. "It'd be nice to be on the same page after everything that's happened since we got here."

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea." Yuya agreed with a nod. Together, all four Lancers and their two comrades sat on three beds and discussed what they had been through before they got to the Detention Facility. While it was entertaining to hear the tale about the illegal gambling ring, no one had spotted Yuzu, Yugo, or Ruri once throughout the ordeal. The only one who did so far was Zero, and even then he might not have found Ruri.

"Jeez, I hope they're all okay." Yuya rubbed his arms quickly to get rid of the goosebumps he had just gotten. "This place is so much different from home."

"Hey, they should be fine." Crow stated with a hand gesture. "I mean, I've seen Yugo here and there occasionally before, but not too much to be best friends. Yuzu will be fine so long as she's with him, and let's not underestimate Ruri or those other guys you were talking about. If they've fought before then I'm sure they can survive the City for at least a week minimum."

"You're right, but still." Scarlet eyes looked over to the blank stone wall near the back of their cell. "I can't help but be worried anyway, and that feeling won't go away either until I finally see Yuzu is safe for myself."

. . .

Shinji and Crow were right. The Detention Facility was like hell.

Starting right off the bat with poor treatment of their prisoners and police brutality, the group was led to the ground floor to get some breakfast. There, while Dennis and Gongenzaka got regular portions, the other four were given such meger amounts that you could barely even call it food.

Outraged, Yuya glared up at the chef. "What? That's it?!"

The man merely smiled darkly. "Well, we have to make sure that there's enough for everyone. Sorry." It was obvious he wasn't sorry in the slightest, but instead happy to cause Yuya's strife. Even though he said that, scarlet eyes could clearly spot the immense amount of food behind the chef steaming the air.

"Bullshit!" Yuya spat, irritated at the chef's obvious lie. "I can see plenty of food right behind you!"

"Hey! Keep the line moving!"

"I'm hungry too!"

"If you're just going to complain then don't eat!"

"If you're really hungry then go choke on someone somewhere more private!"

"Move it you brat I'm starving!"

The chef's smile turned into a grin. "You heard them, get going kiddo." His eyes skimmed over Yuya's physique with intrigue. "Though I've got to wonder what you did to get some little pretty boy like yourself stuck in here."

"Grr.." Angered at being called 'kiddo', Yuya's hands gripped the end of his tray tightly enough to crack the side of it. The prisoners behind him were getting more agitated at the stall in the line and throwing threats. Yuya begrudgingly turned on his heel and stalked towards Gongenzaka and Dennis, the chef laughing at him behind his back.

It quickly turned out that all four of the newcomers were getting the same harsh treatment on lack of food despite Sylvio trying to persuade them overwise. The chef gave Sylvio the same interested look as he had given Yuya before, and even had the nerve to wink suggestively down at him before the burnette left.

"Damn it!" Sylvio grit his teeth, looking down at his basically empty tray with longing. Though the Abyss Actor was VERY tempted of throwing his tray back into the chef's face for such unsightly behavior.

"Forget about it, let's just go and eat." Crow grumbled, as the group followed Gongenzaka and Dennis to their table.

"We're probably lucky to get any food at all." Shinji added in, walking right beside his friend with Yuya and Sylvio in between them and Gongenzaka and Dennis.

"I wouldn't call this crap food anyway." Sylvio replied with salt in his voice. "More like sludge with salt and pepper forced into it."

Yuya looked back over to the serving area, but quickly did a double take as he spotted an inmate slipping what looked like a Duel Monsters card to the chef. In return, the chef seemed to give an extra large helping of food to the prisoner before sending him on his merry way.

"Was that- AH!" Just as Yuya spoke, the Pendulum user was tripped up by a prisoner's foot sticking out from under the table suddenly. The tomato haired teen's tray spilled across the floor with Yuya nearly landing on his face. Thankfully, Crow and Shinji managed to not step on the boy.

"Yuya!" Crow handed his tray to Shinji before kneeling down beside the younger teen. "You alright?"

"Ugh, yeah. I'm fine." Yuya got up onto his hands and knees, checking himself over for injuries, which he didn't have luckily. Though the bruise on his cheek still stung.

Meanwhile, nearly the whole area was filled with mocking laughter at Yuya's expense. The one who had tripped him, a man with dark blue hair spiked up near the front and markings on the right side of his face, spoke up. "Aw man, what a waste of food! You better watch where you're walking babe!"

Just as Yuya turned to address the man, another prisoner stepped just in between his arm and leg. "Whoops!" The prisoner cried out sarcastically, pretending to stumble, and threw all of the water in his bucket towards the group. Gongenzaka and Dennis were too far to be hit, but everyone else was either soaked from the water or their food was washed up.

Namely, Crow and Yuya were soaked point blank as Sylvio and Shinji's trays were filled with water.

The man backed up a step and shrugged carelessly, laughter in his shaking frame. "Whoops! Sorry about that." The man spoke so sarcastically it was amazing he didn't choke on it. "I just tripped over this naughty little klutz!" The room seemed to bust another gut in laughter as the prisoner pointed down towards Yuya. The latter glaring up at the man still above him with fiery scarlet eyes. "Oh, and you may not want to eat that. This water was squeezed out of the clothes and sponges used to clean the bathrooms."

"My food! You bastards!" Sylvio cried out. The urge to throw his watery tray back into the guy's face rising once again.

"You trying to pick a fight with us?" Crow snapped from where he was. The cold, dirty water chilling him to the bone temporarily ignored in rise of his burning anger. The Black Feather was up on his feet in a second, his face inches away from the other inmate. "Well?"

"Hey!" All eyes turned to a Facility officer waving his baton threateningly. "If you start a fight it's straight to solitary confinement." He warned.

"Grr." Crow growled as Sylvio clicked his tongue in distaste. However, the warning was clear, and with one last warning glance, Crow backed off to help Yuya stand up. The teen's teeth chattering as the frigid water soaked into his clothes.

"Let's not cause any more trouble here guys." Dennis calmed the group down steadily before gesturing to his own food. "We'll share our food with you, no problem. Let's just try not to get anymore separated than we already are. We just got back together a few hours ago." The Performage user's lips pursed and his expression darkened when someone did a cat call whistle towards him. "If it helps you guys feel any better I'm getting it to."

"Unfortunately, I'm with Dennis on this one." Gongenzaka stepped forward and grabbed one of Yuya's shoulders. "Let's finish up here quickly and go back to our cell to get you two warmed up."

"Who's he?" Sylvio asked, his anger reined in for now as they all finally sat down at their table. The commotion having died down and the tension in the cafeteria returning to its usual stressful level.

The burnette was pointing over to a man wearing a light green kimono with white bandages wrapped around his chest and stomach. The older man's head was nearly shaved bald with black hair growing out. He was sitting at a table all by himself in a very nice looking chair, a gourmet meal freshly presented to him alongside cutlery. On either side of the man were two supposed bodyguards, one wearing a dark green kimono and the other wearing a light blue, nearly white one. The man was also presented a recently uncorked bottle of wine to drink from by a Facility guard.

"He's the boss." Dennis answered. Light blue eyes looking over at the silent man with unease.

"Quite some exquisite food over there." Sylvio sighed longingly. His stomach crying out for food as his mouth salivated in hunger. "Where can I get influence and power like that? I'm starving." Wordlessly, Dennis split his bread into three chunks and handed one to Sylvio, who proceeded to gnaw on it like a bone. The second one going to Yuya.

"The boss of the prisoners is in an even higher position than the guards here." One of Gongenzaka's new found lackeys reported in. As the group began to dig in on the small amount of food they had they didn't notice brown eyes open and stare at them from across the room.

. . .

"All right, you filthy Commons better get to cleaning this place real good." An officer spoke gruffly, voice low from smoking. "None of you are leaving this place until I see it shining like it was first built." With that, the man put out his recent cigarette, and threw it into the shower room with a grin. "Goodluck, and get off your lazy asses and get started already!" He yelled at the eight prisoners, Gongenzaka and Dennis were not allowed to follow Yuya, Crow, Sylvio, and Shinji.

"R-right n-now?!" Yuya shivered, rubbing his arms frantically to get some warmth. Though they managed to finish their short meal quickly and get up to their room to get warmed up. It was all ruined by having to head back down to the cafeteria area to clean the tables and wash the dishes from ALL of the prisoners who had just eaten. So his clothes were still a little damp, and Yuya was still somewhat cold from the horrible washing he had received during breakfast.

"We just finished washing all of the prisoners' dishes! What the hell!" Crow argued, obviously not wanting to put up with this bullshit he was receiving.

"Shut up and get on it already." The officer replied stiffly, not giving a damn to their plight. "Cleaning bathrooms for a week is what newcomers get." The man turned to lock the door on them. "Just a side note, the boiler is turned off, so if you try and sneak in a shower you'll only get an icy surprise."

"Excuse me." A rather obtuse inmate rubbed the back of his head and stepped towards the guard. "I got a cold this morning, so I'd like to just head back to my room and rest for the day." The man held out a Duel Monsters card, which the guard prompt plucked from his thick fingers with ease.

Scarlet eyes widened in shock at these proceedings. "What the-!"

"I'm suffering through muscle fatigue!" A second inmate added in, showing the guard another card.

"I've got malnutrition!" A third Duel Monsters card.

"I'm feeling rather sleepy." A fourth.

"What kind of bullshit is this!?" Sylvio stomped the ground once furiously.

"They're accepting card bribes?" Yuya spoke quietly, shocked at how corrupt everything from the Synchro Dimension seemed to be compared to his home.

The officer looked at the cards in his hand with a greedy grin and dark eyes. "You four are all free to get back to your cells." With a simple wave of his baton, the four were eagerly walking out of the door with no resistance met.

"Thanks!"

"See you later losers!"

His eyes went over to the only four prisoners. "You guys wanna try and pay up and get out of this with some cards?" His grin turned lecherous. "Or perhaps you could pay up in a different form of services." He did an inappropriate gesture that made everyone understand what he was saying.

"Hell no!" Sylvio barked, horrified at the mere suggestion. "I'd rather take the dirty rags thank you very much."

"Son of a bitch." Crow growled. His fists clenched so tightly his knuckles cracked as he made sure Yuya and Sylvio were behind him. "They're only children! Fucking fourteen!"

The officer raised an eyebrow at Crow's words. "You know, that wasn't only extended to them. You're pretty good looking too." He sighed sadly. "Whatever, it's obvious you guys aren't in the mood at the moment. Maybe next time… Well? What are you waiting for? A binky and some wipes? Get a move on! You four are going to do the rest." With those last words, the officer finally shut and locked the door to the showers behind him whilst looking at the cards he had illy obtained. "And if you don't do it right, then you're doing it all over again, got it?" The man's voice mumbled through the door.

"Hold on just a second!" Sylvio yelled, but he was promptly ignored. "Damn it! This place sucks!"

"Just how corrupt and vile is this Facility?" Yuya asked whilst grinding his teeth. Nails digging into the palms of his hands.

"It's as the guard we first met here said." Shinji stated as they all began to start cleaning the shower room. "Cards are as valuable as your life here. They're like currency down here. If you bribe the guards with Duel Monster cards, you'll get treated better."

"Like extra helpings for food." Yuya realized.

"Or getting to skip out on chores." Sylvio growled.

"That's why they gave us our decks back." Yuya carefully patted one of his deck boxes to make sure his Deck and Extra Deck were still there, which they were.

"Man! If I had known that I would've handed some cards over so I could eat!" Sylvio griped. The burnette scrubbed the floors with his cloth more harshly than he normally would.

Yuya looked at his Lancer comrade, gobsmacked. "Sylvio! You can't just trade away your cards for better treatment or bribery! That's just wrong!" Scarlet eyes widened a fraction in thought. "You don't think Gongenzaka and Dennis used their cards to bribe others, do you?"

"Well, they haven't been as horribly treated as us." Crow stated, scrubbing the walls with a gravely pale look on his face. The Black Feather having just finished cleaning the shower gutters that left him scarred.

"Or bullied." Shinji snapped, helping Crow. "Honestly, aren't we all old enough to realize how immature such behavior is? I certainly would have thought better from most of the people in this Facility."

"It has been a while since we've last been in here, Shinji." Crow looked over to his friend.

"I can't believe Dennis and Gongenzaka would do something like that!" Yuya said loudly.

"Hey, come on now Yuya." Sylvio, in a bright moment, spoke reason. "I highly doubt they would do something like that just for daily pleasures like skipping chores or extra food. If anything, I bet it was for someone else, or they at least had a very good reason for it if they did do it."

"Mm. I can understand and accept that." Yuya pursed his lips, wetting his cloth in a bucket before scrubbing again. "Still, I don't like it. To use cards for something as horrible as this. You couldn't even call them a duelist!" He stated in disgust.

"Let's just finish this quickly so we can go back to our cell and get warmed up." Crow finished one wall, and quickly moved on to the other. "I don't know about you Yuya, but I'm getting cold again and these wet clothes are uncomfortable to wear."

. . .

"You've been called on. Get out here." The officer that first brought them here opened the cell door and gestured for them to get out with the wave of his baton.

As one, the group collective groaned, exasperated.

"What now?" Sylvio whined. Nonetheless, everyone within the cell besides Gongenzaka's two fans got up and followed the guard. They got around halfway up the spire of floors before being guided into another cell.

The only difference was that this cell actually had more stuff in it than just beds. A frame holding Japanese writing, a nice, fluffy green carpet, a couch with a table and fridge, and two literal swords sheathed and placed for decoration. On the very back of the wall was a vintage Japanese mural that showed a cherry tree before the blossoms appeared on it.

Just in front of that mural was the boss of the prison himself. The man was silent, sitting on top of what seemed to be a crate covered with a tarp.

Two of the boss' lackeys, or roommates possibly, stood to the right of the man himself. One had an arrow-like mark on the left side of his face while the other had two marks just above his eyebrows. Both had their heads buzz cut and a mean look in their eyes.

"So you're finally here huh? Took you long enough." The first one, the one in the lighter kimono, spat.

"You should be glad, thankful even." The second spoke up besides the first. "Our boss, Tokumatsu, called you six out himself."

Shinji and Crow's eyes widened a fraction as that name nagged at the back of their minds. "Tokumatsu?" The two Common citizens exchanged a look, having sworn they heard that name somewhere before.

"Really? How does he get off on calling us to him?" Sylvio crossed his arms and huffed. "If anything, it should be-!" The burnette was cut off as Dennis casually put a hand over his mouth to prevent their situation from becoming worse.

The boss' eyes opened, revealing they were brown in color. "Bring them out." At the group's questioning look, he clarified what he was after. "Your cards."

This elicited gasps from the six new prisoners.

"It's tradition to have the greenhorn newbies hand their cards over to the boss!" The first lackey stated. "So hand 'em over!"

"Unless you want your lives to become even more hellish than it is now." The second remarked snidely.

"No way!" Yuya yelled, fists clenched tightly by his sides. The open refusal to the kingpin of the Facility shocked even the boss. "I'm not letting you take my cards! No ifs, ands, or buts about it!"

"Same here." Gongeznaka agreed right beside his best bud. "I'd rather deal with the consequences than just hand my cards over to only get on the boss' good side. I wouldn't give a single card for some purpose like that."

"I'm with Yuya and Gongenzaka." Sylvio sighed, hands behind his head in a relaxed posture. "Although I wouldn't mind if you guys handed me some cards instead."

"We have to get out of here as soon as possible." Dennis commented, to Shinji and Crow's agreement. "So we're going to need all of our resources for when the time comes. We aren't planning on settling down and enjoying ourselves here."

"Now you listen here." Tokumatsu spoke up once more. "I'm the boss here, which means I'm the Top of this place! So I make the rules and you have to obey them! That's how this world works."

"Then I'll work to change it!" Yuya stated firmly. "Cards are to be used for dueling! Not for battles or for currency and bribes! Even if refusing lands me in a place like this I'll keep fighting to change it so the world will change for the better!"

Tokumatsu clicked his tongue and hissed. "So, you're another child who won't listen to reason. Then take a look at this!" The kingpin of the Detention Facility hopped off of the 'crate' he was sitting on top of and his lackeys removed the tarp. Underneath it wasn't a crate or box, but instead a bunch of Duel Monster cards ranging from Traps and Spells to Synchro and Advanced Summoned monsters. Everyone new to the cell gaped at the sight of all those cards in shock. "These are the cards of those who've lost when they challenged me in the duels since the past 10 years I've ruled here!" Tokumatsu beat one hand against his chest in pride. "Here, cards are the proof of who is on top!" Brown eyes glared down into Yuya's own. The taller man seemingly overshadowing the fourteen year old even from the distance he was at. "Dueling is a sign of power!"

Yuya shook his head firmly, and stepped forward. "No, you're wrong! Duels are meant to be fun!"

Tokumatsu's second lackey laughed openly and loudly at Yuya's beliefs. "Are you kidding me? Meant to be fun? You heard what he just said boss?!" He and the first inmate bellowed out in laughter.

"I bet we could show him and his friends what's really fun, eh?" The first elbowed the second lightly in the stomach and raised his eyebrows suggestively. "After all, there are a few pretty ones in there don't you think boss?"

Neither lackey had a second to blink before Tokumatsu had hit each one over the head harshly, causing them both to fall to the floor. "Be silent!" The kingpin hollered angrily. "How dare you suggest such horrid things to not only me, but to have it done to children as well!" Brown eyes nearly turned black with rage. "You're lucky I don't have you thrown out here and into the worst pit of hell imaginable for such crude language!"

The two were instantly on their knees and bowing before their boss. "We're sorry, sir!"

One furrowed his eyebrows as he risked a glance up at Tokumatsu. "But you do realise people have been calling them out and eyeing them since they first got here, right? Boss?"

Tokumatsu, for his part, looked absolutely disgusted. "This place has done nothing but gone downhill compared to ten years ago." He turned his back on the two servants, who sheepishly got up and did apologetic bows to the others. "It's disgraceful how people think such lewd things are acceptable, especially to children." His brown eyes eyed the Lancers once more. "Why are you children in this part of the Detention Facility? I know they send children to the Delinquent's Section of the Facility until they turn 18, so why were you put in here instead?"

"That's the thing, we don't know." Yuya rubbed his bruised cheek softly. "We didn't even do anything wrong, but we got thrown in here anyway. My best guess would be someone ordered to have us placed in here."

"That would have to be someone pretty high up in the podium of power." Tokumatsu grumbled. "Regardless, if you had just given me your cards I would have left you all alone. Now though…" Brown eyes narrowed to Yuya once more. "That's changed. Guard!" Tokumatsu bellowed.

The guard that had just guided the Lancers over to the kingpin came to a stumbling halt in front of the barred door. "Yes, yes? What do you need?" The officer asked eagerly.

Tokumatsu threw a card towards the guard, one edge buried into the cell's bar. "Bring me some duel disks. This runt and I are going to have a duel!"

"A duel?" Yuya asked, surprised. "But I thought duels weren't allowed in here?"

"Aw shit!" The officer looked at the card with glee. "This is a rare card!" The man gave a thumbs up to Tokumatsu. "Hell man, anything you want I'll get it! I'll bring those two duel disks to you right away!" With that, the guard was off like a speeding bullet.

"Here in the Facility, cards are what determine your fate." Tokumatsu said, adjusting his stance almost like he was preparing for a physical fight rather than a duel. "If you won't listen and refuse to grow out of your naivety, then I'll have to force you to learn the hard way! You better prepare yourself child, because I'm going to knock some sense into you through this duel even if I have to lodge it through your thick skull!"

"Well fine then!" Yuya stated boldly, posture tense. "I wouldn't have it any other way, so bring it on!"

The guard came back in that second, and quickly gave Yuya and Tokumatsu a duel disk each before staying outside the cell to watch the oncoming duel. "Those who fight against the Tops are always crushed. You'd do well to remember that kid."

"I have a name!" Yuya snapped. "It's Yuya Sakaki, and we'll see who will get crushed in this duel!" The Pendulum user activated his own duel disk.

"Brat." Tokumastu clicked his tongue and activated his own duel disk. "Let's go then!"

YUYA LP- 4000

TOKUMATSU LP- 4000

"DUEL!"

"I'll take the first turn!" Tokumatsu stated and began the duel by getting into a sumo-like stance. This caused Shinji and Crow to once again recall this man from somewhere, but they couldn't quite remember where. "First, I'll play the Spell Flower Gathering from my hand. This allows me to Special Summon four 'Cardian' monsters with less than 100 Attack Points from my Deck into Attack Mode!" Four picturesque frames slammed themselves together onto the field and locked together. "I Summon the Cardians Willow, Pine, Paulownia, and Zebra Grass!"

FLOWER CARDIAN WILLOW LV.11 ATK:100 DEF:100

FLOWER CARDIAN PINE LV.12 ATK:100 DEF:100

FLOWER CARDIAN PAULOWNIA LV.11 ATK:100 DEF:100

FLOWER CARDIAN ZEBRA GRASS LV.1 ATK:100 DEF:100

"Well he's sure to fill up his side with monster's real quickly." Sylvio deadpanned.

"Next, I activate the Spell Flower Stacking from my hand." Tokumatsu continued. "This allows me to choose three 'Cardian' monsters from my Deck and arrange them on top of my Deck in the order that I choose!" The kingpin took three cards from his Deck. "The cards I choose are Cardian Zebra Grass with Moon, Paulownia with Phoenix, and Willow with Calligrapher!" The three cards then went back into his Deck in that order.

"Furthermore, I activate the effect of Cardian Pine with Crane in my hand!"

Sylvio groaned. "Jeez, this guy is making his first turn last forever! Get on with it already!"

Tokumatsu ignored the half idiot and continued his turn how he liked. "With this, I am able to Tribute Cardian Pine and Special Summon it!" The monster at the end of the wall burst into yellow particles, and was replaced by another version of it with a crane in the picture.

FLOWER CARDIAN PINE WITH CRANE LV.1 ATK:2000 DEF:2000

"Then, when this card is Special Summoned." Tokumatsu drew another card from his Deck. "I can draw one card!" The kingpin continued to repeat the process he just did with the three other cards he had arranged at the top of his Deck.

FLOWER CARDIAN ZEBRA GRASS WITH MOON LV.8 ATK:2000 DEF:2000

FLOWER CARDIAN PAULOWNIA WITH PHOENIX LV.12 ATK:2000 DEF:2000

FLOWER CARDIAN WILLOW WITH CALLIGRAPHER LV.11 ATK:2000 DEF:2000

Tokumatsu drew another card because of Calligrapher's effect. "This is amazing!" Dennis cried out, having to rub his eyes at the sight. "He's managed to summon four monsters with around 2000 Attack Points all on his first turn!"

"The card I drew was Cardian Cherry Blossom with Curtain, but since there is no Cardian Cherry on my field it goes into the Graveyard." The boss discarded the monster easily. "But I'm still not done!" Sylvio groaned in annoyance, but Yuya just stood there, gobsmacked that this was still the first turn. "I activate the effect of Cardian Willow with Calligrapher! When this card is used as Synchro Material, it makes all of the other monsters Level 2!"

FLOWER CARDIAN PINE WITH CRANE LV.1 = 2

FLOWER CARDIAN ZEBRA GRASS WITH MOON LV.8 = 2

FLOWER CARDIAN PAULOWNIA WITH PHOENIX LV.12 = 2

FLOWER CARDIAN WILLOW WITH CALLIGRAPHER LV.11 = 2

Electricity sparked as the monsters on Tokumatsu's field turned into green rings and stars. "Let's go! I tune my Cardian Pine with Crane, Zebra Grass with Moon, and Paulownia with Phoenix with my Level 2 Cardian Willow with Calligrapher! Rain down! Become light and pour down! I Synchro Summon!" The kingpin readjusted his stance so that one arm was behind his back and another was ready to strike. "Come for Level 8! Flower Cardian Lightshower!"

A man wearing a navy blue hat that had a silver swan decoration on it appeared. The Synchro monster also wore a blue kimono that had flowers and leaves printed on it and a dark blue sash to tie it together. Underneath the kimono was a white suit to match the swan decoration on the hat. In one of Lightshower's hands was an umbrella that was orange around the edge and black near the middle. Surrounding that umbrella seemed to be sparking lightning.

FLOWER CARDIAN LIGHTSHOWER LV.8 ATK:3000 DEF:3000

"He pulled off a Synchro Summon on his first turn as well." Crow frowned, concerned for how Yuya will pull this one off. He hasn't seen the kid duel much, and even then the ending wasn't looking too good.

"I set two cards down and end my turn!" Finally, Tokumatsu was finished with his turn. "I'll say it again you little brat!-"

"It's Yuya!" The Pendulum user blinked out of his stupor to snap back to Tokumatsu.

"I'll call you by your name when you earn my respect boy!" The kingpin hollered challengingly. "Cards are the sign of those on top, they're the sign of power!"

"No matter how many times you say it. My beliefs WON'T change!" Yuya stated stubbornly. Unwilling to move his morals and ways in the face of challenge and strife. "Duels are meant to be fun! My turn!" The tomato haired teen drew a card and began his turn.

"You're laboring under a delusion!" Tokumatsu yelled back and threw a hand forward. "I activate Lightshower's effect! When my opponent draws a card, I deal them 1500 points of damage!" The Synchro monster lifted up its umbrella, and lightning shot out of it and onto Yuya's side of the field. Yuya covered his face as the bolts barely missed him by inches.

YUYA LP- 4000 = 2500

"Yuya!" Gongenzaka cried out for his friend.

"Yuya's going to take tons of damage every time he draws!" Dennis nibbled on his bottom lip in concern. "This is a troublesome situation."

"He's going to have to defeat this guy before that happens then, because I refuse to believe my rival would lose to someone like him!" Sylvio ground out and stomped his foot. "Come on Yuya! Show them why you're worthy of being my rival!"

"You're not the only one who can summon a bunch of monsters in one turn Tokumatsu!" Yuya growled. "It's my turn! I draw!"

Things got worse before they began to get better.

. . .

"Okay, try the throttle now." The sound of an engine whirring and sometimes stuttering to life lifted over the air and over Zero's voice. The revolutionary was looking at a laptop that was projecting numbers and graphs with a quick calculating gaze. Meanwhile, Yusei was pulling the throttle of Zero's soon to be D-Wheel, which was actually coming together rather quickly. "Okay, that's enough!" The masked man's modulated voice rose over the loud engine.

Yusei let go of the throttle, and sat up straight on the D-Wheel's seat with a sigh. "Did you hear those few stutters? I think we need to tighten a few bolts that's connected to the engine some more." The engineer got off of the D-Wheel's seat and looked over Zero's shoulder to the numbers they had gained. "It's looking pretty good so far besides that."

"Yeah, I think somethings up about the bolts as well." Zero agreed distractedly as he began inputting code into the laptop, which was connected to the D-Wheel. "The coding for the D-Wheel is sound, and we've already installed the key parts and factors to make it run. All that's left is some extra touches and details here and there. Tighten a bolt or connect a wire to a different circuit." He said.

Unlike the horrible show up above on the ground floor, the labs were crisp, clear cut, and clean. Though most of the room was white, there were some splashes of color and decorations like plants in vases and pictures or posters here and there. Currently, Yuto and Shun were getting the sleep they've desperately needed since yesterday, and were still snoozing soundly on the extendable pullout couch.

The masked man himself managed to get a few hours rest, before he had woken back up in an alert fit. Nightmares and worries within the dream he had fuzzy and fading quickly, but managed to keep him up. Besides, there was too much work and planning to be done to allow too much time to take a break.

He would relax for a moment when the Lancers were reunited and the Synchro Dimension was under their control.

Yusei soundlessly went to the front of the D-Wheel and popped a side compartment open to gaze into the engine. The Synchro citizen grabbing a socket wrench and cranking soon filled the air.

"You know." Yusei finally spoke up conversationally over the silence. Normally, music would be blasting through the air at maximum when he worked, but since people were still sleeping he decided to be courteous and keep it as quiet as possible. Although, he was pretty confident those two still sleeping on the couch wouldn't even twitch if he did turn his music on. "I'm pretty sure regular people would be trying to get a healthy 12 hours of sleep, like those two over there." He exchanged one socket size for another and went deeper into the engine. "Shouldn't you be trying to get some rest if you're planning a jailbreak from the Detention Facility? Because I found you down here wide awake when I arrived."

"Well, I'm not a normal person." Zero said dully. It's always been like this since his mother was found dead with bullet holes torn through her body on the stairs. His little sister's legs shot through and squished between their mother's corpse and the stairs. The glistening red blood seemingly everywhere alongside the glass from the destroyed windows of the Aries Villa.

"I figured." Yusei muttered to fill up the silence. "There." He shut the side compartment of the D-Wheel. "Give the systems another check just to be safe."

"Already on it." Zero stated, numbers and code being reflected on his blank mask as he spoke. "Give the back tire a quick look. It doesn't seem to be operating as well as it should."

"Probably because of all the power this thing is using." The Synchro user grunted as he rolled under the vehicle to investigate the problem. "Using so much juice is causing strain on the joints." Royal blue eyes rolled out from under the D-Wheel to stare into Zero's mask seriously. "You sure you want to install something that takes up so much power into this thing? If we're not careful it may just explode on you while you're riding it."

"But the benefits to it succeeding far outweigh the risks." Zero added without looking down at Yusei's reaction.

The man pursed his lips like he had eaten something sour, his eyebrows furrowed. "Risks which involve your life and possible death." Yusei snorted, before rolling back under the D-Wheel. "But sure, risks like that are merely feather light in comparison."

"One must take risks if they're to achieve their goals. Humanity itself must take risks if we're to advance further." Zero commented airily. "This is merely the next step in technology." Not really. This has already been incorporated back in my world… I'm sure Rhakshata or the creator of the Lancelot could do it better than I ever could though. I'll just have to make do with what I have. "Alright, whatever you just did fixed the problem."

Yusei rolled out from under the D-Wheel and put his tools away before going to lean on Zero's shoulder. The engineer making sure no grease ruined his eccentric customer's strange getup. "Run the tests and final checks. Once that meets our specifications we can begin to add the protective metal sheets, and then paint it." One eyebrow was raised in amusement. "I'm guessing you want this thing to be purple and gold?"

"Close, but wrong." Zero denied, and stretched in his seat as the system began to run through tests. "Black and gold." He looked back at his soon-to-be D-Wheel. "I want people to remember what they'll see even 50 years into the future. To make sure they never forget."

"And I won't stop you." Yusei went over to the front of the D-Wheel again, but this time to polish off a black glass orb buried between the front hood and just under where one would install their duel disk. "Hell, the City needs a good tune up from how rusted and corrupt it has become. Just don't go too far." Royal blue eyes darkened into a stormy sapphire in warning. "Or else I will intervene, and I will stop you."

"Heard and acknowledged loud and clear." Zero understood with a nod. The tests finished with a light 'ding', Zero scanned the results. He gave a thumbs up. "Okay, you're good to add on the metal sheets and details." He set the laptop on top of a console over some blueprints and stood with a stretch.

"Are you planning to go somewhere?" Yusei asked rhetorically even as he began to look through various sheet sizes and volumes.

"Just a walk you could say." Zero said sarcastically before getting serious once more. "No, I'm going to take a stroll around the Detention Facility."

Black and gold hair swung around until Yusei was looking at Zero like he was nuts. "You're kidding, right?" Silence greeted his answer. "They catch even a whiff of you and they'll pin you down and throw you into one of those cells faster than you can sing 'Kumbaya' or say 'I come in peace'."

"Ah, but that's the thing. What if it wasn't Zero taking the stroll?" A big smirk was plastered under Zero's mask. "Besides, I have my ways on getting in and out without problem. Just don't tell Yuto and Shun about my escapade." After a second, he amended that thought. "Actually, go ahead and inform them when they wake up. You can tell them it's pay back for this entire shit storm of a situation in the first place since I can't do much else at the moment." Throwing his half cape over to one side, Zero began to stalk away towards the trapdoor. "I have a building and its blueprints to obtain and a jailbreak to plan."

Despite his own words of staying hidden in the underground lab, Zero was up and on the move before Yusei could do anything to stop him.

Yusei sighed. "My life has gotten exponentially weirder ever since I met these guys. Well, weirder than it already was." His eyes went over to another D-Wheel half covered with a white tarp. It was half put together due to other projects and distractions, but the red paint was bright and obvious. "At least I can finish my own D-Wheel now that I've got all the money I need."

. . .

SCALE 3 PERFORMAPAL BIG BITE TURTLE

SCALE 8 TIMEGAZER MAGICIAN

PERFORMAPAL SEESAWHOPPER LV.4 ATK:100 DEF:1200

PERFORMAPAL LANDLORD HERMIT CRAB LV.5 ATK:500 DEF:2500

ODD-EYES PENDULUM DRAGON LV.7 ATK:2500 DEF:2000

The progress Yuya had just made was virtually destroyed before he even got the chance to breathe.

"I activate the Continuous Trap Card No Cheating Allowed!" Once the card was activated, the monsters Yuya just summoned were destroyed and returned to his hand. "When my opponent Special Summons monsters from their hand those monsters are returned to the owner's hand!"

Yuya's jaw dropped, his field now open except for the monsters in his Pendulum Zones. "What!?"

"My God!" Dennis exclaimed. "His Pendulum Summoned monsters just got shut down like it was cheating! So long as that Trap remains on the field, his Pendulum Summoning is null and void."

"With Lightshower on Tokumatsu's field, he'll also lose 1500 Life Points for everytime he draws." Crow shifted in place as he analyzed the field.

"Come on Yuya." Gongenzaka cheered loudly and proudly.

"Dueling has changed since the last 10 years I've been here it seems." Tokumatsu spoke as he eyed Yuya's Pendulum monsters with interest. "Yet, that won't mean anything once I break it down with my undefeated dueling for the past ten years! If you think I'll go down easily because of this new Summoning Method, then you've guessed wrong and you'll pay the price for it!"

By now, most of the inmates in the Facility had bribed the guards to allow them to watch the duel through the cell doors. Though security tightened, the prisoners did nothing suspicious to gain their wrath besides watching through the bars. The Detention Facility guards counting cards like they would dollar bills with satisfied expressions.

"Ah, Enjoy Chojiro!" Crow exclaimed, drawing the sidelined Lancer's attention as he finally had a lightbulb moment. "I knew I remembered him from somewhere!" The orange haired teen frowned deeply. "This isn't his dueling style though."

"He's changed since ten years." Shinji took a closer look at Tokumatsu and nodded. "But you're right, that is Enjoy Chojiro."

"Don't you dare say that name!" Tokumatsu yelled, shocking Crow and Shinji. "That person has long since been dead and gone. I am Chojiro, Kingpin of the Detention Facility now!"

"That's right." The first lackey grew brave enough to speak up once again. "Everyone who's dueled the boss has lost and been driven off in defeat. Losing all of their cards and shedding tears of sorrow. People here also call him Chojiro of the Autumn Rain because of all the tears his opponent's have shed due to their loss."

"You don't even have any defensive monsters on the field." The second lackey spoke up again as well, but this time it was directed at Yuya. "It's only a matter of time before you become another victim and shed your own tears of sorrow." The prisoners outside of the cell began to laugh and jeer at those words, growing somewhat rowdy at the idea of violence.

Yuya pursed his lips. "Then I set a monster facedown in Defense Mode and end my turn. No Cheaters only affects monsters that were Special Summoned, not Normal Summoned."

"My turn then." However, Tokumatsu made no move to draw a card. "If I draw, Lightshower's effect would be negated, and you would no longer receive 1500 points of damage every time you drew a card. So, to prevent that, I give up my draw due to Lightshower's effect." Light brown eyes narrowed. "Prepare to be drenched in the rains of sorrow!"

"Great job boss!"

"Yeah! Your victory combo's decided!"

"I know that already without you needing to cheer for me! Be silent!" Tokumatsu yelled at his two inmates, and the two instantly stiffened up and became silent. "I don't need cheers, smiles, or support to win a battle! The victory itself is enough to show my strength and put me on top!"

"What a weirdo." Sylvio muttered. "Everyone knows that cheering shows you're an exceptional duelist."

"It's the essence of dueling!" Dennis agreed.

"That's just what you two think." Gongenzaka snapped irritably. He wasn't happy that Yuya was in trouble and even possibly in danger because of this duel.

"My combo is complete, and your defeat is inevitable." Tokumatsu spoke calmly now. "Surrender here and hand over half of your cards now, and I'll be merciful and pardon you. Otherwise, I'll plow you into the ground and take your entire deck."

"Just because your combo is complete doesn't mean that my loss has been decided!" Yuya ground out stubbornly. "I still have a chance, so long as I don't give up and stay determined!"

"So be it then, battle!" The kingpin of the Detention Facility threw a hand out towards Yuya. "I attack your facedown monster with Lightshower!" The Synchro monster pulled out a sword hidden in the staff of the umbrella and sliced Yuya's monster in half. The monster turned out to be Performapal Seesawhopper, but since it was in Defense Mode, Yuya took no damage. "I end my turn."

"My turn." Yuya took a deep breath, and he hand settled onto the top of his deck.

"This'll be Yuya's final draw." Dennis stated whilst nibbling on his lower lip.

"Come on Yuya, turn this duel around!" Gongenzaka cheered for his best friend loyally.

"I draw!" The tomato haired teen yelled. Lightshower's effect activated, and bolts of light shot down from the Synchro monster's umbrella towards the fourteen year old. The teen cried out in pain as he was hit by the solid vision attack.

YUYA LP- 2500 = 1000

"Yuya's going to self-destruct at this rate." Crow growled.

The prisoners outside of the cell cheered at Tokumatsu's attack.

"I summon a monster in facedown Defense Mode." Yuya said with a neutral mask. "I end my turn."

"What?!" Crow, Shinji, and Gongenzaka spoke incredulously.

"That's it?" Dennis asked.

"Come on Yuya! I know you're better than this!" Sylvio stomped on the ground in frustration. "You're making me look bad!"

"It's over then. My turn." Tokumatsu spoke calmly since Yuya's fate was sealed. "Due to Lightshower's effect, I won't draw. Battle." He casually pointed towards Yuya's facedown monster. "I attack your facedown monster with Lightshower!" The monster destroyed ended up being Performapal Hip Hippo, but since it was in Defense Mode, once again Yuya received no damage.

"Things are just repeating at this rate." Gongenzaka grumbles unhappily.

"Yeah! Let's go boss!"

"Hands up for the big man!"

"I bet five cards that the boss is gonna win."

"Are you kidding me? That's not even a bet!"

"Wring that kid's neck!"

The Lancer's looked back to the cell door uneasily as the inmates became more riled up. However, none of the guards seemed to care about this predicament for a second. They merely watched the duel with a somewhat dull, glazed look in their eyes and slumped posture.

Doors to the cells above and below the floor rattled as the cheers and jeers echoed throughout the Facility. Gongenzaka was about to stalk over to the cell door to calm the crowd down when he stopped, frozen.

A flash of silky black hair hidden beneath a guard's cap and violet and red eyes passed just by the corner of his eye.

The Steadfast duelist snapped his head over to that direction so fast it cracked, making the other Lancer's cringe and look up at him in concern. Gongeznaka disregarded their looks to keep looking at where he saw that flash of something.

"Was that?..." Gongenzaka trailed off, unsure of himself now.

But he could have sworn he just saw Lelouch looking into the cell, watching Yuya and Tokumatsu's fight, before quickly ducking back out again.

Not many had silky black hair and violet eyes like Lelouch did. The only other person that had eyes as vibrant a violet as his was Reiji Akaba.

"No, but that couldn't be…" The Synchro user shook his head and deemed it as nothing more than his imagination. He must not be getting enough to eat, and was starting to see things. After all, Lelouch is from their Dimension.

Right?

No, he IS from out Dimension. The sturdy teen restated soundly. And even then, he's either become a card or was taken in by Obelisk Force to Academia. He can't be here, it's simply impossible.

Although, Gongenzaka kind of wished Lelouch was here now.

. . .

"Enjoy Chojiro. A famous Common that dueled to bring joy and tried uniting the Tops and Commons peacefully, teaching the younger generations how to duel in the process." One of the guards muttered as he walked up the stairs towards the Director of the Detention Facility's office. The guard, a rather young teen for the job description, looked down at his unique duel disk which was receiving seemingly endless amounts of data and information from his other guards and workers. The duel between Yuya and Tokumatsu being minimized and shown on the top right corner of his screen.

Lelouch smirked. "Hmph. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that he is who he is now. Ten years in a hell like this can change a person. Although, I can't believe the Commons used to admire him as much as they did before he was arrested and brought here." He scrolled through an article detailing Tokumatsu's arrest with a light finger and a raised eyebrow. "Oh? And for cheating? My how the mighty have fallen."

He ignored the thirty text messages from Yuto and Shun each detailing that he get his ass back to the lab or else.

Let them sweat some. They deserve it. Lelouch thought happily.

Progress in this Dimension was like a rollercoaster, Lelouch had decided. It had its rise, then its fall, and now it was beginning to ascend again. Everything seemingly looking up once more.

It was simple to trick Security into thinking he was a Tops boy in need of medical attention from a mugging. It was even easier to geass them and obtain their loyalty from his Power of Absolute Obedience. Once he had arrived at the Detention Facility, all he had to do was systematically geass every guard and worker there, which surprisingly, there wasn't too many staff. There were way more prisoners and inmates compared to the actual guards, and the only main problem was the technology hidden within the building.

Technology that could easily be turned against Security when the time came to break his Lancers out of jail.

Although, he was almost spotted by Gongenzaka when he geassed the last of the guards watching Yuya and Tokumatsu's duel. That was a rather close one.

Otherwise, the main conditions were just about cleared in the jailbreak he was planning.

The only person left in this place that wasn't under his control was the Director himself, and the actual prisoners of the Facility.

That was quickly changed within a few measly minutes.

The door to the head honcho's office closed with a soft click. The dichromatic teen storing the blueprints to the Detention Facility away in a safe folder. Along with it, pictures and descriptions regarding his Lancers and their recently obtained allies.

Apparently, Roger is just as interested in us as I am about my certain dislike for the man. It was a little concerning, but it could simply be brushed off due to their unique Summoning Methods, which shouldn't be known to the Synchro Dimension.

"If only I had the chance to geass the Head of Security instead of the Director of the Detention Facility. That would make all of this go so much faster." Lelouch bemused to himself with a careless shrug. "Oh well. There's always next time I suppose." He walked down the many steps of the Facility with an easy air in his step, his silky black hair bouncing as he went. "Now then, to see who my Lancer's have been allying themselves with while we were scattered."

From what he was seeing in the information provided to him, they had the necessary potential to become Lancers as well. Good dueling strength, experience, the know how to survive in harsh environments, and strong moral standings.

Lelouch was liking what he was seeing from Crow Hogan and Shinji Weber's records, and he hasn't even met them yet. Then again, skilled duelists always seemed to come out of the woodwork if there were other skilled duelists around, like his Lancers. With a satisfied click of his tongue, the raven haired teen put the papers away in the same folder holding the Detention Facility's blueprints, hiding them within his jacket uniform.

Dichromatic eyes looked up into one of the cameras looking at his direction. "Begin to bring all of the prisoners down to the cafeteria floor. I have an announcement I'd like to make with them. But leave the people within Tokumatsu's cell alone. They're going to finish their duel." He didn't bother to check if anyone on the other side heard him, he already knew his orders were being put into action.

After all, he didn't want to accidentally geass any of his own comrades. Especially since he's already willingly done that to Yuto.

Although the prisoners watching Yuya and Tokumatsu's duel were very vexed at being unable to watch their duel finish, they still compiled. It wasn't like they had much choice anyway.

"What's going on?"

"What are we doing here just standing around doing nothing?!"

"I'm bored."

"I wanna go back to watching the boss destroy that punk kid in that duel!"

"I swear if I miss the outcome of that duel because of this bullshit…"

The noise within the cafeteria was nearly deafening from all of the complaints echoing around the stone cold walls. Thankfully, Lelouch was able to keep himself in check, and clapped his hands loudly twice from the second floor to gain every inmate's attention.

Lelouch smirked down at all of the confused prisoners. "Thank you for your attention. I'll let you return to their duel in just a moment, I only have one order I'd like to give all of you. So all of you look up here at me and listen well." Once every pair of eyes was on the revolutionary, Lelouch pulled his raven hair back from the left side of his face to expose them all to his geass. "You will obey my orders until I say the phrase 'The Black King releases you'."

Quite a good number of the prisoners put on a puzzled or frightened expression as red completely consumed their vision and then knew no more other than to comply. As one seemingly robotic entity, all of the prisoners straightened their posture and did a salute up to Lelouch. "Yes, my lord!"

Meanwhile, a serene smile lazily stretched across Lelouch's face as he felt each and every mind crumble to his power. "Thank you. I greatly appreciate it. Return to acting as you normally do until I return to destroy this facility."

After that, it only took a gesture to some geassed guards to have the prisoners return to their routine or watching Yuya's duel. One which seemed to finally be finishing up in Yuya's favor once Lelouch began to casually walk right out of the Detention Facility with no resistance.

All that's left is geassing the prisoners in the female's section of the Facility and rescuing Serena. Lelouch's grin turned sharp and deadly as he plotted and stewed on his plans about to come to fruition. Then I just need to meet up with this Council that runs the City and everything else will crumble like a stack of cards.

. . .

That kid. Tokumatsu grinned despite trying to hide it. He's got them all completely entranced in this duel.

TOKUMATSU LP- 4000

YUYA LP- 200

The Pendulum user had just barely managed to pull off a miracle draw that negated Lightshower's deadly effect, and somehow survived to his next turn. This caused the kingpin of the Detention Facility to break away from his fatal combo and draw a card, which soon led to an exhilarating three miracle draw that allowed him to Synchro Summon Flower Cardian Boardefly.

FLOWER CARDIAN LIGHTSHOWER LV.8 ATK:3000 DEF:3000

FLOWER CARDIAN BOARDEFLY LV.6 ATK:2000 DEF:2000

While the older man still had the Continuous Trap Card No Cheating Allowed on the field, that was going to change quickly.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Yuya spoke in his entertainer voice with a big smile on his face. Seeing everyone else getting so pumped up on this duel was making his own adrenaline get a boost. "From this point on is the highlight of this entertainment duel!" Scarlet eyes caught sight of his fellow Lancers confidently cheering him on. "Will I overcome this crisis and make an unbelievable comeback?" He turned around to wave at the prisoners crowding the cell door that were cheering themselves hoarse. "Please keep watching to find out!"

With his introduction over, Yuya proceeded to take his turn and dramatically draw his card. What was on it made his scarlet eyes sparkle like rubies. "I activate the Spell Pendulum Storm!" Once it was activated, heavy green whirlwinds began to blow around the field, and proceeded to destroy the two monsters in his Pendulum Zone.

At the sound of some gasps, Yuya waved a hand reassuringly. "Don't worry for a single second now. Though these curtains may have fallen, there will always be new ones raised in their place." The Pendulum user lifted both hands up into the air. "That's what entertainment duels are supposed to do, bring excitement and get your blood pumping!"

Even Tokumatsu seemed entranced by Yuya's performance, his revived smile not leaving his face an inch. "First up to the stage! Pendulum Storm's effect allows me to destroy one Spell or Trap card on my opponent's field!" With a flick of his wrist, Yuya gestured to Enjoy Chojiro's No Cheating Allowed card, and it was instantaneously destroyed into a thousand yellow particles.

"He destroyed the boss' No Cheating Allow Trap?!" The lackey in the light blue kimono exclaimed in disbelief.

"Yahoo! Nice one Yuya!" Dennis did a huge jump in his excitement at these turn of events.

"Ha, I always knew he could do it." Sylvio stated hauntingly whilst curling one blonde bang. "Now that he's gotten rid of that abominable curse he's free to Pendulum Summon once more."

"So long as he has Pendulum monsters to put into their Pendulum Zones." Gongenzaka grinned proudly. "As always, Yuya has something up his sleeve to turn this duel right around into his favor. Great job, Yuya."

Yuya showed two cards from his hand. "Now, using Scale 2 Performapal Landlord Hermit Crab and Scale 4 Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, I set the Pendulum Scale!" The two monsters rose up into their separate blue pillars in a brillant displace. Making the inmates outside the cell oh and awe at the mystical sight of this new Summoning Method.

SCALE 2 PERFORMAPAL LANDLORD HERMIT CRAB

SCALE 4 ODD-EYES PENDULUM DRAGON

"With this, I can summon Level 3 monsters all at the same time!" The tomato haired teen threw a hand up towards the opening portal between the two pillars. "Swing, Pendulum of my soul! Draw an arc of light across the ether!"

"Start that counterattack, Yuya!" Crow yelled, throwing a fist up into the air like most of the crowd.

"Pendulum!"

"Pendulum!"

"Pendulum!"

The crowd grew even more wild that some officers had to step in on the most radical ones. Though even they too were caught up in the spectacle and were cheering under their breaths.

Yuya's grin was permanently stuck to his face at the cheers echoing throughout the entire builder and farther beyond. "I Pendulum Summon! Come forth, my monsters!" Two monsters burst forth from the portal to grace the field. "From my Extra Deck, Performapal Big Bite Turtle and Timegazer Magician."

PERFORMAPAL BIG BITE TURTLE LV.3 ATK:800 DEF:1200

TIMEGAZER MAGICIAN LV.3 ATK:1200 DEF:600

Shockingly, Yuya pointed over to one of Tokumatsu's monsters, causing the Big Bite Turtle to lunge forward. "Battle! I attack Flower Cardian Lightshower with my Big Bite Turtle!"

Tokumatsu blinked, his eyes wide in disbelief. "Have you lost your mind? Lightshower has 3000 Attack Points while your monster only has 800! You're costing yourself the duel!" With that, Lightshower easily cut the small bug into small bits with the sword hidden within its umbrella's staff.

But in another surprising turn of events, Ligtshower also bursted into a ton of yellow particles once Big Bite Turtle was destroyed.

"What?!"

Yuya gave a confident smirk. "Not quite. You see with this bit of magic, Big Bite Turtle's effect also causes the stronger monster attacking Big Bite Turtle to be destroyed."

Enjoy Chojiro closed his dropped jaw with a resounding click to look straight at the younger duelist. "But you'll still end up taking damage, so you've still lost this duel."

"Not yet!" Yuya raised a hand up to his ace monster. "As Dennis always says, the show must go on!" From the sidelines, the orange haired teen gave an extra loud cheer at Yuya using his catchphrase during this magnificent duel. "I activate Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon's Pendulum effect!" The tomato haired teen's ace monster began to glow, and quickly swung its tail so that the incoming winds didn't harm Yuya. "Once per turn, I can negate battle damage dealt to a Pendulum monster on my field."

"Pendulum monsters can do that too?" Tokumatsu breathed. "Not bad, fascinating even."

"Next is Performapal Landlord Hermit Crab's Pendulum effect." Yuya gestured up to his other monster within its Pendulum Zone. "When a Pendulum monster on my field has been destroyed, I can Special Summon one monster from my Pendulum Zone!" The hermit crab began to glow as Odd-Eyes disappeared and reappeared from its Pendulum Zone onto Yuya's field. "Come to me, my trusty Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!"

ODD-EYES PENDULUM DRAGON LV.7 ATK:2500 DEF:2000

The dichromatic dragon gave one mighty roar that energized everyone that heard it. "Now, battle!" Yuya threw a hand over towards Tokumatsu's only Synchro monster. "I attack Flower Cardian Boardefly with Odd-Eyes! Spiral Strike Burst!" The teen's trusty ace wasted no time in trying to turn Enjoy Chijro's Synchro monster into nothing more than ash and mush with its fierce red flames.

"Not quite!" Tokumatsu interjected. "I activate the Trap Fraud Check! With this, Cardigan monsters cannot be destroyed by battle!" A clear blue wall surrounded the Synchro monster just as the flames hit, preventing Boardefly's destruction.

"But you still take damage!" Gongenzaka stated, his thick arms crossed tightly across his chest at this tense duel.

"Odd-Eyes' effect activates!" Yuya continued alongside Gongenzaka. "When in battle with a monster that is Level 5 or higher, battle damage is doubled! Reaction Force!"

TOKUMATSU LP- 4000 = 3000

Tokumatsu did a backflip and landed firmly on his feet from the damage he just took. Yuya meanwhile, continued his turn while his streak was still going. "Finally, I activate the Quick-Play Spell Pendulum Climax!" Chijro looked on with strained intrigue. "I release a Pendulum monster on my field and equip one monster in my opponent's Graveyard to my Pendulum monster in battle!" With that, Timegazer burst into yellow particles as Flower Cardian Cherry Blossom with Curtain appeared and merged with Odd-Eyes. "My monster's Attack increases by half of Cherry Blossom with Curtain's Attack!"

ODD-EYES PENDULUM DRAGON ATK:2500 = 3500

Blue flames burst around Odd-Eyes as the dragon roared to the nice power boost it received. Tokumatsu silently stared down the formidable beast with narrowed, fearless brown eyes.

"Now, let's give the people the grand finale they've all been waiting for!" Yuya clenched a fist and threw it out towards Tokumatsu and his Cardian Synchro monster. "This effect allows Odd-Eyes to attack a second time! Battle! Odd-Eyes, let's wrap this duel up with one last blast! Spiral Strike Burst!"

The red scaled dragon threw its head back, and unleashed an even stronger red flame than before that struck Flower Cardian Boradefly right in the center. "Battle damage is also doubled when Odd-Eyes battles a monster that's Level 5 or higher. Reaction Force!"

Enjoy Chjiro gave one last smirk as he was consumed by Odd-Eyes' bright flames and the battle ended with Yuya's victory.

TOKUMATSU LP- 3000 = 0 LOSER

YUYA LP- 200 WINNER

The loud screams and cheers from before suddenly ceased to exist as the air was filled with shocked silence.

The kingpin of the Detention Facility had finally been defeated, after ten years of standing strong throughout countless challengers.

"Boss!" Both lackeys cried out in concern and ran towards Tokumatsu to see if he was alright. The man had fallen over onto his back from the backlash of the final blow. "You alright boss?!"

Instead of answering his lackey's question, brown eyes looked up into Yuya's own as the tomato haired teen walked over to Tokumatsu. "I lost." The two lackeys gave confused looks to each other as they watched Yuya help the kingpin back onto his feet. The older man had a small smile on his face. "It was fun… It's been a long time since I've had a duel like that." The two looked back to the cell door, where the other inmates were starting to cheer Choujiro's name relentlessly once more. "This duel, it's helped reignite a fire within me I thought was lost forever, until now." The two meet eyes calmly. "Thank you."

Yuya's grin just simply couldn't be wiped off from his face. "It was nothing. I'm just so happy to see my dueling has helped you regain your smile! That I was able to help."

Seeing as the crowd was getting rowdier waiting for a response from Tokumatsu, Yuya stepped back to reunite with his friends and let Choujiro have the spotlight. The man took a deep breath, before hollering at the top of his lungs. "ENJOY!"

The prisoners ate it up like it was the most sought after candy within a candy store and went wild with cheers.

"You only live once!" Tokumtastu, Enjoy Chojiro, smiled wider and wider the more he spoke those familiar lines. "There will be days that you win, and days where you lose. Yet, don't be ashamed of defeat, nor don't be too proud of victory! In the end, let's all enjoy it!"

"Enjoy!" The prisoners cheered in unison.

"Enjoy!" Even Crow and Shinji couldn't help themselves as they cheered for one of their childhood idols.

. . .

From the other side of the Detention Facility, Serena turned her head to the sound of hundreds of voices cheering and chanting as one. The Academia traitor gave a small smirk as she realized Yuya was starting to work his usual magic.

However, that smirk soon left as she narrowed her forest green gaze towards the small camera lens hidden in the corner of the room.

Hopefully the guys will figure a way out of here, because I can't do anything like this.

With that, the girl carefully sat down on the semi comfortable bed, ready to at least try and get some rest before the eventual great escape.

. . .

It was already dark out by the time he left the Detention Facility. The full moon was bright, with it's twinkling stars blocked out by the City's lights, and not a single cloud in sight.

Lelouch received a ride from the Security officer he first geassed to get to the Detention Facility and returned back to where he had hidden his Zero costume within a condemned building. After ensuring no one was watching him and that he was in the clear, Lelouch once more donned the persona of Zero, and began to make his unseen trek back to where the others were safely hidden.

Yet, even as he silently crept his way through darkened allies and empty rooftops, he felt someone watching him. The feeling of being watched having appeared after the masked man was halfway through his journey back to the hideout.

After multiple valiant attempts to throw the pursuer off of his trail, the mysterious figure still remained trained on him, and Zero had had enough. Making sure to stay well away from where Shun and Yuto were currently hunkered down, Zero stopped within an empty warehouse, and turned around to face the opened door and his shadowed foe.

"I know you're there." The masked revolutionary stated calmly and confidently. "Come out now, or else I'll drag you out of where you're hiding." Zero's modulated voice boomed menacingly throughout the deafened silence, not even bugs chirped within this concrete jungle.

Though no one answered him verbally, someone walked out of the darkness to reveal themselves. Though, the figure was no enemy, and now Zero understood why he couldn't shake them off of his trail. After all, you couldn't easily trick a ninja whose existence is based on shadows and darkness.

"...Tsukikage?"

14,000 words, 35 pages of typing, and as always please let me know if you see any mistakes that need to be fixed.

The worst thing I hate about doing this story is having to do the duels. Like man, it amazes me how the creators of Yu-Gi-Oh managed to come up with these crazy combos and strategies by themselves. Doubt I could really do something like that impressively. This duel with Tokumatsu was like the TV commercials where they say 'BUT WAIT! There's more!' ;-;

You know, I've noticed that Reiji, Riley, Ruri, Rin, and Ray all begin with R. Though Ruri and Rin ain't their kids, you think Leo and Himaka have something with naming their children with an R?

I've also put in a little quote from Code Geass S2 into this chapter, care to find it?

I don't know the names for Tokumatsu's two lackeys. I tried to find it, but failed miserably, so if anyone knows I'd be thankful if you told me. Also, I know absolutely nothing of motorcycles, and especially D-Wheels. So frankly, I'm winging it! :D

As always, leave a REVIEW, Favorite, and Follow the story, because who knows when this'll be updated again. Could be tomorrow, could be a week from now, or end up being 3 frigging months…

Anyway! I'll see you all next time! -MoonlightWright