Silence reigned in the empty arena before Yuri Sakaki coughed. "So, who are you?" He asked, despite the playful smile slowly growing on his face. "Not to be awkward or anything…"
"My name is of no consequence to you, Fusion." The figure declared, looking up at him with a dark glare. "All you need to do is fall beneath me and hand over the Numbers."
"Number."
"... what?"
"Number. Seeing as you know, you guys attacked us immediately? I don't think we've had the time to look for Numbers." Yuri shook his head. "Well, I do have some pent up aggression I'd like to take out on something. You are one of the… cultists of whatever Zarc is then, I suppose?"
"You may call me Night."
"... you know, you amaze me." Yuri clapped his hands together, shaking his head while giving as mocking of a smile as possible. "I never thought I would meet someone who's this much of an edgelord, and Sir Phantom Knight the First is my brother."
"... how do your brothers tolerate you?" Night asked, sounding genuinely annoyed as they rubbed their forehead. "Well, no matter. Master Duel, alright?"
"You act like you're gonna give me a choice in the matter." Yuri snarked back. "Anyway, you're taking away from the precious time I could be using to make sure Yuya is alright, so no hard feelings." He licked his lips, giving what his brothers called the Yuri grin—terrifying and creepy, in other words. "I'm going to destroy you."
"You want to know if Yuya Sakaki is alright?" Night held up their hand, and three screens showed around them. One showed Yuto facing off against someone in a dark arena, drawing his five cards to begin. Another showed Yugo on his D-Wheel, ready to begin a Turbo Duel. Finally, the last one showed Yuya, hand on his pendulum and a determined look in his eyes as he stared forward, flames encroaching closer and closer to him. "Here. A gift from me to you."
So all of them were in danger, huh?
"There is also a rather special trick to our duels. Every time one of you takes damage, one of these arenas will react and deal one of you physical damage." Yuto glanced towards the screen with a look of horror, clearly able to hear him. Yugo's eyes widened as his D-Wheel fired up and he and his opponent began racing. Finally, Yuya…
Yuya just looked resigned, even as he started his duel.
That look made him infuriated. They hadn't been able to protect Yuya, and now Yuya was used to this. He shouldn't have to be used to this.
"You're going to regret this," he hissed out. "Duel!"
Yuri Sakaki: 4000LP
Night: 4000LP
Night drew their cards as well, before holding out one. "I'll start. I will set one monster facedown and one card facedown. Then, I will activate the spell card Meteor of Destruction! Since my opponent's life points are higher than 3000, I deal them 1000 damage!"
Yuri narrowed his eyes as the meteor shot at him, barely missing him. He then winced in horror as the arena glowed.
Yuri Sakaki: 4000 - 1000 = 3000LP
"And now, the arena's effect activates!"
The cuff around Yuto's foot sparked, before the electricity shot along his body. He let out a scream as the shock continued for ten seconds before it stopped and he stepped backwards to try and steady himself. "Yuto!" He heard Yuya and Yugo shout, and he shook his head, standing up straight. He couldn't look weak in front of his brothers. Yuri shot him a look through the screen, and he saw an apology in the other's eyes. He knew why Yuri wasn't saying it aloud though—they couldn't afford to show their opponents their weakness.
"You're not bad." His opponent, Ideal, said with a respectful nod. "A good attitude."
"I will activate the effect of The Phantom Knights of Shade Brigandine that I just set!" He declared, ignoring his opponent's words. "Since there are no trap cards in my graveyard, I can activate it on the turn that I set it. Once per turn, I will Special Summon it as a monster." (4*/0/300/DARK/Warrior) A piece of chest plate possessed by a blaze of blue fire appeared on the field. Fragile Armor nodded, moving backwards. "Formed from pitch-black darkness, to fight those foolish enough to oppose it with its treacherous fangs! Now, descend! Xyz Summon! Rank 4! Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon!" (R4/2500/2000/DARK/Dragon/Xyz/Effect) His dark dragon appeared on the field, letting out a ferocious roar and lightning striking around them. "I will set two cards facedown and end my turn."
"You seem pissed at us."
"You invaded our minds and trapped us here." He said with narrowed eyes. "I am not angry. I am not lashing out, because I know better. I cannot dictate the conditions of this duel. But if you want to duel us?" He felt Dark Rebellion touch the back of his head, trying to calm down. "I will win here."
"If you say so." Ideal shook his head. "Draw."
Yuto watched with bated breath.
"I Normal Summon Marauding Captain! (3*/1200/400/EARTH/Warrior/Effect) And when I summon him from my hand, I can Special Summon a Level 4 or lower monster from my hand." Ideal took another card from his hand. "I will Special Summon Hope Lancer!" (4*/1800/1000/LIGHT/Warrior/Effect) A golden armoured warrior appeared on the field. "And once per turn, Hope Lancer can increase or decrease the level of a card on my field by 1! I will increase Marauding Captain's level by 1! Now, I Overlay my two Level 4 monsters!"
He held out his hand. "When my opponent would activate an effect to Special Summon a monster or special summon a monster, I can activate the Counter Trap Solemn Warning. I pay 2000 life points to negate the summon and destroy the card." The Xyz monster Ideal had been holding let out an electric shock and then flew to the graveyard, Ideal watching with slight disbelief. He checked the card details. Number 39, Utopia...
Yuto Sakaki: 4000 - 2000 = 2000LP
A Number?
Ideal frowned. "I didn't expect that... But no matter! You lost life points!"
He froze. "It's not damage!" He shouts, losing his cool for a brief moment. "It doesn't count! Don't touch them!"
Ideal snorted. "Do you think this world can understand human will? Not even humans can. It doesn't care about your choices or your free will. Your life points went down, that's all it cares about."
In the image, Yugo was hit by a torrent of fire as he grimaces, but he said nothing either.
He looked tired, too. As he glanced back, Yuto nodded.
He wouldn't waste their efforts.
"Since you control a monster and I control no monsters, I will Special Summon Cyber Dragon (5*/2100/1600/LIGHT/Machine/Effect) from my hand." The monster appeared with a loud roar. "And now, I will activate Tribute to the Doomed! By discarding one card, I can destroy a monster on the field!" He gestured forward. "Destroy Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon!"
"Yuto!"
He closed his eyes. "My partner won't lose that easily," he said. "I will activate the trap, Phantom Knights Sword. By equipping it to Dark Rebellion, it gains 800 attack points. But more importantly, the next time it would be destroyed, Sword is destroyed in its stead!" The lightning was deflected by the sword, which then vanished.
Ideal frowned. "I'll set one card and end my turn!"
"Draw!" He held out his hand. "Thanks for the target. Now, let's go! Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon will activate its effect! I detach two Overlay Units to halve your monsters' attack points and add it to Dark Rebellion! Treason Discharge!" The dark lightning wrapped around Cyber Dragon, and Dark Rebellion glowed. The black dragon let out a low growl, before leaning down and nuzzling Yuto's side, trying to get him to calm down. "Since your Cyber Dragon had 2100 attack points, that changes Dark Rebellion's attack points to 3550!" Dark Rebellion reared up. (Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon: 2500 + 2100 / 2 = 3550ATK) Despite still being far calmer than him, it was still raring to fight. "Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon will attack your Cyber Dragon!"
Dark Rebellion charged forward.
"I will activate Draining Shield!"
Ideal: 4000 + 3050 = 7050LP
Yuto's eyes widened before he gritted his teeth. "I end my turn."
"My turn!"
"Man, this sucks," Yugo muttered, looking at the screen, just as the fire shot over him. He winced, but he refused to make any kind of sound.
"Pay attention," his opponent, Phobia, said. "I'm your opponent, you know?"
"Yeah, I know! I'm going to kick your ass, you bastard!"
"It's still my turn," Phobia said with a raised eyebrow. Yugo would have face-planted the ground then, except that he was currently on a D-Wheel and as such, face planting would have caused his death. He was pretty sure that a certain grinning bastard would record it too, and he'd never give Yuri that satisfaction.
"Yeah, well, it will be mine!"
"And the sky is blue," Phobia said dryly. "That is how a duel works, yeah?"
Not getting Phobia's sarcasm, Yugo said, "but the sky is black here." He gestures to the gaping hole in the sky. "How does that work, by the way? In fact, there's no sun? How are we visible to each other right now?" He's about to ask more, but then Phobia facepalms.
"How do your brothers deal with you? You're far too fixated on logic."
"That's the first time anyone has said that to me," Yugo said cheerfully. "Thanks for the compliment!" Then, he remembered that he was in a duel, and that yes, he should probably be focusing on the match now. He compensated for his earlier
Phobia clearly agreed. "I will activate the effect of Number 34: Terror-Byte!" (R3/0/2900/DARK/Machine/Effect) The mechanical dog on the field let out a bark, chasing around a spare piece of metal. "I can detach one Overlay Unit to take control of a Level 4 or lower monster in Attack Position that you control!"
Yugo glanced at his field and his eyes widened. "Wait a minute…"
He only had two monsters on his field, one in Defence Position and the other in Attack Position. The one in Defence Position was his Speedroid Tri-Eyed Dice. (3*/300/1500/WIND/Machine/Tuner/Effect) However, the one in Attack Position was Hi-Speedroid Puzzle. (4*/1300/1600/WIND/Machine/Synchro/Effect)
"I will take your Puzzle!"
Man, this wasn't good…
"And now, we both know your Hi-Speedroid Puzzle's effect! When it battles a Special Summoned monster, its attack points double until the end of the Damage Step!" The monster darted forward, strengthening enough to destroy the opponent in front of it. "I will end my turn, and then Puzzle is returned to you."
Yugo clicked his tongue. "Bastard… my turn!" He looked at the card. Even with doubled attack points, 2600 attack points weren't enough to take out a monster with defence points that are that high. What could he do…
"Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon's effect! You take effect damage equal to the number of "Odd-Eyes" cards in my Pendulum Scales times one thousand two hundred! And since I have one, you take one thousand two hundred more damage in addition to that! Atomic Force!" In the video, Yuya's monster blew out fire, sending his opponent to the floor before the screen disconnected.
Atria: 1000 - 1200 = 0LP
"To think that it was Yuya who could finish that easily…" Yuto sighed. "I've been far too distracted."
"To be fair, so have I," Yuri said. "What kind of poor showing is this, huh? I ought to dye all your clothes pink except for Yuya's."
"You're as bad as I am, asshole," Yugo said, but he was smiling. Their opponents looked at the three of them warily. "How about we finish this already?"
"Yeah."
"Activating Polymerization," Yuri said with a bored look. "I will fuse the two Predaplants I have on the field." Vines sprung up around him, thorns growing out of them and stabbing into the ground. "Two beautiful flowers with an insect-alluring fragrance! Now become one, and from the hell beneath your petals, give birth to a new terror! Fusion Summon!" He gives the brightest smirk he can as his dragon roars in his mind. "Appear! Poisonous dragon with hungry fangs—Level 8! Starving Venom Fusion Dragon!" (8*/2800/2000/DARK/Dragon/Fusion/Effect) His ace appeared on the field, its wings glowing a light pink that managed to be incredibly intimidating. (Yugo had once commented that Starving Venom should not be as scary as it was considering how much pink was on it. Starving Venom had politely disagreed, and ruined Yugo's favourite shirt during their next duel together.)
Night stared at him. In front of him, his Number was floating in the air. Number 50: Blackship of Corn. (R4/2100/1500/DARK/Plant/Xyz/Effect) "You're not going to win against me," the other duelist said.
Yuri smirks. "By a route obscure and lonely," he quoted, "haunted by ill angels only, where an Eidolon, named Night, on a black throne reigns upright."
Night continued staring at him, still looking incredibly confused.
"I do enjoy a good poem between my plants," he said. He decided not to mention that it was mainly because Yuto had good taste in poetry collections and he just liked sitting in the garden, no matter what he was doing. "Dream-Land. Regardless, I'd much rather not argue with a demon, so shall I just end this here? When Starving Venom Fusion Dragon is successfully Fusion Summoned, it gains the attack of a Special Summoned monster on your field. I will choose your Blackship of Corn. Hungry Fang!" The dragon glowed brightly, the flowers around it opening and closing. "So that brings Starving Venom's attack points up to 4900, correct?" He smirked. (Starving Venom Fusion Dragon: 2800 + 2100 = 4900ATK) "And I suppose that Kotsu-senpai would be rather unhappy if she saw that I was doing this again, but I don't quite mind. Activating the spell, Ester Infusion! I can banish a Plant monster from my graveyard to give a DARK monster on the field additional attack points equal to that monster's attack points! I will banish Predaplant Spinodionaea (4*/1800/0/DARK/Plant/Effect) from my graveyard and target Starving Venom!" The dragon glowed again. (Starving Venom Fusion Dragon: 4900 + 1800 = 6700ATK)
Starving Venom gave a superior smirk.
"That makes 6700 attack points," Yuri said, clicking his tongue. "Are you ready to repent? Starving Venom, crush that pathetic monster! Toxic Spore!"
"I will tribute Hi-Speedroid Puzzle to Normal Summon Speedroid Passinglider (5*/S3/2200/2000/WIND/Machine/Pendulum/Effect) from my hand!" On the field in front of him, a grey aeroplane appeared, flying in and gliding next to his bike. "And when Passinglider is Tribute Summoned, I can Special Summon a Level 4 or lower "Speedroid" monster from my graveyard!" The plane drops off a package. "Revive, Speedroid Red-Eyed Dice!" (1*/100/100/WIND/Machine/Tuner/Effect) He grinned as the monster appeared on the field. "And Red-Eyed Dice will let me change the Level of a "Speedroid" monster on the field to a Level from 1 to 6! I will change Passinglider to a Level 6 monster! Now, I tune the Level 1 Speedroid Red-Eyed Dice to the Level 6 Speedroid Passinglider! Spread those wondrous and beautiful wings, and strike down your enemies at the speed of light! Synchro Summon! Appear now—Level 7, Clear Wing Synchro Dragon! (7*/2500/2000/WIND/Dragon/Synchro/Effect) His own ace appeared on the field, and he grinned.
"Your Clear Wing is too weak!"
"Oi, who do you think you are, calling my partner weak?" He shouts. "Clear Wing can destroy anything by himself, but luckily he won't have to! I will activate the spell Speed Recovery! I can Special Summon a "Speedroid" monster from my graveyard! Revive, Speedroid Pachingo-Kart!" (4*/1800/1000/WIND/Machine/Effect) He discarded a card from his hand. "Pachingo-Kart's effect! Once per turn, by discarding a Machine monster from my hand, I can destroy a monster on the field! I will destroy your Terror-Byte!"
Phobia stared, before chuckling bemusedly.
"What's so funny?"
"Nothing," the man said. "Please carry on."
Yuri's screen cut out then, followed shortly by Yuto's. He smirked. "I guess I should, considering that those two are already ahead, huh?"
"Says the one who won't talk to his own brothers about how he feels, even though he cares so much. Tell me, Yugo, if it's so important to you, why won't you fight for it?"
"Rin's right," he said. "I'm not going to fall behind! Clear Wing! Pachingo-Kart!"
Phobia: 4000 - 2500 - 1800 = 0LP
His bike skidded to a stop.
He looked at Dark Rebellion in the graveyard, grimacing. On the field, Utopia had been revived, and now it had one Overlay Unit for an unknown effect.
What should I do?
I can't afford to fall behind, not when we agreed to fight. Not when I have my responsibility left to fulfil.
A dragon's roar could be heard in his head.
He smiled, before he looked at the card again. He pulled the top card off his deck. "It's always you there for me," he said. "Typical. Draw!" He looked at the card and put it aside for the moment. "Activating Monster Reborn! I will Special Summon Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon from the graveyard!"
The dark dragon reappeared. Ideal frowned. "What can you do with that monster? Is this pure sentiment? I thought better of you, Yuto Sakaki."
"Nothing like that," he said. "Dark Rebellion is my key to victory. It always has been and it always will be." He revealed the card he had drawn. "This is the proof of our bond. Activating The Phantom Knights Rank-Up-Magic Launch! I can use a DARK Xyz Monster with no materials as Xyz Material to Xyz Summon a monster one Rank higher! I will overlay Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon on itself! From the depths of purgatory, dedicate to the unsinking souls your song of rebellion! Appear and echo forevermore! Rank-Up Xyz Change! Appear, Rank 5! Dark Requiem Xyz Dragon!" (R5/3000/2500/DARK/Dragon/Xyz/Effect/OU:2)
His ace reappeared, but with beautiful wings like the stained glass windows of churches. Ideal flinches. "Your dragon has an evolution?"
"It evolved a long time ago," he said. "And yet it always comes when I need it. I will first activate Dark Requiem's effect. I will detach one Overlay Unit to reduce the attack points of a monster on your field to zero, and Dark Requiem gains those lost attack points. There is only one monster, so the answer is obvious. Requiem Salvation!"
Crystalline strings seemed to link the two monsters before Utopia collapsed to one knee as electricity sparked around it, while the light shining through Dark Requiem's multicoloured wings created a large spectrum of colours, all dancing on the floor. (Dark Requiem Xyz Dragon: 3000 + 2500 = 5500ATK) (Number 39: Utopia: 2500 - 0ATK)
"That will bring Dark Requiem up to 5500 attack points. Next, I will have Dark Requiem attack your monster!"
"I will activate Utopia's effect to detach one Overlay Unit and negate that attack! Moon Barrier!"
He nodded. "I thought so. Dark Requiem's effect. When a monster effect is activated, I can detach one Overlay Unit from it and negate the effect, as well as destroy the monster." Utopia shattered. "And then I can revive an Xyz Monster from my graveyard. Return, Dark Rebellion!"
Ideal was frozen to the spot in realisation. "So if I didn't try to negate the attack—"
"I wouldn't have won this turn," Yuto said. "However, I don't think we should dwell on 'what ifs'." That sentence hit a little too close to home for him, though he pretended that it was fine. Dark Rebellion reappeared next to him, and he gave it a fond smile. "Finish off your attack, Dark Requiem! Disaster Disobey of Requiem!"
Light scorched the area around them, and Ideal screamed as he was knocked backwards.
Ideal: 7050 - 5500 = 1550LP
"Dark Rebellion! Lightning Disobey of Rebellion!"
Ideal: 1550 - 2500 = 0LP
He let out a sigh and then suddenly, he was teleported away. When he reappeared, it was to the side of one of their opponents on the floor, rubbing their cheek, Yugo still holding a fist in the air. It was pretty obvious what had just happened.
"You punched him?"
Yuri smirked. "Truth be told, he had a very good reason."
Yuto raised an eyebrow. "I'm not sure what that means, coming from you."
"I'm offended."
Yuya stepped over. "These guys aren't cultists," he explained. "They're Numbers. This was a test."
Yuto processed that, and then he nodded. "Yugo, punch them again." His younger brother obliged, much to the protest of the flailing man (Number?) that was being hit. The others were staying a safe distance away, clearly for safety reasons. "Why another one?" He said. "Was Noelev En's test not enough already?"
Ideal held up his hands in surrender. "We wanted to make sure that you were the right people to entrust this fight to," he said. "We've been misused so many times before. Can you blame us for wanting to make sure that we're not going to be misused again?"
Yuri yawned. "Cool motive, still torture," he said.
"Yuri," Yuto muttered before he cleared his throat and spoke up. "So? Will you be coming with us? And when are these threats coming anyway? This Zarc?"
"Not for a while," Ideal said. "We're preparing early. But you must remain vigilant." He stepped towards Yuto. "Shall we then?"
"One more thing," Yuri said, his voice deliberate. Yugo snickered, but he took Yuya's hand and pulled him backwards, out of the crossfire. Yuto simply folded his arms. "If any more of your friends decide to test us, I will have Starving Venom eat them instead of bothering to protect them. Are we all clear about this?"
One of the other Numbers gulped. "Crystal."
"Or I'll punch you in the damn face!" Yugo declared.
Yuya smiled, stepping towards the Number he fought. "Good to meet you," he said. "I think you know already, but I'm Yuya Sakaki. Let's get along."
The same Number that seemed afraid of Yuri sighed. "You got the nice one," he groused.
"Oh?" Yuri's eyes glinted with malicious joy. "Are you saying I'm not nice?"
Yuto sighed.
But at the same time, he smiled.
It felt like it had been forever since they stepped onto the shores of Academia.
But things would probably only get better from here. And he believed in himself, and his brothers, and the people they had met so far.
Things would only get better from here.
The first person that Yuto saw when he woke up was Rin Kurosaki.
The green-haired girl was sitting next to Yuzu's bed, her hand over Yuzu's as she slept on the chair, looking restless. Yuto moved, before wincing at the pain in his back.
He turned to the side and closed his eyes, allowing himself to rest. Something about the situation told him that Rin was something of a kindred spirit to him and that he could trust her to take care of his brothers while he was out.
They would all be fine.
A/N: Well uh… this took a while. It's been quite a long time, and honestly, real-life stuff really did contribute to me being unable to bring myself to write anything. I'm honestly quite annoyed with the low quality of this chapter and I'll probably revise it at some point in the future… but I really wanted to post something while I could, considering that… wow! I haven't looked in for a very long time, but there have been so many people that favourited and followed this story despite my horrendous delay. I cannot thank all of you enough for your support. Whether you came on during my hiatus, or long before that, thank you.
Regardless, I will not promise anything, because I'm still getting out of my writing slump. But I'll be providing the next three chapter previews because I've already begun work on those chapters, even though it's quite a slow process. I'll do my best to post more in the coming months, though my exams may make it a bit hard.
Chapter Preview: Chapter 10–For The Love Of Candy
While stopping by the convenience store for some snacks and food, Yugo encounters one of his roommates. This happens over and over until eventually, the two of them begin to form a friendship, and that is before Yuya gets into the mix…
Chapter Preview: Chapter 11—Moonlight Runaway
Duel Monster Spirit Day is coming up, and before it, there is a contest being held to vote in a female student as Miss Duel Academia. Against her will, Serena is entered into the contest by her sisters, and an unlikely ally comes to her aid.
Chapter Preview: Chapter 12—Wind and Steel
Rin doesn't particularly like it when people insult the way her sisters duel. Sawatari is prone to putting his foot in his mouth. And Yuto and Gongenzaka are just here to watch with popcorn.
I think you can tell, but the next few chapters will be a bit more light-hearted, just showing character interactions and allowing the characters to rest before the plot starts taking over again. That's not to say that there will be no plot, however... you'll just have to see. :)
Hope that all of you are doing well during this pandemic! We'll make it through.
-Blaise
Edit: (17/10/20) Wow, it feels like it's been so long since I wrote this chapter. Duel format edits, though it's not exactly the same. From Chapter 10 on, the format should be a lot more consistent. Also, my writing style has changed quite a lot since then. No excuse though! I'm rushing through the earlier chapter edits so that I can finish off and post Chapter 13 afterwards. That's one I'm really looking forward to :p