Notes
Bit of a short chapter, but it's the last one before things start going crazy.
Sorry for any mistakes.
Enjoy!
PS 9 – The Message
Yuto and Yuzu were sent to the Fusion Dimension. The girl didn't know that yet but Yuto recognized the place. One of the times he disguised himself as a member of Yuri's Obelisk Force unit, he accompanied him to run an errand in the city. It was a beautiful place with its European style and the ocean close by.
"Where are we?" asked Yuzu, "Is this Maiami City?"
"I don't think so," he answered back, "Yuzu, maybe we should—"
"Look!" she said pointing in the direction of a boat. Considering the people's shouts of "Good-bye" and "Take care", it was safe to assume it was leaving.
"It's full of kids," said Yuzu.
Some parents saw them standing close and said:
"Hey! Those kids seem to be in the age to be in Academia!"
"Aca— Academia?!" said Yuzu.
Damn, we were seen, thought Yuto.
Someone called security and a unit appeared quickly to take them to the school confusing them with runaway students.
"We need to run, Yuzu!" said Yuto taking a hold of her and running in the direction of the city.
Maybe we can lose them in the alleys, thought the XYZ duelist.
Luck wasn't on their side because without noticing it, they were surrounded with no way to run. Yuto was going to fight (as Yuzu came to this dimension with no duel disk) when a hooded figure jumped over them to stand in front of the guards. She took out her hood and Yuto recognized her as Tenjouin Asuka, one of the honor students of Academia.
She must have defected, thought Yuto, Yuri always said she had a soft heart.
Not only had she defected the school, but also all of their teachings because she was now a ritual summoning user. Her deck was perfectly designed to fight fusion summoning and managed to defeat all three students without breaking a sweat.
"Follow me!" said Asuka.
On the way to wherever they were going she introduced herself, and took them to a secret location for the runaway students to hide. She told them that she alongside a new teacher were teaching kids the true purpose of dueling; how it wasn't meant to be used as a tool for war and that dueling should be used to make people smile.
Make people smile, thought Yuto, sounds like Yuya.
Th teacher Asuka was talking about was the person Yuto least expected to see; his own father, Sakaki Yusho. He wasn't actually his own dad, as his own was already dead, and this one was the Sakaki Yusho of this universe, but seeing him again hurt a little.
"Uncle!" shouted Yuzu.
Ok! That's even stranger, thought Yuto with disbelief of his own mental thoughts. Seeing his mother and father not being his parents and even being different ages was a whole new level of strangeness.
"Yuzu! Why are you here?" said Yusho, he then looked behind her and saw him, "Yuya?"
"Uncle, it's so good to see you and no, he's not Yuya," said Yuzu.
"It's good to see you too Yuzu, I just wish it had been under better circumstances," said the dueltainer who looked back again at Yuto, "then, if you're not Yuya, who are you? You look a lot like my son."
"My name is Yuto, I'm a member of the Resistance from the XYZ Dimension," he said.
"Ah… you're from the XYZ Dimension, then" said Yusho with understanding in his eyes.
He told them how he came to be here in the Fusion Dimension. Three years ago, he left Standard to confront Akaba Leo in the Fusion Dimension, but a malfunction in the machine send him instead to the XYZ Dimension, where he stayed for almost three years.
When the invasion started, he got into a fight with the Supreme Commander, a student from Academia called Edo Phoenix, and was sent here after the duel. He saved Asuka from Academia and together they started this new dueling school based in the original You Show School back in Standard. Yuto remembered one time during the war, Ruri told him duels should be to bring smiles to people. Maybe she learned this from his dad when he was in the XYZ Dimension.
He must have kept a really low profile, thought Yuto because back when he first arrived at this universe, he couldn't find anything about his family.
"You must be tired," said Yusho, "why don't you rest a little and then we can talk some more?"
Asuka took them in the direction of the showers so they could refresh a little. In the way, she told them about Academia's objective and the plan behind ARC Area project. Yuto already knew all of it, but he acted surprised to not rise suspicion.
Inside the shower and after confirming he was alone and no one was in sight, he called Yuri. It didn't take long to connect, and Yuri appeared on the screen.
"Hey brother," said Yuto.
"Hey! Brother of mine," said Yuri back, "enjoying your visit? It's been a while since you have been here in Fusion."
"So, you already know," stated Yuto.
"Yes, Academia has sent me to capture you both."
"Me too?" said Yuto a little surprised, "That's new."
"There's been some new developments since the last time we talked," said Yuri whose face got tired all of a sudden.
Yuto didn't like that face. He knew his brother had it difficult in Academia with the Professor and his constant acting, so instead of going to the main point of the call he asked something more important:
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, we need to—".
"Don't lie. Tell me, how are you?" asked Yuto again.
"We don't have time for—".
"Start talking, you're also important. I'm sorry it seems I only worry about Yuya and Yugo but I'm your older brother too," said Yuto with an understanding smile on his face.
"Ugh! You're not that older than Yugo and me, you know?"
"I remember when I was your age—".
"Ah! Fine! I'll tell you," said Yuri losing his patience, "I hate it when you get like this."
Yuto just smiled.
"For your information I'm honestly okay, just a little tired. The professor was a little angry I failed in my mission to capture Yuzu back in Synchro because that was the second time in a row. They just assigned me extra homework," said Yuri. Extra homework in Academia meant additional duel training. Yuri was a high ranking officer so his training was already difficult to begin with.
"I'm sorry you had to suffer," said Yuto back.
"Please, the Professor doesn't need much of a reason to assign me more work considering he hates me because of Zarc," said Yuri.
And from the two of us the one who had it worse wasn't me, thought the fusion duelist. The oldest brother was the one that fought in a war, lied to his close friends and actively turned people into cards. Yuri was kept in Academia most of the time and people didn't talk to him much, which means there wasn't as much acting as his brothers thought he did. However, he wasn't going to mention this to his brother, the other one wasn't going to see it like him. He knew his older brother has always felt like he had to protect them from everything. Even more after mom…
"I still don't like it," said Yuto.
"Whatever, don't worry too much about it," said Yuri back with his bored face, "we're almost done."
"Yeah, I suppose."
"Now, can we please talk about the other stuff? I have many things to tell you," said Yuri.
"Let me go first, then" said Yuto. His report wasn't going to be that long.
"Wait!" said Yuri, "No Yugo?"
"I'll update him in what he needs to know."
We're going to discuss sensitive topics then, thought Yuri. They didn't like to exclude him, but Yugo could go from 0 to 100 in a second and it would be for the best to not overworry him.
Yuto told him about the revolution back in Neo Domino City in the Synchro Dimension and that Yuya managed to stop all conflicts with a duel against Jack Atlas. With no way to win, Roger had tried to escape with Yuzu and everyone (Lancers and some friends from Synchro) went to save her. They managed to stop him, but he had a last plan which accidentally sent them all to different dimensions. After a little check up in his duel disk, he discovered Yugo was still in Synchro and couldn't confirm Yuya's whereabouts.
"I know were he is," said Yuri, "I'll tell you once you finish."
"Of course," said Yuto knowing how his brother was regarding information, "after arriving here we were spotted by Academia and Tenjouin Asuka saved us."
"Tenjouin Asuka?" asked Yuri, "The honor student?"
"The one and only. She defected and is now running a duel school with dad."
"Dad? As in the Sakaki Yusho of this dimension? He is here?" asked Yuri very surprised to hear that. He already knew about the runaway students and Asuka's status as a wanted criminal.
"Yes," said Yuto, "this doesn't change anything, we'll continue with the plan."
"I wasn't going to complain," answered Yuri back, "I was just surprised."
Yuto just nodded to that.
"Now, what do you know?" asked Yuto.
"Well… and don't freak out, Yuya is in the XYZ Dimension—"
"What?!" Yuto was very much freaked out. In this universe, the only safe place seemed to be the Standard Dimension, all the other dimensions were too dangerous and for Yuto, his top one would be the XYZ Dimension with the ongoing war. Yuya could be turned into a card if he wasn't careful.
"Don't worry," said Yuri quickly, "he hasn't managed to be captured yet."
"Exactly, yet," said Yuto back, "Yuri, this is bad, until this moment one of us has always been with him, what if he does something stupid?! It's Yuya, he will."
"We'll have to trust in him," said Yuri with a somehow nervous face.
"You know something else." It wasn't a question. Yuto knew his brother. When he wanted, Yuri was the second best at keeping his emotions from showing on his face. If something was bothering him, it must be bad. Yuri just sighed and said:
"They are sending the Tyler Sisters to capture the Lancers in the XYZ Dimension."
"Yuri!"
"We have to trust him, Yuto!" said Yuri back. "Right now, none of us can go to him without raising suspicion."
Yuri was right. Yuzu could question his sudden disappearance if he were to go, Yugo could not move without Reiji noticing and Yuri was needed to do his work for Academia, now more than ever.
"Yuto, be reasonable. This is not our brother, but this Yuya is very capable," said Yuri. "We have to trust him."
"… Fine, but I don't like"
"You don't like many things," said Yuri rolling his eyes. "There is no place we can take him right now without raising red flags. Yuya's well known everywhere and a wanted criminal now."
"A wanted criminal?" asked Yuto.
"I told you there were some recent developments since we last talked," said Yuri, "let me explain."
Yuto just kept quiet and started to listen.
"I was sent back to Fusion with the power of Yuzu's bracelet. Yuya, Yugo and I almost united into Zarc that night, so I guess that was a lucky strike. Serena was also captured and brought here, but she managed to escape just arriving to Academia. Right now, she's hiding in the city and is a wanted criminal too under the charges of defecting and allying with the enemy."
"Academia doesn't have Serena?"
"No, and we can count that as a win for us because the Professor is still two girls down," said Yuri. "The bad thing is Academia attacked the Standard Dimension."
"What?" Yuto was very surprised to hear that. They always thought Standard would be left alone because of Leo's intentions of keeping it out of all affairs, the only exception was when they tried to capture Yuzu.
"Not a whole scale attack like in the XYZ Dimension, but with the Lancers in Synchro, they did some big damage. The Professor doesn't have all the girls yet and the moment he has them, he wants the machine to do its part as quickly as possible. Right now, the ARC V Machine is at 114%"
Yuto couldn't believe it. Since the revolution in Synchro started, he didn't had the chance to turn people into cards, this was a big help as they could perform their own plan without any complications, although at the expense of the people from Standard…
"That's not all," said Yuri, "they are preparing for a second attack soon and are fortifying the school grounds. The reason why I believe Yuya will be okay in Heartland is not only because he's a good duelist, but because the troops have been slowly retiring and returning back here."
"What about XYZ?" asked Yuto.
"Edo Phoenix can manage, he's a very proficient commander. Either way, there's almost nothing left of the Resistance. According to the most recent reports, there's just one person who is actually a menace."
That hurt a little. Yuto had been a member of said Resistance and fought many battles with them. However, in truth, he couldn't say anything because he had been a traitor who gave information to Academia dooming the group.
"Why an attack this late to Standard?" asked Yuto. "The Professor already has all the life energy he needs."
"To control Reiji and the Lancers," said Yuri. "He knows Serena holds affection for them and Yuzu is from Standard. He plans to use the attack as a way to lure out the missing girls. Any member of the Lancers needs to be captured so they can be used as bait."
"And with the troops protecting the school, it'll be difficult to enter the grounds unless we're prisoners," said Yuto.
"Exactly," said Yuri.
"Unless… we had an inside guy…" said Yuto who got a little quiet while thinking about their next possible step, connecting all the pieces and using all the information he had and all he has learned. He looked directly at his brother.
"Yuri, I think it's time. We need to start with the last part of the plan."
"Now?" For the last part to work, all brothers needed to be in the Fusion Dimension.
"Reiji planned for all of us to meet here in Fusion to attack Academia directly. If Yuya can evade Academia in the XYZ Dimension, I believe he'll find his way here. Also, you need to give him Starving Venom Fusion Dragon. Yuzu's bracelet doesn't work that way. We already confirmed it." Back in Synchro, after rescuing Yuzu; Yuto, Yugo and Yuya had been all together and nothing happened, not even her bracelet had started to shine.
"What's the plan, then?" asked Yuri.
In the Synchro Dimension, Yugo received a message from his brothers in his Academia duel disk.
LAST PHASE IN MOTION/MEETING POINT FUSION
The most difficult part was about to begin.
Author notes
Yuto-Yuri interaction! In the manga, they give this cool and calm vibe... except when Yuya's safety is involved, then the three brothers become aggressive guard dogs
Major change! Serena is free, my girls will be no one's puppets! To change it I just made the Professor attack Standard... fair exchange? XD
For all those wondering, the plan will be clear soon enough.
Thanks for reading.
