Episode 20: What once was smiles…
Street, Miami City, 3rd P.O.V
"I'm sorry. I should have been watching where I was going!" She corrected him, fixing her hair a bit.
In all reality, she should have been paying attention to where she was going. Otherwise, she wouldn't be in that awkward of a situation.
"No no. You aren't in the wrong." He shook his head, re-adjusting his glasses quickly.
"Hey, I've seen you during the Miami Championships! Your name was… um…." Lowell began to fumble over his name. "I… I could have sworn..."
She began twirling her thumbs, head tilting as a quaint blush was spreading across her face. It was cute. Such a girl to be flustered by remembering a name. He could watch this for hours. If only her skills would be at his level; then her perishment wouldn't ruin this bit of fun.
"Kaiser. My name is Kaiser Obsidian." He decided to end the cute moment; he could savor that for later.
"Kaiser Obsidian… it is a pleasure to meet you." She bowed slightly.
"The pleasure is all mine. I think I've heard of you as well. You are… Lowell Ember, correct? Synchro Star of You Show?" He tried to play it off to not appear like a stalker or suspicious. "I thought you would choose to participate in the events."
"Yeah, well I'm not the biggest fan of large crowds. The main spotlight isn't my cup of tea." I nervously laughed.
"Oh really? I would have never guessed." He chuckled before changing the subject. "Though, I must be on my way. I promised a close friend of mine that we'd meet before heading to Central Court."
"Then I wish you the best. I got to go! Bye!" Lowell ran off, leaving quite swiftly.
Watching her departure, something caught his yellow eyes. A dark mist following behind Lowell. A thing he never expected or saw beforehand. Traveling, it seemed to slither like as snake; a Duel Spirit. One that he thought to be extinct. How intriguing.
"Sabrine, you read me?" Kaiser activated the coms on his Duel Disk.
"Loud and clear! Just got finished dueling a knight idiot and claiming my victory. Out of camera sight for now. What's up?" Sabrine's chipper mask was on.
"I found myself a pretty little liar." He grinned as he watched her round a corner. "Get ready to pull the switch. We're invading."
"...Are you serious?" Sabrine seemed suspicious. "Just because you encountered Lowell doesn't mean we spring the mission early!"
"That isn't the point Sabrine. I saw that blasted beast with her; the one that shouldn't even be fucking alive." Kaiser looked over to the main tower of LDS. "Still I can get there to defeat Reiji Akaba and anyone who stands in my way. Right after I ensure that she's mine."
"You can not just jeopardize the mission like this! I won't allow it!"
"And what gives you the power to say that? I'm your fucking superior; I could kill you in an instant."
"Try me! You won't have the balls to harm me."
"Oh yeah, why don't you see me try bi-!"
"Enough!" The image of Ami Yang appeared on the Duel Disk. "Your objective can switch to targeting Lowell after we have gathered both subjects. The mission today is vital to our species' survival in this world. You two fuck this up, and I'll personally see to it that upon the Council's return from their recent trip, you'll be at death's door. Do you understand me?"
Both Kaiser and Sabrine stopped at once. Ami's expression of pure anger causing them to become silent. Minutes past as Ami calmed herself down enough to clear her throat.
"I see we have come to an understanding. Kaiser, your objective will be to infiltrate LDS and capture Reiji Akaba. I need him in order to perfect our Pendulum Methods for mass production. Sabrine, your objective is to capture Yuya Sakaki. I don't care about the others; unless you see a potent potential that is worth harvesting. Otherwise, kill anyone who stands in your way. All is on Standby for this mission. Am I clear?"
"Certainly. I will bring honor to our kind." Sabrine nodded. "I'll activate the switch once the time comes."
"Kaiser?" Ami looked at the screen, waiting for an answer from the male."
"...Fine. But after I capture Reiji Akaba I'm going after Lowell and that beast." He hissed through his teeth.
"That is fine. You can do whatever the fuck you want after both subjects are captured. Just make sure this doesn't break our backs. A lot rests on your mission. Do not fuck this up." Ami broke off communications with the trio.
Ami Yang let out a long sigh after the application was closed. She was in her private business office, where a flat-screen faked an appearance of a nice, pristine outdoor look of cherry blossoms. The organization was clearly everywhere. Not a thing out of place inside her space. Still, Director Yang clearly was dealing with stress.
"Soon enough, we can be one step closer towards our dream." Ami leaned heavily against her steel desk. "Then we just get out of this hellhole. Just four more to go. Focus Ami: People are counting on you! Do it for them. Do it for yourself."
A buzz came not long after her little pep talk. Pressing the button, she was met with one of her other fellow co-workers in a lab coat.
"Director Yang. You need to come down to the Observation Deck at once." The male said.
"Why? I already have things booked," She inquired.
"It is important. We have just gotten the 'go' signal from Sabrine. Academia has arrived." He looked away from the screen only for a moment. "It would be of your utmost interest to welcome here at once. It is of an order from the Council."
She took a gulp before smiling widely. "I will see to it that I am of attendance. Alert me of any updates and record all data. We will not allow anything less for the data gathering."
Ancient Ruins, Miami City, 3rd P.O.V
Niles sighed, successfully defeating an opponent not long ago and having three Pendulum cards in his possession. He hadn't gotten to re-encountering Kazama since they departed. In fact, he was trying to avoid people. As much as this idea appealed to his mind. Entertainment by hunting down Pendulum Cards for an audience. Just like dueling others…
A chill crept down his spine; this was just too familiar for him. Why couldn't this be like the previous two rounds? He could handle that. Not this. And yet here he was unable to leave the area. Reason? Pretty simple really: Shun Kurosaki. Somebody he never thought to even consider. Not until he started thinking back. Back to those days in the Resistance. When he had… something before the fall.
"And that's game!" Niles gave a thumbs up to his defeated opponent. "Better luck next time!"
It was a brilliant day in Heartland. Sun was a shining, duels in progress and above all else, people had smiles! Such was a day in this town. Where he stood as one of the better Duelists of his class. Those of Clover Branch anyway. He also had some amazing friends from that branch and from others. Much to many a surprise to see him hanging out with others.
"Niles~!" His eyes widen, turning around to see a trio rushing toward him.
All three members of his branch. Fellow classmates and good friends. Sayaka Sasayame, Allen Kozuki and then-!
"There you are! We've been looking for you." Allen smiled at the older Duelist.
"Oh really? I thought Kaito would suffice with occupying you for a few hours." He chuckled before looking at the last member of the trio.
"I never promised that." Both older males laughed before fist-bumping each other. "... I've seen you've been practicing."
"Of course I am! I got a match with a Spade Branch in two days. Need to make up for last time." Blue orbs looked to Kaito's side. "Wasn't Haruto supposed to be with you today?"
"Oh, he was. My Father picked him up a while ago." Kaito explained. "But do you think you're overworking things?"
"Overworking? Where would you get that?" His nervous laughter clearly apparent.
"You have been overworking. Okay! That means Niles over here needs a break." Allen grabbed Niles by the wrist. "Come along! We're all going to help Niles chill out!"
In hindsight, he should have enjoyed those moments. Moments of pure relaxation where tension and fear didn't creep around every corner. Where war and death lingered on the horizon. Every day a little closer to dying. He cherished those memories very much. Such an easier time back in those days. Where he was just like everyone else. Niles wanted those memories back. He wanted to return to that blissful time. Instead of being in the present.
Turning his wrist upward, his ungloved hand traced the rim of his glove. His pulse still fairly fresh. Yet, as he honed his senses there was something off. Not exactly sure what - but enough to make his mind question things. And worry; was it… finally catching up to him? Niles swore it couldn't be the case. There couldn't be anyway. Not ever since…
"Damn it." He cursed to himself as he retracted his fingers. "Can't deal with this shit now."
Shaking his head, he turned on his Duel Disk to check something when something caught his eye. A group of figures running on a road. Nearby and plain in sight. The bright sunlight lighting up the boy of the uniforms. A split second past before Niles recoiled back in horror.
"...Academia!?" He then lowered his Duel Disk before sensing something else. "Huh?"
Lowell's Apartment, Miami City, 1st P.O.V
"What… is this!?" I looked up to the sky, seeing the blue turning duller and green hues began seeping inside. "And of course they had to leave while I wasn't home!"
A foot kicked the ground and apartment locked behind me, I was standing over the exposed edge to see the strange occurrence in the sky. The color changes were one thing; adding to that fact were clouds now transformed into grey storm clouds and began to clump up. Large formation in the sky. Didn't help that it seemed like the color in everything around me was vanishing. Almost like things slowly became black and white.
This wasn't at all what I was expecting today. Not to mention Yugo and Yuto ditching me! Such… asses! I told them to wait for me but nope! They're gone. Which wasn't any help in this strange of a situation? What was going on?!
"They have arrived." Alastor manifested and I noticed something a bit odd; his purple mist wasn't getting drained. Eh, maybe it was a Duel Spirit thing.
"Who has arrived?" I had to ask that instantly.
"Those of Dimension Zero. The Vestige who plan to harvest this Dimension and every inhabitant here." He explained while looking at the sky.
"Dimension Zero? Vestige?! Harvesting!?" What was he saying?! "What are you saying?!"
"I mean what I said. Bluntly." Both of us hear something crash nearby.
Screams broke out as I rushed down the stairs. Alastor followed as we soon found ourselves at the gates. What we saw was… not anything but chaotic. Strangers in weird uniforms storming the streets. Innocence fleeing from danger. Duel Monsters manifesting from Duel Disks and causing physical damage. Many instantly recognizable. It was like a powder keg being set off. Explosions of disaster.
"They aren't wasting time," Alastor observed as I hid by the garbage as forces stormed past. "The Battle Royale was the perfect trap."
"Trap!?" My eyes widen, realizing what it meant. "Almost everyone is at the Stadium!"
"A perfect shelter of protection has now become a cage of incoming death." Alastor looked in the Stadium's direction. "Brilliant planning on Dimension Zero's part."
"Everyone is in danger! I've got to help them." I activated my Duel Disk, only to notice a strange notification on it.
It was a fairly normal sized notification. The only major difference was that a Field Spell was currently in play. One that was foreign. Tapping it, the information popped up.
"'Dimensional Corruption Gate?'" The card's title was bold; information detailing the effect reminded me a lot of Clear World.
Only worse.
"So it seems they've acquired the ability to produce an overriding Field Spell." Alastor gazed over my shoulder. "They have certainly evolved."
"I can't… I can't just stay here; I need to get to the others." I closed the notification.
Volcanoes, Miami City, 3rd P.O.V
Yuzu had been defeated by Dennis; it was a hard loss to take at first. But, she did bet both her Pendulum cards. Should have expected that much. Either way, she was glad to not have fallen into the burning lava below. So, now was the time to pull out both cards and hand them to the victor.
"It's hard to admit, but it is my loss." She held both cards out.
"And now, with this, we are friends." He took the cards. "Let's make it through the tournament and Duel again!"
"You won't be making it out of this!" Yuzu would have responded if another voice didn't cut her off.
Both Duelists in the area turned to face the owner of the voice; a certain ponytailed girl. "Because you will be defeated by me, right here!"
"Huh - wait!" Yuzu was shocked before recalling the conversation from not long ago.
"Then that would mean, most likely, you two have a counterpart in Fusion as well." Lowell expressed her theory to everyone confirmed theory. "And with what Yugo is testifying, then I suspect that they may be behind Ruri and Rin's kidnapping. For whatever reason."
"Twins?" Dennis noticed how much similar the two were. "Who is that?"
Yuzu was shocked. This person… could this be the lookalike from Fusion that Lowell hypothesis? The same one who could be responsible for Ruri and Rin's kidnapping?! Why was she here? Yuzu could only assume that Serena must be after her. But by her own words, it looked like she was after Dennis. Though, maybe it was Ruri or Rin. She was having swarming thoughts in her head.
She wanted to ask questions. To get answers. If only somebody didn't arrive and break the conversation.
"Yuzu Hiragi! A pleasure to see you again! And same with you Dennis Mackfield. I couldn't help but come down and check out your duel." Sabrine skipped over to them. "Oh! Forgive me; I didn't see that both of you were at such a pivotal moment."
The ebony haired LDS student seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Happily acting as if nothing was wrong. Not even when Yuzu and Serena stood in close proximity to each other.
"Pivotal moment?" Yuzu was perplexed by her statement.
"Well, yes. Yuya would also get his moment here. The Battle Royale signaling the switch as the threads of reality are sliced. Allowing the show to progress at the cost of your character's downright destruction." Sabrine had both hands behind her back. "But, we're going off-script here."
Expression changed, to that of shock. "Look out!"
In an instant, a Pocket Dimension Orb was thrown to the ground. Not from her; from another place. Contact triggered the effect as a giant cloud of dull rainbow fog poured out. The output of the orb worked quickly and snatched Yuzu, Dennis, and Serena. Each one barely had enough time to move. Each one trying to break free until it was no use. Absorbing all three, the Orb then grew into a small dome as Sabrine began to laugh. A laughter that started off innocent.
"Oh, how I love this. It is so easy to outsmart characters this early into their lifespan." Her cackling grew in volume, a hand wrapping around her stomach. "I'll leave these three for the others to Duel. I got my sights on some other fellows. Besides, I rather not waste my breath on them. Not when Kaiser's getting all the fun."
She tapped her Duel Disk, opening it up to reveal a call that she quickly answered.
"Got me a trio of misfits. Anyone who'd like to duel them, head over to the Volcano area. I'll go and ease up others before wiping out most of the Stadium." She was all giddy as she spoke. Don't disappoint me!"
Ending the call, she spun around on her heels before skipping away. Blissfully humming a tune.
Meanwhile, at LDS, chaos was erupting. Kaiser led his force into the building to the unsuspecting guards, students and any poor soul left in the building and not at the stadium. He planned for them to enter just after the Lancer candidates had departed to the field. Not like they'd cause any more difficulty. Things were falling into place. The amount supporting his endeavors and the tools gifted by Director Yang surely made things so much easier. Kept them moving up the tower and down below. He had a hunch on where Reiji could be hiding. Just enough to keep things interesting. Kaiser was prepared to Duel. This was his livelihood at risk.
Failure. Not an option.
And he planned to make Standard fall to pieces. Even if it cost him his own life.
A major event has befallen as the Battle Royale was riling up. At last Dimension Zero has finally made their move! The plan to take out LDS and destroy Standard will be quite troublesome. Especially when groups have been split.
Duels are coming up real soon. I'll still be writing all the duels that shall occur ahead of time. That way, I can just copy and paste moments into chapters and write the filler in between. Though that will mean a massive break for a bit. Since I'm going to be writings duels like this, there are two options on how the new upcoming chapters will be handled. They are as follows:
Firstly, I can write the Duels as they occurring and cut back and forth between groups as they duel. This would mean multiple duels will be focused on the new few chapters. Some being longer than others and not resolved in the chapter they are started in (for most cases.)
Secondly, I can just dedicate a Chapter per major Duel or squeeze in two shorter duels into a single Chapter. That way, we aren't bouncing around between three (*fingers crossed that I don't decide to add a fourth group of sorts*) areas with different groups. It would mean we are sticking around in Standard a bit longer than I'm now estimating. (With this, I'm now anticipating that Standard will wrap up sometime around Chapter 30ish. Whether that will be in the late 20s or early 30s is up in the air.) It would also mean that this would go out of order - but makes sense once all the chapters are posted.
Now a while ago, I brought up the possibility to suggest canon Archetypes or original Archetypes. The main reason being is obvious now - Dimension Zero's invasion. While I have already prepared at least one deck making a debut during this Battle Royale Invasion, I would need about one or two more suggestions. At the very least. So I'm turning toward anyone with suggestions or ideas!
With Canon Archetypes, all you have to do is leave the name. Pretty easy unless you want to send some ideas for original cards that can be used in the Deck.
Now for Original Archetypes, those will require some more effort on your part but some on mine as well. If it works better - you can send me the general idea of the Archetype and I'll add on cards after you send me an example.
Or if you would like to suggest cards for any of my current Original Archetypes I'll be up for checking them out. Proper credit will be given out.
With that big bit out of the way, I'd like to give a special thanks to rienki for following and CeleneTheAngel for the extra favorite and follow! Not too much to say or respond in reviews; I'll be sure to keep working on this story.
So, until next time I'll see everyone again when the Pendulum sways!