Yuri was on the ground by the pond, naked. His eyes were rolled to the back of his head until only the white of his eyes could be seen. Blood was pouring out of his nose and he was gasping for air like a zombie.
"I don't think he can handle another round of this," Hassleberry Kenzan said, watching him from an orb. "Man, let's just stop this for pity's sake."
"We can't," said Zane. "Yuri needs this to happen. He needs to awaken his power now."
"But why so soon?" Hasselberry asked.
"There's a strange weapon blasting our allies all over the continent. We all have a feeling that Antilles and my old rival Veran Jayce are behind its creation. Don't you see this weapon has put the war at a standstill? Antilles has the Senate in his pocket, we know this even though he denies it constantly. He could use the weapon as a means to prolong Yuri's exile. I would have liked to perform Yuri's awakening when he was here but we have no choice now. This has to happen."
"And what? Because Yuri has some skill in the dream world the Senate's going to just take our word that he's capable of handling his enemies himself?"
Zane tapped on a holographic map on the table. "Hassleberry, I expected you to know more than that by now. You know every skill and ability you acquire here is unlocked in the real world as well, right?"
"Yeah, I know. If Yuri is more than capable of doing this, then who knows what else he's got in store. But can he use those powers in the real world so he can save himself?"
"That's what this test is for," said Zane. "Speaking of which, he's approaching the Fountain District. Send in another wave after him."
"You do it yourself," Hassleberry said at once. "I don't want to hurt him anymore. You sure Francesca's magic will keep him safe?"
"She's a powerful sorceress. Trust me, Hassleberry, she knows what she's doing. The charms she put on Yuri have kept the energy at a stable level so far. Let's see what more Yuri can unlock after we send a hundred fiends his way."
He looked at the image on the orb. Yuri was in so much pain and distress. His veins were turning purple and his mouth quivered as though he was crying.
Zane sighed heavily. "I'm sorry. But this is for your own good."
He then cast a spell into the dream world and conjured more enemies for Yuri to fight. Zane looked at camera footage from his tablet to see Yuri taking them on himself. Once he conjured his giant Sword, his physical form went through great stress. His back arched, pushing his chest upward. Yuri let out a horrible, wheezing gasp. His limbs began to quake violently.
"Battle sequence initiated," said Hassleberry. "Zane, I'm going to beat the living hell out of you when this is all over."
Andre - The Dream City
The young man with silver hair was Aster Phoenix, one of the greatest rivals of Andre's hero, Jaden Yuki when they attended Duel Academia. He was clad in a black coat with a stand-up wide notch lapel style collar that not only made him look very gentleman-like but terrifyingly dominant. Underneath we wore a black turtleneck sweater, black gloves, black slacks, and dress shoes that crisply stomped the gravel with each step he made.
And to Andre's shock, he was holding hands with Alexis Rhodes, whom Aster shielded from the rain with a black umbrella. Francesca walked towards Aster as though she were parading down a runway. She leaned on him with her elbow, cocking her hip upward. Her All-Seeing White Tiger followed.
"Good lord," Andre said.
Aster smiled. "Well, well, well. If it isn't Andre. I heard you've been under Master Yugi's watch. Don't know why he'd waste his time with you after your family's little coup."
Andre recoiled. Once again, they blamed him for everything that happened. What could he do? He was just a boy. "I'm sorry."
"Whatever," said Aster. "What are you doing here? Who in the hell said you could be in our city, Andre?"
Andre laughed at him. "Really, Aster Phoenix? Listen to yourself. You sound like a little kid at the playground trying to sound cool."
"Spare me your rhetoric, Andre. You've got a lot of nerve showing your face around here." He narrowed his eyes at Syrus, feebly trying to stay hidden under his hood. "I might have known. Zane's going to be pissed."
"Why all the hate!?" Andre shouted. "I had nothing to do with that coup! I swear!"
"What coup?" Francesca asked.
"The coup that destroyed House Wyvernheart," said Aster. "They were good people. A family that's been loyal to the High Kings of Termnnia since the days of Tiberius Pendragon. For their devout loyalty, Safaani the Dragon Goddess blessed them with a powerful dragon. A dragon that was used by a dear friend of ours. Princess Belladonna Wyvernheart of Serania. That girl was one of the keys to keeping Yuri's claim to the throne secure. But she vanished after her family was slaughtered by his family. All of them — bought and paid for with gold from House Dragonheart."
"I didn't know about the coup!" said Andre.
"Yeah!" said Gaizamir. "Long has Andre sensed a foul plot afoot in his home."
"Sensed and done nothing!" Aster shouted back, causing the wood elf to flinch and step back. "Andre. You were so blinded by your aspirations to be the best duelist in the world that you failed to see what was going on in your family."
"It's not like that, Aster. My family sent me to Embolodor to keep me away. It was a ruse all along. They didn't care about my abilities as a Duelist. They needed me far away from Serania so they could gather their armies and attack Red Sword. I hate House Dragonheart, Aster. I hate them with a vengeance."
"Yeah and instead of helping us deal with them, you ran away and hid while your family destroyed House Wyvernheart."
"I'm not scared of my power anymore. I'm going to set things right. I was told to defend the High King and I intend to do that. Now, where's Yuri!"
"Yuri's not here," said Alexis.
"Stop lying to me. He's still here. I know he's still here. I can sense him. Zane brought him into this fake city so you could just study his power and send another Duelist to go get him."
Alexis wrinkled her nose and stared sharply at Syrus, still quivering in his hood. "Really, Syrus? What else have you been telling him? Go home, Andre. Yuri is not your concern."
"Sorry but fuck you, Alexis! Yuri is my concern. I protected him."
"From what?" Aster asked. His arm forced Alexis closer to him, recoiling from listening to Andre curse at her. "I've read the reports. He got better by himself. He fended off his enemies himself. He and Ser Norman have destroyed the evil that plagued their city themselves. Oh, um, by the way, we came across some interesting texts. What did they say again, babe?"
"Oh, that's right," Alexis said, placing her fingers on her chin. "One of your buddies was arguing with his friends about who the most powerful Duelist they know is. It said: "Hey yo! My boy Andre beat Prince Yuri twice! He's a real OG."
Andre narrowed his eyes and slowly turned his head at Gaizamir.
"What?" the little wood elf said with a shrug. "I thought that was a cool accomplishment. Tell a friend, you know?"
"Bragging that you beat Prince Yuri, huh?" said Francesca. "Wow."
Alexis giggled. "Yuri wasn't even at his strongest when they Dueled. I took a look at his decklist from the time. It was horrible. His strongest card was a Black Dragon Jungle King."
"And no surprise you would take Master Yugi's mission to make yourself look good," said Aster.
"It wasn't like that!" shouted Andre. "Guys! I'm on your side! I'm sorry about what happened to Belladonna. I really am. I didn't run away to hide. I went on a long journey across the continent so I could find her. But I couldn't. I would have continued my search but all these bounty hunters came after me. Master Yugi then took me under his wing and trained me for my mission to protect Yuri."
"Why? I'll never know," said Aster. "When there are more capable ones in this world. Like her."
Francesca smiled.
"She's a Dimensional Walker, too!" cried Gaizamir.
"Mmmmm," Syrus moaned under his hood. He wanted to disappear.
"I am," said Francesca. "I had to get poked and prodded and probed where the sun don't shine by mad scientists in order to figure that out, but yes. I am a Dimensional Walker. I went to Yuri's world recently to check on him."
"No!" Andre shouted. "So you're the one Prince Jon and Jaeyoung were talking about! You moved Yuri into the woods and cast spells on him, didn't you!?"
"Yeah. Can't have his friends seeing him spas out now, can we? If they move him while he's having those seizures, they might kill him."
"You're supposed to be watching him!" shouted Andre.
"I cast a powerful healing spell on him. Yuri's body is strong, both mentally and physically. I can vouch for that. I took his clothes off and saw his six-pack."
"Francesca…" Alexis said. "I sure hope that's the only pack you saw."
Francesca grinned, slowly and placed a finger on her lip.
"How can you idiots be joking at a time like this!" Andre shouted again. "Can't you see he's not ready to unlock that power yet! He could be dying!"
"We've done our research, Andre," said Alexis.
"Bullshit!"
"Curse at my girlfriend one more time and you're going to regret it!" Aster snarled through his teeth.
"I don't care how much research you guys have done! He's not reacting well to this power."
"Of course, he's not reacting well," said Francesca. "That's no ordinary spirit that's been infused with his body. That's the soul of Narmondülus Elliartum, Champion of the Goddesses. First Commander of the God Cards, Tamer of the Titans, and the Ancient Beasts. Of course, there are going to be some…complications with the awakening. But we've taken great precautions to keep him safe. His willpower, miraculously, is what's keeping him alive."
"He's not your damn lab rat!" shouted Andre. "He's my friend! And I'm not going to let you hurt him anymore. I'm going to find him and take him home!"
"You're not going to do that," said Aster. "Yuri's in a very delicate state right now. If you try to wake him, then he will be in mortal danger. You've already cost us one hero. We're not going to let you cost us another."
"I'm saving my friend whether you like it or not!" said Andre.
"Then there's only one way to settle this," said Aster. "We'll decide your fate with a Duel. Win, you can go ahead after Yuri. But I assure you, Andre, you won't get far. The crew from school and the Princes are all over this place. They'll stop you if I don't. Now, if you lose, then you leave our city. And don't you ever come back."
"I plan on it," said Andre. Gaizamir took off his backpack to get Andre's Duel Disk out. He tossed it to Andre. Andre put it on and activated it.
Aster pecked Alexis on the cheek. "Stay back, Lex. This is going to be ugly."
"Hey, love birds!" Andre shouted. "Stop wasting my time and let's get…"
Before he could say another word, blue flames formed a ring around Aster. His hair blew upward and his eyes were glowing blue. He held up his arm forcing a jet-black Duel Disk to form over his wrist. The monster zones on the blade were glowing dark neon blue and the D emblem of the Destiny HEROES was emblazoned on the top, also glowing dark blue. The flames then spread from under his feet, growing until they surrounded Aster and Andre.
"DUEL!" Aster shouted.
Andre, meanwhile, was paralyzed by awe at the spectacle he saw. Aster indeed meant business. Being the magical being that he was, Andre could sense power. Aster was radiating with it. It was coming from deep within his heart.
This was going to be a tough Duel. But he was ready. He had to be. Yuri was counting on him.
LP 8000
"I don't want to be your enemy, Aster! That's the last thing I want."
"If you don't want to butt heads with us, then stay out of our way, Andre! I'll let you start first."
"With pleasure!"
T1
Andre looked at his former classmates. Yes, he had committed some terrible sins in the past but he was trying his best to rewrite them. He prayed that someday he might find a way to clear them out of his conscience and gain their trust. Perhaps he could if he showed them his new power in this Duel.
"Alright, Aster. Prepare to feel the wrath of my new deck! My dragon cards now belong to my boy, Gaizamir."
"Thanks, Andre!" cheered the little wood elf.
Andre nodded and held his thumb up. "No problem, buddy. Syrus, thanks for sticking up for me."
"I wish there was a way we could all work together, Andre. But your past mistakes have hit everyone hard. I won't forgive you for the things you did to me and Jay, but I owe you my life during that whole CyberDark Dragon incident."
"I understand. Hopefully, I can fully earn your trust soon. But first, pretty boy, here, is going down. I set two cards face-down and summon a monster in defense mode! Your turn."
T2
"This is your last chance, Andre. Get out of here or I'll force you out."
"You don't scare me, Phoenix! Make your move."
"All right, if that's the way you want to play it. I activate the spell, Lighting Storm. If I have no monsters on the field, I can choose one of its effects. It can either let me destroy all monsters you control or all spells and traps you control. And since you've got two cards on the back of the board, I'll zap those away!"
"NO!" Andre yelled and held his arms over his face to shield him from the bolts of lightning that fell from the sky and destroyed his Mirror Force and Draining Shield.
"Oh no! His traps!" Gaizamir bellowed.
Aster laughed sadistically and held up a card. "Now that you have no face-downs to surprise me with, I'll activate, Destiny Draw. Now, I discard Destiny HERO Disk Commander and draw two cards. Next, I'm summoning Destiny HERO - Drilldark!"
Aster conjured a Destiny HERO clad in an orange and brown jumpsuit and a giant drill for a weapon. The HERO held his weapon on and let it spin, making a horrible whirring sound.
"Then, Drilldark's special ability activates. I can summon a Destiny HERO from my hand with ATK less than Drilldark! So I'll summon Destiny HERO Defender!"
Aster's next monster was like a giant wall with arms and legs. The cinder block which formed the head had an iron grate revealing red eyes glowing in the darkness. With 2700 DEF, Andre was going to have a hard time getting to Aster's Life Points.
"I set two cards face-down and attack your face-down monster!"
Drilldark's drill buzzed savagely. He sprang towards Andre's face-down monster, a chubby little man in a turban with a pipe. He grunted and shattered to pieces.
"There goes your little monster!" said Aster. "And Drilldark's special ability activates! If he attacks a monster in defense mode, the difference between Drilldarks' attack points and your monster's defense points are dealt to you as damage!"
Drilldark then soared toward Andre and stabbed him in the chest with his drill. Andre screamed as he was knocked back. He fell to the ground with a thud and slid backward by a couple of feet.
Andre - 7900 LP
"The monster you attacked was Apprentice Piper!" said Andre.
"His defense points are 1500, so I don't take much damage. But that doesn't mean you won't. See, when he's flipped over, I can special summon a monster from my hand."
"What?"
"You heard me. I summon Chaos Command Magician!" Andre's armored magician rose out of the ground. He swiped his scepter across the air. The holographic window next to him displayed 2400 ATK.
"And that's not all, Aster! When Apprentice Piper is destroyed, I'm allowed to summon another monster from my hand. I summon Dark Red Enchanter!"
"Another monster?" Aster cried out.
Gaizamir hopped up and down, cheering when he heard that name. Andre's signature monster jumped out of an arcane circle that was ablaze in dark red flames. The wizard grunted and swiped his staff across the air, leaving a trail of sparks.
Andre felt like he was in control now.
"That's one of his best cards?" Gaizamir cheered. "Yeah! Go, Andre!"
"Whoa," Syrus muttered quietly. "Maybe Andre can beat him. With moves like that, Aster better think twice before getting so cocky."
As Andre stood there with his two strong monsters standing on either side of him, Alexis bit her lip. She realized what had just happened. "No, way. He set him up."
"Not bad," said Aster. "But if you think special summoning a bunch of beat sticks is going to help you win this Duel, you've got another thing coming. I end my turn."
T3
"Heh, tough talk from someone who has nothing to stand against my two beat sticks." Andre swiped the top card off his deck for his draw phase and added it to his hand. "I activate the spell, Card of Adversity! Now if you control a monster and a special summoned monster, I can draw two cards. Heh! And it gets better, Aster. I activate, Energy Drain."
"Oh no!" Alexis cried. "Now he can reduce the ATK of one of Aster's monsters to zero!"
"And I get to draw a card, too!" said Andre. He added the extra card to his hand and pointed at Drilldark. The Destiny HERO was enveloped in a red aura, then fell to his knees. His ATK plummeted all the way down to 0.
"He's strong," said Francesca.
"You give him too much credit," Aster retorted.
Andre growled at his remark. "You don't give me enough credit, Aster. I'll show you what I can do. I don't like my current hand, so I think it's time for a mulligan. I activate Card Destruction. Now we discard our hands and draw the same number of cards we did before. Hope I didn't ruin any of your strategies, pretty boy."
"Just make your move," Aster said, sending his hand to the Graveyard.
"You don't sound too happy," Andre teased. "Looks like I did wreck a strategy for you. Tough luck, bro. My hand is exactly what I needed. I summon Angraecum Umbrella!"
Andre conjured two angels, one was a boy with blue hair and the other was a girl with pink hair and a purple bow.
"My angels allow me to resurrect a level four monster from my Graveyard. I bring back Magical Abductor! Next, I'll tune Angraecum Umbrella and Magical Abductor to Synchro Summon my all-powerful monster, Arcanite Magician!"
Andre held up his card, now glowing and orbited by arcane circles. He smacked it on his Duel Disk and summoned a blue-skinned magician in white robes with a long white staff topped with an acid green gem.
"When my Arcanite Magician is summoned, I can place two spell counters on him, increasing his attack by 1000 for each one, so his attack is now 2400. For the moment anyway. I'm going to use both of his spell counters to target your face-down cards."
Arcanite Magician held up his staff. The spell counters that flew around his head were absorbed into the jewel atop his staff. It flashed rapidly, releasing green blades of magical energy toward Aster. His face-down cards exploded and he was shrouded in a cloud of mist, concealing him and his monsters entirely.
"Yes! Now your Destiny HERO - Drilldark is easy pickings! I attack him with Chaos Command Magician!"
Andre's spellsword raised his giant staff. He sprinted across the field. Suddenly, a new HERO came out of the mist. He grabbed Chaos Command Magician's staff with his bare hands and stopped him from attacking. The two monsters struggled. Aster's new Destiny HERO didn't move an inch. He then raised his leg and kicked Chaos Command Magician back to Andre's field.
"What is that?" Andre said.
"I had a feeling you were going to do something about my face-down cards, so I activated one of them right before your Arcanite Magician's effect triggered. D-Fusion! It lets me fuse together two Destiny HERO monsters to summon a Fusion monster from my Extra Deck. I combined Drilldark and Defender to create Destiny HERO Dystopia! And since I used Drilldark as the material to Fusion Summon him, you have no target to attack and my Dystopia monster is now the strongest monster on the field. Also, when Dystopia is summoned, I get to select a Level 4 Destiny HERO in my graveyard and inflict damage to your Life Points equal to its ATK points. I'm choosing Drilldark, which means you take 1600 points of damage!"
Dystopia soared towards Andre and punched him in the stomach. Andre yelled from the pain. He backflipped through the air and landed on the ground.
Andre - 6300 LP
He pushed himself up with his arms, then got on one knee. Andre rubbed his stomach and spat blood out of his mouth. "All right, fine. Let's see you get past these. With one card in your hand, you don't have much to stop me. I set three cards face-down and end my turn."
T4
Aster drew and sniggered. "Believe me, Andre, I have the only card I need to stop you. But first, I play the spell, Roll of Fate. Fitting name, as this card will decide your fate in this Duel, Andre. I roll a dice and then I get to draw cards equal to the number the dice rolled. The only downside is, I have to send that same number of cards from the top of my deck to the Graveyard."
"That's quite a gamble, Joey," Andre teased.
"Laugh all you want. Ser Joey Wheeler is twice the Duelist you'll ever be."
A giant dice fell down from over Aster's shoulder. It rolled on the pavement loudly, clunk! Clunk! Clunk! Andre's fists tightened. He prayed for a low roll so Aster wouldn't draw many cards. The dice started slowing down. Aster was grinning the whole time. Clever boy that he was. Regardless of the roll, there was still one card in his hand that could turn the tide. In short, Aster had already thought of everything. Although a few extra cards couldn't hurt.
Finally, the dice stopped. 6.
Andre felt like he was struck by lighting. What a devastating result for him. "Oh no!"
"Oh, yes," said Aster. "And just so you know, Andre, many of my HEROES work best when in the Graveyard. That means this Duel is going to be impossible for you to win."
Aster drew his six cards, then discarded the top six from the top of his deck to the Graveyard.
"You're so incredible," Alexis whispered through her lips.
"I play Fusion Destiny! This spell card allows me to send Destiny HERO Plasma and Dogma to the Graveyard so I can summon Destiny End Dragoon!"
This was it. Andre braced himself for the monster. Something whooshed over their field. A giant clad in armor that resembled parts of a dragon's body flew in circles above the battlefield. It then landed behind Alexis and Francesca with a great thud, shaking the cars parked on the street. The street lamps flickered from the impact of the giant's landing.
ATK/3000
"Now I activate my Dragoon's special ability. I can eliminate one of your monsters and you take damage equal to its attack points!"
Dragoon held up his arm, which was a dragon's head. The dragon's mouth opened, revealing an ominous glow deep within its throat. It was ready to shoot fire at one of Andre's monsters. And Andre knew which one Aster was going to pick. Sure enough, Dragoon incinerated his Chaos Command Magician. The excess flames struck him too. Andre, once again, was pushed towards the ground.
Andre - 3900 LP
Andre slowly sat up. "Is that the best you got?"
"Stop playing tough, Andre. It's not going to end well for you. Lucky for you, Dragoon forces me to skip my battle phase when I activate his special ability. So, I'll set two cards face-down and end my turn"
T5
"Your Dragoon is tough, but my Arcanite Magician is stronger!"
"Ha! Did you flunk out of math class, too?" Aster leered. "Your Arcanite Magician has a measly 400 ATK. He's nowhere near as strong as my Dragoon."
"Sorry to disappoint you, Aster, but Arcanite Magician is going to destroy your Dragoon. Well, not in its present form. I activate my trap card, Assault Mode Activate!"
"What's that?"
"You like to make your Destiny HEROES change forms a lot. Well, Arcanite Magician has another form, too."
The trap card Andre activated made Arcanite Magician's armored robes grow bigger and bulkier. The gleaming white faded away and turned into a shade of tactical red. The staff grew taller and the green gem was now the size of a small boulder.
Arcanite Magician/Assault Mode
ATK/900 DEF/2300
"When Arcanite Magician enters assault mode, I can equip him with two spell counters on him, and his attack increases by 1000 for each Spell Counter on him for a grand total of 2900 ATK points. And he's about to get stronger. I activate my second face-down card, Mythical Bestiary. Now, I can send the top two cards on my deck to the Graveyard, and then I can add two more spell counters to my magician, raising his attack points even more."
Arcanite Magician's body started glowing and his attack points rose high up to the top of the charts.
ATK/4900
"Forty-nine hundred attack points!" Alexis cried.
"ATTACK!" Andre cried.
Arcanite Magician raised his staff high up. The green gem let out a multi-directional laser attack that shredded Aster's monster to a dozen pieces.
"AARRRGGH!" Aster grunted, shielding himself from the blast and debris.
Aster LP - 6900
"Well, it's about time you struck my Life Points. Otherwise, this would have gotten boring real fast. So that's the Ace monster Master Yugi gave you. Powerful card. But he's no match for my Destiny End Dragoon."
"What are you talking about?"
T6
"First off, I'm going to resurrect him with his special ability. I banish Destiny HERO Disk Commander and now Destiny End Dragoon returns."
"Oh no, not him again!" said Gaizamir.
A bead of sweat rolled down Andre's face once he saw the monster rising out of the graveyard. Once again, it loomed over Aster, ready to do battle.
"And he won't be alone in this battle, Andre. I activate Polymerization and fuse Destiny HERO Dystopia with Destiny HERO Dynatag in order to create the ultimate Destiny HERO."
Aster was surrounded by black and red flames. "Do you now understand, Andre? All actions have consequences. Your actions have led you…to him. Dystopia! Combine yourself with Dynatag and become — Destiny HERO - Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer!"
Aster was consumed by the flames. He was nowhere in sight. The fierce gust created by the ball of fire that consumed him caused many of the street lamps to flicker. Most of them could not withstand the power in the air and they exploded, some of them collapsing to the ground, smashing cars that were unfortunate enough to be sitting underneath them.
Aster summoned a Destiny HERO from his hand to be used as fodder for Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer's special ability. He sacrificed the monster to destroy Andre's Arcanite Magician. He was now wide open for a direct attack from both Destiny END Dragoon and Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer. Aster could have just ended the match using Destiny END Dragoon's special ability to destroy Arcanite Magician/Assault Mode, but that would have been too easy. Aster wanted Andre to understand he was not welcome here.
The two monsters took to the air and began combining their attacks, now taking the form of a giant red and black fireball.
"I just want to help," Andre said. He hung his head sadly. "I wish there was some way I can make you all see that."
Aster closed his eyes. "I'm sure you do, Andre. Continue to help Yuri if that's what you've been tasked to do. But you let us help him in our own way. Go home."
Destiny HERO Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer and Destiny END Dragoon launched the attack. Syrus grabbed Gaizamir by the wrist and they both vanished to a safer place as Andre was blasted to pieces and sent back to the real world.
"Sorry, man," Aster said. "But some wounds are just too deep."
Alexis approached Aster and slipped her arm around his waist. "Poor guy. I almost feel bad for him."
"Not much we can do except hope he can accomplish his mission and continue to have Yuri's back. Say, speaking of which, how is he doing?"
"Let me check." Alexis whipped out her PDA. "Hmm. I just got a message from Bastion. The awakening isn't complete. But it's almost dawn and Yuri needs to rest."
"Then let him rest," said Aster. "He deserves it. We'll pick up where we left off when he goes to bed."
Francesca rubbed her chin. "The Awakening. Just who thought that up?"
"Bastion and Prince Ryon did," said Aster. "Master Yugi tasked them with researching anything they could on the Divines over the summer. Remember, Yuri's soul is now infused with the spirit of Ser Norman the Conqueror. A divine being. I don't know how Yuri can play host to such a thing, which makes his power even more mysterious."
"More mysterious?" said Alexis. "It goes to show the power Yuri has inside of him. Dare I say it's almost limitless. Look at all the things he's done. Summon God Cards. Destroy Anubis. And now he's having a symbiotic relationship with a being many argue is a God. No mere human is capable of such feats. Could it be that maybe Yuri himself is also Divine?"
"Not unless Gabriel the Black and his mother Luthia were Gods and Goddesses," said Aster.
"But Aster, look at what we've learned tonight. Yuri wasn't spazzing out because he was too weak for the awakening. It's because there's too much."
"Is that a hypothesis?" Francesca asked. "Or do you know this for sure?"
"It makes a lot of sense," Bastion said, walking out of a portal. "I saw your Duel with Andre Martin, Aster. What on earth was he doing here?"
"Syrus let him in," said Alexis. "I had a feeling it was him. When we saw Yuri having those violent seizures on-screen earlier tonight, it disturbed us. I can tell it bothered Syrus the most. I have a feeling Syrus went to find Andre for help."
"We couldn't let that happen," said Aster. "If Andre woke Yuri prematurely, he could kill him."
"Then you all made a wise choice in evicting him from our city. The boy once annoyed me with his arrogance but now his self-righteousness is out of control."
"He's trying real hard to prove he's on our side," said Alexis. "Maybe we should give him a chance."
"That's a matter for another time, Alexis," Bastion said, stuffing his tablet into his messenger bag. "Alright, let's pack it up and get some sleep. We've all been summoned to a session of congress in the morning regarding the strange weapon that's been targeting our forces and homes. Be warned. Antilles was the one who organized this meeting. I fear for the worst."