Chapter 16: Plans Set in Motion

Alright, time for my latest chapter, the invasion is about to start, and the fate of the City hangs in the balance. The beginning of the war starts now.

(Synchro Dimension: City)

Recognizing Yuri from before, Yugo got on his D-Wheel and chased after him. Watching him ride off, Melissa Claire asked, "Where in the world is Yugo going?"

From his office, Roger was outraged, "WE WERE SUPPOSED TO HAVE SERENA WIN, HOW COULD WE FAIL!?" He slowly started to calm down, but the fear remained, "Now that she's lost, making her a star is impossible." Pressing a button, he contacted a few Security members, "Have Squad F ready at the Duel Palace."

Having jumped from truck to truck while scattering several cards, Yuri tried to activate the communications system on his duel disk to speak to Barrett. "Come on…start working." He then finally got through and saw Barrett's face on the screen, "Barrett, good to see you…" His words were stopped by an unwelcome presence.

"Hey bastard, stop where you're going!" Yugo roared, having finally caught up with him.

Yuri sighed, "We can have our date later Yugo but not now." He then jumped off the highway and with cat like reflexes, landed on the dock unharmed, leaving Yugo cursing as he couldn't follow. He then looked back at the screen, "Sorry for that interruption. Anyway, do you have everything ready?"

Barrett nodded, "We're set to go, what's your read on the situation?"

"Well, there are some things I should probably let you know first." As Yuri talked, other events occurred as well…

Serena walked confidently as the agents with her took her to the Underground. "So this is the supposed 'Hell of the City,' nothing I can't handle." Suddenly, the guards were taken out and she was grabbed from behind. "What the hell!" Next thing she knew, they sprayed her with some sort of gas, leaving her unable to move. Seeing who her new captors were, Serena cursed, "Damn cowards."

"Roger-sama, we've successfully apprehended Serena." One of the brainwashed Security officers stated.

"Excellent, bring her to me at once." Roger responded to the com-link.

As the officers prepared to leave, they found a young boy blocking the door. "Oh, who's this, one of the riled up Commons, how sad."

Serena gasped, "Reira, get out of here!"

"No." Reira then looked with eyes of determination. "Hand Serena to us, or else." The child activating a duel disk, receiving a 2000 LP penalty. Remembering the words of Jack Atlas, the young one knew he had to remain steadfast in order to win.

The Security Officers looked at Reira like a joke, using their Goyo Catapults to bring Reira's life to 200, since they couldn't attack due to Film Magician's effects. It was a rather despicable sight, actually. Those that were meant to protect innocence and stop crime were little more than bullies abusing an innocent child.

"Damn it, stop it. Reira, run while you can." Serena begged the kid.

Reira looked back at her undeterred, "No, we all have to do our part to end the war, big brother trusts me. I can't fail." The child thought back to what had happened once Serena had lost…

In a flash, Reiji activated his duel disk and called forth 2 D/D/D monsters to swat 4 of the Security guards. He then went toe-to-toe with about 20 or 30 before turning to Reira. "Reira, we have to move now. Roger must not get his hands on Serena. I'll handle them, you have to save her." Reiji watched as his adoptive sibling ran off to save her. "I know you can do it Reira."

"I won't let Security capture you. It's time to stop hiding in the shadows and fight." Drawing on the dueling knowledge systematically implanted within, Reira played a combination with C/C Critical Eyes and several spells to summon C/C/C Rock Sword of Battle, C/C/C Rock Blaster of Battle, and finally C/C/C Rock Armor of Battle to systematically crush each of them one at a time.

"Reira…" Serena stood in shock, she honestly felt the child would be a dead weight, yet now that same child had just saved her neck.

"Reira, are you okay!?" Tsukikage ran in, only to find the work finished with Reira smiling at him. "Never mind, already know the answer to that."

Sensing someone talking within one of the helmets, the ninja removed it from the Security officer and listened, "What happened?! Where is Serena!?"

"She is with us now Roger." Tsukikage responded.

"What…who is this?" Roger asked on the verge of a freak out.

"It's Tsukikage."

"Tsukikage, but how?" Roger then saw a warning flash on his computer coming from the City Council room. Curious, he turned it on to see all his men on the ground defeated while Reiji seemed to lightly dust himself off. "AKABA REIJI?! HOW!?"

Reiji gave a chuckle, "Unlike you, I can actually pull my weight in a duel. From the look on your face, I'm guessing Reira saved Serena, or am I wrong?" Having already found that answer written on Roger's face, Reiji smirked. "It seems that you're not 2 steps ahead as you think. I could've handled your forces at any time; I was just waiting for the right moment." He then turned serious, "You were foolish to think you could kidnap Serena and Yuzu, they are not yours, and we will do everything we can to keep them safe from you and Academia."

"SHUT UP! I HAVEN'T LOST JUST YET!" He then turned off the screen and clutched his head. "How could everything fall apart now? No, it's not over, I'm still in this. I'll have to change the game, but by the end of it, neither Akaba Reiji or Leo will be a threat." He then called on the scientist who was applying the Psychic inhibitor mask and hairclip so as to restrain Aki's powers. "Have you finished with Aki yet?"

The scientist looked at him, "Yes, I just finished."

Aki on the other hand was back in the frigid agony that was her mask and clip. The objects didn't just restrict her powers; they also caused side effects that led to piercing headaches. She could never take it off as they also came with an electric shock that knocked her out.

Roger grinned, "Have her ready; I'll be in need her and Security immediately." He turned off communications and sighed. "I need to get rid of Akaba Reiji quickly and quietly, but I can't just send Aki and Security in front of the entire City. I'll just keep their eyes off them with a duel, a very entertaining duel." Roger then let out a sick grin, "Oh Yuya Sakaki, you indeed will be a good pawn." Staring at his chessboard, he smiled as he moved a white knight.

Elsewhere, Yuri had explaining Sora's treason. "So yeah, Sora's a traitor now."

"I see…so many backstabbers lately. Well, at least we still have our ace in the hole." Barrett noted while Yuri grinned. "In that case, I should inform the Obelisk Force to card him on sight."

"No, he could work well as a pawn for my plans." Yuri countered, leaving Barrett puzzled.

"You never actually explained it, what is your great plan?"

"Well Barrett, think of it this way, what would you do if you had to enemies, but those enemies had no plans on becoming friends or even allies?" Yuri questioned.

"You would turn them on each other and attack while they're not ready." Barrett responded.

"Exactly, after Dennis told me that Roger was the Chief of Security here, I immediately knew he and Akaba Reiji wouldn't be allies. From what I've heard about him, Reiji's a genius, he used the Maiami Championship as an excuse to find duelists strong enough to fight us. He would easily be able to tell Roger was just out for power, not justice, which ruins all chances of them fighting together."

"Okay, I see what you mean, but what is your plan?" Barrett asked.

"Well both Roger and Reiji know that we're after Serena and Yuzu, and with Dennis likely back at Academia, that means that an invasion would come soon. However, Roger just wants to take them as prisoner so that Academia won't lift a finger, that way he can rule the City. So that would mean he'd likely apprehend and take them both at an opportune time…like say after they lost their duels at the Friendship Cup. Due to Yuzu's accident during her duel, Sora and I managed to take her before Security got there. That means that Serena is his only possible ticket to keep Academia from attacking. In response, Reiji probably sent his ninja guard to save her. Hell, this might even be happening as we speak since Serena just lost her duel to Yugo." Yuri spoke, stopping to catch his breath before continuing, "If I'm right, and I'm pretty sure I am, the ninja's probably saved Serena and got her out of there, probably on the move right now."

"Hmm, I think I know where you're going with this. Roger was never the man who liked obstacles, so he'll be really pissed off if the Lancers were to get in his way. In times of pressure, he tends to react violently." Barrett noted.

Yuri nodded, "Say I'm right, Roger will want to silence Akaba Reiji and the Council, but Akaba Reiji's currently in the City Council building, he'll need a distraction to keep the public eye. Probably with another duel from the Friendship Cup. He'll probably send his best forces into the City Council while the duel is on, then once it's over, make it look like nothing happened."

Yuri then looked up and heard an announcement, "Everyone, I just got some great news. As a special treat, they're going to have the 1st semifinal match of the Friendship Cup tonight in one hour! So just you wait, because it's against the Jet-black avian, Crow Hogan, vs the entertainer, Sakaki Yuya!"

Barrett stared at Yuri, "I take it that you're right."

"So I am, may I continue?" Yuri cheered like a child.

Barrett laughed, "By all means, go on. It's funny watching you get all passionate and dramatic."

Clearing his throat, Yuri said, "In that case my good man, this is the most opportune moment for us to attack. With most of Roger's agents in one place, we can trap there by sending most of our squads there. They can activate the anti-RSV system that prevents anyone other than Academia duelists from using Real Solid Vision leaving most of them sitting ducks, while the rest of us take advantage of Yuya's duel with Crow to find Serena. Since Sora's working with the ninja, we can use him as a pawn to lead us right to her. Yuzu will be a little trickier, but I already have her location with a tracking device underground. We can send a few squads down there to stir up some chaos and take Yuzu while she's defenseless. By the time it's over, we'll have both the girls and Roger will be at our mercy. So what do you think?"

Barrett laughed, "I think you put a lot of thought into this. Nice job, sounds like a plan. We'll be ready to leave soon, so just wait for us there."

"Got it, Yuri out." Yuri then turned off the com-link and sighed. "Well, all there is left to do is wait, and soon we'll have all the fireworks we want."

"Exactly how will this help your plan with your doppelganger?" Starve Venom questioned.

Yuri laughed, "Well, since they're coming in by glider, Yuya will probably notice them, and probably follow. Plus with Yugo already following me, odds are I'll end up running into them, and that's when I'll go for the kill."

"Sounds good, it'll be nice to see my old friends again."

Eventually, it was time for Yuya's duel with Crow, much to the duelist's surprise. It was a rather shocking turn of events for him to go from being in his cell to on his D-Wheel ready to duel. Unknown to him, there was a small bug in his helmet, meant to send shocks to his brain to stimulate his aggression. As he was ready to duel, Crow rode in next to him.

Turning to Yuya, Crow smiled. "Good to see you okay Yuya, I had my doubts, but after my duel with Kurosaki, I know for sure you guys aren't working with the Tops."

Yuya's expression was solemn, "Reiji and the Council are trapped by Roger, and I need help to save them. Mind helping me get out of here?"

Crow nodded, "Sure thing." The 2 both began their duel, both playing it as a carnival, summoning hordes of small monsters. Their plan was to use the monsters for Yuya to climb on and jump out of the highway to help his friends.

Unfortunately, Roger had other plans. "Now it's time, activate the chip, power to 70%!" He watched with glee as the shock went off, with Yuya screaming in pain. "Now Sakaki Yuya, be a good little pawn and give us a show."

"GGAAAHHHHH!" Yuya screamed.

From within the Underground Labor Facility, and as Tsukikage carried her as he and Reira looked for somewhere to hide, Yuzu and Serena found that their bracelets were glowing.

Elsewhere, both Yuri and Yugo gripped their chests in pain. Seeing that the shocking wasn't enough, Roger pumped up the voltage to max levels, causing all 3 boys, as well as Yuto within Yuya, to scream in pain. From deep within them, the shields that held back the darkness cracked, and the demonic entity took hold, taking control of their psyches to assuage the pain.

Though Yugo, Yuya, and Yuto were instantly taken in, Yuri was grabbing his head, as his mind returned to its subconscious. The ivy that held back the shadow was withering, and he could feel the same black force threatening to consume his very being. To say he was freaking out would be an understatement. Suddenly, he could feel the pain within Yuya, every single shock to the brain that was sending him over the edge. His thoughts turned back to the mad Doktor's experiments on Yuri's mind, and the all too familiar pain crept in. The nightmares of his past threatened to consume him, and Yuri felt himself drifting into a void of no escape.

"Yuri, snap out of it! WAKE UP!" The spirits within his deck roared. As Yuri felt himself drifting off, he saw his dragon along with several of his lovely plants surrounding him. "You can fight it Yuri, don't let it consume you."

Suddenly, Yuri felt as though he had been doused with cold water and woke up. That's right; he had survived this before, even when things went to hell, he had always survived. He would survive this, he had to. Summoning the strength within him, Yuri roared, "OBEY ME!" With that the darkness morphed and formed the same wicked ivy from before, which painfully wrapped itself around Yuri and clawed at his soul.

Breathing heavily, Yuri opened his eyes and found himself dueling…on a motorcycle. Yuri quickly guessed that Roger had something to do with it, and vowed to give him a humiliating and painful end. That being said, he didn't mind getting a front row seat to another's misery, especially if he was causing it. Well, it was more Yuya than him, but Yuri found that it made the burden of watching while feeling the electric shocks tolerable. Not to mention, it gave him a good look at Yuya's full power when dueling seriously and angrily. Yuri smirked as Yuya summoned both Odd-Eyes and Dark Rebellion to combat Crow's monsters, and laughed when Yuya overlaid them to summon a whole new Xyz/Pendulum hybrid, Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon, The Supreme King Black Dragon.

'Supreme King Dragon…that's the same thing that dark shadow called itself once. It seems Yuya's got a greater connection to it than I thought. That will make my victory over him all the more satisfying.'

As the duel continued, Crow found a small boy jumping on his duel disk. "Who are you?"

"I'm Sora, Yuya's friend. Right now Yuya isn't himself, so I need you to wake him up. I'd do it myself, but." Sora then pointed to the sky, and Crow saw the Obelisk Force descending on the City. "I can't let them take Yuzu and Serena, when you free Yuya, let him know."

"Okay, I will." When Sora left, Crow thought to himself, "No wonder something was wrong, I knew Yuya wasn't being who he was. That means I just have to knock some sense back into him. I'm Yuya's friend as well. MY TURN!" Crow managed to summon Assault Blackwing – Chidori the Rain Sprinkling, however…

"At this moment, the final effect of Supreme Wing activates! Now we can target the monster that destroyed Rebellion Dragon, destroy it, and then deal damage to you equal to its attack points. DISSAPEAR!" The 4 including Yuri, who decided to join in, roared as the destroyed black dragon seemed to be turning itself into an electric bomb, blasting Chidori to dust, and winning Yuya the duel. As Yuya slowly woke up, he saw Crow being taken away, "Crow!"

"Yuya, looks like you're you again. Listen, forget about me, I saw some weird guys chasing after Serena, you got to go stop them!" Crow begged as he was taken away.

"Thank you!" With that, Yuya sped off on his D-Wheel.

Far away, Yuri slowly opened his eyes again and stretched, "God, that was tough." He then looked at his deck and smiled, "Thanks for helping me out back there guys." Yuri looked to the sky and smiled at the sight of the Obelisk Force. "Guess the show's about to start, wouldn't want to miss it." As he prepared to leave, he heard a familiar engine sound from behind him.

"I found you, you bastard." Yugo said as his D-Wheel leaped from the highway to the building Yuri was on. He then took off his helmet, "You scum."

Yuri chuckled, "And you are…"

"MY NAME IS YUGO DAMN IT!"

Deciding to have some fun, Yuri continued, "So you use Fusion as well?"

Pissed off even more, Yugo yelled, "MY NAME'S NOT FUSION IT'S YUGO!"

"Boy, aren't you the funny one." Yuri noted as he laughed.

"Damn you…are you making fun of me?"

Yuri then slowly walked back as he smirked, "You know Yugo, for some reason, I feel like I was with you only a second ago. Didn't you feel the same way, as though we were in the middle of a duel?"

Yugo pondered, "I was feeling like I was dueling…but that doesn't matter. Take me to where Rin is right now!"

Yuri grinned, he would take Yugo alright. "Sure, however, let's make a deal. If I give you Rin, you give me Yuzu; I know she was with you in this City." Yuri knew that he already had Yuzu in his grasp, but he wanted to mess with Yugo, see how he reacted.

Remembering how Yuzu smashed into the building, Yugo teared up, "Yuzu…Yuzu is right here." He said while Yuri sighed at the boy's stupidity. "Yuzu…lost her life in a duel. That's why; I'll carry her memory within me."

"In that case, you should be carrying Rin's memory as well, so you can visit her whenever you want." Suddenly a warning flash appeared on his duel disk, and Yuri sighed, "Well I'd love to stay and chat, but I have a City to burn. Violet Flash, activate!" Yuri then placed the spell on his duel disk, and disappeared in the light.

Yugo grit his teeth, "Damn you, I will find you."

Elsewhere, Tsukikage and Reira found an abandoned subway station to hide Serena. Tsukikage then looked up and told the 2, "I'm going to scout around to see if Academia is near, I'll be back with help soon." He then took off, leaving Reira behind with Serena.

Meanwhile, emerging from the light, Yuri smiled as he saw Barrett, "Well, I guess it's time to get the show on the road. Has the traitor shown up?"

"No, however, it matters not." Barrett then looked at his duel disk to notify the Obelisk Force soldiers sent to hold the City Council. "Obelisk Force, Have you managed to surround the building?"

"Yes, Commander Barrett." One of them replied.

"Good now activate the anti-RSV system, leave the Security force powerless." Barrett commanded.

"Understood sir." The Obelisk Force captain then turned to all his comrades, "Activate RSV containment barrier!" With that, his duel disk and the rest of the Obelisk Forces' emitted a bright blue light. The light connected the duel disks to each other, forming a ring of blue light surrounding the building, eventually forming a barrier shield that kept the Council building from Real Solid Vision.

The Security forces there gasped as the Real Solid Vision system that generated their monsters was shut off, leaving them at the mercy of their enemies Antique Gear beasts. One by one they wer carded, leaving the rest terrified and fearful. "Roger-sama, we can't access Real Solid Vision, what should we do?"

From his office, Roger slammed his fist, "AKI, GET OUT THERE AND DEAL WITH THEM!"

From within the Council building, White Taki noted, "It seems we've been left at the mercy of Academia. It seems that your Lancers were pretty much useless."

Reiji simply fixed his glasses, "We shall see."

From one of the Security trucks, a masked Aki slowly rose from where she sat and went outside to confront the duelists. Arming herself with her duel disk, she drew a card to begin her turn.

Seeing that the Obelisk Force were handling the situation well, Yuri and Barrett turned to find Sora panting as he ran towards them. "Sorry I'm late, when I got the message I ran as fast as I could."

"Well, at least you got here. Did you hide Yuzu as I told you?" Yuri asked.

"Yes, don't worry; Security won't be able to get to her." Sora said.

"Well then I guess we'll be able to subjugate this City in no time. Let's get a move on then." Yuri joked.

Thinking fast, Sora stated, "I hid Yuzu in that direction over there. Allow me to get her, meanwhile, the Obelisk Force look for Serena."

Barrett nodded, "Sounds good, now hurry up, you really should've just brought Yuzu with you."

Sora then ran off and Barrett turned to Yuri. "Follow him, if what you thought was right, he'll lead us straight to Serena."

Yuri grinned, "Leave that to me, also here's Yuzu's actual location. With it the Obelisk Force can track her down in the Underrground." Yuri quickly sent the Obelisk Force soldiers the GPS map to where Yuzu was. He then turned to one of the squads. "Alright, the 3 of you come with me; we follow the traitor and find Serena. Those heading to the Underground, here's what you do. It'll be pretty hard to get Yuzu with so many people there, so you want to cause some chaos. There are a lot of rowdy people in the Underground. A few high Security folk down here and there, and you may be able to cause a riot. You can use that as cover to grab Yuzu while everyone else is distracted. All right, let's head out."

As Yuri and several Obelisk Force members left on their objectives, Barrett turned to the last ones remaining, "We will continue to scout the areas to find Serena. While it's true that Sora ma lead Yuri to Serena, it may take a while, so we have to do the best we can to find her. If you manage to find her, send a signal flare up to let us know your location. 3 of you come with me; we'll check northeast, the rest check west and south. We should be able to cover a lot of ground." With that, they split up in order to find Serena.

As Sora ran to find Tsukikage, he eventually found the ninja facing a trio of Obelisk Force, and was having difficulty in facing them. With the Continuous Trap, Fusion Trench activated, the ninja couldn't attack while they were free to strike him directly with relative impunity. Seeing no other choice, Sora leaped down to aid the ninja.

"Shiunin Sora, what are you doing?" One of them asked the boy as he helped the ninja stand.

"Helping my comrades. My turn, draw!" Using a combination of Frightfur Sanctuary, Frightfur Chimera, and Tsukikage's Barrier Ninjitsu Art of Transcription, Sora managed to take hold of the Obelisk Force's hounds and turned them against them, defeating them all.

As they began to disappear, one of the Obelisk Force members stared at Sora with hurt and confusion, "Why…why would you betray us?"

"I'm sorry, but now, I have a chance to protect what really matters to me, farewell." Sora stated as they were teleported back to Academia. He then turned to Tsukikage, "I'm guessing that this still doesn't make up for me carding my grudges."

"We are not known to hold grudges, and even still, this isn't the time to fight. I will head off to the Underground and assemble the Lancers. Can you guard Serena?"

"Sure, so where is she?" He then looked in the direction Tsukikage pointed to, "Okay, leave it to me." With that the 2 sped off.

Looking at the scene from a top a building, one of the Obelisk Force members cursed, "Damn the traitor, we should've helped."

"Maybe, but now we can follow Sora to reach Serena." Yuri noted before he saw a signal flare not far off in the distance. "Well, I guess Barrett and the others beat us to it."

Seeing the flare, both Yugo and Yuya rode off on their D-Wheels to find the source of the flare, while Barrett and his group of duelists left towards the flare as well. The true battle was soon to begin.

Well, that wraps up this chapter, with that we get to see Yuri's plan and how he's somewhat played Reiji and Roger down the middle to take the advantage. Although in his case, it helps that he was the unseen and unknown opposition. The next few chapters is when things really start to heat up, so be ready.