Starting Notes:
Welcome back! While I work on the extremely long next chapter of Six Dimensions, I'm just going to drop this here. Feat. Keika being extremely aggressive, Sawatari getting his ass handed to him, and some other interesting things! Have fun!
#2: Swing, Pendulum of Flames!
What? Didn't expect me here? My bad!
I mean, it's not like I'm a spoiler. You all already know who I am, you know that the world is split into dimensions, and you know who my brother and I are, don't you?
Don't you?
So read on! Search for something that makes you feel all wistful and good, it's none of my business. But I warn you—
Don't expect this story to have a happy ending for all these little facades, because I refuse. And I am the one who will control the narrative.
The only acceptable ending is one where my brother gets to do anything he wants, and I get to see him alive, happy and well. What the pieces want doesn't matter. It's not like I have six brothers, and it's not like my brother has six sisters.
We're the only real ones.
And I always, always play to win.
"No, Yuya."
Yuya, who had been about to hand over his Pendulum Monsters to a smirking boy with yellow and brown hair, turned to look at his sister, who was rubbing her forehead. Keika raised an eyebrow.
"This is the most obvious trap I've ever seen—he's clearly trying to steal your cards—"
In an instant, Sawatari grabbed the cards from Yuya's hand before her brother could pull them back. Yuya let out a yelp of surprise, but the deed was done, and the cards were now in Sawatari's hands. Yuzu frowned, and the kids sounded surprised.
Keika took a step forward. "Give them back, Sawatari."
"Hmm?" Sawatari grinned. "Make me." Behind him, one of the boys backed away slightly—Keika recognised him as one of the boys that had once mocked Yuya in the park, and who Keika had promptly beat up immediately after. He clearly remembered that experience, and had no desire to repeat it.
"Sure." Keika lifted a clenched fist, and Sawatari's eyes widened comically.
"No, wait wait wait, what are you doing?"
"Were you not inviting me to beat you up?" Keika raised an eyebrow. "Sorry. You're going to have to be clearer with that."
Sawatari seemed to be listening to someone, before he shook his head. "No, I mean—you're in LDS, aren't you? Solve your problems with dueling!"
Keika raised a sceptical eyebrow. "Someone who doesn't respect his cards wants to challenge me?" She asked. "Fine then."
I might not be able to go all out back at You Show, for the sake of keeping everyone happy and on the same level—
But I'm far more skilled than anyone else there. Because I don't care about entertainment, I don't care about putting on a performance. All of those things that the others have spent time on are not my priorities.
I only care about being strong. Stronger than anyone. Stronger than that man, too.
They walked to the LDS Centre Court. During that time, Keika managed to talk Yuya down from trying to challenge Sawatari with an incomplete deck, purely because that would be the stupidest choice in existence.
And so, they stood on opposite sides of the duel field.
"With the power of your brother's pendulum, I'll crush you!"
Keika raised an eyebrow. You think that Pendulum makes you invincible? Pathetic.
"Action Field, activate! Prison Tower of Darktown!" A large, dark town with a clocktower in the middle appeared, and to Keika's surprise, the rest of the You Show students were pushed up with the tower, trapped above them.
"What's this?" She asked coldly.
"Oh? Don't worry about it." Sawatari winked playfully—it might have been charming, if not for how out of place it was. "They're there… let's call them motivation! After all, it's a pretty shaky bridge, and they might fall if you're not careful!"
… bitch.
"Duelists locked in battle!" She said, her voice coming dangerously close to a snarl.
"Kicking the earth and dancing in the air alongside their monsters!" Sawatari continued enthusiastically.
"They storm through this field!"
"Behold! This is the newest and greatest evolution of Dueling!"
"Action—"
"—Duel!"
[ACTION DUEL!]
Shingo Sawatari: 4000LP
Keika Sakaki: 4000LP
"I'll start!" Sawatari said, posing. They both drew their starting hands, and Keika reflected that Sawatari really didn't have a poker face. It was obvious that he had already drawn one of the Pendulum Monsters, though she doubted that he would be able to Pendulum Summon, considering how much he was clearly lacking in intelligence. "I—oh."
Keika rubbed her forehead. Sawatari was so obviously listening to someone telling him what to do. Not a single atom of guile existed in this boy.
"I will Normal Summon Lightning Hoverboard!" A hexagonal hoverboard surrounded by bright lightning bolts appeared in front of him.
[Lightning Hoverboard (4*/1400/1200/LIGHT/Thunder/Effect)]
"And I'll end my turn!"
… what an insult to her brother's cards, to be stuck in with this mess of a duelist's deck.
No matter.
"Draw," Keika said. She revealed two cards in her hand. "With the Scale 1 Metalphosis Silverd—"
"The what—" Sawatari yelped, but Keika didn't bother to slow down for him.
"And the Scale 8 Metalphosis Volflame in the Pendulum Scales!" The two pillars of light formed on both sides of her, shining bright blue, flames erupting from beneath them.
"What the fuck!" One of Sawatari's goons shouted—and yeah, that was about right. That was the reaction that they should have. "There's more of those Pendulums?"
"I will activate the Pendulum Effect of Metalphosis Silverd," Keika continued, snapping her fingers. "I can destroy another face-up card I control to set a "Metalphosis" Spell or Trap directly from my deck." A set card appeared directly in front of her. "And next, I will set the Scale 1 Metalphosis Goldriver in the Pendulum Scales. The effect of Metalphosis Goldriver in the Pendulum Scale also activates. I will destroy Metalphosis Silverd." She destroyed the other card in the Pendulum Scale, sparks flying around her. "And I will set another "Metalphosis" Spell or Trap from my deck to my field!"
"Why are you destroying your own monsters?"
Keika held out another card. "Finally, I will set the Scale 8 Metalphosis Steeleren in the Pendulum Scale!"
If our testing was right, then this will work…
"With this Pendulum Scale, I can Pendulum Summon monsters from Level 2 to 7," Keika declared. "Swing, pendulum of lost souls! Cast your hopeful light across the aether in a streak of flame! Pendulum Summon! Return from the Extra Deck! Metalphosis Silverd! Metalphosis Volflame!" On her field, Silverd appeared, pink hair wildly frizzing up in the humid air around them. Volflame was a large, orange machine with large cannons around it, and a figure in an orange suit sitting in the middle of the clear sphere at the bottom of the mechanical armour.
[Metalphosis Silverd (3*/1700/100/FIRE/Psychic/Pendulum)]
[Metalphosis Volflame (7*/S8/2400/2000/FIRE/Psychic/Pendulum/Effect)]
"Pendulum Monsters—"
"—return from the Extra Deck?"
Keika rolled her eyes. I've dueled Yuya enough times. At this point, between the two of us, we have this figured out. Yuya had practically collapsed the first time that Odd-Eyes had lost, only to find it showing up in the Extra Deck—and they had figured out that in a sense, Pendulum had taken on the form of both Main Deck and Extra Deck monsters in their properties.
"Volflame attacks Lightning Hoverboard!" Keika declared. The cannons fired off bright beams of light. Sawatari dramatically raced across the bridge to grab an Action Card. Spotting an Action Card on the top of a parked car hologram nearby, Keika headed to grab it as well.
"Action Card, Evasion!" Sawatari declared, and Lightning Hoverboard darted towards him, out of the way of the beams. "I negate the attack!"
"... Action Trap, Break Shot," Keika muttered. A large set of billiard balls shot out towards her side of the field, some bouncing off the tower in the middle. "I decrease the attack points of a monster I control permanently by 900. I will choose Volflame."
[Metalphosis Volflame: 2400 - 900 = 1500ATK]
"Silverd will attack Lightning Hoverboard!" Keika declared, not willing to slow down or back down in the slightest. Hoverboard was destroyed a second later, and Sawatari grimaced.
Sawatari: 4000 - 300 = 3700LP
"Hey, hey, no need to go so hard!"
"I end my turn," Keika said, completely ignoring him. "Your turn."
Sawatari scowled. He drew a card, and then he grinned widely. "There it is! Now, with…" He stopped for a moment, before he was clearly urged on by whoever he was on call with. "The Scale 1 Stargazer Magician and the Scale 8 Timegazer Magician, I will set the Pendulum Scale!" The two pillars of light rose up on both sides of him. From above, Keika heard her brother let out a strangled sound. Clearly, his fragile ego was suffering somewhat with another person using Pendulum Summoning. (This was not an insult towards her brother—just an acknowledgement of his fragile nature.) "With this Pendulum Scale, I can Pendulum Summon monsters from Level 2 to 7! Pendulum Summon—come! Power Darts Shooter! Rocket Darts Shooter! Ultimate Darts Shooter!"
Three equally generic-looking monsters appeared on the field. Oh, was Keika supposed to describe them properly? An orange, pink and blue robot respectively. That was it. What else could she say about them? Ooh, that one had pastels. Ooh, this one had a glowing light there. They were just boring, compared to the personality-filled decks played by the rest of You Show.
[Power Darts Shooter (5*/1800/700/EARTH/Machine/Effect)]
[Rocket Darts Shooter (6*/1900/100/EARTH/Machine/Effect)]
[Ultimate Darts Shooter (7*/2400/300/EARTH/Machine/Effect)]
"Yes! I Pendulum Summoned!" Sawatari cheered himself on for a moment, praising himself even as You Show watched silently, crickets chirping around them. "What do you think of that, Sakaki?"
"I think that I want my opponent to continue his turn," Keika said dryly, completely unaffected. "Or do you want the timer for your turn to run out?"
"Geez, are you not impressed at all?"
"Am I supposed to be impressed that you can Pendulum Summon with someone holding your hand and guiding you word by word?" Sawatari looked surprised that she knew about what was going on. "Maybe when you actually achieve something by yourself. Well?"
"... I'll show you just what I can do!" Sawatari shouted, seeming genuinely annoyed at her words. "I will activate the effect of Power Darts Shooter! By tributing it, I will target a "Darts" monster I control and increase its attack points by 600 until the end of this Battle Phase! I will target Ultimate Darts Shooter!" The orange monster dissolved into light, flying over to the blue robot and boosting its attack points.
[Ultimate Darts Shooter: 2400 + 600 = 3000ATK]
"I will then tribute Rocket Darts Shooter! I grant Ultimate Darts Shooter the ability to deal piercing damage this turn!"
Keika blinked twice.
… the fuck? What was he doing that for? Volflame and Steeleren were sitting on her field in Attack Position right now.
"I will then activate the Action Card, Quick Guard! I'll change Volflame to Defense Position!"
Oh. That would do it.
"I will use Ultimate Darts Shooter's effect. During the end of my turn, I can revive all "Darts" monsters that were tributed by a card effect! Now, attack Volflame, Ultimate Darts Shooter!"
Her monster was destroyed, and Keika shielded herself. Part of the bridge broke away in front of her, her life points falling.
Keika: 4000 - 1000 = 3000LP
"Trap Card, Metalphosis Counter!" Keika declared, one of her set cards rising up. "I'll Special Summon a "Metalphosis" monster from my deck, since a card I control was destroyed!"
She plucked out a card from her deck. Sawatari, as confident in himself as ever, chortled. "Sure! What could you bring out that would defeat my field?"
"Be careful what you wish for," Keika said, and she revealed the card from her deck. "Come. Metalphosis Vanisher!" A human holding onto two pink lightsabers appeared, wearing bright red armour with black metallic wings.
[Metalphosis Vanisher (9*/S1/2900/1900/FIRE/Psychic/Pendulum/Effect)]
From above, watching a screen that was displaying the duel, was a silver-haired young man with a long red scarf. The man had a rather focused look on his face.
"... it seems that Keika Sakaki's deck is filled with Pendulum Monsters," he said after a moment. "As such, it's likely that Yuya Sakaki's deck also contains far more Pendulum Monsters than we think."
"In that case, should we ask Sawatari to retrieve her monsters too?"
The silver-haired youth tapped his fingers against the table. On another monitor, he pulled up the student file of the girl that was currently dueling below. A girl that seemed far more withdrawn, and thus didn't duel as much as her classmates—she simply wasn't as flashy. However, the results spoke for themselves.
An eighty three percent win rate, the most consistent duelist of You Show Duel School—
And of course, the younger twin daughter of Yusho Sakaki, who was a person of interest for several reasons.
"No. One set is enough." He shrugged. "I do not want them to think that we are aiming to be their enemy."
"When Metalphosis Vanisher is Special Summoned by the effect of a "Metalphosis" card, I can banish a monster from your field or graveyard." Keika pointed to Ultimate Darts Shooter. Sawatari blanched, running for an Action Card.
Keika didn't move.
"Action Card, Invisibility!" Sawatari called. "I'll make Ultimate Darts Shooter immune to card effects!" He glanced back at her. "Why are you not going for Action Cards?"
"Obviously, you have the Action Card positions memorised," Keika pointed out. She gestured to the curb behind Sawatari, where an Action Card was pretty obviously sticking out. "And yet you didn't go for the obvious. I'm guessing that's an Action Trap, and that most of the cards here are Action Traps."
"That's dirty!" Futoshi shouted from above.
"Yeah!" Ayu called. "You can't just tilt the match in your favour!"
Sawatari hit the tower, which actually vibrated, some dust particles falling from the sky. Ayu let out a squeak, backing away from the edge. "This is what we call strategy!" He shouted. "Who are you to question me?"
"Hey, rich brat."
Sawatari whirled around, eyes somewhat wide with shock at the blatant insult.
Keika snapped her fingers. "End your turn, if you have nothing else to do."
"... well, I'll end my turn! And Power Darts Shooter and Rocket Darts Shooter revive to my field!" His field returned to having three monsters on it.
Keika drew a card, not flustered in the slightest. The way that she was glaring at Sawatari was making him sweat buckets—there was intimidating, and then, to an alarming degree, there was Keika Sakaki.
"Don't frighten the kids," Keika said, narrowing her eyes. "Or you'll get no mercy from me." She gestured upwards. "Swing, pendulum of lost souls! Cast your hopeful light across the aether in a streak of flame! Pendulum Summon! Return from the Extra Deck, Metalphosis Volflame!" The orange cannon-touting robot appeared in front of her. "And in a burst of beautiful flames—Sunburst Spark Pendulum Dragon!"
Her ace appeared in front of her. For a moment, the image of a red pendulum swinging through the air appeared above her dragon, but it faded immediately after. It let out a ferocious roar, and Sawatari took a step back nervously.
[Sunburst Spark Pendulum Dragon (7*/S1/2000/2500/FIRE/Dragon/Pendulum/Effect)]
"What a strong presence…" Sawatari seemed dazzled by the presence of her monster for a moment. "But it's too weak to defeat my monster!"
"It doesn't matter. Even with just Vanisher, your field would be reduced to ashes." Keika nodded to her ace. "This just expedites the process. Sunburst Spark Pendulum Dragon attacks Rocket Darts Shooter. And when Sunburst Spark Pendulum Dragon attacks a Special Summoned monster, it gains 500 attack points for each Special Summoned monster on the field, other than itself! Wrathful Solar Ignition!" Sunlight surrounded her dragon, who let out a roar, flames flickering around its figure.
"What?" Sawatari gasped.
"I control Volflame, Silverd and Vanisher, and you control your three monsters. So any semblance of a lead that you have is about to go up in smoke!"
[Sunburst Spark Pendulum Dragon: 2500 + 500 x 6 = 5500LP
"Do it, Sunburst Spark! Raging Sunburst!"
The flames descended, and Sawatari let out a screech, even though it wasn't like her dragon was actually going to burn him. That was ridiculous. Either way though, it caused him to be unable to look for Action Cards due to how alarmed he was.
Sawatari: 3700 - 3600 = 100LP
Keika put her hands in her pockets, flames flickering around her. She looked, for all intents and purposes, like a goddess of destruction—surrounded by an unwavering blaze that lit up the dark Action Field, eating away at the bridge that they were standing on.
The tower above them continued creaking.
"Sunburst, Vanisher, Volflame." The three monsters shot up—Silverd, who couldn't fly or hover, stayed on the ground next to her. The three of them grabbed the other You Show students, rescuing them from the tower.
And so, there was nothing left to worry about. Nothing except winning, and getting those cards back, no matter what.
"Vanisher, if you would finish him off?" Keika said.
Sawatari blinked, and then he ducked for the closest Action Card—
The Action Card that he had been consciously avoiding this entire time.
He touched the card before he realised it, and revealed its purple border.
"Action Trap, Lousy Luck," he read off slowly. "Its effect… I take 800 damage…"
Keika shrugged.
A pair of large red characters appeared, glowing and assaulting Sawatari, draining away the last of his life points.
Sawatari: 100 - 800 = 0LP
Winner: Keika Sakaki!
Keika walked forward as the field faded away. She made direct eye contact with Sawatari, placing a hand under his chin and lifting him to his feet, though she didn't remove her hand—it was as much for intimidation as it was to get him not to cry over losing or something like that. Keika could never deal with crying people.
"The deal is the deal," she said roughly. "Return my brother's cards, now."
"I—" Sawatari stopped, clearly taking his orders from someone. He removed the two Pendulum Cards from his duel disk, giving them back to her.
"Thank you." Keika let go of him, still staring at him intently. "Tell whoever decided to work through you to talk directly to us instead of trying tricks like this."
Sawatari's cheeks were completely red, as though they had been set on fire. He opened and closed his mouth soundlessly.
Keika didn't bother to talk to him. Instead, she turned around, heading back towards her brother and her classmates.
Anything else could wait.
From above, a blue-haired boy looked down, watching the group of students leave. He had originally come here to join LDS. However, after seeing that display…
Pendulum Summon, huh? Despite the fact that this place should have no summoning methods, a new summoning method had emerged…
The Professor would have to hear about this.
Well, this was no longer an important place to be.
… You Show Duel School, huh?
Sawatari stood there, staring blearily after the retreating figures of the You Show students. His cheeks were burning red—somewhat in embarrassment from the loss, but also from a certain something else.
"Sawatari-san! Are you alright?" One of his friends was asking him questions from behind him. Sawatari blinked, suddenly back to reality. "Sawatari-san! Did she hurt you with the Solid Vision? Should we report this to the Chairwoman—"
"No!" Sawatari waved a hand. "No, it's alright, uh… I'll have to go and talk to Reiji Akaba about this." He cleared his throat. "Go and help me get… some flowers. Yes."
"Flowers?" Ootomo echoed. "You—Sawatari-san, you—do you like that brute—"
"Ahem!" Sawatari waved a hand. "No questions, go on now!"
He escaped quickly.
"Thanks, Keika."
"Of course." Keika said with a smile. She could see that her brother was still worried about the fact that Sawatari had Pendulum Summoned at all, and so, she tried to take his mind off it. "I'm still upset that I didn't get a chance to punch him in the face though—he has a very punchable face."
"You insulted him so much though!" Futoshi smiled proudly. "When I grow up, Keika-onee-chan, I want to be just like you!"
Yuya and Yuzu were both suddenly consumed by a fit of coughs as they tried to suppress their laughter. Keika laughed, though the heavy anger in her heart weighed her down a little. She was not a good person, and she knew that very well—she was an angry girl who didn't hesitate to use her sharp tongue on others, distrusting, competitive and cruel. Possibly the only redeeming factor about her was that she wanted to protect the people that she cared for—the fact that she could care for them in the first place.
She did not want anyone to look up to her, because they would be giving her far more credit than she deserved.
Even so, she patted Futoshi's head. "I'd advise you to be more like Yuzu," she said, far more docile now than before. "Getting mad isn't fun."
"Then why do you get mad so much, Keika-onee-chan?"
Keika blinked. She shrugged.
I guess I just have too many things to be angry about..
In the end, they dropped off the three kids with their parents. Yuya, Yuzu and Keika then headed to the Duel School to make sure that it was closed up properly. On the way, they also discovered what Keika had discovered about the duel earlier, and the strange figure behind Sawatari's actions. "You think that someone asked Sawatari to steal my cards?" Yuya looked surprised—he had probably just assumed that Sawatari had done things individually, for the sake of being a stronger duelist. "Who would do that?"
"Who knows," Keika said neutrally. "We're probably being targeted though." She pinched her nose. "... Pendulum likely won't remain ours for that much longer, if there are corporations that want to put in that much effort to claim it."
Yuya looked like he wanted to object—like he wanted to defend his own summoning method. However, his protest dried up when they saw what was outside You Show Duel School's doors.
A girl, lying on the ground on her side. Dark brown hair that went rich, dark golden yellow at the very ends, coming down in rippling waves. The girl's hair was midlength, curly and thick. She was wearing a white cardigan over a blue blouse, along with dark blue jeans. She was clearly unconscious—she didn't even move when Keika touched her wrist to check her pulse.
"She seems fine, just passed out." Keika turned her over slightly. "She should be—"
There were twin gasps from behind her. Keika glanced back curiously. Yuya gestured to the girl on the ground, so Keika looked at her properly—
Specifically, at her face. A face that uncannily mirrored Keika's own.
Keika blinked tiredly. She rubbed her forehead.
"What the fuck," she said. "... I really am not equipped to deal with this today."
Who was this? Why did they look so similar to her? If their similar appearance was just a coincidence, the girl's appearance at this school was yet another enormous coincidence that was hard to ignore.
Either way…
"We can't leave them out in the cold," Keika said. "Yuya, help me call mum. She's a responsible adult—she'll probably know how to deal with this better than us."
Yuya nodded.
Keika looked back at the unconscious girl.
I'll figure out who you are…
But for now, I'll make sure that you're alright.
OC Cards:
Sunburst Spark Pendulum Dragon
(7*/S1/2000/2500/FIRE/Dragon/Pendulum/Effect)
Pendulum Effect: You can destroy this card: Add 1 "Pendulum" Pendulum Monster or 1 "Pendulum" Spell/Trap from your Deck to your hand, but you cannot activate cards with that name this turn.
If this card attacks a Special Summoned monster: It gains 500 ATK for each Special Summoned monster on the field, except itself.
Trivia: Sunburst Spark's effect is entirely based off 'anger'—powerful on the offensive, but leaves itself open to retaliation due to carelessness.
Card Effect Notes:
"Darts" monsters - All anime-exclusive.
End Notes:
The counterparts are all 16 in this, btw. Reiji, Shun, etc, are aged up to 18, as per how I usually do things, purely because a lot of Arc-V's themes are quite uncomfortable with characters that are younger.
On one hand, writing Keika's perspective is really fun, considering how internally sarcastic she is. On the other hand, she is so constantly unfriendly—probably the most directly angry and prone to insults of all the twin counterparts.
And yay, isn't that an interesting ending to the chapter? ;)
Review responses!
To hnh058513, Keika is a lot more competent than she shows most of the time. She'll get most of the good Fusion stuff for Metalfoes awhile into the Standard Arc.
To T.V. 2000, glad that the concept is somewhat unique to you! Yeah, Keika's personality is intentionally designed to be pretty much the opposite of Yuya's, though they do share a few similarities. I struggled between a few possible types of characters for the 'Pendulum counterpart', and each of them had different decks that I thought suited their personality. In the end though, I went with Keika because she's far more interesting than the others, and her relationship with Yusho makes a good contrast/conflict that I can work with in terms of character moments. I will say that every single one of Keika's counterparts is very different from their brother. Good deck ideas! I am deliberately not commenting on them because I really want this to be a surprise, but I will say that for now, any deck that has been used in a major capacity in Six Dimensions won't be used here, since I wanted to be able to write a variety of decks.
To DSpaceZ, I'm glad that you enjoyed the chapter! I'm not particularly a fan of Yusho either. While I'm not out to bash him, I am going to make him face consequences for how carelessly he treated everyone that he met in Arc-V. In terms of whether or not there will be pairings, I am honestly undecided, since this fic is intended to focus on platonic bonds a lot more, especially sibling bonds. There is only one pairing that is 100% set in stone, though I'm not going to directly say what it is until it happens. There is some Ship Tease thrown in for fun—for instance, Sawatari clearly has a thing for Keika here. However, yeah, I decided not to think too much about pairings for now. A lot of the time, the pairing just accidentally creeps up on me.
Alright, thanks for reading! Feel free to drop a review!