Chapter 6: Fight

Yuchi was sweating profusely. Not only because the latex suit he was wearing was hot and stuffy, but also due to the fact that he was nervous. Never had he felt such an overwhelming sense of responsibility burdening him. He was about to duel one of the Darkness Units, to save the city from its imminent destruction.

He grasped the controller tightly and remained firmly seated in the narrow chamber, waiting for Commander Lupine to give his next instruction. He was baffled. Just five hours ago, he had lost all his confidence in a Riding Duel against his fellow colleague. And five minutes ago, he regained all his confidence. Today was a day filled with twists and uncertainties for him. He did not want to imagine what he would face later. Probably there would be another trap waiting for him.

'Unit will be launched from Station A3. Default configuration selected,' a voice from one of the devices surrounding him informed.

'Let's go,' Yuchi whispered to himself.

'Pilot Kendai, are you ready?' Commander Lupine's face popped out in a screen and asked him.

'N… No problem, Sir!'

'Excellent. Launch the Units!' Commander Lupine seemed happy. The old man was putting on his kind smile once again.

'Unit will be launched in 5…' announced the device's voice.

'4…'

'3… 2…'

'1…'

A siren wailed from outside the Unit and in less than one-tenth of a second, Yuchi and his vehicle was shot up into a long tunnel. It was the first time that Yuchi had ever tasted the feeling of 'defying gravity'. Yuchi felt as if his body was weightless and he was being pushed by something upwards at lightning speed. It was like sitting in a lift that was ascending, only much quicker. He made sure his seat belt was buckled tightly as a mistake anytime would cost his life.

'Changing course. Heading towards Duel Lane.'

As the voice announced, Yuchi felt his body was pulled towards the diagonal side. His Unit was accelerating in another direction to another place. It was so fast that it appeared that Yuchi who was being carried along could not sense any changes around him at all. This millisecond, there was a red light flickering outside his Unit and next millisecond, it was a green light. Everything seemed so frenetic.

After about a minute, the Unit started to slow down. Yuchi could see from the window of his seat that there was a bright white light nearing him. He was sure that he was approaching land. He wondered what the Duel Lane would be like. Would it be the same as the highways during lessons for Riding Duels?

The Unit entered the white light, blinding Yuchi's eyes. When he regained consciousness, he was stunned by what he was seeing. He did not step onto the land at all. Both him and his Unit were mid-air, on what seemed to be a holographic 'road', with no support on the ground. 'Is this a dream?' he thought to himself. Such technology could not possibly exist in his mind. 'Solid holograms?' He was bewildered.

'Enemy Unit detected. Clause Eleven of Asimov Treaty in effect. Switching into Duel Mode.'

Yuchi's Unit swiftly shrank into its miniature form. No longer did Yuchi have to endure being stuffed inside a narrow space with those gadgets and cables surrounding him. The ceiling over his head closed away, exposing him to the evening sunshine. The computer screens and panels in front of and beside him folded up and compressed into a large processor unit. A Duel Disk popped out of the device.

'Duel Mode activated. Pilot, please input your Deck.'

Yuchi glanced left and right. The 'road' seemed fairly wide, with enough space to hold at three to four Units without anyone toppling down to the ground below. He turned his head and focused to his front.

Something was approaching him. As it grew bigger and bigger, Yuchi could clearly see that it was a black Unit with a hideous design. It was one of the 'zombonoid' he witnessed Tenshi and Wiles fighting back then. According to the commander, it was codenamed 'Enemy E'.

The black Unit was leaping from the top of one skyscraper to another. Its destination, like the other enemy Units, was the Duel Lanes with the heroes' Units there.

On top of the enemy Unit sat a teenager. Yuchi deduced that he might be the same age as him and Kaworu. Yuchi also noticed that his eyes were unusual. They were completely black, they had no sign of life at all. He sat emotionless in his Unit, his pale face suggesting that he was sick or some spirit of sort possessed him.

The black Unit suddenly took a big jump and landed safely onto the hologram. It accelerated in Yuchi's direction and swerved to pause beside him. Yuchi observed the teenager. He looked as if he did not want to be involved in his job at all.

'Hey, you!' Yuchi shouted out to his foe. But he did not give any reply.

'Pilot, please input your Deck,' the program's voice repeated. Yuchi realized that all he could do right now was to duel the teenager and save him. He took out his deck from his pocket confidently and inserted it into his Duel Disk.

'Don't worry, I'm going to save you!' he thought. Right now, rescuing a person was his top priority. He did not want to let his earlier loss, nor his nauseous feeling after the ride to the ground affect his performance.

'Deck confirmed. Both Pilots are authorized for dueling. Unit Duel will initiate in one minute.'

'Pilot Kendai,' Commander Lupine's face suddenly emerged out of a holographic screen, 'just relax. The rules for the Unit Duel and the same as your Riding Duel or Ground Duel. I believe you can win this battle.'

'Thank you, sir,' Yuchi was a little touched by his employer's words.

'Pilots, you may start the Duel now.'

He wiped away his sweat and declared along with his foe: 'DUEL!'

'Clause No. 11: A Unit Duel may be forcefully initiated under circumstances that the enemy refuses to abide by the laws as stated in Clauses One to Ten.'

'Commander Lupine, are you sure you want to let Candidate Yuchi Kendai, who has no prior training, needless to say, battle experience, to duel the enemy Unit?'

'Exactly. Furthermore, he had just lost a duel with one of our pilots, hadn't he?'

The room was dark. Although a table lamp was switched on, it was only bright enough to clearly see the face of one man. Commander Lupine Hevesy was sitting in the middle of the room, around him were five other people whose identities were unknown.

He looked solemn. Refusing to answer the previous questions, he took a deep breath and continued to listen to what the other people had to say.

'But I think Commander Lupine has done the correct thing,' said a woman's voice.

Commander Lupine remained silent even as he was praised.

'Oh? Can you please clarify?'

'Right now, our main priority is the Project Clear,' said a deep voice from behind Commander Lupine.

'Sir Neo, oh my, good evening,' greeted the person who questioned Commander Lupine just now.

'Sir Neo, I'm really sorry about my hasty decision…' the person who had been remaining silent all along finally took the chance to speak.

'No need to be sorry, Commander,' said the deep voice.

He coughed for a few seconds, and continued, 'the Testament has already explained it all. Candidate Kendai must learn how to fight now, or else it would be too late. He is the key of mankind's survival, the hope that will shine in the darkness…'

'Yes, I understand, sir,' all the other people said in unison.

'I overlay both my Level 5 monsters on the Field!' declared Tenshi. 'With two of my monsters, I construct the Overlay Network!'

Thunder roared and lightning flashed in the sky. The world was about to behold Tenshi's magnificent dragon once more.

'Xyz Summon! Destroy everything in your path, Berserk Dragon!'

Tenshi smiled proudly. The enemies this time were not as difficult as last time after all. It would be a piece of cake for him to crush them all.

He turned his head to observe the Duel Lane further away. On that Duel Lane, his new colleague, the loser Yuchi Kendai, was beginning to duel one of the enemy Units.

Both Units were racing on the green digital track. Just like in a Riding Duel, except that the Units were at least a few times quicker than a D-Wheel.

'Please allow me to go first,' requested Yuchi to the emotionless enemy pilot. He grasped on to his controller tightly. Thankfully, there was a slot on his Unit to hold the five cards he just drew from his Deck so that they would not be blown away. Although the afternoon rain had stopped, the wind was still gushing strongly.

'Please do,' the emotionless teenage boy murmured. Yuchi noticed that his lips had barely moved at all.

'My turn! I Special Summon the Level 2 monster, Star Gazer!'

A new monster emerged out of a white glowing ring. As it name implied, it was a small genie with a cluster of small, yellow stars enclosing it. Its four tiny wings flapped vigorously, as if it was happy at being summoned by its master.

'When I control no monsters, I can Special Summon Star Gazer from my hand,' Yuchi explained.

'Next! I tribute my Star Gazer to Advance Summon the Level 5 Sapphire Angel!' Star Gazer bowed and glowed brightly, vanishing into the light the very next second. Yuchi's blue fairy monster emerged.

'I activate Sapphire Angel's effect! I can draw one card from my Deck!' Yuchi pulled out a card from his deck holder and inserted it into the slot on his Unit.

'I set one card and end my turn.'

'My turn,' the enemy announced the start of his assault monotonously. 'Level 4, Nightmare Wonder, Normal Summon.'

When the teenager played his card on the Duel Disk, he suddenly let out a loud shriek. His body twisted and turned. He seemed to be struggling against something. Yuchi believed that he must be in extreme pain. His pale face was revealing a bitter look, something that he had never shown for the past few minutes. Yuchi could see that he tried to scream, but only his mouth hanged wide open and no sound came out of it. Instead, a creepy black cloud of smoke rushed out of his mouth and shrouded his Darkness Unit.

Yuchi could not hide his fear looking at such a scene. It was ten times, no, a hundred times more horrible than witnessing the mad Vice-Chancellor at his school turning into a giant monster due to his failed experiments. He gasped, trying to remain calm.

'Pilot Kendai!' Wiles' face popped out of a holographic screen in front of Yuchi. He kept his cool and greeted, 'Yes, Sir Wiles!'

'That Nightmare Wonder… I believe you have never seen that monster before, am I correct, Pilot Kendai?'

'No, sir!'

'That's a monster that all the Darkness Unit pilots will own in their Decks. It's a Card of Darkness. Commander Lupine will explain more about it to you when you get back.'

'I understand, sir!'

'Right now, focus on defeating it. It has only 2000 Attack Points, but your Sapphire Angel has 2200. I believe you can do it… Remember, Pilot Kendai, be confident,' reminded Wiles.

'Thank you, sir!' Yuchi said, and Wiles' face disappeared from the screen.

'All right, 2000 Attack Points…' Yuchi took a deep breath and smiled.

'One card, set, end turn,' continued the emotionless teenager. He looked as if he had been released from his excruciating pain.

'My turn!' declared Yuchi confidently. 'This time, I will definitely not lose my courage again!' he thought.

'I summon the Level 3 Tuner Monster, Magical Fairy Apprentice!' A white, fluffy angel – Yuchi's favorite monster, emerged. It had 1200 Attack Points.

Commander Lupine watched Yuchi's duel from the large screen in the commanding centre. 'Normally, amateur duelists would go straight directly to Synchro Summoning, but what will you do, new Pilot?'

Both Units were speeding on the straight track. They bent to avoid hitting the edges of a tall building that obstructed the middle of the track and continued moving at high speed.

'Spell Card, Mystical Space Typhoon!' Yuchi proceeded with his next attack. 'I destroy the set card on your field!'

The card that the teenager set down on his field was revealed to be a Trap Card and was smashed into smithereens.

'Excellent, Pilot Kendai!' thought the Commander. 'That card was Darkness Trap, a card that would have cost you Life Points if you attacked earlier. Great judgment, Pilot Kendai!'

Even Tenshi who was observing Yuchi's battle from his screen while dueling at the same time let out a smile.

'Sapphire Angel, attack Nightmare Wonder!' The azure angel cried and hit the black smoke with his blue staff. Instead of disintegrating into pieces, it went straight back into his master's mouth. The teenager gasped in pain again as the smoke slowly intruded his body. His expression showed clearly that inside his mind, he did not want to duel at all.

'Are you alright?' shouted Yuchi from beside. The teenager refused to reply. His Life Points dropped to 3800.

'I swear I will win this duel and rescue you from your pain!' determined Yuchi.

'Magical Fairy Apprentice, attack the enemy directly!' the puny white angel nodded his head and started to chant something. Then, out of his staff shot out a white bolt and hit the teenager.

The teenager let out a loud wail, as if he had suffered a lot of pain from the blow just now. His Life Points dropped to 2600.

Yuchi was beginning to feel uneasy. 'What should I do now?' he asked himself. He originally imagined that defeating the Card of Darkness would be enough to relief the pitiful boy from pain, but now, attacking directly had made the situation even worse.

His enemy was coughing badly now. He seemed to be having a lack of fresh air to breathe. He was suffocating. He could not focus on the duel at all. He tried to stand up, but his chains on his arms and legs bound him up, limiting his movements.

Then suddenly he let out one loud cry. His eyes enlarged and his mouth hanged open. Red blood started pouring out of his mouth. He attempted to stop the bleeding by holding his mouth but could not. Yuchi could not stand watching as blood started leaking out of the boy's nostrils and eyes as well. His pale face was dyed red by the blood.

'H… Help m… me…' the boy begged Yuchi with his weak voice. He was covering his bleeding mouth with his one hand and reaching out to Yuchi with the other. But Yuchi did not know what could help him. He was already dumbfounded by the effects of what he had done to the boy. Now taking any further step would possibly kill the teenage boy, and that was what Yuchi did not want to see happen.

Yuchi: 4000 LP, Enemy: 2600 LP

'My Mistress,' whispered the shadowy person named Fate.

'What's wrong, my dear Fate?'

'It seems that one of our duelists has shown signs of rejecting our control.'

'And who would that be, my dear Fate?'

'My Mistress, he's the one who is dueling the new pilot right now,' Fate took out a screen and showed his young lady the profile of the boy.

'Oh dear…' the teenage girl paused for a few seconds, considering about something, and concluded, 'it seems that I have to take things in my own hands now.'

'And may I know how you would do it, my Mistress?'

'My Father King…' explained the girl, '…he left something with you when he died, am I right, my dear Fate?'

'Er… yes, my Mistress. It's the Sacred Talisman. May I know what do you need it for, my Mistress?'

'When I was six, my Father King sent me to the mountains for training, do you still remember that?'

'Yes, my Mistress. I still keep in touch with the Shaman.'

'The Shaman taught me one thing there.'

'And what is it, my Mistress?'

The girl smiled, but she refused to reply to the man's question.

Preview of Next Chapter

Konnichiwa! My name is Kaworu Ikari, and I'm the best friend of the protagonist, Yuchi Kendai.

Next chapter, my friend gets to summon his Supernova Angel Knight!

But… It seems that his opponent has something prepared for this!

Oh no, Supernova Angel Knight is defeated and Yuchi is in danger!

What would he do?

Find out in the exciting Chapter 7: Blood.

Duel… Standby!

Card of the Chapter

Nightmare Wonder

Lv. 4/DARK/Fiend-Type/Effect

[Effect unknown]

ATK 2000/DEF 0

...

Note from the Author

To all who have been awaiting my latest chapter, I sincerely apologize.

Like I mentioned in a previous chapter, I was away on holiday for last week and I only get to start writing on Sunday.

It took me three days to complete because this was a difficult chapter to write.

There are a lot of twists in this chapter that I have planned earlier.

Such as the one that finally made Mirai no Sekai a darker and bloodier fanfiction.

Yes, that last twist.

Anyway, as I have also mentioned previously, there will be a special chapter for Christmas.

It will be published along with the next chapter.

The special chapter will be more of a slice-of-life story rather than the violence and gory of this fanfiction.

Oh yeah, I'm also publishing a fanfiction on another anime - Lucky Star!

Chapter One will be out tonight, GMT +8.00!

So don't miss the Christmas presents I'm giving you all!

Merry Christmas!

And remember to review after reading, Arigatou!

- Project M.G.