Chapter 8 – Jorann's Plight
"As both you and Elise know, Jorann was sent out on a mission with his squad last night. On any mission, we can track every one of our members by using chips planted within the duel disks. Around an hour ago, Jorann and his squad simply disappeared."
"How can the entire squad just disappear?" Elise asked, bewildered. "Even if they were defeated, the chips would've continued transmitting."
"We don't know," Felirae admitted. "They had headed to Kansas City, a day from here, tracking enemy movements. The Grand Order abandoned Kansas a couple months back, but one week ago they were all over the city. Jorann and his team was sent to investigate, but now..."
"I'll gather a group together and head out immediately," Elise said. "Jorann is one of our best, and a Synchro user. We cannot afford to lose him."
"No, we can't afford to send a large group in after them straight away," Felirae said. "I'm sending you, Darrien and Tanion in after him."
"You want me to go as well?" Tanion asked. "You're risking your only other Synchro user. Is that wise?"
"It's a risk we have to take," Felirae answered. "Even without training, you are a very skilled duelist and your ability in a Duel of Strength is already up there with some of our best. Even though you are a Synchro user, you are the only one I can spare."
"What can we expect once we get on the ground?" Elise asked.
"We aren't sure why the Grand Order is there, but we cannot risk getting their attention," Felirae said. "Above where their disks went offline is an old, and quite large, bank. I want you to make your way there and scout out that position. If it looks abandoned, move in. If not, try using the back-up radio to contact Jorann."
"And if he doesn't answer?" asked Darrien.
"Then call in the cavalry," Felirae answered. "I'm sending a squadron of 30 men and women in behind you. They will land outside the city and wait for a signal. If worse comes to worse, you barge your way in, understood?"
"Yes, sir," Elise said.
"However, like I said, I would prefer if you didn't," Felirae said. "The less people we get involved the better. Use it only as an absolute last resort, either to force your way to their last known location, or to make sure you get out of there alive."
"Won't the Grand Order pick up my Synchro Summoning energy though?" Tanion asked.
"We've implemented a new cloaking device within your duel disk, similar to the ones protecting this facility," Felirae said. "Jorann had one too. It'll allow you to Synchro Summon without it giving off an energy signal, and so they won't be attracted to your location."
"I see," Tanion said. "That certainly makes it easier for me."
"There's a helicopter already waiting for you," Felirae informed them. "It'll take you to the edge of San Francisco, and from there we have a truck waiting on standby for you."
"Understood, sir," Elise said. "We will be at the helipad in 5."
"You must find Jorann, understood?" Felirae demanded. "I don't often say this, but for once, failure is not an option."
"We understand," Darrien said. "We'll do whatever it takes to bring him back."
After getting a lift in a truck that Tanion noted was very similar to the monster Truckroid, they arrived on the edge of Kansas City just a day after they had left Stromberg Castle. They had somehow managed to get some sleep along the way, with the truck driver clearly exhausted from the effort but content with the fact that they had arrived safely. However, much to Tanion's surprise, instead of heading into the city straight away, they veered left into an old farmhouse, located around 5 kilometres from the city's edge.
"What are we doing here?" Tanion asked. "Place looks abandoned."
"Good," Elise chuckled. "This is our rendezvous point for agents operating within the surrounding area. Remember yesterday how Felirae said we would have support waiting to be called in? This is where they will be coming from."
"I don't understand why we are here though," Tanion said. "Do we need to make a pit stop or something?"
"We are switching vehicles," Elise said. "There's a stealth plane waiting for us. It'll take us in undetected so The Grand Order doesn't pick us up on their radars."
"Lemme guess," Tanion said. "Stealthroid, right?"
"Yes, sir," Elise said sarcastically.
"They really weren't very original when they came up with the name for those cards, were they?"
"Nope, not really."
After switching over to the stealth unit, Tanion watched out of the window as they flew over the destroyed city of Kansas. For someone who had grown up and seen these cities both on screens and in real life, it was a real shock to see them completely obliterated, and by the hands of Duel Monsters no less.
"Jorann's last known signal came from down there," Elise said, pointing to a ruined bank building. "There's a sewer system that runs underneath it, accessible through the back of the building. That's where we are heading."
The stealth plane spun on it's axis and glided gracefully down to land right next to the back of the bank. Elise urged both him and Darrien out the back of the plane, and into the sewer system before they had a chance to be spotted by any Grand Order agents working within the area.
"Why would they come down into the sewer system?" Tanion wondered. "At least the place doesn't stink to all hell."
"Still unpleasant though," Darrien said. "I have maps of the tunnels. We need to head west for now."
"Just point us in the right direction," Elise ordered. "Tanion, watch our flank. Anyone comes up on us, you strike them down."
"Yes, ma'am," he said. "Appear before me now, Level 5! Defender of the Knight!"
Now that he could use Synchro monsters, Tanion felt much safer with his monster watching their backs. With him in place, Tanion followed as Elise and Darrien wound their way through the overtly complex and confusing sewer system, something that Tanion wasn't sure was necessary but he was no position to question it. After a few minutes of simply pointless wandering, they turned a corner and Darrien pointed up ahead.
"There's an older section of the system up ahead," he said. "Blocked off by iron bars, but their last signal came from there."
"Good work, Darrien," Elise said. "Have your disks ready. The Grand Order could be very close now."
Approaching much slower than the rest of their trip had been, Tanion made sure that no one was coming on behind them while Elise and Darrien watched the front, checking all corners and other pipelines to make sure that no surprises lay before them. Eventually, they made it to the iron bars, but much to their dismay, there seemed to be nothing there for them.
"This is where their duel disks went offline," Darrien said grimly. "They must have been cornered and captured."
"Don't jump to conclusions," Elise said hopefully. "Look around. There's no damage to any of the pipe nor the iron bars. I doubt there were any Duels of Strength fought here, or a regular one for that matter."
"That could just mean they gave up without a fight," Darrien reminded her.
"What's that in the water?" Tanion asked, noticing a glint by the iron bars.
"Wait a second, that's..." Elise trailed off as she picked it up.
It was some form of box, with a weird phoenix-like symbol carved into every side. Opening it, Tanion watched as Elise pulled out some kind of note, and as she read it, she seemed to become excited.
"This box is Jorann's," she said happily. "He leaves it behind in certain places if he knows people will come here after him, like we have done. He must've known we would come looking once their disks went offline."
"What does the note say?" Darrien asked.
"Where one path ends, another begins," Elise answered. "He's referring to these bars. We are at the end of the newer sewer system, but at the beginning of the old. He must've gone in with his team."
"Why would he order them to turn off their duel disks though?" Tanion wondered.
"He must've known something we didn't," Elise said. "Or maybe it had something to do with his mission..."
"Felirae said it was –"
"He lied," Elise cut him off. "I don't know why he lied, but he was lying. We don't follow up on enemy movements like this, Tanion. In fact, I'd wager that the reason Jorann was sent here was for the same reason The Grand Order is here."
"Are you are sure that this old sewer system will lead to him?" Tanion asked sceptically. "If it's anything like the path we just travelled, he could be anywhere."
"In our world, the older sewer systems were designed quite differently," Elise explained. "It was a bunch of single, major pipes that led into one main chamber, which then had a hole in the bottom which led to the ocean, or in this case, out of the city. Since this is one of those major pipelines, it has to lead to the main chamber."
"We need to hurry," Darrien said. "Who knows what Jorann and his team have gotten themselves into."
Elise summoned Risen Soldier Kyn and willed her to bend the bars in front of them. After slipping through, Kyn bent them back into place, and followed behind them alongside Tanion's Defender and they edged down the pipe. It took what seemed like an eternity of twists and turns, but eventually light came from the far end of the tunnel, and Tanion breathed a sigh of relief as their destination was in sight.
"Don't relax yet," Elise whispered from beside him. "We have no idea what awaits us in that main chamber. Keep your guard up."
Tanion readied himself as they walked onward, and eventually the main chamber came into view. Surprisingly to Tanion, there seemed to be some sort of structures ahead, made of wood. Just what is Jorann doing down here?
"It's... it's a town," Elise gasped, as they exited the pipe. "The chamber has been turned into a town. These people must be refugees from the war."
Tanion and Elise both removed their monsters from their duel disks, and they slowly began to walk through the town of wood. He could see people through makeshift windows, their faces telling him they were unsure whether or not to trust him. Weaving their way through the buildings, chatter began to fill the air, and then suddenly they found themselves standing on the edge of what seemed to be the centre square of the town.
"We need to find Jorann," Elise said warily as frightened eyes fell upon them. "He must know something about these people we don't."
Suddenly, a middle aged woman pushed through the crowd and made their way to them. Tanion's stance shifted automatically, wary of the woman approaching, for he could not tell whether she was approaching them for help or otherwise.
"You!" she yelled as she approached. "You are Coalition, yes?"
"We are," Elise said diplomatically, realising that the woman recognised their outfits. "We have come in search of our comrades. They went missing in these tunnels and we are hoping to find them once again."
"Wise Man knew you would come," the woman said. "Wise Man will wish to see you. Follow."
Wary of her intentions, the trio followed her with duel disks ready to go, but as they walked through the town square, they realised that their worries were unnecessary. As Tanion looked around, he could see the grim reality that the war had created. The people down here were indeed refugees, hiding from the fighting. And they were tired, scared, sick and hungry. The looks of betrayal on their faces said it all, the way they shuffled away from them at the sight of their duel disks. This was the reality of the world he had been brought in to, and he felt sick just thinking about it.
The woman led them out of the square and into a shoddily built wooden shack, which seemed to be this society's version of a hospital. As they walked through and headed upstairs, Tanion was confronted with many people, both children and adults alike, looking either sick, malnourished, and on the brink of death. He kept his head down as he walked, trying to block it out as best he could.
"Wise Man, you have friends," the woman called.
"I knew they'd find me eventually," said a familiar voice.
As they came up the stairs, Tanion saw Jorann standing over a child, trying in vain to get them to drink from his canteen. His group of four other men were scattered around the room, looking exhausted and defeated.
"You went offline, Jorann," Elise said. "What the hell have you been doing?"
"Felirae sent me here because of a rumour," Jorann said, not taking his eyes of the sickly child. "A few weeks back, we heard a rumour that a blind child was able to see Duel Monsters, as in their spirits. We thought it was bogus, but when the Grand Order started scouting this area, we had to be sure."
"What makes that so significant?" Tanion asked.
"A Duel Monster is a living being from the world of the Duel Spirits," Jorann said. "If a child is able to see their spirit, then he is able to see the Duel Energy of the monster itself. With that power, The Grand Order could potentially find a portal to the Spirit World, and that would be nothing sort of catastrophic."
"I'm not sure I follow," Tanion admitted.
"If they can get into the Spirit World, they can imprison the spirits of our Duel Monsters," Jorann said. "Without them, we have no way to fight against The Grand Order. The war would be over."
"Our cards won't just stop working," Tanion said. "The monsters are summoned by reading the information of the card and then creating a projection from that information. Even without their 'spirits', we would still be able to fight."
Jorann sighed. "You still believe that Duel Monsters are simply cards?" he asked. "I thought you had learnt your lesson."
"I understood what you were saying, but I don't believe it," Tanion said. "There's no way that my cards are alive. I got these from booster packs. There are thousands of other copies of my cards out there, and you expect me to believe that all of this spiritual nonsense is true?"
"Tanion..." Elise said warningly.
"Nonsense? You think it's nonsense?!" Jorann roared. "You are a disgrace to your own kind! You dismiss the very thing that makes you a Synchro user!"
"Jorann, take him to the boy," one of his group suggested. "Show him the truth."
Jorann breathed deeply. "That is a good suggestion," he said more calmly. "Tanion, walk with me. I'll show you that Duel Monster spirits are very real."
He led them back out into the town square and took them over to an area they hadn't passed before. There, Tanion saw a boy no older than 10 being propped up by what must've been his mother. He looked sick, and yet happy at the same time, and his eyes were glazed over and clouded milky white.
"How is he doing?" Jorann asked gently.
"His fever is going," the woman replied. "He may walk again soon."
"That's good to hear," Jorann said, almost smiling. "Yurrah, have you seen any spirits today?"
"Nu-uh," the boy said, shaking his head.
"Would you like to?"
"Yes, please."
"This is Tanion. He's going to show you a different spirit to ones you've seen before."
"You're beautiful," Yurrah said.
"You can see me?" Tanion asked, amazed.
"He can see Duel Energy," the woman explained. "You must be special for him to say that."
"It's how I see," Yurrah said. "It's all lights and pretty colours."
"Duel Energy is everywhere in our world, Tanion, and in people and in spirits it is focussed into what he calls a light," Jorann explained.
"That's... hard to believe," Tanion admitted.
"Summon your Royal Knight," Jorann ordered. "Yurrah's waiting for you."
"Right," Tanion said. "Appear before us now, Royal Knight!"
The swordsman appeared in a flash of light, Tanion's Duel Energy being sacrificed to bring him out. At first, Yurrah seemed ecstatic to see him, but the look quickly faded to that of disappointment.
"Yurrah? What's wrong?" his mother asked.
"He's faint," Yurrah said. "I saw a flash of light, and it was beautiful. But then it was gone. It's like your monster has no connection to you."
"What do you mean no connection?" Tanion asked. "Anskar said that my summoning of him was very powerful."
"He's not referring to the strength of the Royal Knight you summoned," Jorann said. "He's talking about your connection to your monster. You are strong, but your connection to your monsters is weak at best."
"My 'connection'?" Tanion laughed. "They're just cards."
"Just cards?" Jorann muttered. "I can't believe you."
"Darrien, empty the area," Elise said quickly on the side.
"What do you mean, Jorann?" Tanion demanded. "You keep saying the same thing over and over. Tell me what you really think."
"You're a fraud, boy," Jorann growled, the people around them being escorted away. "You use the Synchro Summons, and yet you had no idea what it means to be a Synchro user. As one, your connection with your cards needs to be stronger than any of the other summoning methods, otherwise your cards will fail you. You will never unlock their potential!"
"Potential?" Tanion scoffed. "A card is just that. A card. With statistics and words. I don't care if this is truly the world of the anime, there's no way that my cards have spirits. It's just not possible."
"That's it," Jorann said. "It's time I put you in your place. Duel me."
Tanion readied his disk. "I thought you'd never ask."
DUEL!