Into the Fold

Darren leaned against a tree as Shiho and Adachi looked down the hill. At the base of the hill, there was a farm, the sound of horses running along the path in the distance. Shiho and Adachi looked at each other, and then back to the farm.

"Well, that's it. If youse gonna find the man with the blue mark on his arm, it's down there." Darren said. "Rōdōsha Farm."

"Who's the owner?"

"The man youse seekin'. Sasuke Rōdōsha." Darren looked down at the farm. "He's a hard worker. I highly doubt you'd be able to even convince him to have a duel, much less to have him join youse."

"Leave that to us." Shiho replied. Darren scoffed, and stood up.

"Well, I've showed youse where he is. I'm going home. Good luck. You're gonna need it." Darren turned and walked away, back towards the city. Adachi started walking down the hill, towards the farm, but noticed that Shiho hadn't moved. He stopped and turned to face him.

"You coming?"

"I have a bad feeling about this."

"Oh, bully for you. I want to get our group rallied, and I'll be damned if you're gonna get in my way because you have a bad feeling!"

"Fine. Let's go." Shiho walked over to Adachi, and they walked down the hill. "I should have brought my Duel Runner."

"Oh, get over it." In no time, Adachi and Shiho reached the entrance of the farm. Over by one of the pastures, was a man grooming a horse. As they approached, they heard him sigh, and turned to face them.

"Shiho Bengo and Adachi Hatazo."

"How do you know our names?"

"Oh, please. I may be a farmer, but I'm not dead."

"Then you know why we're here."

"No. But, here you are.

"We need you."

"Oh. Well, yes, I did know that." Sasuke rolled up his sleeve, revealing a blue mark of the dragon's head on his left arm. "You want me to join you in your crusade to defeat the Crimson Dragon. Yes, your friend the Azure Dragon gave me the run-down, and quite frankly, I'm not all that interested."

"You'll change your mind, Rōdōsha. I assure you." Adachi said.

"Will I? Let me tell you something, Adachi Hatazo. I do not kowtow to other people's will that easily. I use my mind to do things." Sasuke replied. "I don't live and work on this farm because I want to avoid being controlled by other people, I live out here because my mind is too strong be controlled, and it's easier to isolate myself, instead. My real name, my occupation, everything about me is a distant memory."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I used to be an astronaut, after all." Sasuke replied. "I was once Sasuke Todou."

"The Astronaut?" Shiho asked, shocked.

"That's right. But times change."

"What happened? The last we heard of Sasuke Todou, that rocket was obliterated!"

"The Azure Dragon happened. He arrived to save me, and brought me to a distant planet."

"Uh huh. Right. Another planet." Adachi scoffed.

"It's true! This other planet was almost completely deserted, save for one building, which stretched high into the sky. The Azure Dragon flew up to the top of the building, and I knew what it wanted me to do." Sasuke explained. "Up the tower I climbed, until I reached the top of the tower. That was when I entered the Fold of Existence."

"What did you see?"

"A deck."

"A what, now?"

"A deck of Duel Monsters cards." Sasuke explained. He pulled out a deck of cards from his satchel. "This deck, to be exact."

"Duel Monsters cards?" Sasuke asked, eight years ago. He drew the top card and looked at it. "What are these doing here? Hey… Wait… This effect… The background…"

Sasuke unzipped one of his pockets on his space suit and pulled out the card from in it. "These cards look like they could go together! But my father gave me this… How could these even be here!"

The tower trembled as the Azure Dragon roared. Somehow, Sasuke new exactly what it said. "Take up the Deck. It is your birthright. Pass the test, and become one of my soldiers in the fight against the Crimson Dragon!"

At that moment, a blast of blue light exploded from Sasuke's arm as his mark of the dragon took form. "Ah! What the hell?"

"Who dares to disrupt the Tower of Existence, access to the Fold, itself?" A voice boomed.

"What the hell is going on?" Sasuke turned as a being appeared in a burst of light. It stared deeply at Sasuke as two pedestals appeared between them. "This looks like… A Duel Field?"

"No one has been to this Tower in over a thousand years. Perhaps you are the being the legends speak of." The entity boomed. "Take up the Deck, Sasuke Todou, and prepare to Duel!"

"Duel..?" Sasuke turned, and looked back at the deck. He hesitantly extended his hand, and picked the cards up. As soon as the deck had left the pedestal, it descended into the floor. He looked from where the pedestal used to be, back to the cards in his hand. He looked through them. "Aeronauts…

"This should work well with…" Sasuke added his card from his father to the new deck, and flipped through them. After a moment, he placed the deck down on the Deck Zone. "Very well, then. Let's Duel!"

Sasuke: 4000 LP
Entity: 4000 LP

"Make the first move."

"Don't mind if I do!" Sasuke drew a card from the deck. These cards are strange. I've never seen cards like these. But I guess I'll have to make due! "Hmm… I'll activate the field spell Aeronaut Huston! Whenever I activate the effect of an Aeronaut in order to reduce its own Attack or Defense, I can place counters on this card instead! Next, I summon Aeronaut Engineer! And with its own effect, I can reduce its Attack by 500 in order to special summon a Level 3 or lower Aeronaut card! And due to my Huston, I can place five Aeronautical Counters on my Field Spell, instead!"

"Very well." The entity replied as the duel field transformed into a room filled with desks. One of the monitors in the room booted up, and big five appeared on the screen.

"And for the monster I'll be special summoning, I choose my Aeronautical Sensor Array! And now, I'll be tuning my level four Aeronaut Engineer with my level three Aeronautical Sensor Array!" The Aeronautical Sensor Array used its thrusters to float up, and it vanished, leaving behind its three level stars. The three level stars created glowing green Synchro Rings around the Engineer, and it, too, vanished, leaving behind its four level stars. The stars aligned themselves in a straight line, as a green light pierced through them and expanded to the innermost edge of the Synchro rings. As the new monster began to take form, words also formed in Sasuke's mind. "The rapidly evolving technology of the future pulls forth a mighty machine that knows no resolve! This, the one who defends its comrades! Synchro Summon! Appear, Aeronaut Zephyr!"

"Very good. You have already mastered one aspect of the Aeronauts. But can you master the rest?" The Entity asked. "It's my turn. I draw! And I'm going to play Aeronaut Infantry! I'll add the Spell card Extra Fuel, which will allow me to increase the attack of my monster by one thousand! This gives my Infantry enough attack to destroy your Zephyr!"

"That may be true, but one of Zephyr's effect activates when you increase a monster's attack or defense, and it inflicts damage to you equal to half of the amount you increased!"

"Very good. But my Infantry still contains enough attack points to destroy your monster!" The Entity pointed at Sasuke's monster, and his Infantry aimed his gun at the Zephyr. It fired, just as the Zephyr blasted at the Entity, however the Zephyr's blast hit before it was destroyed.

Sasuke: 4000 LP-3900 LP
Entity: 4000 LP-3500 LP

"It seems you've got a bit to learn before you can call yourself the master of that deck."

"We'll see. After all, I have one trick up my sleeve. A single card, without a doubt, which differs between our two decks." Sasuke replied. "And if I summon that monster, then I'll most certainly win!"

"If you are what that dragon says you are, then your destiny revolves around that one card. You will be able to do anything. Be anything."

"Then let's see what I can do, then!" Sasuke drew a card from his deck. "I summon Aeronaut Gardna! And I activate its special ability, reducing its defense by five hundred in order to add the spell card Liftoff! to my hand! And when an Aeronaut monster I control reduced its attack or defense by the effect of an Aeronaut card, I can special summon the level eight Tuner monster Aeronautical Spaceshuttle as a level 4 with half its attack! So I'm gonna tune my now level four Spaceshuttle to my level 4 Aeronaut Gardna!

"Shock and awe, to all who witness this mighty being! This, the one who knows no limits!" The Spaceshuttle flew up and vanished, leaving behind its four level stars. The four level stars floated down and created glowing green Synchro rings as the four level stars of the Gardna within aligned themselves in a straight line, being pierced by a green light that expanded to the innermost edge of the Synchro rings. "Synchro Summon! Electrocute all who stand before you, Spark-Nova Dragon!"

A mighty dragon exploded to the field, and growled at the Entity's Infantry. "Spark-Nova Dragon! Attack Aeronaut Infantry with Static Blazar Blast!"

Spark-Nova Dragon opened its mouth and blasted plasma at the Infantry. "When the Aeronaut Infantry would be destroyed, I can negate its destruction by reducing its attack by five hundred!"

"Not quite! See, my Spark-Nova Dragon has a special ability that I can activate when an effect activates that changes the attack or defense points of any card on the field!" Sasuke countered as light from the Infantry flew off and into his Spark-Nova Dragon. "It negates the change in points, then I can either add it to my dragon, or inflict it as damage to your Life Points! So my dragon will use the points you were going to use to save your monster to increase my monster's attack instead, which means you'll take even more damage!"

Spark-Nova Dragon: 2550 ATK + 500 ATK = 3050 ATK
Entity: 3500 LP-2850 LP

"My turn." The Entity drew a card. "I summon Aeronaut Astronaut. Next, I activate a spell card. Back to the Drawing Board!! By tributing my Aeronaut Astronaut, I can Special Summon Aeronautical Space Station in defense mode! With its 3000 defense, you won't be able to easily reach my Life Points, even if I cannot use its effect to make it indestructible."

"I don't mind. I've already won. I activate Liftoff!! This spell card will allow me to Special Summon my own Aeronaut Astronaut! And by tributing it, I can summon my Aeronautical Rocket Cannon!" Sasuke's monster vanished as the rocket appeared, the cannons extended from within. "And since my Spark-Nova Dragon's effect isn't a mandatory use, I can use the Rocket Cannon's effect, reducing its attack by one thousand in order to destroy your Aeronautical Space Station!"

The Rocket Cannon's cannons aimed for the Space Station. With one blast, the Station was obliterated. "And now! Spark-Nova Dragon! Attack directly with Static Blazar Blast!"

Once again, Spark Nova Dragon opened its mouth, blasting plasma at the Entity. "Uurgh!"

Entity: 2850 LP-0 LP

"Very good. You have proven yourself worthy to hold the last creations of the race that once lived here. You have a destiny. The Aeronauts and the Azure Dragon will lead you along your path! Good luck, Sasuke Todou!"

"On that day, I expected to return from that planet to see the Earth in ruins, that everything the Signers of the Crimson Dragon had done to protect us had been a ruse to gain our trust." Sasuke explained. "But everything had been fine. And I realized that the Azure Dragon was a load of bull. I lost everything that day. I couldn't even check to see if my wife was alright, because there was no way I could have survived the explosion. So I decided to damn that damn dragon."

"Allow us to change your mind. Have a Duel with me." Shiho replied.

"I don't wish to be a part of this battle any more. What I do matters little."

"The Azure Dragon is a servant of shadows. The shadows want change. You look like you want change." Adachi said.

"I can't deny that I'd like the world to know me as Sasuke Todou, one of the rulers of the world, and not Sasuke Todou, the astronaut that died before he made it into space, or Sasuke Rōdōsha, the farmer." Sasuke pondered. He sighed. "Very well. We will Duel. But not here."

"Then where?" Shiho asked. Sasuke smirked. He walked over to the bag that was hanging on the pen fence, and pulled a Duel Disk out of it. He whistled, before the farm started thundering, as three horses charged into the pen. Sasuke mounted one of them.

"Well, come on. Let's go have our Duel!" Sasuke's horse reared, and then charged off, leaving Shiho and Adachi behind with the other two horses. They looked at each other, and then back in the direction Sasuke rode off, before quickly mounting their horses and riding off after him.