Chapter 4: Burning Light In the Capital of Despair!
"Well, after those three exciting Duels, it's time for a break for lunch! Everyone, be back here in an hour and a half!" Melissa declared. In an instant, there was a mad scramble as everyone left the stands in a rush to get something to eat.
In a few minutes, Melissa and Tsukikage were left alone. "Can I get down now?" the ninja requested. "No! Everyone loves you! You've gotta stay! Plus, the helicopter won't land until tonight," his new friend replied. "That system seems flawed," Tsukikage observed. Melissa shrugged. "Well, we've got plenty of food and the best part of two hours with nothing to do, not to mention a fully stocked entertainment room in the back," she paused. "Wanna watch a movie?" the announcer offered.
The ninja once again checked the distance between the helicopter and the ground, and decided that it was too far to jump. "I suppose there is no reason not to," he sighed. "Come on, you'll love it!" she grinned, pulling him into the back of the copter.
X
Kite Tenjo stood at the top of the remnants of the great stadium in the centre of the ruined remains of Heartland City, surveying all that remained. "There's nothing," he cursed. The Duelist pulled a card from his Extra Deck and gazed at Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon. "Who would have thought that what started out as a silly card game could cause so much devastation?" He remembered when he had first gotten the card that had saved his life so many times.
X - Flashback
"Did you hear, Kite? They're releasing a new booster pack of monsters! It's all high rank stuff! Come on, let's get some!" His slightly younger friend, Kana Tsukumo, excitably pulled at his sleeve. "Okay, okay, why not, I guess?" he shrugged. Minutes later, they had each bought three of the new pack, Tachyon Transfer, with their pocket money. "What did you get?" Kite asked, curious. "Check it out, check it out! It's a Rank 10!" Kana squealed. "Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Gustav Max? That sounds familiar," Kite frowned. "Yeah, I think one of mummy and daddy's friends uses that," his friend nodded. "Yeah, Anna does! What did you get?"
"Nothing special. This one looks cool, though," Kite shrugged, showing Kana a copy of Radius, the Half-Moon Dragon. "That is cool!" Kana nodded. "Kinda reminds me of your dad, but not really," she frowned. "I'll show him later," Kite nodded. "I should get home. See you later, Kite!" She waved goodbye, running off.
Later that day, as he had said, Kite showed his father the card. "Radius, the Half-Moon Dragon, huh? This brings back memories," he nodded, smiling. "I think it's about time that I gave you something," his father smiled at him, presenting Kite with three cards, each a copy of the same monster. "These haven't been released yet, but I managed to get the demo versions. I thought you'd like them," he kindly smiled. "Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon?" Kite read, before smiling and hugging his father. "Thanks dad! But these are Rank 8. How am I supposed to get two level 8 monsters?"
"Why don't you come with me, and I'll show you?" his father suggested. "Okay!"
X
Kite smiled, before frowning. His father had been one of the Duelists who had gone to face the Obelisk Force invaders when they had arrived. He hadn't seen him since, and hated to assume the worst, but in the hellish world he lived in now, what was there but the worst?
He spotted a blur of red moving through the city. It was going too quickly to be one of the survivors. "Obelisk Force," he distastefully hissed, leaping down and dashing to intercept.
The blonde boy skidded to a halt and turned to face the red-clad intruder as he ran around the corner and dashed towards him. "Stop!" he barked, arming his Duel Disk.
He was almost surprised when they actually stopped, and he glared at them when he noticed that they had a Duel Disk. "More Obelisk Force invaders?" the boy hissed, but at the same time, the cloaked character clenched his fists. "Not another invading big shot," they snorted.
Each took a second to process what the other had just said. "You're not from Fusion Dimension?" Kite asked. "No. I'm not," the other person snorted, removing their hood. "You aren't either?"
Kite was surprised to see a woman's face, harsh and angry, with an angular face and flaming red and orange hair. Something about her almost reminded him of a dragon, but one far more dark and destructive than his Galaxy-Eyes. "They call me Flare," she told him. "Kite," he offered. "If you aren't one of those invading scum, then I have no reason to fight you," she shrugged, moving to pass him. "Wait," he commanded, holding his Duel Disk in the ready position. "Just because you are not from Fusion Dimension does not mean that you are not my enemy," he glared. "Oh really?" Flare wondered, arming her Disk. "Alright then. Let's Duel,"
The connection was established, and Flare grinned. "Since you challenged me, I'll take the first turn," she commanded. Kite saw no reason to argue as he drew his hand. "I activate my Spell, Dragon Shrine. This lets me send first Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon from my Deck to my Graveyard, then, since the Gemini monster Black Flare is a Normal monster in the Grave, I can now send Red-Eyes Retro Dragon from my Deck to the Grave," Flare made her first move, and two Dragons appeared from her Deck, before being sucked into the Graveyard vortex. Kite managed to note their levels as they did. Seven and four. Interesting.
"I now activate another spell, Silver's Cry! I can Summon a Dragon-Type Normal monster from my Graveyard! Since Gemini monsters are treated as Normal Monsters in the Graveyard, I summon Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon from my Grave!" Flare commanded. "Behold, the true flare that sets fire to the night!" A thunderous roar echoed across the field, and the Graveyard portal opened again, a large black, skeletal dragon emerging. Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon was Level 7, with 2400 ATK. This further convinced Kite that she wasn't from Fusion. A Fusion bastard wouldn't go to the trouble she had taken to summon this monster. "Now, I use my Normal Summon for the turn to activate Black Flare's effects!" A ring of light surrounded the monster, and it's body flared with red light. "I end my turn,"
"Alright then. I draw," Kite nodded, taking his card. "I Normal Summon Cipher Knave from my hand," A glowing green goblin-like monster with a mace appeared. It was Level 4'with 1300 ATK. "When Cipher Knave is successfully Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon a 'Cipher' monster from my hand. I Summon Cipher Wing," A large gemstone with two holographic wings appeared next to Knave. "While all monsters I control are Level 4, I can Special Summon Doggy Diver from my hand," he continued. A black and white dog in a scuba costume also made it's entrance.
Flare blinked and chuckled. "What the heck?"
"What is it?" Kite sighed. "You just summoned a scuba-diving dog to the field," Flare reasoned. "I think I'm allowed to giggle,"
"Whatever," Kite sighed. "I overlay my Level 4 Cipher Knave, Cipher Wing and Doggy Diver, and Xyz Summon. Descend, Stellarknight Delteros,"
"So much for the dog," Flare sighed as a tall, strapping knight with predominantly white but multicoloured armour with a holographic purple shield and a large sword appeared, three Overlay Units orbiting it. It had 100 more ATK
than Black Flare, 2500.
"I activate Delteros' effect. I use one Overlay Unit to destroy Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon," A laser shot from the monster's shield and pierced Black Flare, destroying it. Flare was unmoved. "I activate Red-Eyes Retro Dragon in my Graveyard! When a Red-Eyes is destroyed, I summon Retro from the Grave and then revive Black Flare!" Black Flare reappeared, flanked by a smaller, but similar dragon. Both were not in defence mode, and Black Flare boasted 2000 DEF, while Retro had 1700. Kite raised his eyebrows. "Doesn't matter. Delteros, attack Black Flare," Once again, the Xyz monster destroyed the dragon, this time by battle. Flare gritted her teeth. "I set two cards and end my turn,"
"My turn! Draw!" Flare grinned. "I Normal Summon Red-Eyes Wyvern," Another dragon, almost identical to Retro, appeared. "I overlay my two Level 4 Red-Eyes monsters and Xyz Summon! Ascend to divinity, lady with the heart of a dragon! Become one with the dragon spirit and become the divine queen! Arise, Queen Dragun Djinn!" The summoned monster was, from the waist upwards, a lady clad in somewhat scanty metal armour, but from the waist down, a great dragoness with a body of pure fire, giving the monster the appearance of a dragon-taur of some sort. "An Xyz Summon?" Kite breathed, still frowning. Definitely not from Fusion, but that didn't make her a friend.
"I activate Queen Dragun's effect! By using one Overlay Unit, I Special Summon one Level 5 or higher Dragon from the Graveyard with effects negated! Revive, Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon!" she commanded. The dragoness swatted an Overlay Unit with her tail and it winked out of existence. Seconds later, Black Flare revived with full force. "You're going to a lot of trouble to constantly revive and protect that monster," Kite observed. "Of course I am! Who wouldn't want to protect their ace?" Flare questioned.
Kite paused. "Her ace?" A heartless Academia bastard wouldn't have an ace . . . would they?
"Now, I play my Trap -"
"No. I activate my Trap, Dark Bribe, negating your Spell or Trap and destroying it," Kite interrupted her. Flare shrugged. "Alright then. I activate the other effect of my Trap, Red-Eyes Return, in the Graveyard. If it's destroyed, I can Special Summon a Red-Eyes from my Graveyard! Boo-yah!" she savagely grinned. Kite's eyes widened and he paused, dumbstruck. She had tricked him?
"Return, Red-Eyes Retro Dragon! This time in Attack Position!" Flare declared, as her dragon returned. Kite surveyed the three monsters against him. 2400 ATK, 2200 ATK, and 1700 ATK. None were strong enough to beat Delteros' 2500.
"Thanks for letting me draw a card, by the way. If you hadn't, I wouldn't be able to do this!" Flare madly grinned, and in an instant, Kite saw it. The clear resemblance between her and her Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon. As though the card had been made for her. "I play Galaxy Queen's Light! By targeting Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon, Red-Eyes Retro Dragon's Level becomes the same as his until the end of the turn!"
"Galaxy Queen's Light," Kite breathed. He knew the Spell card well, he ran a copy of it himself. It was a staple card for anyone who played Rank 7 or higher.
"Now, I overlay my Level 7 Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon with my Level 7 Red-Eyes Wyvern! Be reborn on the war-torn plains with an Xyz Summon!" Flare commanded, as a beautiful vortex of red shades sucked in, before inverting. "Arise as the armoured victorious dragon! Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon!" The monster was similar to Black Flare, but larger and scars could be seen through the gaps in it's new metal armour. It emerged from the swirling portal in a burst of energy. Kite was impressed. "Behold, the true flare that sets fire to the night! How do you like me now?" Flare grinned as her monster roared, two Overlay units orbiting it.
"Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon! Attack and destroy Delteros!" the redhead commanded, and her monster obliged. Kite frantically regained his composure as his monster was destroyed and he took 300 damage. "Queen Dragun, attack!" Flare added, and Kitw was powerless to stop her as she reduced his Life Points to 1500.
"I end my turn!" Flare added. "What an impressive dragon," Kite breathed. "And I don't even know its effect!" The boy breathed in and drew his card. He smiled, deciding it was alright to show emotion to someone who was so clearly an ally. "I activate my Spell, Photon Sanctuary!" A Spell Card appeared on his field.
But he was stunned as Red-Eyes promptly launched a blast of fire from it's jaws, burning away another 500 of his Life. "Flare Metal's effect! Every time you activate a card or effect, you lose 500 Life Points!" Flare grinned, even as two Level 4 Tokens appeared on Kite's field. "Two more effects and I lose the Duel?" Kite frowned, rapidly checking his hand. "I only need one!" he grinned. "I Tribute my two Tokens and Tribute Summon! Appear, Photon Caesar!" The tall, knight-like Level 8 monster had 2000 ATK. "Photon Caesar's effect!" Kite commanded, even as he braced himself for another blast of holographic fire. "When he is Summoned, I can Special Summon another Photon Caesar from my Deck!" Another Level 8 knight appeared.
"Are you gonna Xyz Summon now?" Flare grinned. "Can't wait to see your monster,"
"I'm sure you'll like it," Kite nodded, momentarily forgetting all of his troubles and worries in the pure exhilaration he felt from this Duel with the mysterious newcomer. "I overlay my two Level 8 Photon Caesars and Xyz Summon! Galaxy shining in the darkness!" He paused to draw breath in order to continue the chant, 'Embody the demon of revenge as my servant!' but paused before he did. This had become a Duel between new friends. He couldn't chant about demons of revenge. But what else could he say?
"Appear, great dragon with wings of light! Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon!" Kite revelled in a rush of emotion and pride that he hadn't felt since before his home had been invaded three months before, as his gold-and-blue ace dragon appeared in all it's glory. Even with only 500 Life Points left, surely he could still win!
"Go! Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon, attack Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon! Deciphered Stream of Destruction!" His dragon obliged, glowing with the light of his master's exhilaration, and roared, unleashing a deadly stream of energy from it's maw. Flare ducked her head under her arms as a few stray shots hit her, dropping her Life Points to 3800, but Flare Metal took the brunt of the blow, spread-eagling it's limbs to shield it's mistress. Kite grinned as the smoke cleared, but was stunned to see that Flare Metal had somehow survived. "What? Don't tell me your monster is indestructible by battle too?" he demanded.
Flare snorted. "I wish. But it seems like you don't know that Queen Dragun Djinn has another effect," she gestured at her Rank 4. Kite looked at it in surprise. He had almost forgotten that the other dragon was there. "As long as Queen Dragun Djinn is on the field, no other Dragon-Type monster I control can be destroyed by battle!" Flare declared. "Oh, and it's own effect makes Flare Metal indestructible by card effects, too. So as long as both my dragons are around, my Flare Metal is indestructible! All I need to do is find a way around your dragon's 3000 ATK, and I win!" the redhead gleefully declared. Kite had to smile too. "I think you'll find that even though I can't use any effects, Cipher isn't that easy a nut to crack," he retorted. Flare shrugged. "I'll think of something. My turn! Draw!" she declared, looking at her card and grinning. "Perfect! I activate Black Metal Dragon's effect in my hand!" she declared. A small, Level 1 dragon appeared on the field. "I can equip this card to a Red-Eyes monster I control, and it gains 600 ATK!" she declared, and the small red dragon climbed onto Flare Metal's back and roared in tandem with it's larger counterpart as their combined ATK climbed to 3400. Kite's eyes widened. "Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon! Attack! Flaring Stream of Metal Destruction!"
Kite looked at his set Trap Card. If he activated it, he would prevent his dragon's destruction . . . but then Flare Metal Dragon's effect would reduce his Life Points to zero anyway. But even so . . .
"I activate my Trap, Cipher Interference! Every monster on the field gets a Cipher counter, and if a monster with a Cipher Counter leaves the field, all monsters with Cipher Counters are destroyed and we both take damage equal to the combined total ATK of the destroyed monsters!" Kite barked. Flare blinked. "What? Why would you do that?" even as her dragon paused it's attack to blast a fireball at Kite, which reduced his Life Points to 0. The holograms faded, and Flare ran towards the blonde. "Why did you do that?" she questioned as Kite took a deep breath, but remained standing. He smiled. "Honestly? You were going to win either way. I didn't want to allow you the satisfaction of destroying my Cipher Dragon too,"
Flare paused, dumbstruck, then burst out laughing. After a second, Kite joined her, both switching off their Duel Disks. "So, decided I'm not an enemy yet?" Flare asked, and Kite nodded, recalling how beautiful her Xyz Summon had been when she summoned her Flare Metal. "Anyone who can control a monster like that Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon is alright in my opinion," he nodded. "Thank you," he added, a few seconds later.
"For what?" Flare frowned. "During that Duel," he paused. "I haven't smiled like that in a long time,"
The redhead blinked in shock. "Seriously? Man, you need to lighten up,"
"How? Everything's gone," Kite sighed, gesturing at the desolated remains of Heartland City around them. "Not everything," Flare shook her head. "We're still here, aren't we?"
Kite opened his mouth to respond, but paused. She had a point. "And we aren't the only ones. There are other survivors dotted around the city. That dragon of yours, it's all gold and blue and shiny. I can sense it could become this city's salvation. Heartland's been destroyed, sure, but it's not gone yet. Not as long as even one Duelist stands tall and proud. Besid'es, if everyone only thinks about what was, we'll never fix anything, will we?"
Kite nodded, understanding what she was saying. "We can't just keep fighting Academia. We'll win the battle, but lose what's most important. Our home," he surmised.
"Exactly! You need to fix what's broken," Flare agreed. Kite nodded, but paused. "What do you mean, me? Aren't you going to help?" he frowned! and Flare shook her head. "I can't," she shrugged. "Why not?" Kite demanded. "What could be more important than fixing Heartland?"
"Saving the other Heartlands," Flare quietly responded. Kite paused. "Huh?"
"My dad was a scientist. One of his colleagues theorised about alternate dimensions and how they may be contacted,and actually succeeded to an extent. I overheard him talking about it ages ago. There are a total of four worlds, Kite. We're in one, and the invaders from Academia are from a second. That means there are two more worlds. Two more places that Academia could invade. I need to go and not only warn them, but try to get them to help us. The other two worlds, surely once they hear about what Academia's done to us, they'll want to help," Flare explained. Kite's eyes widened. "That's huge," He paused. "I should come," he decided, but Flare shook her head. "Kite. I need you to get the survivors together. I'm going to go get the help we need, but I need you to make sure that there's still something left to help," she reasoned. "Besides. You and I both saw Black Flare and Flare Metal. I love them, but, well, who'd want to rally behind those two?"
"They are kinda scary," Kite agreed. "Alright. Good luck - wait. How are you going to get to the other dimensions?"
"Dad also told me that somewhere in the centre of Heartland, in the hidden military complex under the Heartland Spire, was an experimental interdimensional portal. If I can find it and make it work, then it shouldn't be a problem," she explained. Kite nodded, but paused. "How will you get back?"
"We were working on interdimensional technology, and so was the world that invaded us. Logically, the other two are as well," Flare nodded.
"Okay," Kite nodded, but a thought struck him. He pulled a card from his Deck and offered it to her. "Take this. My uncle gave it to my dad, who gave it to me, and now I'm giving it to you. It's supposed to be given with solemn sentiment. Remember me," he smiled.
Flare inspected the card, and nodded and smiled. "Sure. Someday, I'll come back and give this back to you. Promise," she grinned, adding the card to her Deck.
"Fair enough," Kite smiled. "I'll come with you to the portal. I'm gonna want to know where it is, just in case,"
"What, think I can't take care of myself?" Flare grinned.
"No. I just don't want to say goodbye so soon," Kite shrugged.
A/N
A/N
I'll be honest, the bit where Kite summoned Delteros? I wanted him to summon Illumiknight, but then I remembered that there are no Numbers in ARC-V. So I was kinda left in the lurch. He didn't activate Delteros' destruction effect because he doesn't have any tellarknights in his Deck to Summon.
Only one original card, since all Flare's cards were real cards (so far);
Cipher Knave
Level 4/LIGHT/Fiend-Type/ATK:1300/DEF:700/Effect
When this card is Summoned: You can Special summon a Level 4 'Cipher' monster from your hand. If you control a LIGHT Dragon-Type Xyz monster: You can target one Xyz monster on the field, attach this card from your Graveyard to that monster. This effect of 'Cipher Knave' can only be used once per Duel.
And now that's out of the way, review time. Since I did a double update, sorry for not having any review responses in chapter three, but I didn't see the point.
Leafeon, there might be Berserk Yuya. I don't do 'plans' much. XD
Thanks, Corinne! This is my first ARC-V fanfiction, so, yeah, still 'getting in the groove'. XD I just feel like, when it comes to Duelling, for the most part, if I started a new paragraph every time someone spoke, I'd have to make every line a new paragraph in some places. And I'm trying to work out how best to do longer paragraphs, so there's a complication to that point. Still, I appreciate any and all advice.
Ghostkid33, enjoy.
I'll be honest, giving Flare a Red-Eyes Deck (and her subsequent moniker - no, Flare is not her real name if anyone was wondering) was purely because of a discussion (read 'argument') I had with a friend recently about the power and usefulness of the Red-Eyes legacy support we got recently in Clash of Rebellions. Guess which side I was on. Anyway, I know I didn't use any of the Red-Eyes cards from Clash of Rebellions except Return of the Red-Eyes and Flare Metal, but more will appear. I just had to hold off on Fusion Red-Eyes because of the slight matter of Duelling Kite.
I think that's it. Peace!