Chapter 18: Fateful Visions! Dreams of Deities!
As Flare sped through the streets of the Commons daellijgs and occupations, she sadly thought about how much it reminded her of some of the dwellings she had seen the surviving people of her homeworld living in. "I can't believe those Tops," she fumed to herself. "This is how refugees live, where do they get off forcing people to deal with this all their lives?"
She breathed an audible sigh of relief as she neared the exit to the trash facility, and saw Gong and Shinsei waiting for her. "Hey, Gong!" the redhead shouted, waving as she pulled up on the dented D-Wheel.
"That thing's really banged up. What happened to ya?" the martial artist questioned.
"Me, Yuya and Selena teamed up against who I think were two of the three people in charge of Obelisk Force," Flare breathed.
"I take it you beat them?" the man nodded.
She frowned and shook her head. "They had some kind of emergency escape device, teleported back to Fusion before we could card them,"
"I have mixed feelings about that," Gong frowned to himself. "Where're Yuya and Selena?"
"Some kid named Sora showed up. Apparently he took down the third guy in charge. Security's hunting Selena, so she's with him. Yuya went back to the Duel Palace," Flare explained. "Where're the others?"
"Mopping up the last few members of Obelisk Force," Shinsei grinned. "Megan's having more fun than she's had in years,"
"You two knew each other before the Friendship Cup, didn't you?" Flare asked the blue-haired boy, and he nodded. "We go back a bit,"
"How do you two have Pendulums? You aren't Lancers," Gong frowned.
Shinsei blinked, seemingly not sure how to respond.
Luckily, he was saved from having to do so. Megan whooped as she pulled up in the car, Sawatari looking green in the back seat. "Nice to see you," Shinsei grinned, grateful for being saved from the conversation.
"Where did you get your driver's license? My father is definitely hearing about this!" Sawatari raged at his chauffeur. "You need a license to drive one of these things?" the cowgirl blinked uncomprehendingly.
"Selena's not coming, so we're just waiting for Shun now," Gong told Sawatari and Megan.
The blonde immediately got the wrong idea. "Selena's not coming?" he gulped. "What happened to her? Tell me you got vengeance!"
"Whoa, whoa. She's not dead. Security's looking for her, so she can't come back here. She's staying with a friend for now," Flare summarised.
"You met Sora in Standard, right? Sora Shiunin?" Gong asked Sawatari, who shook his head. "Nevermind," the martial artist sighed. "Don't mention it to Shun, though. He and Sora don't like each other," he requested.
"Fine," the blonde agreed, and Shinsei and Megan nodded too.
The five paused as they heard D-Wheel engine revving. Everyone looked in surprise, seeing Crow driving towards them on the Blackbird. He pulled up and nodded. "Hey,"
"Crow, nice to see you," Sawatari nodded.
"You too," Crow grinned. "Obelisk Force is down,"
"Best news I've heard all night," Gong grinned.
"I did a flyby using the Blackbird's glide mode. Every last one, retreated or down for the count," the man nodded.
"Good," Flare grinned.
"I've gotta get back to the kids. Seeya around," he nodded, turning his bike around and speeding off.
A few minutes later, Shun ran up, breathing heavily. "The bastards are down for the count," he spat.
"We know. They're all gone," Gong nodded, and Flare agreed.
"Where's Selena?" the teenager paused.
"Don't worry, she's not dead or anything," Flare started, immediately forestalling the obvious conclusion. "Security was looking for her, so she can't go back to the trash facility. She's staying with a friend for now,"
"Ah. Good," Shun nodded.
"How about we head back inside before anyone realises we're gone?" Shinsei suggested.
"Let's go,"
X
Crow stopped dead as he returned to his house, where he had left Frank, Amanda and Tanner before going to check on the Lancers and co.
"Selena?" he frowned. "And who're you?" he asked, gesturing at the short boy with light blue hair who was sitting at the table with Selena and his kids, eating his food.
"That's Sora. He's really nice, he helped us hide from Security yesterday," Amanda grinned.
"So, you're the infamous Crow, huh?" Sora swallowed his food and smiled at the taller man. "Nice to meet ya,"
"You too. If you helped my kids, you can't be that bad," Crow nodded with a small smile, before pausing. He turned to the three. "Why did you three need help hiding from Security?"
"Good chicken," Sora offered off-handedly, taking another bite. Selena are in silence, watching Sora carefully. She still didn't completely trust him.
"And we don't have any chicken," Crow suspiciously frowned. "Were you three stealing food again?"
"Maybe?" Tanner squeaked, and Frank and Amanda glared at him.
Crow was about to protest, but a yawn escaped his mouth instead of words.
"Go to bed. I'll keep an eye on them," Selena offered.
Crow looked at her, and she evenly met his gaze. Eventually he nodded. "I'll talk to you three in the morning," the man frowned, and they nodded meekly as he left the room.
It was only as the Duelist entered the small room that contained his possessions and hammock that he realised how tired he was from the long day and night. He fell into the soft weaves of his bed, not bothering with undressing or even removing his Duel Disk. His eyes were closed before his head even touched the hammock.
As he fell asleep, Stardust Chronicle Spark Dragon glowed with golden light.
X
Sam nodded seriously as he opened the door to Yuya's room for him. "Thanks, Sam," Yuya smiled. "You're welcome. Were you fighting the people who were invading?" the short doorman questioned.
He nodded. "I'll tell you more about it in the morning if you want, but right now I really need to rest," Yuya yawned, staggering into the room and instantly slumping onto the bed.
Memories ingrained in his muscles after years of waking up uncomfortably caused him to subconsciously remove his goggles and Duel Disk, and untie his cape-like jacket from around his neck.
Junior emerged from his Deck and hugged his neck as the entertainer pulled his cape over himself like a blanket and immediately dropped off.
X
Shun moaned as he fell onto the tiny bunk provided for him in the trash facility. Flare mirrored him, collapsing into the bed next to him. Across the aisle from them, Shinsei and Megan collapsed into their beds, with Sawatari nearby.
In the next room along, a bed frame groaned in protest as it tried to support Gongenzaka's massive weight.
Shun started as a large, fat cat jumped on top of him and made itself comfortable. He looked up and glared at Pharaoh. "Get off, stupid cat," he demanded. The striped cat was perfectly content to remain still, and Shun was too tired to move him, so he let it be.
The six fell asleep within five minutes, dead to the world.
Which was a shame, because out in the main body of the trash facility a riot was raging. "Everybody with me! The trash facility is ours!" Ex-Security Revolutionary #007 commanded.
The response echoed through the halls as every single member of Security ever sent to the trash plant for petty failures replied as one. "YES, COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF DOUBLE-OH SEVEN!"
X
Crow started as he woke. Looking around, he was no longer in his bed. Instead, he was standing on some kind of rocky plateau, looking down on a sea of clouds. "Where am I?" he asked in confusion, scratching his head.
He looked up in surprise as Stardust Chronicle Spark Dragon appeared in front of him and roared, the mighty golden dragon looking divine in the light.
Suddenly it vanished, and a long, sinuous red dragon composed entirely of energy appeared in its place. Its glowing yellow eyes stared down at him.
Crow paled. "Holy shit,"
"I am the Crimson Dragon," the great beast rumbled. "Things are stirring that should not be, and my power will be needed to help keep the balance,"
"The balance of what?" Crow frowned.
"Light and dark. The four dimensions. Everything," he seriously said.
"Okay, but what can I do?" the man asked in honest confusion.
"There are four good gods, one of each dimension. I am the god of Synchro Dimension. But I cannot act on my own, I require a vassal to use my power,"
"What? And you want me?" Crow blinked in surprise.
"Yes," the dragon nodded. "Just as your ancestor before you, accept my power and become a Signer,"
"What's a Signer?" he questioned.
"A priest to my power," the god explained, and Crow nodded. "Alright. I'll give it a shot, if it'll help. But what's causing the upsets?"
"I wish that I knew. But me and my brethren are all going to be needed to combat it. You are not the only one being contacted by a deity as we speak,"
X
Shun blinked in confusion. He was standing on a cloud of black energy, and looked around. "Where the hell am I?"
"I imagine you're feeling quite confused right now," a voice interrupted him. Shun whirled and stopped dead.
Floating in front of him was a kindly man in a teacher's suit with tangled hair and red glasses. "Hello, Shun. My name is Professor Daitokuji, but just call me Daitokuji," he smiled.
"What the hell is going on?" Shun snorted.
"I am an emissary of sorts. I suppose you were wondering about this?" the man asked, showing him a card.
"Rank-Up-Magic Admiration of the Thousands," Shun recognised. "Where did it come from?"
"A good friend of mine is responsible for that. Unfortunately, he is somewhat indisposed right now, so he asked me to talk to you instead," the man explained.
"Yeah?" Shun's eyebrow raised.
"I'll give you the short version of the explanation. There are four gods, one for each of the four dimensions. But something evil is stirring and the gods have decided that they have to work together to combat this threat. However, gods cannot fight themselves, so they require vassals to wield their power for them. The god of Xyz Dimension, a being known as Eliphas, wishes for you to wield his power," Daitokuji explained. "But with the state Xyz is in, his has his plate full just trying to hold his home together. So I'm helping him out,"
"So this Eliphas dude wants me to fight for him. What would that involve?" Shun asked, deciding that the god of his dimension probably had similar interests to him.
"As far as I know, more or less the same as you're doing right now. Defeating Leo Akaba and Obelisk Force. But you ought to understand that Fusion itself is not evil, merely that people use it for evil," the professor smiled. "I see that you have accepted a Synchro monster into your Deck. It would be good if you could show Fusion the same tolerance,"
"That's not happening," Shun shook his head. Despite this, he was still interested by the idea of having more power to battle Obelisk Force with.
"I understand. So, do you accept being the vassal of the god of your dimension?" Daitokuji questioned.
Shun nodded. "If it helps me stick it to Obelisk Force, I'm up for anything,"
"Look in your Extra Deck when you wake. You might like what you see," the man smiled.
Everything went as black as the border of an Xyz monster card.
X
Flare tossed and turned in her bed. Even subconsciously, she couldn't stop thinking about how the power from her Extra Deck had returned once more.
"No," she moaned. "No, not again,"
X
Heartland City in all its glory. A shining rainbow of glistening lights and colours, all the more beautiful for being looked down on from the clouds.
At least, it was until a gargantuan black dragon swooped from the clouds and, with a massive blast of flame, obliterated the centre of the city. Flare didn't recognise the dragon, but she recognised the ones that followed it.
Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon chased the larger one and blew up part of the suburbs. Next, Red-Eyes Wyvern crashed into a skyscraper, knocking it over. Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon laid waste to Clover, her old Duel School, and Red-Eyes Parabola Dragon crashed into the train system, sending the struts toppling like dominoes.
Her eyes fell on the house she had lived with her father in as Black Brutdrago crushed it underfoot, and the dragon she didn't recognise reduced the area around it to a wasteland. The original Red-Eyes Black Dragon charged into two more buildings, causing them to implode, as Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon burnt the other four Duel Schools in the city and Red-Eyes Retro Dragon crushed the government offices.
Suddenly, Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon appeared in front of her and roared. "No," the redhead stammered, falling backwards. "No! I won't let this happen!"
Then Heartland was gone, and she was surrounded by her friends. An image of Yuya Sakaki was burnt to cinders by Retro Dragon, and Black Brutdrago ate Selena. Red-Eyes Wyvern used the spikes on its tail to cut Shun's head off, and Kite Tenjo screamed as Red-Eyes Parabola Dragon strangled him with its sinuous coils.
"No," Flare panicked, watching her dragons destroy everything she loved. "Stop . . . please,"
Her ace dragon, hovering in front of her, suddenly rose into the air, flapping its wings. .
And suddenly she was her dragon, beating her wings and opening her mouth, feeling fire build in her throat as she lashed her tail in anger and roared.
Her burning red eyes watched as she used her fire to kill the image of her father.
And then she was human again, lying on the floor paved with the ashes of her friends' dead bodies, and looked up. The unknown Red-Eyes monster growled at her. "Control your power, or it will control you,"
X
Her orange eyes shot open and she awoke, breathing heavily and clutching the bed for support.
Breathing heavily, Flare clutched at herself, feeling herself all over to make sure that her transformation had been nothing but a dream. Convinced of her humanity, she remembered her nightmare and shivered, looking at her Duel Disk.
Her hands shaking with trepidation and fear, she opened her Extra Deck and looked through the cards within. Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon greeted her, and she placed him to the side. Black Brutdrago. Galaxy Stealth Dragon. Queen Dragun Djinn. Armades, Keeper of Boundaries. A second Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon. She paused, seeing the next card. Mecha Phantom Beast Dracossack.
The monster her father had given her. An image haunted her mind of killing him with her own flaming breath.
She pushed both card and image away, and continued sorting through her Extra Deck.
Flare pulled a blank card from the bottom of her Deck, and stared at it. "Are you going to reveal to me what you are?" she quietly asked it.
As expected, the card was unresponsive.
"You just wait. I won't let you control me. I control myself,"
A/N
A/N
So, no Duels this chapter. Sorry! But hopefully the other stuff makes up for it.
Tomorrow (I.E. next chapter) it's back to the Friendship Cup. Shinji vs. Sergey, place your bets now!
No original cards (though a certain one was closely hinted at). And no reviews, either. Seriously. FIFTY-FIVE different people viewed the previous chapter and not a SINGLE one of them could be bothered to scroll down and go "Yeah, that's good,". Seriously, that's just lazy. -.-
Peace!