Chapter 42: Astral Airship! Battle Above Heartland!
While Yuya and Flare were fighting Edo and Cyril, the other Lancers had problems of their own.
After taking the 'next street over', Flare had been right. They had reached the outskirts of Obelisk Force's encampment unmolested.
Unfortunately, it didn't take long for Obelisk Force to wake up and start fighting. The group was boxed in, with Obelisk Force on all sides.
Gong was standing on defence, with Superheavy Samurai Warlord - Susanowo maintaining a careful guard over Katie, who was directing her Megavolpyne Spirit - Kitsune and forcing Ancient Gear monsters to turn on each other. Shun and Yuke had taken to the air, and Hammer Tail Ritual Dragon and Raidraptor - Revolution Falcon were darting in every direction, avoiding blasts and shots left and right.
"Abyss Actor Superstar!" Sawatari commanded his monster. "Attack!"
His monster looked at him in confusion. There were so many possible targets, it was hard to know what his master referred to.
"Oh, just attack everything! You'll hit something important sooner or later!"
An Ancient Gear Chaos Giant with glowing orange eyes and possessed fox ears lumbered across the battlefield and smashed into two of its kin. "Strike!" Katie cheered as they went toppling like skittles, and Megavolpyne Golem - Kitsune's wraith-like form emerged, before darting over and possessing an Ultimate Hound Dog.
"If any of you see an opening to rescue Sayaka, go for it!" Shun called down to the crowd.
"Got it," Allen responded. He looked around, and spotted Kite nearby. "Yo, Kite!"
"What is it?" the blonde snapped back at him. "Hold that thought. Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon! Cipher Stream of Annihilation!" His dragon roared, unleashing a burst of power from its maw and destroying a Triple Bite Hound. "You were saying?" he demanded of his teammate.
"I'm gonna punch a hole in the ranks. You dash through and get to Sayaka," Allen suggested. Kite threw him a thumbs up and moved closer.
"Rocket Arrow Express! Attack that Chaos Giant!" Allen commanded, and his jet train charged towards the centre of the camp, where Sayaka's unconscious body was guarded by a giant stone warrior. Allen's Level 10 smashed soldiers and monsters alike away, and Kite dashed through the gap left in its wake.
Shun watched from above in contentment, launching a rocket to keep the enemies away. "Everyone! Congregate on Kite!" he shouted across the field, in his position as de facto leader in Yuya's absence. Gong scooped up Katie, and Hammer Tail snatched up the Martial Artist. Shun wheeled around and his Raidraptor grabbed Sawatari, dropping him in the centre of the battle field.
"What are you thinking?" Kite demanded as Shun landed with the rest of the Lancers.
"Regrouping," Shun responded.
"Well, that's a brilliant plan, because now we're all surrounded," Kite growled.
Shun looked around and realised he was right. Revolution Falcon couldn't carry more than two, and Yuke's Hammer Tail had just been taken down by an Ultimate Bite Hound.
His fingers found their way to the key around his neck, and he clutched it, suddenly worried.
"Bro, have we got a plan?" Katie asked, fear creeping into her voice.
Yuke slid a card into his Duel Disk. "I activate my Field Spell, Circle of the Monoglyphs!" he commanded. The ground they stood on burst upwards, growing a mossy hill, and twelve crystalline monoliths appeared, creating a solid wall around the group. "That'll buy us some time," he panted.
Kite snorted. "Nice move, I guess,"
"It's only a stopgap. Eventually one of them will find a way to destroy it. All they need is a Mystical Space Typhoon," Gong shook his head. "We need a distraction of some kind,"
Sawatari peered through the gap between rocks. His eyes widened. "Would a huge robotic dragon destroying a building and attacking Obelisk Force work?" he questioned.
"Sure, but where would we get one of those?" Yuke off-handedly asked.
"How about we ask whoever owns that one?" the actor suggested, gesturing to the crack. Everyone promptly gathered around and did their best to peer through.
"I suppose that's rather convenient," Shun observed.
X - Two minutes earlier . . .
Yuya left Edo in a doorway and ran back over to Flare, who was locked in a staring match with Cyril. "What the heck is that?" he asked her. "What happened?"
"Spirit Unison," Flare told him, not taking her eyes off Cyril. "It's when . . well, it's a long story,"
"What do we do?" Yuya asked.
"You go find the other Lancers. I'm the only one around here who can do something about this," the girl answered.
"What are you talking about?" Yuya asked.
"It's simple," Flare shrugged, gazing at her brother. "The only thing that can take on a Duel Spirit given physical form is another Duel Spirit,"
"What are you talking about?"
"You were a good friend, Yuya. I'm gonna miss you," the redhead admitted, catching on the last word. "Take a few steps back,"
"O-okay," Yuya nodded, retreating to the sidewalk.
"Oh, and hold onto this for me!" Flare called, removing her Duel Disk and throwing it to him. Her friend nodded, catching it. But he immediately dropped it when he saw Flare's next move.
Fire blossomed over her body, twisting and comforting. Flare roared as she was swallowed up by her fire, stripping away her human shell and returning to her true form.
Yuya gasped. The dragoness eyed him in sadness, before throwing herself at Cyril with a roar. The mechanical serpent was thrown backwards, smashing into a building, and collapsing. Within seconds, it was back up - and it was then that Cyril realised that Flare had thrown him into the Obelisk Force encampment. He was instantly swarmed by ant-like soldiers.
"Flare . . is that you? Are you in there?" Yuya asked.
"Yeah," Flare nodded. "I'll explain later, but . . this is the real me," the five-ton dragon admitted.
"Wow," It was the only word Yuya could find.
"I'll explain later," she declared, lunging forward and beating her wings. Cyril responded in kind, throwing off the Obelisk Force monsters and unleashing a laser from his maw. She dodged, slamming into the ground and letting it whistle over her head. Cyril fired again, and the dragoness threw herself into the air, skirting to the right and crouching on a building nearby. Her opponent's wings blurred into motion, and he chased her, beelining towards her black form.
At the last moment, Flare leapt upwards, and Cyril slammed into the building, sending it crumbling down into the ranks of soldiers. With a strobe of flashing lights, the soldiers' auto-teleports kicked in seconds before the rubble collapsed, returning them to Fusion Dimension.
From the Circle of the Monoglyphs, Allen watched in awe. "She's pitting that monster and Obelisk Force against each other," he whispered.
A new Ancient Gear Chaos Giant took shape, and the new combatant attacked the mechanical dragon. Cyril responded with a barrage of lasers that sent the golem stumbling backwards, and fell, crushing more of the troops.
The fight continued, Flare baiting Cyril into crashing into buildings and soldiers, letting the bigger dragon tire himself out. Overcome with primal fury, not once did the boy attempt to do something more intelligent, and the lights on his body flickered and began to dim.
Flare growled to herself, twitching her tail in excitement. She was winning. She was going to win.
And in her moment of overconfidence, she made a mistake, dodged a second too slowly. Cyril flashed forward like a bolt of lightning, driving her through a wall and pinning her reinforced form against a pile of rubble. A chimney collapsed on her wing, pinning her. The monster raised a wing and brought the serrated, razor-sharp edge to her throat. The dragoness gulped. Her scales were tough, but Cyril's plating was tougher.
A shout interrupted them both before the robot could finish the job. "Superdreadnought Rai Cannon Gustav Max! Fire!" Allen commanded. The Circle of the Monoglyphs had expired, and in its place was Allen's signature Rank 10 Xyz monster. The train-mounted ballistic cannon fired, and the resulting blast blew Cyril away, throwing him away from Flare.
The mechanical dragon snarled at this new threat, and while Flare attempted to free herself, Cyril charged with an unearthly roar towards the Lancers' encampment.
"Scatter!" Yuke shrieked. The humans obeyed as their foe bit down on Gustav Max's cannon and tore it from its housings with his metal jaws, before throwing it away into the remaining Obelisk Force soldiers, who vanished with more flashes of auto-teleportation. The Solid Vision hologram flickered and died, and Cyril turned his gaze to the retreating Lancers with bloodlust in his glowing red eyes.
Shun glared defiantly up at the monster. "You want some?" he demanded, pulling a card from his Extra Deck. "I'll give you some! Rise, Number 39: Utopia!" the Duelist commanded, bringing forth his mighty ace Number monster.
As the great angelic paladin emerged from an impromptu Overlay Network, the Emperor's Key glowed around Shun's neck. There was a blinding flash of light.
And when vision was restored, the Xyzian was sitting in a satin-encrusted, golden chair with a large tiler in front of him. Laid out around him was the bridge of some sort of futuristic ship, all forged from gold. One by one, the other Lancers, all bar Yuya and Flare, appeared in the cabin. Gong was carrying Sayaka, and he gently laid her in one of the empty seats.
Cyril stared in confusion as the massive mechanical marvel of gilded gold that was the Different Dimension Airship, once contained within the Emperor's Key, took shape above him.
Shun looked down at the key around his neck. "You're just full of surprises, huh?"
Outside, the rogue dragon had decided that the massive gold thing looming in front of him was a threat. So he threw himself bodily against the great machine in a futile attempt to prove dominance.
The Lancers winced as the machine rocked around them. "Time to go," Shun decided, grasping the joysticks and pulling them backwards. The Airship shakily lurched into the air, encumbered by rubble.
Cyril growled, beating his wings into a blur and lifting himself into the air, fully intent on catching his escaping prey.
But Flare had recovered, and, solidly beating her own wings, she brought her body weight down on Cyril. The metal dragon was heavier, but Flare had velocity and gravity on her side, and pinned him to the ground. She roared, and fire billowed from her mouth, wafting around her foe's head and getting into the cracks in his plating.
The monster's jaw slowly slid open as ionised power built in his throat, and he offloaded it in a single great burst. Flare was lifted bodily off him, thrown backwards in a great arc, and landed several metres away.
Cyril rose, sparking, and his lights flickered and dimmed. Twisting his long, serpentine body, he attempted to make his way towards his adversary.
But that last blast had been too much for him. He collapsed, wings partially open and tail spread wide. His body began to shrink, metal folding in on itself until the green-haired boy Flare remembered was lying, unconscious, in the rubble.
With a moan, Flare picked herself up and shakily rose to all fours. On the other side of the plaza, the Different Dimension Airship landed and the Lancers spilled out, all unable to take their eyes off her. Across the plaza, the dragoness spotted Yuya staring at her with an unreadable expression.
Sobbing silently, the dragoness spread her wings and lifted into the sky, flying away.
"Hey, where's she going?" Sawatari frowned. "That is Flare, right? Why doesn't she just switch off the Solid Vision thing and come over here?"
"Sawatari. That is not Solid Vision," Gong shook his head.
"Huh? Of course it's some kind of Solid Vision thing, it's not like Flare could actually turn into a . ." Sawatari trailed off, registering the solemn faces of the others. "You're joking,"
"Nope," Allen shook his head.
Kite grabbed him by the collar and glared at him. "You're the only one who doesn't seem surprised by this. What do you know that we don't?" he demanded.
"Back off him," Gong commanded, glaring at the blonde. "It's not his secret to tell,"
"Tell what? Why Flare can turn into a dragon?" Yuya asked, rejoining the others.
"No, it isn't," Allen agreed, looking down. "But you all need to know anyway," He accepted Flare's Duel Disk from Yuya, and began his story. "Ten years ago, there was a scientist that lived in Heartland City who figured out how to establish a link with the world of Duel Spirits,"
There was a collective intake of air at this. "Duel Spirits?" Sawatari parroted. "Get real, that's just an old fairytale," Katie irritably elbowed him.
"No, it's true," Allen corrected him. "And it was a man named Dr. Abakir who discovered how to do it,"
"Abakir is Flare's surname," Shun reminded the non-Xyzians, knowing they lacked some background information.
"Yeah, but that's for later," Allen told him. "He spent two years trying to figure out how he could go to the world of Duel Spirits, but without some kind of relay station at the other end, it was impossible. That was when he had an idea. What if, instead of sending someone to the Spirit world, he could bring one of them here?"
X
"Finally," Dr. Abakir breathed, gazing at the massive, complicated framework of wires, circuits and mesh that he had created, all centred on a large pod in the exact middle. "It's taken an entire year, but I'm finally ready to bring a Duel Spirit out of their word and into ours!"
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a Duel Monsters card. A Normal Monster. Red-Eyes Black Dragon.
Dr. Abakir slotted the card into a reader. "This is going to be so amazing!" he declared, pulling a lever to switch the machine on.
X
"What happened? Did it work?" Sawatari eagerly asked.
"Nope. It went horribly wrong," Allen shook his head.
X
When the machine powered down, there was a whoosh of steam as the pod opened.
"Dr. Abakir made a critical mistake,"
He rushed inside, ready to behold the spectacle of a genuine, living Duel Spirit.
"Duel Spirits are called that for a reason. They can't physically exist in their true forms for long periods of time in this world without inordinate amounts of energy to sustain them. Add to that how "experimental" his technology was,"
The scientist rushed around the massive pod, searching for something, anything. But there was no sign of the great, beautiful dragon that he had been expecting.
"He summoned the spirit of Red-Eyes Black Dragon to this world alright. But the way he did it was so botched that not only was the spirit in question forced to take on a human form,"
Finally, the smoke cleared enough that Dr. Abakir could see exactly what he had done. An eight-year-old human girl, with flaming orange hair, lay slumped on the floor of his pod. "No. No, this can't be right! This is wrong! This isn't what's supposed to happen!"
"The spirit of Red-Eyes was warped, regressed into a child and lost most of her memories," Allen explained. "Realising what he had done, the doctor destroyed his work and nursed the girl back to health, calling her Ryuna,"
Shun and Kite inhaled in surprise. The others, not knowing Flare's real name, were less affected, but got the gist.
"The good doctor couldn't keep her a secret forever, so he fabricated a cover story. She was the daughter of his British cousin who had been killed in an accident, and as her only living relative her custody fell to him,"
Shun nodded. It was the same story he had heard when first being introduced to Ryuna seven years ago, a date which matched perfectly with Allen's timeline of events.
"How do you know all this?" Kite demanded.
Allen bashfully looked down. "By accident. My dad was a colleague of Dr. Abakir, and only a few months after she . . came here, the lab had a 'Bring your child to work day'. Dr. Abakir brought Ryuna, hoping that she could make a couple of friends her own age. He introduced her to me, and we hit it off. But halfway through the party, she started to lose control," Seeing the others' uncomprehending gaze, he elaborated. "Back then, she didn't have very good control over her powers. She ducked out, saying she needed the bathroom, but I noticed that the bathroom was in the other direction, so I followed her,"
"And you saw her transform," Yuya filled in the blank.
"Yeah. Luckily, the first person I mentioned this to was Dr. Abakir, who immediately impressed on me how important it was that I not tell anyone. It took a little while, but Ryuna accepted that I knew and didn't mind, and we've been best friends ever since," Suddenly, a light of determination appeared in his eyes. "And if any of you have a problem with her, you have a problem with me," he declared.
"Hey, hey, slow down," Gong told the shorter boy. "We're not angry, we just want to understand,"
"Well, now you know. And now I've gotta go find her and make sure she's okay," Allen declared. "Take care of Sayaka, Shun!" he commanded, running in the direction that Ryuna had left in.
"I'm going too," Yuya decided, following the orange-haired boy.
"What? No, you can't come. I'm the only one that she trusts," Allen frowned as the green-haired boy caught up.
In response, Yuya opened his Extra Deck and retrieved a copy of Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon. The card that Flare had given him. "When Flare - Ryuna gave this to me, she did so because she believed that I was her friend. If she's forgotten that, then as her friend it's my job to remind her!" the boy boisterously grinned. "Besides, how bad could it be?"
"She could cook you," Allen pointed out.
The smile left Yuya's face. "Let's hope that doesn't happen. Do you know where she went?"
"There's only one place she'd go at a time like this," Allen thoughtfully nodded.
X
The black dragoness buried her head in her wing, sniffling to herself. "I liked being a Lancer so much, too," she moaned.
"Ryuna? Are you in here?"
"Allen," Ryuna weakly smiled. "At least he won't hate me,"
She looked up at the walkway hanging from the ceiling of her father's underground lab, hidden beneath the ruins of her suburban house, expecting to see her best friend. The dragoness wasn't disappointed, and in a blur he dashed across the walkway to the stairs and down to the ground floor, where she waited for him.
Allen took a seat near her foreleg, and gently stroked her lowered muzzle. "It's okay," he gently coaxed her.
"They hate me, don't they?" Ryuna sighed, closing her eyes.
"No they don't," the boy reassured her. "They're all fine, really,"
"Don't lie," Ryuna shook her head. "I'm a monster, and they know it,"
"That's not right at all," Yuya's voice echoed through the chamber. The boy emerged from the passageway in the roof and, rather than take the bridge like Allen had, he jumped over the safety rail and slid down the wall. His copy of Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon was clutched between his fingers, and he held it out as Ryuna shied back. "Remember when you gave this to me? You did it because you believed we could be friends, that you wanted to be my friend," he reminded her.
"No one would want to be friends with the real me," Ryuna shook her head.
"That's not true. I don't care if you're a Duel Spirit. Shun's my friend, and he's from another world. How is it any different with you?" Yuya asked.
"He's right. You're an amazing, brilliant person, Ryuna. Don't let anyone tell you different," Allen coaxed her, gently patting her neck.
The dragoness shivered, looking at Yuya trepidantly. The boy slowly advanced, but paused in surprise when a familiar cry echoed from his Duel Disk, and Junior squeezed himself out. The baby looked up at the larger dragon, and squeaked, before running over and nuzzling her chin. "Hey, hey, that tickles," Ryuna chuckled, reaching around with her tail. She looked up to find that Yuya had moved closer, and was carefully reaching out a hand to the ridge of her muzzle. "You're good enough for Junior, and that's good enough for me," he smiled.
Ryuna carefully nodded, and Yuya continued, rubbing his palm against her cool, black scales. Allen wrapped his arms around her neck. "It'll be alright," he whispered. "Besides, who's gonna argue with a ten-thousand-pound dragon?"
"Yeah," she nodded. With a flash of flame, Ryuna reverted to her human form and smiled. Allen refused to let go, and she affectionately tousled the shorter boy's hair as he returned her Duel Disk. "Let's head back to the others,"
X
The other Lancers had congregated on Cyril's body. "Is he . . dead?" Katie fearfully asked. Gong crouched and felt for a pulse. "I can't find a heartbeat, but," He paused awkwardly. "Well, he's not exactly a normal human. For all I know he never had one in the first place,"
"Flare has a heartbeat," Shun frowned.
"Well, yeah, but you have to consider that Flare and Cyril are different Types. She's a Dragon, and Cyril's a Machine. Machines usually don't have much biology," Yuke suggested. "Plus, you all saw how much electricity he was giving off. Maybe he needs to be plugged in or something?" he cluelessly offered.
"You're all missing the obvious solution," Kite shook his head. He crouched near Cyril's head and pulled a pair of sunglasses out of one of his pockets, holding up the lens to the boy's nose. Everyone watched with bated breath until a faint speckle of condensation appeared on the glass. "He's breathing," Kite confirmed. "He's probably in some kind of coma or something,"
"I hope he's okay," Katie breathed.
"He just tried to kill us all! Actually kill us!" Sawatari snapped.
"That wasn't his fault. He lost control of his powers. I can relate," Yuke frowned, rubbing his arm.
The group looked up at the sound of footsteps approaching, and saw their missing members returning.
Flare looked around, seeing the remnants of Obelisk Force's camp from a new perspective. "Cyril really did a number on this place,"
"It wasn't all Cyril. We pitched in," Allen bragged. His easy smile became a little more serious as they approached the others, and he grasped Flare's wrist reassuringly.
Gong strode out to meet her, with a proud smile on his face. "So, when you told me you couldn't see Duel Spirits," he started.
"I told you that I was currently unable to communicate with them, which is technically true, as I can't go back to my world at present and I didn't know about Kisara or Cyril at the time," Flare corrected him.
Gong nodded, accepting his mistake. "I guess Gong should have been more specific, eh?" he chuckled. "It's a little hard to wrap my head around it, you being a Duel Spirit and all, but I'll manage,"
They rejoined the crowd. Yuke rested a hand on Flare's shoulder. "You're fine with me," he nodded. Katie agreed with a cheerful smile.
The redhead looked over at Sawatari, Shun and Kite. The actor shrugged. "I kinda want you running the special effects department of Sawatari Theatres now," he offered. Flare took that to mean he was okay with things.
Kite snorted with folded arms. "I don't trust anyone anyway. As far as I'm concerned, we're cool,"
"Small victories," Allen whispered to his friend, and she nodded. That only left Shun.
"I," the man started, unable to look away. "It's just a lot to take in. I need a bit," he admitted. She sighed, but nodded. There had to be one.
"How about we head back to the Duel Sanctuary and regroup?" Yuke suggested.
"Works for me," Shun nodded. "Everybody, into the airship," Gong picked up Cyril and the Lancers returned to the Different Dimension Airship. Flare paused on the threshold, but Shun nodded. "Come on," he smiled.
The Duel Spirit smiled in gratitude and climbed in.
Shun trepidantly pulled in the joystick, and the airship lifted off. Gong lay Cyril next to Sayaka, who was still asleep.
"I don't suppose anyone has any idea how to fly this thing?" Shun questioned.
A/N
A/N
And with that, that's the climax of the Heartland arc over! I know Edo kinda got glossed over, but it was the best I could do, given what canon Xyz Dimension arc gave me to work with.
So, instead of being so amazed by Yuya's performance that they all spontaneously decided to turn good, Obelisk Force's armies got decimated by a rampaging robot dragon. Sure, there's still pockets of Academia troops out there, but Cyril just single-handedly turned the tide of the war in the Resistance's favour.
And finally, FINALLY, after thirty-eight chapters, you all get to find out exactly what the deal is with Flare. There's been Duel Spirits taking physical form in canon before (see "Jinzo" and "Dark Magician Girl" during GX's first season) so I figured, why not a main character that's in the same boat?
Of course, it's not like things are completely over. There's still one more Duel to get through before the Heartland arc is genuinely over, finding medical care for Cyril (they just destroyed Academia's forward base, including all their medical supplies - which reminds me, I need to retcon Chapter 30-whatever so that the Tyler sisters leave before this happens) and Shun needs to figure out how to fly the Different Dimension Airship so that it can take the Lancers to Fusion - again, the base was destroyed, including the teleportation devices - so, still one, maybe two more chapters before the Heartland arc is totally over. But after that, I'm afraid that I'll have to put the hiatus back on. -.-
Peace!