"Anything yet?"
Genjuro had his arms crossed, as Sector Two was getting to work to try and fix the damage Chris had inflicted on the base. Dark Rebellion had practically shorted out the entire power system.
"No, nothing." Ryoko sighed, as she tapped away at the main computer. "The mainframe's fried. It'll take a while to fix it up. And to think I was in the middle of looking at that girl's deck too…"
"Well, hurry it up." Genjuro said, as he pulled out his phone.
"I'm doing it as best as I can!" Ryoko complained.
Genjuro called Tsubasa on the line. "Tsubasa, how is it?"
"The situation hasn't changed much, Uncle." Tsubasa informed him. "We've been going downstream and stopping every so often, but we're unable to find either of them."
Tsubasa looked to see Hibiki wading through the water, calling for Miku as she searched for her.
"I see. Update me if there are any changes." Genjuro said.
"Will do." Tsubasa said, as the call ended.
"Miku!" Hibiki shouted. "Miku!"
"Tachibana, the sun is about to set." Tsubasa said, stepping into the river with her. "I don't think we'll find her today."
"But we haven't found-!"
Tsubasa put a hand on Hibiki's shoulder. "Kohinata's a strong duelist, isn't she? I'm sure she can handle herself. We have the day off from school tomorrow, so we can search for her then. Hopefully by then, Sector Two will have everything fixed up in time."
Hibiki looked back down at the river, and sighed. "Okay…"
As she and Tsubasa waded out of the river, all Hibiki could do was pray that Miku was safe.
Chris opened her eyes, before sitting bolt upright. She realized she was in a futon, in another room. This one was a lot more like a house though.
"Oh, you've woken up."
Chris turned to see Miku walking in, holding a tray of food. She tried to stand up to defend herself, but winced. Her legs were killing her.
"Sorry." Miku said, setting down the food and sitting down. "I managed to save both of us by summoning Dogma to catch us, but you still took that hit from Dynatag's explosion."
"Why…?"
"Hm?"
"Why are you helping me after what I did?" Chris asked.
"...then let me ask a question in return." Miku said. "What did you do? I couldn't contact Sector Two."
"I… I just broke out. They all tried to stop me, but I pushed them aside." Chris said.
"They're not hurt?" Miku asked.
"Maybe a bit roughed up, but I made sure my dragons held back." Chris said.
"That's all I needed to hear." Miku said. "Sorry I got a bit aggressive earlier."
"What the-? What's wrong with you?" Chris asked.
"I think Hibiki's habit of helping people has rubbed off on me." Miku said. "And I heard your dragons in our duel… they weren't crying anymore."
Chris looked to the side to see her Duel Disk and deck nearby. Dark Rebellion was on top of the deck.
"Chris… I don't know what happened for you to be our enemy, but I want you to know that none of us want it that way." Miku said. "Dueling should be used to bring smiles, not to fight."
"Dueling for fun?" Chris scoffed. "That's ridiculous. Dueling is a tool and a weapon."
"You're a terrible liar."
Miku stood up and turned to leave.
"You can stay here as long as you want." Miku said. "My parents are on a trip at the moment, so you'll have the place to yourself."
"Where are you going?" Chris asked.
"To Sector Two." Miku said. "They don't know I'm safe, so I need to report to them. I won't tell them you're here though."
Miku slid open the door, before Chris spoke up again.
"Finé."
"Hm?"
"Finé." Chris repeated. "Watch out for her."
Miku nodded, rushing out a little too quickly now that she had new info for Sector Two. Chris reached over and picked up her deck.
Mama… Papa… what am I supposed to do…?
Hibiki practically rushed down the halls of Sector Two, running into the main bridge of operations. There, Miku was talking with the other members.
"Oh, Hibiki-"
Miku had to steel herself, as Hibiki nearly knocked her over with a tackle hug. Her grip was really strong.
"You're okay!" Hibiki said, relieved. "You're okay!"
"I won't be if you keep hugging me like this!" Miku winced.
"Ah! Sorry!" Hibiki let go, letting Miku breathe.
"So you turned up fine, Kohinata. As I expected." Tsubasa said. "What happened?"
"Well, I arrived just as I saw Chris escape." Miku explained as she massaged her ribs. "I dueled her, and it ended in a draw. She managed to escape through. I don't know where she is."
That was a lie, but Miku wasn't about to say Chris's actual whereabouts, even if she did feel a bit icky for not telling the truth.
"Did she say anything useful?" Tsubasa asked.
"Ah, yeah." Miku said. "She said to watch out for someone called Finé?"
"Finé?" Tsubasa said, putting a hand under her chin.
"Hmm, we've never heard of that name before." Genjuro said. "When the computers are back online, we'll try to see what we can find."
Almost as if on cue, there was a small explosion of smoke, as Ryoko was knocked back, coughing.
"So… never?" Miku said.
"I'm trying my best here!" Ryoko said. "Give me a break!"
"So we just sit around?" Hibiki asked. "I don't just want to sit around and do nothing…"
"Well… there is something that I've wanted to show you two." Tsubasa said to Hibiki and Miku. "Come with me."
They had taken the bus, as Tsubasa's D-Wheel wouldn't be able to carry all three of them. The Idol Duelist was wearing a hat and sunglasses to disguise herself while in public. Tsubasa was noticeably quiet on the ride, even more so than usual. Hibiki and Miku thought it might be because she didn't want to attract attention to herself, but they saw the somber expression she had. They were going to ask what was wrong, but had a feeling that they were about to find out regardless.
"This is our stop." Tsubasa said.
The bus pulled to a halt, and they stepped out. Hibiki and Miku widened their eyes as they saw where they were.
"Is this… a graveyard?" Hibiki asked.
Tsubasa didn't say anything as she walked on. Hibiki and Miku followed her, occasionally looking around. They stopped at a fairly large grave. There were several flowers, offerings, and booster packs laying at the front of it. Written on the grave was the name…
"...Kanade Amou." Miku read.
Tsubasa knelt down. "Sorry I haven't been visiting as often, Kanade. I've been quite busy these days."
She dusted off a glass case that was in the center of all the offerings. Inside was an old Duel Disk with the same model as Tsubasa's, an incomplete deck of cards, with Meteor Black Comet Dragon on top.
"I brought some people you might like to meet." Tsubasa said, standing back up.
She turned to Hibiki and Miku, who stepped forward.
"Oh um…" Hibiki rubbed the back of her head. "Hi Kanade-san."
Hibiki was at a loss for words at what to exactly say at the moment, since she wasn't actually talking to Kanade. Miku didn't seem to be bothered too much.
"Hello, Kanade-san." Miku said with a small bow. "I've heard so much about you, and not just from when I was your fan. I wanted to thank you for saving Hibiki that day."
The wind seemed to calm down.
"Yeah." Hibiki nodded as well. "Thank you, Kanade-san. I promise that I'll do my best to be a duelist on your level of skill."
They heard a small roar. They all looked around, before they realized that the sound was coming from Hibiki's deck box. Hibiki opened it, and riffled through her cards before she stopped at one.
The Red-Eyes Black Dragon. There was a faint red glow.
"Huh?" Hibiki held up the card. "What's going-?"
The card grew brighter, and there was a flash of light that blinded the three of them.
Hibiki opened her eyes and blinked several times to let her vision adjust. "Whoa…"
As far as the eye could see, there were beautiful fields and forests. Hibiki found herself standing next to a small waterfall that filled a pool of water. The sky had fluffy clouds and was a clear blue. Miku and Tsubasa were standing next to her, the former looking around widely.
"What…" Miku said. "Where are we?"
"Hm, I was wondering when this would happen." Tsubasa said, crossing her arms.
"Tsubasa-san?" Hibiki said. "What's going on?"
"We're in the Duel Monsters Spirit World." Tsubasa explained.
"Wh-Whoa, really?" Miku said. "I remember reading about this before. We're actually here?"
Tsubasa nodded. "After you realize your potential to communicate with them, you'll be pulled into here sooner or later."
"Why?" Hibiki asked.
"Because it's a sign that a powerful Duel Monster wishes to join you as a partner." Tsubasa said.
They heard a roar, before they looked up a cliff. Standing atop it was none other than the Red-Eyes Black Dragon itself. It swooped down, coming to a stop in front of the three.
"Red-Eyes Black Dragon?" Hibiki said.
"Whoa!" Miku said, taking a step back.
The dragon let out a low growl, before lowering his head. Tsubasa chuckled and patted it.
"You still miss her too, don't you?" Tsubasa asked.
The dragon sadly growled.
"I see. But what do you think of Tachibana as your new partner?" Tsubasa asked.
Red-Eyes raised its head and roared.
"Uh… is that a good thing or bad thing?" Hibiki asked.
Tsubasa laughed. "It's a happy roar. I've grown to understand it myself over time."
Red-Eyes knelt down and lowered his wings.
"Red-Eyes will take us to the Duel Monsters that have chosen you." Tsubasa said, getting onto the dragon's back. "Come on."
Hibiki and Miku looked at each other, before looking at the Red-Eyes Black Dragon. It stared back at them with its crimson eyes. Hibiki smiled, before hopping onto the back with Miku in tow. Making sure they were all safely on his back, Red-Eyes Black Dragon took off. Miku yelped, and held on tightly to Hibiki.
Hibiki looked down to see various Duel Monsters all over the land below them, going about their day. Some of the smaller monsters were playing, while a few of the humanoid ones were farming. She even spotted a few of the stronger ones sparring, and several of the beasts napping in the sun.
"So, you and Kanade-san met your partners here?" Hibiki asked.
"Mhm." Tsubasa nodded. "Our first new partners were Black Luster Soldier and Meteor Black Comet Dragon. You can see Black Luster Soldier down there, actually."
Hibiki and Miku looked down to see Black Luster Soldier training some of the weaker monsters in swordsmanship. Seeing Red-Eyes flying overhead, the Soldier raised his shield in acknowledgement. Tsubasa smiled and waved at her partner.
"What about Meteor Black Comet Dragon?" Hibiki asked.
Tsubasa frowned as Red-Eyes growled sadly. "We haven't seen him ever since Kanade was sent to the Shadow Realm."
"Oh… I'm sure he's still around though, right?" Hibiki asked.
"I can only hope so." Tsubasa said. "Anyways, we've arrived."
Red-Eyes Black Dragon landed outside an abandoned and crumbling stone arena. Inside, Hibiki and Miku could hear heavy crashes and roars.
"Your two partners are inside." Tsubasa said, as they stepped off Red-Eyes Black Dragon.
"Alright." Hibiki held up a fist. "Let's go!"
The three of them walked into the arena. Red-Eyes followed them with quiet stomps. When they entered the pit in the center, they were greeted with a powerful shockwave and a gust of wind. In the middle of the arena pit, they saw two monsters clashing.
One of them was a cybernetic dragon of white and blue, with green wings that were translucent. The other was a hero of yellow and indigo, with diamond designs on his body, with a red "D" on his forehead.
The two monsters jumped back from the clash. The dragon became a whirlwind of green gusts and dove like a drill, while the warrior charged up energy in his fist and took the clash head on, creating another shockwave.
"Are those the monsters?" Hibiki asked.
Tsubasa nodded, as she held up her Duel Disk to scan them. "Clear Wing Synchro Dragon and Destiny HERO - Dystopia."
"Well, I think that clarifies who wants to partner with who." Miku said.
"Hold on a moment." Tsubasa said. "In order for the monsters to accept you as their new partners, you must match them in strength in a brief battle with a monster already with you. Show them your power."
Clear Wing and Dystopia had one final clash, before ending up on other sides of the arena, and turning to those that had just arrived. Tsubasa tapped her Duel Disk's interface and pulled up their stats for Hibiki and Miku to see.
"2500 attack points?" Hibiki said. "I can do that, no prob."
"2800?" Miku said. "I'll be able to-"
"You must also match their strength exactly." Tsubasa said. "No more, no less."
Hibiki wasn't bothered, since she already knew the right monster for the job. This threw a bit of a wrench in Miku's plan though.
"Exactly 2800…?" Miku put a hand under her chin. "How do I…"
Hibiki walked up to Clear Wing. Red-Eyes roared behind her for encouragement. Clear Wing got ready, as Hibiki placed a card on her Duel Disk.
"Stardust Dragon!" Hibiki shouted.
A pillar of green light summoned the white dragon, who roared in challenge. Clear Wing flew up, before diving at Stardust Dragon in a whirlwind of speed.
"Shooting Sonic!" Hibiki shouted.
Stardust Dragon reared its head, before launching a blast of energy straight at Clear Wing, meeting the clash head-on.
Meanwhile, Dystopia had his arms crossed, waiting for Miku to step forward. The girl picked three cards, and placed one on her Duel Disk first.
"Come on! Destiny HERO - Dreadmaster!"
A massive muscular hero with purple pants and an iron mask rose from the ground behind Miku. He had wild black hair, and chains on his wrists and ankles. Oddly enough, the attack point value was a simple question mark.
"Kohinata?" Tsubasa asked. "What are you-?"
"And then I'll summon a few more Destiny HEROs!" Miku shouted. "I call upon Drilldark and Dunker!"
The warrior covered in drills and the basketball warrior took to the field. They both stayed at Miku's side.
"Dreadmaster's attack and defense points are whatever the combined total of the other Destiny HERO monsters I control." Miku said. "Drilldark has 1600, and Dunker has 1200. So Dreadmaster's attack points are now 2800!"
Dreadmaster roared as his attack points jumped to match Dystopia.
"So that's what you were going for." Tsubasa realized.
"Go, Dreadmaster!" Miku shouted. "Predator of Dreadnought!"
Dreadmaster jumped over Miku and charged at Dystopia. The two's fists clashed to create a shockwave. But they didn't stop there, they traded a flurry of blows, Dreadmaster's strength clashed with Dystopia's speed. Back with Hibiki, Clear Wing had pushed through Stardust Dragon's beam of energy, but Stardust caught the dragon out of the air. Clear Wing's translucent wings shone, trying to blast Stardust, but Stardust Dragon's wings blocked any sort of attack.
The clash stopped, and Clear Wing flew back. Dystopia and Dreadmaster each threw one more punch, before they ended their battle. Clear Wing roared, and Dystopia nodded.
"They acknowledge your strength." Tsubasa said. "They are now your partners."
They held out their hands, as the cards materialized out of the air.
"This is so cool." Hibiki said. "Glad to have you on the team, Clear Wing!"
In typical Hibiki fashion, she jumped at the dragon for a hug. While Clear Wing physically couldn't, she would have blushed if she could.
Dystopia on the other hand, held out a fist towards Miku. The young destiny duelist smiled, before meeting it with a fistbump of her own.
"I look forward to working with you, Dystopia." Miku said.
The warrior nodded, putting a hand on his chest to acknowledge her.
"That sight brings memories…" Tsubasa softly smiled.
A bright light filled everyone's vision.
They suddenly found themselves back in the graveyard. Both Hibiki and Miku were holding onto their new cards.
"Huh? We're back already?" Hibiki said. "Aw, I wanted to stay a little bit longer."
"We never truly left." Tsubasa said. "Only our minds go, and while it may seem like quite a long time for us, no time has passed in our world."
"Tsubasa-san, is there a way to go back?" Miku asked.
Tsubasa shook her head. "Sorry. We have no way of going there ourselves. Only the Duel Monsters can bring us to them. Of course, you can always talk with the Duel Monsters by simply summoning them yourselves."
Hibiki smiled, as she was looking forward to summoning Clear Wing Synchro Dragon in the near future. Miku felt the same way about Destiny HERO - Dystopia. Both of them seemed to be powerful new allies.
They were so focused on their cards, they only just realized their phones were ringing. They picked up.
"Yes?" Tsubasa asked.
"We have an issue, you three." Genjuro's voice said.
"What is it?" Hibiki asked.
"Just look towards the city, and you'll see your next mission."
The three of them turned and widened their eyes at the sight.
"Oh no…" Miku muttered, nearly dropping her phone.
Chris stared out the window to see Noise and rogue Duel Monsters swarming the city. She simply pulled back the blinds and laid back down on the futon.
"So she's finally kicking off her plan…" Chris said.
She pulled out Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon and stared at the card. She did the same with Number 39: Utopia and Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon.
"What should I do…?"
She suddenly sat up. She thought she heard Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon, but the cry was different. It was…
"Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon?" Chris said. "How did I…?"
She grabbed her deck and Duel Disk, before standing up. Without another word, she left the house.
The roar she heard was a cry of despair.
A/N: It's been a while since we had a non-duel focused chapter. It's a nice breather, even though I actually do prefer writing the duel chapters.
The visiting Kanade's grave idea came from one of my first Symphogear one-shots. I honestly thought it was kinda disappointing that we never got a scene like that in canon.
And here we have Hibiki and Miku getting new additions to their decks. Of course, not all the cards will be like this, but it's a small hint of one of the many ways it can happen.
Feel free to leave a review. See you all next time.