Chapter 40: Escape from Duel Academy Part 1

Night had fallen over Duel Academy in the Fusion Dimension. Once more, Serena found herself trapped in her room, a guard outside to prevent any future escapes. But this time, she wasn't worried. Any minute her inside man would be here to break her out.

"Hey, I'm taking over for you. Get some rest."

"No can do, bud. I have direct orders from The Professor himself not to move from this spot."

"I know, he told me those orders have been changed."

"Alright, if you say so. Thanks."

After a few minutes, the door slipped open to reveal her savior, as well as Barrett. The minute the door was open, Serena dropped to the ground and ran into her father's open arms.

"I was worried they'd hurt you."

"It'll be alright, Serena. Did you get the information we need, Dennis?"

The red head nodded.

"The Synchro girl is in the eastern tower, and the Xyz girl is in the Western tower."

"We need to get them and get out of here before they realize what's going on. I'll go to the Western Tower."

"Then I'll take the Eastern Tower."

"And I'll head to the docks and prepare a means of escape. Once we reach the mainland, we'll be able to teleport out of here."

"Be careful, everyone."

Serena carefully made her way to the tower prison, occasionally ducking behind walls and into doorways to avoid the security force. After a long run up the stairs, she reached the top. Surprisingly, there was only a single woman dressed in a white tunic standing in between her and the door.

"Stay where you are! I don't know why you've come here, but this is as far as you go!"

"And just who are you, besides some weird cosplayer?"

"I am Diana, guardian of this tower! And if you wish to release the prisoner, you must defeat me in a duel, which you won't do!"

"We'll see about that."

DUEL!

Diana: 4000

Serena: 4000

"Loyal Duel Academy members go first! To start, I activate the spell card Fusion Conscription! By revealing Penumbral Keeper in my Extra Deck, I can add Penumbral Soldier Lady to my hand. Next, I activate Polymerization! This card lets me fuse Penumbral Soldier Lady with Guardian Baou! Behond, the guardian of the moon, Penumbral Keeper (2100/2400) in attack mode! Penumbral Keeper's first effect activates! Once per turn, I can summon a Keeper Shield Token (0/0) in defense mode! As long as I have a Shield Token on my field, you cannot target Penumbral Keeper for attacks. I set one card face down and end my turn."

"I'll start things off with Polymerization, fusing Lunalight Blue Cat and Lunalight Black Sheep together to create Lunalight Cat Dancer (2400/2000) in attack mode! Next, I summon Lunalight Purple Butterfly (1000/1000."

"You fool, I was expecting that! Go, Admiration of the Keepers! This card negates all of your Cat Dancer's effects and summons two more shield tokens to my field. In exchange, your monster can attack all of my shield tokens. But if it doesn't, it'll be destroyed at the end of the battle phase."

"I don't know what you're planning, but it won't work! I'll equip her with Fairy Meteor Crush! Lastly, by sending Purple Butterfly to the graveyard, Cat Dancer gains 1000 attack points (2400-3400)!"

"What?"

"Cat Dancer, take out the first shield!"

Diana: 600

"Penumbral Keeper's effect activates! If one of my shield tokens is destroyed by battle, the monster that destroys it loses 800 attack points (3400-2600). Meanwhile, I gain 800 life points!"

Diana: 1400

"It's still not enough! Cat Dancer, finish her off!"

Serena's ace monster did a quick spin, raking her claws against another stone shield, destroying it and sending shockwaves that bowled Diana over, leaving her motionless on the ground.

Diana: 0000

Serena quickly ran over to her, breathing a sigh of relief when she realized she was knocked out. After a bit of digging, she found the key, and ran over to the cell door. As expected, her rescuee was none too pleased to see her.

"Go away!"

"I'm here to rescue you."

"Why should I trust you? You're the ones who kidnapped me."

"Shay told me about you. And I'm here to bring you to him."

This made Lulu freeze, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Shay? He's alright?"

"Yes, and so is Yuto. I know you've been through a lot, but I can help you get out of here. All you have to do is trust me."

Lulu got up, finally ready to accept her help.

"Alright, but if you try anything you'll wish you hadn't."

"Fair enough."

Meanwhile on the Eastern side of the island, Barrett had reached the top of his tower, where he found a very effeminate looking man waiting for him.

"Veillian."

"That's Dr. Crowler to you, traitor. I don't know why you're here, but its my job to stop you. Unless you're here to surrender?"

"You of all people should know me better than that."

Crowler smirked, activating his duel coat.

"Yes, I do."

DUEL!

Barrett: 4000

Crowler: 4000

"I'll begin with the field spell Union Hangar! When this card is activated, I can add a Light Machine Union monster from my deck to my hand. I choose A-Assault Core, and summon it in attack mode!"

One of the hangars opened up, releasing a small orange robot (1900/200).

"Union Hangar's second effect activates! Since a Light Machine Union monster was normal summoned, I can equip it with a different one from my deck, with the condition that I can't summon it this turn. I choose B-Buster Drake."

Another hangar opened up, releasing a small green dragon with cannons on its back. The minute it was free, the machine broke apart before reforming on Barrett's other monster, becoming another layer of armor.

"I'll end my turn with Machina Armored unit."

"Hmm, not bad, but not good enough! To start, I activate the spell card, Confiscation! Now by paying 1000 life points, I can send one card from your hand to the graveyard, so let's see what you have in store."

Barrett remained silent, revealing his cards to his opponent.

"Ah, yes, I see what you're planning. I'll send Honestl from your hand to the graveyard!"

Barrett did so, remaining stoic as always.

"Next, I'll activate the field spell Geartown!"

The small plateau they stood on disappeared, replaced by massive buildings made up of cogs and gears.

"Next, I'll activate the continuous spell, Ancient Gear Fortress! But don't worry about it too much, because now I activate Ancient Gear Catapult! By destroying my Fortress, I can special summon an Ancient Gear monster from my deck, and I choose Ancient Gear Gadget (500/2000)!"

"Why summon that card? Catapult lets you summon any Ancient Gear monster, even your favorite Golem."

"Now now, no need to be impatient. Due to Geartown's effect, I can summon Ancient Gear Monsters with one less tribute, so say goodbye to Ancient Gear Gadget and say hello to Ancient Gear Reactor Dragon (3000/3000)! Attack his Assault Core!"

The mechanical dragon screeched, sending out a blast of radioactive energy that washed over Assault core, destroying its protective coat.

Barrett: 2900

"Since Buster Drake was sent from the field to the graveyard, I can add C-Crush Wyvern from my deck to my hand."

"Well, you're monster isn't the only one with an effect! SInce he attacked, I can destroy a spell or trap card on the field, so say goodbye to Armored unit!"

The Dragon's core unleashed a powerful bolt of energy, vaporizing Barrett's spell card.

"And I have even more bad news for you! Since Reactor Dragon was summoned by tributing a Gadget monster, it can attack twice! Attack Assault Core once more!"

Barrett: 1800

"I choose not to use Assault Core's effect."

"A pity, because you're Union Hangar's next!"

Crowler grinned maniacally as Barrett's field spell was obliterated, leaving his field wide open.

"I'll end my turn there. If you surrender now, I might just send you to reeducation instead of carding you."

"And why would I do that when I'm about to win? I summon C-Crush Wyvern (1200/2000) in attack mode!"

Crowler just laughed.

"You're joking, right? How can that tiny creature possibly hope to defeat me?"

"I never said it would. You see, the monster I'm about to summon doesn't need Polymerization for me to fuse its materials. All I need is for them to be on the field or in the graveyard."

"Preposterous! There's no such card!"

"Is there? I banish C-Crush Wyvern, B-Buster Drake, and A-Assault Core! Three shall become one to create the machine that will end this duel! Contact Fusion! Come forth, ABC- Dragon Buster(3000/2800)!"

"Alright, I'll admit it's impressive, but our monsters are still tied! So tell me Barrett, how are you going to win this duel?"

"By activating my Dragon Buster's effect. By discarding a card from my hand to the graveyard, I can banish your Reactor Dragon!"

"What?!"

Barrett's monster fired a powerful blast from its cannon, the hit creating a wormhole in Reactor's core that sucked the machine into it.

"Now then, finish him off!"

Crowler could only watch in horror as the fusion monster fired two powerful blasts at him, knocking him out cold as his life points dropped to zero.

Crowler: 0000

Barrett walked over to the doctor, taking the key from his coat and unlocking the cell. The minute he opened the door, he was met with a knee to the groin. But to Rin's surprise, he didn't even flinch.

"What? How did-"

"Are you done? Because if you are, I'm here to rescue you."

Fortunately, Rin was much easier to convince than Lulu, and she followed him without questioning it.

Once the four had regrouped, Serena and Barrett took them to the card vault where their decks would be.

"Hurry up! We need to be at the harbor before they realize what's going on!"

"Cut us some slack! There must be 1,000's of decks in here."

"Found mine!"

"Mine too!"

At last, the two extra-dimensional girls emerged from within the vault, decks and duel disks in hand.

"Alright, let's get out of here."

A/N: Sorry to anyone who wanted to see Barrett use his Beastborg deck, but that archetype barely has anything to work with and I don't have the creativity to create basically a new deck from scratch since he'll actually be around for a while.