She who rose from a beating heart before the fall.
—oOo—
There was nothing but silence. Only the echoes of their thoughts and past lingered. Several cloaked, shadowy figures sat around the dimly lit room. Dimly lit by necessity, lest they be found. One particular person wearing a dark blue coat had his fist on the wall growling to himself.
"The Standard Dimension…" he said. "We have to go there! That's our only lead!"
"And do what?" another person asked. "We have no idea what the situation is there. We would be going in blind."
"It's better than nothing!" he retorted.
"I want it as much as the next person, but it's too reckless! They need us! We can't just leave!"
"Tch," the blue coat slammed his palm against the wall. The other person looked toward another figure who was sitting by herself. She had gone through so much in such little time. She hardly talked anymore and just kept to herself. Only communicating when they needed to go out to rescue people or to find supplies. He was the only one she really spoke to these days.
"On the contrary," a third person spoke up. He was more or less their de facto leader, by virtue of his strength. "It will do us nothing good just sitting around and waiting to be wiped out. We have to go on the offensive. You three," he pointed at two people who were arguing and the lone female. "You three should go." She didn't react and just stared in the distance.
"What?" the second person spoke up. "Why?"
"You might find clues about… her." That immediately grabbed the female's attention and she jerked her head up in interest before she looked down again.
"You think I haven't thought about that?" she hissed quietly.
"It's better than seeing you mope around." She scoffed and stood up.
"Maybe you're right, it is better than sitting around and waiting to be caught, or to die," she muttered. He looked to a fifth person that was with them.
"Ask your father how close he is to cracking their technology. It's about time we finally got started."
—oOo—
Three months earlier…
A teenager with longish black hair with light purple-blue that swept up to the right groaned. He went into his room and collapsed face first on the bed. He didn't even bother changing his clothes, which were black pants and a faded out blue shirt with a black tie. Screw you Shun. Yuto Kurorai thought to himself bitterly. It was way past his usual sleep time and he had come back from a late night out with his best friend, Shun, who wanted to spy on Ruri as she went out alone to watch a late-night concert with some friends. If you want to spy on Ruri, be my guest, but don't drag me into it. Shun was annoyingly insistent, and Yuto with his bleeding heart just went along with it.
Yuto turned his head toward his nightstand and saw his duel disk and deck. He just sighed in disappointment. He had challenged Shun to another title match for Ace of Spades. He had lost, again, but he had gotten closer this time. Before, Yuto wasn't much into dueling. He was definitely good though, better than the average person, but he mainly just wanted to enjoy his life without all of that competitive drama. Dueling was everything in Heartland. It even had a hand in politics. It wasn't until recently when he got the motivation to start dueling seriously and he soon made his way up the rankings of Heartland Duel School.
He kept coming back and challenging Shun, almost like he was rebelling. He felt that desire to overthrow a greater power, and that greater power was Shun. Shun himself was a little confused where Yuto's sudden drive for dueling came from, but he didn't mind it at all and was glad that his best friend was finally taking dueling seriously.
Yuto was now 2nd in Spade Branch behind Shun and just barely missed out on the Top 10 overall. Four of the Top 5 were made up of the Aces of the Heartland Duel School branches.
Yuto's eyes began to close as he fell into a sleep, until-
"YUTO!" A female voice screamed. It seemed to be filled with fear and worry. Yuto's eyes jerked open and he sat up, suddenly alert, his drowsiness gone. An older girl burst into the room.
She had long, light blue hair similar to his that was tied up in a high ponytail with several bangs covering her forehead. She had stormy gray eyes like his. She wore a pair of white, wide-leg pants and a black tank top. She had a red jacket tied around her waist. Her exposed arms were exceptionally toned and muscular from years of training in martial arts. Kaida Kurorai, Yuto's little big sister. Little big sister? It meant that even though Kaida was the older sibling, she was often treated like the little sibling. It was Yuto that was the mature one of the two.
"Kaida?" Yuto rubbed his eyes and stared at his sister in bewilderment. He had seen her panicked plenty of times, but rarely to this extent. "What is it?"
"Have you seen Seika!? Mom and Dad said she never came here!" Kaida burst out. She was trembling and biting her nails in anxiety, looking like she was about to cry.
"Seika?" Yuto echoed. "I was with Shun the whole time, I just got back. Weren't you the one with Seika? Weren't you helping move her stuff into her new apartment? I thought you were going to sleep over with her?"
"I was! And we just about finished!" Kaida stopped, trying to catch her breath and she collapsed on Yuto's bed and held her hand to her chest. Her face was pale and sweaty. "But she had one last thing to do, so I waited for her. She asked me to let her go alone, so I did. I waited for half an hour, but Seika never returned. I tried to call her, and then I realized she forgot her phone. So then I ran out and began looking for her on the same route we came-"
"Okay, relax," Yuto grabbed Kaida's hands and tried to steady them. "Maybe Seika had something to do and it's taking longer than you thought."
"But she would've called me if that was the case!" Kaida burst out.
"You just told me she forgot her phone," Yuto reasoned. His calming eyes stared into his sister's and he felt her breathing starting to steady.
"That was two hours ago, I haven't seen her since," Kaida said quietly. Yuto widened his eyes. It was unlike Seika to be on her own for this long, especially in the night. She still had many psychological problems, including anxiety and PTSD. Despite slowly getting better, it wasn't safe for her to be alone at night, even in a place like Heartland.
"Did you file a report?" he asked, standing up.
"The police station is closed, I have to wait until morning. But we can't wait until the morning!" she stood up as well, her panic returning. "You know what she's like, something might happen to her!"
"They closed only an hour ago," Yuto raised an eyebrow.
"My… phone died. I was taking a bunch of pictures and videos… you know, to commemorate her finally graduating from school and getting her own place," Kaida's face reddened in embarrassment. Seika was Kaida's best friend, as well as her first real friend. Well, Kaida did have friends, but they were all Yuto's friends. She could never really make any by herself. Kaida was very shy and timid when she was younger, and she still was to some extent. She was often made fun of for being the "younger sister of Yuto" when she was in fact the older one. She got into martial arts to try and fix her confidence. She had a very hard time in the beginning and almost quit.
Then Seika came, a refugee of a conflict in some faraway land. They were friends from the moment she arrived in Heartland City three years ago and were pretty much inseparable since.
Yuto picked up his keys and phone. He paused a little and decided to bring his duel disk as well.
"I'll call Shun and the others and check if they've seen her. You take me to where you think you last saw her." Kaida nodded frantically and they both dashed out and down the stairs. Their mother and father looked at them worriedly.
"Do you know where she is, Yuto? Do you know where Seika-chan is?" his mother asked, she was a kind woman with long blue hair the same shade as her children.
"I don't, we're going out to look for her right now," he replied.
"I'll ask around," his father added. He had black hair similar to Yuto's, as well as the gray eyes that they had inherited. "It's quite late, but I'm sure they wouldn't mind. The neighbors know Seika quite well. Astral forbid something happens to that poor girl. You two go on and find her. I'll let you know if I find anything."
"Can you call the Tenjos?" Kaida asked. "I couldn't because my phone was dead." Her father nodded.
"Let's go," Yuto said and they got into Kaida's car, with Kaida getting behind the wheel. Along the way, Yuto called Shun's number, it was the fastest one he could access since he pretty much had him on speed dial.
"Yuto?" he heard Shun's gruff voice in a whisper. He could hear the music from the concert in the background.
"Shun? Why are you whispering? I can barely hear you," Yuto asked. "Wait! Are you still spying on Ruri?" Kaida jerked her head toward the phone, looking pissed off. Is he at it again?
"Of course! What else do you think I'd be doing?" his best friend replied. Yuto just shook his head.
"Whatever, have you seen Seika?" Yuto asked.
"Seika?" Shun repeated. "I remember she declined to join Ruri because she was moving into a new place. I thought your sister was with her."
But before Yuto could respond, "Shun? What the hell are you doing? Stop fooling around you dumbass!" Kaida did everything short of yelling into the phone and Yuto had to wince a little.
"What? Kaida is that-"
"Seika went back to get something and she disappeared along the way!" Kaida yelled.
"She disappeared?!" Shun asked incredulously. "You let her go alone?!"
"She wanted to go by herself, so I decided to let her do it for once," Kaida answered, clear guilt in her voice. "I regret doing that now, but she's been missing for over two hours now!"
"Two hours-" Shun's voice was cut off by something.
"Hello?" Kaida said. "Shun? Where are you?"
"I think Ruri saw me," they heard him say.
"Shun!?" They faintly heard Ruri's sweet voice over the phone. "Are you- are you spying on me?"
"Of course I'm not! I'm watching you to make sure nothing happens to you!" Shun reasoned.
"So you are spying on me! How many times do I have to tell you that I can take care of myself?" Ruri's voice was filled with anger and annoyance.
"RURI? RURI? Can you hear me?" Kaida yelled again, the car swerved and they almost ran onto a sidewalk.
"Calm down Kaida," Yuto hissed. "You're going to make me go deaf and get us into an accident. Let me do the talking." Kaida fidgeted a little before she nodded and focused on the road ahead of her.
"Oh, hi Kaida!" Ruri greeted cheerfully, her mood taking a 180.
"Ruri! It's Yuto!" he felt his chest flutter a little. "Seika's gone missing! Have you heard anything from her?"
"Seika missing?" worry flooded her voice. "I haven't heard from her since she told me she couldn't go with me."
"Damn it," Kaida growled. Yuto could see she was fighting to keep the tears from falling.
"What happened-" there was a cheer that drowned Ruri's voice out. "Shun, let's go outside. It's almost about done now." Yuto saw a text from his father pop up.
Seika did go to the Tenjos. She apparently came back to get some special box of hers and then she left. Something must have happened to her on the way back. Dr. Tenjo is calling some people. Kaito and his mother are looking for her right now. Your mother and I will go and ask around. If she was coming here, she might have gotten lost or had another attack...
"Dad texted," Yuto said. "Seika did make it to their house. She went back to get that special box of hers and then she left. Something must have happened on the way back. Dr. Tenjo is calling some people. Kaito and his mother are out looking for her right now." He decided to omit the last part. Kaida choked out a sob, but she just held the wheel even tighter and sped up. Yuto gripped her shoulder comfortingly.
About a minute later, the background noise had died down and Shun and Ruri seemed to be in a quieter place.
"Seika's been missing for two hours!" Yuto explained. "She went back to the Tenjos to get something, but she disappeared on the way back."
"Where are you right now?" Shun asked.
"G-going to Seika's new apartment. It's- it's in…" Kaida paused, like she couldn't remember what she was about to say in her stress. "…in the Black Heart Complex," she finally said.
"Black Heart? That's close to where we are now," Shun said. "We're at Spade Branch, the concert was being held at their stadium."
"Spade Branch? Damn it, I just drove past that," the car skidded to a stop and Kaida turned it around, almost drifting it. "I'll be there in two minutes. Be ready." Yuto hung up the phone and just stared ahead, anxiety boiling in his stomach. If he felt like this, he couldn't imagine just how Kaida was. He couldn't imagine what could've happened to that sweet girl that had befriended him, his sister, and everyone else.
Soon Kaida sped into the parking lot of Spade Branch's stadium, parking rules be damned. They saw Ruri wave toward them with Shun next to her. They were also surprised to see another girl with them. She had long, spiky dark-blue hair with light-blue bangs. Rio Kamishiro, another good friend of theirs. She attended the Diamond Branch of Heartland Duel School.
"Rio?" Yuto questioned as Kaida hit the breaks.
"Hi there Yuto! Kaida! I came with Ruri to the concert and heard about Seika. Do you mind if I help out?" Rio greeted them.
"Of course! The more the merrier," Yuto said. "Get in."
"Actually, I'll look around here, to see if she came to Spade Branch. You guys go on ahead, I'll keep you updated," Rio said.
"Are you sure?" Kaida asked, she was jumping up and down in the seat ready to get out of there.
"Of course, I think it's better if we split up. I know how much she means to you, Kaida. Ever since you joined Diamond Branch, she's all you ever talk about," Rio pointed out. Kaida blushed, but it seemed those thoughts just made her more anxious. Shun walked up the driver's seat and looked at Kaida.
"Let me drive," he told her.
"N-no. I can do this," but her hands were shaking on the wheel.
"You're going get us killed like this. How do you think she would feel?" His words were harsh, but there was a softness to his eyes. Kaida just froze at that, her eyes wide.
"I'll move back," Yuto said. He got out, went back, and slid next to Ruri. Kaida just nodded dumbly and shifted over. Shun got in and immediately accelerated out of there, before the crowd from the concert could interfere with them.
"Hey, Yuto," Ruri greeted him. "Have you heard anything?"
"O-oh no, nothing. Just that Kaito and his parents are looking for her," Yuto avoided her gaze. Why is she so cheerful all the time?
"I see," Ruri said thoughtfully. "Hey, Kaida, what did Rio mean? When she said that Seika is all you talk about? You didn't even tell us why you joined Diamond Branch."
"…About a month ago, Seika told me that she would get into dueling," making Ruri gasp and Shun widen his eyes a little. "I don't really know why she changed her mind, since she seemed so adamantly against it for so long."
"I can confirm, I was there when she finally agreed to try out dueling," Yuto nodded. "But she asked us to keep it a secret, until she was ready. I don't think even Kaito knew."
"I wanted to help her the best I could, so I quit fighting for a little while and joined Diamond Branch to become one of the Aces. I didn't join Spade or Clover because I didn't think I could beat Shun or Kaito. Hearts Branch… well that's completely out of the question," Kaida laughed nervously. "I'm right there. I just have to challenge the current Ace of Diamonds. As of the latest rankings, I'm number 6." And that was it, that was why Yuto was so motivated to start dueling seriously. Watching his sister be so determined to help out Seika had made him question himself as to what he was doing. He wasn't exactly being lazy, but he wasn't exactly being productive either. He knew he was pretty good at dueling and his friends were also at Spade Branch, so it wasn't a hard decision for him to start grinding through the rankings. He initially only went to Spade because of Shun and Ruri.
There was also the fact that he began to truly feel alive. Every time he summoned his ace monster, a sense of thrill always began to race through him. He wanted more, more of that feeling. Perhaps, Yuto was finally realizing why people like Shun and Kaito loved to duel so much.
But Kaida, Kaida was another beast. Like him, she was never that interested in dueling. She was mainly focused on making a career out of being a fighter. She did have a deck and she did duel from time to time. It just wasn't until recently that she had started taking it seriously and she joined Diamond Branch. Within a month, Kaida had climbed through the rankings and sat comfortably at number 2 in Diamond Branch and number 6 overall. Just under the Aces and one other. The top 5 rankings went like this:
1. Ace of Hearts (though he was often called Rank 0, because he was just THAT strong)
2. Ace of Clovers
3. Two of Hearts
4. Ace of Spades
5. Ace of Diamonds
Then Kaida was 6, as the Two of Diamonds, and Yuto was 11, Two of Spades.
Seika and Kaida. Yuto thought. There was always something special between them. It was almost scary how dependent Kaida's happiness was on Seika. Not that he could exactly blame her. Seika had pulled Kaida out of a dark spot in a way that neither he, his parents, nor their friends could. She was almost like Kaida's reason for living.
Kaida's deck was also decently consistent. He remembered dueling her a few weeks ago and he had barely squeaked out the win despite her being extremely rusty at it. Yuto didn't want to admit it, but Kaida could probably beat him if they dueled now.
"Ano, speaking of Hearts Branch," Ruri spoke up. "Have you-"
"No," Kaida said abruptly. "He doesn't need to know. He has enough things to stress about without Seika going missing." Was that bitterness he heard in her voice? Yuto wondered. "He's also out of town, so it wouldn't matter."
"I guess you have a point," Ruri muttered quietly. Shun cleared his throat as the car slowed down.
"We're here. Show me which building she lives in," he said.
"R-right," Kaida told him where to go and they eventually stopped at the building where Seika's apartment was supposed to be. "She lives at Building F on the 6th floor." She got out of the car, "I'll go check if she came back." Kaida bolted through the building entrance and disappeared. Shun just leaned back in the seat and sighed.
"Do you know if Seika was acting strange?" Ruri asked.
"Kaida probably knows more, but I have noticed a few things about her," Yuto answered. "She's been acting a little more distant recently. More… emotionally distant if that makes sense. At the same time, she hasn't had an anxiety attack in quite a while. Do with that information what you will."
"Maybe, she's going through a phase, like Ruri does sometimes," Shun muttered.
"What?!" Ruri exclaimed, blushing brightly, and she smacked Shun's head from behind the seat. "No, you idiot! Don't talk about that!" Her brother just rubbed his head where she had hit him.
"What? Am I wrong!"
"It doesn't matter! Don't just say that stuff so casually!" Shun just shrugged and didn't say anything.
"Maybe, she's trying something new," Yuto said. "Maybe she's trying some new treatment and it's finally helping out with her trauma." He jumped as Kaida suddenly appeared, breathing heavily. He could clearly see tear streaks on her face and she had hastily rubbed them away.
"She's not there," Kaida sniffled.
Yuto's phone rumbled and he saw that Kaito was calling.
"Kaito?" Yuto answered.
"Have you found her?!" the Ace of Clovers frantically asked.
"No," he answered.
"Damn it. How the hell did Kaida even let her go?" Said person flinched a little.
"Don't blame her," Yuto growled, glaring at the screen. "Do you really think Kaida of all people would ever put Seika in danger? She's barely holding it together."
"I- no you're right," Kaito sighed. "I'm sorry. We're extremely stressed out right now. My father is trying to use his influence to gain access to the city cameras. My mother is panicking and Haruto is trying to calm her down."
"Don't apologize to me. Kaida heard you."
"It's okay, forget it," Kaida said. "What's your status?"
"She left our house about an hour and a half before your father called us to say she was missing," Kaito said. "I'm looking around the area between Spade and Clover Branches. I'm assuming she used the train to get to our place, but didn't realize that they were about to close on her way back, so that's where I'm checking."
"Do you know what was in that box of hers?" Kaida asked quietly.
"No. Nobody knows. There's a possibility that he does," Kaito answered, making Kaida flinch and grit her teeth. "You know how secretive she was about what was in it. We all thought it was some heirlooms from her past that she wanted to keep locked away. We respected her wishes and let her be."
"But three years…" Kaida muttered. "Three years of being together and she never budged to say what it was..."
"Kaida, let's go on foot," Yuto patted her shoulder. "I'll talk to you later, Kaito. Call if you find anything." And he hung up. "Shun, you and Ruri take the car, Kaida and I will go on foot."
Shun just nodded and Ruri just gave an eye smile, "Good luck!"
For the next few hours, Yuto and Kaida checked around the neighborhood. They received regular updates from all their friends and family, but there was literally no clue, no sign where Seika might have gone.
Kaida's emotional state seemed to be getting worse by the hour, until she burst out into a full sobbing mess. Yuto just sat there with her, rubbing her back and muttering comforting words. Eventually, she calmed, completely exhausted and collapsed on a bench in a nearby park. She just sat there staring aimlessly in the distance and her eyes were half closed and arms wrapped around herself. She had put on her jacket and tried to sink into it, almost like she was hiding. The sun began to peak out of the horizon and made Yuto stare in bewilderment.
They had been out for over six hours, looking for Seika all night. He heard Kaida making a weird sound and he looked at her in curiosity.
Her eyebrows were furrowed and she looked like she was sniffing something. "Do you smell that?" She asked, sitting up.
"What? I don't-" he paused.
"It smells like ash, or smoke," Kaida slowly got back to her feet. "I was smelling it for a while, but thought I was just feeling weird." Yuto finally realized what she was talking about. There seemed to be a faint smell of something burning, but he was so ingrained in his own thoughts he didn't notice it. "Follow me."
They walked through the grass fields, the beautiful structures of Heartland bordering the scene like a picture. The smell started to get stronger until they reached a small section of grass that seemed completely graded and burnt. Some of the trees nearby were also scorched.
"What the hell happened here?" Yuto muttered.
"This can't be natural, this place is watered every night," Kaida said. "It looks like something exploded."
"It seems pretty recent as well," Yuto remarked, touching the ashes on the ground. His phone buzzed again, it was Shun.
"Oi, Yuto, where are you guys?" Shun asked. "The Spade Station is about to open. I'll take you there."
"We're at the park nearby, we'll be there," Yuto nodded to Kaida. "Let's go."
Within five minutes, Kaida had burst through the doors of the Spade Branch police station and dashed toward the missing person's desk. "Kaida! Slow down!" Yuto called after her. He just looked at Shun and Ruri and sighed.
"H-hello!" Kaida said frantically at the man who was sitting there. He looked quite drowsy, having just arrived there. "I'd like to file a missing person's report."
"Missing person?" he jumped and seemed alert now. "Of course, give me their-"
"Seika!" Kaida anything but screamed, her loud voice echoing throughout the building drawing stares from the officers and secretaries who had arrived for the day. "My best friend, Seika, went missing last night! Please! I don't know-" Yuto slapped his hand over Kaida's mouth, shutting her up.
"I'll talk, you calm down," Kaida mumbled a little bit behind his mouth and then Ruri gripped her hand comfortingly.
"Come on, Kaida. Let Shun and Yuto deal with this. Let's sit down," she whispered sweetly and led Kaida away to some chairs a few feet away.
"I apologize for my sister," Yuto said to the man whose eyes were wide. "She's extremely distressed."
"Oh- no problem. I'm sorry, I'm still a little sleepy. Can you give me her friend's general information? Name, age, description, relatives, where she was last seen, etc," he motioned to the screen next to him. "I'll let you fill out everything else that should be noted."
"Last name: Natsuhono. First name: Seika. 19 years old. Her description… long, wavy, almost curly, red hair and red eyes," Yuto listed off. "Previously fostered under the Tenjo family. She lives under refugee status. Was last seen around 11:30 last night, when she left the Tenjo's house to go to her new apartment at the Black Heart Complex. She disappeared along the way." Yuto was impressed at how fast the man was typing. He had everything down almost as soon as he finished listing out the information. He motioned toward the computer in front of Yuto.
"Fill out everything else that should be of note."
"Of course," Yuto sat down and began typing, his phone began to rumble again and he gave it to Shun. "You answer it."
"It's Kaito," Shun murmured and he answered the call. "Kaito? We're at the Spade Station. Yuto is filling out the report."
"Shun? Good, I came to Clover Station with my father to do the same. He is currently going through the security camera footage. It took some time because Mayor Ohtori was being a prick again, but he eventually caved in after the commissioner stepped in."
"Is your mother with you?" Shun asked.
"No, she's at home with Haruto. She's still extremely distressed, but is much better than before," Kaito paused for a brief moment. "How is Kaida?" Shun looked toward Ruri who was rubbing Kaida's hand gently and whispering kind words to her. Kaida herself just stared down quietly with a steady stream of tears coming down. There were bags under her eyes from the stress and lack of sleep. They were all tired.
"Not good, Ruri is trying to calm her down. The sooner we find Seika, the better," Shun answered. "For her sake." By then, Yuto had filled out everything he could and submitted the report. He stood up stretching a little and sighed. At that moment, the Chief of Spade Station approached them.
"Are you the people who are here for Natsuhono Seika?" he asked. He was a burly, gruff man with a large build but a kind personality. "Nice to see you again, Kurosaki." Shun just nodded at him, but with a small smirk on his face. "That's Kurorai, huh? Not looking as spiffy as when she was last here."
"Yes?" Yuto said hesitantly.
"Come to my office, Dr. Tenjo wants to speak with you directly," Yuto motioned to Ruri and Kaida and told them to come. Kaida jumped up in anticipation and ran quickly toward them.
Eventually, all four of them were in the chief's office, and he pulled up a video call on his large screen. A middle-aged man with a thin build, pale skin, and short blonde hair appeared on the screen. Kaito was also there, standing behind him. This was Dr. Tenjo, the main man behind the development of dueling in Heartland City, more like the entire world, as dueling mainly centered around Heartland.
"Dr. Tenjo! Kaito! Please! Tell me you found Seika!" Kaida begged.
"I'm sorry Kaida. We haven't, but I have found camera footage of her," Dr. Tenjo said. "I have updated her last known location to the park near the Black Heart Complex."
"What?" Yuto echoed. "We were just there."
"Let me show you," a video popped up, it was time stamped at 12:18 AM. It showed the walkway just outside the park that Yuto and Kaida were at. A few seconds passed, a familiar red-haired girl appeared on the screen, walking normally. Nothing seemed wrong.
"Seika!" Kaida ran toward the screen. She had a pink jacket and black sweatpants on. Her long hair was curled and with some of the strands tied back. She was wearing a backpack and had a peculiar wooden box tucked under her arm. It was littered with scratches and chipping, a testament to what she had been through.
"Is that her special box?" Shun questioned. Kaida nodded slowly, staring in anticipation. Then Seika stopped, as if she was sensing something. Seika looked toward the direction of the park and a blue light began to shine faintly right before the cameras went dark.
"What- what happened?" Kaida demanded. "What was that?"
"I don't know," Dr. Tenjo answered, clearly frustrated. "But whatever the source of that light was, it knocked out all the cameras in its vicinity with an EMP burst." Yuto narrowed his eyes. Did that burnt grass and trees have anything to do with it? "But, I did more digging and one of my instruments detected Chaos Energy from that same area."
"Chaos Energy?" Kaida questioned. "You mean the energy that appears during a duel?"
"Correct, shortly after, my device detected three instances of summoning energies. Three very powerful summoning energies," Dr. Tenjo added. "Again, in that same area."
"So, you mean an Xyz Summon?" Shun asked, unsure why Dr. Tenjo was being so vague.
"No," making their eyes widen. "The energy output is at least on par with an Xyz Summon, but neither of them are actually an Xyz Summon." The room was silent for a few moments.
"So it's a regular Special Summon?" Yuto added. "How powerful can a Special Summon be to be on par with an Xyz Summon?"
"Only one of those energies was a regular Special Summon, and it had the highest output of Chaos Energy I have ever seen, ever recorded," he finished. "In fact, it even surpasses Yuto's."
"Wait, what?" Yuto spluttered. "What are you talking about?"
"In your recent duel against Shun, the summoning of your dragon recorded an extremely high output of Chaos Energy. The highest I've ever seen, before now," he explained, but before Yuto could question him further-
"Forget that, that's not important right now," Shun cut in. "What about the other two?"
"Unknown," Dr. Tenjo simply said.
"W-what do you mean?" Kaida asked.
"The other two energies are of an unknown wavelength. In other words, a summoning method that is neither Xyz nor a regular Special Summon."
"But… that's impossible right?" Yuto added. "There is no other summoning method besides Xyz."
"That's what I also believed until I saw what I saw," it was quiet again, until Kaida spoke up.
"So- so does that have something to do with Seika? I mean, she's not even a duelist."
"We were there," Yuto spoke up. "We were at the park right before we came here. We found a small area where the grass and trees in the surrounding place were burnt and scored." All of them, except for Kaida, looked at them.
"That's not possible though," Kaito muttered, finally entering the conversation. "Duel Monsters are just holograms, they can't cause real damage. Only minimal force."
"There are stories of people who could release enough Chaos Energy to almost manifest their monsters as real beings," Dr. Tenjo looked to his son. "But as far as I know, those are just myths.
"But look at what we saw!" Kaida exclaimed. "It looked like something had exploded there. It looked like a mini… war zone." she ended slowly, as realization dawned upon her. "She was attacked, or got engulfed in some fight, but then where is she?! She must be so scared!" She collapsed in her chair. "She-she was so close… so close to coming home. Why didn't I notice her…?"
"There is one more thing to note," Dr. Tenjo added. "Usually, there is a residual of Chaos Energy that remains when a monster is summoned. However, when I checked that exact location several minutes later, it was gone."
"Gone?" Kaida croaked.
"Usually, Chaos Energy will slowly linger and then dissipate, however, it just simply disappeared. Popped out of existence like it was never there."
"Hey," Yuto muttered, and the attention was on him. "What if… and I'm not trying to say anything here, but… what if she was actually dueling?"
"She doesn't even have a deck, Yuto," Kaida glared at him. "How could she duel?"
"Her box," Shun suddenly said. "What if she had a deck this whole time? In that box of hers." He looked around the room and then at Kaida. "Just think about it."
"Come on, Shun, you know where she came from. How in the world could she have obtained a deck or learned to duel in that horrible place?" Kaida reasoned. Shun just raised his hands.
"I'm just trying to connect the dots. There are still a lot of loose ends, but it's a theory," he defended himself. "You told us she agreed to try out dueling, maybe she was finally going to tell us.
"What?!" Kaito snapped, slamming his hands on the table. "She said what?!" Well, the cat's out of the bag now.
"A while ago, Seika agreed to try out dueling, but made us promise not to tell anyone until she was ready," Yuto explained. "That's why Kaida joined Diamond Branch and rose through their ranks so quickly. She wanted to be in a comfortable position to help out Seika."
"I think I have a good idea who convinced her to do it," Kaito narrowed his eyes.
"No!" Kaida exclaimed. "It… couldn't be… Seika wouldn't… She wouldn't keep anything from me… We're best friends… Best friends tell each other everything."
"Do you think she's been twiddling her thumbs or working non stop while you're away?" Kaito crossed his arms. "I won't sugarcoat it for you, Kaida, Seika has been spending a lot of time with him lately. They've gotten close, very close. I think you know that, but you don't want to admit it."
"But-"
"She's entitled to her own secrets and personal business, Kaida," Kaito continued. "Just like you are." Kaida froze at those words, eyes wide.
"You…?" She murmured quietly, the rest of her words were inaudible.
"Of course, I've been observing them to make sure nothing goes wrong. You know how much drama and politics is inevitable for him, but I don't overstep my boundaries. Unless we see that it's negatively affecting her or someone else, we won't ask Seika to reveal anything she doesn't want to. In fact, it's quite the opposite, she seems very happy, aside from the strange mood swings that she recently developed."
"Mood swings?" Shun questioned. "Kaida mentioned that Seika's been acting a little strange."
"Mother says that Seika is probably going through a phase and trying to mature, now that she's graduated and moving out of the house. She says we shouldn't worry too much… Until now at least," Kaito ended dreadfully.
"Hey," the chief finally decided to speak up, trying to break the deathly silence. "I'll send some officers and people from forensics over to that park, to see what's up. I'll contact the other chiefs to form a search squad."
"Unfortunately, there is nothing else I can do," Dr. Tenjo said. "Except to keep looking." Yuto clutched Kaida's shoulder.
"Let's go," he said gently. They left the chief's office and went back into the lobby.
"Kaida? Yuto?" Yuto heard his mother's voice as she ran forward and engulfed Kaida in a hug. "Did you find anything?"
"We found out she disappeared near the park, that's where she was last seen in the security cameras," Yuto answered. "But nothing else after that. It's like she disappeared into thin air." His father walked up, holding a bag of takeout in his hand.
"I got you breakfast," he said. "Good morning, Shun, Ruri. Knowing Yuto, I thought you'd be here. I have some for you as well."
"Oh, thank you," Ruri bowed, slightly embarrassed.
"Thank you," Shun muttered, nodding respectfully to the Kurorai father. He laughed.
"Come on! You don't have to be so shy or formal with us. You're basically family!"
"I'm sorry, sweetie," Yuto's mother stroked Kaida's hair. "I promise we'll find her okay? Seika-chan is a strong girl. She can take of herself."
"Let's go outside," Yuto said, seeing as they were drawing some attention. There were some tables outside and the two pairs of siblings sat down and began to eat. Kaida was slow at first, then she realized how hungry she was and quickly scarfed it down.
"Do you want to come home?" their father asked.
"No," Kaida said quickly.
"Kaida-chan, you need to sleep. There's nothing else you can do," her mother said gently.
"I want to stay here," Kaida said firmly. "I'll sleep in my car." Her parents looked at each other and sighed in defeat.
"Okay, but make sure you get some sleep, okay?" Kaida nodded. "Yuto, will you-?"
"Of course," Yuto said to his mother. "I'll watch over her." Shun cleared his throat.
"I think Ruri and I will head back home now, I am also pretty tired."
"I'll drop you two," Yuto's father offered. His mother kissed Kaida's forehead.
"Take care of yourself, okay? Yuto will stay with you," Kaida's response was a small grunt.
"I'll call Rio, and tell her what happened," Ruri said. "She must be worried sick. Bye, Kaida, Yuto, see you later!" And with that, the Kurorai parents and Kurosaki siblings left.
Yuto and Kaida got back in their car, and he decided to take the driver's seat this time.
"What are you doing?" Kaida asked abruptly, looking at him with wide eyes.
"Relax, I'm just parking in a quieter place. It won't be too far," his sister looked like she wanted to protest, but he narrowed his gaze and she relented.
"Fine," Yuto found a quieter parking space about two blocks away. He sighed and reclined in his seat. He felt his body melting as he stretched his limbs and finally relaxed. Kaida just sat there looking ahead.
"Sleep, Kaida, you'll need your energy if you want to find her," Yuto told her. Kaida didn't answer, she just followed what he did and reclined in her seat, and soon she was out cold. Yuto sighed watching his sister. He knew her massive affection for Seika would come back to haunt her. He just wished it could've waited until after Kaida learned to accept that Seika wouldn't always be there for her. Eventually, he closed his eyes and joined his sister in sleep.
—oOo—
Yuto woke to a small rumble. A rumble that was strong enough to shake the car. What the hell? We don't get earthquakes in Heartland. Kaida was still in a deep sleep, she would need something rougher to wake her up.
Yuto looked out the window and in the direction of the Heartland Tower and his eyes widened. There was a massive beam of blue light that had suddenly appeared on the other side of the city, around the area where Diamond Branch was.
"What-" his voice caught in his throat when a massive mechanical figure appeared and suddenly blew up part of the city. BOOM! Yuto flinched back in shock. "K-Kaida! Wake up!"
"H-huh?" another boom sounded which jerked Kaida upright. "What is that? Was that an explosion-" Several more of those giant figures appeared. They shot beams of energy that immediately destroyed half of the city. "GO! GO! DRIVE! Get back home!" Kaida urged. Yuto hit the pedal and he drove over the sidewalk. Not like traffic rules mattered at this point. The earth rumbled again. The sky grew dark as ominous clouds began looming overhead, blocking out the sun. "They look like Duel Monsters! Those giant floating figures!" she whispered hoarsely.
Yuto sped past the police station as multiple people were running out to see what was happening. He did it just in time to avoid a massive beam of purple light that destroyed the entire building. Everyone within the vicinity strangely disappeared in a shower of purple sparks. Kaida gasped and covered her mouth.
"Did you- did you see that?" she stuttered. "They disappeared! I don't understand. What's happening!?"
"I don't know," Yuto grunted, having seen it in the rear view mirror. People were screaming and running and he just barely avoided hitting some of them. "It must be what Dr. Tenjo was talking about. Duel Monsters and some strange summoning energy."
"But... where did they even come from?" Kaida croaked. "Why are they attacking us? Oh! Seika! We still haven't found her! Yuto-"
"We can't help her, Kaida! We need to focus on getting ourselves to safety first!" Yuto yelled at her. "Take my phone and call them!" With shaking hands, Kaida shoved her hands in Yuto's pocket until she found his phone. It took a few tries to turn it on properly because her fingers kept slipping.
"No signal!" she exclaimed. "Those things must have destroyed the communication towers!" A shadow suddenly came over them as one of the monsters flew closer. Yuto was able to observe it better. It looked like a giant purple robot with many gears sticking out of it. The gears gave it a strange antique look to it. There was a single red dot that gazed at them menacingly.
"GET DOWN!" Yuto hit the brakes as he and Kaida ducked.
A beam exploded near their vehicle, sending it skidding away. The airbag was activated, smacking Yuto's face. His ears were ringing, and he couldn't hear anything except for the faint sound of their car being tossed around by the monster's attack. Kaida wrapped her arms around him, trying to keep him steady. She was the physically stronger one of the two and could take an impact better than he could. The car slammed into a nearby building. Kaida grunted, gripping Yuto tighter.
They sat there for a couple minutes holding each other, until Kaida shakily sat up. There were faint screams of people in the distance while a steady series of booms rattled the ground as those mechanical monsters continued their assault. "We need to go," she said. "The car's busted. We need to go on foot."
"Right," Yuto grunted. He attempted to open the door, but it wasn't budging and then he tried to ram his shoulder into it.
"Move," Yuto didn't need to think twice as he leaned back. Kaida moved against her side of the car and pulled back her leg. In one quick strike, she had kicked the door cleanly off its hinges. Yuto jumped out with Kaida following him. Dust, ash, and smoke drowned his senses. Even more of those giant robots had appeared. Most of them shot out orange beams of energy, but occasionally, they also shot out ominous-looking purple beams. Civilians were running amok aimlessly, unsure where to go.
It truly looked like the end of the world. Both Yuto and Kaida trembled and she took his hand, "Let's go," she said, determination filling her voice, but the fear was still there.
"We stick together," Yuto added. Kaida led the way through the chaos as they tried to make their way back to their home.
"Everyone…" Kaida muttered. "Seika…" Yuto could see that she was too exhausted to cry again.
"Don't," Yuto started. "We have to take care of ourselves first before we can help others. Just run and don't look back." The siblings just kept running avoiding the rubble and collapsing buildings. They seemed to have a good streak until a flash of purple light appeared before them as they crossed an alleyway, followed by a scream. Several cards floated out into their line of sight and onto the ground. "What-?" Yuto picked up one of the cards and he gasped, dropping it and stepping back. There was a person's face on it. Their expression was one of fear and horror. In fact, all of the cards had someone's face in the portrait. What made it worse was that he recognized a few of them.
"Yuto?" Kaida imitated her brother's reaction and stared at the cards in horror. "What in the- How?"
"Kaa-san! Tou-san!" they heard a little girl scream as she ran out of the alleyway. She tripped over a rock and fell to the ground. Yuto recognized her, she was the local baker's daughter. He often met her when he went to her bakery to buy fresh bread. The girl made eye contact with Yuto.
"Yu-"
"NO!" Yuto screamed as her body was engulfed in purple light and it disappeared in a shower of purple dust. A card with her scared expression was all that was left.
"Oh- oh Yuto, wasn't that…?" Kaida was horrified. Yuto just stood there, frozen as his mind reset itself as he tried to contemplate what was happening. Distant laughing was heard as three strange figures appeared out of the alleyway. Two boys and one girl. All of them were wearing some yellow uniform and had a strange duel disk on their arm with a round circular screen.
"Did you hear that?" one of them cackled. "I thought they were exaggerating when we did the hunting simulations, but never did I think the real deal would be so fun!" They noticed Yuto and Kaida staring at them in fear and shock.
"Oh? Isn't it wonderful when our prey stumbles right upon us?" the girl sneered.
"Prey?" Kaida echoed. "What prey? Who are you people? What did you do to them? Why are you attacking us?"
"Oh easy, to create a utopia for all," the third said simply. It was disturbing how uncaring and detached he sounded.
"Utopia?" Yuto growled. "You call this a utopia?" he gestured to the ruins of the city around them.
"Sacrifices are necessary for the greater good," the first one said.
"What greater good?! You people just attacked us!" Yuto yelled. "What gives you the right to sacrifice us?"
"Because you people are below us. Come on, Let's just take them out and move on," they raised their duel disks at them. Kaida clutched Yuto's arm again, "I mean, unless of course you two are duelists. Then I suppose we'll give you a chance to entertain us. I'd rather not get bored while I hunt others," he offered.
"Duel?" Yuto echoed. "A duel?"
"What? You thought dueling is all about fun and games?" Number 1 laughed. "It's also a tool, a weapon to defeat your enemies." Yuto narrowed his eyes. He knew dueling went beyond entertainment in Heartland. It often was used as a weapon, a political weapon, because of how influential it was. However, to use it as a physical weapon for war was something he never considered, or thought was possible.
"We're not your enemies! We don't even know who you people are!" Kaida pleaded.
"So, will you duel us?" Number 1 ignored her. Yuto looked at Kaida and he narrowed his eyes.
"We have no choice," Yuto gritted his teeth.
"But, we can't-"
"We have no choice," Yuto repeated forcefully, making Kaida freeze. "Do you have your duel disk and cards? They would… do that to you before you could even attack them."
"I- yes," she said quietly.
"Then, come on," Yuto pulled out his duel disk. It had a white body and circular screen. He slipped his deck in and a purple blade appeared. Kaida followed suit, albeit, much more slowly and hesitantly, her red blade also activated.
"Excellent," the trio's sneers got even deeper and they activated their duel disks.
"That shape…" Yuto remarked. Their blades were shaped just like swords.
Yuto Kurorai: 4000 LP
Kaida Kurorai: 4000 LP
Academia R3-4-095 (1): 4000 LP
Academia R3-2-193 (2): 4000 LP
Academia R3-2-012 (3): 4000 LP
"Academia?" Kaida muttered in confusion. "Is that a duel school?"
"We are duel soldiers of Academia! Trained from a young age with the sole purpose of carrying out our leader's will!" Academia 2 said proudly, pressing her fist to her chest.
"Duel soldiers?" Yuto repeated.
"Each player has their own LP and uses their own field and graveyard," Academia 1 explained.
"Fine, then I'm going first," Yuto hissed, and he made his move before anyone else could.
[Turn 1: Yuto] Hand: 5
"I Normal Summon The Phantom Knights of Dusty Robe," a floating, ghostly figure with a glowing blue head wearing a black cloak with a red scarf appeared. It wore a necklace of skulls and had several staffs and purple balls of fire levitating around it.
The Phantom Knights of Dusty Robe: Level 3/DARK[Warrior/Effect] 800 ATK/1000 DEF
"And because I control a 'The Phantom Knights' monster, I can Special Summon Silent Boots!" A second monster joined Dusty Robe. It was another ghostly figure wearing a ragged brown cloak, gray pants, and brown boots.
The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots: Level 3/DARK[Warrior/Effect] 200 ATK/1200 DEF
Yuto took a deep breath, his heart was beating rapidly from all the anxiety he was feeling. His blood was pounding in his ears, but most of all, his rage was pushing him forward. These people, they come out of nowhere and suddenly attack them. They suddenly feel like they have the right to choose for them. Who were they to decide that for them?
"I now overlay my two monsters to build the Overlay Network!" His two monsters transformed into shapeless forms of sparkling, purple light. They flew up into the air before descending and falling into the black hole that appeared. "Souls of the fallen warriors. Revive now and become the light that uproots the darkness and purges our enemies! Xyz Summon! Arawareyo! Rank 3! The Phantom Knights of Break Sword!" Kaida was giving him a strange look. Yuto's chants were usually pretty edgy, but never angry. A black armored figure riding a black armored horse emerged from the black hole portal. There were no limbs to make up the monster's physique, so it looked like the armor pieces were floating. There were only blue flames that made up its head and biceps. The highlight was the massive sword it wielded, which looked more like a glorified butcher's knife. The impact of the monster's summoning also felt real. Wait, our monsters are also real?
The Phantom Knights of Break Sword: Rank 3/DARK[Warrior/Xyz/Effect] 2000 ATK/1000 DEF OU: 2
It was strangely ironic how Yuto's monsters seemed to blend well in with the landscape now that Heartland was in ruins. They looked right at home.
"So, this is an Xyz Summon," Academia 2 murmured, there was a mocking tone in her voice. What? Do they not know what an Xyz Summon is? Yuto wondered.
"W-what are you talking about?" Kaida's curiosity seemed to take control for a moment.
"You'll see," she replied with an ominous smile, making Kaida step back a little.
"I place two cards face down and end my turn," Yuto ended, feeling relatively confident. He had emptied his entire hand except for one. Two back row and if Break Sword was destroyed, he could use its effect to Special Summon Dusty Robe and Silent Boots, and set up for Dark Rebellion or something else. He also had Fragile Armor in his hand.
"My turn! I draw!" Academia 1 said.
[Turn 2: Academia 1] Hand: 6
"I Normal Summon Antique Gear Hound Dog!" He declared. A small, green, mechanical dog made up of gears appeared on the field. It also had glowing red dots for eyes. It seemed to resemble the same style and architecture as those giants that were blowing up the city.
Antique Gear Hound Dog: Level 3/EARTH[Machine/Effect] 1000 ATK/1000 DEF
Antique Gear? Is that what the archetype is called? "When Hound Dog is summoned while my opponent controls a monster, I can deal 600 damage to them," the mechanical dog shot a ball of fire at Yuto who was just barely able to dive out of the way when he realized it was real fire. "Hound Flame!"
"What the-?!" Yuto yelled, diving to the ground as the fireball flew over his head and struck a wall behind. He looked back at it with wide eyes. There was a decently sized scorch mark where it had made the impact. "It's real fire?" he muttered in shock.
Yuto: 4000 – 600 → 3400 LP
"Yuto!" Kaida bent down to him, looking at him anxiously.
Yuto slowly got up and dusted himself off. "Are you trying to kill us?" He glared at them. "How is that even possible?"
"Ha!" Academia 1 smirked. "Get with the times! We are far beyond those puny holograms you people still use. We have Real Solid Vision that can manifest real monsters."
"Real Solid Vision?" Kaida echoed. "So that's how you're using those giant monsters to destroy the city!" They only sneered in response.
"I activate the Equip Spell Card, Antique Gear Tank!" A howitzer appeared and assembled itself on the dog's back. "This raises the ATK of Hound Dog by 600!"
Antique Gear Hound Dog: 1000 + 600 = 1600 ATK
"Now, I'll attack her directly!" Academia 1 pointed to Kaida.
"What? I activate-" Yuto began, about to tap his screen to play a facedown.
"When Hound Dog attacks, you can't activate Spells or Traps until the end of the Damage Step!" making Yuto pause.
"Kaida-" his voice caught in his throat.
"Wait-" Kaida squeaked as her instincts kicked in. The howitzer on the dog's back fired and she leaned back like she was playing limbo, just barely avoiding the shot. Then, she quickly leapt quite high in the air, away from the snapping jaws of the Hound Dog, which suddenly jumped toward her. Its metal jaw just barely grazed her leg.
Kaida: 4000 – 1600 → 2400 LP
"Huh. Quite an athletic one are you?" Academia 1 remarked, raising an eyebrow at Kaida's movements. "Not like it matters in a duel." Yuto stepped closer to his sister and put his hand on her shoulder.
"Are you okay?" he asked. She just looked at him, eyes wide at the narrow fate she had just escaped.
"Y-yes," she managed to say, her eyes darting around and the hand holding her five cards was trembling, like she was about to drop them. Yuto was worried for her, very worried. First Seika, now all of this? There was only so much someone could take. He doubted that she could even duel properly in her current mental state.
"How dare you?!" Yuto spat at them, his usually calm gray eyes now storming with anger. "She hasn't even taken her turn!"
"So? We never said you couldn't attack. It's not our problem, the sooner we finish this, the better," Academia 3 just gave an uncaring shrug. Yuto gritted his teeth.
"Come on," he pulled Kaida closer to him. "Stay close to me."
"I place two cards face down and end my turn," Academia 1 ended.
"Come on!" Yuto urged. "Take your turn!" He seemed to snap Kaida out of her trance a little.
"I-I," she said, her hand shakily moving toward her deck.
"Too late! I draw!" Academia 2 began her turn.
[Turn 3: Academia 2] Hand: 6
"I Normal Summon Antique Gear Hound Dog!" Another copy of the mechanical dog appeared.
Antique Gear Hound Dog: Level 3/EARTH[Machine/Effect] 1000 ATK/1000 DEF
Her too? Do they all play the same deck?
"Remember Hound Dog's effect?" Yuto jerked his head up and pulled Kaida as he ducked down. "Hound Flame!" He was successful again in avoiding getting hit, but unfortunately, his Life Points were not.
Yuto: 3400 – 600 → 2800 LP
Tch, Yuto thought worriedly. At this rate, if Kaida didn't take her turn next, they would probably lose… and end up like those people.
"Next, I activate the Spell Card, Fusion!" Academia 2 said holding up the card.
"Fusion?" Yuto repeated. "What's Fusion?"
"Oh? Not familiar with Fusion, right?" The girl looked quite proud of this card. "This lets me Fusion Summon by sending Fusion materials from my hand or field to the graveyard!"
"Fusion Summon?" Yuto looked on in bewilderment. His arm was around Kaida as they knelt on the ground.
"I fuse the Hound Dog in my hand and the one on my field!" she spread her arms out. "From the depths of ancient machinery and fury of hounds. Come together to hunt your prey!" she clasped her hands together and brought them down to her chest. "Fusion Summon! Arawareyo! Level 5! Antique Gear Double Bite Hound Dog!" A new dog appeared on the field. It looked more or less like the single version, except it was bigger and had two heads. Both of which were snapping their jaws around aimlessly as if it was threatening something.
Antique Gear Double Bite Hound Dog: Level 5/EARTH[Machine/Fusion/Effect] 1400 ATK/1000 DEF
"Fusion… Summon?" Kaida murmured as she looked at the new monster.
"This..." Yuto began as he looked at the card on his screen. It was a type of card he had never seen before with its purple border and background. "This is what Dr. Tenjo was talking about! That unknown summoning method! It's this Fusion thing!" Kaida stood up abruptly and glared at them, some of her courage seemingly returning to her.
"Hey!" she snapped angrily. "What did you people do to Seika!?" No, she's still not completely alright. Yuto thought to himself. That question was rather abrupt and weird, but then the three Academia students' eyes widened, which didn't go unnoticed by Kaida.
"Seika?" Academia 2 finally said. "We don't know who that is." It was rather platonic, the way she said it.
"Don't play with me!" Kaida shot back. "Your expressions say otherwise!"
"Whoever that is, they've probably been turned into a card by now! I think I saw someone like that recently," The sneer returned to Academia 2's face, her companions mirroring the look, making Kaida collapse to her knees. There was another explosion that made the siblings flinch. It was quickly followed by distant screams and then a flash of purple light. Kaida's breath caught in her throat as she stared in the distance.
"S-Seika. I need to-" she looked like she was about to run, but Yuto grabbed her arm.
"Look at me!" Yuto growled.
"Yuto! I can't! Seika needs me! I need to-" But Yuto forcefully turned her to face him and he glared at her.
"You can't help her now. We know nothing about her whereabouts," he hissed.
"But-" Kaida's eyes were brimming with tears.
"You're acting like this not because Seika needs you, but because you need her!" Yuto said. Kaida seemed to stop her otherwise weak protests. "Don't get me wrong, she needs you too, but how do you expect to help her if you can't help yourself?" Kaida's gray eyes seemed to clear up the cloud of confusion and anxiety. That seemed to get through to his sister. Kaida stared at him wide eyed before her expression scrunched up into one of determination. She stopped her trembling, clenched her fist, tightened her grip on her cards, and looked down. Her blue bangs shadowing her eyes and ponytail dancing lightly in the irregular wind. There was an odd aura about her, like something phenomenal was about to happen.
"Oi," Academia 3 spoke to 2. "Why are we just letting them talk? Hurry up and finish your turn."
"I don't know," there was an odd smile on her face. "I just find it amusing to see expressions of despair on them."
"Well, you can see your expressions of despair elsewhere. Let's finish this up already. I don't want to be caught slacking."
"Fine then. It's still my turn!" Academia 2 announced, catching Yuto and Kaida's attention. "I also play the Equip Spell, Antique Gear Tank! My Double Bite Dog now gains 600 attack." Another howitzer assembled itself on the mechanical beast's back.
Antique Gear Double Bite Hound Dog: 1400 + 600 = 2000 ATK
"And then I play the Continuous Spell Card, Antique Gear Castle!" She continued. "All 'Antique Gear' monsters gain 300 attack!"
Antique Gear Hound Dog: 1600 + 300 = 1900 ATK
Antique Gear Double Bite Hound Dog: 2000 + 300 = 2300 ATK
Academia 2 smiled evilly, "Now attack her directly!" She pointed at Kaida. Yuto looked at Kaida, panicked. If this hit, she would only have 100 Life Points left. If the third one also had a Hound Dog… The dog shot its howitzer and sprung forward. Kaida jerked her head up, her expression fierce and determined.
"When my opponent declares a direct attack, I can Special Summon Tsukuyomiko Rhinoshield from my hand in Defense Position," In a smooth gesture, Kaida slapped the card onto her blade. A silvery spirit that took the shape of an armored rhinoceros appeared on the field.
Tsukuyomiko Rhinoshield: Level 4/LIGHT[Beast/Effect] 1800 ATK/2200 DEF
I'll add Tsukuyomiko Lynxseeker to my hand, thanks to Rhinoshield's effect," Yuto noticed that she didn't really bother explaining the effect.
The rhino bent down and easily took the impact of the howitzer's shot. It didn't budge from the dog's snapping jaws which created sparks upon impact with the wispy armor.
"How?" Academia 2 asked. "You can't-"
"Your effect prevents Spells and Traps from activating, not monsters," Kaida interrupted. "Do you people not even know your own deck?" The girl blushed in embarrassment. "You say you were trained from a young age? Some duel soldiers you are. What are you, the lowest of the grunts?"
"Shut your mouth, Xyz scum! Once per turn, when my opponent summons a monster, Double Bite Dog can place a Gear Counter on them," a large rusty gear ejected from the dog and attached itself to Rhinoshield.
Tsukuyomiko Rhinoshield: Gear Counter - 1
Kaida didn't react and simply stared ahead. "My monster has more attack than your monster has defense! Even then, when a monster with a Gear Counter battles, Double Bite Dog's effect destroys it. Go destroy her monster!" Academia 2 resumed her attack. The dog fired another round and sprung forward. The gear on Rhinoshield exploded simultaneously.
"Rhinoshield cannot be destroyed the turn it is summoned," Kaida explained calmly. The smoke cleared and Rhinoshield emerged, unharmed. It sneezed out some dust and snorted. Yuto raised an eyebrow at that, monsters didn't usually do that?
Kaida, on the other hand, didn't seem to notice it. There was a certain look in her eyes. A look of cold, hard resolve. Yuto recognized it, he recognized it very well. If there was something she wanted, she would have it. She would hunt for that goal. She would become the hunter.
There were two main instances when this happened: The first would be during a particularly difficult fight whenever she entered competitions. She would steel herself, close everything out and laser-focus on the endgame. The second was more general, but it usually related to Seika. He remembered a particular incident when a group of bullies hurt Seika, triggered her, and left her a sobbing mess. They were particularly jealous of something she had.
When Kaida found out, she was furious, absolutely livid. Yuto had never seen her so angry in his life. Like a predator hunting for its prey, she went out and taught them a lesson. Yuto had tried to stop her, but the look she gave him immediately evaporated his courage. It was like she dared him to try.
—oOo—
"Seika!" Kaida burst into Seika's room in the Tenjo house and found Misha Tenjo, Kaito's mother, sitting at her bedside stroking her hair. Yuto was right behind her, panting, barely able to keep up with her. "How is she?" she asked frantically. "Kaito, tell me what happened," she demanded, standing up. Said person hesitated. Kaito knew that Kaida could do something that could get her into trouble, but the glare she was giving him forced him to explain it. She was a skilled fighter after all.
"Fine."
"They did what?!" Kaida snarled after Kaito explained what happened. Yuto had to flinch at the sheer rage in her voice. "They kicked her in the head?! Why?!"
"They stole the earrings you gifted her," Kaito answered, making Kaida freeze. "Seika tried to get them back, but they kept toying with her. Eventually, she got more and more desperate until one of them dropped the earrings and broke them. That set her off and it ended with one of a small concussion, but is in no danger," Misha said quietly, looking down at Seika lovingly like she was her own child.
"So how is she doing now?"
"Better," Misha said soothingly. "I'm trying to help her sleep but she keeps waking up and crying. Whatever happened must have unearthed some painful memories. She can't keep them bottled in. She needs to open up eventually," Kaida moved closer and put her hand to Seika's cheek. None of the warmth she usually had was there. The redheaded girl kept sniffling and squinting her eyes. She let out small whimpers and unintelligible words. "But… she seems extremely scared of something. I assumed it was those bullies, but now I'm not so sure." Yuto narrowed his eyes at the sight. Who could have done this? Who could have done this to such an innocent, sweet, vulnerable girl?
Kaida was shaking with rage. Veins were popping out of her arms and hands from how hard she was flexing. "Who was it?" She narrowed her eyes at Kaito.
"I don't know," he said calmly, but Yuto knew he was lying. "What I told you is what I heard from eyewitnesses." Kaida swiftly turned around and headed for the door. Yuto grabbed her arm.
"Kaida don't-" she turned her face toward him and that expression would forever be imprinted in his memory. It was truly the first time Yuto had felt fear in his life, and it came from his "little big sister" of all people. Oh, the irony.
—oOo—
So it happened, Yuto wasn't sure how she found out the identities of the bullies, but Kaida was eventually arrested for assault. The father of one of the girls, who was quite influential in Heartland, tried to trump up the charges, but Dr. Tenjo, who was quite influential himself, quickly shut that down. Kaida was still a minor back then so she would be tried under juvenile laws.
Kaida was asked to apologize to the girls along with a few other things. She practically spat at the first request and declared that she would rather die than do that.
Fortunately, the judge at Kaida's hearing was a very understanding woman. Once she heard the backstory behind Kaida's and Seika's relationship and the latter's history, she immediately dropped the initial charges and brought the other girls onto trial. They were sentenced to community service and suspended from their school for some time for kicking Seika, which was assault. Clover Branch, where they attended dueling classes, suspended them until their community service was completed. However, Kaida did not get off Scot-free. She still did commit assault, provoked or not. She was not given community service, nor was she required to apologize, but she was suspended from school for two weeks, mainly to give her time to cool off and calm down. She was also banned from fighting competitions for the next several months. What she had done was extremely frowned upon within the fighting community and went against their regulations, unless it was in self-defense, which it wasn't.
Suffice to say, those girls never bothered Seika again. The ringleader of the gang apparently stopped being a brat soon after, but Yuto could never really confirm, nor did he really care. He was just glad that Kaida didn't get into too much trouble and that Seika was doing alright, for the most part.
Kaida had had a long sit down with her master, a kind old man who had taken her in when she wanted to get into martial arts to build up her confidence. While not official, she was also given a punishment by him. She would have to start from basics all over again and build herself back up. Her master's philosophy was that it would help her refocus on the purpose on why she began fighting. He helped her try to focus on what she should be fighting to protect.
He had eventually passed away several months earlier. Perhaps that was a blessing in disguise, he wouldn't be alive to see all of this carnage and destruction caused by these… Fusion users.
"Tch, I set a card facedown and end my turn," Academia 2 finally ended her turn. Academia 3 smirked.
"I-"
"My turn!" Kaida was ready for it and reacted quickly, drawing her card.
[Turn 4: Kaida] Hand: 6
"I Normal Summon Zoodiac Marmorat," she wasted no time in beginning her turn. A monster that resembled a child appeared on the field. She had messy, spiky blonde hair and had rat-like ears. She wore a full suit of armor with a dark blue cape, but the highlight was her left arm. She was wearing an absolutely massive yellow, armored gauntlet that wielded a silver rapier.
Zoodiac Marmorat: Level 4/EARTH[Beast-Warrior/Effect] 0 ATK/0 DEF
"0 attack and defense! How pathetic!" Academia 3 laughed, initially annoyed that he couldn't take his turn.
"Like you're one to talk," Kaida raised an eyebrow. "1900 and 2300 Attack Points and you people act like you're the greatest duelists in the world." With that sarcastic remark, Yuto knew she was in the zone.
"At least it's better than 0!"
"We'll see… When Marmorat is Normal Summoned, I can send one 'Zoodiac' monster from my deck to the graveyard. Secret Burial!" Kaida selected a monster, pulled it out of her deck, and sent it to the graveyard. Marmorat stabbed her rapier in the ground and began digging a hole, to which a card disappeared into. "I choose to send Zoodiac Thoroughblade, but then, when a Beast or Beast-Warrior is sent to the graveyard, I can Special Summon Tsukuyomiko Foxheart from my hand." A silvery spirit that took the shape of a fox appeared on the field. It could be mistaken for a wolf if it wasn't for the faint tinge of red and orange on the fox's fur.
Tsukuyomiko Foxheart: Level 4/LIGHT[Beast/Effect] 1200 ATK/1000 DEF
"That's still not enough to take on our hounds!"
"Will you shut up right now?" Kaida said icily. "How do you call yourselves duelists if you focus on attack and defense for everything?" They looked like they were about to argue back, but- "When Foxheart is Special Summoned, I can target one card on the field and negate its effects for the rest of this turn," she pointed at Antique Gear Double Bite Hound Dog. "I choose your Double Bite Dog! Suppression Howl!" The fox raised its head into the air and howled. The Double Bite Dog hunched down, its metal rusted a little and the green turned gray.
"What?!"
"Because I control a Beast or Beast-Warrior monster, I can Special Summon Tsukuyomiko Sheepskin," another wispy animal appeared. This time, it seemed to be a normal looking sheep but with a wolf's head. It was literally a wolf in sheep's skin.
Tsukuyomiko Sheepskin: Level 4/LIGHT[Beast/Effect] 1200 ATK/1000 DEF
"Next, I activate the Continuous Spell Card, Elemental Triangle of the Zoodiacs!" Kaida announced. "Once per turn, I can target one face-up card I control and destroy it in order to Special Summon a 'Zoodiac' monster from my deck. I choose to destroy Rhinoshield!" The armored rhinoceros was blasted off the field. "To Special Summon Zoodiac Rabinna." This time, it was a young girl with long pink hair in braided twin tails and bunny ears and wearing a blue maid dress appeared on the field. Her right arm was occupied by a massive bronze claw that wielded a large blunderbuss with a small blue bunny on the handle.
Zoodiac Rabinna: Level 4/EARTH[Beast-Warrior/Effect] 800 ATK/800 DEF
"Why are these monsters' hands so big?" one of them remarked.
"Sheepskin is treated as a 'Zoodiac' monster on the field and as Xyz material for the Xyz Summon of a 'Zoodiac' monster and while it is an Overlay Unit," Kaida said. She held her arm out. "Rank 4 'Zoodiacs' only require one other 'Zoodiac' monster to Xyz Summon.
"Wait what?!"
"I overlay Sheepskin to build the Overlay Network!" Sheepskin transformed into a shapeless form of white silver light. It swirled into the air before descending into the black hole. "Among the upper wheel, descend from the twelve stars and become my loyal companion! Xyz Summon! Arawareyo! Rank 4! Zoodiac Lyca!" Emerging out of the black hole was a girl with thick, black hair tied up in a ponytail. She wore a sleeveless leather outfit with fur around the waist. She had black dog ears and a furry black tail. Her gimmick this time was a massive golden gauntlet gripping an even larger blue chakram.
Zoodiac Lyca: Rank 4/EARTH[Beast-Warrior/Xyz/Effect] ?/? OU: 1
"Zoodiac Lyca's Attack and Defense Points are equal to the original attack and defense of all 'Zoodiac' monsters attached as Overlay Units."
Zoodiac Lyca: 0 + 1200 = 1200 ATK; 0 + 1000 DEF
"That's it! 1200 Attack Points? All that setup for this!" They laughed.
"I now overlay Lyca to build the Overlay Network," Kaida continued, shutting them up. "Among the upper wheel, descend from the twelve stars and become my great power! Xyz Change! Arawareyo! Rank 4! Zoodiac Drancia!" An older female emerged this time. She had short, spiky indigo colored hair along with spiky ears and a dragon's tail. It had green scales with the same-colored fur as her hair. She wore armor around her feet and shins that resembled those of a dragon's claws. She wielded a massive yellow claw on her right hand that held a giant trident that had a small green dragon swirling around the handle.
Zoodiac Drancia: Rank 4/EARTH[Beast-Warrior/Xyz/Effect] ?/? OU: 2
"Her attack and defense are also equal to those of her overlay units," Kaida said calmly. At this point, Yuto had no idea what she was trying to do. Her deck was extremely versatile and could go so many different ways with just one monster.
Zoodiac Drancia: 0 + 0 + 1200 ATK; 0 + 0 + 1000 DEF OU:2
"Still-" the Academia students began.
"I activate Drancia's effect! By using one Overlay Unit I target one face-up card on the field and destroy it!" She detached Lyca, so Drancia wouldn't lose her Attack Points.
Zoodiac Drancia: OU: 21
"I choose your Hound Dog! Trident Impact!" Drancia threw her trident at Academia 1's Hound Dog, destroying it. Yuto narrowed his eyes, unsure if that was the smartest move.
"Because Hound Dog was destroyed, Antique Gear Tank is also destroyed, and its effect lets me deal 600 damage to you! Ancient Mine!" There was an explosion and Kaida grunted and coughed a little
Kaida: 2400 – 600 → 1800 LP
"Are you okay?" Yuto asked. Kaida didn't respond, she simply wiped her forehead and stood her ground.
"I overlay Zoodiac Marmorat to build the Overlay Network," Kaida continued as the rat transformed into silver light.
"Again?!"
"How many times is she going to Xyz Summon?!"
"Become my immovable force! Xyz Summon! Zoodiac Bullhorn!" Kaida had opted to skip the chant as it was getting repetitive by now. The monster was a boy with brown hair and the ears and horns of an ox. He had a particularly large build that was exemplified by the rippling muscles under his tight black shirt. His small tail lingered under his waist. His weapon this time was a large broadaxe.
Zoodiac Bullhorn: Rank 4/EARTH[Beast-Warrior/Xyz/Effect] ?/? OU: 1
Zoodiac Bullhorn: 0 + 0 = 0 ATK; 0 + 0 = 0 DEF
"We'll take a short break, but we're not done summoning monsters," Kaida said coolly. "I activate Bullhorn's effect! By detaching one Overlay Unit, I can add a Beast-Warrior monster from my deck to my hand that can be Normal Summoned/Set. I choose to add Zoodiac Viper! Call of the Ox Horn!" Bullhorn pulled out a horn and blew into it. Another monster was added to Kaida's hand.
Zoodiac Bullhorn: OU: 1 → 0
"I overlay Zoodiac Bullhorn to build the Overlay Network!" Kaida once again said. "Become my fierce hunter! Xyz Change! Zoodiac Tigress!" A young girl with orange hair and a thick orange tail with black stripes appeared on the field. Her gimmick this time, a massive mortar that she was sitting on.
Zoodiac Tigress: Rank 4/EARTH[Beast-Warrior/Xyz/Effect] ?/? OU: 1
"I use one Overlay Unit," Kaida declared.
Zoodiac Tigress: OU: 1 → 0
"Tigress lets me target one 'Zoodiac' monster in my graveyard and attach it to one Xyz monster I control. Predator Ration!" Her duel disk spit out a card. "I choose Zoodiac Thoroughblade and attach it to Zoodiac Drancia."
She closed her eyes, put her hands together in some form, and breathed in deeply. Yuto recognized it as a part of her usual routine before training or before a fight.
"Oi, what are you doing? Hurry up!" one of them barked.
What is she doing? Yuto thought. Why is she doing so much? She might overextend.
"I… overlay Tsukuyomiko Foxheart and Zoodiac Rabinna to build the Overlay Network," Kaida said slowly, opening her eyes and stretching her arms out in a wide arc. "By the light of the moon and spirits of the wild, descend from the heavens to become the deep impact! Arawareyo! Xyz Summon! Rank 4! Tsukuyomiko Dragonfist!" She pounded her fist into her palm and a monster erupted from the black hole. It had an ethereal form like the other Tsukuyomikos. It had a long, sleek serpentine body with silver and light blue scales with four muscular legs with sharp claws. The wings were expansive and radiant with feather-like patterns and the dragon's head was adorned with a flow of silver fur that extended down its neck. It landed with a thump and roared. This was Kaida's ace monster.
Tsukuyomiko Dragonfist: Rank 4/EARTH/[Beast/Xyz/Effect] 2300 ATK/2000 DEF OU: 2
"Because I Xyz Summoned a Beast or Beast-Warrior monster I can Special Summon Tsukuyomiko Lynxseeker from my hand," Kaida finally brought out the monster she had gained from Rhinoshield's effect. It was a large, cat-like creature with thick fur and gray stripes.
Tsukuyomiko Lynxseeker: Level 4/EARTH/[Beast/Effect] 800 ATK/800 DEF
"When Tsukuyomiko Lynxseeker is face-up and in effect, all Beast or Beast-Warrior Xyz monsters I control gain 100 Attack and Defense Points for every Overlay Unit they have," she explained.
"Uh," the three Academia students seemed to look more nervous now.
Tsukuyomiko Dragonfist: 2300 + (100 * 2) = 2500 ATK; 2000 + (100 * 2) = 2200 DEF
Zoodiac Drancia: 1200 + (100 * 1) = 1300 ATK; 1000 + (100 * 1) = 1100 DEF
Tigress had no Overlay Units, so she gained nothing.
"Tsukuyomiko Dragonfist gains 100 Attack and Defense Points for every Beast and Beast-Warrior monster on the field. Drancia, Tigress, Lynxseeker, and itself. That is four," Kaida counted.
Tsukuyomiko Dragonfist: 2500 + (100 * 4) = 2900 ATK; 2200 + (100 * 4) = 2600 DEF
"Now I can Xyz Summon this monster using two Rank 4 or lower Beast or Beast-Warrior Xyz monsters as material."
"What?! Again?! What kind of cheat deck is this?!" Academia 3 yelled.
"I overlay Drancia and Tigress to the build the Overlay Network!" Her Xyz monsters deformed into silver light again. Yuto looked on in confusion, he had never seen this move from her. It must be a new monster she had obtained. "From beyond the cycle! Let the dark side of the moon bring out the corruption and become the ferocious beast! Arawareyo! Xyz Summon! Rank 5! Mukzoodiac Wereclaw!" there was a loud snarl, followed by a large figure jumping out of the black hole. Yuto had to back away a little from the monster. It was an older boy with longish spiky black hair and sharp teeth. He had black wolf ears and was shirtless, like it was ripped off. Most notable of all were that both of the arms were occupied by a massive silver gauntlet with sharp claws. The boy gazed ahead menacingly, legs slightly bent.
Mukzoodiac Wereclaw: Rank 5/EARTH[Beast-Warrior/Xyz/Effect] 2000 ATK/1500 DEF OU: 4
"Wereclaw gains the Attack and Defense Points equal to all 'Zoodiac' monsters it has as material. Thoroughblade and Sheepskin have the stats," Kaida explained.
Mukzoodiac Wereclaw: 2000 + 1200 + 1600 = 4800 ATK; 1500 + 1000 + 0 = 2500 DEF OU: 4
"4800 Attack Points!" their opponents yelped. Yuto's eyes widened. Kaida was trying to OTK them. They had practically no protection and low attack monsters. He couldn't understand how these people could be called duel soldiers.
"Lynxseeker's effect, Wereclaw has four Overlay Units."
Mukzoodiac Wereclaw: 4800 + (100 * 4) = 5200 ATK; 2500 + (100 * 4) = 2900 DEF
"Now, because there is one less monster on the field, Dragonfist loses 100 attack and defense."
Tsukuyomiko Dragonfist: 2900 – 100 = 2800 ATK; 2600 – 100 = 2500 DEF
"I activate the effect of Zoodiac Viper in my hand. I can attach it to a Beast-Warrior Xyz monster I control, which is Mukzoodiac Wereclaw!" Kaida attached another Overlay Unit to the monster, who howled and grinded his claws together.
Mukzoodiac Wereclaw: OU: 4 — 5
Mukzoodiac Wereclaw: 5200 + 100 = 5300 ATK; 2500 + 100 = 2600 DEF
"I activate Dragonfist's effect!"
Tsukuyomiko Dragonfist: OU: 2 → 1
Tsukuyomiko Dragonfist: 2800 – 100 = 2700 ATK; 2500 – 100 = 2400 DEF
"By using one Overlay Unit, I can target one monster my opponent controls and Dragonfist gains Attack Points equal to the targeted monster's Defense Points! Momentum's Rising Storm!" the dragon roared and the silver aura around it became thicker. "I target your Double Bite Hound Dog."
Tsukuyomiko Dragonfist: 2700 + 1000 = 3700 ATK
"Kaida…" Yuto muttered. "Just what have you been doing? You became this strong just for Seika?"
"I activate the Continuous Trap Card, Antique Gear Spark Shot!" Academia 1 flipped up his set card. His confidence had strangely returned, judging the sneer on his face. "And then I activate another Continuous Trap Card, Antique Gear Reborn! Once per turn, if I control no monsters, I can Special Summon one 'Antique Gear' monster from my graveyard. Return Antique Gear Hound Dog in Defense Position! Reborn gives an extra 200 Attack Points, and Castle another 300!"
Antique Gear Hound Dog: Level 3/EARTH[Machine/Effect] 1000 ATK/1000 DEF
Antique Gear Hound Dog: 1000 + 200 + 300 = 1500 ATK
"And when exactly one 'Antique Gear' monster is Special Summoned while I controlled no monsters, I can deal you damage equal to half the Attack Points of the Special Summoned monster!" A cannon appeared and fired at Kaida, who was barely able to dodge it by jumping to the side. It destroyed a building that then collapsed behind them.
Kaida: 1800 – (1500 / 2) → 1050 LP
"Tch," Yuto growled, seeing more and more of his beloved city in ruins. Kaida coughed and got down on one knee. "Kaida! Are you okay?"
"Fine," she muttered, glaring ahead coldly.
"You should've taken out one of their backrow instead of her monster," Yuto suggested. She had wanted to attack them directly and impulsively ignored their facedowns. It was a reckless move.
"What's done is done… Battle!" Kaida suddenly declared, narrowing her eyes at the trio. "What are you all grinning about?" she hissed quietly, wiping their smiles off. "I attack…" she moved her finger around, until she pointed at Academia 3. "You!"
"W-wait what?!" he stepped back. "B-but I haven't even taken-"
"Weren't you the one who was laughing when your friend attacked me?" Kaida's voice was thick with irony. "Don't like it now when it's happening to you, do you?"
"Wait-"
"Attack him now! Dragonfist! Falling Moon of Deep Impact!" Kaida struck a pose, stamping her feet in the ground and holding her left palm out. Her dragon flew up into the air and began to glow intensely, before descending down upon Academia 3, who was backing away slowly and he started to run away. There was a small explosion and the Academia student cried out in pain and went rolling away in the dust.
Academia 3: 4000 – 3700 → 300 LP
"Now, finish him off, Lynxseeker," Kaida ordered the large cat. The feline obliged and leaped forward, bashing its head into Academia 3's chest as he struggled to stand up.
"Aah!" he cried out in pain, collapsing on the ground unconscious. Yuto's breath caught in his throat. It really was real damage. That boy looked legitimately injured.
Academia 3: 300 – 800 → 0 LP
As Academia 3 laid there, his comrades just stared on in silence and shock.
"I'm not done," Kaida glared. "I use Mukzoodiac Wereclaw to attack your Hound Dog," she pointed at Academia 1.
"What? But I take no damage!"
"While Wereclaw has Thoroughblade as Xyz material, he can deal piercing damage. End him! Crescent Moon Piledriver!" Kaida said. His eyes widened as Wereclaw leaped high into the air and spun around like cork and in one clean strike, had sliced apart the Hound Dog.
"Aaaaahh!" He screamed, flying back from the force of the explosion.
Academia 1: 4000 – 4300 → 0
"Main Phase 2," Kaida declared. "When Mukzoodiac Wereclaw deals 2000 or more battle damage this turn, I can detach one Overlay Unit-"
Mukzoodiac Wereclaw: OU: 5 → 4
Mukzoodiac Wereclaw: 5300 – 100 = 5200 ATK; 2600 – 100 = 2500 DEF
"-and I can draw one card for every 2000 damage dealt. 4300 was dealt this turn, so I can draw two. Earthshaker! Shatter the earth and extract the power!" Wereclaw howled as a purple aura appeared around him. He began pounding the ground. Hard enough that he was causing a mini earthquake. Kaida drew her cards. "I set two cards face down and end my turn."
Academia 2 was left, she was trembling in fear and looked like her world had fallen apart. Academia 3 was out so it cycled back to Yuto again, but before he could draw a card, he heard a faint scream.
"Ruri?" Yuto yelled. The voice sounded oddly like her. He stared in the direction of the sound and saw a faint flash of purple light, followed by echoing laughs. He also realized that it was in the direction of their house. Our parents! He suddenly couldn't think anymore. His blood was pounding and he could almost feel his dragon calling for him to summon it, to serve vengeance.
"Ruri?" Kaida questioned. "What about Ruri?"
—oOo—
"Yutoooo!" Kaida whined at her brother. "Didn't you hear what they said about you?" No answer. Yuto was sitting on their balcony that faced the beautiful buildings of Heartland City. He was just reading a book while mindlessly shuffing his deck. It was some book about a undead who was resurrected and woke up in a prison. He had to journey across the land and either save the world or let it die out. A bleak world rife with the undead and monsters. A story like that? Sounded about par for the course for him. "Yuto!" she said a little louder, putting her hands on her hips.
"What?" Yuto muttered, annoyed at Kaida's constant whining.
"Didn't you hear what they said about you! Those 'popular kids' at school?"
"What did they say about me?" Yuto raised an eyebrow.
"They called you an edgy emo!" Kaida exclaimed. "They insulted you! Can't you see that they're trying to bully you? You and Shun! They're always trying to make fun of you and Shun and trying to get Ruri to join them!" She gazed at the choker he was wearing. It was black leather with silver studs. He was also wearing a ragged black shirt and ripped jeans in a punk-style outfit.
"'Edgy emo?'" Yuto repeated. "...Oh. That." He cupped his chin thoughtfully. "I vaguely remember hearing that," then he shrugged. "Why are you here anyway? I thought you were going to see your new friend, Seika. That girl who… you know… saved you." He tried to avoid explicitly mentioning that incident.
"She had to go for her regular check-up. I'll meet up with her later," Kaida shrugged, a dreamy smile on her face. Then, she flinched and glared at Yuto. "Don't change the topic! Aren't you mad about these people insulting you all the time?"
"No, not really. The insults they come up with aren't even interesting," he sighed boredly. "It's the same stuff every time. Emo, edgelord, loner, the older brother of his big sister," he smirked at the last part. Kaida decided to ignore that for now.
"But don't you care? They're saying mean stuff about you! You, Shun, and Ruri!"
"Oh, they're insulting Shun again? What was it this time? Orphan, loveless?" he listed out.
"Both of those, plus a bit more," Kaida replied dryly.
"Well, I personally don't care what they say about me," Yuto shrugged. "I'm not like you, who gets worked up about everything." Kaida growled lowly in her throat and felt the urge to strangle him.
"But what about Shun and Ruri? They're your best friends!" she continued.
"They're too scared of Shun to actually insult him and Ruri. Or at least they should be, it seems they've regained their courage. You don't have to worry about them, Shun will put them in their place soon," Yuto chuckled. "And Ruri's not an idiot to just go along with what everyone else says."
Kaida rolled her eyes, "...Fine, then what about you?"
"What about me? I don't care," Yuto smirk dropped. Kaida could see visible annoyance on his face.
"So, you're not angry? You're not angry that they say bad stuff about you?" Kaida began to sound more puzzled.
"No."
"...Why?" Kaida asked quietly. She was always someone who was affected by what others said about her, a stark contrast to her brother.
"Why? Because I just don't care, why are you making me repeat myself?" Yuto closed his book and narrowed his eyes at her.
"Why don't you care?" Kaida clarified. He leaned back in his chair and thought for a few seconds, seemingly trying to find a way to convey his reasoning to her.
"A couple things I guess. I don't know them, they're not my friends, they're stupid insults…" he paused. "But above all, I don't care about them."
"Care about them?"
"If I don't respect or care about them, then why should I care about their opinion?" Yuto said. "Even if they're not technically wrong in what they say about me-"
"What?! You actually agree with them?" Kaida burst out.
"-they clearly say it like it's a bad thing and in an insulting way, which is an opinion, so I don't care," he said. Kaida was bewildered, thinking she was finally understanding why Yuto was always calm. In fact, she didn't ever remember him getting angry once. Sure he would get annoyed or irritated and snap at people occasionally, but never actually get angry. "You should start thinking like that. It'll do wonders for you," he suggested.
"I- maybe," Kaida said slowly. "But I feel I would lose myself if I did that. I can't help but not care about how others think of me."
"You do you… my little sister," he grinned. Kaida felt a tick in her forehead and balled her fist.
"You know I could beat your ass now, right?" she threatened.
"Oooh, I'm so scared," Yuto waved his hands mockingly. "What would that prove? Sure you're stronger than me, but personality-wise? You will always be my little big sister. Never change, Kaida. Never change." Kaida smiled as they stared at each other affectionately. His usually cold, bored eyes warm.
"I wonder," Kaida began. "Is there anything that would piss you off? The more I think about it, the more I realize I've never seen you angry before. Maybe as a toddler you threw tantrums, but that aside, I can't think of any instance at all." Yuto looked down, some of his bangs shadowing his eyes. He stopped shuffling his deck and put it on the table. Kaida looked down and recognized the card on the top. It was his ace monster, his precious partner that he had had for as long as he could remember. It was ominously shuffled to the top. She felt like the sunlight was strangely obscuring its image.
"There is a saying," Yuto said. "'A wise man fears three things: the sea in a storm, a night with no moon…, and the anger of a gentle man." He looked up at her, his eyes suddenly fierce. "The day I get angry… is the day the world ends."
—oOo—
Kaida never thought it would happen, but it did. That day had finally come. "Is this a game to you?" Yuto snarled at Academia 2, who was the only one left standing. "You're- you're sealing in people into cards and you're destroying our city! Our home!" Kaida flinched at Yuto's sudden outburst, not having ever experienced true anger from him.
"A-all for our desired utopia…" the girl was looking even more nervous now seeing the field her opponents had.
"I'll destroy your utopia! Draw!" Kaida could've sworn she saw Yuto's eyes glow and voice become distorted for a brief moment.
[Turn 5: Yuto] Hand: 2
"I activate Break Sword's effect!"
The Phantom Knights of Break Sword: OU: 2 → 1
"By using one Overlay Unit, I can target one card on my field and your field and destroy them!" Yuto glared. "I target my Break Sword and your face-down! Sacrificial Revolution!" The ghostly, almost undead monster slashed at Academia 2's facedown, before driving its great blade through its own chest. Kaida winced when she saw that. She knew that it was only the monster, but the way Yuto was acting, it was almost like he was doing it to himself.
"I'll activate my facedown then! Antique Gear Reborn, I'll resurrect one Hound Dog in Defense Position and it gains 200 attack!" the girl said desperately.
Antique Gear Hound Dog: Level 3/EARTH[Machine/Effect] 1000 ATK/1000 DEF
Antique Gear Hound Dog: 1000 + 200 = 1200 ATK
"Useless!" Yuto hissed. "When Break Sword is destroyed, I can Special Summon two 'The Phantom Knights' monsters with the same level from my graveyard. Return! Dusty Robe! Silent Boots!"
The Phantom Knights of Dusty Robe: Level 3/DARK[Warrior/Effect] 800 ATK/1000 DEF
The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots: Level 3/DARK[Warrior/Effect] 200 ATK/1200 DEF
"And their levels are also increased by one!"
The Phantom Knights of Dusty Robe: Level 3 → Level 4
The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots: Level 3 → Level 4
"And because a 'The Phantom Knights' monster was destroyed, I can Special Summon The Phantom Knights of Fragile Armor from my hand," Yuto brought out a third monster. It was a headless soldier with blue flames for limbs wearing a set of thin, cracked blue armor and wore silver gauntlets and boots.
The Phantom Knights of Fragile Armor: Level 4/DARK[Warrior/Effect] 1000 ATK/2000 DEF
"Three monsters with the same level," Academia 2 croaked.
"I activate my facedown, The Phantom Knights of Lost Vambrace!" Yuto flipped up one of his facedowns. "I can target one face-up monster on the field, 'The Phantom Knights' monster cannot be destroyed by battle, that target loses 600 ATK, and it becomes Level 2. These effects last until the end of the turn. I target Fragile Armor!" The silhouette of another headless, armored figure holding its arms out like a zombie appeared from the card.
The Phantom Knights of Fragile Armor: 1000 – 600 = 400 ATK; Level 4 → Level 2
"Then Lost Vambrace Special Summons itself as a monster in Defense Position."
"What? A Trap Card as a monster?!"
The figure's silhouette then became opaque as it was summoned to the field with its three other comrades.
The Phantom Knights of Lost Vambrace: Level 2/DARK[Warrior] 600 ATK/0 DEF
Two Level 2 monsters and two Level 4 monsters. Kaida thought, unsure what he was going for. She was admittedly not the most familiar with Yuto's deck. She had mainly cared about getting better by herself.
"I overlay Lost Vambrace and Fragile Armor to build the Overlay Network!" Yuto's face was scrunched up with rage. A type of rage Kaida never thought she could be afraid of. He was truly right that day, to fear the anger of a gentle man. "Carry on the spirits of the ten thousand fallen warriors! Wield the cursed spear of darkness! Arawareyo! Xyz Summon! Rank 2! The Phantom Knights of Cursed Javelin!" Ascending from the black hole was a skeleton warrior wearing ragged leather armor, a red scarf, and wielding a duo of a skull javelin and shield. Blue flames erupted from its shoulders.
The Phantom Knights of Cursed Javelin: Rank 2/DARK[Warrior/Xyz/Effect] 1600 ATK/0 DEF
Yuto. What are you planning to do?
"I'm not done yet! I overlay Silent Boots and Dusty Robe to build the Overlay Network!" Both of those monsters once again descended into the black hole. Only this time, there seemed to be small sparks of purple lightning rippling from it. Kaida felt a sense of dread erupting from within, like no matter where she ran or hid, something would always find her. "Formed from the pitch-black darkness, let the fangs of rebellion descend down to challenge the powers of stupidity!"
"Yuto?" Kaida said uneasily. She was extremely unnerved by the unbridled rage in his voice and words. This summoning chant was something she had never heard before.
"Xyz Summon! Ideyo! Rank 4! Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon!" There was a high pitched roar as a shadowy figure swooped out of the black hole. Purple sparks were flashing all over the place and sharp winds flapped at the people caught within. Is this what Dr. Tenjo was talking about? All this Chaos Energy from his dragon? Dark Rebellion descended down in front of Yuto, facing the girl and her two Hound Dogs menacingly.
"Xyz Dragon…?" Academia 2 muttered. "That sounds a lot like his…"
Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon: Rank 4/DARK[Dragon/Xyz/Effect] 2500 ATK/2000 DEF
"Yuto!" Kaida yelled. "Calm- DOWN!" She couldn't understand where his sudden emotions had come from.
"I use Antique Gear Double Bite Dog to place one Gear Counter on your dragon!" Academia 2 called, trying to shield herself from the sheer force of the summoning.
Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon: Gear Counter - 1
"I activate Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon's effect!" Yuto ignored the Gear Counter. "By using one Overlay Unit-"
Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon: OU: 2 → 1
"I can slice the Attack Points of your monster in half and Dark Rebellion gains those Attack Points!" Yuto declared. "Treason Discharge!" Dark Rebellion's wings expanded and released purple sparks that seemed to bind the Double Bite Dog. Treason Discharge? Yuto… this isn't you.
Antique Gear Double Bite Hound Dog: 2300 / 2 = 1150 ATK
Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon: 2500 + (2300 / 2) = 3650 ATK
"What can be done once can be done again! I use Dark Rebellion's second Overlay Unit! Treason Discharge!"
Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon: OU: 1 → 0
Antique Gear Double Bite Hound Dog: 1150 / 2 = 575
Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon: 3650 + 575 = 4225 ATK
"What does that matter? My Double Bite Dog will destroy your dragon before you can do any damage to me," Academia 2 halfheartedly sneered, trying to put up a brave face.
"I activate my other facedown, Kunai with Chain. I equip it to Dark Rebellion to have it gain 500 Attack Points!" Yuto flipped up his second Trap. Chains erupted from the card and wrapped themselves around Dark Rebellion's jaw, with the kunai serving as a second mandible.
Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon: 4225 + 500 = 4725 ATK
"This is my answer to your mutt's effect," Yuto growled. "I activate Cursed Javelin's effect."
The Phantom Knights of Cursed Javelin: OU: 2 → 1
"I can target your Double Bite Hound Dog and reduce its attack to 0 and have its effects negated!" Kaida's eyes widened. But… it wasn't necessary to use Kunai with Chain if you could do that. She got the disturbing feeling that Yuto was trying to make his opponent suffer. Maybe she was a hypocrite for thinking like that after what she had done, but she was mainly focused on defeating her opponents, not making them suffer.
Antique Gear Double Bite Hound Dog: 575 → 0 ATK
"No-no," the last standing member of the trio began taking steps back.
"Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon!" Yuto called. "Bare those treacherous fangs and destroy the enemy! Revolt of Lightning, DISOBEY!" Yuto's voice seemed to change for a brief second. Dark Rebellion spread its ragged, bat-like wings that were sparking with purple electricity. In one fell swoop, it dragged his mandible and kunai into the ground and sliced through the Double Bite Dog. The sheer force of the attack was enough to send Kaida falling back on her bottom and the dragon's poor victim, flying back even farther than her comrades.
Academia 3: 4000 – 4725 → 0 LP
Winner: Yuto Kurorai & Kaida Kurorai
Their monsters that remained vanished into golden dust as the duel finally concluded. We won. We actually won. Kaida kept saying that to her over and over again. Never mind the fact that their opponents played dirty and didn't exactly play that well, they still won and survived.
"Yuto!" Kaida got up and ran over to her brother who was hunched over and breathing heavily. He was clutching his shirt in front of his chest, looking down with a dazed expression. "Are you okay?" She didn't exactly know what to do. She wasn't sure whether to address what had happened or just be silent. Eventually, Yuto finally stood up straight and took a deep breath and stared ahead calmly. In the corner of her sight, Kaida noticed the three Academia soldiers groaning on the ground. Seeing that Yuto was doing fine, she narrowed her eyes and quickly dashed toward Academia 2, who seemed to be the ringleader of the little trio.
"Kaida wait-" Kaida grabbed the girl by the front of her uniform and slammed her against the wall of a ruined building.
"Answer me! Who are you people? Where did you come from? Why did you attack us? Why are you sealing people into cards? Who is your leader? What is this Fusion Summoning? And-," Kaida paused, gripping the girl even tighter, making her whimper. "What did you do to Seika?!" She tried to struggle but Kaida was simply too strong.
"I-I won't t-tell you anything… Xyz scum," she managed out.
"What do you mean 'Xyz scum?'" Kaida hissed. "What did we ever do to you?" She brought the girl's wrist up, her non-duel disk arm, and began pressing at a specific point with her thumb. Her eyes widened and struggled even harder, but of course, it was futile. In her anger, Kaida didn't notice the red beeping from her duel disk. "Answer me, or I'll make sure you won't be able to duel ever again in your life!"
"Kaida, watch out!" Kaida felt Yuto grip the back of her jacket and pull her back. She wasn't ready for this and fell backwards onto him. All three Academia students disappeared in a shower of blue dust. Kaida quickly rolled off of him and checked to see if he was fine.
"What the hell?" Kaida muttered looking at where they disappeared.
"I think… they teleported?" Yuto said.
"That blue light… that's the same blue light in that recording Dr. Tenjo showed us!" Kaida exclaimed. "Whatever happened to them is what happened to Seika! Wherever they went is where Seika is!"
"Calm down," Yuto said. "We don't know that for sure."
"But it's still something," Kaida felt a smile forming on her face. Yuto's eyes widened and he glared at her, putting his hands on her shoulders.
"Look around you!" he snapped, immediately wiping the grin off her face. "Our city is in ruins! Our people are getting… whatever this carding thing is!"
Kaida suddenly noticed something. Everywhere within the vicinity, was pure silence, except for the distant explosions. There was nobody in sight. Kaida choked under her breath and brought her hands to her mouth.
"T-there's nobody here. Were they all-?" she finally said. "I-I'm sorry, Yuto. I think- I just can't- I don't think I can believe what's happening right now," Kaida collapsed to her knees and stared at the ground. "Seika is gone, and now these strange people are invading us…"
"Well, let's get out of here before you come back to reality and collapse again," Yuto said, grabbing her arm and pulling her up. There was a large flash near the Heartland Tower as a massive mech-looking monster appeared that clashed against one of those Antique Gear giants. A monster they both recognized. "It looks like our people have finally figured out we can fight against them."
"B-but where's the military? The police? They're just Duel Monsters!" Kaida tried to reason.
"They were obliterated," Yuto revealed.
"What?" she croaked. "How do you know?"
"I saw them while we were running. Fighter jets and airplanes. I didn't tell you, because… well you're not exactly in the best state of mind," Yuto explained, looking at the sky. "They couldn't do anything against those monsters. It seems you can only beat them in a duel."
"So are they…?"
"Dead," Yuto finished, narrowing his eyes and clenching his teeth. "We're on our own. The military can't help us, unless they decide to nuke us or something."
"So it's duel to survive?" Kaida asked quietly.
"...Yes."
Kaida breathed in deeply, sighed, and shook her head. "Let's go home… and see if our parents survived."
"Wait," Yuto said. He walked over to the alleyway where they had originally encountered that trio and picked up the cards of the faces of innocent people.
"Are they dead?" Kaida croaked.
"I don't know," Yuto muttered, pocketing them. "I've never seen anything like this."
Both of them jogged through the ruins of the outer limits of the city, which were primarily made up of residential areas. It was also completely empty, not quiet though. Most of the fighting and carnage was taking place at inner limits of the city near the Diamond and Hearts Branches. Around the walls that surrounded the city council and the Heartland Tower.
"Yuto," Kaida started.
"What?"
"Is it the end of the world?" she asked. Yuto furrowed his eyebrows in confusion until he realized what she meant. He looked down, eyes shadowed.
"I'm sorry if I scared you," he said.
"You… you looked like you wanted to hurt her. You wanted to cause her pain."
"I did," Yuto balled his fist. "Looking back on it, I think I regret it. All that anger, all that rage. It felt… disgusting, horrible. I felt like I was some sort of monster."
"Yuto…"
"I regret feeling like that, but I have no regret for what I did. I have no sympathy," he said coldly.
"…I agree," Kaida shared his sentiment. "To be honest, I just want to know what's happening, and where Seika is."
"Speaking of Seika… These people knew," Yuto murmured, there was anger in his voice.
"Knew what?"
"They knew about our city. Look, they've completely obliterated all the residential areas. They're targeting normal people. All the people who can't or can't duel. They knew exactly where to look!"
"Are you saying…?"
"We were betrayed, one of their people came in advance to study Heartland. That's the only explanation. There were spies among us!" Yuto gritted his teeth.
"Who? Who would do this to us?" Kaida asked.
It was silent for a few seconds, only the footsteps of their jogging could be heard until he said that.
"...Seika," Yuto muttered.
"WHAT?!" Kaida snarled, grabbing Yuto and turning him around. She couldn't believe he had the gall to say that. Yuto stuttered, realizing what he said. "How could you say that, Yuto?!"
"N-no I didn't mean Seika was the spy," he quickly said.
"Then, what did you mean?" Kaida hissed.
"She has a connection to these people," he theorized. "We can't deny that. Maybe…"
"Maybe what?"
"She came from the same place they did. Maybe… she also uses this Fusion Summoning."
"...But that's impossible! She came from the west! A completely devastated area destroyed by war! You know what she's like. She has such deep mental scars" Kaida exclaimed. "All the exams and tests she took show that she has legitimate trauma! She took literal brain scans! You can't fake that!"
"Like Shun said, it's a theory," Yuto replied. "There's a lot she never told us." Kaida was silent.
"...We're here," she eventually said, not wanting to talk about Seika anymore. They entered the street where their home should've been. Most of the houses were damaged or collapsed in some way. Very few of them even remained properly standing. There were still lingering fires from those giant monsters' energy beams. They stayed close to the sidewalk, not wanting to be caught out in the open. They finally came upon their collapsed house. She heard Yuto growl in anger at the sight. It was one of the unfortunate few to have been completely demolished. Kaida ran forward and yelled.
"MOM! DAD! ARE YOU THERE!" she felt Yuto's hand suddenly covering her mouth.
"Are you mad?!" he hissed. "Are you trying to get us found?!" Kaida blushed in embarrassment realizing her quite frankly idiotic mistake.
"R-right sorry," she squeaked out. Yuto sighed and shook his head. Yuto looked around, narrowing his eyes and sniffing at something. Kaida walked toward the rubble and tried moving the rocks around to see if she could find something. Only a faint dripping sound could be heard.
"They're not here," Yuto finally said. "They never came back."
"How do you know?" Kaida turned around.
"The car. It's not here, or anywhere nearby. I don't see it," he answered.
"Don't tell me-" She looked toward the battle in the distance, where the main part of the city lay. More monsters other than the giants could be seen. More people had entered the fight.
"What is that smell?" Yuto muttered, coming closer.
"Smell?" Kaida noticed a faint tang of… gasoline. Her eyes widened, that dripping sound! There were small sparks and fires all over the place! "Shit! Yuto run!" Kaida called as she broke into a sprint. "It's a gas-" she tackled Yuto to the ground.
BOOM! Kaida cried in pain as she felt searing pain around her lower back. Luckily, she was able to clear the area fast enough to not get caught in the flames. She coughed and wheezed and her vision swam, but worst of all was the pain in her lower back. Her head felt extremely rattled from the force of the explosion and the impact of the ground.
"Kaida? Kaida!" Yuto called. He quickly slipped out of her grasp and began shaking her body. "Oh my- KAIDA! KAI…" Kaida felt herself losing consciousness, until there was nothing but black.
—oOo—
"W-what is that?" Kaida exclaimed. She had opened the door to Seika's room to see her rubbing some cream over her right arm, which was completely covered with scars and burns. Some of them seemed to extend almost to her neck. There were also strange marks that looked like something had stabbed her. Seika's eyes widened and quickly moved her arm behind her back.
"Isn't it polite to knock first?" Seika muttered.
"You never cared before," Kaida retorted. She closed the door behind her and darted over to Seika and sat next to her. She saw her mouth quivering and her eyes softened. "Hey," Kaida whispered quietly. "Are you okay?" Seika didn't answer, she just looked away and tried to hide her arm under her long hair. Kaida sat there, unsure what to do. She didn't want to push Seika too far, her mind was still fragile.
Eventually, Kaida slowly wrapped her arm around Seika. Fortunately, Seika didn't seem to react to it. She went further and pulled Seika in closer until her head was under Kaida's chin. She put her other arm around Seika and brought her into a deep embrace. Soon, Seika began trembling, like she was struggling not to cry.
"Damn it! Why did you have see…?" her voice was muffled in Kaida's chest. Seika's arm gradually slipped out until it was fully in her sight. Kaida soon felt tears wetting her shirt and Seika let out small coughs, trying to prevent the sobs. It was futile though. Seika sniffled and began weeping openly into her. Kaida carefully adjusted herself and hugged Seika properly, her face buried in her hair. She stroked the maroon strands reassuringly and let Seika empty her emotions out.
Kaida didn't know how much time had passed, but eventually Seika's sobs had ceased.
"It was a firebomb," she suddenly said, jerking Kaida to her attention, having gotten on the bed and leaning against the wall, Seika resting against her chest. "They were dropping bombs. I was able to escape, but not unscathed." The arm twitched and moved as Seika flexed her muscles and fingers. "It still functions just fine, but everything else…"
"It can't be healed right?" Kaida finally said, then she cursed herself. What an idiotic question to ask, of course it can't be healed! Seika scoffed.
"All things considered, I got extremely lucky. The fire had completely engulfed my arm," she muttered. "It burned and melted my skin like it was rubber and left much of my inner flesh exposed. Blood was streaming out like a whole river. I could've sworn I saw bone as well…" Kaida tried very hard not to flinch or shy away from Seika's graphic description. It was also very disturbing how platonic she sounded. "My arm should've been completely destroyed, disintegrated. Burnt to ash."
"I see," Kaida simply uttered, unsure what else to say.
"All those years, I felt like something was protecting me. It kept from me breaking- actually, I was already broken," Kaida shut her eyes tightly. Please don't do this to yourself, she thought "-it kept me from breaking completely, from going insane. It made me strong. But now that I've escaped that-that… that false heaven!" Kaida raised an eyebrow in bewilderment, thinking she was going to say "hell." False heaven? "Perhaps it feels like I don't need protection anymore. That shield is gone and now it's opened all the horrors to come haunt me. Forever probably."
"Hey," Kaida sat up and faced Seika. Her red eyes were devoid of any hope and emotion. Just helplessness. "'Don't give up! There's always something to live for! There's something that pushing you forward, to live!'" Kaida exclaimed. "Isn't that-isn't that… what you said to me? Don't tell me you said that just to make me feel better, it also applies to you!" She saw the sparks returning in Seika's gaze. Kaida wiped away the lingering and dry tears with her thumb. "I'll help you," she said softly, cupping Seika's face. "I'll show you what life is about. I'll help you learn how to… live."
"To… live," Seika muttered like it was a foreign concept. Kaida motioned to the cream.
"What's this for?" she asked.
"It's a healing cream. Kaito bought it for me," Seika replied. "The doctor said it won't do much, but it should at least make my skin more smooth and even it out."
"I'll do it for you," Kaida caressed her arm, running her fingers over the rough patches of skin. "Okay?" Seika didn't seem to be in the mood to argue, so she just nodded dumbly. "Lie down and relax." Seika obliged and Kaida got up. She pulled up a chair next to the bed. Seika lied down on her back and stretched her arm out. Kaida grabbed the container of the cream and began slowly rubbing it across Seika's arm. It was peaceful and quiet for several minutes, but Kaida was unnerved by how Seika was looking the other way. Almost like she was trying to avoid her gaze. "Hey," Kaida finally spoke up, while massaging her arm. It was an exercise she did whenever she got sore. "Look at me." Seika pretended to ignore her. "Please, look at me." Again, Seika didn't react. Kaida sighed, "there's nothing wrong with scars like this."
"That's not it," Seika scoffed, finally turning her head toward her. There was a fire in her eyes that seemed to have been brought up by… was it frustration? "I'm not ashamed of it, I could never. I'm not that pathetic." Kaida was a little taken aback by how triggered she had suddenly become. "It's just- it's just a reminder of how broken my life was, still is. I don't want you, or other people to look at this and treat me with pity."
"I won't," Kaida said quickly. "But I can't control other people."
"I know."
"This doesn't change anything between us, so please, don't hide anything from me." Seika didn't respond to that. Kaida continued her massage session for a while. Fortunately, Seika was finally looking at her, and not away. The look on her gaze didn't spell hopeful, however.
From then on, Seika always made sure to wear long sleeved clothing and wore cream or gloves to cover the scars on her hand.
—oOo—
Kaida's eyes cracked open and saw Yuto looking at something in the distance, gripping her hand. She was lying on something soft and saw Ruri right above her. Her head was in her lap.
"R-Ruri?" Kaida moaned. Yuto's head jerked around and his face looked extremely relieved.
"Kaida!" he gasped. "Are you okay?" She coughed and sat up, her lower back was numb. "Shun! Rio! She's awake!" Yuto called.
"Oh…" Kaida almost fell when a wave of dizziness hit, but Ruri kept her steady.
"Easy, Kaida," she said. She heard footsteps and two other people made themselves known.
"Shun…" Kaida murmured. "Ruri... Rio? How- Where did you come from? How did you find us?" She tried to stand up, but stumbled again. She also noticed that he was wearing a long blue coat. Ruri and Rio were also adorning black cloaks.
"Hi, Kaida," Rio greeted softly. All three of them looked worn out and dirty. Bits of dirt and ash covered their faces.
"The fire burned your back," Yuto explained. "I went into one of the houses that were still standing and managed to find some ointment to clean it. It isn't that bad, only a small part actually got burned." Kaida felt a piece of cloth around her waist. A burn. She scoffed inwardly at the irony of that.
"Let's get out of here. Those people might check this area again soon," Shun said. Him and Yuto put Kaida's arms around them and lifted her to her feet. They looked toward the battle in the distance, the intensity seemed to have decreased a little, but it was very much still there.
"Wait-" Kaida muttered. "How did you even find us? Where are our parents?"
"Your parents decided to stop at Spade Branch so we could talk to Rio," Ruri explained. "That's when- it all started. We got separated in the chaos. I'm sorry, we don't know what happened to them. They-they may have been-" She choked out, unable to finish.
"Damn it," Yuto growled softly. He was also staring at what remained of their home. Their precious home. Where they had grown up and lived their lives.
"So, we decided to come here to find you two. Luckily, we were right. We found Yuto trying to wake you up after your house exploded," Rio explained.
"What about your family?" Kaida asked anxiously.
"...They're probably gone. Our home is near the Diamond Branch which is where the attack first began," Rio smiled painfully. "They completely destroyed the Diamond and Hearts campuses. I don't know what the casualties are like, but I assume it's quite a lot. Only Spade and Clover are still standing. We heard some resistance was being formed and they're trying to establish a safe zone there."
"They destroyed the Hearts campus?!" Yuto and Kaida exclaimed together. "B-but how? They're the strongest we have!"
"It must be a special squad," Shun speculated. "Some squad on par with Hearts duelists. Even if the campus was destroyed, it was closed for some special event. Hopefully, there are a good number of Hearts duelists who survived. I was able to get in contact with Kaito. He told us that he brought his family to Clover Branch where he and a number of their duelists are out there trying to protect those who can't fight. They're trying to link up with Spade duelists and survivors of Diamond and Hearts. Dr. Tenjo and his colleagues are trying to figure out how we can defend and sustain ourselves. He asked us to join him, but we wanted to find you guys first."
"Have you- have you seen what these people have done?" Kaida asked. "With this… carding thing?"
"Yes!" she flinched at the sheer rage in Shun's voice. "I've seen what these Fusion users have done to our people!" His eyes were narrowed and staring hatefully toward the giant robots.
"Did you know you can duel them?"
"Apparently," Shun replied. "But it's not really helping that much, they're still destroying our city! They're utterly crushing us," He balled his fist. "The military couldn't do anything to them."
"Have you dueled?"
"Of course not. I'm not putting Ruri in danger. We simply avoided them as much as we could," Shun replied.
"We did though," Kaida murmured, they stared at her in shock. "We dueled a trio of them after- after…"
"They got the baker and his family," Yuto finished for her. "...even his daughter. We saw with our own eyes." He pulled out the cards he had picked up and showed them and Ruri covered her mouth in shock, tears brimming in her eyes. "They forced us into a duel, saying it was the only way we could survive. We dueled them and won."
"You won?!" Rio's eyes were wide.
"They weren't even that good. Probably the lackeys," Yuto said. "They were likely sent to deal with the people who don't duel, while their more elite… soldiers went to take out the duelists."
"We need to help them," Kaida grunted, beginning to feel twitchy. "I saw one of Naoya's monsters battling. If he's dueling, then I assume there are others as well."
"You always hated Naoya, I didn't think you would be so eager to help him," Rio raised an eyebrow.
Kaida scoffed, "He's not a bad person. He's still a jerk, but his skill is no joke. There's a reason he's ranked second in the Hearts Branch. The only people stronger are Kaito…. And him." There was silence for a few seconds.
"He's not here isn't he?" Shun muttered.
"Last I heard, he's not due back for another week, but he's probably heard about this by now," Kaida said.
"Do you think he's coming to help us?" Rio asked.
"I don't know!" Kaida answered, sounding quite frustrated. "He's so complicated, I could never understand what kind of person he is. I wonder if Seika knew..." Her eyes widened. The three of them looked at her worriedly. "Forget it. There's nothing I can do about her now." Kaida quickly changed the topic. She didn't want to reveal yet that Seika had a connection to these Fusion people. "The world is ending. We just have to focus on surviving."
"The world… is ending?" Ruri repeated.
"The world is ending, because Yuto got angry," Kaida narrowed her eyes at her brother. "If something is bad enough to piss him off, then we're in for some really tough times." She looked at them determinedly. "Come on, we have to help our people. We have to defend our home."
"I agree with you… but I'm not letting Ruri duel," Shun glared at his sister. Ruri narrowed her eyes and pushed her face close to her brother's. Neither Rio nor Yuto seemed to protest to that. They didn't have the courage to argue with Shun whenever it came to Ruri.
"...Let her decide, she's old enough to choose for herself," Kaida replied, seeing as she was the only one Shun couldn't scare.
"I'm a duelist Shun. I might not be the strongest or the best, but I can duel. I have the ability to protect myself. To protect others!" Ruri declared. "Dueling shouldn't be used for war or violence, it should be used to have fun, to entertain!" Kaida looked at the girl in confusion. Where the hell did that come from? I've never heard that from her.
"I have to fight, but I can't let you out of my sight," Shun groaned and ran his hand down his face. "Fine, but make sure you stay with us. In the case that we get separated, I want you to run to safety, or look for someone that you know. Like Kaito, Allen, or Saya, just someone!… Understand?!" Both siblings shared a deep glare with each other, until Ruri relented.
"Okay," she finally said. "Thank you, Shun."
Kaida began to feel twitchy and jumped back onto her feet. She stretched her body and felt some cracks from the pressure being relieved.
"I'm fine now," Kaida narrowed her eyes. "Let's go. There's nothing left for us here." They equipped their duel disks and headed towards Spade Branch.
The five of them made their way to meet up and possibly help out their fellow duelists. They were feeling a lot better now that they were with each other. They were approaching a shopping district. The other side of the street had heavy fighting and dueling going on. Monsters battled each other in the distance.
"Wait!" Yuto said. He ran into a sporting store nearby.
"Go," Shun urged Kaida. "Go find something that you can easily cover yourself with. It's better if we can hide ourselves as much as we can." She saw how he, Ruri, and Rio were wearing similar garbs of clothing.
"O-okay," Kaida followed after Yuto. She carefully threaded over the broken glass and looked over the mess of selections.
Eventually Yuto emerged with nothing but a black cloak around his shoulders. Kaida came out soon after, wearing a high-collared black sleeveless vest. She had rolled up her jacket sleeves, leaving her arms exposed, something that she usually preferred. She used a black hair band to keep her bangs away from her face. Her white pants were all torn up from the duel and the explosion, but she had taken bandages she had found to bind them together. The actual whiteness was almost unrecognizable because of all the dust and ash covering them. That wouldn't be a problem. She had also wrapped the bandages over her arms and hands. Dueling didn't have to be everything. She had other ways of fighting besides her cards. All five of them were also gripping several bags of medical supplies, seeing the store also had a small medical section.
"Ready," Kaida said and they continued moving.
"This way!" Shun called to a mother and her child who were running the opposite direction they were going. "Go to Spade Branch! There's a safe zone there!"
"What safe zone? That's where all the fighting is! I lost my husband there!" The woman didn't comply and kept running.
"No! Wait!" Shun started to run after her, but the building next to them collapsed, making them fall to the ground. Shun had to step back to avoid being crushed by the rubble.
"Shun!" Yuto pulled him back just in time. There was a beam of purple light that shot through the area where the building collapsed. It engulfed the woman and her child and they were turned into cards. "Go! Go!" Yuto yelled, as Shun stood there wide eyed, looking at where the mother and child last stood. One of the giants was approaching.
"COME ON!" Ruri grabbed Shun's arm and they kept running.
"We need to take out those giants!" Kaida said.
"Yes," Rio agreed. "We need to find the duelists controlling them." Battles carried on above them. Most notable were the several mech monsters squaring off against a group of Antique Gear giants.
"Naoya's got his work cut out for him," Rio remarked. Just then, a glowing dragon, with sparkling wings shot up into the sky and blasted one of the giants with a beam of pure white energy.
"Galaxy-Eyes!" Ruri pointed up at the dragon. "Kaito's here!"
But the next thing they saw shocked them. One of the giants seemed to bend down and rust, like it was being weakened.
Then a large, wispy, dragon-like monster was summoned to the field. Despite its form, it had a wolf-like face and paws. It wore red ropes and some sort of red shoulder piece.
"Is that Ryu Okami?" Shun's jaw dropped. "Is he- Is it actually him?"
"You said he's out of town!" Rio stared at Kaida.
"...He is! Well, he's supposed to be!" Kaida exclaimed. Did he come back early? Or did he lie?
The wolf dragon breathed in and shot out a beam of white energy that obliterated the giant. The destruction of several more giants by Naoya's mech monsters followed.
"They actually destroyed them!" Ruri said in awe.
"So they definitely can be defeated," Yuto observed. He looked at Shun. "We need to tread carefully, Shun. If you get into a duel with someone with the same archetype as those giants, you have to be very careful during the Battle Phase. They use effects that shut down Spells and Traps during battle."
"I see…" Shun narrowed his eyes.
Then, a shadow began to loom over there and the group looked up with wide eyes. The giant from before was following them. Out of the corner of her eye, Kaida noticed another Academia soldier, this time wearing some sort of red uniform. The giant began powering up another shot. The energy build up seemed to take up more time than usual.
"To the side! To the side!" Kaida yelled, throwing her bags to the side. She tackled Ruri, who was closest to her, to the ground. Yuto, Shun, and Rio had to dive the other way, just as the monster shot a massive beam of energy that dragged itself into the ground and right through the Heartland Tower. The residual energy exploded, splitting the group even farther away from each other, and forming a giant trench between them. Kaida looked up just in time to watch their precious monument, the utopic tower of Heartland collapse. The tower felt like it was dragging their hopes and dreams down with it. Almost, all of their hopes and dreams, because that happened.
"Ruri!" Kaida slowly got off of the girl and rested on he elbows, trying to catch her breath. Ruri coughed and pushed the strands of hair away from her face. Her hair had become undone in the chaos. "Are you okay?" All of the stuff they had just taken were now spilled all over the ground.
"I'm fine," Ruri wiped the dirt from her face. "Thank you for saving me, Kaida."
"Come on! We need to go now!" Kaida looked back at the approaching monster and its duelist. She would've liked to get into a duel with him, but that monster would probably get her before she could get him.
Then he came. The Academia duelist suddenly paused his walk and stared in confusion. Kaida and Ruri followed his gaze to see a tall young man with short black hair with a gradient shade that turned purple and blue near the edges, striding toward them. He wore black pants, some dark blue multi-sport jacket that was unzipped, revealing a black formal shirt underneath. He adorned a dark gray duel disk with the same body as theirs. His walk, his stride, his posture, his composure. It all seemed to add up to someone who knew he could do anything. He knew he could win. He knew himself and so he could bring his greatest potential. Despite how platonic his expression was, his most intriguing trait were his silver eyes. Not gray like Kaida's or Yuto's. Silver. Striking silver. A striking silver that felt like it could shoot an arrow through you in an instant just by having them gaze on you. Kaida felt like she was forced to look at them. If she looked away, something might happen.
It's him! It's-it's really him!
Once Kaida could make sure she wasn't hallucinating, she felt like a massive pressure had been relieved from her chest. None of the animosity she usually felt for him was there. One single thought ran through her mind.
We're saved.
In a situation so bleak. A thought like that was a simple testament to how powerful he was.
His name: Kyoko Ohtori. The first rank in Heartland and strongest duelist in the world. However, his strength was so monumental, so far above everyone else, even the other aces like Kaito and Shun, that he was given a different moniker to solidify his utter crushing dominance.
The King of Hearts.
Duel Summary
Battle Royale: Yuto Kurorai/Kaida Kurorai vs Academia trio
(because Kaida's card effects keep changing ATK/DEF, I will not include every single change)
[Turn 1: Yuto]
Normal Summons The Phantom Knights of Dusty Robe. Then uses Silent Boots' effect to Special Summon it. Overlays both of them to Xyz Summon The Phantom Knights of Break Sword. Sets two cards. Ends turn.
[Turn 2: Academia 1]
Draws. Normal Summons Antique Gear Hound Dog. Uses its effect to burn 600 to Yuto.
Yuto: 4000 – 600 → 3400 LP
Plays Antique Gear Tank and equips to Hound Dog. Gains 600 ATK.
Antique Gear Hound Dog: 1000 + 600 = 1600 ATK
Attacks Kaida directly.
Kaida: 4000 – 1600 → 2400 LP
Sets two cards. Turn End.
[Turn 3: Academia 3]
Draws. Normal Summons Antique Gear Hound Dog. Uses effect to deal burn 600 to Yuto.
Yuto: 3400 – 600 → 2800 LP.
Activates Fusion, to fuse Hound Dog in hand and field to Summon Double Antique Gear Double Bite Hound Dog. Activates Antique Gear Tank and Castle.
Antique Gear Hound Dog: 1600 + 300 = 1900 ATK
Antique Gear Double Bite Hound Dog: 1400 + 600 + 300 = 2300 ATK
Uses Double Bite to attack Kaida directly. Kaida responds by Special Summoning Tsukuyomiko Rhinoshield in Defense Position and adds Lynxseeker to her hand. Fails to destroy Rhinoshield. Academia 2 sets one card facedown and ends turn.
[Turn 4: Kaida] (ah shit here we go)
Normal Summons Zoodiac Marmorat, and uses its effect to send Thoroughblade to the GY, then Special Summons Foxheart. Foxheart negates Double Bite Dog's effects. Special Summons Sheepskin. Activates Elemental Triangle to destroy Rhinoshield to Special Summon Rabinna. Overlays Sheepskin to summon Lyca. Overlays Lyca to summon Drancia. Uses Drancia's effect to destroy Academia 1's Hound Dog. Antique Gear Tank deals 600 damage.
Kaida: 2400 – 600 → 1800 LP
Overlays Marmorat to summon Bullhorn. Uses Bullhorn's effect to add Viper to her hand. Overlays Bullhorn to summon Tigress. Overlays Rabinna and Foxheart to summon Tsukuyomiko Dragonfist. Special Summons Lynxseeker from her hand. Lynxseeker gives all Beast/Beast-Warrior monsters 100 ATK/100 DEF for each OU. Dragonfist gains 100 ATK/100 DEF for every Beast/Beast-Warrior on the field. Uses Tigress' effect to target Thoroughblade in the GY and attach it to Drancia. Overlays Drancia and Tigress to summon Mukzoodiac Wereclaw. Wereclaw gains Zoodiac OUs' ATK/DEF. Uses Viper to attach itself to Wereclaw as OU.
Mukzoodiac Wereclaw: 2000 + 1200 + 1600 = 4800 ATK; 1500 + 1000 + 0 = 2500 DEF
Uses Dragonfist's effect to target Double Bite Dog and gain its DEF as ATK
Tsukuyomiko Dragonfist: 2700 + 1000 = 3700 ATK
Academia 1 activates Spark Shot and Reborn. Resurrects Hound Dog in Defense Position. Hound Dog gains attack from Reborn and Castle.
Antique Gear Hound Dog: 1000 + 300 + 200 = 1500 ATK
Spark Shot deals half of Hound Dog's ATK as damage to Kaida.
Kaida: 1800 – (1500 / 2) → 1050 LP
Kaida declares Battle Phase.
Tsukuyomiko Dragonfist: 3700 ATK/2400 DEF
Mukzoodiac Wereclaw: 5300 ATK/2500 DEF
Kaida attacks Academia 3 directly with Dragonfist and finishes him off with Lynxseeker.
Academia 3: 4000 – 3700 – 800 → 0 LP
Kaida attacks Academia 1's Hound Dog with Wereclaw. Wereclaw can deal piercing damage due Thoroughblade's effect.
Academia 1: 4000 – 4300 → 0 LP
Ends Battle Phase. Uses Wereclaw's effect to draw two cards. Wereclaw loses 100 ATK/100 DEF. Sets two cards. Turn End.
[Turn 5: Yuto]
Draws. Activates Break Sword's effect to destroy itself and Academia 2's facedown. Academia 2 activates facedown to summon Hound Dog from GY in Defense Position. Gains 200 and 300 ATK. Break Sword lets him summon back Dusty Robe and Silent Boots and their levels are increased by one. Special Summons Fragile Armor. Activates Lost Vambrace and targets Fragile Armor to make it Level 2. Overlays Lost Vambrace and Fragile Armor to summon Cursed Javelin. Overlays Dusty Robe and Silent Boots to summon Dark Rebellion. Academia 2 puts Gear Counter on Dark Rebellion. Activates Dark Rebellion's effect twice on Double Bite Hound Dog. Activates Kunai with Chain and equips to Dark Rebellion. Dark Rebellion gains another 500 ATK.
Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon: 2500 + (2300 / 2) + (1150 / 2) + 500 = 4725 ATK
Activates Cursed Javelin's effect to negate Double Bite Hound Dog's effects and reduce its attack to 0. Attacks Academia 2 directly with Dark Rebellion.
Academia 2: 4000 – 4725 → 0 LP
Winner: Yuto Kurorai/Kaida Kurorai
Card Terminal:
To keep the spirit of there being 12 normal Zoodiac monsters (Mukzoodiac are not normal), I've decided to create a new archetype called the "Tsukuyomiko." The name comes from Tsukuyomi, the Japanese moon god, and miko, the Shinto shrine maidens. I used miko to try and reference the animals as guardians of the moon. I wanted to use something from Chinese mythology because Zoodiac, Zodiac, you know… But I was dissatisfied by the names I came up with, so I didn't. I'm more familiar with Japanese than Chinese either way. If anyone knows or is familiar with Chinese and you think you have a good name for the archetype, go ahead and suggest it and tell me what it means and why. However, "Tsukuyomiko" is probably set in stone, I quite like the name. It would also be a bit awkward to change it after I've published this chapter.
Anyway, they are all essentially Level 4 LIGHT Beast monsters that can be used by themselves and have some support for the Zoodiacs. I'm using "Zoodiac" as the archetype name, but I'm using the cards' OCG names. The reason for this is because the OCG archetype name is "of the Twelve Zodiac Beasts." It just doesn't hit right for me and it's also a pain to type, since I write on my phone a lot. Mukzoodiac is gonna cause me balancing issues, but we'll see. The "muk" in Mukzoodiac comes from the Japanese world "muko." (I don't actually know Japanese, but I did my best to research the right word). Which essentially means something along the lines of "beyond." Wereclaw is not a normal animal, it is beyond normality if that makes sense.
If you're curious about the weapons wielded by the Zoodiacs, check out the Yugipedia page on the Zoodiac archetype. That's how I found out.
There are several archetypes in this story that I think I'll have a lot of fun making custom cards for, because I can crossover my other interests with that archetype's theme. For example, and this isn't really a big spoiler, but I'm a casual fan of the Fate series and the whole thing where you bring together famous historical and mythological figures fits so well with Reiji's deck. Imagine like a D/D/D Sun King Karna or something like that.
Anime vs TCG/OCG
The Phantom Knights of Dusty Robe – TCG effect
The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots – TCG effect
The Phantom Knights of Break Sword – TCG effect
Antique Gear Hound Dog – later anime effect
Antique Gear Double Bite Hound Dog – anime only
Antique Gear Spark Shot – anime only (worded weirdly, so let's just say it's the first monster in the chain)
The Phantom Knights of Lost Vambrace – TCG effect
The Phantom Knights of Cursed Javelin – TCG effect
Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon – anime effect, but without Level 5 restriction (I personally don't care about this Level 5 thing the Dimension Dragons have. I just find it weird that Yuto has this restriction when he lives in a place where everyone uses RANK monsters)
Custom Cards
I started a Tumblr blog, so I'll also post the effects there. More information in End Notes.
Tsukuyomiko Rhinoshield
Light [Beast/Effect] ATK 1800 DEF 2200 L4
When your opponent declares a direct attack with: Special Summon this card in Defense Position. Cannot be destroyed the turn it is summoned. When this card is Special Summoned: set one "Tsukuyomiko" or "Zoodiac" Spell/Trap from your Deck or add one "Tsukuyomiko" or "Zoodiac" monster from your Deck to your hand. You can only use each effect of "Tsukuyomiko Rhinoshield" once per turn.
Tsukuyomiko Foxheart
Light [Beast/Effect] ATK 1200 DEF 1000 L4
Once per turn, when a Beast or Beast-Warrior monster is sent to the graveyard: you can Special Summon this card (from your hand or graveyard). When this card is Special Summoned: you can target one card on the field; negate its effects for the rest of the turn. You can only use this effect of "Tsukuyomiko Foxheart" once per turn.
Tsukuyomiko Sheepskin
LIGHT [Beast/Effect] 1200 ATK/1000 DEF
If you control a Beast or Beast-Warrior monster: you can Special Summon this card (from your hand). You can only use this effect of "Tsukuyomiko Sheepskin" once per turn. This card can be treated as a "Zoodiac" card on the field, for the Xyz Summon and as an Xyz material of a "Zoodiac" monster.
Tsukuyomiko Lynxseeker
LIGHT [Beast/Effect] ATK 800 DEF 800 L4
Beast or Beast-Warrior Xyz Monsters you control gain 100 ATK/100 DEF for each Xyz material they have. When you Xyz Summon a Beast or Beast-Warrior monster: Special Summon this card (from your hand). When this card is sent to the graveyard: add one Beast or Beast-Warrior monster from your Deck to your hand. You can only use each effect of "Tsukuyomiko Lynxseeker" once per turn.
Tsukuyomiko Dragonfist
2 level 4 Beast or Beast-Warrior monsters
LIGHT [Beast/Xyz/Effect] 2300 ATK/2000 DEF R4
Gains 100 ATK/100 DEF for each Beast or Beast-Warrior monster on the field. Once per turn, you can detach one Xyz material: target one monster your opponent controls; this card gains ATK equal to the targeted monster's DEF until the end of the turn. If this card is destroyed, add one "Tsukuyomiko" card from your Deck to your hand. You can only use this effect of "Tsukuyomiko Dragonfist" once per turn.
Mukzoodiac Wereclaw
EARTH [Beast-Warrior/Xyz/Effect] 2000 ATK/1500 DEF R5
3 Level 5 monsters
Cannot be used as Xyz material for the Xyz Summon of a Rank 4 or lower 'Zoodiac' monster. You can also Xyz Summon "Mukzoodiac Wereclaw" by using 2 Rank 4 or lower Beast or Beast-Warrior Xyz Monsters with the same Rank as Xyz material (Xyz materials are transferred over) with different names, and cannot be "Mukzoodiac Wereclaw." This card gains ATK/DEF equal to the ATK/DEF of all "Zoodiac" monsters attached to it as material. During Main Phase 2, if this card dealt 2000 or more battle damage this turn: detach one Xyz material; you can draw one card for every 2000 damage dealt. You can only use each effect of "Mukzoodiac Wereclaw" once per turn.
We'll continue with the Xyz Dimension in the next chapter. In fact, in my original outline, the scene where they arrive at the Heartland Tower is literally the halfway point for what I initially planned for the chapter. I was like "screw it. I guess we're making this a two-parter."
Goddamn... I feel like I just completed a science project that barely holds together. Most of my trouble came from Kaida's turn in the Battle Royale. I spent three whole days on her turn for the planning part alone. The actual writing took over a week. I felt so good once I got back to Yuto. Not only was this my first real duel that I wrote (not counting Chapter 2), I also completely misunderstood and misjudged how the Zoodiac archetype worked. That was so stressful. I got so fucking annoyed when I kept losing track of what was happening in Kaida's turn, and I made a shitty google drawings to try simulate it, so I could see what was on her field. And that didn't help much because I had at least two card effects that changed the ATK/DEF of monsters that I had to keep adjusting whenever monsters detached Xyz material or left the field. If anyone sees a mistake with the ATK/DEF, please don't tell me to spare me the stress of fixing or rewriting it. Looking back on it, there are many different ways that it could have gone, but oh well, it was a good first try if I do say so myself.
That aside, what did you think of the duel overall? Kaida's deck is uh, pretty controversial the more I look at it. Well I already have a Tearlaments user, what can go wrong?
Looking at my notes, I'll enjoy writing Kaida, but holy shit will I hate doing her duels. Zoodiacs are such a pain to write. I think it was a stupid idea to make my first duel a fucking Battle Royale. I have experience in coding, so I have half a mind to try and make something to make it easier to track all the stats. If anyone has any advice on how I can write duels, please let me know!
As for Kyoko, I'll welcome any guesses for his deck ;).
So here we are at the beginning of the invasion of the Xyz Dimension. I was always interested in how the characters first reacted when Academia attacked, so I decided to write it from the start.
So why is this chapter mostly in Yuto's POV? I thought it be cool to start off with a Yu-boy, and Yuto is my favorite, so I went with that. Plus, I thought it was easier to introduce Kaida through him since she was losing her shit over Seika. I switched to her POV once Yuto lost his shit xD.
Kaida/Yuto are sort of like a reverse Yuya/Mika. That wasn't really intentional, but the reason why I did it is because I could never imagine Yuto as a "younger brother."
I finally got myself an AO3 account, also called AccurateGap1 (which is also my Wattpad name, in case you want to check out my shitty Fairy Tail fanfic that I'm currently rewriting), so I should have this story published there by the time this chapter comes out. Just letting you know, in case you prefer to read there for whatever reason. I always found AO3 a little confusing to traverse, that tag system looks like a nightmare, so I generally stuck to ffnet. The only reason I would go to AO3 is if I ran out of stories to read for a specific fandom. Now, the main reason why I'm doing this is to get more reviews and interactions. Apparently, ffnet is not very well liked so I'm probably missing out on a whole other audience lol. I still prefer ffnet because the main fandoms I read are still pretty active on it.
I'm also in the process in setting up a Tumblr for my fanfictions. I considered it in the past, but didn't think it was worth it. Then I saw other people like BlaiseCandall do it for their Six Dimensions fanfic, and realized that it worked out pretty well. So I'm going for it. The username is bluecorallite, and it is public so you can check it out right now if you want.
I'll also repost the card terminal to the blog and organize them together. I think that's where I'll also catalog my custom cards. I'm thinking of not including my custom cards' effects at all on this fanfic, and will instead just keep them on the Tumblr. What do you think? Is that fine with you? This document looks freaking messy lol.
Sorry for the long author note, but a lot of shit has been going in this chapter that I thought I should address. I'll try to keep these to a minimum and use the blog for anything extra I might want to say.
Review Responses -
BlaiseCandall (Chapter 4): Noted, I'll keep that in mind next time, sorry about that. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that Mika is your favorite, I can definitely see that. She is a pretty likable character. The reason she's so prominent right now is because she has some sort of connection to most of the OCs that will be introduced during the Standard Arc, so I'm basically using her to do that. She is an easy, likable character to get used to. I plan to have her take a backseat as the story goes on, so sorry if you might get disappointed by that (who knows things might change). She'll definitely get her own arc and personal conflict in tandem with Yuya, which I'm quite excited to write. You thought Seika was a Kashtira user? I thought I had a pretty good idea on what your theory was, and now I'm suddenly wondering if you forgot or missed a certain detail because that doesn't make any sense… Maybe, you can elaborate why you thought it was Kastira? Either way, I'm excited to reveal Seika's deck whenever that time comes. In fact, that's the thing I'm most excited to write about in this story I'm not going to lie. She does use a real archetype that exists, so I'll welcome more guesses. This chapter has probably answered some of your questions.
Noctovision Dragon (Chapter 4): I'm glad you're excited about that. I assure you there is more to the Visas users than just the name. Also, two Tear users? Where did you get that from? Mika is the only Tearlaments user. I'm not really focusing on balance here, but I don't think a level field is going to be an issue.
T.V. 2000 (Chapter 4): Thanks! I'm glad you like the chapters! I will say that Shinju will not be using Mannadium, you are correct. As for the Scareclaws, no, I'm not changing their Link monsters into Synchros. Instead, I'm replacing them entirely with a different archetype that will serve to act as Shinju's deck. Their role in the Visas storyline will mostly be the same as the Scareclaws. It's just easier to use a different archetype than change it. What that will be, you'll just have to wait and see :P. Yeah, you were basically spot on with your assumption about Seika. As for the Duel Terminal, I wasn't clear on this, but when I meant Duel Terminal lore, I meant that I'm adapting a specific storyline to this fic. I misunderstood how they named it. I won't say which storyline it is, otherwise it's probably going to spoil everything. Once I reveal even one of the main archetypes, everything will be out, so I have to tread carefully. Also the Visas lore has nothing to do with this, that is its own contained subplot. I'm not sure what "palenados" is, but I plan to give Yugo his own spotlight! He's definitely one of my top 3 favorites in ARC-V. I love the guy. I also have some familiarity with the Speedroids, since I used to play with them on the Dueling Nexus back in 2020. I won't answer any questions about future plot points (unless I feel like I have to address something) so you'll just have to wait and see.
Answer to the last QotD: It was Horimiya. Seika was reading Horimiya and was enamored by how carefree and happy it was. I recently watched the anime and read some of the manga and fucking loved it. It's a nice refresher from all those irritating romcoms where the male and female MCs are always getting into ridiculous arguments because they couldn't take 2 seconds to talk it out.
Question of the day: What's your favorite Xyz deck?
My favorite Xyz deck is the Galaxy-Eyes. Not only that, it's my favorite deck of all time. Seika's deck is a close second for me. I always had an interest in astronomy and space and stuff like that, which is why I loved the whole space battle theme that Zexal was based off of. I love Kaito (you can kind of see me projecting in this chapter lol) and I love Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon. It's by far my most summoned monster in Master Duel. Going off-topic a little, did anyone notice ARC-V was kind of a step down in production quality from Zexal? I always felt like Zexal looked much better with their animations and art. The biggest offender for me is the Xyz black hole, it looks like ass in ARC-V xD.
