Starting Notes:
Welcome back! I cannot say how fitting it is that this chapter is Chapter 13, of all numbers. You may notice that the Duel Summary looks a little different—and that's because this time, I wrote the Duel Summary first. This chapter also took me forever because I messed up the duel writing like four times, and scrapped the fifth version because I didn't like it. I think this one is fine though. Enjoy!
Chapter 13: Four Souls Awakened
In the end, Yuno didn't manage to find Sora on his own. However, while he was wandering around, his heart skipped a beat. He slowly pulled out his dragon from his Extra Deck, staring at it for a moment. There was a strange feeling in the air—he felt like it was electrified.
He didn't know how, but eventually, he found his way to Central Park—just in time to see Yuto and Yuya talking to each other angrily, with Sora nowhere in sight.
Well.
This could only go poorly.
Yuno revealed himself, clearing his throat. "He's not your enemy, Yuya," he said. Both of the boys with the same face immediately turned to him. Yuya looked surprised to see him there, while Yuto nodded in acknowledgement.
"Yuno," Yuto greeted. Yuya blinked in confusion. "I suppose that you were searching for Shiun'in too?"
"Yes," Yuno said. "You found him?"
"Yes. He was recalled back to Academia by his Duel Disk." Yuto gestured to Yuya. "I've been trying to tell him about the other dimensions, but he doesn't seem to trust me. Could you help? He seems to like you more."
"Sure."
"Wait, wait— Yuno, you know him?"
"I know, I know," Yuno replied, and Yuya rolled his eyes.
"I didn't mean to make a pun with your name! But uh—"
"Yes," Yuno said. "He's telling the truth, Yuya. He's Yuto Kamisoka of the Xyz Dimension—our Xyz counterpart."
"Counterpart?" Yuya frowned, before he seemed to grasp onto the important word in that sentence. "'Our'? Yuno, do you mean…"
Yuno raised a hand to his face, unhooking the mask from his ears, showing off his full face to Yuya for the first time, smiling brightly. "I've been hiding my face for your sake for a few weeks now, Yuya!" He teased. "I've forgotten what it feels like to breathe fresh oxygen at this point."
Yuya looked like he was about to pass out. "You have the same face as me," he stuttered.
"Same face, and a dragon," Yuno said with a nod. He touched his chain links. "Yuno Sugisaki of the Link Dimension. Your Link doppelganger."
"So that's why you're so good at Link Summoning!" Yuya frowned. "So, Yuto's telling the truth?"
"Yes," Yuno said. "The Fusion Dimension was hunting Miharu and I. We escaped and came here to protect ourselves. I know that it's hard to believe, but Sora truly was a part of Fusion. And now that he's gone back, none of us are safe. He will report you and Yuzu to the Professor too."
"Yuzu and I?" Yuya frowned. "But we have nothing to do with this! Why—"
"I see you now, you creepy bastard!"
Yuya's words were cut off by the sounds of loud motorcycle noises, and all three boys with the same face spun around, seeing a fourth person with the same face as them driving into the park. The newcomer stared at them, and Yuno stared back.
This was getting far too complicated, far too quickly.
"You!" The boy stood up. "Give Rin back!"
"You're the one that should give Ruri back," Yuto said tensely, stepping forward. "Yuno, Yuya, be careful. This is the Pawn of Fusion."
"I'm not Fusion, I'm Yugo!" 'Yugo' pressed his thumb to his chest. "And you're the creepy guy that kidnapped Rin!"
"Um," Yuya said, looking very lost and turning to Yuno.
"I have no clue either," Yuno said. Yuto and Yugo were still shouting at each other, and before the two of them started dueling, or worse, got into a fist fight, Yuno moved forward, putting a hand on both of their shoulders. "Hey. If you're not Fusion, you're the Synchro one, right? And you're Xyz, Yuto. Can the two of you please communicate before something terrible happens?"
"Tsk." Yugo folded his arms. "I know it has to be this guy! He has the same face as me!"
"... look at my face."
Yugo stared at Yuno. "... huh? You share my face too!" He looked over at Yuya. "And you, as well… geez! Why are there so many of you?"
"One per dimension," Yuto said in a clipped tone. "I get what you mean, Yuno. Are you saying that we mistook each other for the one that took them?"
"I think so," Yuno said. "Yugo, will you hear us out?"
Yugo shrugged, smiling widely. "Well, it won't be the weirdest thing today. This is like a fever dream… whatever. I guess I'll hear you out."
Yuto ended up being the one to explain the multiple dimensions and the war taking place. After all, Yuya had only just learned about all of this, and Yuno admittedly didn't know as much as Yuto. After he was done, Yugo whistled. "Damn. So both of us had our closest friends kidnapped by the Fusion Dimension, huh?" He sighed. "Sorry that I misunderstood you, uh—"
"Yuto." Yuto cleared his throat. "I misunderstood you too. It's likely our Fusion counterpart that took them then." He held out a hand. "Come with us. We can work together, protect the ones that haven't been taken yet, and get Ruri and Rin back."
"... well," Yugo said with a chuckle. "I could use some allies—"
And then, the world shook. Yuno's heart thudded painfully in his chest as a terrible headache overcame him, causing him to collapse to the ground. The other three didn't seem to be feeling any better, judging from the agony on their faces. From the deepest part of Yuno's mind, a voice began to speak, echoing and hurting him more and more with each word.
"Four fragments in one place, and yet not a single one of you will fight? How unacceptable."
Four screams entwined in the park, shadows creeping around the four boys.
"Very well. I suppose I will have to do it myself."
"... you are Yuzu Hiiragi, correct?"
Yuzu looked to her left. Miharu Kogami was looking at her, blonde hair far more put together than Yuzu's hair. After all, Yuzu had been running around for around twenty minutes at this point. "Yes," she said. "Have you seen Sora anywhere?"
"Sora Shiun'in?" Miharu shrugged. "Yuno said that he was looking for him, and that we might be in danger."
"Oh." Yuzu wasn't really sure how to talk to her. The blonde girl looked at her, and then she sighed. She pulled up her duel disk, pressing a few buttons to pull up a screen.
"I have a tracking program in Yuno and Yut—another friend's duel disk. They were both searching for Shiun'in. If they're in the same spot, they've found him." Miharu pulled up a map. "... they're both in Central Park and not moving. He should be there."
"Yuya went to Central Park," Yuzu said. "Alright. Thank you, Kogami-san—"
She froze.
Her bracelet had begun to glow slowly, thrumming with light. At the same time, on Miharu's wrist, hidden by the ribbon that she had tied there, was the same glow.
It could be a coincidence, but…
Yuzu had a sinking feeling in her heart. Yuya was in trouble, wasn't he?
"Yuno," Miharu muttered. She spun around, beginning to run towards Central Park. Yuzu ran after her, with the same sinking feeling. However, they were around half the city away, and a few minutes in, Miharu was panting, considering that she was wearing a cloth mask while running, so she was certainly lacking air. Yuzu was worried for her, but seconds after she noticed the problem, Miharu lifted a hand and ripped the mask from her face—
Revealing a face that was exactly the same as Yuzu's own.
"Um—"
"Later," Miharu said tensely. "Yuno's in danger. I need to go to him now."
And well—even without any explanation, Yuzu instinctively understood.
If Yuto wanted to protect Ruri, that girl that looked so much like her, in the same way that Yuya wanted to protect her—
Then Miharu wanted to protect Yuno, just like how Yuzu wanted to protect Yuya.
So she followed.
In another world:
"What the… hell is this?" Yuri clutched at his heart in pain—it felt like some part of him was being torn to shreds, far away from him. "Oi, what the hell—"
Had he been poisoned? Had an assassin snuck in?
Then, he looked up as another figure staggered into his garden. Yuji Fujita glared at him, his own eyes emitting a faint glow.
"What the hell is this?" Yuji demanded.
Yuri shook his head. "I have no clue," he said. "If I had to guess… one of our counterparts has done something stupid!"
As their bracelets glowed, both Ruri and Rin looked at them with some surprise.
"Yuto…"
"Yugo…"
Chiaki glanced at her own bracelet, which was not glowing.
What was going on here? Did that mean that Yuji, at the very least, was safe from whatever supernatural thing was happening?
In the Standard Dimension:
"Who cares about your alliances?" Yugo was the first one to speak up again, his voice animalistic. He opened his eyes, and they were glowing with an eerie green light. His pupils were invisible due to the bright light. "I'll tear each of you apart—each and every one of you!"
"That's fine by me!" Yuto barked back. "I'll be the one that tears the rest of you apart!"
Yuno and Yuya didn't say anything, just raising up their duel disks in response. All of their eyes were glowing in the same way—an eerie light consuming them completely.
[DUEL!]
Yugo: 4000LP
Yuto Kamisoka: 4000LP
Yuya Sakaki: 4000LP
Yuno Sugisaki: 4000LP
[Turn 1: Yugo] [H:5]
"I'll start," Yugo growled. "And since I control no monsters, I'll Special Summon Speedroid Terrortop from my hand!" In front of him, a row of red tops appeared, spinning around rapidly, with black bat-like wings as structures at the sides of the red tops. The spinning caused them to appear like blurry discs.
[Speedroid Terrortop (3*/1200/600/WIND/Machine/Effect)]
"And now, I'll Normal Summon Speedroid Tri-Eyed Dice!" He shouted. A blue pyramid-like dice appeared—it was a typical four-sided dice, except that three of the faces of the die were red eyes with a vaguely Egyptian theme, and the bottom face was empty, with fire emerging from it like a rocket flying through the air. Around it, three small black spheres, even smaller than the large red eyes on the dice, appeared. They were glowing with a golden light.
[Speedroid Tri-Eyed Dice (3*/300/1500/WIND/Machine/Tuner/Effect)]
"I'll shred all three of you to pieces!" Yugo snarled. "Tuning the Level 3 Tri-Eyed Dice to the Level 3 Terrortop! Magical sword with the form of a cross. Use your power to rend all enemies! Synchro Summon! Appear now! Level 6! Hi-Speedroid Kendama!" Another machine appeared, made entirely out of blue metal, clearly meant to resemble a sideways kendama. The 'top' of the kendama was instead a head sideways on the stick, and the longer part of the stick beneath the ball was a sharp, bright sword.
[Hi-Speedroid Kendama (6*/2200/1600/WIND/Machine/Synchro/Effect)]
"Kendama's effect! I can banish a Machine monster from the graveyard to inflict 500 damage to you! Brutal Swing!" Kendama flew forward, directly slamming against Yuto's side, causing him to let out a pained grunt.
Yuto: 4000 - 500 = 3500LP
"And that's for standing in my way!" Yugo raised a fist in the air. "Whatever you do, I'm going to destroy you all! I'll end my turn there!"
"Destroy us?" Yuto said, his voice sounding far too calm to be anything but deadly. Even so, his eyes burned with the same light as the rest. "And who has the right to do that except for us? I'll be the one to destroy you, and you are the one that will become one with me."
[Turn 2: Yuto] [H:5]
"I will start by Normal Summoning The Phantom Knights of Ragged Gloves!" Yuto called. In front of him, the two black gloves that were surrounded by blue fire appeared.
[The Phantom Knights of Ragged Gloves (3*/1000/500/DARK/Warrior/Effect)]
"And since I control a "The Phantom Knights" monster, I can Special Summon The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots from my hand!" He summoned the blue spirit that was dressed in worn leather, its dark blue eyes being simple dots that stared forward aimlessly as it floated through the air.
[The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots (3*/200/1200/DARK/Warrior/Effect)]
"And I'll overlay the Level 3 Silent Boots and Ragged Gloves!" Yuto declared. "Souls of knights who fell on the battlefield. Revive here and now, and become the light that breaks the darkness! Xyz Summon! Appear! Rank 3! The Phantom Knights of Break Sword!" The knight on horseback appeared, blue fire flaring up around it. It shook, and it let out a soft laugh, after a moment—despite having no head, simply being a dullahan, it was clearly amused.
[The Phantom Knights of Break Sword (R3/2000/1000/DARK/Warrior/Xyz/Effect) (OU:2)]
"Break Sword gains 1000 attack points, since Ragged Gloves was used to Xyz Summon it," Yuto said sternly.
[The Phantom Knights of Break Sword: 2000 + 1000 = 3000ATK]
"I will then have Break Sword attack your Kendama! Phantom Sword!" Break Sword charged forward, and Yugo let out a snarl.
"You think you'll win that easily? I won't let you take an inch! By banishing Speedroid Tri-Eyed Dice from the graveyard, I'll negate your attack!" The sword clashed against a bright green barrier that appeared in front of Kendama, stopping it from being cut to pieces. Yuto glared, before he gestured to Break Sword.
"Main Phase 2. Break Sword's effect. Once per turn, I can detach an Overlay Unit from him and target a card you control, as well as a card I control. Then, I'll destroy both! I will choose Break Sword itself and your Kendama!" Shadows consumed both monsters. "Mutual Destruction!"
Both monsters on their field exploded.
"I will then activate Break Sword's effect. I will revive Silent Boots and Ragged Gloves, and increase their Levels by 1! Phantom Resurrection!" The two monsters reappeared on the field in front of him.
[The Phantom Knights of Ragged Gloves: 3* + 1* = 4*]
[The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots: 3* + 1* = 4*]
"Two Level 4 monsters…" Yuya murmured, seeming dazed.
"Good," Yuno said sharply. "Bring it out so that I can destroy it. The symbol of your power… I will crush it underfoot!"
"As if anyone could be allowed to destroy my pride!" Yuto flung out a hand. "Overlaying the Level 4 Ragged Gloves and Silent Boots! Formed from pitch-black darkness, to fight those foolish enough to oppose it with its treacherous fangs! Now, descend! Xyz Summon! Rank 4! Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon!"
The dark dragon surrounded by lightning appeared. At the same time, Yuno, Yuya and Yugo all doubled over in pain. Yuto was clearly in pain too, but not to the same degree as the others.
[Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon (R4/2500/2000/DARK/Dragon/Xyz/Effect) (OU:2)]
"Dark Rebellion gains 1000 attack points, since Ragged Gloves was used as its Xyz Material," Yuto said.
[Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon: 2500 + 1000 = 3500ATK]
"I'll set three cards facedown and end my turn," Yuto continued. "Now come on! Let's all break each other, until not a single one of our souls is left!"
"As if." Yuya looked up again, his gaze sharpening. "I will be the one to destroy the three of you!"
[Turn 3: Yuya] [H:5]
"I'll set the Scale 1 Performapal Monkeyboard in the Pendulum Scale!" In the left Pendulum Scale, a pink-brown monkey in a blue top hat with a yellow ribbon appeared, standing on top of a orange ball. Its teeth were made of piano keys. "And with its effect, once per turn, I can add a Level 4 or lower "Performapal" monster to my hand. I will add the Scale 8 Performapal Odd-Eyes Light Unicorn to my hand and set it in the Pendulum Scale."
On the other side of the Pendulum Scale, a rather playful-looking light green unicorn with a fluffy pink mane and tail appeared, with a sharp blue horn on its forehead.
"With this Pendulum Scale, I can Pendulum Summon monsters from Level 1 to Level 7! Now, swing, pendulum of souls! Draw an arc of light across the aether! Pendulum Summon! Come! My monster servants! First, Performapal Silver Claw!" A grey wolf with orange stars on its cheeks appeared, dark blue fur around its neck like a scarf, with some loose chains hanging off it. "Second, Performapal Trump Girl!" A pink-skinned, small girl with a dark pink hat appeared, cheerfully twirling around with a wand in her hand, before she looked back at Yuya and balked, hiding next to Silver Claw, further away from him. "And finally! Appear! Wondrous and beautiful dichromatic eyes! Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" Yuya's ace appeared, a red dragon with extremely sharp-looking scales, its eyes being different colours and surrounded by shadows.
[Performapal Silver Claw (4*/S5/1800/700/DARK/Beast/Pendulum/Effect)]
[Performapal Trump Girl (2*/S4/200/200/DARK/Spellcaster/Pendulum/Effect)]
[Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon (7*/S4/2500/2000/DARK/Dragon/Pendulum/Effect)]
The moment that Odd-Eyes appeared, the shadows intensified around them, and Yuno and Yugo both let out pained sounds. Dark Rebellion and Odd-Eyes roared at each other loudly, even as Yuto and Yuya stared at each other for a moment.
"So you brought out your monster," Yuto said. "But you will never defeat my Dark Rebellion—it is far stronger than your monster."
"Fool," Yuya said with cold contempt in his voice—an emotion that Yuya Sakaki himself had certainly never felt. "Do not apply your foolish hopes to my dueling. I will use the effect of Performapal Trump Girl. I will perform a Fusion Summon using her and Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon! Winds, pick up and destroy all that would lie in front of me! Fusion Summon! Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon!" A primarily green dragon appeared, with four white and gold wings that looked like a wind turbine's blades. Winds and lightning stirred around it—it was truly a dragon of the storm. Shadows were swirling around it for a moment, before they subsided.
[Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon (7*/2500/3000/WIND/Dragon/Fusion/Effect)]
"So you created a new dragon with your own power?" Yuto scoffed. "It still won't be enough."
"When Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon is Special Summoned, I can return an Attack Position monster to the hand! I will choose Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon!" Yuya spat out the dragon's name with a look of disgust. "Remove that card from my sight! Winds of Calamity!" Winds picked up, and every monster on the field seemed to tremble.
Yuto gestured with a hand, flipping over his set card. "I will activate my Set card, Phantom Knights' Fog Blade! By targeting your Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon, I can negate its effects, stop it from attacking, and it cannot be selected as an attack target!"
"You have no right to stop me!" Yuya glared at Yuto fiercely. "Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon's other effect! Once per turn, if you activate a Spell or Trap Card, or another monster's effect, I can shuffle a Pendulum Monster from my Extra Deck into the Deck to negate that effect and destroy that card! I will shuffle Performapal Trump Girl into the Extra Deck! Forbidding Gale!" Vortex Dragon roared again, though not with the same hostility as Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. Fog Blade shattered a second later, and Yuto grimaced. "The effect continues!" Dark Rebellion was swept up by the same winds, sent back to Yuto's Extra Deck.
"To think that you would take out my Dark Rebellion with such a cheap method…"
"And you're finished," Yuya said, sounding rather deadly. "Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon attacks you directly. And with the effect of Performapal Odd-Eyes Light Unicorn in the Pendulum Scale, I will increase Vortex Dragon's attack points by the attack points of a "Performapal" monster I control until the end of the Battle Phase! Glowing Assist!" Odd-Eyes Light Unicorn, despite looking very skittish, did as told, casting a bright light on both Silver Fang and Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon.
[Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon: 2500 + 1800 = 4300ATK]
"Crush him, Vortex Dragon! Tailwind Blast!"
"I'm not going down that easily! Trap Card, activate! The Phantom Knights of Wrong Magnetring! I will negate your attack and Special Summon it as a monster in Attack Position!" A large ring surrounded by purple energy and blue lightning appeared in front of Yuto, and Vortex Dragon flew back to Yuya, letting out a disappointed growl.
[The Phantom Knights of Wrong Magnetring (2*/0/0/DARK/Warrior)]
"Tsk. Then I suppose I've punished you enough," Yuya muttered. "I'll target you then, Synchro fragment! Performapal Silver Claw attacks! And when it does, all "Performapal" monsters I control gain 300 attack points! Silver Howl!" Silver Fang darted straight towards Yugo, who barely dodged its fangs.
[Performapal Silver Fang: 1800 + 300 = 2100ATK]
Yugo: 4000 - 2100 = 1900LP
"I will end my turn."
[Turn 4: Yuno] [H:5]
At this point, Miharu and Yuzu arrived in the park. Both of them were struck into silence by what was in front of them—four boys with the same face, all with eerie glowing eyes—and the same furious look on their face. Neither of them had seen this look before—not on Yuno's face, not on Yuya's face. Neither Yuno or Yuya would ever look at someone else with so much hatred. And what was that glowing light in their eyes?
"Yuya!" Yuzu stepped forward. At that point, both she and Miharu noticed that the silver bracelet she was wearing had begun to glow more intensely. Right, her bracelet teleported them away from each other, right? Yuzu held out her hand, wishing strongly for something to happen—for them to be separated again, before something awful happened. But even though the glow grew stronger, nothing happened. Instead, the four boys just seemed to get angrier, shadows forming around them.
"It's those hateful things again," Yugo said, his voice a snarl. "And that despicable look…"
Miharu stepped to Yuzu's side, holding out her hand, her bracelet glowing with the same light. Clearly, neither of them knew what was going on. Yuzu, however, was frightened.
"Yuno," Miharu called, her voice somewhat more gentle. "Snap out of it."
Yuno, ignoring them, started his turn as well. "I will Normal Summon Marincess Blue Tang," he said. The blue mermaid appeared in front of him, looking very intimidated by him.
[Marincess Blue Tang (4*/1500/1200/WATER/Cyberse/Effect)]
"I will use Blue Tang's effect, and send a "Marincess" monster from my deck to the graveyard."
"I will activate the effect of Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon and shuffle Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon back into my deck!" Yuya shouted. "I'll negate your effect and destroy your monster—Forbidding Gale!" Winds stirred up, destroying Blue Tang—and yet, Yuno was unfazed.
"This is why you're the weakest one," he hissed out. Yuzu saw Miharu flinch. "Impulsive. Afraid that a single domino will knock down the whole stack. Afraid to let anything slide—but I'm not like you! And I knew exactly what you would do! I'll activate the Spell Card, Marincess Dive! I will use its first effect, and revive Marincess Blue Tang! So that's a waste of your card!" The blue water idol appeared in front of her. "I'll then open my supreme, overpowering circuit! Arrowhead confirmed! The conditions are a Level 4 or lower "Marincess" monster! I will set Marincess Blue Tang in the Link Markers! Circuit Combine! Link Summon! Emerge, my monster servant! Link 1—Marincess Blue Slug!"
"... that's not his summoning chant," Miharu murmured. That dragon that Yuya had used wasn't one that Yuzu herself recognised either. The girl with two orange cowlicks and blue hair appeared in front of Yuno.
[Marincess Blue Slug (L1/1500/WATER/Cyberse/Link/Effect/↓)
"Since Blue Tang was used as Link Material, I can activate its effect. Then, I will chain Blue Slug's effect as well. Blue Slug's effect will add Blue Tang back to my hand. And with Blue Tang's effect, I will excavate the top three cards of my deck, add a "Marincess" card from among them to my hand, and shuffle the other two back to my hand." The three cards appeared in front of him.
"Crown Tail, Cascade, Basilalima," Miharu muttered, identifying the three cards on sight. Yuno grabbed the card that she had called 'Basilalima', and the other two cards flew back into his deck.
"I will then activate the effect of Marincess Sea Horse in my hand. I will Special Summon her to Blue Slug's Link Marker." Uncourteous, Yuno placed the card down on his duel disk. The blonde-haired girl appeared, floating in front of him silently.
[Marincess Sea Horse (3*/1400/1000/WATER/Cyberse/Effect)]
"I will then manifest the circuit of supremacy again. Arrowhead confirmed. The conditions are two WATER monsters! I will set Marincess Sea Horse and Marincess Blue Slug in the Link Markers. Circuit Combine! Link Summon! Come, my monster servant—Link 2, Marincess Coral Anemone!" The orange and white-themed water idol appeared, standing in the Extra Monster Zone.
[Marincess Coral Anemone (L2/2000/WATER/Cyberse/Link/Effect/←, ↓)]
"Coral Anemone's effect," Yuno continued relentlessly. "Revive—Marincess Sea Horse. And I'll use Marincess Sea Horse to Link Summon. I'll cut the chant, you've heard it enough—Marincess Sea Angel, come to the field!" The white-themed girl bobbed her head as she appeared, turning back to look at Yuno with a worried look in her eyes.
[Marincess Sea Angel (L1/1000/WATER/Cyberse/Link/Effect/←)]
"I will activate Sea Angel's effect." A card jutted out of Yuno's deck, and he added it to his hand. "I will add Marincess Battle Ocean to my hand and activate it. And now, I will open the supreme circuit of supremacy one more time. Arrowhead confirmed. The conditions are two or more WATER monsters! I will set Marincess Sea Angel and Marincess Coral Anemone in the Link Markers! Circuit Combine—Link Summon! Link 3! My monster servant, Marincess Marbled Rock!" The young woman with spiky hair and a scarf of urchin spines appeared.
[Marincess Marbled Rock (L3/2500/WATER/Cyberse/Link/Effect/←, ↓, →)]
"I'll activate Battle Ocean's effect," Yuno continued. "I will equip Marincess Sea Angel, Marincess Blue Slug and Marincess Coral Anemone to Marbled Rock, and she'll gain 600 attack points about each, and an additional 200 attack points since she's a "Marincess" monster!"
[Marincess Marbled Rock: 2500 + 600 x 3 + 200 = 4500ATK]
"How fearsome," Yuzu whispered.
"Coral Anemone's effect adds Marincess Sea Horse back from my graveyard to my hand," Yuno said, narrowing his eyes. "You have no right to hold the power over this field. Attack Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon! Elegant Wave!"
The green dragon was torn apart, as Marbled Rock sent forth a strong wave of water, the currents tearing it apart. Yuya shielded himself. The water shredded the tree behind him, causing it to fall down. That monster's attacks were real?
Yuya: 4000 - 2000 = 2000LP
"How dare you land such a heavy hit on me!" Yuya shouted. Yuzu bit her lip.
"Yuya!"
"It's no use. They can't hear your words." Miharu clenched her fists. "... or mine. All we can do is watch. For now, at least… until we figure out what's wrong."
"Do you know what's going on?" Yuzu demanded frantically. "What's happening to them?"
"I don't know," Miharu said. "... if I knew, I would do something."
"I'll set a card facedown and end my turn," Yuno said.
Yuzu looked down at her bracelet in vain again. Why wasn't it doing anything? Why wasn't it teleporting them away? Was that dark force somehow suppressing the bracelet?
[Turn 5: Yugo] [H:5]
"Draw!" Yugo shouted. "Since I control no monsters, I can Special Summon Hi-Speedroid Kendama back from my graveyard, but I can't Normal Summon this turn! Return to Origin!" The blue metallic Synchro Monster appeared in front of him again.
[Hi-Speedroid Kendama (6*/2200/1600/WIND/Machine/Synchro/Effect)]
"And I'll activate the Quickplay Spell, Speedroid Wheel! I'll discard a card to roll a dice, and Special Summon up to 2 "Speedroid" monsters from my deck with a total Level equal to the roll, but their effects are negated!" A hologram of a dice spun through the air, landing on three. "Alright. Come on out, my monster servant! Speedroid Ohajikid! A cowboy-like monster appeared, dressed in brown and blue leather.
[Speedroid Ohajikid (3*/1000/200/WIND/Machine/Effect)]
"Then, I will Special Summon Speedroid Taketomborg from my hand, since I control a WIND monster!" A bamboo-coptor appeared, blue and gold.
[Speedroid Taketomborg (3*/600/1200/WIND/Machine/Effect)]
"And by tributing it, I can Special Summon a "Speedroid" Tuner monster from my deck! Come—Speedroid Red-Eyed Dice!" Taketomborg vanishes. In its place, a large, gold six-sided dice appeared, with a large red eye on it.
[Speedroid Red-Eyed Dice (1*/100/100/WIND/Machine/Tuner/Effect)]
"Red-Eyed Dice's effect," Yugo continued. "I will change Ohajikid to Level 6!"
[Speedroid Ohajikid: 3* → 6*]
"I will tune the Level 1 Red-Eyed Dice to the Level 6 Ohajikid!"
Miharu flinched as she felt a sinister presence—and then, Yugo raised a card in the air.
She immediately knew what it had to be.
"Spread those wondrous and beautiful wings, and strike down your enemies at the speed of light! Synchro Summon! Appear now! Level 7! Clear Wing Synchro Dragon!"" A powerful gale formed around him, before the dragon burst out, bright blue and white, eye-catching. The entire field seemed to be surrounded by strong winds, and Miharu's hair was being completely messed up by it.
[Clear Wing Synchro Dragon (7*/2500/2000/WIND/Dragon/Synchro/Effect)]
The dragon let out a loud roar, similar to Dark Rebellion and Odd-Eyes before it. Yuzu was struck with a horrible feeling, and she charged forward again, holding out the arm with the bracelet, pleading for it to work—but the glow still didn't bring them away.
"It's the dragons," Miharu said. "Yuzu, it's—the dragons are the ones that are doing this."
Yuno clutched at his head again—as the only one that hadn't summoned his dragon yet, he looked like he was in the most pain.
Miharu couldn't bear it.
She absolutely could not bear it.
This isn't Yuno. And these four, they don't want to fight either. It's something else…!
In the LDS building, the camera screens went black—as though something had destroyed all the cameras in the park.
Kyorin gritted her teeth. It was just like what had happened to Yuji and Chiaki! She turned around, ready to leave, before someone put a hand on her shoulder.
"Rinsoka and I will go," Nue said calmly. Reiji nodded, and Shun, who had clearly been about to charge out of the room, visibly calmed down. Nue gestured for her to follow, and both she and Kyorin charged out.
"Nue-san," Kyorin started, and Nue held up a hand.
"I'm not doing this for you," she said. "It is my brother out there, and I protect what's mine. That's all."
"No, that's not what I meant." Kyorin bit her lip. "From the very moment that I was born, I knew certain things—I had certain dreams—dreams of places I had never been, people I had never met, monsters I had never seen. Hitoda told me that she had gone through the same thing. Those dreams that were so realistic that they felt like memories of someone else. But she clearly knew more than I did—she clearly had more of those dreams than I did. Nue-san… you weren't surprised at all when we were watching the cameras and you saw what was happening. You're like us, aren't you? You've had the same dreams? You know about things that don't exist in any of the six dimensions at all, right?"
Nue clenched her fists reflexively.
The image of a burning city, shadows everywhere, buildings crashing down all around them… Nue remembered it very well. Except that now, that image had been replaced with something else.
After all, her own home, Heartland, was in the exact same state now. And every night, she saw it in her nightmares.
"I'm not one to put stock in dreams," she lied. "But I suppose I understand what you're talking about. It doesn't matter though. All that matters is that my brother is safe."
In those dreams, Nue had seen far too much. Far too many of those things had been locked away in her own heart. Even now, she was still learning new things every time that she fell asleep. That probably made her different from Hitoda and Kyorin, who supposedly only had dreams like that once in a while. She likely knew far more than them (though she still didn't know enough), but she doubted that she would ever have the need to share it. Not with those that didn't know about the nature of her existence, or that of her brother and his girlfriend.
After seeing so much destruction, Nue would hardly be fazed by some shadows and a few ominous shouts.
And she had a few ideas on how to help, but none of them would work if Reiji Akaba could see what was going on.
(The cameras had cut off because she had disabled them. A nifty trick, and one that would likely last a while before anyone figured out the true cause.)
After all, it would do no good to let anyone know just what was happening here.
Tch. If I had told you not to go and to let Reiji Akaba handle it, you wouldn't have come into contact with three of them at once.
Still though, I'm your big sister. I'll protect you, Yuto. No matter what, even if I hide things from you, even if this dread in my heart tells me that you cannot be trusted…
I will not allow you to be destroyed by this darkness.
"One more thing," Nue said, catching Kyorin's attention. "Do you know… why we have those dreams?"
"No?"
Nue nodded. "It's nothing," she said after a moment. "Let's just go then."
"And guess what?" Yugo continued, back at the park. "I've sent two more of my monsters to the graveyard, so I have more ammunition now! Hi-Speedroid Kendama's effect! I'll banish a Machine monster from my graveyard and inflict 500 damage to you, you ridiculous, slippery bastard! Brutal Swing!" The 'ridiculous, slippery bastard' that he was referring to was clearly Yuno, both from how he was literally pointing at the orange and red-haired boy, and from how Clear Wing was roaring, winds sweeping straight towards Yuno. Kendama charged forward, and Yuno barely dodged. Miharu's heart skipped a beat.
Yuno: 4000 - 500 = 3500LP
"Congratulations," Yuno said callously. "Well done on aiming that effect at me instead of one of the other opponents that you could take out right now. Truly the best strategic move."
"Shut up!" Yugo flung out a hand. "If Rin was here—" He stopped for a moment, and the glowing light in his eyes seemed to flicker for a moment. "Rin…"
Hmm? Rin was their Synchro doppelganger, right? The reminder of Rin seemed to wake up Yugo from the dark presence for a moment, but then, darkness surrounded him and Clear Wing, and both of them let out loud growls.
"You, emo bastard!" Yugo pointed at Yuto with a snarl. "Your monster may have protected you from the Odd-Eyes, but it'll only harm you now! Clear Wing Synchro Dragon attacks The Phantom Knights of Wrong Magnetring! Helldive Whirlwind Slasher!" The dragon roared, flying towards Yuto. Yuto shielded himself, but the attack threw him back into the tree, and he landed on his side with a sharp cracking sound.
"Yuto!" Miharu didn't normally speak up, but her voice was far louder with concern for the dark-haired boy. Yuzu called out as well—Miharu didn't know when Yuzu had met Yuto, but the pink-haired girl was clearly very concerned for him too.
Yuto: 3500 - 2500 = 1000LP
Yuto slowly pulled himself to his feet. His right arm was hanging limply at his side.
Yugo sneered. "And that's the end of you. Now, you will become one with me. Go, Kendama! Attack him directly!"
"I will activate the effect of Phantom Knights' Fog Blade in the graveyard," Yuto said. For a moment, Miharu wondered how he could play a card when his duel disk was on his left side and his right arm was broken, but then, he raised his arm, paying no attention to the pain or how it was broken. "I will banish it and Special Summon a "The Phantom Knights" monster from my graveyard. I will revive The Phantom Knights of Break Sword. Then, my final set card. The Phantom Knights Rank-Up-Magic Launch!" He revealed the Quickplay Spell. "I will target the Rank 3 Break Sword and rank it up by one Rank!"
"Rank Up?" Both Yuzu and Miharu said at the same time. What was that?
"Overlaying Break Sword on itself! Formed from pitch-black darkness, to fight those foolish enough to oppose it with its treacherous fangs! Now, descend! Rank-Up-Xyz-Change! Rank 4! Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon!"
The dark dragon reappeared on his field, letting out a loud roar.
[Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon (R4/2500/1000/DARK/Dragon/Xyz/Effect) (OU:1)]
"Then, The Phantom Knights Rank-Up-Magic Launch's effect attaches it to Dark Rebellion as an Overlay Unit."
[Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon: OU:1 → OU:2]
"So you're not defeating me," Yuto said darkly. "End your turn, pathetic one."
"Before that, I will take revenge on you." Yugo pointed to Yuya. "Kendama changes attack target. Take out that wolf that dared to lay its claws on me! Ken-Sara-Tama!" The blue machine shot forward, crushing Silver Fang and inflicting damage to Yuya as well.
Yuya: 2000 - 500 = 1500LP
"I will set one card and end my turn," Yugo said, slamming a card down. "Over to you."
[Turn 6: Yuto] [H:1]
"Draw." Yuto was clearly injured, and both Yuzu and Miharu winced at the sight of him struggling to raise his arm. "I'll banish The Phantom Knights of Ragged Gloves from my graveyard. I will use its effect and send a "Phantom Knights" card from my deck to my graveyard. Then, by banishing the card that I just sent to the graveyard—The Phantom Knights of Ancient Cloak—I will add a "Phantom Knights" card from my deck to my hand." He now had two cards in his hand. "I will then Normal Summon The Phantom Knights of Torn Scales."
A suit of silver armour appeared, surrounded by the same light blue flames as the rest of Yuto's monsters. It had three brown bristle-like fabrics on the top of its helmet. Red ribbons floated around its wrists.
[The Phantom Knights of Torn Scales (3*/600/1600/DARK/Warrior/Effect)]
"I will activate Torn Scales's effect," Yuto continued. "I will discard a card and send a "Phantom Knights" card from my deck to the graveyard. Then, by banishing Phantom Knights' Wing from my graveyard, I will revive The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots." The blue spirit dressed in worn leather appeared, floating around next to Torn Scales. "I will overlay the Level 3 Torn Scales and the Level 3 Silent Boots! Phantoms hide within the shadows, tormenting the cruel minds. Appear now, tortured maiden! Xyz Summon—Rank 3, The Phantom Knights of Tortured Chains!"
A grey-skinned spirit appeared, wearing grey gauntlets and chains on her wrists. She was wearing a tattered, white silk dress. She had no face. Blood was dripping from her feet. Blue flames were wreathed around her body, except for her empty head. Unlike the rest of Yuto's monsters, who were haunted pieces of armour, this was more humanoid, just like Break Sword. Maybe his Xyz Monsters were more humanoid?
[The Phantom Knights of Tortured Chains (R3/1700/1000/DARK/Warrior/Xyz/Effect) (OU:2)]
"When The Phantom Knights of Tortured Chains is Xyz Summoned, I can add a "Phantom Knights" Spell or Trap from my deck to my hand." He picked up a card. "I agree with you in one way, Synchro. Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon attacks you directly, Pendulum! Lightning Disobey of Rebellion!" Lightning shot out towards Yuya, and Yuzu let out a cry.
"Yuya! No!"
The lightning landed on Yuya. However, when the smoke cleared, Yuya was perfectly fine, with a barrier of bubbles protecting him.
"Marincess Marbled Rock's effect," Yuno said, having been forgotten by the others in their feud. "Reef Barrier. By sending a "Marincess" card from my hand to the graveyard when a monster attacks, monsters cannot be destroyed by that battle, and no battle damage is taken."
"You protected him?" Yuto shouted, sounding enraged.
Yuno grimaced. His eyes were still glowing, but he clearly wasn't as angry as the rest now. He was still in pain though, and Miharu hated how she was helpless to do anything for him. "Ganging up on an opponent?" He replied. "Not even we can be that honourless."
"Tch. And what's the difference if you protect him? Face it, you're just weak!"
"Your feelings aren't a weakness," Miharu said. Yuno turned around to look at her with those eerie, glowing eyes. "Yuno, you're still in there. Don't let whatever's doing this make you hurt someone."
"Shut up, girl with her face," Yuto said with contempt. Miharu ignored it—she knew that this wasn't what Yuto was really like, after all.
"You don't get to insult her with that tone," Yuno growled back, his face turning hostile again. "End your turn. I will not permit anyone to destroy him but me!"
"I'm not done. The Phantom Knights of Tortured Chains attacks you directly, Pendulum! Scattered Tatters!" Chains shot forward, cold metal ready to hit Yuya and finish him off.
Yuno, however, discarded another card from his hand. "Reef Barrier," he said. "As long as I have cards in my hand, I control who lives and who dies in this duel, Xyz."
"Why are they calling each other by the names of the Summoning methods they use?" Yuzu questioned.
Miharu narrowed her eyes, curious about that as well.
"Fine then, Link," Yuto snarled. "I'll set a card and end my turn."
[Turn 7: Yuya] [H:2]
"Draw," Yuya said, showing no emotion at the idea of being saved by Yuno. "I will use the Pendulum Effect of Performapal Monkeyboard again. Once per turn, I can add a Level 4 or lower "Performapal" monster from my deck to my hand. I will add Performapal Fire Mufflerlion to my hand. Then, once again, using my current Pendulum Scales, I will Pendulum Summon! I can Pendulum Summon monsters from Level 2 to Level 7!" Three streaks of light flew down through a portal. "Return from the Extra Deck, Performapal Silver Claw!" The grey wolf appeared once again, pawing at the ground anxiously. "And from my hand, come, Performapal Fire Mufflerlion!"
A pale lion with a purple top hat and red flames forming its mane appeared next to the wolf."
"Then, wondrous and beautiful dichromatic eyes! Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" Yuya's ace reappeared on the field, letting out a roar again.
[Performapal Silver Claw (4*/S5/1800/700/DARK/Beast/Pendulum/Effect)]
[Performapal Fire Mufflerlion (3*/S5/800/800/FIRE/Beast/Pendulum/Effect)]
[Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon (7*/S4/2500/2000/DARK/Dragon/Pendulum/Effect)]
"What are the odds that he drew Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon again after just returning it to his deck last round?" Miharu commented neutrally. That was, in her mind, statistically unlikely. Even so, she was seeing a lot of very unlikely things right now.
"I will now open the circuit of supremacy!"
… right. Yuno had said that he had gotten a Link Monster for Yuya. He really was far too soft sometimes.
"Arrowhead confirmed! The conditions are two monsters with different Levels, including a Pendulum Monster! I will set Performapal Fire Mufflerlion and Performapal Silver Claw in the Link Markers!" Above him, a sinister-looking circuit appeared, and the two animals turned into a red and black streak that flew straight into it. "Descend now, my monster servant! Circuit Combine! Link Summon! Link 2! Performapal Odd-Eyes Silver Selkie!"
On the ground, a holographic pool of water materialised. There was a ripple, and then a silver seal-human hybrid appeared. The top half of the monster was human, with shining silver hair braided with seashells in it, and two dichroic eyes just like Yuya's dragon—one red, and one green. There was a glittering shine to her skin, and she was wearing bracelets made of shining rainbow fish scales. She was wearing a blue and white dress that turned translucent at the ends, parting in a skirt that looked like it was made of multiple fins. Her bottom half was a grey and white seal tail.
[Performapal Odd-Eyes Silver Selkie (L2/1700/WATER/Cyberse/Link/Effect/↙, ↘)]
"A WATER Cyberse monster…" Miharu looked at Yuno. With conditions so generic that Yuno could Link Summon it with his own cards… it truly was a unification between their two decks. She wished that the first time that she was seeing this monster wasn't in such a dire moment.
"When Performapal Odd-Eyes Silver Selkie is Link Summoned, I can place an "Odd-Eyes" or "Performapal" Pendulum Monster from my Deck in my Extra Deck," Yuya continued. "Then, I can Special Summon a Pendulum Monster that is face-up in my Extra Deck with a different Pendulum Scale to my field. Marine Excavation!" He plucked a card from his deck, placing it in his Extra Deck, before Fire Mufflerlion reappeared on his field, sitting down in Defense Position.
What a potent search effect… and considering that Pendulum Monsters could be Pendulum Summoned from the Extra Deck, it meant that he could Pendulum Summon that monster back next turn.
"Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon will attack Hi-Speedroid Kendama!" Yuya shouted. "Spiral Strike Burst!" Flames shot out, destroying the machine. "And with Odd-Eyes's effect, all battle damage it deals when battling a Level 5 or higher monster is doubled! Reaction Force!" The force of the dragon's flames tossed Yugo back as well, though it wasn't as large as the impact on Yuto earlier.
Yugo: 1900 - 300 x 2 = 1300LP
"And now, Performapal Fire Mufflerlion's effect activates. Since a Pendulum Monster I control succeeded in destroying a monster by battle, I can grant it 200 more attack points—and an additional attack!" Fire Mufflerlion roared from its sitting position, some of its flames flying to Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon and powering it up.
[Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon: 2500 + 200 = 2700ATK]
"And now, you're going to become one with me! Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon attacks Clear Wing Synchro Dragon! Spiral Strike Burst!"
Yuzu and Miharu both froze, a bad feeling in their hearts as they watched the dragons approach each other.
They could not—
If those two monsters battled—
"As if you're going to destroy me so easily!" Yugo shouted. "Continuous Trap, Burning Sonic! I'll negate your attack! Then, while Burning Sonic is face-up, Clear Wing gains 500 attack points!" Flames surrounded Clear Wing, protecting it from Odd-Eyes's attack.
[Clear Wing Synchro Dragon: 2500 + 500 = 3000ATK]
"Silver Selkie's attack points are not strong enough for any monster on the field," Yuya muttered. "Over to you, Yuno."
"Did you hear that?" Yuzu turned around to talk to Miharu. "He called Yuno by his name! Yuya's still in there somewhere!" However, she realised that Miharu wasn't there anymore. Instead, Miharu had walked closer to Yuno's side. Her bracelet was still shining, and she had wrapped her arms around Yuno's waist. Yuno had turned around to look at her.
"Hey, Yuno." Her voice was as quiet and emotionless as ever, but Yuno seemed to relax slightly, even though the menacing glow was still in his eyes. "You are far stronger than this, alright? So keep your mind. You can win this without your dragon. I don't want you to be in danger." The glow of her bracelet grew. "... come back to me already, alright?"
"When I grow up, I want to be more like you."
"Oh?" Chikyu looked at him. Yuno smiled widely. "You do?"
"Yep." Yuno pointed out with a hand. "Everyone says that you're practically like an AI with how smart you are. I want to be as smart and as good at dueling as you! And one day, I'll properly win against you!"
His older brother laughed, patting his head. "Yes, of course. I'll look forward to it—the day when you become stronger than me."
Yuno gasped aloud, gripping his chest. The old memory that had surfaced had woken him up—he didn't remember what had happened, but suddenly, he found himself back in the park, with Marbled Rock on his field. Was he dueling someone?
… why were Yuto, Yugo and Yuya's eyes glowing?
"His eyes stopped glowing," Yuzu said, sounding surprised. "Did your bracelet do that? In that case, why didn't mine work?"
"... you said that it sends them away. Maybe it's trying to send all of them away at once and it's too much for it to handle," Miharu said calmly. Yuno didn't understand. All he grasped was that he had previously been in the same state as the other three, and Miharu's bracelet had helped him. Also, she wasn't wearing her face mask, which meant that Yuzu had seen her face. So… it was just a day for revelations all around, huh?
Yuzu seemed to consider what she was saying. "That's true… but what exactly did your bracelet do?"
"Excuse me, intruders," Yuto said coldly. "But it happens to be his turn."
Yuno glanced around the field, before he sighed. Other than Silver Selkie, he didn't know the effect of a single card on the field. He quickly checked his graveyard and his hand.
"If you're going to make a mistake, I'll warn you," Miharu said. She let go of him, stepping to his side. "I know the effects of all the cards that've appeared on the field so far." Her bracelet continued to glow, and it felt soothing—as though it was pushing away that strange cloudiness that had assaulted his mind. "I think the dragons make it worse, so don't bring out yours."
"Good to have you here then," Yuno joked. He stumbled for a moment, and then steadied himself. "So? Is the goal to beat all three of them?"
"If you can't, then I'll be disappointed," Miharu said. It was clearly a joke, and Yuno laughed, his cheeks going pink.
"Well, that's the worst consequence! I'll be sure to do what you want, then."
He faced the field again, looking at his counterparts.
[Turn 8: Yuno] [H:4]
I can't afford to be sloppy here…
He should take out one of them first. Who was the one with the lowest defences right now? Yuto was too difficult to break through right now. It would be Yugo or Yuya. He actually knew what Yuya's cards did though, so he wouldn't be going in blind, unlike Yugo's cards.
Yuya first. Maybe if he was defeated, he'd snap out of it.
"Activating Marincess Dive!" He called proudly. "Surface now from the water—or in other words, come from my deck! Marincess Pascalus! And with her effect, I will Special Summon Marincess Blue Tang from my hand!" The two pink and blue idols appeared. However, when they appeared, they did something completely unexpected—with relieved looks on their faces, they both tackled Yuno in a quick hug, before heading back to the field.
[Marincess Pascalus (4*/1200/2000/WATER/Cyberse/Effect)]
[Marincess Blue Tang (4*/1500/1200/WATER/Cyberse/Effect)]
… his monsters were worried for him, huh?
"Marincess Blue Tang's effect! I will send a "Marincess" card from my deck to the graveyard!" He revealed the card that he had sent to the graveyard—Mariness Mandarin. "Since I control 2 or more "Marincess" monsters, I'll revive Marincess Mandarin to the Link Marker of a WATER Link Monster I control!" The orange-themed girl reappeared on his field, also looking quite relieved.
[Marincess Mandarin (1*/100/100/WATER/Cyberse/Effect)]
"Yuno!" Miharu called. "Don't…"
"I'm not bringing out Magnetic Current," Yuno reassured her. "I trust your judgement, Miharu. Instead, I'll be opening my circuit to summon a different monster! Arrowhead confirmed! The conditions are 2 or more Cyberse monsters! I will set Marincess Mandarin, Marincess Blue Tang and Marincess Pascalus in the Link Markers!" The three monsters shot up in streaks of blue. "Archer within the network that leads to the future, lend me your power to strike at the defences of my foes! Circuit Combine! Link Summon! Link 3! Shootingcode Talker!"
A blue and gold armoured figure appeared, made of shining metal. Orange orbs were all over its body, and two light blue wings could be seen behind it, like long, stretched panels. It was holding onto a bow of golden light, with a long blue arrow in it.
[Shootingcode Talker (L3/2300/WATER/Cyberse/Link/Effect/←, ↑, ↓)]
"Only 2300 attack points?" Yuto said sceptically.
"Of course," Yuno said. "I will excavate the top three cards of my deck and add a "Marincess" card from among them to my hand. I will then activate the effect of Marincess Springirl in my hand. By banishing a "Marincess" monster, like Pascalus, from the graveyard, I can Special Summon her!" The dark blue-haired girl appeared.
[Marincess Springirl (4*/1200/1000/WATER/Cyberse/Effect)]
"And now, I will activate Shootingcode Talker's effect. Since it points to two monsters, it can make three attacks on monsters this turn."
Perhaps this was somewhat overkill. However, with Shootingcode Talker on the field, he could use its multiple attacks to take out Yuto after Yuya. After all, all of Yuto's attack negating cards summoned themselves as monsters, from the limited knowledge that Yuno had from conversations with his Xyz doppelganger, and the effects of the cards currently in the graveyard. So he could possibly win against Yuto as well this turn, if the other tried to negate his attacks.
"Marincess Marbled Rock attacks Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon! Elegant Wave!" Water rushed forward. Yuya let out a furious growl, the light in his eyes glowing more fiercely, but he was helpless as the waves swept away his dragon, wiping out his life points.
Yuya: 1500 - 2000 = 0LP
Yuno breathed out a sigh of relief as Yuya fell onto the ground, unconscious. At least that meant that he wasn't possessed for now, right?
Then, he saw both Yuto and Yugo take a step towards Yuya. Their dragons roared, taking a step forward as well.
"What are you doing?"
"He lost," Yuto said.
"He's weaker," Yugo continued.
"And therefore," both of them said at the same time, "he must be eliminated."
"No—Yuya!" As the two approached, Yuzu ran forward. Her bracelet shone even brighter—and then, both Yuto and Yugo vanished in a flash of light.
Yuzu, Yuno and Miharu looked at each other, confused.
Whatever had happened tonight, none of them understood.
However…
The fact that they had somehow escaped it unscathed beggared belief.
"Change direction," Nue said, and Kyorin frowned, turning to her. "Yuto's the other way—it's ridiculous how far he suddenly got from where he was earlier. Something must have happened."
Kyorin followed her—while she was concerned for all four of the boys, she knew that Nue really only cared about Yuto. They eventually came across the black and purple-haired boy. Nue leaned down, and Kyorin noted with horror that the boy's arm was broken.
"... Reiji Akaba is paying for all of the medical fees for this," Nue said, her voice rather dangerous.
"Is that boy from the Synchro Dimension the one that did this?" Kyorin said, raising her hands to her face, shocked at the sight.
"... you saw what I did, right? Those boys all looked like they were possessed by something." Nue gritted her teeth. She gently lifted Yuto up—she was clearly stronger than she appeared, despite being a tall and petite girl. "I don't blame them. But whatever that thing is, I will destroy it if it ever shows itself in front of me."
"... you're scary, Nue-san," Kyorin said. Even though they were technically allies, the dark-haired girl was far too aggressive for her to deal with.
Nue looked over at her. She reached out and patted Kyorin on the head with her left hand, even as she held Yuto on her shoulders. Even though Kyorin was the same age as her, there was something about Nue that felt… oddly comforting to be around, when her anger and protectiveness wasn't directed at her.
"That's my brother, then," Nue said after a moment. "Let's get back. If the rest are safe, then that's the end of this disastrous day."
Yugo blinked, waking up in the streets that were far more familiar to him. That strange other world felt like a dream. What had happened? He had been talking to Yuno, Yuto and Yuya, and then he had blacked out…
Alright, he had to find those three again, and figure out what had happened!
Yuno helped to carry Yuya back to his house, along with Gongenzaka, who showed up and took him from Yuno's back when they were halfway there. Gongenzaka had called him rather manly for being willing to help Yuya, and Yuno didn't have the heart to admit that he was the one who had done this in the first place, even if he barely remembered anything after meeting Yugo in the park.
Yuya's mother, Yoko, invited them in. Gongenzaka brought Yuya upstairs, even as Yuno smiled and lied that Yuya had passed out from tiredness and they had found him in the park.
"Thank you for bringing Yuya back," Yoko Sakaki said. She patted his shoulder. "But can I ask why you look so much like him?"
Yuno froze.
Right.
Miharu, who had been far less out of it, had donned her face mask while turning away, so Yoko hadn't spotted the similarities between her and Yuzu. However, Yuno had no such escape. So he had no choice but to answer.
"Not even I know," he admitted. "My name is Yuno Sugisaki. I'm friends with your son."
Yoko's eyes lit up. "You're Yuno-kun! My son's mentioned you quite a bit! And that must make her Miharu-chan!"
Yuno blinked. "Huh?" Yuya hadn't exactly talked to Miharu at all, so why would his mother know about her?
"I remember every single person that my son tells me about," Yoko said. "And he talks so fondly about you. He mentioned that you had a best friend named Miharu, and so I remembered that." Yoko smiled warmly. "It's rather late for you all to be heading back. We have a spare room that Sora-kun normally uses, but he doesn't seem to be around today, and I'm sure he won't mind you using it!"
"Thank you," Yuno said. He turned to Gongenzaka and Yuzu. "Um, you two can have the room—"
"The man, Gongenzaka, will simply sleep on the couch," Gongenzaka said.
"And I live right next door," Yuzu said cheerfully. Despite her tone, she still had her eyebrows creased in worry as she stared up towards where Yuya's room was. "I'll be back over in the morning! Miharu, want to come over with me?"
"... no, I'll just share the room with Yuno."
Yuzu and Gongenzaka both stared at them, looking baffled. Yoko, however, laughed. "You're rather bold, aren't you, Miharu-chan? I didn't know you and Yuno-kun were like that…"
"We're not," Miharu said calmly. "But while I appreciate you giving us a place to rest, I would prefer to stay by Yuno's side—we were only just in a dangerous situation a while ago, and I… would prefer to keep him nearby."
Yuno nodded cheerfully. "I'll take the floor, she'll take the bed," he said with a smile and a thumbs up.
"Well, that'll do, I suppose…" Yoko smiled. "I'll just bring up a few more blankets then!"
Within an immaterial realm, a dark spirit seethed.
"R_! Even now, you still stand in my way! But I will not bend to you. I used up all the energy that I built up over the last few years for that one moment of manifestation. But no matter how many forces are in my way, whether it's you, R_, or any other ghost from the past, I will not stop until I resurrect again. It is only a matter of time."
Then, the spirit faded away.
In the Standard Dimension, Yuya Sakaki moved from side to side in his sleep, restless. Yuto and Yuno did the same thing.
But they all slept on, still unaware of what truly lay within their souls.
Duel 1 Summary: Yugo vs Yuto Kamisoka vs Yuya Sakaki vs Yuno Sugisaki
Duel Format: Battle Royale
[Turn 1: Yugo] [H:5]
Since he controls no monsters, Yugo Special Summons Speedroid Terrortop (3*/1200/600) from his hand. With Terrortop's effect, he adds a different "Speedroid" monster from his Deck to his hand. He Normal Summons Speedroid Tri-Eyed Dice (3*/300/1500) from his hand. By tuning the Level 3 Tri-Eyed Dice to the Level 3 Terrortop, he Synchro Summons Hi-Speedroid Kendama (6*/2200/1600) in Attack Position. Then, by banishing Terrortop from the GY, he inflicts 500 damage to Yuto. [Yuto: 4000 - 500 = 3500LP] He ends his turn.
[Turn 2: Yuto Kamisoka] [H:5]
Yuto draws. He Normal Summons The Phantom Knights of Ragged Gloves (3*/1000/500) from his hand. Since he controls a "The Phantom Knights" monster, he Special Summons The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots (3*/200/1200) from his hand. He overlays the two of them, Xyz Summoning The Phantom Knights of Break Sword. (R3/2000/1000/OU:2) Break Sword gains 1000ATK, since it was Xyz Summoned with Ragged Gloves as Xyz Material. (TPKOBS: 2000 + 1000 = 3000ATK) Break Sword attacks Kendama. Yugo banishes Tri-Eyed Dice from the graveyard and negates the attack. Yuto moves to his Main Phase 2 and activates Break Sword's effect. By detaching an Overlay Unit, he destroys both Break Sword and Kendama. With Break Sword's effect, he revives Ragged Gloves and Silent Boots, increasing their Levels by 1. (TPKORG: 3* + 1* = 4*) (TPKOSB: 3* + 1* = 4*) He overlays them and Xyz Summons Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon. (R4/2500/2000/OU:2) Ragged Gloves gives Dark Rebellion 1000ATK. (DRXD: 2500 + 1000 = 3500ATK) He sets 3 cards and ends his turn.
[Turn 3: Yuya Sakaki] [H:5]
Yuya sets the Scale 1 Performapal Monkeyboard (5*/S1/1000/2400) in the Pendulum Scale. With its effect, he can add a Level 4 or lower "Performapal" monster from his Deck to his hand. He adds the Scale 8 Performapal Odd-Eyes Light Unicorn (1*/S8/100/600) to his hand and sets it in the Pendulum Scale. He Pendulum Summons Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon (7*/2500/2000), Performapal Trump Girl (2*/S4/200/200) and Performapal Silver Claw (4*/S5/1800/700) from his hand. With Trump Girl's effect, he performs a Fusion Summon with Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon and Trump Girl, Fusion Summoning Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon (7*/2500/3000) in Attack Position. Since Vortex Dragon was Fusion Summoned, he targets Dark Rebellion to return it to the hand. Yuto activates Phantom Knights' Fog Blade to negate the effects of Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon. By shuffling Performapal Trump Girl from the Extra Deck into the Deck, Yuya negates Fog Blade and destroys it. The effect resolves, and Dark Rebellion is returned to the Extra Deck. Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon attacks Yuto directly. Odd-Eyes Unicorn's Pendulum Effect increases Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon's ATK by Silver Claw's ATK. (OEVD: 2500 + 1800 = 4300ATK) Yuto activates the Trap Card, Phantom Knights of Wrong Magnetring, Special Summoning it (2*/0/0) and negating the attack. Silver Claw attacks Yugo directly. It gains 300ATK. (PSC: 1800 + 300 = 2100ATK) [Yugo: 4000 - 2100 = 1900LP] Yuya ends his turn.
[Turn 4: Yuno Sugisaki] [H:5]
Yuno draws. He Normal Summons Marincess Blue Tang (4*/1500/1200) from his hand. He activates its effect. Yuya shuffles Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon back into the Deck to negate the effect and destroy Blue Tang. Yuno activates the Spell Card, Marincess Dive. He revives Marincess Blue Tang. Using Blue Tang, he Link Summons Marincess Blue Slug. (L1/1500/↓) Blue Tang's effect activates, and Blue Slug's effect is chained as Chain Link 2. Blue Slug's effect resolves, excavating Marincess Crown Tail (5*/600/2300), Marincess Cascade and Marincess Basilalima (4*/600/2100) from the Deck. Yuno adds Marincess Basilalima to the hand. Then, with Blue Slug's effect, he adds Blue Tang back to his hand. He Special Summons Marincess Sea Horse (3*/1400/1000) from his hand to Blue Slug's Link Marker. Then, using Blue Slug and Sea Horse, he Link Summons Marincess Coral Anemone. (L2/2000/←, ↓) With Coral Anemone's effect, he revives Sea Horse. Using Sea Horse, he Link Summons Marincess Sea Angel. (L1/1000/←) He adds Battle Ocean to his hand and activates it. He then uses Coral Anemone and Sea Angel to Link Summon Marincess Marbled Rock. (L3/2500/←, ↓, →) Battle Ocean equips Sea Angel, Blue Slug and Coral Anemone to Marbled Rock. She gains 600ATK for each, plus an additional 200ATK. (MMR: 2500 + 2000 = 4500ATK) Coral Anemone adds Sea Horse back to his hand. Marbled Rock attacks Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon, and it is destroyed. [Yuya: 4000 - 2000 = 2000LP] Yuno activates the effect of Marbled Rock, adding Marincess Dive to his hand. He sets a card and ends his turn.
[Turn 5: Yugo] [H:5]
Yugo draws. Since he controls no monsters, he revives Kendama, but he cannot Normal Summon/Set this turn. He then activates the Quickplay Spell, Speedroid Wheel. By discarding a card, he rolls a dice and Special Summons up to 2 "Speedroid" monsters from his hand and/or Deck with a total Level equal to the result. He rolls a 3, and Special Summons Speedroid Ohajikid (3*/1000/200) from his Deck. He then Special Summons Speedroid Taketomborg, (3*/600/1200) who tributes itself and Special Summons the Tuner Monster, Speedroid Red-Eyed Dice (1*/100/100) from the Deck. Red-Eyed Dice targets Ohajikid and changes its Level to 6. Yugo tunes the Level 1 Red-Eyed Dice to the Level 6 Ohajikid, Synchro Summoning Clear Wing Synchro Dragon. (7*/2500/2000) Kendama's effect banishes Speedroid Ohajikid to inflict 500 damage to Yuno. [Yuno: 4000 - 500 = 3500LP] Clear Wing Synchro Dragon attacks The Phantom Knights of Wrong Magnetring. [Yuto: 3500 - 2500 = 1000LP] Kendama attacks Yuto directly. Yuto banishes Phantom Knights' Fog Blade from the graveyard to revive Break Sword. Then, he activates his third set card, The Phantom Knights' Rank-Up-Magic Launch. He Ranks Up Break Sword into Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon. (OU:1) With the effect of The Phantom Knights' Rank-Up-Magic Launch, it attaches itself to Dark Rebellion as an Overlay Unit. (DRXD: OU:2) Kendama switches target to Yuya's Silver Claw, destroying it. [Yuya: 2000 - 500 = 1500LP] Yugo sets 1 card and ends his turn.
[Turn 6: Yuto Kamisoka] [H:1]
Yuto draws. He banishes The Phantom Knights of Ragged Gloves from his graveyard, sending a "Phantom Knights" card from his Deck to the GY. Then, he banishes The Phantom Knights of Ancient Cloak (3*/800/1000), which he sent to the GY with Ragged Gloves' effect, to add a "The Phantom Knights" card from his Deck to his hand. He Normal Summons The Phantom Knights of Torn Scales. (3*/600/1600) With its effect, he discards a card to send a "Phantom Knights" card from his Deck to the GY. He then banishes the Phantom Knights' Wing he sent to the graveyard to revive The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots. He overlays Silent Boots and Torn Scales to Xyz Summon The Phantom Knights of Tortured Chains. (R3/1700/1000/OU:2) Since Tortured Chains was Xyz Summoned, Yuto activates its effect to add a "Phantom Knights" Spell/Trap from his Deck to his hand. Dark Rebellion attacks Yuya directly. Yuno activates Marincess Marbled Rock's effect, discarding a "Marincess" card to negate the damage. Tortured Chains attacks Yuya again. Yuno discards another "Marincess" card to negate the damage. Yuto sets 1 card and ends his turn.
[Turn 7: Yuya Sakaki] [H:2]
Yuya draws. He uses Monkeyboard's Pendulum Effect to add a Level 4 or lower "Performapal" monster from his Deck to his hand. He Pendulum Summons Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon and Performapal Fire Mufflerlion (3*/S5/800/800) from his hand and Performapal Silver Claw from his Extra Deck. He uses Fire Mufflerlion and Silver Claw to Link Summon Performapal Odd-Eyes Silver Selkie. (L2/1700/↙, ↘) With Silver Selkie's effect, he places Performapal Drummerilla (5*/S2/1600/900) and Special Summons Performapal Fire Mufflerlion to its bottom-left Link Marker in Defense Position. Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon attacks Hi-Speedroid Kendama. The damage is doubled with Odd-Eyes's effect. [Yugo: 1900 - 600 = 1300LP] With Fire Mufflerlion's effect, he gives Odd-Eyes 200 ATK. (OEPD: 2500 + 200 = 2700ATK) Odd-Eyes can also make a second attack this turn. Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon attacks Clear Wing Synchro Dragon. Yugo activates his set card, Burning Sonic, negating the attack and giving Clear Wing 500 more ATK. (CWSD: 2500 + 500 = 3000ATK) Yuya ends his turn without attacking with Silver Selkie.
[Turn 8: Yuno Sugisaki] [H:4]
Yuno draws. He activates Marincess Dive, Special Summoning Marincess Pascalus (4*/1200/2000) from his Deck. With her effect, he Special Summons Marincess Blue Tang from his hand. With Blue Tang's effect, he sends Marincess Mandarin (1*/100/100) to the GY. Mandarin revives itself to Marbled Rock's Link Marker. Using Mandarin, Blue Tang and Pascalus, Yuno Link Summons Shootingcode Talker (L3/2300/←, ↑, ↓) to Marbled Rock's bottom Link Marker. Mandarin is banished with its own effect. With Blue Tang's effect, Yuno adds a "Marincess" card from the top three excavated cards of his Deck to his hand. He banishes Pascalus from the graveyard to Special Summon Marincess Springirl (4*/1200/1000) from his hand in Attack Position. With Shootingcode Talker's effect, since it points to 2 monsters, it can make 3 attacks this turn. Marincess Springirl gains 200ATK from Battle Ocean. (MS: 1200 + 200 = 1400ATK) Marincess Marbled Rock attacks Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. [Yuya: 1500 - 2000 = 0LP] The duel is interrupted.
OC Cards:
The Phantom Knights of Tortured Chains
(R3/1700/1000/DARK/Warrior/Xyz/Effect)
2 Level 3 DARK monsters
If this card is Xyz Summoned: You can add 1 "Phantom Knights" Spell/Trap from your Deck to your hand. If a card you control is destroyed: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card; send 1 "Phantom Knights" card from your Deck to the GY. You can only activate each effect of "The Phantom Knights of Tortured Chains" once per turn.
Performapal Odd-Eyes Silver Selkie
(L2/1700/WATER/Cyberse/Link/Effect/↙, ↘)
2 monsters with different Levels, including a Pendulum Monster
If this card is Link Summoned: You can place 1 "Odd-Eyes" or "Performapal" Pendulum Monster from your Deck in your Extra Deck face-up, and if you do, you can Special Summon 1 Pendulum Monster face-up in your Extra Deck with a different Pendulum Scale from the monster placed in the Extra Deck by this effect. Once per turn, if this card or an "Odd-Eyes" monster this card points to would be destroyed by battle or card effect: You can send 1 card from your hand to the GY instead. You can only control 1 "Performapal Odd-Eyes Silver Selkie". You can only Link Summon "Performapal Odd-Eyes Silver Selkie" once per turn.
Different Card Effects from TCG:
Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon - Anime effect.
Clear Wing Synchro Dragon - Anime effect.
Phantom Knights' Fog Blade - Its main effect follows the anime, but it also has the GY effect of its irl counterpart.
Performapal Odd-Eyes Light Unicorn - Anime effect.
Performapal Monkeyboard - Anime effect.
The Phantom Knights' Rank-Up-Magic Launch - Anime effect, but a Quickplay Spell.
Speedroid Ohajikid - Anime effect.
Odd Eyes Pendulum Dragon - Anime effect.
Performapal Fire Mufflerlion - Anime effect. Its Pendulum Effect is not shown in the anime, so it's assumed to be the same as its TCG effect.
Performapal Drummerilla - Anime effect.
Burning Sonic - Anime-only card.
End Notes:
Yep. Surprise?
Here's my largest canon divergence point so far. No one gets absorbed here at all. Yuya and Yuto remain separate, and Yuno and Yugo aren't absorbed by others either. My reasoning behind this is very simple. I like Yuto's character a lot. I want to give him more to do, and specifically, there is something I want him to do in the Synchro Arc. That's why I'm keeping you alive. And next, you're going to ask "but how will X plot point work out if Yuya and Yuto are in different bodies?" And my response will be "what plot point?" After all, this story is a rewrite of Arc-V. Don't worry—it'll work out. Some of the boys will fuse, but only when I feel that their character development as individuals has reached a satisfactory point, or it's more interesting to see them fuse.
As much as I wanted to use ominous bold text for the boys' talking, I realise that would make the duels literally unreadable. Hope that it came across as ominous anyway.
Now, the next few paragraphs will cover questions you might have that are related to the duel itself.
The duel being a DNF was probably expected by everyone, but I hope you all enjoyed it anyway :)
Since I'm using the English names for Yuto, Yugo and Yuri's cards, I figured that I'd use the English names for Yuya's cards as well… with a few exceptions that we'll get to in the Synchro Arc. Whip Snake, Silver Claw, Wrong Magnetring, etc use their TCG effects, since having them would make no difference in canon duels, but still make them better. (Or in Silver Claw's case, exactly the same.) For Wrong Magnetring, it is only used in one duel which, as far as I'm concerned, does not exist. Yuto's Rank-Up-Magic has become a Quickplay Spell, since it's one in the TCG and I wrote it accidentally with that in mind.
I also gave Yuya Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon. Why? Well, the in-story reason has been given, but I'll also give the out-of-story reason—because he's getting the TCG/OCG "Odd-Eyes" monsters in this story, and it fit well in the duel, because Yuya would've gotten steamrolled by the other three without it, considering his deck at this point in Arc-V. Silver Selkie will get an actual summoning chant the next time it shows up—but since I erased the summoning chant for Yuno's Link Monsters, I figured I should do the same for Yuya's Link Summon here.
Speaking of Link Summons, Shootingcode Talker shows up! Why? Because (1) it's WATER Cyberse, meaning that it fits very well into Marincess. (2) I don't have anyone using a Code Talker deck in this story anyway, so I figured I might as well give it a cameo. Will Yuno get any other Code Talkers? No. The fact that they're not WATER would make their inclusion very forced. Just like Mistar Boy, Shootingcode Talker is just a WATER Link Monster Yuno runs. Tortured Chains is another R3 monster for Yuto, since it's ridiculous to me that Yuto has so few Xyz Monsters.
I did do a power scaling chart before I started this story, just for reference, and at this point, Yuno is the strongest of the Yu Boys in this duel, with only Yuto proving a challenge. This is purely because no one can deal with Link Monsters yet—the number of times I was blanking while trying to figure out how Yuno wouldn't obliterate one of them immediately cannot be counted. It was like the Reiji duel all over again. Also, this chapter made me understand how overpowered Clear Wing Synchro Dragon is in Arc-V canon. Anyway, the situation with Yuno and Miharu being overpowered will get better once everyone here starts to understand Link Summoning.
As for why the boys didn't absorb each other here, just like how I modified how Yuzu's bracelet works, the Yu boys can only fuse under one of three specific conditions. One, the winner is possessed by Zarc and wins while completely possessed. Two, the winner's dragon (specifically the base form of the dragon or its evolution, not monsters like Vortex Dragon) destroys the loser's dragon by battle, and then wins the duel, even if they're not possessed. Three, if one of them would die/be carded while another is around. Thus, Yuno beating Yuya here didn't cause him to be absorbed.
The reason why Yuzu's bracelet worked at the end but not at the start is simply because Zarc's influence was lessened, thanks to Yuno snapping out of it and Yuya getting knocked out, and the fact that it only had to teleport two people possessed by Zarc at the end, not three. :) If that seems overly convenient to you, so is everything else in Arc-V.
Chikyu is just VRAINS's Earth. For obvious reasons, I didn't actually want to give him the name 'Earth'. Sorry if the name just jumped out at anyone—he's just the same foster brother guy.
If you noticed, the arrows in the changing Overlay Units and ATK areas are actually arrows now, it's because I only just realised that this website has been deleting my arrows and replacing them with hyphens. While I'm not going back to change every previous chapter, it will look like this starting now, since I just figured out how to make the arrows work.
Review responses! For empourer, I don't think it's surprising that I didn't do what you mentioned, because that card doesn't exist. For the guest under Squidward9999, I'll consider making an opening/ED, but if I do, I'll only put it in one chapter per arc. I feel like those take up too much space. Unless there's a strong consensus that people would like one (or I get bored) I probably won't make one for now.
Next chapter, one of the fandom's absolute favourite characters gets her first duel in this story! :)
Thank you for reading and reviewing, for everyone that has supported this story!