AN: Hey everyone, here is the epilogue for the series now. With no duel, it is a relatively short chapter, but does give a lot of closure for the characters. The last AN is going to be long, so feel free to skip it if you want to stop reading. Hope you enjoy this chapter, leave a review with your comments and questions, and have a nice day.
See Datasheet Chapter for cover art details.
Chapter 20 – The End, For Now
A week later.
At the Domino City Hospital, Yang looked out an open window at the sunrise. With her left hand, she reached out towards the sun. The rays of light passing through the gaps in her fingers towards her eyes. She then grabbed the stump over where her right arm used to be, holding it tight. Suddenly, she heard a knocking on the door, "You can come in," Yang said while letting of her arm. As she turned around, Bastion, Blake, and Weiss entered, "Hey," She said with a weak smile on her face towards her friends.
"Hey," Weiss spoke first, "Ruby did it."
"Yeah, I knew she would." Yang said with a slight laugh, "Is she doing well?"
"They let her out of the Duel Academy Infirmary last night." Bastion spoke up as he sat in a chair to Yang's left side, "She and the others took a boat to get here. They should be in the city by now." His expression slowly changed the one that slightly remorseful, "But, how are you doing?"
"Well, they told me it couldn't be reattached," Yang spoke in a depressed tone, looking at where her arm used to be, "But, I don't think I would have liked it if my arm was just there and I couldn't move it."
"Yang…" Blake spoke, "I'm so sorry."
"Don't worry, it's okay," Yang responded with a faint smile, "It just means my dueling days are over. I can't exactly hold a duel disk and draw at the same time now."
"I wouldn't say that," Weiss responded with a smile, causing Yang to have a look of confusion, "After this event, I got in contact with the CEO of Kaiba Corporation. Telling him about our experiences in the last few weeks." She said before crossing her arms, while the blond Ra Yellow's eyes widened in shock, "He has agreed to roll you into the Duel Rehabilitation Program. The one that was started after the events of Battle City." The heiress Obelisk Blue said with a warm smile on her face, "As well, he assured me that they would make you an arm with all the advancements Kaiba Corporation Technology has to offer, free of charge."
"Are you serious!? You told off Seto Kaiba," Yang replied, "And he listened to you!?"
"I can be rather persuasive in matters involving my friends." Weiss said with her head held high, "And you're welcome."
"Heh, thanks." Yang responded, but her eyes started to fill with sadness, "Still, I guess this means I will be held back a year because of my recovery."
"Not necessarily," Bastion spoke up with Blake and Weiss nodding, "I talked with Chancellor Shepard, he agreed to let us tutor you on what you would have missed in class."
"He even rehired Glynda Goodwitch to be the new headteacher of Ra Yellow," Weiss added on, "She'll be helping us to make sure you don't fall behind."
"Chancellor Shepard even offered me and Atticus the ability to return to Duel Academy as students. However, because of our time as Shadow Riders, we would be put in the same year as the rest of you." She said with a smile, looking at that last comment as a positive.
"I-I…" Yang was saying until tears started to form in her eyes, "Everyone," She said while looking down, a genuine smile now on her face, "Thank you."
The three remained silent until Bastion turned to Weiss, "Did not you have something you wanted to show Blake."
"Oh, you're right." Weiss responded as Blake had a look of confusion, "We'll leave you two alone." The heiress Obelisk Blue said before leaving, the former shadow rider following.
After they left, Yang turned back to Bastion, "By the way, how is Pyrrha doing?" she said while trying to wipe the tears from her face.
"She called recently to tell me that she was going to reenter the pro league," Bastion responded, "And she will be ready to duel you in an official event one day." He said with Yang smiling, but she then looked back down to hide her tears from reformed. Bastion did not say another word, he did reach out for Yang left hand. As he held it tight, Yang squeezed back.
Outside the room, Blake followed Weiss down the hall, "What did he mean, what did you want to show-" the former shadow rider was saying until Weiss stopped. However, her eyes widened at the sight of two individuals. One was a muscular man in a tight black business suit, his chest hair slightly poking out, "Dad?" Next to him was a woman in a monochrome dress, her black hair parted in a way that resemble cat ears, "Mom?" Blake said before turning back to Weiss.
"I made another call," Weiss said to Blake, the gesturing her to go forward. Blake looked back at them in shock, not knowing is she should run away. However, her parents looked back to her with unjudging eyes and a warm smile. With tears started to form, Blake ran towards them, hugging her parents as they hugged her back.
Weiss watched on with a smile at the sight, having the ability to help another friend. However, part of her heart sunk at this sight, knowing it was a familial experience she would never see for herself. She wiped away a just formed tear, then walked the opposite direction. After going for a few minutes, she ran into Chazz and Alexis, "Hey, we made it." Alexis spoke up.
"I see that," Weiss responded, noticing the missing Slifer Reds, "Where are the others?"
"They took a different route, wanting to follow Ruby's lead," Chazz responded, "Hopefully they don't get lost." He said with the others letting out a slight giggle before walking down the hall together.
Meanwhile.
"Yikes, how big is this city?" Jaden said as he looked at a map on his scroll, then realized he was holding it upside down, "Okay, that's a little better. If I take a right, then-" The Slifer Red was saying until he stopped at an alleyway. From the darkness, he heard a voice.
My precious King.
Jaden turned to see it was Salem in the darkness, a look of remorse in her eyes, "You!" Jaden said with a look of anger, "Your Shadow Riders lost, the Sacred Beasts are still sealed away, and I am not your King." He said without Salem saying a word, "As well, my cards are back to normal."
Except you still have the one.
Salem said as Jaden knew she was right. He put the map away as he reached into his deck box, pulling out the card. In his hand, he held Super Polymerization. However, he looked as though he was about to toss it towards the Embodiment of Darkness.
Keep it, please.
Salem said as Jaden had a look of confusion, "Why?" He said as Salem closed her eyes, "You aren't acting like you did before… What's going on?"
…What is the difference between Light and Darkness?
Jaden lowered his hand with the card as he answered, "Good verse Evil." He said with Salem then sighing.
It is that kind of answer that proves why you should hold onto that card.
Salem responded as she opened her eyes, causing Jaden to have a look of confusion at the remorseful nature in them. Her body then started to fade as she fell back into darkness.
Hold it within your Gentle heart, my precious…
However, Salem's last word was not said as her body fully faded away. Jaden's look of confusion remained before he looked back at Super Polymerization. He about just ripping the card here. However, he did not, "Why did she phase it like that?" The Slifer Red sighed as he placed the card back in his deck box.
Suddenly, he heard the hum of his buddy. In turning to his left, he saw the spirit of Wing Kuriboh floating next to an unaware Neo, "Hey, did you find a bus stop we could take to the hospital?" He asked with Neo shaking her head from side to side, Winged Kuriboh doing the same motion with his body.
Neo then remembered something. She reached into her deck box, pulling out the card of the duel spirit hovering next to her. The mute duelist offered the card back to Jaden, who looked as though he was about to take it. However, he glanced over to see the spirit of Wing Kuriboh, who was looking back to Neo in remorse. Winged Kuriboh then turned to Jaden, letting out a pleading hum.
Jaden responded to his buddy with a nod, retracting his hand. "I think you should keep him." He said to Neo, how looked back to him in confusion, "That card was given to me by…a really cool duelist." He said as he remembered the moment vividly in his mind, "I think he gave it to me so I would always have someone watching out for me, keeping me safe." He said as he looked in the distance, seeing Ruby search the area, "But, I think I need to be that role for my friends now. Helping them like they helped me." He said before looking at Neo and smiling, a slight chuckle in this voice, "Besides, I think the little buddy really wants to stick around with you. You know, keeping you company."
Neo was still confused, but then looked back at the card. For some, she did feel safer with it in her hands. She closed her eyes and smile, holding the card close. When she opened her eyes, the colors had swapped. Suddenly, she had an idea. In putting the card away, she took off the bowler hat. Jaden had a look of confusion as Neo offered it to him. With her other hand, she took his scroll and typed a single message, "Trade?" The message read with Jaden looking back to the hat.
"Neo, are you sure?" Jaden asked with Neo nodding, knowing that the trade was for an item the other individual greatly valued. Slowly, Jaden smiled as he took the bowler hat. Upon looking at it, he decided to put it on, "Well, how do I look?" Jaden asked, causing Neo to giggle. Winged Kuriboh let out a hum of joy as Neo handed back the scroll. At that moment, Neo remember why she kept the hat before. No matter the type object, it can mean something special to person who knows the story. They should never be discarded, but they also cannot be kept forever. As Neo saw Jaden take off the hat to put safely in his traveling bag, she knew this would be the last time she would see it. In that instant, the image of her One Thing came to mind for a final time. For someone to move on, they must let go of what binds then to the past, and let the memories remain good memories. The mute duelist let out a sigh before she and Jaden turned to see the hooded Slifer Red running over to them.
"Hey!" Ruby called to the duo, leaving a flurry of rose petals behind her, "I think I found a bus we could take, but it doesn't come by for a few minutes."
"Well, let's go," Jaden said as Neo nodded.
"Great, I'll catch up," Ruby responded, "I want to stop by a store I saw while search." She said before speeding off.
"Wait, you forget to tell us where the bus stop was!" Jaden asked before Neo pulled his sleeve. He turned to see the mute duelist pointing to the trail of rose petals from the direction the hooded Slifer Red came from, "Oh, that works." He said with Neo nodding and Winged Kuriboh humming in agreement.
Meanwhile.
Ruby stood in front of an odd building. Its walls were yellow. While the roof was green, with the word 'Game' written in red on the front. Ruby saw that the sign on the door said open, prompting her to enter, "Hello?" She asked before noticing a small old man behind the counter.
He wore a white-collar shirt under deep green overalls, matching the bandanna on his head. His beard, mustache, and jagged hair were all light gray, "Oh, hello there," He said in a sweet elderly voice, "How can I help you?"
"I'm looking to find some cards for my big sister," Ruby said as she looked around the shop, "As well as some to rebuild my deck." She said before noticing the old man staring at her, "Uh, is there something wrong?"
"Sorry," The store owner responded, "You just reminded me of a young girl who came to this game shop all the time." He said as he walked to a different counter, "She looked just like you, only wore a white hood instead of red."
"Oh, uh, thanks?" Ruby responded as the old man searched for something, "Do you have any strong Fire monsters? Or, any of the Charmer-"
"She was such a good girl and grew into a fine duelist." The old man cut off Ruby, continue to search for something. "Ah, here it is!" He said before pulling a black and white deck box, "One day, she came to me and said to give this to a girl that reminded me of her."
"Really? That's odd. Who would do th-!" Ruby was saying until she looked at the deck. On the front, she saw the emblem of a rose. The hooded Slifer Red then looked at her belt, seeing checking to see the same symbol on her side. She then looked at the old man, who smiled as he pushed the deck box towards her. Ruby's heart raced as she picked up the deck box and opened it. Inside, she first saw a blank white piece of paper. While one side was empty, the other side had a message on. As she recognized the handwriting, her hands began to tremble. Ruby then noticed the cards inside the deck box. Upon realizing what they were, her silver eyes began to light up with joy.
Your Move.
AN: There you go, that is the end of it. I leave a lot open here, as well as hint at some future events. However, if ever I am unable to continue, I wanted this final to be satisfying. For me, this was one of my favorite series to do. Of all my stories, I feel this is the most consistent and best paced outside of Sheer Madness. Writing duels was a challenge, but it was fun to do at the same time. Personally, my favorite duel to write was the last one. Round Two Ruby verse Cinder was meant to be a grand final duel, and that is what I felt I delivered on. Right now, I'll give a quick run through of my thoughts on each character in this series. However, please let me know what you thought of this series. What you liked and did not like. What you want me to improve in a Season Two storyline.
I'll start on the GX side with Jaden. He was a more interesting to write as the series went on. I didn't want to give him too many duels, as that was one of my biggest problems with season one of GX. Here, I do like how I was able to forward include the Supreme King into this section of the series in a way that felt justified. The internal struggled was apparent, and his dynamic with Winged Kuriboh was something I really enjoyed. Alexis, Chazz, and Bastion are ones I will lump together here. All of them are fine, but they were a bit secondary compared to Jaden and the rwby characters. Chazz got the most personality and development, the Ojama's helping a lot. Alexis was also good for what she was but was not as prevalent as I thought I was going to make her. And Bastion was the only one of the good guys to not win a duel here. I did like the dynamics between them and the rwby characters, with Chazz and Weiss being one of my favorites during the Glynda duel. Even Atticus and Chancellor Sheppard are pushed out of the story at a point just so I don't have to have too many characters at once. Overall, there is not much I would have done differently for them here, but I do wish there was a bit more I could have given them this season. (Another reason for me to do a second season).
For the RWBY side, I'll save the core four members for last and start with the shadow riders. Roman was also a character to never get a win in this arc, and still dies in this continuity. In early drafts, he was just sent to the shadow realm and was going to be released at the ending here. However, I felt that was a copout and wanted there to be weight to the ending for Neo. Adam was one of the characters where I knew a moment I wanted to do for a while, and that was the Berserker Soul scene. But after looking so intimidating, he then gets chewed out by the Supreme King and dies. Which for Adam, is par for the course, but still kind of sad. Glynda was fun and had a lot of cool monsters to work with, with a neat gimmick to her duel. Same for Pyrrha, as I did like how I incorporated both of their backstories and semblances into this continuity. However, to avoid overcasting, I did have to push those characters out after their duels. Cinder was great to include, but like I said before, I wish I could have done more with her throughout. One of the only things I cut was her backstory here. I was going to say she was a former Slifer Red from years ago, who once fell down the Well of Weak Monsters and discovered Relinquished as a Duel Spirit. It would have meant that Cinder could also see Duel Spirits. It was something I liked in concept, but never found a way to fit it in their storyline here. Also, I got a question regarding my opinion on rwby villains. In sort, the villains are not interesting to me, because most of them are not fun and never intimidating. I liked V2 Cinder because she came across more like a DIY villain with threating aura, but then got worse as the series went on. Roman and Adam are both the same in that they are understandable, but the series failed to make them actual characters beyond a villain role, then just killed them when they didn't need them in the story. Neo is awesome, but I hope they move her from a villain role to an anti-hero set up, as I don't want her to die like the prior two. Everyone else, including Grimm, are uninteresting to me. Even Salem, who does nothing but be a stinger for three season finals, is boring and repetitive. Despite that, she is fun to write for me and gave a new threat level to the story here. (I do know what her deck will be and it's awesome. She is the easiest character to pick an archetype for, it just fits that well). Now for Neo, who I think has one best character arcs in this series next to Blake. I do have my biases; Neo is still and most likely will always be my favorite rwby character. While I feel like some people may not like it, I do love that she inherits Winged Kuriboh in the end. Without Roman, I do think she deserves a tiny guardian angel at her side.
Now with Team RWBY. Starting with Yang, she was fun to develop in this storyline. Of all the characters, she does have the most wins next to Jaden and Neo (who I count the two knockouts in the raid duel as wins). While she does still lose her arm here, the context afterwards allows her friends to stay right by her side and support her. Yang's moments with Bastion and Blake were also very sweet to write. Speaking of Blake, she was the one I gave the biggest arc to in this series. With her three-part chapters of her internal struggle, Blake was one of the higher focused character this arc. And like I said, her Lunalight deck is probably the strongest archetype here. Next Weiss, who was given the most backstory of them all when the series started. Her personality was what I liked showing in her duels, and I do like this version of defrosting her ice queen nature. Even though she is the Obelisk blue of the group, she has the worst duel record of the one win and four losses. And finally, Ruby, who really has more relevance at the beginning and end of the arc. She is a character that represents unwavering hope, and I wanted to show that with her never wanting to give up. Even in the last chapter, when she is in the worse possible situation, she keeps going and believes she can win. I still love the cards I gave her and do think they fit her personality. She may have lost her deck, but Summer did leave her a new one. And what are her new cards? You will have to wait and see.
Now, it's time for me to talk about Season Two of this storyline. I do plan to continue this series in the future, but I want to do more with Re: Neo, Lost to Dust, and some new projectsbefore coming back here. With Season Two, I'll be doing chapters closer in structure to the first four of the series here. Meaning they are character-focused and not arc-focused like the format of the Shadow Rider saga here. Everyone you have seen in the story will be returning, except possible Grandpa. As well, I will upgrade the GX character's decks with future support they have gotten. This will give me options and makes the duels more interesting. And yes, Jaden will get the Neos support, but I will change how he gets them in this continuity. On the rwby side, most will get the same treatment Jaden gets. Meaning, they will be combining two archetypes, like his Elemental Heroes and Neo-Spacian monsters. I have already made most of them, and they are good decks.
Regarding new characters, I'll reveal just four each series right now. Hassleberry has already been hinted at and will be there. Crowler will be back from his vacation. Zane will show up when I have a section of story focus on the pro league scene for a bit. As well, the does mean Aster will show up in Season Two. On the RWBY side. I already said Sienna Khan would be in and she will have a pretty cool role. Also, I don't count the Adam short scenes for her character. I'm sorry for being blunt, but that was literally RT retconning because they knew they messed up with her and Adam's character the prior volume. It was pointless and did not matter to the storyline, it just made me angry because she is still dead. Until she is in a fighting game like BBTAG, I will not forgive them for killing the best faunus design in the series. Still, she is one of the best characters for fanfiction, so I am excited to include her in the future. Her deck is pretty cool, using one of the most come archetypes in all the series. Winter will show up with a fun duel in mind. Her deck is also insane and one of the strongest gimmicks in the game. Nora is planned as well, using one of the most busted archetypes possible, but fits. And I think I also figured out a deck for Mercury as well, who he has one of the best boss monsters in the game. That is not everyone, but only those I will say as confirmed, (If you want to know if anyone else will be seen, expect a No, but be prepared for surprises). As for the Arc-V character…I still will not spoil who it is. However, the only hint I will say is that Crowler is the one who brings him to Duel Academy. I do want to come back to this series at some point. It maybe be a while, or I might come back sooner than I plan. That is all for now, thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed Duel Academy's New Students.
