Chapter 33: A Duel's Destiny Pt. 1

Xyz Dimension – Near the Fusion Forward Base

The Lancers stood gathered around Declan, who was going over their plan once more, Ren still bound but sitting a few steps away. The group had made their way to about a hundred metres away, the structure looming overhead. All of them were rather nervous, despite what some may tell you, and they were anxious to initiate their ploy,

"Once again, the plan is that Moon Shadow and Celina will sneak into the base, taking out any guards in there, but first Yuto and Shay will summon monsters to cause a commotion and hopefully draw some of the guard away. Once Moon Shadow and Celina have successfully made it to the core of the base, they will sabotage the comms system and secure the teleporter. Myself and the rest of us will help Shay and Yuto, should it be necessary, but otherwise stand on backup. Izumi, I trust that you'll look over Ren?" Declan informed the group, taking a glance at the eldest Bracelet Girl,

"Yeah, that's fine." The seasonal duelist confirmed,

"Alright. Moon Shadow, Celina, be ready. Yuto, Shay, get going." The mentioned people nodded, and headed off, Yuto slotting a card that Declan had given him into his deck. Not 5 minutes later, everyone was in position, and Declan nodded to start the plan. It took a few seconds, but an explosion soon rattled the ground, Shay's Raidraptor – Revolution Falcon carpet bombing a small area, as well as purple lightning from Yuto's Dark Rebellion lighting up the sky. They heard the sounds of boots crunching against the rubble underfoot as around 50 duel soldiers exited the base, charging at Shay and Yuto's location. Moon Shadow and Celina then moved out, after getting the go ahead.

With Shay and Yuto

"This brings back memories!" Yuto laughed as his dragon flew through the sky,

"Yes, it does," Shay smiled, "When do you think-" Shay was cut off by the arrival of Duel Academy's soldiers,

"Stand down!" One in a blue uniform called out,

"Like we would!" Shay taunted, igniting the duel mode of his duel disk,

"Generating Action Field No Action Steel Cage." The AI announced, a large, black cage encasing Shay, Yuto, and the soldiers, "As a special rule, Action Cards will not be dispersed."

"So you're taking it the hard way? Very well, boys!" The captain announced, the noise of so many duel disks activating at once being almost deafening,

"Let's duel!" The yell could be heard from where the rest of the Lancers were waiting.

Shay and Yuto: 4000 LP (x2)

Duel Academy: 4000 LP (x51)

Battle Royal Begin!

Turn 1: Yuto

"I'll go first! I set a single card and end my turn!" Yuto called, the card appearing on his field.

Turn 2: Duel Academy #1

"That's all?" A red soldier laughed, "I summon Ancient Gear Hunting Hound! And I now activate its effect!"

"I chain Raider's Final Nightmare! I banish every card in my deck face-down to permanently negate the effect of your Hound, as well as any card that mentions it!" Yuto declared, the cards being put into a pocket, as the graveyard slot was far from large enough,

"The HELL?!" Almost every Duel Academy soldier yelled this simultaneously, their entire strategies having been shut down,

"I end my turn." The Soldier growled.

Turn 53: Shay

(A/N: I skipped here purely because I'd otherwise be writing "I summon Triple Ancient Gear Hunting Hound and pass" 50-odd times. THIS IS PURELY FOR YOUR ENJOYMENT)

Duel Academy control:

Triple Ancient Gear Hunting Hound: Level 7, 1800 ATK (x50)

Ancient Gear Hunting Hound: Level 3, 1000 ATK

Shay looked over at the field, smiling at seeing so many ripe Hounds for defanging.

"Heh. A field of weaklings! I DRAW!" Shay's eyes were filled with vitriol, remembering all the pain that Duel Academy had put his dimension through, "I summon Raidraptor – Vanishing Lanius who's effect calls two more copies to my field! Now, using three level four Raidraptor – Vanishing Lanius, I build the Overlay Network! Proud falcon, be born and fly me to utter victory! Xyz Summon! Rise up, Rank 4, Raidraptor – Rise Falcon!" Shay's ace monster emerged from the portal, letting out a little screech,

Raidraptor – Rise Falcon: Rank 4, 100 ATK, 3 ORU

"Only a hundred attack points? You have to be joking!" The captain laughed, his soldiers joining in, but a wide smile spread on Shay's face,

"To think you've been here so long, yet you still don't know where an Xyz monster's true strength comes from – Its Overlay Units! I use one to activate Rise Falcon's effect! It now gains the attack points of every single special summoned monster you control, and then it gains an additional attack for each monster it gains attack points from! Fatal Flames!" Quite a few of the Duel Academy students took a step back, shocked at what Shay was doing. Yuto just smiled.

Raidraptor – Rise Falcon: 100 ATK + 1800 ATK (x50) - 90,100 ATK, 3 ORU - 2 ORU

"MERCY! PLEASE!" The captain exclaimed upon seeing the sheer attack they'd unintentionally given their enemy,

"You ask for mercy. HAHAHA!" Shay laughed, "You almost bring tears to my eyes with how stupid you are! There is no such thing as mercy for scum like you! Like you all! FALCON! Attack and end. This. Duel! RAVAGING REBELLION!" Screeching, Shay's falcon, now cloaked in bright white flames, swooped at the army of Hounds in front of it, ingulfing them all.

Duel Academy: 4000 LP - 0 LP (x50)

Shay and Yuto Win!

The scream that was let out fixed Shay's broken soul ever so slightly, the catharsis from watching so many of his dimension's destroyers defeated, if not worse, in a single strike.

Forward Base

Celina and Moon Shadow slunk through the complex, looking at the map that Celina's duel disk had automatically downloaded, standard procedure for Fusion disks, she had informed him, and they then heard a massive explosion from outside,

"I hope that Shay and Yuto succeeded." Celina remarked to Moon Shadow,

"As do I, but we have our own mission to worry about first." The ninja replied, checking around a corner. Seeing nothing, he motioned to continue on, and the two soon found themselves in the teleporter room. Celina started to look at the panel of controls, looking for the off switch, among others, when Moon Shadow let out a noise of surprise, and then a thump could be hard as the ninja hit the ground, unconscious. A man in a silver suit with an ornate robe around him rounded the corner, revealing himself.

"Good afternoon, Turncoat," He greeted, "Infiltrating with your new friends, are we?"

"Aster Phoenix," Celina growled, "I thought you would have been with your subordinates."

"The moment I heard of the explosion, I knew something was up. I haven't heard from the various Enforcers sent after the Lancers, so I figured this was a ploy to get to the Fusion Dimension. Your group will fail here and now." Aster informed her, eyes narrow,

"Yeah? Well-" Celina was suddenly cut off as Aster surged forward and she felt a hard object hit her head, knocking her out. Then, a voice crackled through the communicator installed on the duel disk she wore.

"Celina, Moon Shadow, do you copy?" Declan's voice asked, Aster answering it,

"I assume that you're the leader of the Lancers. How nice to meet you, even if by voice only."

"Ah. If you're answering I take it that they failed their task?"

"Of course. I will be holding them hostage, as you should expect. I will only let the ninja go if you surrender all your duel disks and return to wherever dimension you call home."

"And the girl?"

"A valuable target for Duel Academy. I'd never let her go."

"In that case, I propose a duel. You verses one of my Lancers. The stakes will be winner takes all. We get the girl and ninja back and you let us through if we win, and you get what you want if we don't."

"Very well. But please do send your best against me, would you? I'd hate to crush you in one turn, despite what destiny may have in store."

"That is acceptable. We will be waiting by your entrance." Declan turned off the communicator there, and Aster smiled, walking out for the entrance.

Out the Front

"Yuya, there will be a man, presumably the commander of this operation, coming out in a few moments. You will have to duel him." Declan informed the dueltainer,

"W-What?!" Yuya exclaimed, "Why me?"

"Because he asked for our best, and I believe, in this scenario at least, that is you." Declan coldly replied,

"O-Okay." Yuya chuckled, putting his duel disk on standby. The echoing steps of boots on metal soon resounded, and the man presumed to be the commander stepped out.

"I am Aster Phoenix. Would my opponent step forward." He announced, duel disk activating,

"That would be me, Yuya Sakaki." Yuya stepped forward,

"Sakaki? You wouldn't happen to know a Yusho Sakaki, would you?" Aster inquired,

"You know my dad?!"

"Oh, he's your father? Well then. When I find him and deliver your carded self to him personally, I can't wait to see the look of despair before I do the same to him, as is fate."

Declan stepped forward as well, "I thought our agreement didn't involve the carding of my duelist."

"I thought it was implied that should your duelist lose they get carded while the rest go free, was it not? After all, that is the Duel Academy way."

"It's alright, Declan," Yuya said, facing down Aster, "Every fight against Duel Academy has had this risk. We'd be stupid if we didn't think this would happen."

"Be careful, Yuya." Declan said, turning back as the two duel disks interfaced with each other, prepared for a duel.

"If you don't mind, I'll play an external Field Spell to start things off! Steel Cage Match prevents all outside interference!" Aster called, a large cage appearing.

"Duel!" They both called.

Aster Phoenix: 4000 LP

Yuya Sakaki: 4000 LP

Turn 1: Aster Phoenix

"I'll go first and summon Destiny HERO – Diamond Dude! And due to his effect, I can excavate the top card of my deck, and should it be a normal Spell, I send it to the graveyard and can use it next turn. The top card is my Destiny Draw, so that gets sent to the graveyard to be used next turn. Then, I activate a second copy of Destiny Draw, discarding Destiny HERO – Drilldark to draw two cards. I now activate Polymerisation! This spell, as I'm sure you're well aware of by now, allows me to Fusion Summon using monsters in my hand or on my field. I fuse the Diamond Dude on my field with the Destiny HERO – Decider in my hand!

"Brave warrior, use fate to determine the best course of action! I Fusion Summon, Destiny HERO – Dystopia! Dystopia's effect then activates, allowing me to deal you damage equal to Decider's attack points, of which there are 1600!" Yuya braced slightly as the wave of force hit him, his foot sliding back an inch.

Yuya Sakaki: 4000 LP - 2400 LP

Destiny HERO – Dystopia: Level 8, 2800 ATK

"Next, I set two cards and end my turn."

Turn 2: Yuya

"It's my turn! I draw!" Looking at his hand, Yuya knew there wasn't much he could do, but a plan was starting to form in his head, "I set scale 3 Performapal Turntoad and scale 5 Performapal Cheermole. With this, I would be able to summon as many level 4 monsters as I want, but I activate the spell Pendulum Card Burst, which allows me to destroy my scales to draw two cards!" When Yuya looked at the cards he drew, he was surprised, These cards! He thought, but he quickly steeled himself, "Next, I reset the Pendulum Scale with Scale 1 Astrograph Sorcerer and Scale 8 Chronograph Sorcerer. I'm taking control of this duel, starting now! I can summon monsters from levels 2 through 7 all at the same time, so watch as I… SWING INTO ACTION!" The Lancers who were watching who had seen 'Yuya' duel against his other dimensional counterparts in the Synchro Dimension's eyes went wide seeing the monsters he set the scales with. If anyone had been monitoring the duel energy output of the duel, they would have noticed the amount of energy spike.

"Return from the Extra Deck and cheer Performapal Cheermole! Slash your way to victory, Performapal Swordfish and turn up the heat, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" As Yuya called out his monsters, he jumped up onto Odd-Eyes' back, "Now, Performapal Swordfish's effect! This reduces Dystopia's attack points by 600. Then, Cheermole reduces it by a further 1000!" As the spectral swords hit Dystopia, Aster smirked,

"I activate Dystopia's effect! Since his attack points changed, I can destroy one card on the field and then return his attack to its original value! I destroy Odd-Eyes!" Aster called out, a small gale appearing from Dystopia's palm, swiping Odd-Eyes from under Yuya,

Destiny HERO – Dystopia: 2800 ATK - 1200 ATK - 2800 ATK

Performapal Cheermole: Level 2, 1000 DEF

Performapal Swordfish: Level 2, 600 DEF

"What?" Yuya asked himself, astonished, "How am I going to beat that!?"


Next Chapter Preview: Yuya is in a tight spot against Fusion Commander Aster Phoenix. Will he make a miraculous comeback, or will he lose the duel and be trapped in a card?


Custom Cards:

Raider's Final Nightmare

Counter Trap Card

(This card is always treated as a 'Phantom Knights' and 'Raidraptor' card)

If your opponent activates a card or effect: Banish all the cards remaining in your deck face-down; Negate that card or effect as well as all other cards or effects that mention the negated card. You can only activate one 'Raider's Final Nightmare' per duel.


Hey all, thank you all for reading this chapter! I hope you all enjoyed the duels and are looking forward to part 2 of Yuya vs. Aster! It was also at this point where I realised that Shay hadn't dueled yet, so I saw an opportunity to fix that. I would also like to apologise for this being late, the Yuya and Aster turns were surprisingly hard to write in this chapter. Anyways, to the reviews!

Aqua – Well, I mean I'm not being particularly subtle about Professor Y's identity lol. I'm also glad that the villains of the week format works for you. Also, I do sympathise with the wish for the summer holidays to start.

mpena23 – Thank you for reviewing! I'm glad you enjoyed as well!

Something else before I close off, but this is the first chapter simultaneously published on both AO3 and , so now you can use your preferred method of reading and not be worrying about being caught up! I'll see you all next week! - NightWingBOI