Hello again everyone, happy new year, and let's get started. This is going to be A chapter I'm telling you. I struggled in the beginning, but the ending? Oof! Exquisite I tell you!
Ch. 45: Crash and Burn
"While we wait for our next contestants to make it out to the stadium, let's have a look at their backgrounds!" Melissa Claire declared over the TV as she looked down at the tablet she was currently holding, most likely displaying Yuto and Sergey's information. "Admittedly there isn't a whole lot on either of these two. Yuto Raiden is confirmed to be a part of the Lancers that Zero runs. Not only that, but this is also the same individual that played as the Phantom Knight anti-hero back at Central Park a couple of days ago. He fought against his fellow Lancer Gongenzaka Noboru, who played as the Hero of Justice, and won, so this duel should have a lot of entertaining potential!"
Meanwhile, everyone was looking towards Yuto as he began to prepare himself for this next battle. While he was happy he didn't have to fight anyone like Shun or god forbid Yugo again, something about the man he was about to fight seemed off. Gray eyes looked towards the TV now showing both his and Sergey Volkov's pictures. The man was certainly tall and buffed up to the max, but what had Yuto's attention the most were the numerous yellow marks all over the man's face and shoulders. Yellow tattoos, marks Commons would have forced on them when they were arrested and transported to the Detention Facility according to Crow and Shinji's remarks. There were a lot of them, and that made Yuto wonder how a man like this, who was most certainly a thug, was allowed to compete in this tournament supposedly promoting unity and friendship.
Then there were the man's eyes, one was a dulled out blue, but the other one was an eerily bright red. It almost looked like it was glowing. Yuto didn't like it at all. Looking at it for too long made his head hurt with a spike of pain, as if trying to remember something. Something important, something dangerous, but it eluded him, and that worried him. Ridiculous since he's never met this man in his life, and ever since the invasion from Academia Yuto wasn't scared so easily.
But that eye…
"There isn't much to look at when reading Volkov's profile, besides the fact that he made it into the tournament somehow, he's just a regular old Commons. Yet…" Melissa's eyebrows furrowed as she concentrated on Sergey's picture herself. "The name and face seem familiar to me. Maybe I did a broadcast involving him once?" She didn't sound too sure of herself.
It all smelled rotten, like a set up if Yuto ever saw one.
"You okay?" Yuto blinked, his mind snapping back to the present as he finished tightening the straps on his duel disk. Looking away from the TV, Yuto stared at Shun, who had a calm expression. While everyone else thought he was just acting casual. Yuto and Ruri both saw the slightest crinkle in Shun's eyebrow signifying his worry over Yuto suddenly getting lost in his own head.
"I'm fine." Yuto insisted with a swift nod of his head. "Just trailed off for a second there."
"Don't get distracted now." Ruri chided gently with a sweet smile on her face. One of her hands went up to pat Yuto's shoulder lightly, before enveloping him in a hug. "You need to keep your focus for this duel. Despite none of us knowing him he had to have gotten into the tournament for a reason, he'll be strong."
"I know." Yuto agreed, the smallest smile twitching on his lips before it went away. His thoughts from before vanished entirely at Ruri's words. "I'll handle this and be back in just a moment."
"Best of luck out there Yuto!" Yuya and Yuzu both waved as they grinned towards him. The two carefully separated from Yugo far enough to not cause any warping accidents. At the moment, the trio were seated at the kitchen table with their cards spread out. Apparently, Yugo was making good on his promise and was currently teaching them how to properly perform a Synchro Summon. "Show those people the power of your Entertainment Dueling!"
Yuya's words served to cause a big grin to spread across Yuto's face, his cheeks causing his eyes to squint along with the smile. Yes, he'd be sure to try his best in performing an Entertainment Duel, but there was no way he'd be able to match Yuya's charisma on the battlefield. Still, he'd give it his best shot.
Shun came up next and gave one stiff pat on his back that nearly made Yuto stumble forward towards the City's bellhop Sam. "Knock him dead and show him the power of a Lancer."
Now Yuto's grin turned confident as he looked back at Shun. "Roger."
. . .
"As much as I would like to see his body as nothing more than a bloody smear in the pavement, if a contestant died during the tournament it'd surely be canceled. That and Zero and his rotten lot will be given plenty of incentive to use him as a martyr to cause the Commons to riot. All in a pathetic attempt to overthrow my rule of this place." Roger idly commented as he played with the black knight chess piece in his hand without a care in the world. Right behind his chair, which would be better classified as a throne, Sergey stood like a silent sentry. The man was waiting for his full orders. The eager grin on the burly man's face betrayed his excitement for a brutal battle.
Roger carelessly tossed the chess piece behind himself, and Sergey deftly caught it in one hand, crushing it into dust with the sheer strength he possessed.
"Try not to kill him, Sergey." Roger almost bemoaned the fact he had to say that. "Not to say you can't hurt him at all, but just make sure he stays alive in the end."
"Of course, master." Finally, Sergey spoke, his accent thick and distinctly Russian as he left to head to the stadium for his duel. One of the City's lowly servants was silently quaking in his boots at the interaction between the two. Terrified of the thought that he could be targeted next by the very influential Head of Security.
"You." The servant nearly jumped out of his skin in fright as Roger addressed him. "Get me another black knight chess piece, and then get out."
"Y-y-yes s-sir!"
. . .
"You certainly seem to be interested in this Volkov person, any particular reason why?"
"None that I'd care to grace your ears with, your majesty." A modulated voice snarked back as a blank mask stared deeply at the screen displaying the two about to duel.
The D-Wheel Yuto unsteadily rode upon was mainly black with some dark purple accessory details. The teen's piloting suit matched his D-Wheel's aesthetics of black and purple, but there was also a hint of white and cyan underneath his arms and going down his back, between his shoulder blades, and further down his spine. The Phantom Knight user's normally spiky hair was crushed underneath the black helmet he currently wore. Only his lavender colored bangs were visible as they peeked out from under the helmet and over his resistance goggles that he had repaired back in the Standard Dimension.
In a gesture that probably warmed his Lancer's hearts, Zero realized that Yuto had taken the time to slip on his resistance cloth and Lancer band over his pilot suit and onto both of his forearms. Clearly, the Xyz user didn't want to part ways with them in case they got stolen, and instead decided to keep them on his person.
On the other hand, Sergey Volkov could be described as the exact opposite as Yuto. While Yuto's D-Wheel was small and sleek, Sergey's was enormous and bulky. Its frame took up nearly two lanes of the race track. Its colors were mainly black, yellow, and red. Not only that, but the thing had five wheels instead of two, three big ones in the front and two smaller ones in the back. Two large spikes stuck out from the sides of the outer front two wheels. Yuto would definitely have to keep an eye on them unless he wanted his own tires to be shredded. Then there was the giant red horn that stuck out in the front of the D-Wheel.
Zero was clueless as to why the man chose that particular D-Wheel. The thing was bulky and would be difficult to turn in a track that you always needed to turn left on like a Nascar track. The red horn itself was a useless decoration that functioned as an intimidating nuisance at best since it directly blocked Sergey's forward line of sight. If he wanted to see what was in front of him, then the huge man needed to lean to the side and look. Overall, Zero wasn't too impressed with his machine, and had a lot of critiques about it.
The man himself seemed much more interesting. Instantly, Zero thought of the stereotype of all muscles, no brains, and expected the man to go on a rant about how much stronger he was than Yuto who looked like a twig in comparison to him. Not only did it seem like the man's muscles were bigger than Yuto's head, but his height was easily twice as taller than Yuto's own as well. Hell, he'd probably be taller than Shun by a fair margin if you had them stand side by side. He more closely matched the height of Charles zi Britannia judging from the calculations going through Zero's head at the moment. The man was built like a skyscraper. Yet, the taunting and jeering didn't happen. Instead, Zero was curious to notice that Sergey hadn't said a single word yet since being called to the track.
The man's piloting suit was a dark green with red lines all over it. It even had fur on the cuffs of his wrists and surrounding the Synchro user's big burly shoulders. The fur matched Sergey's own short and spiky hair, and his shoulders and face were completely covered in yellow tattoos demoting him as a Common thug and prisoner of the Detention Facility. It made Zero question if he had escaped when the masked man had brought the prison down, but since he wasn't being arrested on the spot the theory had to be incorrect.
Yuto, being the chivalrous gentleman that he is at heart, decided to display some good sportsmanship by trying to shake Sergey's hand when both D-Wheels parked at the starting line. Sergey in turn, looked down at the offending hand before looking back up at Yuto with a big grin. One that said Sergey knew some inside joke or secret that he didn't feel like divulging to Yuto at the moment.
"We're going to have fun, little bird." The microphone attached to each duelist's pilot suit barely picked up the words over the loud crowd and Melissa going on about the duel about to start. The words were practically whispered, yet Yuto seemed to hear it clear as day.
The Xyz user quickly retracted his hand and resumed his ready position on his D-Wheel like nothing had even happened. "Little bird?" Yuto mouthed to himself quietly in confusion, and while you couldn't see much of his expression, you could practically feel the way Yuto's brow furrowed in confusion. Admittedly a bit creeped out at Sergey's out of the blue response.
Sergey just stared straight ahead, the way his head was positioned showed that he wasn't staring at the track ahead of him though. Instead he was staring up at the grand room that housed the two Kings of the City.
He was looking up towards Jack and Zero, so quiet and still it didn't even look like he was breathing. It would've been creepy if Zero hadn't seen worse, but it definitely raised some red flags in the genius' mind. Something was deeply wrong with this man.
"Well, you haven't been that rudely sarcastic to me in a while. Something about him must have your cape in a twist." Jack talked back as he raised a single delicate eyebrow before getting a closer look at Sergey himself. "I don't see why you're so concerned. That heterochromatic delinquent is nothing compared to me."
"Just surprised is all, and curious." Zero stated so idly it was practically careless the way he voiced his 'thoughts'. "Having heterochromia is a rare trait after all. We'll have to see how he fairs in this duel before making any assumptions about his skills since his profile is nearly blank."
Of course, Zero wasn't worried about that stupid detail. It wasn't anything dueling related that the masked man was concerned about. If anything, it was the man's 'heterochromia' that caught his attention.
He had heterochromia too, but for an entirely different reason from plain old genetics. A much more dangerous and frightening reason too.
So when the camera zoomed in on Sergey's face for the audience, Zero leaned forward just a tad in his seat to get a closer look. Close enough to show curiosity, but not too close to display any concern or worries the masked man might have to anyone else watching like Jack Atlas. Taking a deep look into the man's uncovered, glowing red eye revealed no mark of a bird in flight.
Zero internally sighed heavily in relief. Good, he really doesn't have geass then. There was no way someone in these four dimensions could have geass, that only came from his world, and Zero got here by a mere fluke. But the fact that C.C was able to send me here in the first place means that it isn't impossible, and with Mao showing up again during my duel with Atlas…
It was always better to check and be safe rather than be sorry. Eyes don't glow naturally, so why is his eye glowing if he doesn't have a geass? Something caused Sergey to become heterochromatic, and Zero intended to find out as soon as possible.
. . .
"Three… two… one… and begin!" Melissa exclaimed as the buzzer rang loudly, kickstarting the duel into action. The revving of both contestant's D-Wheels filled the air with the scent of burnt rubber and motor exhaust as they shot off like mini-rockets. "Riding duel, acceleration!"
"DUEL!"
YUTO LP- 4000
SERGEY LP- 4000
"Field Spell, Crossover Accel!" An automated computer stated from the speakers as Action Cards began to fly out across the field. With that, the duel had truly begun.
Instantly, it was clear who the superior D-Wheel driver was as Sergey drove his insanely big and bulky D-Wheel so well it almost looked like he was skating across the pavement. Something that shouldn't have been possible given how huge it was. Two giant sharp spikes on the sides of its wheels should've made it hard to turn sharply, and the giant horn on the front of the D-Wheel should've made it hard for Sergey to see what was in front of him, yet, none of that happened. The man drove as if these restraints weren't even there with a grace that lots in the stadium envied. He took the first corner and therefore the first turn in almost ten seconds flat. Yuto, meanwhile, was wobbly on his D-Wheel, but soon managed to even himself out without too many bumps as he concentrated more of his efforts on the road ahead of him. The first corner nearly caused him to crash in a heap from going too fast, yet nearly not turning soon enough. It certainly caused Yuto's stress levels to rise dramatically after the scare. A bead of sweat was already gliding down the side of his face as he struggled to drive his D-Wheel.
Damn, this thing is worse than when I first started riding Dark Rebellion! Yuto cursed within his own head. It's like I have to use my entire strength just to keep this thing in line. If this is what autopilot is like I don't want to have to drive this thing without it!
"And we have Sergey Volkov immediately taking a massive lead over Yuto along with taking the first turn!" Melissa commentated as the crowd roared. "Uh oh, it looks like Yuto is struggling to drive his D-Wheel and is falling behind." She gave a sly smirk. "First time driving a D-Wheel it seems, hm?"
The look Yuto gave in response to Melissa's tease said more than enough. He'd get the hang of it eventually.
"My turn!" Sergey spoke out and gained the crowd's attention. The man had a very thick accent that was clearly from some Russian state as he started the duel off strong. "First, I summon Earthbound Prisoner Ground Keeper in Attack Mode!"
The summoned monster looked very peculiar to Yuto's eyes. It was something the Xyz user had never seen before that was for certain. The ghoulish monster was mainly black, but it had eerie glowing purple stripes forming some strange pattern and symbol on and across its entire body. Blue flames similar to Yuto's Phantom Knight monsters billowed out from its lower half and hands. Chains wrapped around the creature's neck and wrists, connecting it to a torture looking device that looked heavy and had tons of spikes around it. A giant, long bony tail extended past the device and curled up like a monkey's tail.
EARTHBOUND PRISONER GROUND KEEPER LV. 1 ATK:300 DEF:300
"When this monster is Normal or Special Summoned, once per turn I can Special Summon one Level 5 or lower Earthbound monster from either my Deck or Graveyard. I choose to summon Earthbound Prisoner Line Walker from my Deck!" With that said, another similar looking creature lurched up from the void and out onto the field to lumber beside its ghoulish partner. This one had bright glowing orange lines etched into its skin making those same weird patterns. It had no lower body to speak of, just a dark red smoke in its place, and huge thick hands wrapped up in thick chains that were broken.
EARTHBOUND PRISONER LINE WALKER LV.3 ATK:800 DEF:1100
"When this monster is Normal or Special Summoned, I can add one Earthbound Prison or Harmonic Synchro Fusion Spell Card from either my Deck or Graveyard to my hand." Volkov smiled darkly.
"Fusion?!" Yuto exclaimed. "Gah!" The teen had to abandon whatever he was about to say when he had to sharply veer his D-Wheel to the left. Its wheels made a loud squealing noise as the D-Wheel almost drove straight into the wall, but Yuto just barely managed to avoid it yet again. The mention of that accursed Summoning Method sparked a dark flame within the Xyz user's heart. The stress of struggling to properly drive his D-Wheel and Sergey's earlier comment didn't help either. Then that means… this man must be working for either Academia or Roger! Perhaps even both!
"I choose to add Harmonic Synchro Fusion from my Deck to my hand." The Synchro citizen said as the selected card ejected itself from his Deck. "I set one card down and end my turn." Sergey finished, taking a single moment to look back towards Yuto, who was still a little ways behind from the bad start he had. "Now, let us see what you can do before I clip your wings, little bird."
A tick formed on Yuto's eyebrow at being called 'little bird' once again, but he easily shrugged it off. "Very well then." Yuto commented as his features narrowed in grim determination. This threat needed to be stopped immediately. Before he tried to hurt anyone or target Ruri and the others. "It's my turn, I draw!"
. . .
"Where the bloody hell did that man get those damn cards!" For once, it wasn't Zero that was extremely upset, but instead Jack Atlas himself. The King's booming voice had the guards outside take a quick peek inside to see if something had gone wrong, but all they met was Atlas' fury.
"What about those cards?" Zero asked with his own raised eyebrow. For once it was nice not being the one caught off guard. "You've dealt with them before I presume?" It was clear Atlas' original thoughts on Sergey had been thrown out the window with the end of the first turn.
"Dealt with? More like nearly died fighting against them!" Atlas barked as he turned a stern glare to the two Council Security guards now quaking in their boots as the King's enraged attention turned to them. "I want to know how that man found those Earthbound cards, and I want to know right now! Go find out how he found them NOW!"
"Yes sir!" The two quickly bowed to their King before rapidly vacating the scene to go and try to find out what the hell was going on.
Meanwhile, as Jack sank back down into his seat he gave a loud groan and rubbed his temples as if he had gained a sudden migraine. "I thought we had destroyed all those blasted things…"
"Should I be concerned about this?" Zero asked rhetorically, if Atlas was upset by this sudden development, then it was obvious this was something that needed to be dealt with.
"Possibly, it depends on what direction this duel decides to go in." Sensing that Zero was demanding more context than that, Jack's face scrunched up in distaste as he gave in. "A couple years ago, back when I still lived in the Commons area, a group of old companions and I had a run in with these types of cards. Earthbound Immortals they're called." Without a word, Atlas rolled up one of the sleeves of his outfit to reveal what at first looked to be a weird tattoo. It only took Zero three seconds to realize that it wasn't. It almost looked like it was burned onto the man's skin instead. The design was bright red and looked like a pair of wings from some ancient civilization, like a hieroglyph. "The people that wielded these monsters called themselves Dark Signers, while my group and I were apparently their inherent enemies, the Signers." Purple eyes looked into masked violet. "Crow has a similar mark hidden beneath one of his gloves."
. . .
Meanwhile, Jack wasn't the only one caught off guard by this discovery. Someone else was explaining a similar story to the group of Lancers in the contestant's tower.
"The duels these Dark Signers would engage in had a very dangerous price." Crow stated with a dark, grim expression on his face as everyone looked from the TV to the mark on Crow's arm. The orange haired teen's mark depicted that of a red dragon's tail from ancient times. "The loser would end up losing their soul." The entire group of Lancer's gasped in shock at the revelation.
"Their soul? How is such a thing possible!" Sylvio cried out as his hands gripped his hair in fear. "This is just a simple card game right?!"
"First a Dimensional War and people being turned into cards, and now this?" Yuzu breathed in despair.
"Hey, relax." Crow said and helped ease the crowd of teens to calm back down. "That doesn't happen anymore. Once we Signers worked together and defeated the Dark Signers the Earthbound Immortals were eradicated for good. They can't take people's souls anymore." Crow didn't mention that they had just barely won against the Dark Signers. It was pointless and would only cause more panic within the group. Darkened steel gray eyes glared over at the TV that displayed Yuto and Sergey. "Whatever form of cards this man has, they're not the real deal. Just a made up copy." He scowled. "But the person who made these cards had to have done it knowing it would be a direct slight against us after all of the trouble and pain it put us through. This was done purposefully."
"Yuto…" Ruri muttered fearfully, suddenly worried about what could possibly happen to him in this duel. This person Yuto was fighting was a certain enemy, and it seemed clear he wasn't going to go easy on the Xyz user.
"But why would anyone target you?" Shinji narrowed his gaze to Crow specifically. "You haven't done anything wrong."
"It's not for me." Crow said simply. "Not directly anyway. I have no doubt that this is an attack directed towards Jack. Someone's gunning for him, and that Deck Sergey is using is to make a statement."
. . .
"I summon Phantom Knights Ragged Gloves from my hand!" Yuto began as he summoned his familiar ghostly monster onto the field. The monster's gloves creaked as it clenched its hands into fists, ready to fight.
PHANTOM KNIGHTS RAGGED GLOVES LV.3 ATK:1000 DEF:500
"I activate Ragged Gloves effect!" Yuto stated as he gestured out towards his monster. "When I control a Level 3 monster I can Special Summon Silent Boots from my hand and onto the field."
"Ah, this is a similar move Yuto made back at the park as the Anti-hero Phantom Knight!" Melissa stated as Silent Boots crept onto the field using his name sakes.
PHANTOM KNIGHTS SILENT BOOTS LV.3 ATK:200 DEF:1200
"I use my Level 3 Phantom Knights Silent Boots and Level 3 Phantom Knights Ragged Gloves to build the Overlay Network!" Yuto yelled over the howling winds and cheering people. The two specters remained silent as they dived headfirst into the golden vortex created in the ground. "Souls of warriors fallen on the battlefield, revive now and become the light needed to rend out the darkness! I Xyz Summon!" Out of that vortex, one of Yuto's most familiar monsters made another appearance in the world of the living. "Appear before us! Rank 3! Phantom Knights Break Sword!"
PHANTOM KNIGHTS BREAK SWORD RNK.3 OB.2 ATK:2000 DEF:1000
"When Phantom Knights Ragged Gloves is used as material for an Xyz Summon the Xyz monster gains 1000 Attack until the end of this turn." The broken sword of the Xyz monster's began to glow purple and fully repaired itself thanks to the power boost given to it.
PHANTOM KNIGHTS BREAK SWORD ATK:2000 = 3000
Melissa cheered. "There it is! Another successful Xyz Summon right out the gate, what will Sergey do?"
"Battle!" Yuto declared as he threw a hand out towards Sergey, but then immediately retracted it when the D-Wheel skid across the asphalt to rebalance himself. Yuto's heart went up into his throat at the abrupt disturbance. His adrenaline levels spiking up even further with the action. How the hell did Ruri make it look so easy? Yeah, he was going to keep both hands on the handle bars from now on unless he had to play a card. "I attack your Earthbound Prisoner Ground Keeper with Phantom Knights Break Sword! Phantom Sword Slash!"
With a kickstart, the phantom horse reared back and started to gallop towards the weaker monster before it. The ghoul riding the horse armor extended its sword forward and gave out a huge war cry. Once it arrived at the Earthbound monster, Break Sword mercilessly cut the monster down until it burst into yellow particles. The backlash of wind jostled Sergey's D-Wheel, causing him to lurch forward as he lost a lot of Life Points in one sweep.
SERGEY LP- 4000 = 1300
"I activate the Quick-Play Spell Phantom Double Strike!" Yuto quickly added in as the damage was dealt to Sergey. "When a Phantom monster I own successfully destroys my opponent's monster, it can attack again. Now, strike down Earthbound Prisoner Line Walker, Breaksword!"
"Oh wow! It looks like this duel is already over!" Yet, just as Melissa said that, a strange sound could be heard coming from Sergey. After taking a moment to stop and listen, the reporter was shocked to hear him… laughing? "Huh, why on Earth is he laughing when he's about to lose?!"
"I activate my Continuous Trap, Shadow Spell!" Sergey intervend on the incoming attack. The mentioned card revealed itself to everyone as the man spoke. "When this card is activated, your monster loses 700 Attack Points and it can no longer attack. It also cannot change its battle position!" The Trap card glowed an ominous shade, before chains made of shadows sprung out from it and wrapped around Yuto's monster like a net.
Being surprised by the action, Break Sword's horse reared up and neighed loudly in distress, struggling to try and get free but only entangling itself up even more at its attempts. Eventually, Break Sword's rider managed to calm the beast as it struggled to move in the chains it was now stuck with.
PHANTOM KNIGHTS BREAK SWORD ATK:3000 = 2300
"What?" Yuto's brow furrowed just the smallest bit as he softly voiced his confusion to himself. "If he had that this whole time then why didn't he use it when I attacked his first monster?" His eyes narrowed toward Sergey, yet the teen quickly shook his thoughts and concerns off to better focus on the duel. Now wasn't the time to get distracted by something like that, perhaps it was just a simple mistake.
Or was it? What was this man planning?
"I end my turn." Yuto loudly declared so Sergey could start his next turn. "At this time Phantom Knight Break Sword's Attack returns to normal." The Xyz monster's sword suddenly stopped glowing, and was once again broken in half with the announcement. Though, thanks to the Trap card Sergey activated it was even less than that.
PHANTOM KNIGHTS BREAK SWORD ATK:2300 = 1600
"Then it's my turn, I draw!" Sergey shouted as he drew his card and started his turn once again. "When there is a Field Spell active, I can Special Summon Earthbound Prisoner Stone Sweeper from my hand!" An Earthbound with light blue stripes flew out onto the field. The creature looked like a strange fish with its big fins and a big mouth full of glowing blue stripes and teeth.
EARTHBOUND PRISONER STONE SWEEPER LV.5 ATK:1600 DEF:1600
"Next, I activate the Spell card Harmonic Synchro Fusion!" The Spell Sergey obtained in the first turn now comes into play as he activates the card. With its activation, Volkov's two monster's suddenly duplicated themselves into four, something that shocked Yuto. "With this card's effect, I will now perform a Synchro and Fusion Summon simultaneously using the two monsters I control!"
The crowd suddenly roared, so much so you couldn't even hear what Melissa had to say over the speakers. A Synchro and Fusion Summon at the same time? It was certainly an impressive move.
"First, I tune my Level 5 Stone Sweeper with my Level 3 Line Walker!" Together, the two Earthbounds leaped into the air and transformed themselves into green rings and bright blue stars. "Revive from the depths of the Earth, gigantic beast with wings of punishment!" Out of the blinding light a beast made of dark void and yellow glowing stripes flew over the field and screamed in rage. "I Synchro Summon, come forth! Level 8 Earthbound Servant Geo Gryphon!"
Along with those yellow stripes this monster had mechanical components strapped all around it. The most prominent was the full head muzzle forced onto the creature and strapped on tightly. The creature's yellow eyes glowing eerily out from within the contraption as it glared down at Yuto. It had a mechanical tail that had a mouth on the end that snapped at anything close by. It even tried to get a swipe in at Yuto, but Break Sword quickly intervened and blocked the assault. Otherwise, the creature had sharp claws and a giant armored chest cavity with a dangerous looking spike on the front.
EARTHBOUND SERVANT GEO GRYPHON LV.8 ATK:2500 DEF:1500
"Next, I fuse Stone Sweeper and Line Walker together to create an even more magnificent beast." Together, the two duplicated monsters turned into light and began to swirl and fused together into one dangerous entity. The sight had Yuto biting his inner cheek to control himself and his emotions.
He can't get angry. He can't risk letting himself lose control like back at Standard. He can't.
"Prisoner that crawls across the Earth." Sergey began to chant as he summoned his stronger monster over the roar of approval from the crowd. "Become one with the prisoner that walks the path of execution, and become a gigantic beast that delivers out punishment!" From the Fusion Summon, a beast with multiple black and glowing pink striped tendrils began to pour out onto the field. The monster was so big that Yuto actually had to slow down again so he didn't get accidentally swiped off of the field by one stray tendril. Not that it would've been an accident if that did happen in Yuto's annoyed opinion. "I Fusion Summon! Come forth, Level 8, Earthbound Servant Geo Kraken!"
The thing certainly looked like a kraken as well. Its huge bulk, multiple tendrils, and the classic triangular-shaped fin on its head made it clear that this thing was made to bring ships to the bottom of the sea. Not to mention it's huge gaping maw filled with wicked teeth that could probably rend and tear just about anything it consumed.
EARTHBOUND SERVANT GEO KRAKEN LV.8 ATK:2800 DEF:1200
Yet, what Yuto focused on the most was the way Sergey summoned the beast. Just like it was taught and used back in another certain Dimension.
He is from Academia! Yuto grit his teeth and glared darkly over at the person in front of him. His opponent seemed to sense eyes drilling into the back of his head, because Sergey turned to look back at Yuto now that he had finished his Fusion Summon. A taunting, jeering grin on the man's face showed that he knew Yuto knew- That bastard! He's taunting me with it!
"Grr, you Academia scum!" Yuto barked out angrily as his fingers dug into the handlebars of his D-Wheel. It was so hard to try and hold back the hate that was hidden deep within him when that man was making that face. As if laughing at his misery and what was done to his people, because he was happy and proud of what he did! "Even here your filth is scattered in the ranks, poisoning this place and turning it into its worst version of itself!"
"Academia? What's that?"
"Didn't someone else mention something about this Academia before? It sounds familiar."
"Oh yeah, that pink haired girl, Yuzu Hiragi! She said that Academia was an invading force from another Dimension or something I think?"
"Didn't some other people mention it too?"
"Are you trying to tell me that it's actually real?"
The billowing laughter from Volkov cut off any other speculation as he attempted to regain control of himself from his laughter. The sight had Yuto becoming increasingly more vexed. That man would laugh in his face about what Academia has done-!
"How beautiful, yet so sad."
Instantly, Yuto's mental gears ground to a screeching halt at Sergey's words. The younger teen's eyes widening in shock and mounting anger. "What."
"It's a sorrowful kind of beauty I suppose." Sergey veered off, completely ignoring Yuto's remark as he continued on his own path. "I can see all of the rage and hate building inside of you with my presence, with me using Fusion Summoning the way I do." The dichromatic individual looked Yuto in the eyes, and the sight of those two different colored eyes caused Yuto to flinch back at being read so well from some stranger he didn't even know. That dull look in the man's eyes, it came from the eyes of a killer. "You want to unleash that rage upon me with all your might, yet, you hold back." Truly, the man looked sad at saying that, angered even. "Such a shame you refuse to act as your true self. Perhaps I can coax the real you out before this duel ends, little bird."
"What the hell are you talking about!?" Yuto snapped angrily. "You don't even know me-!"
"We all have demons inside of us." Yuto's eyes widened as fear began to enter his gaze. Did he know about… no way. He can't know! Yet, the way Sergey looked at him as if he had some great potential was starting to turn very creepy. "Some are more dangerous than others, more destructive, and within you I can see something truly beautiful just begging to be unleashed."
"What the hell is this guy's deal?" Melissa's words served to help bring Yuto out of his own head and back to the duel. No, this guy couldn't know about what was going on, they hadn't even met. This man was just a sadistic freak that wanted to mess with his head, and it was working. "First he purposefully lets himself take damage to laugh about it and now this? Man, we really need to do background checks on all of our contestants before letting them participate in tournaments like these."
It seemed like Sergey had realized the duel had been stalled for long enough as well, because he was back into the swing of dueling within an instant. "I activate the effect of Line Walker from within my Graveyard. By Banishing it from my Graveyard, I can treat your monster Phantom Knights Break Sword as if it was Special Summoned this turn!" With that, the shadowy chains wrapped around the Xyz monster suddenly glowed a bright orange, blinding the monster and causing the horse to buck from getting startled so suddenly.
"This isn't good." Yuto muttered lowly as he decided to risk it and speed up towards the unstable duelist he was fighting. He might need to grab an Action Card if he can.
"I activate Geo Kraken's effect!" Volkov continued and he shouted loudly in the wind. "I can destroy all of my opponent's monsters that were Special Summoned on my turn, and it will deal 800 points of damage for every monster destroyed!" Without any prompt, Geo Kraken suddenly unleashed a torrent of shadowy dark ink over towards Break Sword. While the monster did try to fight back by slashing at the fog with its sword it was pointless, and the Xyz monster screamed loudly just as it was destroyed. The force of the destruction almost caused Yuto to spin out of control, but he managed to catch himself at just the last second.
YUTO LP- 4000 - 3200
"Damn!" Yuto swore out loud as he grit his teeth. No matter what he tried to do it's like his D-Wheel wouldn't respond in the way he wanted it to. No matter how hard he hit the throttle it wouldn't go any faster, so he was always stuck behind Sergey and couldn't reach an Action Card. When he tried to turn it almost wouldn't respond until he was about to crash and hit the wall head on, and it happened nearly every, single, Damn, Time! Why won't my D-Wheel work!?
. . .
What no one seemed to realize was that Yuto actually wasn't in charge of his D-Wheel at all. The man actually behind the wheel was hidden all the way up in the Security Bureau away from any prying eyes.
Amused green eyes watched as Yuto struggled to do anything or atleast make his D-Wheel move the way he wanted it to without any success. It was funny, like watching an ant struggle to try and not drown in the rushing river, or a turtle trying another futile attempt to right itself after falling onto its back.
While he wouldn't force Yuto to crash directly into the wall, he certainly waited until the last second to make him turn. The scare it always gave the boy never failed to make Roger smile just a little bit. Perhaps he should do this more often. However, once this duel ended there would be no doubt people would look into the D-Wheel and find it was tampered with, cutting off that route of manipulation for the rest of this tournament. Best to not make the manipulation too obvious to avoid the duel being canceled and restarted. Zero no doubt would instantly point fingers at him and make his situation with the Council more precarious than it was before, not that it would matter after this duel, but the risk for variables still stood.
A freak accident though? That should cause enough chaos to distract everyone and allow him his chance to strike. Both against these Lancers and the City itself.
Roger gave a happy sigh, glad to finally see things going back his way. Revenge was always the best medicine. Whoever said otherwise clearly didn't know what they were missing out on and were just weak fools.
Taking a moment, Roger clicked one of the buttons on his chair, and the moment he did the Council guards within and surrounding the Executive Council building all abruptly stiffened up in unison. It was as if they had suddenly become puppets all pulled on a collective string. One such Council guard immediately contacted Roger.
"Orders master?" The man droned almost like he was a robot.
"Detain the Council, Reiji Akaba, and any of the remaining Lancers within the building." Roger ordered. "Keep them in there until the tournament is over. I'll dispose of them properly then."
. . .
"Battle!" Yuto growled at Sergey's words as he slammed one fist down onto the D-Wheel's console, trying to make it do anything with no success. Looks like he was on his own without any Action Cards either. "I attack you directly with Geo Kraken and Geo Gryphon! Earthbound Quake!" With Sergey's orders clear, the two Earthbound monsters instantly rushed forward. Ecstatic and eager to swipe up and swallow Yuto whole like he was a small morsel.
"Oh no! Could this be the end of our Phantom Knight-!"
"Not quite!" Yuto cut Melissa off, not even apologizing for doing so since he was so wrapped up in the duel in front of him. This fight suddenly becoming a familiar one for survival instead of one for a stupid, rigged tournament. While the reporter was peeved about being interrupted, she begrudgingly allowed it. "By Banishing Phantom Knights Phasmophobia from my hand, I can activate its effect and forcefully end the Battle Phase without taking any damage!"
Once Yuto Banished the card from his hand, a ghostly specter suddenly appeared onto the field in front of the two Earthbound monsters. The monster wore nothing but tattered remains of chainmail, not even a helmet to protect its ghostly head and beady red eyes, while a giant shield was clenched in both of its hands. The classic cyan blue flames erupting from its hands and legs depicted it as one of Yuto's monsters.
With a strength the monster normally wouldn't have possessed, the creature slammed its shield down in front of the two advancing monsters. The knight's mouth opened up wide, and suddenly a bunch of other, smaller spirits flew out of its maw and around the two Earthbound creatures. The distraction served to stop the Synchro and Fusion monsters in their tracks as they tried to attack and consume the spirits taunting them. It wasn't until the Battle Phase was over that the spirits rushed back into Phasmaphobia's mouth to signify that Sergey's chance to attack Yuto was squandered, and Phasmaphobia vanished from the field right after.
. . .
"Phew, good thinking there Yuto!" Yuya cheered over the stiff silence that encompassed the tower. The situation just kept going from bad to worse as time wore on. "That was a close one." They needed to do something.
Serena seemed to be thinking the same thing. "We need to do something, anything."
"We can't though." Crow objected despondently. "If we attempt something it'll be seen as us attempting to manipulate the tournament in our favor and that could put all of us in hot water. That's exactly what Roger and the Council want."
"Not to mention that since Zero and Reiji are the leaders of the Lancers they'll be held solely responsible for whatever we do and will have to take the fall." Shun stated as his sharp gaze never wavered from the TV. His eyes refused to look away from the image of his best friend, who was seen to be clearly struggling. "It could be enough reason for Roger to have Zero arrested, despite Zero having become a King to the City."
"That might happen anyway." All eyes turned to Yugo, who had shockingly been quiet throughout this entire duel. "Did you guys notice how much Yuto struggles to move his D-Wheel?"
"What do you mean by that?" Yuzu questioned uneasily. "That's just because it's his first time driving one is all."
"Isn't it obvious?" Yugo looked at everyone's confused faces before focusing on Shinji and Crow. "Tell me you two can see it too!" At their denial, Yugo groaned loudly before exclaiming. "Yuto's D-Wheel was tampered with!"
"What!"
"How?" Shun growled darkly for an explanation. The declaration finally caused the Raidraptor user to tear his eyes away from the screen to stare into Yugo's own resolute aquamarine.
"Look at him!" Yugo yelled as everyone focused back on the screen and Yuto's driving. "His responses and attempts to move the D-Wheel are on point, and the way he reacts should have the D-Wheel turning right now, but it isn't!" The group watched as Yuto once again nearly hit the wall, and the side of the D-Wheel actually created sparks as it skidded across the wall it came that close to wrecking. It was sheer luck that Yuto's leg hadn't been shredded across the wall along with the sparking metal. "Instead it's waiting at the last second before moving, it shouldn't be doing that. Even the autopilot wouldn't wait this long before turning, so someone else must be doing it purposefully to get a rise out of him." Judging from the wide eyed gaze Yuto gave to the wall he almost crashed into in speechless shock, it was working. "Someone's throwing so many problems in his face that he can barely even focus on the duel!"
"Hey, you're right!" Sylvio agreed first. His teeth were grinding as he shouted loudly. "How dare they interrupt the duel and sabotage it! Sacrilege I tell you!"
"Roger." Serena snarled as she beat one fist against the leather couch. "This has to be his doing!"
"Then let's get up and do something about it!" Yuya hollered as he jumped up from his seat and ran towards the huge doors of the tower. The tomato haired teen attempted to open the door, but it wouldn't budge an inch. "Huh?! What the-'' Jiggling the knob, using both hands, and even pulling with all his might didn't cause the door to budge even an inch. "It's locked!"
At that announcement, suddenly everyone was getting up and trying to find a way out. The roof and emergency exits were both locked as well, and the windows were all sealed shut with no latches to open them. The group found themselves locked in the tower. What was supposed to be an act of defiance suddenly turned into an even bigger cage than just being trapped in their rooms.
"This is very bad." Shinji snarled as he tried to kick the door open in his rage but failed. "By the time the duel ends officials will inspect Yuto's D-Wheel and find it was messed with, and since we can't leave Roger will have free range to accuse Zero for manipulating the tournament."
"But why would anyone believe a sleeaze like him?" Dennis questioned as he tried picking the lock to the front doors with no success after Shinji's attempt. The Performage user sighed in frustration before giving up. "Picking the lock is a bust too, I think there's another mechanical lock that I can't access."
"It's easier to blame someone you don't even know and is more of an image than an actual person." Crow answered instead, his arms crossed tightly across his body that was filled with tension. "He could say that Zero tried to rig the D-Wheel to be faster but failed, or some other bullshit excuse people will buy since he's been here a lot longer than you guys have. He always took the Friendship Cup seriously in the past, and while there was probably some manipulation going on then too, it's never gotten as bad and obvious as this." The man squeezed his eyes shut as he swore venomously. "Damn him! This has to be because of that public spectacle Yuto and Ruri made against Security when they tried to take my kids." The guilt flooding through him during that very second was almost unbearable. His kids were safe, but now someone else had to suffer the consequences for it.
"That must mean he's making his move against us." Shinji agreed to his friend's assessment. The purple haired duelist quickly brought Crow over to the side to help calm him down. The man was barely able to restrain his own rage at this development to help his friend in need.
"That also means Zero and Yuto are on their own, unless Reiji can see what's going on and decides to act on it then that's it." Serena assessed based on the information they currently had. "Then again, if Roger is being so bold now then that might mean something has happened to them and the Council as well."
"Come on!" Yuya objected hotly. "There's no way I'm giving in just yet. There must be something that we can do! Right?"
No one answered his question.
. . .
"The door is locked." Zero pointed out calmly. His pursuit to leave the room when he noticed their guards leave unexpectedly and attempt to reunite with his Lancers getting spoiled in an instant.
"What?!" At that proclamation, Jack was out of his seat and almost flew to the door to try and open it himself. Yet, despite his impressive strength it didn't even move a centimeter. "Hey!" The King shouted as he banged angrily on the door. "Open this door right now or so help me you'll regret it with every fiber of your being you peasants!" After a moment, it was clear no one heard his threat, or no one felt the need to respond. "Hey, are you all deft?! I said open this door right now!"
Outwardly, Zero appeared as calm as can be, but on the inside his mind was running a thousand miles per second. So he's finally making his move. "This tournament and this City have officially been overthrown by Roger and his Security lackeys."
"Not on my watch!" Jack growled as he activated his duel disk in preparation to summon Red Dragon Archfiend. However, Zero suddenly grabbed a tight hold of the King's wrist and forced his duel disk down, stopping him. "What the bloody hell is your problem?! I'm getting us out of here you simpleton!"
"No, what you're about to do is cause a massive incident." Zero reprimanded calmly as he relinquished his hold on Jack's arm. "Can't you see this is what Roger wants? He wants us to panic and make a big uproar about it." He gestured out the window. "Look outside and tell me what you see."
Unamused by Zero's antics, Jack took a quick glance outside before answering in a gruff attitude. "I see a bunch of morons sitting back and doing nothing but watching a farce of a duel. I am their King, their hope, and it is my responsibility to make sure things like this don't happen."
"Then why didn't you intervene when Roger and his Security bunch started getting more aggressive in their stance against Commons in the City?" Zero shot back, silencing the man in a single moment. "Your inaction to do what was right then has caused the City to become even more separated and unstable then it ever was before. Commons have become even more segregated and demeaned since Roger's rise to power, and yet you did nothing-"
"I didn't have the influence then!" Jack interrupted. "I had just become King then, and if I had done something so bold as to try and denounce the Head of Security I would've lost the faith of all the people-"
"You would've lost the riches and privileges winning granted you." Zero interrupted as well, just as cold and calm as he always was in situations like these. He wasn't holding anything back this time. "You promoted the idea of winning and social darwinism in dueling because it promoted you and helped you to gain more power and more of what you wanted. Like that damn tea and honey you always love to drink so much." Zero got right up into Jack's stunned face as he whispered harshly. "Roger wants us to make a big scene because the City itself doesn't even know that it has been taken over by that man yet. Interrupting the most anticipated tournament of the year will put a sour look on your image, and Roger will use that to further bring you down until you can't stand anymore. He'll use Yuto's duel as a means to detain me and I have no doubt that the Council and Reiji and his lot have already been captured and are being held hostage right at this very moment."
"How do you know that?" Jack rebutted finally, not denying anything that Zero had thrown his way.
"Because they're not contacting us to try and remedy the situation regarding Yuto's tampered D-Wheel." The masked man explained as he finally backed off and returned to his seat since he had no other choice. "They take this tournament seriously because it's literally the only thing keeping the Commons calm and stopping them from causing an all out massive riot around the entire City. The only reason this place isn't swarming with Security either is because Roger hasn't amassed enough forces that will be capable of stomping out a rebellion from the City yet. Otherwise we BOTH would be getting arrested since he despises me for what I am and he hates you because you are the City's symbol of Hope, so we still have time to salvage this situation."
Jack didn't bother to state that he would simply wipe the floor with anyone that would try to arrest him of all people. "Then what do we do?" Atlas questioned again as he sat back down as well since there was nothing else to do.
"Patience." Judging from Jack's soured expression he wasn't very familiar with the idea of patience and disliked waiting. "Once Roger makes his control over the City common knowledge, that will be your time to strike."
. . .
"Very well then, perhaps there is still time to make this duel truly exquisite. The pain that we'll both feel will make this duel one to remember for the both of us." Sergey spoke as if he didn't care whether he won or lost. "I set one card facedown and end my turn." The man's eyes stared at Yuto as if he were a piece of meat instead of a person. "Now, show me your true self, Xyz scum!"
Xyz scum, spoken like a true Academia puppet.
Yuto's expression of fury explained more than what could be put into words. It was a miracle his teeth weren't cracked from how hard he was grinding into them. His eyes normally so calm and controlled burned with a fire that was uncontrollable. A spark of violet rage entered them causing them to start to glow and he was starting to lose control because of this man-
"Zero commands you, never lose control of yourself to the demon that lies within."
Yuto sucked in such a sharp breath it caused him to break out into a coughing fit. A sudden terror freezing his heart as past words began to resurface to the front of his brain until it was all that he could think of. It was all encompassing, overwhelming, swarming him.
He had to obey it.
"Whether you get angry, feel great sorrow, or even sink into the pit of despair. Even if you give in to everything else, you will not give into this. You will not allow this being to take control of you."
That red eye.
That brightly glowing red eye was as mesmerizing as it was terrifying. Yuto didn't know what was happening, and when he found he couldn't look away from that eye he started to panic, yet he couldn't move.
"You will snuff out your emotions like a candle until the risk of going berserk goes away. Never lose control of yourself over all else, that is an order, Yuto."
Yuto was terrified, but he had no choice but to obey.
You couldn't see it unless you were looking very, very carefully, but a soft red glow began to emerge from around Yuto's irises. It flickered as his features scrunched up in pain, before any trace of his emotions was wiped away like a passing breeze. All that was left was an emotionless husk that had red rings around its eyes and it had to obey those exact orders to a T because nothing else mattered besides those exact orders.
He is trying to get a rise out of me. Yuto thought numbly, that thought dissolving like sand in the wind the next passing second as soon as it had arised. All of this, the D-Wheel, the Fusion Summoning, the constant mentions of Academia, the 'little bird' mockery. It's all to try and get me to lose focus and run out of control. I must stay in control. I will stay in control.
I am in control.
"My turn, I draw." Yuto droned as he mechanically drew his next card and started off his next turn. He wasn't even phased when his D-Wheel suddenly took a sharp turn around the corner. The teen acted as if it hadn't even happened. "With Scale 2 Phantom Ghoul and Scale 5 Lady Phantasm I set the Pendulum Scale!"
"Ah! He's finally doing it ladies and gentlemen!" Melissa cheered as she clapped her hands. "Here comes another awesome Pendulum Summon!" This wouldn't turn out like anything close to what happened in the park however.
Yuto lightly placed the two Pendulum cards on each end of his duel disk, and the two monsters rose up in their pillars of blue light. Yet, it was with such a great lack of care that the cards nearly flew out of Yuto's fingers instead of being placed on the Pendulum Scale. When Phantom Ghoul and Lady Phantasm rose up into their pillars of astral light both monsters howled as if terrified and looked to their master in fear.
SCALE 2 PHANTOM GHOUL
SCALE 5 LADY PHANTASM
"How ugly." The disappointment in Sergey's voice was nearly insurmountable as he looked forward once more. His interest in this duel was almost completely lost at that moment. "You've lost the spark that was in your eyes just now. Your thirst for carnage is gone, how disgusting."
"I Pendulum Summon." Yuto droned calmly, not even bothering with dramatics or fanfare or even a mention of rebellion. Out of the portal four knightly ghosts rose up to fight for their master.
PHANTOM KNIGHTS CLOVEN HELM LV.4 ATK:1500 DEF:500
PHANTOM KNIGHTS FRAGILE ARMOR LV.4 ATK:1000 DEF:2000
PHANTOM KNIGHTS STAINED GREAVES LV.3 ATK:1200 DEF:600
PHANTOM KNIGHTS RAGGED GLOVES LV.3 ATK:1000 DEF:500
While Ragged Gloves was familiar to the crowd, the other three monsters now on Yuto's field were new. Cloven Helm was a monster that had nothing more than a head and hands. It's cyan fire covered by an old knight's helmet that was shattered on one side to expose a single red eye. A decaying red scarf billowed in the wind around the area where its neck should be and the creature wrung its metal covered hands in concern as it stared over at its master.
Fragile Armor on the other hand, looked anything but fragile. The creature didn't have a head or any hands either, just a body and some legs. Hot blue fire billowed out of any available crevice from the obsidian black armor that was spiked with bones on its edges and cuffs. Phantom Knights Stained Greaves looked the most normal out of the bunch. The monster wore old, ancient armor with the helm having its visor open. The creature sported a sword in each hand and the sheaths for those swords were behind its back held by the belt the monster wore.
"I activate the Pendulum effect of my Scale 2 Phantom Ghoul, which allows me to perform a Rank-Up Xyz Summon that's two ranks higher by Banishing the materials I use from play. I choose to Banish Phantom Knights Ragged Gloves and Stained Greaves to form the Overlay Network." With their orders given, the two Xyz monsters jumped into the vortex with haste, as if they were happy to escape from their master's gaze. "Rank-Up, Xyz Change. Come forth, Rank 5 Phantom Knights Dragon Rider." Out of the vortex flew a familiar dragon that had its rider carefully perched upon it. The dragon gave one soft cry before falling silent and going beside Yuto.
PHANTOM KNIGHTS DRAGON RIDER RNK.5 ORB.2 ATK:2800 DEF:2500
"When Ragged Gloves is used as material for an Xyz Summon, my Xyz monster gains an additional 1000 Attack Points for the rest of the turn." Yuto re-stated as Dragon Rider raised a fist up as it got its power boost.
PHANTOM KNIGHTS DRAGON RIDER ATK:2800 = 3800
"Next, I overlay my Phantom Knights Cloven Helm and my Phantom Knights Fragile Armor." Yuto continued, and the way his voice and expression never changed as he spoke was starting to become noticed by the audience and unsettle them.
"Uh, hey, are you okay down there?" Melissa asked as she leaned forward to look at Yuto, her holographic image copying the action. When Yuto didn't respond, the reporter's brow furrowed. "Hello?" During that time Yuto didn't answer her, the monsters Yuto just mentioned had evolved into one stronger being.
"I Xyz Summon, come forth, Rank 4, Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon."
DARK REBELLION XYZ DRAGON RNK.4 ORB.2 ATK:2500 DEF:2000
It sounded so weird to not hear Yuto say his usual lines before summoning Dark Rebellion. What was even more concerning was that when Dark Rebellion was summoned, it didn't hiss loud and proud up to the heavens ready for a fight. Instead, it hunched its head down towards Yuto, and a shrill clicking noise echoed out from deep within the creature's throat, as if trying to call out to Yuto.
He didn't answer back.
. . .
"What is going on with him, what just happened?!" Sylvio freaked out as he paced rapidly back and forth from behind the couch. Since people got agitated when he paced in front of the TV he was delegated to pace in the back instead. "Why is he acting like a robot!"
"Did he just-" Serena snapped her gaze over to Ruri and Shun. "He lost control of himself, didn't he? He's gone berserk." The rest of the Lancers gasped, yet the Synchro citizens raised their eyebrows as if surprised by such an accusation from Serena.
"Berserk?" Crow questioned in disbelief as he blinked. "What the hell are you guys talking about?"
"You mean, he's like how I became back in that park in the Standard Dimension?" Yugo whispered quietly, the teen rubbing the sides of his arms to help comfort himself from the sudden goosebumps he had obtained. Was it just him, or did the room just get much colder than before?
"I don't know, this feels different." Ruri slowly responded, her strayed glued down to her bracelet. "At the very least our bracelets aren't responding to anything, so that must be good, right?"
"I feel fine too." Yuya added hesitantly. Everyone looked over to see the tomato haired teen was lightly grasping at his chest as if he was expecting pain to come any second. "Odd-Eyes isn't glowing either."
"It's possible." Shun was as stiff as a stone pillar, and his expression fitted one pretty well thanks to the dark scowl on his face. "When I played as a liaison for Reiji before he and Zero started working together I got to go over some footage from the tournament in Standard. The very first time Yuya went berserk it was more of a calm, quiet rage before it started getting worse and more vocal the more episodes he had." Shun blinked, but yellow eyes didn't stray from the screen. "This could be one of those moments."
"Wait, hold on, you mean this stuff has happened before?!" Shinji exclaimed as he leaned as far forward in his seat as he could. "I don't know about you guys, but I demand one HELL of an explanation right now!"
The Lancers looked at each other, but Yuya and Yugo both seemed to suddenly find the ground very interesting. They didn't protest when the rest of the Lancers agreed and decided to fill everyone else in on what exactly 'going berserk' meant.
. . .
To think my command would be implemented so soon. Either Yuto was feeling a lot of stress before and during this duel, or the demon's presence must have been getting stronger within him. Maybe even both. Behind his mask, Lelouch bit the inside of his cheek strong enough to draw a few beads of blood. The longer this went on, the more people would start to notice Yuto's weird behavior until he finally managed to regain a hold of his emotions without the help of his geass to forcefully numb everything. Dammit, come on Yuto! I know you can do better than this! Pull it together!
. . .
Once it was clear Yuto wasn't going to respond to his ace, Dark Rebellion looked to Sergey, and gave the darkest snarl the dragon could muster. The creature baring its fangs as spittle escaped its maw as it hissed at the Synchro user. It was obvious that Dark Rebellion thought this was all Sergey's fault.
As Dark Rebellion raged, Yuto showed everyone a card from his hand. "From my hand I activate Rank-Up Magic, Phantom Knights Launch. By using this card and Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon as materials, I can Xyz summon a monster that is one rank higher." Within an instant, Dark Rebellion was covered in a black goo that began to harden and crystallize around its body. The dragon being crystalized into black stone right in the middle of one of its enraged roars.
With this change came a new form, and with it, new power. "From the depths of purgatory. Sing the song of rebellion dedicated to the restless souls. Let it echo for all eternity and appear." With the chant for this new form of Dark Rebellion, the red rings surrounding Yuto's eyes dimmed and flickered for just a moment. "Rank up, Xyz Change. Come forth, Rank 5, Dark Requiem Xyz Dragon!"
The crystalized material began to crack, until it shattered into a ton of yellow particles. Left behind was the newly empowered Xyz dragon. Dark Requiem extended its wings to reveal the stained glass image of its wings. Multiple beautiful colors scattered across the field as the sunlight hit the dragon's wings. The sight had everyone oohing and awing at the beautiful colors. A soft, soothing yellow draped itself over Yuto and his monsters while Sergey and his creatures were covered in a deep, fiery red.
DARK REQUIEM XYZ DRAGON RNK.5 ORB.2 ATK:3000 DEF:2500
With the sight of all the colors and the people's cheering, it seemed reality finally started to bleed back into Yuto's gaze as those red rings completely vanished from his eyes. Yuto's stormy eyes blinked a couple of times, before the greatest headache of all time began to thump just behind his temples and between his eyes. The Xyz user openly groaned in discomfort as he harshly rubbed his eyes with both hands.
"W-What… where?" Yuto squinted his eyes open as he looked around himself. The pain in his features turned into confused shock as he processed what was going on. "The duel wasn't like this just a moment ago… When did I- '' Dark Requiem Xyz Dragon nearly barreled Yuto and his D-Wheel over as the creature suddenly bumped its head against Yuto's in a sign of affection. The creature actually started to purr as if pleased its master had returned to normal. While Yuto would normally be receptive of this affection, the fact that he was speeding over a race track on an unstable D-Wheel didn't make him as accepting of his dragon's care at the moment.
As much as he tried to remember just what he had done to get here, Yuto couldn't come up with anything at all. It was a complete blank in his mind. One second Sergey was taunting him and ending his turn, and the next they were here.
"Hurry up and quit your stalling!" Volkov yelled back over the wind, and for once he actually helped pull Yuto out of his own head and back into the duel itself. "I want to end this duel in a blaze of fiery glory that is your defeat!" Okay, while that sentence wasn't as helpful, the crazed man's words served to put Yuto back into the duel.
Win this first, then fret over whatever the hell just happened.
"We'll see who gets defeated!" Yuto barked back, the emotion that had entered his voice and expressions once again putting people back at ease and settling any nerves. You could almost hear the sighs and cheers of relief at Yuto managing to regain control of himself. "I activate Dark Requiem Xyz Dragon's effect!" The dragon hissed as it destroyed one of its orbitals and purple lightning began to swarm around its wings. "By detaching one Orbital, I can target one of your monsters and it loses all of its Attack Points! In return, Dark Requiem gains Attack Points equal to the amount your monster loses! I choose to take the Attack points of your Geo Kraken and add them to my dragon! Requiem Salvation!"
The purple lightning shot out from the Xyz dragon's wings and shot off towards the enormous kraken as fast as the speed of light. The sea-based monster reeled back and shrieked in pain as the electricity zapped its body of all its offensive capabilities.
DARK REQUIEM XYZ DRAGON ORB.2 - 1
EARTHBOUND SERVANT GEO KRAKEN ATK:2800 - 0
DARK REQUIEM XYZ DRAGON ATK:3000 - 5800
"Oh my God! A monster with 5800 Attack Points!? That's insane!" Melissa yelled as the crowd roared in approval.
"I activate the effect of Geo Kraken!" Sergey intervened as he took a sharp turn around the stadium's track. "When you Special Summon a monster from your Extra Deck I can destroy as many monsters you control that were Special Summoned, and for each one destroyed you receive 800 points of damage! Enraged Tsunami!" Despite the electricity that coursed through the great sea beast's veins it still managed to find the strength to shrug it off and prepare for its offensive.
"Pointless." Yuto snapped as he looked back at his ace dragon. "I activate the second effect of Dark Requiem Xyz Dragon!"
"Oh? Another effect? Interesting." Sergey said as he looked towards the dragon covered in bony armor.
"When my opponent activates a monster's effect, I can detach one Orbital, negate that effect, destroy the offending monster, and then Special Summon an Xyz monster from my Graveyard." This time, Requiem Dragon crushed the orbital in one of its clawed hands, and the colors reflecting off of its glass stained wings shined a blindingly bright light.
DARK REQUIEM XYZ DRAGON ORB.1 - 0
Once the light died down, the sight of its smaller yet very similar counterpart Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon was seen flying on the other side of Yuto's D-Wheel. Earthbound Geo Kraken was no longer seen on the field either, most likely destroyed in the light when nobody could see it. The crowd screamed in excitement at the three powerful monsters now on Yuto's field.
DARK REBELLION XYZ DRAGON RNK.4 ORB.0 ATK:2500 DEF:2000
"It's like the monsters just don't stop coming!" Melissa exclaimed as she leaned so far forward in her booth she almost fell over the railing. "What will he do next folks!? It's not looking good for Sergey anymore!" However, when Yuto looked towards his opponent, the man still had a small smile etched on his face.
"I'll be sure to wipe that smile off of your face once this duel is over. Now, I activate Dragon Rider's effect!" At being mentioned, the Xyz monster flew higher in the sky as the black flames in its maw began to grow. One of its Orbitals spontaneously bursting apart in a sea of shiny particles. "By discarding one Orbital, I can change the position of all of your monsters! I choose to force your monster into Defense Mode!"
PHANTOM KNIGHTS DRAGON RIDER ORB.2 = 1
"Ohhhh! I can see where this is going!" Melissa nearly squealed out loud in her excitement at this duel's turnaround.
EARTHBOUND SERVANT GEO GRYPHON ATK:2500 = DEF:1500
"Finally, I activate the Pendulum Effect of Lady Phantasm!" Yuto's eyes looked up towards his Pendulum monster, and the monster nodded towards him in response. "For the rest of this turn, when I battle monsters in Defense Mode my monsters deal piercing damage!" As Lady Phantasm pulled her glowing sword out, she made a gesture as if she was knighting all of Yuto's monsters. With each knighting, a pure white aura appeared around the Xyz monsters and they all bowed to Lady Phantasm in thanks, even Dark Rebellion and Dark Requiem.
"Interesting, but will all of this be enough?" Volkov questioned as he eyed the three powered up Xyz monsters on Yuto's side of the field.
"Enough to defeat you." Yuto responded with a scowl, his purple bangs waving wildly in the wind under his helmet and over his goggles. When Sergey's response was to laugh boisterously, Yuto bristled even further. "What's so funny!"
"The idea of defeat!" Sergey answered, catching the crowd off guard as he looked to Yuto once more. "It doesn't matter to me who wins or loses! I couldn't care less if I lost!" His grin was wide and all sharp teeth, the red glow in his left eye seemed to almost grow even brighter. "What matters to me is the agony one feels and inflicts upon the other and the beauty of the carnage wrought upon a duel! Raw strength to raze and tear the other apart, that is what is important in dueling! I'll make you see it yet, Yuto Raiden!"
Yuto glared at the sadomasochistic man in disgust. "That is not the truth of dueling at all! A real duel serves to bring out the joy and hope in others. A duel helps their opponents connect and understand each other! To help bring out a smile to everyone watching and participating!" The Xyz rebel looked down at his duel disk as he thought. "I'll admit, I had lost myself to a darkness that was hard to crawl back out of when Academia came and destroyed my home. They took everything from me, my family, my home, my people." His grip tightened on his D-Wheel's handle bars. "I wanted them to feel all of the pain they made me feel. I wanted to make them feel justice and regret for what they had done!"
"So you admit to it then!" Sergey crowed as he took in a deep breath, as if savoring the moment. "You admit to unleashing your true self and casting down the true beauty that is carnage upon those that oppose you! You-"
"At one point in time perhaps, but I'm not like that anymore, and I never will be again!" Yuto interrupted the man's rant, causing Sergey to look at Yuto in shock at his declaration. "A good friend of mine helped me see the true meaning of dueling once again. His kindness and passion for entertainment dueling helped respark my desire to duel for fun, for smiles, for a happier, brighter future. Not one drowned in strife and revenge." Yuto looked up, and though he couldn't see it, the camera zoomed in on his face during his speech. A grateful smile spread across Yuto's face as he thought about everything that has happened recently. "I have a lot to thank him for, and I'll try to make up for what I've done by staying on this path and becoming an even better person than I was before. I still have my friends, my closest allies, and now I've gained even more. I'll get stronger with my dueling and with it I will grow." He could almost imagine Yuya's expression of elation at Yuto's vow. The purple banged duelist's smile vanished when he looked back to Sergey's silent form with a scowl. "And I'll start that by defeating you here and now!"
"Tsk, how disgusting." Sergey sneered as his features twisted to match his emotions. "Let us see if you can finish this then."
"Battle!" Yuto declared, and despite the fact he was worried he'd get thrown off his D-Wheel, he threw one hand out towards Sergey and his remaining Synchro monster. "I attack your Earthbound Geo Gryphon with Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon! Rebellious Lightning Disobey!"
As Dark Rebellion hissed as its mandible began to glow white Sergey sped his D-Wheel forward. The burly man grabbing ahold of an Action Card just as Dark Rebellion was about to strike. "I activate the Action Card Miracle! My monster is not destroyed and any Battle Damage I receive is now halved!"
"But you'll still take some damage." Yuto insisted as Dark Rebellion fell upon Earthbound Geo Gryphon.
SERGEY LP- 1300 = 800
The Earthbound creature's eyes narrowed towards Dark Rebellion, and while Dark Rebellion landed a hit on the creature's face it only caused a scratch in the metal. Geo Gryphon soon retaliated by extending one of its clawed hands out and swatting back at Dark Rebellion to make it back off. The dragon hissed in pain, rearing back at the scratch marks it had obtained on its chest from Gryphon's attack, but otherwise it was fine. The two creatures hissed and shrieked at each other in defiance and challenge.
"I attack Geo Gryphon with Phantom Knights Dragon Rider! Go, Burning Blue Flame!" The knight riding upon the great beast kickstarted it's dragon into action with its heels. With the go ahead, the dragon swooped down and over towards the weakened Geo Gryphon until its shadow completely encompassed the Earthbound. With grit teeth and a grin, Sergey forced his D-Wheel to the max. Seeing what the man was planning, Yuto looked to Dark Rebellion and Dark Requiem. "Requiem, stop him from getting an Action Card! Dark Rebellion, help me speed up!"
"Ahahah! Clever clever!" Sergey yelled as he noticed Dark Requiem Xyz Dragon start to quickly catch up to him. "But not clever enough!" Just as Dark Requiem was about to grab a forceful hold onto Sergey's D-Wheel, the man suddenly hit the brakes. While the Xyz dragon kept flying ahead, it turned its head back and was shocked to see the man quickly create more distance between them. The dragon was so surprised that it failed to crush a passing Action Card until it was too late.
"Let's go, Dark Rebellion!" Yuto's ace hissed in affirmation, and as delicately as it could, the dragon flew over Yuto, and carefully picked up both its master and the D-Wheel off of the ground. It wasn't too far off the ground though, just a few scant inches.
"Holy cow! Would you get a look at this folks!" Melissa cried out as the crowd gasped in shock. "Yuto is putting a whole new meaning to riding duels!"
Dark Rebellion roared, and with a great flap of its wings it began to quickly gain ground towards Sergey. The speed at which Yuto and his monster were going was much faster than before with just the Xyz rebel's D-Wheel.
Despite seeing Yuto and his dragon converging onto his location, Sergey refused to move his D-Wheel. While he wasn't hitting the brakes anymore, the man was expertly weaving in and out of Dark Reqium's grasp as if he was a part of his D-Wheel. Something that had the Rank 5 Xyz monster greatly rankled by judging from the way its jaw was twitching. When the Synchro user's eyes saw Yuto and his other dragon coming, he did something no one would've ever suspected.
He turned his D-Wheel sideways, blocking the entire tract, and stared Yuto head on with plans to actually hit him and cause a wreck.
"Gah, what the hell?!" Yuto exclaimed as his eyes widened in disbelief. If he kept driving forward the two would certainly get into a nasty wreck. Honestly, that was probably what Sergey wanted judging from the eager look in his dull eyes. It could get the bigger man killed and himself injured, but it would definitely harm Sergey the most.
Yet, he couldn't go through with it.
"Requiem!" Yuto called out, and hearing its master's distress, it left Sergey behind to help its smaller companion lift Yuto's D-Wheel higher off of the ground. Together, the two dragons lifted Yuto high enough to completely go over Sergey's head, and finally take the lead in the duel.
However, it cost Yuto greatly since it allowed Volkov to grab the Action Card Dark Requiem Xyz Dragon had let slip past it. "Action Card, Damage Banish!" Sergey announced as he activated the Spell card. In the background, Geo Gryphon was pinned to the ground as Dragon Rider had its dragon biting deeply into its neck. The Synchro monster was unable to fight back as it slowly lost oxygen. "Any Battle Damage I would take is reduced to zero!"
"Your monster will still be destroyed, finish it Dragon Rider!" Yuto ordered, and with a quick huff, the Xyz monster jerked Geo Gryphon's neck until it snapped with a loud crack. The Synchro monster immediately became yellow particles after the action.
"Geo Gryphon's effect now activates." Sergey revealed as the quick, harsh back and forth between the two duelists continued. "When it is destroyed by an opponent's monster I can destroy one card on the field! I choose to destroy Dark Requiem Xyz Dragon! Then, you take 300 points of damage for each Earthbound monster that is in my Graveyard. There are five Earthbound monsters currently in my Graveyard, so you take 1500 points of damage! Vengeful Quake!"
The ghostly apparition of Geo Gryphon suddenly appeared from Dark Requiem Xyz Dragon's shadow, and lunged on top of it. The dragon startled at the action, and cried out in pain as it was attacked from behind, dropping its portion of Yuto's D-Wheel. Yuto and his other ace dragon were barely able to stabilize himself back onto the track at the sudden attack. Thankfully, the action served to help Yuto spot an Action Card heading right towards him.
"I don't think so!" Carefully leaning to the side, Yuto's D-Wheel nearly swiveled to the side and prevented him from getting the Action Card, but Dark Rebellion forcefully nudged it back into place. Grabbing a tight hold onto the card, Yuto quickly leaned back up and activated the card. "I activate the Action Card Mirror Barrier!" Dark Requiem Xyz Dragon managed to grab a proper hold of the offending ghost, and quickly threw it off of its back and into the wall. The apparition phased through the wall, and Geo Gryphon quickly gathered itself and lunged for another attack, only to be blocked by a strange glass barrier that shined a white light. "Targeting Dark Requiem Xyz Dragon, it cannot be destroyed by card effects for the rest of this turn."
"Very well, but that doesn't mean the damage is negated. Strike him down Geo Gryphon!" Sergey ordered loudly, and the Synchro monster quickly sidestepped the barrier protecting Yuto's strongest Xyz monster. Deftly phasing through Dark Rebellion and Dragon Rider as well, the Earthbound monster threw one of its clawed hands out and sideswiped Yuto and his D-Wheel. The action sent him flying and nearly slamming against the stadium's floor if Dragon Rider hadn't intervened at the very last second. The Xyz monster quickly placed itself between Yuto and the floor, and softened the blow that could've caused a major accident. The impact caused the Xyz monster to cry out in pain, but it dealt with the agony if it meant its master would be alright. The jarring motion still hurt and gave Yuto some bad whiplash, but he was relatively okay otherwise.
YUTO LP- 3200 - 1700
"Oh my goodness, this is starting to get a bit out of hand!" Melissa screamed as the crowd let out a sigh of relief that Yuto was okay and still able to continue the duel. It would've been a shame if the duel had to stop now without a conclusion.
"Gah, you bastard!" Yuto hollered. "Can't you see this duel is starting to go out of control! I could've killed you back there when Dragon Rider was attacking your Synchro monster!"
"That's just how I like it!" Sergey retorted back as he laughed through the backlash of Geo Gryphon's attack on Yuto. "That's just how it should be!" The big duelist leaned forward on his D-Wheel, and began to quickly catch up to Yuto's slower model. "Your expression of concern for my sake is a sign of weakness! For that slight, I will make you suffer and feel my rage, little bird!"
"Not when it's still my turn!" Yuto objected, and dealt the final blow. "Battle! I attack you directly with Dark Requiem Xyz Dragon! Requiem Salvation!" The dragon roared loudly and flapped its wings to help gain altitude as it flew high up into the sky. The sun shined blindly bright, and once Dark Requiem flew high enough its body was encompassed in the resulting shadows. The only thing that was visible was the majestic colors coming from its spread wings. Colorful patterns exactly like stained glass, grew and shone brightly with the sun as it charged up its attack.
"Hahahaha!" Sergey laughed so much it was a miracle he had any air left in his lungs. A bead of sweat glided down the man's face as he sneered up at the mighty Xyz dragon as it unleashed a multi-colored blast directly his way. "So much power, wasted when being used by a person such as you. I will show you true power!" The man gave one last laugh that turned into a scream of pain once the attack connected.
A huge cloud of smoke and dust erupted from the impact, and for a moment the entire stadium was silent.
Then the crowd went wild.
"Holy crap! What a duel!"
"That was so intense! It was wild man!"
"Well done bringing that brute down, Yuto."
It's over. Yuto's tense form relaxed with the end of the duel. The teen breathing out a thankful sigh of relief as he thought about reuniting with Ruri and Shun-
"IT'S NOT OVER YET! LITTLE BIRD!"
"What-!" Yuto's eyes snapped open as he turned his head to look back in disbelief.
SERGEY LP- 800
"How!?" Yuto demanded as he watched the duelist- No, this monster rushed back out through the cloud of smoke and inch closer and closer to the back of Yuto's D-Wheel.
"Holy shit!" Melissa swore accidentally, seeing as it was rather unbecoming of a reporter. She quickly raised one hand up to cover her mouth, but quickly continued her commentating as the crowd screamed in surprise. "How did Sergey survive a direct attack from a monster with 5800 Attack Points!?"
"I activated my facedown card, Offering to the Immortals." Sergey explained as he sped forward and closed the gap between Yuto and himself bit by bit. Like a hellhound that refused to stop the chase until it got the kill. "When an opponent declares a direct attack against me while I have less than 3000 Life Points the attack gets negated."
"Damn!" After everything that had happened in this duel, Yuto completely forgot that Sergey had placed a facedown card before ending his turn last time.
"Not only that!" Sergey revealed as he continued. "When your monster's attack is negated, I can Special Summon two Ceremonial Tokens and take one Immortal Fusion Spell Card from my Deck to my hand!"
CEREMONIAL TOKEN LV.1 ATK:0 DEF:0
CEREMONIAL TOKEN LV.1 ATK:0 DEF:0
The two tokens looked like some sarcophagus one would find buried in Egypt's pyramids for pharaohs long since deceased. A solid gray stone with ancient hieroglyphs was around the sides of the coffins, and there was a strange, glowing red mark right on the center of the coffins.
As Sergey took the mentioned Fusion Spell card from his Deck to add to his hand, Yuto gave a soft curse under his breath that was lost to the wind. "Your monsters have all attacked, and their effects have all been used up. You no longer have any cards left in your hand. You have nothing else to do except watch as I destroy you!" Sergey shouted over the winds as he stared Yuto down, the two D-Wheels finally diving side by side. The sheer size comparison when you looked between Sergey's bulked out frame and Yuto's thin one was very eye opening. The man probably had to bend his head down when walking through doorways lest he hit his head on them all of the time.
Unfortunately, the sadist was also correct on all of those fronts. Yuto had nothing left he could do or prepare for Sergey's next turn. He had no choice but to end his turn. "Grr, I end my turn. Dark Requiem Xyz Dragon's Attack and Dragon Rider's Attack both return to normal as well." Yuto begrudgingly admitted, the admission caused Sergey's grin to widen.
DARK REQUIEM XYZ DRAGON ATK:5800 - 3000
PHANTOM KNIGHTS DRAGON RIDER ATK:3800 - 2800
"Very good little bird." Sergey praised, and it made Yuto feel sick to his stomach at the man's words. He didn't like this man one bit. "Soon I will show you true strength, and with it I will crush your frail bones until you can no longer fly or breathe! My turn, I draw!" Almost immediately, the man pulled out the card he had just obtained. "I activate the Spell Card Immortal Fusion. With this, I can fuse two monsters on my field with two monsters in my Graveyard! I choose to fuse my two Ceremonial Tokens with Earthbound Servant Geo Gryphon and Earthbound Servant Geo Kraken!"
"Shit!" Yuto swore as he tried to make his D-Wheel move faster, yet no matter what he couldn't seem to make any progress. No matter how fast he went, Sergey was always right beside him, and whenever they started to get close to an Action Card the Synchro user quickly pushed Yuto to the side. Forcing the Xyz rebel away from the Action Card and preventing him from grabbing one.
"Demon that rules over the sky! Demon that clings to the sea! Become one and rise from the depths of the underground!" When Yuto's Xyz monsters surged forward to help him get free from this bind, they were all swiped out of the way by multiple tendrils. This newest Fusion monster of Sergey's even towered over Dark Requiem Xyz Dragon easily with its mass. "I Fusion Summon, come forth! Level 10, Earthbound Servant Geo Grasha!"
The tendrils of the Fusion monster turned out to actually be three very long tails that swatted angrily side to side. The creature spread its huge wings that had blood red stripes and orbs dotted all over it and flew over the field. Its massive shadow swallowed both Sergey and Yuto into darkness. It had four long arms and each finger was tipped with very long, sharp claws as big as Yuto's own arms. It had two horns on the top of its head that curved back like the Devil's horns, and when it sucked in a huge breath and roared its deep baritone caused the very ground itself to tremble as if in fear.
EARTHBOUND SERVANT GEO GRASHA LV.10 ATK:3000 DEF:1800
"Holy crap." Yuto whispered as all the breath escaped his lungs at the sight of the enormous beast. It might as well have been as big as the Ancient Gear Golems Academia used to destroy Heartland.
Together, Yuto's monsters all roared and hissed at the Fusion monster blocking their path to their master, and in return Geo Grasha roared back in kind, causing the ground to once again tremble at the action. Dark Rebellion and Dragon Rider were easily swatted away, as if they were nothing more than measly flies. The only monster Yuto had that could tie the Fusion monster and slip past it was Dark Requiem Xyz Dragon, and even then the Xyz monster struggled to deal with the Fusion monster's four arms. After a moment, Dark Requiem managed to juke the Earthbound out and slip around it to fly by Yuto's side. At the very least, it gave the rebel a sense of comfort that at least one of his monsters was by his side and able to protect him. Silently, the purple banged duelist grabbed a tight hold of his red resistance band that was wrapped over his piloting uniform.
"Battle!" Sergey shouted as he looked towards Yuto and his Xyz monster. "I attack your Dark Requiem Xyz Dragon with my Earthbound Servant Geo Grasha, and I activate its effect!" The huge monster reared its head back, and billowed out a ton of choking smog from its nose that stretched out throughout the entire arena. Everyone in the crowd was coughing up a storm while Yuto sounded like he was trying to hack up a lung. The irritation to his throat and lungs caused his eyes to water and shed tears instinctively. The teen's impaired vision got even worse since his tears were confined within his resistance goggles. "When Grasha battles a monster, that monster's Attack and Defense Points become zero!"
"W-what!" Yuto wheezed before he succumbed to another coughing fit. Meanwhile, the Earthbound effortlessly scooped up Yuto's monster into its multiple clawed hands. His strongest monster was not able to slip away this time as its sharp nails pierced through the dragon's hide like it was nothing more than paper. The scream the Xyz monster unleashed in its pain was almost unbearable to the audience.
"Then, if an opponent's monster is destroyed by battle or by a card effect, I can destroy all the cards on your field!" Sergey finally finished his volley as his thick accent reached the high heavens. "Goodbye little bird! Darkness Miasma!"
DARK REQUIEM XYZ DRAGON ATK:3000 - 0 DEF:2500 - 0
As Yuto's Xyz monster cried out in agony, his other monsters were being destroyed one by one. Throughout it all, Yuto could do nothing but helplessly watch. The miasma within the stadium choked out all of Yuto's monsters, causing them to collapse onto the track before bursting into yellow particles in defeat. The monsters in his Pendulum Zone were the first to go. Even Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon fell with one last pained roar just as it reached Yuto's side. The monster collapsed onto the track and did not get back up until it abruptly exploded into particles. He had no hand left, he couldn't reach an Action Card because Sergey was always in the damn way, and none of his monster's effects would- wait a minute.
A small flame of hope lit itself as Yuto acted quickly. "I activate Dragon Rider's effect! By discarding its last Orbital I force your monster to switch into Defense Mode-"
"I activate the Quick Play Spell, Earthbound Tyranny! When an Earthbound monster battles, your monster's effect is negated for the rest of the Battle Phase!" Vokov swiftly intervened, and in that exact moment Yuto's hope for survival was extinguished completely. Snuffed out just as quickly as Dragon Rider had succumbed to the toxic gas and perished.
Finally, the Earthbound Fusion monster had enough toying around with its food, and wordlessly ripped the Dark Requiem's wings off. What was left of Yuto's most beloved dragon was tossed up into the air, and crushed in the Fusion monster's jaw. The creature rapidly shook its head like a rabid dog to cause more pain to the Xyz monster as it hollered and screamed.
"PERISH!" Sergey shouted at the top of his lungs, and with it Geo Grasha unleashed its hold on the defeated dragon. Its limp body flying right towards Yuto who was defenseless to stop it.
Time seemed to slow down to a snail's crawl at that very second. Yuto's widened gray eyes could only watch as his defeated monster's lifeless body slowly came closer and closer to colliding head on with him. A strike of fresh fear entered his heart, and that vision of his monster turned into a group of people instead. Zero, with his normal stoicism and his arms crossed. Shun, his features for once relaxed and a genuine smile back on his face, his yellow eyes soft. Yuya and Yuzu, the two holding hands with light blushes on their cheeks, smiling happily. Katio, Allen, Sayako. They all flashed through his eyes within an instant.
At the front of them all was the girl of his life. Ruri, with her bracelets and the necklace he had gifted her. Her long raven black hair waving in the wind like one of her many majestic birds. One of his biggest supporters and a true partner through and through, encouraging him to become better just like Yuya had. Her kindness, her love, all of it.
That fear he felt wasn't for himself at that moment, it was for all of them. The regret he felt as he realized this might be the end, and that he might be leaving them behind, never to see them again. Never to say goodbye, never to say 'I love you' just one more time.
"Ruri… I-"
Yuto's Xyz monster slammed into him with all the force of a truck, and he had no hope of holding on to his D-Wheel as he was sent flying off of it. His head being one of the first things to hit the pavement, and as soon as it made contact Yuto only saw black, and his body went limp.
The crowd screamed in shock as his body bounced off of the pavement and rolled like a stone being skipped over water. His monster was destroyed, and the D-Wheel he was riding flipped over itself and just barely soared over Yuto's flailing head.
If it had been a mere scant centimeter lower it would've been an instant death.
Instead, the D-Wheel slammed into the stadium's wall and burst into flames. The people seated around that area quickly stood up and fled in fear of being harmed next. Yuto's body finally slowed down and skidded to a long, torturously slow stop a mere couple feet away from the D-Wheel wreckage.
YUTO LP- 2500 = 0 LOSS
SERGEY LP- 800 WIN
The area quickly devolved into pandemonium, and all you could hear was screaming that had a soft undertone of cheering beneath it.
. . .
"YUTO!" Ruri absolutely shrieked as she instantly broke down sobbing at the sight of her boyfriend's lifeless body flopping onto the track and eating asphalt. Where she was once standing she collapsed down onto the floor like a crumbling tower of cards. Her head buried into her hands as she wailed and cried. Her tears escaped past her hands as they hit the carpet silently. "NO!" Her words were muffled by her hands, but everyone could hear them clear as day with how loud she was screaming. "YUTO!"
"Ruri." Within seconds, Shun was instantly by her side. The taller teen sat himself down onto the floor and scooped his younger sister up into his arms to help comfort her as best as she could. The Raidraptor's own eyes were foggy with unshed tears himself. That was his best and closest friend out there after all, but he used all of the willpower within himself to hold everything he felt back to focus on Ruri first. She always came first. "Shh, shh." He hushed as he began to rock her to try and soften her screaming and turmoil.
"Oh my God." Serena gasped, her jaw dropped open and gaping like a fish as she was stunned speechless. Yuzu meanwhile, wasn't able to hold it in any longer and broke down crying right beside Ruri within her own seat. "oh my god." She repeated less loudly.
"Yuto…" Yuya croaked feebly, his widened red eyes shaking uncontrollably as he watched the carnage unfold. Watched as Sergey hunched forward in laughter over the devastation he had unleashed within the duel. Watched as the camera zoomed in over Yuto's motionless, bloodied and beaten body before Melissa covered the lens with one of her hands. His head and vision was starting to feel fuzzy, and the tomato haired teen couldn't tell if it was because of the silent tears rushing down his face or from something else.
"Holy shit!" Sylvio suddenly yelled as a thud echoed out in Yuya's head. The Entertainment duelist's reaction was delayed as he slowly turned his gaze away from the TV and over to his Synchro counterpart. "Yugo! Yugo are you alright? YUGO!?"
The banana banged duelist had silently collapsed onto the ground, his body unmoving and not responding to Sylvio's pushing. The brunette was crouched down and trying to wake the Synchro user up and was failing miserably, Yugo just wouldn't respond. Sound was starting to go staticy, and for a second Yuya was terrified thinking he was having a panic attack.
Yuya blinked, and when he opened his eyes he found Yuzu and Crow's deeply concerned and scared faces hovering over his own in his blurred vision. Yuzu's tears falling from her eyes like rain droplets and pelting his cheeks, yet he couldn't feel it. Strange, why are they standing sideways? What the Pendulum user failed to realize was that HE had fallen down as well, and that they were crouched over his form as well. Their mouths moved, but nothing came out that he could hear, Yuya couldn't understand them.
What he did understand was that he felt so tired all of a sudden, exhausted really. Sleep sounded so nice right now. So he closed his eyes, and succumbed to the darkness behind his eyelids.
"YUYA! YUYA PLEASE! Answer me!" Yuzu's voice cracked from how loudly she was shouting in her fear. Periwinkle eyes watched as Yuya's own scarlet orbs rolled up into the back of his head as he went limp and fell unconscious. "Yuya! YUYA!"
. . .
Up in the throne room, Jack Atlas was shouting at the top of his lungs for a medic. The King was unable to move since he had to watch over the masked vigilante. The man's head held on top of the cushion Jack normally sat on to prevent the revolutionary's head from sustaining any injuries on the ground they were laying on. Zero's body convulsing and spasming wildly and uncontrollably as he did not respond to any of Jack's words or yells for help.
. . .
Within the four Dimensions, the moment Yuto hit the pavement, four people abruptly fell unconscious. One of which began to spasm out of control as if they were being electrocuted.
Three people screamed in horror and rage as Yuto's body scraped harshly across the asphalt, dark blood painting the road a malicious red.
Two people openly began to sob as medics raced onto the scene as quickly as they could. One of the paramedics quickly began to perform CPR.
And up in a tower, isolated from the rest of the City, one person smiled.
Ahhh, I love pain. It's so great to write! My favorite probably. I've been waiting for this moment for quite a while, and it's finally done… I'm so cruel. Shit is just hitting the fan and getting everywhere!
There we have it, a dangerous revelation and a terrible outcome! Things really get going from here on out. While I did grace the Earthbounds with an explanation in reference to what happened in the 5Ds storyline, know that we WON'T be veering down that storyline! Arc-V differs from the 5Ds canon especially since Jack and Crow don't recognize them as a huge threat in the Arc-V story. In this universe, before Yusei and everyone else split, they had to work together to defeat the Dark Signers. After this is when Jack betrays Yusei and becomes the King of the City, and that causes the Signers to go their separate ways. Some bitter, some sad. Also, I adjusted some cards and effects in this duel to get the results I wanted, if anyone noticed.
I've also noticed that the Jack in 5Ds is much more different from Arc-V, in Arc-V he's more closed off, stoic, and cold while in 5Ds he can have quite a temper and is known to canonically beat up thugs. This is my attempt to get him to be more like his 5Ds self instead of an emotionless robot since we already have Zero and Reiji acting like that at times. (Mainly Reiji.) One thing that ALWAYS bothered me was Jack in the Synchro Arc. The fact that Jack doesn't do ANYTHING despite the massive manipulation of the tournament from Roger pisses me off, so that's getting fixed too. Not to mention the freaking invasion Academia pulls during the tournament that he does absolutely nothing about.
If you guys were kinda freaked out by Sergey calling Yuto 'Little Bird' he's actually canonically called people stuff like that. When he duels Yuzu, he constantly refers to her as 'Little Mouse' before utterly destroying her. Very weird, but I liked it so I added it to his duel with Yuto to make everything seem creepier and worse.
Besides all of that though, I have a question for you guys. Should I split this entire story into two separate entities once I get to the halfway point? Like part 1 and part 2? I know sometimes when I see a story and it has like +1 million words I feel rather intimidated and don't wanna read it, and this story is already +500 thousand words. (Which I LOVE by the way. I cannot believe I've gotten this far!) However, I don't know if I want to break up the story when I can have it all in one section. What do you guys think? Let me know in a review or just PM me with your opinions.
If you have enjoyed the story so far leave a REVIEW, Follow, and Favorite the story so you can keep track of when chapters pop up. Because FYI, I don't have a posting schedule and I just post whenever I feel like it.
Until the next chapter everyone! -MoonlightWright
