"And you are?" Shun asked, although he already knows who it is, just from the amount of respect he is getting.

Reiji adjusted his glasses. "Akaba Reiji. Leo Corporation's current president."

"Akaba...Reiji…" Shun repeated the name, now knowing that it was him, the person that he was looking for.

"The fact that you continue to assault parties related to Leo Corporation such as LDS in this Miami City means you wish to meet me. Am I mistaken?" Reiji asked.

Shun smirked. "You're… Akaba Reiji...The son of Akaba Leo? I've been waiting for this moment ever since I arrived here! Now come at me! Duel me!"

"Before that, let me ask you...as to why you are fighting me." Reiji said.

"I don't need to answer that!" Shun replied rudely

"It's most likely to rescue your comrades." Shun gasped when heard those words. "The girl collapsed behind you testified that you said this when she first encountered you.


Flashback-At the Docks

"Ruri!" Shun exclaimed as he walked towards Yuzu, who took a step back and gasped. Shun took of his shades. "Why is Ruri here…? Did you get away?! Did you manage to escape on your own!?"


Now

"From there, I deduced that Ruri is to you...no, to all of you, a dear comrade. And it would seem that she is currently captured by your enemy. And even now, Ruri has yet to escape from the enemy's clutches. That's why you are continuing to attack LDS like this." Reiji explained to Shun.

A small pause filled the space between both Reiji and Shun. Shun smirked, and broke the silence.

"There's no doubt that Ruri is still in captivity now. But I will save her! In order to do that I just need you!" Shun pointed at Reiji.

"Just as I had suspected. So simply put, you wish to use me as a hostage to exchange." Reiji guessed, though, it sounded like Reiji actually knew what Shun wanted.

"That's right. The reason I kept attacking LDS and the reason I sent you the cards with the souls sealed inside...it was all to draw you out! If I had his son as a bargaining chip, then even Akaba Leo will be unable to say no!" Shun explained to Reiji his plan ever since his arrival to Standard.

"I wonder about that." Reiji suddenly said.

Shun gasped. "What?"

"I have a hard time believing that he values me that much." Reiji informed Shun.

"What do you mean?" Shun demanded for an answer.

"Never mind that…" Reiji adjusted his glasses again. "If you wish to fight me, I have no obligations. But I have one condition."

"Condition?" Shun repeated.

"If you alone fulfill my conditions, then I'll gladly be your opponent. That condition is...participate in the Miami Championship." Reiji revealed.

"Miami Championship? What the hell is that?!" Shun questioned.

"I'll go into further details about that upcoming tournament later. Anyways, will you participate?" Reiji asked.

Shun stayed silent for a long time, not answering the question.

"How about this then, we will Duel, no strings attached. If you win, you can do whatever you don't have to participate in the championship. However, if I win, you have to work under me for awhile AND participate in the championship. But even if you win, I would recommend still participating, as it will get you closer to Akaba Leo." Reiji proposed.

"Fine. I will accept these conditions. For my comrades and Ruri! Duel me!" Shun yelled.

"Not so fast. We shouldn't Duel here. Let's Duel somewhere else. Get Yaiba, Hokuto, and Masumi, we'll deal with them later. Follow me." Reiji slowly walked away, Shun stood there in silence before following.


Later

Nakajima followed Reiji and Shun into the Leo Corporation tower, immediately having fears about the consequences about Kurosaki being here.

"Wait, President! With all due respect, is it really ok to have someone like him be in here?" Nakajima asked.

"Don't worry Nakajima, I had all under control." Reiji assured Nakajima. However, this still didn't make Nakajima feel any better.

Shun and Reiji walked into a Duel Arena, while Nakajima watched through a window.

"This won't be an Action Duel, seeing as you don't know what those are. Anyways, shall we begin?" Reiji asked Shun.

Shun didn't respond and just activated his Duel Disk. Reiji assumed Shun wanted to duel and activated his Duel Disk also.

"DUEL!" Both Duelists shouted in unison.

"I'll go first! I activate the Continuous Magic Dark Contract with the Gate. I use its effect. Once per turn, I can add a level 4 or lower D/D Monster from my Deck to my Hand. I add D/D Swirl Slime." Reiji added his desired Monster to his hand. "Now, I activate D/D Swirl Slime's effect, I can fuse this Monster and other D/D Monsters as Fusion Materials."

"Fusion! Grr!" Shun growled in annoyance.

"I fuse Swirl Slime and D/D Berfomet! Proud knight, be absorbed into the crucible of disaster. Be reborn into a new king! Fusion Summon! Come forth, ruler who carries the glory of God! D/D/D Oracle King - d'Arc!" Reiji chanted as his Monster appeared.

d'Arc: Level 7, 2800 Atk, 2000 Def

"A Fusion Summon. As expected of Akaba Leo's son." Shun remarked as he looked at the Fusion Monster floating above Reiji.

Reiji ignored Shun's statement and continued. "I set a card and end my turn."

"Reiji-san!" Akaba Himeka exclaimed with concern as she ran next to Nakajima watching the Duel. "What's going on?"

"Akaba Reiji has made a deal with the man behind the assaults, he is Dueling him right now." Nakajima informed Himeka, shocking her.

"What?!" Himeka looked at Shun, seeing that he hasn't started his turn yet.

"My turn, draw!" Shun drew his card.

Alright. This is Akaba Reiji I'm Dueling now, he should be far above those people I have been Dueling at LDS. If so, then I have to get rid of that Monster. It might prove to be an annoyance later. Shun thought to himself.

"I Summon Raid Raptors King's Lanius!" Shun summoned his bird as it let out its wings.

King's Lanius: Level 4, 1300 Atk, 650 Def

"I use his effect in order to Special Summon Raid Raptors-Vanishing Lanius!"

Vanishing Lanius: Level 4, 1300 Atk, 1600 Def

"If Vanishing Lanius is Normal or Special Summoned, I can Special Summon another Vanishing Lanius from my hand. Come forth, my second Vanishing Lanius! I activate Raid Raptors-Sanctuary! If I control 3 or more Raid Raptors Monsters, I can draw 2 cards!" Shun drew 2 cards from his deck. "I, using the level 4 King's Lanius and my 2 Vanishing Lanius', overlay! Obscured falcon, raise your sharpened talons in front of adversity, spread your wings of rebellion! Xyz Summon! Appear! Rank 4! Raid Raptors - Rise Falcon!" Shun Xyz Summoned his ace Monster and glared at d'Arc and Reiji.

Rise Falcon: Rank 4, 100 Atk, 2000 Def

Reiji narrowed his eyes at Rise Falcon.

"I activate Rise Falcon's effect, by detaching an overlay unit, Rise Falcon gains the attack of Special Summoned Monsters my Opponent controls." Shun explained as Rise Falcon's attack was raised.

Rise Falcon: 100-2900 Atk

"Battle! Go, Raid Raptors-Rise Falcon, attack d'Arc! Brave Claw Revolution!" Rise Falcon flew up to and dove towards d'Arc.

"Continuous Trap, Dark Contract with the Witch, during your turn, all Fiend-Type Monsters I control gain 1000 attack." Reiji adjusted his glasses.

d'Arc: 2800-3800 Atk

The attack continued.

"Quick-Play, activate! Raid Raptors-Perseverance! When a Raid Raptors Monster I control would be destroyed, I can negate the destruction. Then, any Raid Raptors Monsters I control can't be destroyed, also. Unfortunately for us, at the end of the turn, you get to draw 2 cards." Shun explained. Rise Falcon was struck by d'Arc's sword, however, the falcon managed to survive. Meanwhile, Shun flinched from the damage.

Shun: 4000-3100 Lp

"I set 3 cards and end my turn." Shun concluded.

"At this moment, the Fiend-Type Monsters lose their 1000 attack point boost." Reiji reminded Shun as Dark Contract with the Witch glowed.

d'Arc: 3800-2800 Atk

"Also, due to the effect of perseverance, you get to draw 2 cards." Shun told Reiji. Reiji drew 2 cards from his deck.

"Whooph, as expected of Reiji-san. He managed to counter the culprits moves." Himeka sighed in relief.

"Hmm…" Nakajima wondered as he paid attention to the Duel.

"Hmph. Not bad so far, however, I can feel that you are blinded by rage and pure aggression. While that may get you far sometimes, it won't get you all the way. I will show that to you in this Duel! My turn, draw! At the Standby Phase, each of my Contracts deals 1000 points of damage. However, with d'Arc on the Field, I can negate the damage, and then gain life points equal to the damage." Reiji explained.

Reiji: 4000-6000 Lp

"I now activate the effect of Dark Contract with the Gate, I add the tuner Monster D/D Nighthowl." Reiji added his tuner to his hand, shocking Shun.

"Tuner?" Shun asked confused, before remembering what Yuto told him. About the Synchro Duelist named Yugo, how he used a tuner in order to perform something called a Synchro Summon.

"Nighthowl's effect activates, when this card is Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon a D/D Monster from my grave, however, I can only Special Summon Fiend-Type Monsters for the rest of the turn, also, the attack and defense of the Special Summoned Monster becomes 0. Come forth, D/D Berfomet!" Reiji exclaimed as Berfomet reappeared with 0 attack and defense. "I activate Berformet's effect, I can change the level of a D/D Monster to a level from 1-8. I change the level of Nighthowl to level 8. I tune the level 4 D/D Berfomet with the level 4 D/D Nighthowl! Climb over the corpses of heroes, carrying your bloodstained blade! Synchro Summon! Be born! Level 8! DDD Cursed King Siegfried!"

Siegfried: Level 8, 2800 Atk, 2200 Def

"Now. I will show you my recent evolution. I, using the Scale 2 D/D Savant Schrodinger and the Scale 8 D/D Savant Nikola!" Reiji exclaimed as he slapped the 2 cards on each end of the blade of his Duel Disk.

"What is this?!" Shun exclaimed in shock.

"Grand power that shakes my very soul, arise within me and become a new light that rends the darkness. Pendulum Summon! Come before me, my monsters!" Reiji Pendulum Summoned his Monsters. "First is D/D Pandora, second is D/D Proud Chevalier!"

D/D Pandora: Level 5, 1700 Atk, 2100 Def

D/D Proud Chevalier: Level 5, 2000 Atk, 700 Def

"Pendulum Summoning?! More importantly, he has 2 level 5 Monsters! Don't tell me-" Shun widened his eyes.

"I, using both of my level 5 Monsters, overlay! Hero of legends, with your profound justice, pierce through all things! Xyz Summon! Descend! Rank 5! DDD Marksman King - Tell!" Reiji chanted.

Tell: Rank 5, 2300 Atk, 2000 Def

"No way! Not only can he use Fusion, Synchro and Xyz, but he also used a new Summoning Method that I have never even heard of before!" Shun exclaimed.

Himeka clapped in relief and joy. "Good job Reiji-san, you've got him on the ropes. Look like this Duelist wasn't so much talk after all!"

"Yes...but...Chairwoman." Nakajima said.

"Yes?" Himeka asked.

"The Xyz Duelist has 3 set cards, who knows what he has in store for the President with those." Nakajima reminded Himeka, who got a frustrated look on her face after she noticed the set cards Shun had.

"So, this your strength, Akaba Reiji. Then, I will need to have you bare witness to my full strength! I will beat you, and get closer to that scumbag Akaba Leo!" Shun pointed at Reiji. "If you think this is all I have, then you're highly mistaken!"

"I like that confidence. It will prove useful for later." Reiji complimented Shun.

"And how do you think you are going to win?" Shun asked.

"Don't worry. You will find out. After all, I have you right where I want you." Reiji told Shun as he adjusted his glasses once again.


Card Catalog

Raid Raptors-Perseverance Quick-Play: When a Raid Raptors Monster(s) you control would be destroyed, you can negate the destruction. Then, Raid Raptors Monster(s) you control can't be destroyed for the rest of the turn. At the end of the turn, your opponent can draw 2 cards.


We're all done here!

So, if you guys are wondering why I didn't switch to scenes to different characters, I have reasons. Well, actually, only one. I don't think it was a good idea to switch to other characters for this chapter, I don't know why, but I felt like I should have done that. To kind of make up for it, I decided to include Himeka's reactions as well as Nakajima's so it doesn't seem like Shun and Reiji are Dueling with transparent ventriloquist dummies watching the Duel. Don't worry, you will get to see what some characters are doing. However, Yuya, Gongenzaka, and the other people in the You Show Crew except for Shark and O'Brien won't be shown, as they will be doing the same thing as in the anime, the Duel with Yuya and Gongenzaka. It's about episode 25-26, so I'm not showing them. I might show Shark and I'll most likely get O'Brien in there. Who knows, maybe you guys will get to see Yugo...maybe.

Here's the preview.

Reiji continues to assault Shun with his Monsters. Reluctant to give up and persistent to getting closer to Akaba Leo, Shun tries to fight back. The battle of wits (I guess that's Reiji) vs rage (You can obviously tell that's Shun) soon comes to an end.

Venomous Blade: Sorry, you'll have to wait for next chapter. But, I'll tell you this, as you can see on what I said above the preview, Shark and O'Brien won't be watching Yuya's Duel. Actually, I originally had planned to have the Duel between Reiji and Shun postponed to the morning after the night of when they met, aka the morning after this chapter. I wanted Shun to sneak out of the hideout and have O'Brien follow, and somehow have him involved with LDS, but I've decided against it.

Totallynotobsessedperson: Well, the reason I'm not having Shark act like Shun is because Kaito is going to become like Shun later. So, we don't need a Shun 3.0. But, Shark is going to be more on guard than before now that he has suspicions about Sora. Also, he also remembers that although Rio isn't gone, she's still in another dimension. So, while he's gone, he could fear that something could happen to Rio or someone else while he's gone. You have to see what happens. As for your idea, I already planned out the Yuto part, but you helped me on what to do with O'Brien. Thanks to you, I planned out on what I'm going to do with him. Shark, on the other hand, we'll have to see how it plays out.

Matrixnis: I don't really think Yuya would Duel them out of rage really. Well, he would be more likely to Duel Shun out of rage, but if I remember correctly, the only person Serena 'murdered' *cough* *cough* carded was Hokuto. And even then, thanks to Yuzu, she changed, so I don't think Yuya would Duel her out of rage. I don't have plans to have Yuya and Kurosaki Duel though. But, who knows, maybe it will happen. (Actually, in the Miami Championship, during the Battle Royale, I wanted Shun and Yuya to Duel so bad because Shun was suspicious of Yuya because he had Dark Rebellion. I mean, really, is just a talk with Yuto going to convince him to trust Yuya? I don't think so, and he showed that in the Synchro arc, until his Duel against Crow, he still didn't really trust the other Lancers.)

Anyways, sorry if this chapter was disappointing. (I think this is going to be a chapter 26 2.0 lol.) This chapter was also really short. I'll be sure to make it a little longer next time. '

That's all for now guys. Hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Take care, goodbye!