It was dark, and very quiet in the Commons area. There were the occasional bickering from the people who unfortunately don't have a roof over their heads, but otherwise, it was quiet. No one went out for any Riding Duels at night. So, it was the perfect time of the day for Yuto and Serena to go sneaking around looking for Yugo and Yuzu.
They had been searching for about an hour by now. They had found an orphanage, however, they decided to go against going in there and sneaking around since it could scare the kids. Well, more like Yuto refused to go and had to convince Serena not to go, much to her annoyance.
"Alright, we have been searching for them for awhile, I think we should hurry back to Crow's place before we get into any trouble." Yuto said to Serena.
"What? Well, if we can't find Yugo and Yuzu then let's at least do what we were sent here to do. Find strong Duelists! Strong Duelists that can join us in our cause against Academia!" Serena rebutted, wanting to stay outside.
"But Serena, if we stay out here, we could risk getting caught by Security!" Yuto argued. They already made a bad impression. He didn't want to make it worse than it already was.
"Please, we already got in trouble for bullshit. I hardly think getting caught would do any harm." Serena stated nonchalantly.
"Not to us, but what about Crow and the kids?" Yuto questioned Serena's judgement.
"It's Crow's fault for getting involved and offering us to stay at his home then." Serena concluded.
"What kind of person are you? You only care about the mission at hand, you don't care if innocent bystanders get in the way and get hurt because of it!" Yuto told Serena.
"So, if people get hurt they get hurt. They should just get over it, and if they get hurt because they got in the way, then that's their problem that THEY should deal with." Serena put emphasis on the word 'they.'
"But that's not what the Lancers are for! The Lancers are supposed to protect people, not cause them to get hurt by our actions!" Yuto exclaimed.
"Then we must be really bad at doing our job as Lancers then." Serena closed her eyes and turned back.
"Hey! At least I've been trying! All you have been doing is saying that we should go Duel other people recklessly when we really should be laying low and finding our other comrades!" Yuto responded in an angry tone.
"If being in the Lancers bothers you so much you should have stayed in your pit at the Xyz Dimension!" Serena turned back with an expression that showed just as much anger.
That was the last straw.
"And maybe you should have stayed at your cage known as Academia!" Yuto snapped at Serena, his eyes flashing blue for a moment and Serena's bracelet starting to blink a little. "Defected or not you're still Academia! I have been trying my best to stay cool with you, despite you being with the enemy formerly. However, I can't do it!" The laughs of those soldiers and the screams of the citizens were forever ingrained in his head, sparking most of his hatred for Academia.
"I can't bring myself to work with someone from Academia! So you know what? Go! Go ahead and Duel all the Duelists you want, I don't care if you get captured, who knows, maybe Dueling all those people could make up for the fact that you couldn't have gone to the frontlines!"
"What was that?" Serena narrowed her eyes at the Xyz Duelist.
"Yeah, I haven't forgotten that you wanted to go to the frontlines of the army invading Heartland. You probably went as far as Carding someone too when you came here." Yuto jumped to a conclusion, which he unknowingly got right. "Academia hurt my friends and family and took some of the most important people away from me. And now to know that I have to work with a person who wanted to do the same thing, well...I can't do that."
Serena remained silent.
"As far as I'm concerned, you could backstab us at any moment. Hell, you don't even care about the other Lancers much less me and Shun! You just want to go out and Duel people! You don't realize the fact that we should be finding the others as soon as we can! You know, that's just like Academia. You said emotions are a hindrance at Academia. If that's the case, then I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't care about what would happened to your comrades either." Yuto closed his eyes and started to walk away on the roof they were on.
Just as Serena was just about to respond to Yuto's rant, she heard a sound nearby. She quickly jumped away, leaving Yuto, who also heard the sound. However, Yuto didn't react, so he was seen by the person who made the sound.
"What in the hell!" A male voice was heard yelling in surprise.
Damn, I was spotted! Yuto cursed inwardly as he decided to not run and look at the person who caught him. He saw a man with a semi-furious look on his face dressed in biker gear.
"Who are you?" The man asked with distaste present in his voice, and an impolite manner present around the man.
Yuto felt a burning air with this guy's presence. However, he held his composure and gave the man a stare with his two steel grey eyes.
"Who I am matters not to you." Yuto decided not to answer the man's question. "However, if I were to go by a temporary name, you could call me Phantom."
"Phantom? Hmph, no matter. Look, I'm not in a good mood today, I had to leave the Tops, since I am from the Commons to begin with. I got my ass kicked from some idiot who used some stupid birds! I don't need some weirdo sneaking around on my house right now!"
This is his house? Wait, birds? Could he be talking about Shun? Yuto asked himself.
"That so called idiot who uses birds, did you catch his name?" Yuto interrogated.
"You are in a position to be asking me questions when you are the guy who's standing on top of my house. If I didn't know any better, you probably snuck into my house to try and steal something! All of these other Commons, they'll do whatever it takes to survive...but then again, I don't blame them!" The man exclaimed as he pulled out his Duel Disk and strapped it onto his arm. "Oh yeah, so you know the man to fear, I'll tell you my name. "It's Mukuro Enjo!" The man now known as Mukuro Enjo activated his Duel Disk, Yuto was about to do the same, however…
"Yuto, leave this to me." Yuya suddenly spoke as he appeared right next to his Xyz counterpart.
"Yuya?"
"Get some rest. I can take the Duel. Besides, since I am inside of you, I am technically a Lancer now. So I have to contribute to the group in some way." Yuya explained his reason for wanting to Duel.
Yuto pondered on the thought for a bit. He decided to let him. He smiled and gave a nod of approval to Yuya, who gave a smirk in response.
"Alright, let's do it." Yuya said.
"Umm, are you spacing out or something cause the less amount of time your ass is on my roof the better!" Enjo exclaimed.
Suddenly, the Xyz Duelist he was facing flinched and blended over in pain. Yuto put his hands over his eyes as he could feel Yuya possessing his body. When he opened his eyes, they were now red, meaning Yuya was in control. Yuya stood up to face Enjo.
"Alright, I guess I should get off your roof." Yuya proceeded to jump off Enjo's roof, performing a front flip in the process as he landed on his feet. He then took Yuto's a Deck out of the Duel Disk and put his own in. After the Championship had ended, Yuya and Yuto decided to separate their Decks, except for the Extra Deck. "Now, let's get this over with!" Yuya activated his Duel Disk as he stared down his opponent.
"DUEL!" Both Duelists shouted on unison, signifying the start of the Duel.
"Now, I shall begin this Duel! I Summon Skull Conductor from my Hand!" Enjo slammed the Card onto his Duel Disk as a man in a black suit appeared.
Skull Conductor: Level 4, 2000 Atk, 0 Def
"I activate the effect of Skull Conductor, by sending this Card to the Grave, I can a Special Summon up to 2 Zombie-Type Monsters from my Hand whose Attack is 2000 or less. I Special Summon 2 copies of Burning Skull Head!" Enjo took his 2 Desiree a Cards out of Hand to show Yuya, the two skulls appeared out of a bright flame.
Burning Skull Flame: Level 3, 1000 Atk, 800 Def
"When these Cards are Special Summoned, I get to hit you with 1000 points of damage! Take this!" Bright flames were released from the skulls, which reached over to Yuya, causing the boy to cover his face and wince.
Yuya: 4000-2000 LP
"He halved your life already. Are you sure about this, Yuya?" Yuto asked his counterpart out of concern.
"Yeah, I'm sure." Yuya answered with determination present in his voice.
"I set a Card and end my turn." Enjo concluded.
"My turn, draw! I use the Scale 2 Entermage Gongcat and the Scale 8 Synthesis Magician to set the Pendulum Scale!" Yuya declared as he swiped his two Cards onto his Duel Disk. Two pillars of light shined behind him as his Monsters flew up inside each of them, with their Scale number below them. Finally, a pendulum had began to swing in the middle of the two pillars.
"What is this?! A new Summoning method...just like that bastard using that stupid Xyz Summoning…" Enjo growled.
"With this I can simultaneously Summon Monsters whose levels are 3 to 7! Swing! Pendulum of my soul, carve an arc of light across the ether! Pendulum Summon! Appear, my Monsters!" Yuya cried as he lifted his hand to the pendulum, 2 beams of light came flying out of the portal under the pendulum. "First up, Entermate Fire Mufflio! Next, wonderous and dichromatic eyes! Odd Eyes Pendulum Dragon!"
Fire Mufflio: Level 3, 800 Atk, 800 Def
Odd Eyes: Level 7, 2500 Atk, 2000 Def
"Pendulum Summon? He Summoned two Monsters all at once, and one of them he didn't even tribute for!" Enjo gaped at the sight of Odd Eyes and Fire Mufflio.
"I will end it in one turn!" Yuya proclaimed as he made his move. "Attack, Odd Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" Yuya pointed to one of the Burning Skull Heads. On his command, Odd Eyes, at great speed ran to the Monster and prepared to whack it with his tail.
"Trap activate, Negate Attack! When a Monster you control declares an attack, I can negate the attack and end the Battle Phase!" Enjo explained to Yuya, who clicked his tongue out of annoyance.
"Alright, I activate the Pendulum effect of Synthesis Magician! Once per turn, I can grant a Monster on the Field the level of another Monster. I grant Fire Mufflio the level of Odd Eyes Pendulum Dragon, which is 7!" Odd Eyes roared after hearing his name being called.
Enjo sharpened his gaze at the 2 Monsters, remembering the setup. "2 Monsters with the same level on his Field. He couldn't be…"
"I overlay the level 7 Fire Mufflio with my Odd Eyes Pendulum Dragon! Dragon with dual-colored eyes, step into a brand new stage of ice and snow, and show your absolute powers to the world! Xyz Summon! Show yourself, Rank 7, Odd Eyes Absolute Dragon!" Yuya chanted as he Xyz Summoned his Monster.
Absolute Dragon: Rank 7, 2800 Atk, 2300 Def
"Xyz Summoning…" Enjo whispered to himself as he swallowed.
"That is the end of my turn." Yuya said.
"So, you are connected with that bird bastard huh?"
"What?"
"You're using the same method as that bird bastard." Enjo repeated.
"He really is talking about Shun." Yuto told Yuya.
"Yeah, then we need to get some answers out of him after this is over." Yuya nodded his head in agreement with Yuto.
"I won't lose this time! My turn, draw! From my Hand, I Summon the Tuner Monster Skull Engineer!" Enjo Summoned a skull with a wrench stuck in it.
Skull Engineer: Level 2, 600 Atk, 500 Def
"A Tuner Monster." Yuya noted, knowing what was going to happen next. After all, they were in the Synchro Dimension.
"I tune the 2 level 4 Burning Skull Heads with the Level 2 Tuner Monster Skull Engineer! Synchro Summon! Appear, Level 10, Burning Skull Flame!" Enjo chanted as he Synchro Summoned his new Monster who wore a cloak and had a skull as a head. He had burning red eyes and a scorching smile.
Burning Skull Flame: Level 10, 3000 Atk, 2400 Def
"Careful Yuya, since it's a level 10 Synchro Monster, it's bound to be powerful." Yuto warmed Yuya telepathically, who nodded his head in response.
"When Skull Engineer is used as material for a Synchro Summon, I get to draw a Card. Next, I activate Burning Skull Flame's effect, when this Card is Synchro Summoned, by returning 2 Monsters to my Hand, I get to Special Summon Skull Flame from my Hand or Deck. However, it has its effect negated until the end of the turn." Enjo explained the effect to Yuya as he took a Card from his Deck and placed it in his Monster Zone.
Skull Flame: Level 8, 2600 Atk, 2000 Def
"Battle! Go, Skull Flame, Attack Odd Eyes Absolute Dragon! I use Burning Skull Flame's effect! Once per turn, when a Monster other this Card I control attacks a Monster on the Field, I can increase that Monster's Attack by 1000 for every Burning Skull Head in my Hand or Grave until the end of the turn! There are 2, so, Skull Flame's Attack is increased by 2000!"
Skull Flame: 2600-4600 Atk
Enjo's Monster revealed a sword with the blade being made out of blue fire. The Monster slowly walked over to Odd Eyes, soon speeding up to unleash the blow that would kill Odd Eyes. However...
"Not so fast!" Yuya quickly thrusted his hand towards his Monster. "I activate the effect of Odd Eyes Absolute Dragon! Once per turn, when an attack is declared, I can negate the attack by detaching an overlay and Special Summon an Odd Eyes Monster from my Hand or Grave!"
"When the Monster increased by Burning Skull Flame's effect attacks, Card effects cannot be activated, however, the attacked Monster can't be destroyed by this battle. Now, go!"
"What?!" Yuya widened his eyes as he was thrown backwards by the attack connecting. "AAAAAAAAAH!" He hit the ground face-up.
Yuya: 2000-200 LP
"Burning Skull Flame, attack his Monster!" Burning Skull took of its skull and threw it at Odd Eyes.
"This time I can use my Monster's effect!" Yuya reminded Enjo as an overlay unit orbiting Odd Eyes disappeared. "By detaching an overlay unit, the attack is negated! Now, return from the Grave, Odd Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" Yuya's ace Monster lifted up his head and roared out loud, marking his return.
"I end my turn." Enjo concluded. "Damn, I couldn't finish you. No matter, next turn I will end it. At this moment, the Attack of Skull Flame returns to normal."
Skull Flame: 4600-2600 Atk
"My turn!" Yuya drew his Card in his Draw Phase. "I Summon Entermate Whip Viper!" Out came a Monster who had a bow, and a purple snake with a top hat.
Entermate Whip Viper: Level 4, 1700 Atk
"Hmph, your Monsters are still no match for any of mine. The only one you could get rid of is Skull Flame, and even still I can boost the Attack by 2000 when it battles." Enjo reminded Yuya, who paid no attention to the problem.
"That will be solved easily. I activate Entermate Whip Viper's effect, once per turn, I can flip the Attack and Defense of a Monster you control!" Yuya said.
"Excuse me!" Enjo froze in his tracks. Did he just say flip the Attack and Defense? If so, then Enjo was in trouble.
"I switch the stats of your Burning Skull Flame!"
Burning Skull Flame: 3000-2400 Atk, 2400-3000 Def
"Time to fight fire with fire! Odd Eyes Pendulum Dragon, attack Burning Skull Flame! Spiral Strike Burst!" Yuya yelled as his dragon jumped into the air and released a torrent of fire at Burning Skull Flame. The blast connected, however, Burning Skull Flame was trying to hold on. "Also, when Odd Eyes battles a level 5 or higher Monster, the damage is doubled! Reaction Force!" Odd Eyes gave one last push and the blast overtook Burning Skull, destroying the Monster. Enjo covered his eyes as he took damage.
Enjo: 4000-3800 LP
"Now, Odd Eyes Absolute, attack Skull Flame! Absolute Force!" Like Pendulum Dragon, Absolute jumped into the air, but this time, he had let out a torrent of ice and wind at Skull Flame, the Monster was destroyed easily. Enjo shivered from the cold harsh winds.
Enjo: 3800-3600 LP
"Now you don't have a Monster to defend you! Whip Viper, Attack him directly!" Yuya pointed to Enjo, who was whipped by the tail of Yuya's snake. Enjo dropped to the ground as he writhed in pain.
Enjo: 3600-1900 LP
"I end my turn." Yuya concluded as he witnessed Enjo get up to his feet with a ticked off expression.
"I am not losing to someone associated with that bird bastard! I was so close to getting to the top! If I kept winning, I could have gotten a free spot into the Friendship Cup! And I could have beat that asshole Jack Atlas!" Enjo was fuming with anger as he held up a fist and punched his open palm.
"Friendship Cup? Jack Atlas?" Yuto repeated the two things that appealed to him the most. "Yuya, we should question him about those things when we win."
"When we win? You sound confident." Yuya said to his lookalike.
"Of course. This guy...he is reckless. If he couldn't beat Shun in the state my friend is now...then, I highly doubt he will be able top you, Yuya." Yuto explained his reason to Yuya.
"My turn, draw! Witness my true power! I banish the Skull Flame in my Graveyard in order to Special Summon this Card from my Hand! Appear, Speed King-Skull Flame!" A Monster in armor riding a horse galloped to the Field.
Speed King-Skull Flame: Level 10, 2600 Atk, 2000 Def
"I activate the Magic Card Skull Collapse! By banishing a Skull Monster in my Grave, I get to destroy a Monster you control. I banish Skull Engineer to destroy your Absolute Dragon!" A yellow orb appeared right in front of the Card, it flew over to Absolute Dragon, he was immediately destroyed.
"Odd Eyes!" Yuya yelled out of concern for his dragon.
"Now, I will end it here! Speed King-Skull Flame! Attack Entermate Whip Viper and end the Duel!" Enjo declared an attack as his Monster galloped towards the snake.
"From my Hand, I send Entermate Barrier Balloon Tapir to the Grave to activate his effect! I get to reduce the next battle damage a player would take to 0! Which I will do now!" The attack collided, Skull Flame had trampled the snake, yet Yuya did not take damage nor did he flinch in the slightest.
"I end my turn here. Hah, you managed to make it yet another turn. I still have this game won however. You have 200 life points, I have 1900. And your only Monster is that dragon. I would just surrender now if I were you." Enjo told Yuya.
"If you think I'm giving up you are highly mistaken!" Yuya spoke, surprising Enjo a little bit. "I have been in many situations like this before, and in none of them have I ever gave up. No matter what, I will win! And I will get my friend back!" At that moment, the top Card of Yuya's Deck started glowing a light blue. "My turn!" Yuya drew his Card with a strong force. He glanced at the Card and gasped. "This is…" It was a Monster. A Card Yuya has never seen before. However, for some reason, Yuya had a feeling. He already knew what to do.
"Well, come on, are you just going to keep staring at your damn Card?! Make a move already!" Enjo bellowed, getting highly impatient.
"When I control Odd Eyes Pendulum Dragon and two Cards in my Pendulum Zones, I can destroy them all in order to Special Summon this Card! This Summon will be counted as a Pendulum Summon!" Odd Eyes and Yuya's Scales disappeared from the Field as Yuya held out his newest Card. "Pendulum Summon! Appear, the dragon whose dichromatic eyes can glare through all, Omni Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" Yuya slammed his new Monster onto his Duel Disk as he roared out loud to the sky. The roar was so loud it started to create shockwaves, blowing trash and dirt and other things around the area. The dragon had dual-colored eyes like Odd Eyes,
Omni Eyes: Level 8, 3000 Atk, 2500 Def
The roar was also heard by people in the Commons. They felt little ripples in their houses, waking most out of their sleep and scaring the daylight out of them.
Meanwhile-At Aki's house
Ruri awoke with a gasp. A loud roar...which sounded like it came from a dragon had woke her up.
"What was that?" She asked herself, a little worried and afraid. She knew that certain Duelists could inflict real damage through Dueling. In fact, Ruri was pretty sure she was one of them. However, other than fear, she had this other feeling. A feeling of that someone was near...someone close to her...but who was it?
"Is everything ok?" Aki asked suddenly. Ruri gasped out of fright and looked to the door into her room and saw Aki and standing there in red night clothes. Her only set of night clothes according to Aki. "I felt those ripples too."
"Yeah, I am fine." Ruri assured Aki with a smile. She looked at a window in her room, the roar had stopped already, but the ripples were still continuing, albeit they were getting weaker. She whispered something to herself. "Just what is going on."
"Oh yeah, I was going to head out tomorrow to visit a friend I met while down here. Want to come with me?" Aki asked the girl.
"Huh? O-oh y-yeah thank you."
Back at the Duel
"Omni Eyes Pendulum Dragon…" Enjo whispered the name of the dragon currently glaring at him in awe.
"I activate Omni Eyes Pendulum Dragon's effect! When this Card is Pendulum Summoned, I can target a Monster on the Field except this Card, the level of the targeted Monster determines how many times Omni Eyes can attack this turn. If the Monster's level is 3 or lower, this Monster can only attack once, if it is a level 4 Monster, this Card can attack twice, if the level is 5 or higher, this Card can attack 3 times this turn!"
"What?! But my Monster is…" Enjo trailed off as he dropped his hands to his sides, knowing he lost.
"That's right, your Monster is a level 10. So, Omni Eyes can Attack three times. However, it will only need two. One more thing, when Omni Eyes battles a Monster, the battle damage inflicted is doubled. Battle! Go, Omni Eyes Pendulum Dragon, attack his Speed King Skull Flame, and remember the battle damage is doubled! Reaction Burst!" Omni Eyes Rank right into Skull Flame, destroying the Monster. Enjo flinched as he took damage.
Enjo: 1900-1100 LP
"It ends now! Omni Eyes Pendulum Dragon, attack Enjo directly! Transcendent Spiral Stream!" Omni Eyes Eyes glowed as the dragon let out a yellowish green stream of fire, which enveloped Enjo, who cried out in pain. His life was reduced to 0 as he dropped down to his knees.
Enjo: 1100-0 LP
Omni Eyes disappeared. Yuya started at Enjo and started to walk to him. However, right as he moved, a sharp pain ran throughout his (really Yuto's) body.
"Gaagh…" Yuya growled as he clutched his chest in pain. He started to breath heavily as sweat rolled down his face. His vision became blurry as he started to lose control. The next thing he knew, he was right next to Yuto, whose body's eyes had turned from crimson red to grey, Yuto's normal eye color.
"Yuya, are you alright?" Yuto asked in concern. Yuya stopped breathing and gave Yuto a nod.
"What about him?" Yuya asked, referring to the defeated Enjo who was on his knees.
"We'll question him. He knows where Shun is, so, Shun might be with the others. We should also ask him about the Friendship Cup and this Jack Atlas persona." Yuto answered calmly as he slowly walked over to Enjo.
A sea of silence rushed between the two as Yuto waited for Enjo to look at him. When he finally did, he asked a question.
"What the hell do you want with me?" Enjo asked Yuto.
"Not much. I just want some answers." Yuto replied, taking a slightly more cold tone that is used better for interrogating. "Start with this. Where were you when you were beaten by that Duelist who used Xyz?"
"What makes you think I will tell you?" Enjo questioned. He didn't know this person. He saw him on top of HIS roof, the roof of HIS house. Why should he answer anything he has to ask?
"Because, you're not leaving until you give me answers." Yuto took a step forward, falling deeper into his interrogation mode. "Answers, now!"
Enjo slightly jumped out of fear at Yuto raising his voice. "O-ok I'll tell I'll tell. I was in the underground Dueling area in the Tops."
"In the Tops...damn it." Yuto cursed under his breath. There was no doubt that there would be a ton of Security in the Tops. Plus, there could be some people disguised as normal people who could be working with the Tops. It would be too risky. "Alright, looks like we have to wing it with that one. Here's another question. What is the Friendship Cup?" Yuto leaned in slightly closer to Enjo, making the latter feel uncomfortable.
Yuya merely stared at Yuto in surprise. It was as if Yuto was a completely different person when interrogating people. He had to make sure not to get on his bad side. He looked back to Enjo, who was answering Yuto's question.
"The Friendship Cup is a yearly tournament. It is the only time of the year where the Commons and Tops are one and in the same area. It is really used to ease the tensions between the Tops and Commons." Enjo explained.
"Hmph, that doesn't seem like the case from how this wonderful society is." Yuya muttered coldly and sarcastically when mentioning a wonderful society.
"16 people duke it out to reach the top, the winner of the 16 get to go to the true finals. The winner gets to Duel against the King Jack Atlas to challenge him for his title as King. Ever since the Friendship Cup 3 years ago, where he became King, Jack Atlas has never lost. As the King, Jack Atlas is the symbol for both the Tops and Commons. Both groups look up to him in some way." Enjo informed Yuto and unknowingly Yuya.
"Is that so? Anything else you would like to tell us?" Yuto questioned Enjo even more.
"Are you serious?! I answered everything you needed to know! What more do you want from me!?" Enjo shouted at the boy very loudly, standing up and throwing a punch at Yuto.
Yuto caught the punch in his hand and threw Enjo to a wall, where he ran up to him and pinned him, where he glared at him and spoke softly to the man.
"Do you want Security to hear you and potentially capture BOTH of us? Because as far as I am concerned, Security doesn't like Commons. I'm sure they'll consider me Commons, and since we are both involved in this situation, they will arrest us both, regardless of if they believe you or not. Heck, knowing them, they will even arrest nearby Commons who weren't even involved with this situation. Do you want that?";
Enjo simply scoffed. "I don't care what happens to the other Commons! I just want to get out of this stupid trash heap! Down here, it is survival of the fittest! There are gangs everywhere! People who mug others just to survive! There is no room for caring about others and forming bonds! Down here, you have yourself and only yourself!"
Yuto could feel that the words Enjo were saying weren't lies. He actually meant it. Crow told him about how the people down here struggle to survive, but not about gangs and people who mug others. However, Yuto had already suspected those kinds of things in the Commons when hearing about it.
"Such a horrible place." Yuto murmured. "Just how did Yugo live here with this kind of stuff all his life? We're done here." Yuto turned around and started to walk away. Suddenly, he froze. "Oh yeah, don't speak of this encounter. Not. To. Anyone."
"Y-yes. Of course not." Enjo said with a fake smile while lying.
"I can tell you're lying." Yuto told Enjo while glancing back at the man.
"And how would you know if I was or not?"
"Simple. Your personality, body language. Also, your putting up a fake smile. You don't really seem like the trusting type."
"This coming from the guy who was on top of my roof for no reason." Enjo muttered.
"I heard that. Now, I'll only say this one more time. Don't speak of ANY of this to ANYONE." And with that, Yuto ran off, leaving a very confused Enjo.
"Hmph, bastard, of course I'll tell someone." Enjo said to himself as he stood up and walked into his house.
As Yuto ran, Yuya appeared next to him with a serious expression on his face, then again, that was all he had on his face other than hate and rage ever since being absorbed. He had barely smiled.
"I heard your fight with Serena."
"I bet you did, Yuya."
"I know what Academia did to you. But, Serena is different from those bastards. I now realize that what I experienced and felt in your memories is nothing compared to how you really felt. I can feel it, you're breaking apart from the inside Yuto, and it's going to show soon. But, despite you breaking apart and your hatred for Academia, I can feel that you want to trust Serena, truly call her a comrade."
"And?"
"And nothing. All I'm saying is that you and Serena need to accept each other and get along. Serena was former Academia, she isn't going to see things like you all the time. You have to deal with and reconcile. You know, the Lancers, if all of us could work together and get along, we could be an unbreakable team. Serena is on our side now. You have to accept her for what she is doing now, and stop wandering around in what she used to be." Yuya told Yuto.
"..." Yuto remained silent as he continued running. Perhaps Yuya was right, he kind of did overreact back then with Serena. And he was also right about how he should accept how she is now. Perhaps, that is the true way to defeat Academia.
Unfortunately for Yuto and Enjo, they never noticed the recently installed camera while they had their conflict. And there was a man watching. It was Director Roget. He looked on with a nonchalant expression on his face as he moved a piece forward to win.
Checkmate.
"Attention! Members of Security, this is Director Roget…"
The next day
Knock knock knock.
"I'm coming!" Crow yelled as he ran to his front door and opened it. On the other side, he saw Aki in her normal attire (what she wears in 5D's most of the time) along with another girl who her back turned away from Crow. Crow knew that he had never seen the girl before, she had long dark purple hair. "Yo, Aki!"
"Crow, nice to see you." Aki greeted. She glanced behind her at Ruri. "Come on, stop being so shy!"
For Ruri, she didn't know how to start. The only person she got along with from another dimension was Aki, and she went all rage mode when she first met her. In fact, she only met Aki a couple days ago.
Ok, just caaaalm down Ruri. This is like greeting a new person. Well, it is greeting a new person...except, this person is from another dimension...OH CRAP I'M GOING TO SOOOOO SCREW THIS UP! Ruri felt multiple drops of sweat roll down her face as she took a deep breath, turned around and closed her eyes.
"H-hallo!" Ruri screwed up her greet by not only stuttering, and pronouncing 'hello,' but she also had a voice crack at that very moment.
Damn you puberty! Ruri cursed at the back of her head.
"Hello there! My name is Crow! Crow Hogan!" The man now known as Crow to Ruri introduced himself.
...Roll with it! Ruri thought as she continued.
"M-my name is R-ruri K-k-kurosaki!" Ruri continued to stutter.
"Hello there R-ruri K-k-kurosaki! Nice to meet you!" Crow laughed as he made fun of Ruri's constant stuttering. "Quite the nervous friend you got here, Aki!"
Ruri took an immediate liking to this Crow fellow. Not only did he seem like a nice and cheerful guy. Plus, his name was a bird. And Ruri liked birds a lot.
"Well come on in you two." Crow opened the door even wider, allowing the two girls to walk in. They noticed five people, Tanner, Frank, Amanda, Reira, and Sawatari, who was flicking his hair. "Oi! Kids, it's Aki!"
"Nice to see you again, Aki!" The three kids greeted, with Amanda taking a bow to Aki.
"Hey you three! Oh, you have two more guests." Aki noted Reira and Sawatari's presence.
Sawatari stood up from the green couch and walked over to Aki.
"I am Sawatari Shingo!" Sawatari boasted as he pointed to himself. "I'm the strongest Duelist here!"
"We don't know that for sure! I haven't even seen you Duel!" Crow exclaimed with a chuckle.
"I'm Izayoi Aki." The woman ignored Crow and introduced herself. At that moment, Ruri walked out from behind Aki, catching Sawatari's attention.
"S-Serena! There you are! Wait...no, is that you, Hiragi Yuzu?" Sawatari questioned the girl without even introducing himself as he took a step closer to the girl.
"I am neither of those people." Ruri said.
"What?"
"Her name is Kurosaki Ruri." Crow corrected Sawatari, much to the boy's shock.
"K-Kurosaki?!" Sawatari gasped in shock. That was Shun's surname. If she has the same surname as Shun, could this be his sister. Actually, now that Sawatari thought about it, he swore either Yuto or Shun said the name of the latter's sister. Yes...it was Ruri! "Wait a minute! Y-you're the sister of Shun! Kurosaki Shun!"
"You know my brother?!" Ruri was surprised. She didn't expect anybody of this Dimension to know who her brother was.
"Yes. He is one of my missing comrades! When we came to this Dimension, we were separated along with some of our other comrades!" Sawatari informed Ruri.
"Missing? Came to this Dimension? So you don't live in this Dimension?" Ruri asked to be sure. She was overjoyed to hear about her brother again and that he was ok. However, she immediately got worried about him being missing.
Aki looked at what was happening in confusion, and so was Crow and everyone else except Reira.
"No, I come from the Standard Dimension! I am in a group called the Lancers! Our leader is Akaba Reiji!"
"Akaba...Reiji…" Ruri ushered out the name. That was the Professor's son! It might not be a good idea to say something like that at the moment, so Ruri kept her mouth shut.
"Oh! Your brother and a guy named Yuto along with a guy named Shark or...Kamishiro Ryoga came to my Dimension to look for you, and they got mixed into our Lancers business, so they are part of us. Actually, Yuto was with me, and so was Serena, a person who looks like you. They both left. Actually, why do you and Serena have the same face...and Hiragi Yuzu too?" Sawatari pondered on that question.
Hold up a second!
"DID YOU JUST SAY YUTO, SHARK AND MY BROTHER CAME LOOKING FOR ME!" Ruri shrieked out of shock, joy, and sadness.
She could finally see her brother and Yuto again.
Finally.
Finally, after all of that time separated from them.
She wanted nothing but to bolt out of that stupid door and find her comrades.
Whatever it took, as long as she could see them.
But she stayed where she was. She had to. If she had left, then the others would have gone after her, and with Security on the lookout for her, they could get in danger. And she could get captured as well. And then she would be even farther away from them...Yuto, Shark and Shun.
Tears ran down her eyes, which didn't go unnoticed by the others. Despite the fact she couldn't see them, she gave a small smile. They had came for her, they were alive, they were well. Now she had hope her other friends and comrades were doing just as well.
Then, another detail cm back to her head. He said Yuto left, which means that he was with him, and that he might come back.
"Yes…" Ruri whispered in happiness. For the first time since the war started, Ruri found genuine happiness once again. She could smile again. She wiped the tears from her eyes and tried to move on to another topic, but her voice was groggy. "Thank you for telling me that."
"Uhh…" Sawatari looked at the girl with a confused look on his face. "Your...welcome…?" It was more of a question than anything else.
"Ruri, you never told me that you had any friends." Aki said to the girl she saved.
"Huh? Oh yeah, it kind of slipped by me, I forgot to mention it. Sorry, Aki!" Ruri apologized.
"Don't worry about it. Now then, shall we settle down then?" Aki asked.
"Yeah! And Ruri, don't worry, Yuto should probably be back soon." Crow mentioned a Ruri's boyfriend.
"Oh, you said there was someone who looked like me. You said her name was...Serena." Ruri reminded Sawatari.
"Yeah, she is a former Academia soldier, but she defected and joined the Lancers." Sawatari spoke, completely forgetting the fact that Ruri is from the Xyz Dimension.
Ruri grew pale and uneasy at the mention of Academia.
"What's Academia?" Crow asked Sawatari.
"Umm...it's a long story…" Sawatari was about to say more, however, everyone in the room froze when they heard a d-wheel nearby along with a man yelling.
"CROW!"
Outside
Serena had decided to keep Dueling people. Eventually, she decided to stop and make her way back to Crow's house.
Yuto, decided not to come back after he beat Enjo. Crow might have found out he left and get pissed at him. So he decided to come back, unknowingly at the same time as Serena.
So when they came back, imagine their surprise when they saw each other. However, they made a distance away from each other the moment they did see each other. Silence filled the air as they glared at each other. At that moment, Shingi came rushing in on his d-wheel.
"CROW!" Shinji called the name of his friend. Said person heard his name and opened the door and walked out, he immediately noticed Yuto and Serena.
"Where the hell have you people been?! I've been worried sick about you!" Crow exclaimed in anger as the others were behind, with Ruri in the very back so she could not hear or see Yuto and Serena.
"That doesn't matter!" Shinji interjected. "Crow! Security is coming here right now!"
"What?!" Crow widened his eyes in shock.
"Security?!" Yuto and Serena repeated in unison. Then from the top of Crow's roof, members of Security released nets that captured the people at the door, since Ruri was in the back, Yuto could not hear her yelp of surprise and fear nor could he see her. Shinji also caught in a net.
"Yuto, you need to run, now!" Yuya bellowed. As a response, Yuto cursed under his breath as he grabbed Serena's wrist and dragged her with him.
"What are you doing?! We should be fighting back, not running away! Why are you even rescuing me anyway?"
"Because, I overreacted. Don't get me wrong, I still have problems with you, but you are one of my comrades, you are a Lancer, I don't leave anyone behind! Even if it is someone I have problems with!" Yuto explained his reason as he and Serena dashed out of the area, jumping onto a roof, however, on their way up, a net caught Serena.
"UAAGH!" Serena cried out as she hit the ground in her net as she struggled to get out. Serena looked back at Crow's place, to see Tsukikage suddenly appear, grab Reira, and disappear
"Damn it!" Yuto cursed as he continued to run on, he had failed to save his comrades once again.
"Oi! Don't you dare touch the children!" Crow shouted as he witnessed Amanda, Frank, and Tanner being barred off.
"Damn it! We failed again!" Yuto yelled out as he stopped in his tracks. Just like in Xyz, he failed to save people. Why couldn't he save them all? Why did there have to be people that still got hurt? It just wasn't fair! He continued on to see Security take his comrades out of their nets and immediately handcuff them and throw them into a truck. He saw Crow, Sawatari, Serena, a girl he didn't know, and then he saw the last person. He saw…the person he had lost and failed to protect. The person he had missed ever since she was kidnapped.
It was Ruri.
Immediately, without taking moment more to think of a plan, Yuto jumped off the roof and dashed towards Ruri.
"RURI!" Yuto shouted for his dear comrade as he held his hand out with tears flowing in his eyes. He saw Ruri turn her head to see Yuto. Their eyes met, and the amount of the time they looked at each other seemed like it lasted for an eternity. Everyth8ng went slow motion as the look on sadness on Ruri's face became mixed with terror.
"YUTO!" She cried out, trying to warn her friend about the net that was sent flying behind him. It was too late though, the net captured Yuto as the boy's face was met with the cold hard ground with a loud thud, the impact was so hard he began to lose consciousness. His vision began to fade as he slowly looked up. It was the slowest he had ever moved before. The last thing he saw before blacking out completely…
Was Ruri's face, filled with despair, before she was thrown into the truck while Yuto was thrown into a different truck, which once again, separates the two comrades.
Card Catalog
Skull Engineer, Zombie, Tuner, Dark: When this Card is used as Synchro Material, you can draw a Card.
Burning Skull Flame, Zombie, Dark, Synchro: When this Card is Synchro Summoned, you can return to Monsters in your Grave to your Hand, then, Special Summon Skull Flame from your Hand or Deck, however, it has its effect negated until the end of the turn. When a Monster you control battles with another Monster your opponent controls, you can increase that Monster 's Attack by 1000 for every Burning Skull Head in your Hand or Grave until the end of the turn, except Burning Skull Flame. When the Monster increased by this Card's effect attacks, Card effects cannot be activated, however, the attacked Monster can't be destroyed by this battle.
Omni Eyes Pendulum Dragon, Pendulum, Dark, Dragon: Pendulum Effect: Once per turn, you can Special Summon Odd Eyes Pendulum Dragon from your Hand, Grave, or Extra Deck. When a level 5 or higher Monster attacks a Monster you control, halve the damage, then, destroy this Card. When this Card in the Pendulum Zone is destroyed, you can add it to your Hand. Monster Effect: When you control Odd Eyes Pendulum Dragon and two Cards in your Pendulum Zones, you can destroy them all, Special Summon this Card. This Summon counts as a Pendulum Summon.When this Card is Pendulum Summoned, you can target a Monster in the Field, except this Card, the level of the targeted Monster will determine how many times this Card can attack this turn. Level 3 or lower, one attack. Level 4, two attacks. Level 5 or higher, three attacks. When this Card battles a Monster, the battle damage inflicted is doubled. When this Card is destroyed, you can place in the Pendulum Zone.
Finally! Sawatari did something good for once other than being comedic relief! So, I said I wouldn't update while on this hiatus, except for editing this chapter. But I decided to suck it up and do it. I had a lot of time on the plane trips to get some chapters done. I got 2-3, whether I will put out the next 1 or 2 chapters is a mystery. But I only updated the story cause I felt like to end last chapter as it did was horrible to you guys. I think ending it like this is a much better place to stop the story for the rest of the hiatus. So, sorry about misleading you guys.
No preview, cause, hiatus and also I am evil deep inside my heart. MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Venomous Blade: Sorry about not reviewing your story in a while, as I said in the note, while on hiatus, I won't be responding to PM's or reviewing that much.
Guest: What the heck did I say in the note?! I said don't send anything like 'Chapter 64' or 'Chapter 65.' I'm sorry, but the fact that I put that down and that I bothered writing that down and that you didn't listen is kind of infuriating. Please don't do it again. I'm not trying to be mean to you or anything, but you have to be patient while I am on hiatus.
Anyways, rambling over.
Hope you guys enjoy the rest of your Summer.
Take care, goodbye!
P.S. I completely forgot to mention this when finishing this off. Happy 4th of July to any Americans reading this!
