"Yuto! Stop the truck, please! Yuto!" Ruri squealed the name of her comrade as she was pushed into the truck. The person that pushed her in shut the door and locked it so no one could escape. Ruri got a sad look on her face as she turned around to face the others. She saw Sawatari against the wall, who was pushed there by Shinji, who was pushed into him by Crow, who was thrown into the truck by Security. The two commoners got off the Lancer, who had his Abyss Actor Monster circling around his head.
"Ugh, calm down, Ruri." Crow told the girl as he stretched his arms out. "Damn it, at the very least I could have said something to the kids!
Ruri noticed Aki, who was looking at her in concern, along with another girl with purple hair. The thing that caught Ruri's attention was the fact that…
"You have the same face as me! You must be Serena!" Ruri guessed from what Sawatari told her earlier. It was really weird. Seeing a person with the same face as you. Well, seeing a person chasing you who has the same face as one of your best
friends, comrades, and boyfriend is also weird. Did this girl have a connection with the boy who kidnapped her?
Serena looked at Ruri and slightly twitched after seeing face, however, for the most part, she remained neutral.
"The same face as me...so, I take it that you're Ruri. The sister of Kurosaki Shun." Serena said. "Weird, weren't you captured by Academia? What are you doing here?"
"I was captured by Academia." Ruri put up a grim face. "By a boy who had the same face as my comrade Yuto." Serena flinched at the mention of Yuto, remembering their argument. "There, at Academia, I met a person who had the same face as me, her name was Rin."
"Rin? So, there are 4 of us lookalikes." Serena muttered, which didn't go unheard by Ruri.
"There is another person who looks like us?" Ruri questioned, not aware of who Yuzu was.
"Ok, before you answer that." Aki interjected, joining the conversation. "Answer this, why do you two have the same face? Are you long lost sisters or something?"
"We don't know why we have the same face. We aren't long lost sisters either." Serena corrected Aki. Then, a question for Ruri sprouted in Serena's head. "Wait a minute, you said you were captured by someone from Academia. What Deck did he use?"
"He used...something called Predator Plants I think. He also had a dragon...called...Starve Venom Fusion Dragon." Ruri recalled to her Duel against the boy that night when she was taken.
"I might know who it is! The boy who took you! I haven't seen him in years, so I forgot about him and what he looked like. I even forgot he had the same face as Yuto. His name is Yuri."
Ruri gasped as he remember what the boy said when they met.
"Who's Yuto? I am Yuri."
"I remember now, he told me his name!"
"So Ruri is from another Dimension." Crow pondered on that for a bit with a slightly frustrated face. "Ok, so first we have Yuto, next you say that there is a person who looks like Yuto named Yugo that you and the former tried looking for. Now, there is a third person named Yuri?! What's next, there is a fourth lookalike with the name Yusei?!" Crow exclaimed questioningly.
"Well, there is a fourth lookalike." Sawatari suddenly said, causing everyone to face him. "Sakaki Yuya. But if I remember correctly, something happened to him...Yuto claimed that he absorbed Yuya and that they are one now."
"Wait a minute! Sakaki? That's the last name of Yusho-sensei!" Ruri realized.
"Yusho? Wait, that's the name of Yuya's father! He disappeared from the Standard Dimension 3 years ago suddenly when he had a big match with Strong Ishijima! Everyone deemed him a coward, and his son was bullied for it." Sawatari informed Ruri of what happened 3 years ago.
"Poor Yuya." Ruri felt sympathy for the boy, he lost his father, and then he was bullied. "But I know Yusho-sensei, he would never run away! Sure, he did disappear when Academia attacked...but, I'm sure he's out there! But another curious thing, you said he disappeared from Standard, he appeared suddenly in Xyz 3 years ago!"
"3 years ago? So maybe that was where he ran off to! But why would he do that? You know, leave his wife and kid like that? That's a really bad dad if you ask me." Sawatari spoke bad of Yusho.
"Yusho-sensei wouldn't just ditch people! He's not like that! I'm sure there is a reason!" Ruri bellowed angrily at the fact that Sawatari would openly say that Yusho-senses was a coward. "Anyways, moving away from there. You said that his son was absorbed...into Yuto?"
"Mmmhmm." Sawatari confirmed.
"What the hell is going on?" Crow asked Shinji. "I thought these people were weirdos, but I was kind of joking when I said that."
"Yeah, I know what you mean...damn it!" Shinji cursed as he tightened his fist. "We got captured by the damn Security! How are we going to make the Commons a better place now?"
"We'll just have to deal with it." Crow replied gravely. "Believe me, I am worried about the kids, greatly. They are the only saving grace of living in the Commons for me."
"Crow… I'm sure those three are fine." Shinji put a hand on his friend's shoulder to comfort him. Crow smiled softly in response.
"This is my question." Serena suddenly spoke. "Why is the Professor capturing people who look like us? He captured, you, that Rin girl, and he didn't let me go around Academia that much and I was kept at the Osiris Red level."
"Wait, you're from Academia?!" Ruri widened her eyes as she took a step back.
"Not anymore, I defected and joined the Lancers." Serena told her.
"Yup! She is very strong-willed and stubborn, but she is a very strong Duelist also! We're lucky to have as a comrade!" Sawatari complimented Serena, who made no reaction except giving Sawatari a weird look.
Ruri still felt uneasy around Serena because of her being with Academia at one point. She decided to change the topic to ease her worries.
"Aki, you have been at the prison or...Facility before, haven't you? Is there anything we should know?" Ruri asked the girl.
"Yes. At the Facility, obey the rules. Don't speak up or get into fights. If you fight, you could be severely punished or thrown into Solitary Confinement." Aki told everyone.
"Wait a minute, you went to the Facility? You never told Shinji and I that." Crow said.
"Yeah. I kind of didn't want to tell you cause I thought it would change your opinion of me. I was thrown in because my Dad protested in the Tops and tried to convince people that the Tops should help out the Commons and unite with them. However, he got a lot of outrage. The truth is, I lived in the Tops." Crow and Shinji gasped after hearing this news.
"So you lied to us!" Shinji yelled in anger. "How could you!? You're just another one of those Tops scum!"
"Stop, Shinji! Let's hear the rest of what she has to say!" Crow told his friend. He gave Aki a serious nod to continue.
"My family in the Tops weren't fans of the separation of Tops and a Commons and how the Commons struggled to survive. My father was senator at the time, he protested and tried to unite the Tops and Commons. In fact, he made me go down and help the Commons, whether it would be having people escape from the harsh realities of the world through Dueling or by giving out supplies and food and such. It was short lived."
"That's probably why I never heard of it." Crow admitted that he didn't Aki came down into the Commons to help people.
"Eventually, it got to a point where Security broke into our house and captured us, I was taken to the Facility while my parents were taken somewhere I don't know. At some point, I escaped. Eventually, I found I couldn't go home, so I came to the Commons and have lived here, and as you know, I have been attacking any members of Security that comes down here." Aki explained her story to the people in the truck.
"Well, moving from that, I just noticed something, where is Reira?" Sawatari asked.
"Crap! I totally forgot about her!" Crow exclaimed.
"Wait? Her?!" Sawatari widened his eyes, thinking Reira was a boy.
"Don't worry, I saw Tsukikage slip in and take her away during the confusion." Serena spoke.
"Who's Tsukikage?" Aki asked.
"He came from another dimension like you guys, didn't he?" Crow guessed.
"Tsukikage must have been sent to retrieve us and Reira under Akaba Reiji's orders."
"Well, good. That's one less thing to worry about." Crow gave a smile.
"It's not good!" Sawatari panicked as he ran to a camera he noticed facing them. "This was just a misunderstanding! Wait till my father hears about this, he will get them fired!"
"You need to calm down." Serena told Sawatari, kicking him in the leg.
Sawatari shrieked like a girl. "OW! WHAT THE HELL WOMAN!l
Meanwhile, Roget was looking at a screen with pictures of the captured people including Yuto, although he was in a separate truck alone.
"Good, all 7 have been apprehended. Take the girl who used Fusion to a special containment room. The boy who used a Xyz, Pendulum, and was spotted last night shall be put under Solitary Confinement along with the Black Rose Witch. The rest, do with them and treat them like your other prisoners. However, keep an eye on the girl with the purple hair. Since she has the same face as the girl who uses Fusion, she must be watched. When I command, move her to a special containment room as the girl who used Fusion."
"Understood." A man with black hair responded through a camera before his face disappeared as he hung up the line.
Roget smirked. "We have time. We can take our time, and I will investigate them thoroughly."
With Yuto-Just as the Lancers were captured
As he was thrown in the back of the truck, Yuto immediately stood up and ran t9 the door, which was immediately shut. He hit the door continuously.
"No...No...No! Damn it! Open the door! Ruri! Ruri!" Yuto stopped as he broke down into tears. She was right there, and he had failed to get her. The truck he was in started to move.
"Yuto...I'm sorry." Yuya apologized. "I should have done something. But, I swear, I will help you reunite with Ruri! I swear it!"
"Yuya, you don't have to worry about it. Besides, I dragged you into the war, why would you have to do something for me?" Yuto asked, not even bothering to face his partner.
"Cause, it's the right thing to do. Dragged in or not, we're comrades now. And if you couldn't tell...haha...we're kind of stuck together. It's just, if I had my own body back, I could do more!" Yuya told the boy.
"Yuya...I'll do it. I'll sell my soul…"
"What?"
"I'll do it, as I am now, I won't be able to protect my comrades. I can't stay like this. I need to get stronger, to protect my comrades!" Yuto exclaimed.
Yuya chuckled. "You know, Yuzu learned Fusion for the same reason. To protect the You Show Duel School."
"I know, she told me she wanted to protect her friends with Fusion. Which brings me to my next point...I need to be strong enough to protect my comrades...and so…" Yuto looked up, revealing determined eyes.
"I'll use Fusion…"
Back with the group-In the truck
The group was silent in the truck. For some reason, after Sawatari's exclamation, they all stopped talking. Then, they was surprised to feel that the truck had stopped.
"Have they arrived at the Facility?" Ruri asked the question that was on everyone's head.
The door to the truck opened, revealing multiple members of Security. Since the group was in handcuffs, they couldn't do anything to escape. The next thing they knew, they were all lined up in a prison setting, with grey dull high walls with fences at the top with watchtowers.
"We've brought in 7 new prisoners." An officer spoke to a woman.
"Confirmed." The woman replied.
"Prisoners he said?! I'm Sawatari Shingo, I'm definitely not-"
"I've never heard of you! Be quiet!" An officer behind Sawatari interrupted as he grabbed the boy by the back of his jacket.
"You, the girl with purple hair. You're being placed in a separate containment room then those guys.
Ruri gasped as she looked at Serena.
"It's ok." Serena assured her as she started to walk forward. "Don't make a scene."
"You…" A man spoke grimly to Aki. "The Black Rose Witch!"
Crow was about to say something, but Aki stepped on his foot before he said anything. "OWW!" Aki grimaced just at the mention of the nickname the Black Rose Witch.
"You have to be sent to Solitary Confinement because of your actions against Security." The man waited for a Aki to move as the girl started to move slowly. "Well come on! We're losing daylight!" The man grew impatient and grabbed Aki by one of her bangs and began to pull her. Aki helped in pain as she was forced to walk.
"Aki!" Ruri and Crow exclaimed in concern as the girl was pulled away.
"Now, you four, you guys are coming this way." Another man said as the Lancers (including Crow and a Shinji) were forced to walk with him. "We're confiscating your Disks. Unauthorized Dueling isn't allowed here. Take this with you." They handed the five their Decks.
"You're not going to confiscate our Decks?" Crow asked as Ruri was handed back her Deck.
"Here, your Deck is as valuable as your own life! You better make sure to treasure it while you can. And with that, I welcome you to this gathering place of scum." A door was slid open slowly in front of the group as they witnessed the inside. It was a circular rooms with a circular Field with tables for eating. There were multiple floors harboring multiple cells with prisoners.
"Aside from a select few dangerous ones, almost everyone here is a Common arrested on false pretenses." Crow revealed to the others.
"There are easily 100 or 200 held here on false charges. Possibly more." Shinji added to Crow's statement.
"False charges? Then that's just like us isn't it?" Sawatari questioned.
"That's right, but here there are only two types of people. People with no life in their eyes...and the ones whose eyes still glow." Shinji looked up to his right to see 3 people in a cell, two grinned while the other smirked and nodded his head at Shinji, who kept a stoic face.
Later-In the Cell
The handcuffs disappeared from the four's wrists as they looked at their hands in confusion.
"From now on, this shared cell will be your home sweet home!" The man closed the door to the cell as he smiled, his eyes void of emotion. "Make sure to get along with your fellow trash roommates." He chuckled as he walked away.
"Like hell this is our home sweet home." Crow murmured when the guy was gone.
The guy froze. "Hmm...shared cell? Was I told something about that…? Oh well!" The man continued to walk carelessly, forgetting the fact that he was supposed to separate the four in different cells, not have them share one.
"What do we do?" Crow asked himself. The four heard a laugh and faced more into the cell.
"Looks like we've got some newcomers." A male in a green prison suit said. "Well, aren't you gonna greet us?"
"N-nice to meet you…" Ruri put on a nervous smile as she greeted the two.
"Huh? You call that a greeting?" The prisoner in red mocked Ruri's greeting.
"You should be sitting down with your head bowed saying, "Nice to meet you, sir!"
"I umm...o-ok…" Ruri stuttered as she proceeded to do what the man said to do.
"Ruri…Don't…" Crow whispered.
"Nice to meet you, sir!" Ruri greeted politely as she felt the cold grey floor. She stood up and got off her knees.
"Good, now you three!" The man in green demanded.
"If you want me to sit down you should at least bring out a sofa for me!" Sawatari spoke in a smug manner.
"What was that?!"
"You…" The green prisoner started as he ignored the clamping of a certain man walking towards them.
"Stop being so unseemly." A familiar voice to Sawatari spoke.
"G-Gongenzaka!" Sawatari blurted out the name of his fellow Lancer.
"Sawatari, so you're here too. Where are Yuto and the others?" Another voice asked as two people walked to the four, revealing themselves to be Shark and O'Brien.
"O'Brien! Shark!" Sawatari exclaimed in surprise. Shark gasped as he saw Ruri, and so did the latter.
"RURI!" Shark ran up to his comrade. "I-I thought you were captured by Academia! This is great!" Shark put a wide smile on his face. The happiest smile Ruri has seen him give since the time before Academia attacked.
"Ryoga!" Ruri pulled Shark in for a hug as friends, tears streaming down her face. Ryoga also tried to hold back tears. They hadn't seen each other in so long. Ruri actually thought she wouldn't ever see Ryoga again at some points. She finally properly reunited with one of her comrades.
"Alright! Shun and Yuto will be so happy!" Shark exclaimed.
Ruri's expression on her face saddened. "Actually, I saw Yuto, he was captured also, just like the rest of us. He knows I'm here." Ruri's face showed a smile of hope. "Where is my brother?" Ruri wanted to know where her older brother was, she kissed him so much.
"Shun...he changed when Academia attacked, but when you were kidnapped...he went rogue kind of. He and Yuto argued a lot and he became more rebellious. Because of this, he got in a fight and was sent to Solitary Confinement." Shark answered with a serious face.
Ruri froze. What did he say?
"...he got in a fight and was sent to Solitary Confinement."
"...he got in a fight and was sent to Solitary Confinement."
"...he got in a fight and was sent to Solitary Confinement."
Those words replayed in Ruri's head like a record player. He went rogue. Also, he and Yuto argued a lot? And this was all because…
"All of this was because I was kidnapped and went out carelessly…" Ruri whispered, a worried expression came to her face as she got out of the hug.
"No, it's not your fault! It's mine! I should have looked out for Shun after you disappeared. Yuto tried to, but it wasn't enough! I should have done something!" Shark bellowed in frustration.
"You must be Kurosaki's sister, Ruri." Gongenzaka spoke after a long moment of silence. "Nice to meet you, I am Gongenzaka Noboru. Hmm, you really do have the same face as Serena and Yuzu."
"Nice to meet you too. Serena...she was with us, but she was taken to a separate holding room." Ruri revealed.
"R-Ruri!" A voice stuttered, the group looked in the direction of the voice to see Dennis standing there in shock.
"Dennis!" Ruri exclaimed in shock.
"Wait, I know Shark, Shun, and Yuto know her, but he does Dennis know Ruri?" Sawatari asked the question Gongenzaka, Shark, and O'Brien were thinking.
"Yeah, you said you took classes at LDS and was a student under Sakaki Yusho...at least, Yuto told me the last part." Shark said.
"I met Dennis in the Xyz Dimension." Ruri said in a confused manner. "We Dueled after I saw him entertaining an audience, I saw him again at the Resistance Camp at some time before I got kidnapped by the guy who looked like Yuto."
Shark sharpened his gaze at Dennis after hearing Ruri's explanation. "You lied! And you were at the Resistance Camp too!" Shark started to get suspicious.
"Well, I did leave a little bit out, you see, I originated from the Xyz Dimension, but when Academia attacked, I Dueled a soldier and was teleported to Standard." Dennis lied to the others.
"You know, it's weird that you saw Ruri a time before she was kidnapped." O'Brien took a step towards Dennis.
"Y-you have to believe me! I hail from the Xyz Dimension! I got my style of Dueling when Sakaki Yusho came, and he taught me!" Dennis stammered, which didn't go unnoticed by Shark and O'Brien.
"Wait a minute, Yuya's father taught you?! And he was in the Xyz Dimension! Why did you keep that from Yuya?!" Gongenzaka shouted at the boy.
"Cause if you remember correctly, I haven't ever met Yuya. I met Yuto, who was playing dress up as Yuya to fill in for his spot in the Miami Championship!" Dennis responded nonchalantly.
"Yuto did what?" Ruri jumped in with her own question, which never got answer.
"Gong-chan! You have to believe me! Besides, I haven't done anything bad! Ruri, Yuto, Shark-chan and Kurosaki are from Xyz and you guys trust them! Hell, I'm pretty sure O'Brien said he was from the Fusion Dimension at one point, but he was sent by his leader to help out people Xyz!" Everyone paused when they heard Dennis counter-argument.
"What is going on here?" Crow merely gaped at the sight of what was unfolding.
"Mmm...I believe in Dennis." Gongenzaka spoke for Dennis firmly with confidence.
"I...do…" Sawatari muttered, although it was nowhere near as confident as Gongenzaka.
"I do." Ruri said softly. "If I were transported to another Dimension, I would do the same thing and say I was from that Dimension I came too." Albeit, Ruri was a bit skeptical of Dennis now.
"I do." Shark fibbed.
"I do." O'Brien also fibbed. They didn't believe Dennis at all. They glanced at each and gave each other a look, before looking at Dennis.
"You know these guys, Boss Gong?" The prisoner in red questioned his leader.
"Mostly. This is Kurosaki's sister. You know Kurosaki, the guy who got in a fight and got sent to Solitary Confinement." Ruri flinched at the mention of that. "That guy over there is Sawatari Shingo, who is not my best friend." Sawatari frowned at that. "And if what Ruri said is correct, then another person I know is coming...who...has a connection to my best friend."
"A person with a connection to Gong's best friend!" The prisoner in red gasped in shock.
"And just his acquaintance along with the sister of the guy in Solitary Confinement?" The prisoner in green, like his friend got down to their knees and alternated bowing while saying 'We're so sorry!'
"By the way, Sawatari. Do you know what happened to Akaba Reiji and the others?" Gongenzaka took the moment to ask.
"As we said, Yuto should be on his way here. Serena is somewhere in a different holding place. And finally Reira was with us, but while we were being captured, Tsukikage appeared out of nowhere and took her. No doubt orders from Akaba Reiji." Sawatari concluded. "Also, we have reason to believe that you're friend Hiragi Yuzu is in this Dimension as well."
"What?! Yuzu, here?!" Gongenzaka widened his eyes.
"Yeah, along with a guy named Yugo." Sawatari played with his hair.
"Yugo...he's the guy who beat Yuya in that Duel Yuto talked about, right?"
"I don't remember." Sawatari did a Sawatari and acted stupid in response to Gongenzaka's question. "Anyways, we need to get out of here! You're the boss!"
I'm not actually the boss of this place." Gongenzaka admitted.
Dennis popped in next to Gongenzaka. "The real boss of this place is in another cell. From what I have heard, he has been stuck in here for over 10 years."
Meanwhile
"You're lucky, this is the last cell! If it was full we would have to put you in with another person! It wouldn't be called Solitary Confinement then, though." The man holding Aki by the bangs told her.
Aki remained silent, slightly wincing from the man holding her hair. The man pulled Aki close to his, much to her surprise.
"Now listen here, we confiscated your Deck and Duel Disk, after all, this is Solitary Confinement and we know what you can do in a Duel. It's sad, after breaking out and trying to overthrow Security, you just end up getting captured again, and now you are in an even worse place than last time."
"I don't regret attacking Security. I was doing the right thing. The Tops and Commons should be equal. The Commons have been treated like trash ever since this society began, they deserve the right to walk among the Tops and Commons!" Aki rebutted against the man. The man growled out of annoyance and slapped Aki hard on the face. Aki gasped as she was hit and glared daggers at the man.
"The Commons are just trash. They are ruining this society. They are ruining this beautiful city! When one looks out the window, one could sometimes see the slums of the Commons! Face it! The Tops and Commons will never walk amongst each other, and it damn sure won't work out!" The man shouted as he punched Aki in the stomach, knocking the wind out of the girl as she was thrown into her cell. The cell was locked, and Aki was too winded to even get up. "Goodbye. Black Rose Bitch."
And with that, the man walked away. Aki rose to her feet in her cell, her anger slowly building up, however, without her Deck and Duel Disk, she couldn't do anything.
With Ruri and the others-Prison-Lunchtime
The prisoners had been released from their cells to eat food, and they had formed a line to get some food. Dennis was up first. He got a good amount of food that was satisfactory. All of the prisoners received the same food, but in different quantities for each prisoner. So when a Ruri stepped up after Dennis, she was very surprised she got much less food than Dennis. It was definitely not good for lunch or dinner or whatever. Heck, it could even be called a snack at best.
"Huh? That's it?" Ruri complained to the guy who gave her food, and for very good reason. How was she supposed to be full with this? If this is how they treated their prisoners, then it is a wonder how many people wouldn't die of hunger or stay sane.
"We've got to make sure there's enough for everyone!" The man who gave Ruri her food told the girl, much to her dismay.
"What are you talking about? There is plenty left!" Ruri viewed the abundance of food that was left on the table.
People behind Ruri in the line started to get impatient. She heard 'Keep the line moving' 'I'm hungry too' and 'If you're going to just complain don't eat.' Ruri swore she even heard someone call her a 'Princess.' And that was not said in a good way.
"You heard them, get going." The man urged Ruri. Ruri grit her teeth as she walked out of line. Sawatari was next.
"Hey. I'm Sawatari Shingo. Go ahead and try to pull that crap with me." Sawatari started to rant. "I'll tell my Papa on you and you'll get punished so hard you'll regret it!"
Unfortunately, the next thing Sawatari knew, he was out of the line with the same amount of food as Ruri, Crow, and Shinji. He looked down out of failure.
"Damn!" He cursed comedically.
"So I'm the end, we all got treated the same." Shinji noted. Was this how they treated newcomers?
"Forget about it, let's just eat." Crow told Shinji and the others as he started to look around for a table. Sawatari started to rant, while Ruri caught something at the tip of her eye. She saw a prisoner giving a Synchro Monster to a man giving out food. In return, the person who gave the Card got a lot of food to eat.
Ruri gasped. "How horrible…"
"Ruri! What're you doing? Get going!" Crow called out Ruri.
"Y-Yeah." Ruri started to walk to the others. However, as soon as she began walking, someone sitting down put his foot out and tripped Ruri. "WHOAAAA!" Ruri hit the ground with a loud thud and dropped her tray, and her food.
Shinji, Sawatari, and Crow stopped at the sound and looked back to see Ruri on the ground.
"Ruri!" Crow called out to Ruri in concern.
"Oh what a waste! You'd better watch where you're going!" The man who tripped Ruri exclaimed. Ruri looked back with a glare, she knew better than to be fooled like that. The man did it on purpose. She saw another prisoner step right next to her, she saw a bucket of water in his hand, which he threw the contents at the food Shinji, Sawatari, and Crow had, much to their surprise.
"Sorry about that, I just tripped over this girl!" The man said nonchalantly, clearly trying to give off the fact that he did on purpose. "Oh and, this is Water I squeezed out of the cloth used to clean the bathrooms." The man had a smile on his face, Ruri could see it. Both recent acts were done on purpose.
"You bastards!" Sawatari tightened his fist in anger.
"Are you picking a fight with us?" Crow asked.
"Hey! You people!" A guard yelled. Shinji, Crow, and Sawatari looked at the guard, who was by a door, with a weapon on his hand. "If you fight, it's straight to Solitary Confinement.
Sawatari clicked his tongue as Gongenzaka spoke with Dennis, Shark, and O'Brien with the former looking like he wanted to punch the daylights out of the guy who tripped Ruri, but he barely managed to remain composed. "You guys don't cause any more trouble. We'll share our food with you."
"That aside, look over there." O'Brien pointed in a direction, the group looked over to see a table it's a cloth over. A man was the only one there. He looked very old, his hair was even shorter than his facial hair. He wore an olive-green threadbare robe. He and a fork and knife and was eating with his eyes closed and very formally, despite his appearance.
"He's the boss." Dennis informed the group.
"He's the boss?" Ruri repeated, who was now back on her feet.
The prisoner in red and green suddenly appeared next to Ruri asking her if they were alright. Ruri told them that that she was fine.
"He's got some exquisite food over there…" Ruri whispered to the two.
"The boss of the prisoners is in an even higher position than the guards here!" The prisoner in red explained why the man had such good food.
The boss paused and opened his eye, his eye staring at the group looking at him.
Later-In the Bathroom Area
"Alright, you lot are going to clean this place until it shines." A blonde haired man commanded Ruri, Crow, Shinji, and Sawatari.
"Right now?! Hold up a second! We just finished washing all of the prisoner's dishes!" Crow exclaimed out of disbelief. They just did that and now they have to do even more dirty work?
"Shut up and do it. Cleaning the bathrooms is the job of the newcomers for that week. And just to warn you, the boiler for the baths has been turned off." The man revealed to the group and four other prisoners who looked like they didn't even want to be there. "So if you try and take a shower when you should be cleaning you'll on be getting a cold one!"
"Umm excuse me…" One of the prisoners walked up to the man. "I came down with a cold this morning…" The man showed the guard a Card.
Ruri and the others gasped.
"Card bribes!" They all started in unison.
The guard didn't say anything and took the Card.
"And I'm suffering from muscle fatigue!" Another prisoner stated, holding up a Card.
"I'm currently suffering from malnutrition!" A third prisoner held up a Card.
"I'm feeling sleepy!" The last of the prisoners spoke nonchalantly. The three gave the man Synchro Monsters and left.
The man smirked out of satisfaction. "You guys are all free to go back."
"Thank you!"
The guard turned to the only ones left. "You guys are going to do the rest!" With that, he left.
"Hey! There is definitely something wrong with this!" Crow bellowed while the others looked on in shock while Sawatari looked like he wanted to die.
"And if you don't do it right, then you'll have to do it over, got it?" The man ignored Crow's complaints and closed the door.
"Hold it!" Sawatari exclaimed right when he closed the door, and the man kept on walking away. "Damn it! What the heck is going on?!"
Back at their Cell-Later
"They didn't tell you? Cards are as valuable as your life here." Dennis told the four, who just came back from cleaning the bathrooms. "Cards are essentially currency here. If you bribe the guards with Cards, you get treated better." Dennis put his hands over his head.
"That's why they gave us our Decks back…" Sawatari mumbled out of frustration. "If I had known that, I would have handed over some Cards so I could eat!"
"But, Sawatari! Cards aren't money!" Ruri scolded Sawatari for how he wanted to get rid of his Cards that badly. "You shouldn't use them to bribe people! It's just wrong!"
That sounds like something Sakaki Yuya would say… Sawatari thought as he tuned out as Ruri was talking to him.
"Wait! Please don't tell me you guys used your Cards!"
Shark and Gongenzaka grumbled in response to Ruri, conforming her fears.
"Ryoga! I never thought that you would use your Cards for something like this!" Ruri told her friend, disappointed that he would do that.
"No! That's not it! Boss Gong and Ryoga...for us…" The prisoner in green started with a pained expression on his face.
"He didn't have a choice…" The prisoner in red finished. He sounded like he was about to cry.
"Huh?"
"Don't say unnecessary things." Gongenzaka said with his eyes closed.
"No please let me tell them!" The red prisoner insisted. "Before we came here, we had lost a Duel, had our Decks stolen, and came here without a single Card! So then we got bullied horribly! And then Gong went to the guard and…" His words still replayed in his mind.
He remembered Gong throwing a punch at the man with blonde hair, purposely missing and frightening the man.
"Wh-what are you-?" The Guard was cut off when Gongenzaka held up two Cards. "Huh?"
"Cards. Now you better make sure those two can eat." Gongenzaka demanded.
"If it wasn't for him the two of us…Ryoga also gave his Cards too…" The green prisoner remembered Ryoga with a stoic expression on his face holding up two of his Cards and throwing at the person who gave lunch.
"With that, you better let those two eat their fill, have I made myself clear?" Ryoga asked the man.
"Well Gong-chan was going off, making only himself look cool! I was going to do it too, but Shark-chan here beat me to the punch…" Dennis said slightly nervously because of what had occurred earlier.
"So that's why…" Ruri trailed off as she gave a smile. "Gongenzaka, you're a good person. Ryoga, I never thought you would do something like that, you've made me change how I look at you."
"Hmph, it's more like you, Rio, or Yuto rubbing off of me." Shark muttered.
"But my opinion hasn't changed." Ruri's smile turned into a frown. "Cards are not supposed to be for something like that!"
"Yeah, I know." Gongenzaka responded. He opened his eyes. "You know, you are a lot like Yuya. I think it's because of his father arriving in your Dimension…"
The next thing everyone knew, they heard the door to their cell open. They looked at the door to see the damn blonde haired guy.
"You lot have been called on! Get out!" The man commanded.
"Called on?"
Meanwhile-With Yuto
So, they're taking me to Solitary Confinement. But my question is, why? For what reason? Yuto asked himself in his thoughts as he was being dragged towards his cell. Don't tell me that I was caught on camera last night! That's the only way to explain it.
"Unfortunately, we ran out of cells. People are big idiots in this prison so they end up here! You're gonna have to share a cell with this guy! I'll warn you, he's a rebellious one. He got in a fight not long after arriving." The man dragging Yuto warned the boy. He opened the door to the cell and quickly pushed Yuto in while shutting the door and walking away.
"Alright, who's my cellmate?" A familiar voice asked to Yuto. Yuto gasped as he looked in the corner of the cell, he saw his best friend, Kurosaki Shun.
"Shun!" Yuto spoke the name of his friend as a smile appeared on his face.
"Yuto?!" Shun exclaimed with a shocked expression present on his face. "What are you doing here? I thought you would be the last person to get locked into prison!"
"It's good to see you again, Shun! Did you come here with anyone?" Yuto questioned his friend.
"No, I found myself alone. Later, I took part in an Underground Dark Dueling competition."
"Dark Dueling competition? Wait, you mean…" Yuto trailed off. "Shun! Why would you do that?!"
"Because, our goal was to find strong Duelists to recruit. So, I decided to try and look for some. Also, if you got 10 consecutive wins then you got a free space into the Friendship Cup! That would be where I would try to look for more strong Duelists. Unfortunately, I didn't find anybody worthy. However, i met up with Dennis, Gongenzaka, O'Brien and Ryoga. Dennis and I were put into a Riding Duel, but there was no decision on who won because Security came out of nowhere and arrested us." Shun explained to Yuto.
"I found myself with Serena, Sawatari, and Reira. We took refuge with a man named Crow, who saved us from Security. However, we eventually were found, and we were all captured. Reira disappeared though. However, the thing is...there was one person I didn't expect to see…" Yuto said cryptically as he gained a sad expression on his face, tears daring to form.
Shun widened his eyes at the sight of tears forming in Yuto's eyes. Who was it that he saw that it would get Yuto crying while talking about it?
"Well, who is it?!"
"Shun…" Yuto started as he looked at his friend dead in the eye. "You are not going to believe this...but the person I saw was her…"
"Her?"
"She here's Shun…Ruri's here…"
Yet another chapter down!
Lol, at this point I might just call of the hiatus and just say the update schedule will be slower than usual. Cause I have realized that I can get tiny bits of progress on the story when my family sleeps.
Alright, so, I am not on hiatus, from the fact that I uploaded 2 chapters when I said I wouldn't. God dang am I bad at keeping my word.
I have a lot of time to write thanks to the time my family sleeps, plus, I cannot resist the urge to keep writing.
Updates will still be slow, as I said. Mostly cause one, I might be updating and editing past chapters. I only edited two chapters so far. Chapters 13 and 53.
Another thing, I will be doing something new with how I write a Duels and when I transition to a different scene. You can see what I have done with the different scene by holding the location. I'm doing so it is much more clear when a scene changes.
The Dueling changes I am going to do you can see if you reread chapter 13. All I did was bold a Summoned Monsters name and stats. And I bolted a character's name when their life points changed or something like that.
Sorry for no Duel guys.
Next chapter, all you need to know is Ruri against Tokumatsu...that is going be a pain to write because of the Deck Tokumatsu runs.
I think I have good news. I made some previews for future chapters, the next 15 or so. And I am proud to say that if everything goes well, we will get to first Duel if the Semi-Finals of the Friendship Cup by Chapter 75. As in, 10 chapters from now.
One more thing, although I am calling off the hiatus, that does not mean I will be answering PM's and reviewing other people's stories that often.
Yuka Kuroshiro: Glad you 'ENJOYED' the ending.
Bridgey: Don't worry about the hiatus, I'm not letting something like that keep me down!
You know, the more I write this story, the more I realize I have certain personality traits from all of the Yu-boys that show from time to time.
Before I take my leave, I want to mention that if you guys were wondering why Serena got put in a special room and a Ruri didn't is because Serena used Fusion. Since Roget used to a member of Academia, he got interested in Serena. Also keep in mind that Ruri has not Dueled once in the Synchro Dimension, not until next chapter.
Anyways, that's all for now, hope you guys continue to have a great summer.
Take care goodbye!
