Yuto parked his d-wheel at the garage area, he was soon followed by Aki, who after stopping and slipping off her helmet, cursed under her breath for not only failing to help her parents but allowing herself to get manipulated by Roget in the first place.
Now, Ruri and the others probably resent her. They probably despise everything about her now.
Aki perked her head up when he heard Yuto call her name. She merely tilted her eyes over to the boy, not wanting to even face him after betraying him and his friends.
Just from looking at Yuto's face, she could tell that he was pissed. The way he grit his teeth. The way he glared at her. The way he tightened his fist as if he wanted to punch. The signs were all too clear.
"Why do you have a Fusion Monster?!" Yuto enquired immediately, raising his voice at the last part of the sentence. "I thought you were someone who we could trust! So tell, why?! Why would side with…"
Yuto couldn't even finish the words. Why would Aki side with the spy from Academia who gave her the Fusion Cards?
"Roget…" Aki began, however, she was interrupted by the sound of clapping together, in a calm, slow rhythm. Yuto and Aki looked to the sound of the clapping to see the man Aki had just mentioned, Roget.
"You…" Yuto growled slightly, disgusted at the very sight of Roget.
"Why is the Chief of the Security Bureau here?" Melissa questioned as she spoke into the microphone, projecting her voice around the stadium for all to hear.
Roget walked closer and closer to the two until he stopped right in front of Yuto, staring directly into the boy's cold-hardened eyes with calm, manipulative, and calculated eyes of his own.
"Splendid work. I was impressed by your amazing Duel." Roget admitted before closing his eyes. "Especially when you Synchro Summoned from Pendulum in the end. That elegant, bold develop,ent was more than I'd expected. I couldn't help but gasp in admiration. You are indeed one I can rely on, Yuto. There are certain things only you can do."
Roget held out a hand to Yuto, wordlessly proposing an alliance of sorts.
"Yuto…" Ruri whispered to herself, hoping that her friend would do the right thing.
Yuto responded to Roget's proposal by slapping his hand out of the way forcefully.
"Get the hell away from me! I'd rather die than associate myself with a snake like you!" Yuto yelled at the Chief of the Security Bureau.
A finger on the hand Roget had at his side twitched slightly at the Action committed by Yuto.
"Well, I'd love to speak with you ask much as possible, but first, get rid of the loser." On Roget's command, two guys in green suits came out of nowhere and grabbed Aki by the arms, practically dragging her to the underground. She tried to break free, but the grip they had on her hands were too strong.
With as much energy as she could muster into her voice, she attempted to tell Yuto something.
"Yuto! Roget is the one who-"
Keyword, attempted, as when she looked at Roget's face he saw the expression that said "Rat me out and your parents pay the price". And with that, Aki closed her mouth as she let herself be taken away.
Now that Aki was gone, Roget continued.
"Now this boy is changing as a Duelist and becoming stronger. Synchro Summoning from Pendulum is a sign that Yuto is evolving as a Duelist. Furthermore, he has not only displayed mastery over Pendulum and Xyz Summons, but he has been seen using Fusion Summoning! As far as we're concerned, Yuto has control over the four Summoning methods!" Roget announced to the audience.
The audience began to applaud, particularly the Tops as they thought that Yuto was in some way in cahoots with the Tops.
"Look around you. Many in our audience share the same sentiment. There is only one thing we wish for. For you to win this Friendship Cup, and Duel Jack Atlas once again. We look forward to it, Yuto." Roget stated as he forced Yuto's hand into his own in a way that made it seem like Yuto was shaking his hand.
Suddenly, the flashes of multiple lights enveloped Yuto and Roget.
Yuto immediately forced his hand away from Roget's, not wanting to have his name stained due to the man.
"I told you I would rather die than associate myself with you!" Yuto bellowed once again as he ran over to his d-wheel, only for the hand of a member of Security to grab his wrist. "Let me go! I have to leave!"
Shiunin Sora was in this dimension, and Yuto had to find him fast. Who knows what he could be planning.
Roget had a frown on his face due to Yuto's seemingly rebellious nature, however, that frown curved up into a smile. "Let him go."
Yuto and the member of Security looked at the blonde-hair with confusion, before the officer let go of Yuto's hands, threw his own to his sides, and let out a 'Yes sir!'
Yuto decided to pay Roget's action just now with little heed as possible as he got onto his d-wheel, starting the engine and bursting off.
"W-Wait!" Melissa called out, but to no avail as Yuto didn't listen and kept on going, eventually leaving the stadium. "It's fine if the loser leaves, but is it okay that the winner went off on his own?"
I won't abandon my comrades' lives! I will make sure that they make it through this alright! I will win, find a way to free my comrades from the underground, and make it out the dimension alive! Yuto thought to himself out of determination as he stomped on the accelerator, causing the d-wheel to rush forward as hard currents of air lashed out at Yuto's face.
Later
Shiunin Sora was conflicted.
He wanted to fulfill the goal that Academia has, to unite the dimensions and create a brand new utopia.
His recent assignment was to get Serena and return her to Academia. It was the other two girls who looked like Serena that he was worried about.
The other two girls, were Hiragi Yuzu and Kurosaki Ruri. Two very familiar names.
Kurosaki Ruri was Kurosaki Shun's sister. And she is the one who Yuto questioned him about that night back in the Standard Dimension.
The thing is, at some point, Yuri was being sent to capture her. He needed to let Yuto know. After all, he had some connection with Yuya thanks to that one night, so he was the best person to talk to.
Yuzu on the other hand...was an interesting one.
The Professor's right hand man was being sent to capture Yuzu. And if the rumors were true about the man's strength, then Yuzu wouldn't stand a chance in defending herself.
"What the hell do you want showing up in this dimension?" Sora's eyes widened out of surprise, the cold voice ringing in his hears like a church bell. Sora turned around to face the purple and black spiky haired boy who was about his age,
Sora put up a fake smirk as a way to suppress his initial shock.
"It's been a while, I never expected that you would be in the Synchro Dimension," Sora's lips curved downwards into a frown. "The last time we saw each other was during the battle royal."
Yuto took a step backwards as a means to keep his distance away from Sora. He shifted his left foot backwards slightly, ready to react if Sora made any suspicious movements.
Although he wasn't make any hostile movements now, Sora was still a member of Academia. He could not be trusted whatsoever.
"I assume you're here for Academia's so called noble cause." Yuto guessed, already knowing that he was right, before gasping out of realization. "You bastard! Don't tell me that Academia is going to make its move on this dimension, just like in Heartland! No, just like the attack on Heartland, your target is Ruri and her lookalikes, which means Serena and Yuzu."
"Yes, we already have the only other girl, Rin." Sora said, Yuto grimaced at the mention of the girl's name, tightening his fist as he thought of Yugo and his undying determination to save Rin.
"So that just proves it then. Rin is a lookalike of Ruri. It all makes sense now, why she was captured in the first place, which caused Yugo to take his anger out on me. Don't tell me you came to Standard to capture Yuzu?!" For the last sentence, a notable change in tone of Yuto's voice occurred, when Sora took a look at his face, his eyes were crimson red…
Like Yuya's.
Yuya…Sora thought to himself. How can I communicate with him, this is Yuto, not Yuya, so what's going on?
"I did not go to Standard to capture Yuzu, Yuya." Sora narrowed his eyes at the possessed Xyz user, who widened his eyes slightly out of surprise for a second, before regaining his composure.
"Then why?" Yuya decided to pay the fact that Sora knew it was actually him no heed and got straight to the point.
"I came to this dimension to save Yuzu." Sora revealed to Yuya, who gave him a confused look.
"To save her?"
Yuya suddenly thought back to Standard. The battle royal had just ended, and Yuya and Sora's Duel never reached a conclusion thanks to Sora retreating after hearing from Serena that she wasn't Yuzu.
"Back then, I thought that one of the Obelisk Force who came with me took Yuzu by mistake. Not surprising, not only do they have the same face but they switched clothes as well." Sora stated, a neutral and blank expression on his face. "We received the order from the Professor to bring Serena back, so one of my comrades could have made a mistake. With that in mind, I returned to Academia as soon as possible."
Sora had remembered searching most of Academia frantically, trying to find one alone Hiragi Yuzu, who to his knowledge, had been captured due to a misunderstanding.
"I couldn't find Yuzu. But then…" Sora trailed off as he recalled a memory.
In it, he was walking down the halls of Academia when he heard the cold commanding voice of Akaba Leo, who was belittling someone for letting Yuzu escape. Sora had spied in on the conversation and found that Yuzu was needed.
"Why? Why is the Professor gathering four girls with the same face?" Yuto wondered outwardly for Yuya to hear, who shrugged his shoulders as a response.
"I don't know why Yuzu and Serena along with Ruri are needed captured, but even if we don't know why, we have to carry out the Professor's orders. That is a rule."
An uncomfortable period of silence followed Sora's statement while Yuya looked at the boy with a serious expression, urging him to say more.
"After, I returned to the Standard Dimension to look for Serena. I thought that Yuzu could have still been there. However, I then learned that Akaba Reiji formed a group called the Lancers and led them across dimensions. And I learned that Yuto and Serena were part of it."
"And then you came to the Synchro Dimension." Yuya finished for Sora, as if he was reading his mind. Sora's response of nodding his head only proved his point.
"And I heard Dennis' confession as well. He was connected to Ruri's kidnapping, so he must have joined the Lancers to keep an eye on Serena. That's why I wanted to send him back to Academia, to keep him away from Serena."
"Back to Academia!" Yuya and Yuto bellowed out of anger in unison. "Why the hell did you do that?! Now Academia knows that Ruri, Yuzu and Serena are here!"
"They already knew!" Sora interjected, causing Yuya's jaw to open slightly. "Obelisk Force will be here at any moment as backup. And there are three people who are tasked with the mission of capturing Yuzu, Serena, and Ruri respectively."
"Would you happen to know who these three people are?" Yuya asked Sora.
"Unfortunately. The one targeting Ruri is the same person who first captured her," Yuto flinched when he heard that as he growled. "He has the same face as you, Yuto and that banana haired kid called Yugo. His name is Yuri. As for the other guy…"
Silence.
Long silence.
"What?! Say something!" Yuya grabbed Sora's shoulders, losing his patience.
"I don't know much about the guy capturing Yuzu. But there is a rumor saying that his power rivals even the Professor."
"Rivals the Professor!?" Yuya exclaimed as he widened his eyes out of shock.
"The leader of Academia…" Yuto whispered to himself.
"I don't know his real name. But he goes by his codename: Darkness. And whatever you do, Yuya, if you see a man wearing a dark mask with green eyes, stay away." Sora warned the Entermate user.
"Darkness, huh?" Yuya repeated the name, the very sound of the name rolling off of his tongue. Yuto appeared next to Yuya with his arms crossed.
"We cannot avoid him. Eventually, we will have to come across this Darkness. If we don't, there is no way we can defeat Academia and save the dimensions."
"As for Serena, I'm the one who's bringing her back." Yuya clicked his tongue as he furrowed his eyebrows at Sora angrily. "Serena is from Academia like me, I don't plan on disobeying the Professor's orders to bring her back. But Yuzu…"
Sora's eyes noticeably shifted off to the side, not even gazing upon Yuya anymore.
No way in hell was Sora going to let Darkness capture Yuzu. He couldn't let that happen to her. Not to Yuzu…
"You asked at one point...if I taught Yuzu to Fusion Summon out of friendship before, right?" Yuya responded by grunting, "I denied it then, but actually...I grew up in Academia, so I don't have any friends. Everyone was so desperate to become an excellent soldier. Things like goofing around and laughing with everyone...I couldn't experience that. So Yuya and Yuzu are my first…"
"Shiunin Sora…" Yuto muttered the name of the boy under his breath as he thought back to something Serena had said.
"I've heard rumors that more people who enroll are orphans rather than people with parents or some kind of parental figure…"
"Of course, they are taught in the ways that emotions and such other things like love will just hold you back."
Of course, Sora has known nothing but Academia, Dueling, and fighting for survival for all of his life. He never got to make friends, he never got to make any bonds. He only got to be a manipulated soldier…
And that was wrong.
"That is why I want to help Yuzu no matter what! I don't want Yuzu to be sent to that prison known as Academia. So I have a suggestion, Yuto, Yuya." Sora began, Yuya leaned forward, eager to hear Sora's proposition. "I'll hide Yuzu, please bring Serena there."
Yuya's left eye turned grey as his left arm punched the wall next to the two.
"Back to Academia?!" Yuto and Yuya exclaimed out of anger.
Sora took a step back from the outrage.
"Yes, hand her over to me. In exchange, I'll hand Yuzu over do you can bring her back to the Standard Dimension...I don't know about Kurosaki's sister though…"
"You're telling me to abandon a comrade?!" Yuto took full control, the second red eye turning gray as Sora felt a cold air of anger flowing in the atmosphere, all of it radiating off of Yuto.
Sora took a good look into Yuto's eyes. They were empty. Void of any emotion other than anger...and something else.
"S-She's from Academia from the start!" Sora rebutted with a slight stutter in his speech. "I'm just bringing her back!"
Yuto once again punched the wall, but with even more force to the point where some dust fell down onto the ground from the wall.
"To that damn prison Academia, where they can just corrupt her with even more lies?!" Yuto shouted out of rage at the prospect.
Sora gasped out of shock at Yuto's reaction.
"It's the same with Yuzu and Ruri! I will not let them go into Academia's clutches! I won't let the Professor do as he likes!"
From nearby, a good device was on the ground, it was activated, picking up Yuto and Sora's conversation and playing it through the earpiece of a Security member.
"I see. So this other boy is from Academia." Roget said to himself as he put a hand on his face, sighing out of frustration. "If Dennis has already returned to Academia, it is only a matter of time before they send Yuri...and Darkness to this place. There's no time to hesitate!" Roget slammed a rook three spaces forward, and one to the right. "Secure both Yuto and the boy with him at once!"
"Don't you get it, Yuto?! If you keep dawdling like this, the Obelisk Force will be arrive! And when that happens, this city will become a battlefield!"
"Even if I save either Yuzu or Ruri, the Obelisk Force will eventually come after them! If that happens, then things will be even worse than they already are!"
"I'll bring Serena back and appeal to the Professor so that won't-!"
"You already know better than me that the Professor is not someone who you can persuade!" Yuto interrupted with a fire burning in his eyes. Black flames of anger that can't be put out with any water.
Sora paused to process that and drifted his eyes away from Yuto's face.
He was stumped. He didn't know anything to say in response to Yuto's reasoning.
"I won't abandon my comrades! I won't let a single one of them fall! Besides. There is no walking away now. Academia already fucked up everyone's lives in Heartland! DO YOU REALLY THINK I CAN LET THAT SLIDE?! ANSWER ME, SHIUNIN SORA! I'M WAITING FOR A GOOD DAMN REASON! OPEN YOUR EYES TO THE TRUTH AND KNOW THAT HANDING OVER SERENA WON'T DO SHIT TO HELP!"
Sora once again found himself looking away from Yuto, not being able to say anything to support his argument.
Suddenly, Yuto felt himself letting out a sudden yelp as his feet left the ground, immediately followed by his face smashing against the cold hard floor.
Sora jumped backwards, startled at what had happened and looked behind where Yuto was.
Yuto struggled to break out of the thing that was restraining him, when he looked down, he saw black lines with green outlines surrounding his body, keeping him from moving anything.
Yuto's eyes turned red as Yuya momentarily took control, yelling out one word to Sora…
"RUN!"
Sora did as he was told as he jumped off the nearest wall and onto the roof of a house, running away as Yuya said to do.
At the Stadium
"With that done, we can move on to the third match!" Melissa announced. In his room, Shun narrowed his eyes, ready for his opponent.
Whoever it is, I will eradicate them without hesitation, so I can make move on. There is another spy from Academia, I know it. Whoever it is, I will expose them. Shun thought to himself.
"Oh?! A match between family! The third match is, Kurosaki Shun VS Kurosaki Ruri!"
Shun froze at the announcement.
Ruri…
How dare they?!
Pit himself against his younger sister! It was unforgivable!
He couldn't face his sister. He just couldn't. Seeing her face being sent to the underground, he couldn't see that happen to his sister.
No.
"I WON'T DO IT!"
"The next match is…" Ryoga trailed off out of shock from the council room.
"Me against my brother." Ruri put her hands together and prayed that everything would be alright between the two siblings.
The door to Ruri's room opened, and standing in the doorway was her escort. She slowly walked to the door, but she was in the door, she put a hand on the doorknob and froze. She could feel that same hand trembling.
She was scared.
Scared to face her brother in battle.
She didn't want to do this.
Why did they have to face each other?! Why couldn't she face Yuzu?! Why out of all people did it have to be her own brother?!
Her ears picked up the sound of a person screaming at the top of their lungs in anger. It was a male voice, and she knew the owner of that voice all too well.
"Brother!" Without a moment of hesitation, Ruri dashed off to the room two doors to her right, she saw an escort taking a step back out of fear, the door wide open, followed by a hand gripping the door hardly and slamming it shut.
Before Ruri could make it to the room, her hand was grabbed by her escort, who, unlike most of the others, actually was much bigger than Ruri was, and stronger.
Ruri was practically dragged away, much to her dismay.
"Wait! Please, I need to talk to my brother!" Ruri pleaded with the escort to let her go.
No response.
And Ruri kept getting dragged to the garage, where her d-wheel was.
On the Stadium Grounds
Ruri slammed the breaks on her d-wheel, coming to an abrupt halt as she waited for her brother to come riding onto the Field.
"Next up, Kurosaki Shun!" Melissa cheered, gesturing towards the entrance where Ruri came from, only to find no one coming out. "Umm...Kurosaki Shun!"
Still no one came.
"Come on! What's taking him so long to get ready?!" Melissa exclaimed out of wonder.
Ruri looked back at where she came from out of worry, already knowing why Shun hasn't come yet.
He doesn't want to Duel.
He doesn't want to Duel and potentially see the face of his dear sister be sent to the underground.
I don't want that either, brother. But, in times like this...I need a match like this. Between us. I want to prove to you that I can take care of myself. So you won't need to worry about me and worry about yourself. I don't want you to risk your life for my sake. Ruri thought to herself. That was why she needed this Duel.
Even though she didn't like the circumstances.
And even though she didn't like the prospect of what happened to the loser.
She had to Duel. She needed it. To prove herself, that she was strong enough.
Ruri's wars picked up the sound of an approaching d-wheel. She looked back to see Shun coming in toward the start line, with an angry look on his face.
Before Shun reached the finish line, Ruri felt something slide across her legs and ankles. She looked down to see metal bars the color of her d-wheel, and they were restraining her!
What's the meaning of this? Ruri looked back at Shun, he was close enough for Ruri to see the same restraints holding his legs and feet in place.
Ruri knew what happened now.
Shun didn't want to leave and face her, so he was forced into his d-wheel and restrained by the metal bars. The metal bars restrained her also because since she was related to Shun, she could be having thoughts about escape.
The bars were a contingency plan. The contestants were forced to Duel, whether they like or not.
Even after they were forced into this tournament. They had another thing that prevented them from backing out.
The proof was literally right in front of Ruri's nose.
Shun parked his d-wheel, taking a long look at Ruri.
"I'm sorry, Ruri." He closed his eyes, a pained expression on his face. "I tried to back out of the match, but they forced me onto this damn machine!"
"It's ok, brother. I'm glad you're alright."
"I'm more glad about you." Shun threw back with a small smile, his dark mood lightening up slightly at the prospect of at least seeing his sister in the flesh, just for a little longer.
Because no matter what, fate played a hand of bad luck for the Xyz Duelists.
Every time they reunited, they got separated again.
It drove Shun crazy that he couldn't even move to at least give his sister a long and warm hug, but at least he knew that she was all fine and well.
"Brother. Please, don't hold back!" Ruri suddenly spoke, causing Shun to open his eyes, his jaw opening slightly to say something. "I need to prove to you that I can be strong like you, that I can protect myself! So that you don't always have to worry about me. I've had to endure torture in Academia, I think I can handle a forced Duel with my brother."
A look of anger seeped onto Shun's face. What did she say?!
"I've had to endure torture in Academia…"
"I've had to endure torture in Academia…"
"I've had to endure torture in Academia…"
No, they didn't.
Not to his young, innocent sister.
They did NOT lay a finger on her during her forced time their.
THEY DID NOT!
Unfortunately for Shun, constantly lying to himself and thinking the complete opposite in an attempt of quelling his anger didn't help.
They did lay a finger on her.
And now there was hell to pay.
Shun took long deep breaths in attempt to compose himself in front of his sister, he took a glance at Ruri's face, and saw fire burning inside. Fire that said, "I want to prove myself". And that fire spread all over Ruri's face.
"Alright. I understand." Shun relented with a growl.
Had it been someone else who wasn't one of his friends from Xyz, he wouldn't have exchanged any words with them.
But Ruri was his sister.
He couldn't NOT talk to her even if he wanted to.
Siblings had to look out for each other.
This especially goes for the older sibling.
After all, that's what siblings are for, aren't they?
Before he knew it, Shun's ears heard the ticking of a clock, followed by the declaration of acceleration as his d-wheel took off along with Ruri.
His body had moved on its own for Shun while he was distracted.
He took one last look at Ruri, she was focusing her eyes on the road, clearly determined to prove her worth to Shun.
It was so obvious now, that Shun berated himself for not seeing any earlier like right after the Fusion Dimension attacked Heartland.
To fight in a war zone like others when she believed in peace and prosperity, to be kidnapped and put through days of torture, without anyone for comfort.
To escape and continuously see her loved ones and get separated from them again and again.
Ruri had endured all of this. And Shun had never noticed the truth.
The truth...
It was at this moment that Shun found out the truth…
"DUEL!"
His sister was growing up...
Ok, no Duel for this chapter guys, sorry.
I thought that we should take a 1 chapter Segway between the previous Duel and the one next chapter. After all, there has been 14 Duels in the past 14 chapters. Time for a break. Because this next Duel is going to be quite the doozy to write.
So, judging from the fact that Ruri and Shun are Dueling, it's should be obvious what the last matchup of this round is.
Yugo against Yuzu.
The winners of both rounds will face either Yuto or Sergey. For the winners, you guys will have to wait 2 chapters.
Skadi: Thanks for pointing out that little mistake I forgot to add with Ruri and dark Requiem.
Necrodarkman: Yu-Gi-Oh always sets up a very intriguing female characters, but then they all become either useless, or damsel in distresses or cheerleaders. VRAINS has been doing ok with Aoi so far, hopefuly they don't mess it up.
Bridgey: After I read this review, I stopped writing for an entire day wondering if I should change the matchups to Yuzu VS Ruri and Yugo VS Shun. But having Yuzu face two of her counterparts in a row isn't really fair to her in my opinion.
Ethan Kironus: Bloomlight Dragon's effect is written in the card catalog of Chapter 56.
Anyways, that's all for now guys, hope you enjoyed this short little segway/refresher chapter.
Take care, goodbye!
