Put. Put. Put. Put. Put. Put.
A white d-wheel puttered it's way to the finish line. To the audience, it symbolized how the loser was weaker than the winner. As the winner makes it first, the loser makes it second, showing a clear difference in speed.
A defeated Yugo sat on the white d-wheel in question. Despite losing however, he wore a small smile on his face. Sure, he was upset about losing. His dream was ripped away right when he was so close. He was certainly upset. He was mad even.
Although…
"Yugo."
The banana-haired boy turned to the victor of the match. His Xyz counterpart Yuto. Slipping off his helmet, he flashed him a smile.
"Yeah?"
Yuto looked down at the ground, his eyes filled with remorse. "I'm sorry. I know winning this tournament was your dream, and I just took away your chance of fulfilling it."
"Hmph!" Yugo grunted getting off his d-wheel, walking over to Yuto and placing a hand on his shoulder. "Nah, it's alright. That's the thing with dreams. Sometimes they don't always come true. However, that doesn't mean I've lost hope. There's still next year. I can expect you to participate next year after we defeat Academia, right?"
"We?" Yuto's eyes grew, turning his head to Yugo with a half-surprised and half-overjoyed look. "Does that mean you're joining the Lancers?"
"Uhh, duh! Didn't I already say I was joining? Academia attacked my home and took what was most important to me." Yugo said with a sad look. "I can't let them go without beating the shit out of them first! Besides..." He closed his eyes as the girl of his dreams appeared in his mind. "I still have a promise to keep!"
"We all do." Yuto stated, gaining the attention of his counterpart. "Promises can be burdens. However, they are burdens that make us strong! It's because we have an obligation to do something for someone else...or even ourselves. That obligation...that need to succeed...that is what makes us stronger."
Yugo nodded. He understood completely. In fact, in some ways...he felt the exact same way. He grinned, "I guess there are some more things that we have in common besides our dashing good looks!"
Yuto chuckled at the joke. He couldn't hold it in. It just came out. He laughed for a good couple of seconds. It wasn't even that funny, and yet he was still laughing.
"Yuto."
"Yes?"
Yugo reached into his Extra Deck, pulling out a single Card. "Take this. You need to show that Jack Atlas just how strong the Lancers are!"
Yuto's jaw dropped. With a startled stammer, he spoke, "B-But Yugo, that's your most treasured Card!"
Yugo snorted, "Like Hell you're keeping this! After you beat Jack, I want you to bring it back to me immediately! And I swear, if you misuse this guy in anyway, I'll make sure you regret it! Now, this is your last chance. Take it or don't take it."
The startled look on Yuto's face soon disappeared as he looked at Yugo's face. It was filled with conviction. Yugo, you...
Yuto closed his eyes. He reached out his hand and took the Card, holding it with a tight grip. He gave his Synchro counterpart the most honest expression that he could muster. "I promise you that I'll beat Jack! To unite the people, for the sake of the City!"
Yugo raised his head, looking at Yuto with shock. It was as if...he heard himself as a child saying those words. Words that he would frequently boast about to Rin, saying how he would change the City. He didn't believe it to be possible, but there was a real chance here. And that chance was standing right in front of him.
The chance to change...
The chance to carry out a vow unfulfilled…
"Yugo...are you crying?"
Said boy blinked, suddenly feeling the familiar sting of moistened eyes. He hadn't even he realized he was crying. He quickly wiped his face to dry the tears. As he did so, there was one thought that ran through his head.
Rin...are you watching? It's finally here. The promise I made to you can finally be fulfilled...through this man…Yugo blinked again, staring at the Phantom Knights user and the potential King.
Yes, I think…
"I'll place my promise into your hands...Yuto."
Meanwhile-Security Bureau
"I attack you directly with Odd Eyes Pendulum Dragon! Spiral Strike Burst!"
Yuya's dragon let out a loud shriek, a ball of fire eliciting from his mouth, connecting with the body of a Security member. The man let out a cry of pain was he was thrown backwards, losing consciousness before he even hit the ground.
Yuya exhaled as his ace Monster dematerialized due to the ending of the Duel. This was the third time he was Dueling this wave of Security. The other two times they were defeated, they just got back up and reactivated their Duel Disks.
"I can't believe Roget's control on them is this strong…" Yuya said out loud to the rest of the group as they too defeated their opponents, with Ryoga having to knock them out with his own bare hands.
"Roget has brainwashed them all well." Sora said with a disgusted expression on his face. Leave it to a member of Academia to be so ruthless. "I have pity for these guys. All that loyalty towards Roget and now they're just being used as mindless tools."
"How disgusting…" O'Brien voiced his disapproval, agreeing with Sora wholeheartedly. "This needs to be stopped. Permanently."
Tsukikage looked down a corridor. "We must be getting close. I assume that what we need to stop the brainwashing is in Roget's office. Make haste, before even more reinforcements arrive!" And with that, he quickly took off, followed by the other four.
"Wait!" Yuya called out.
Everyone stopped and turned to the boy.
"What is it? We don't have much time!" Ryoga exclaimed with an annoyed face.
"Some of us should be looking for Roget. I highly doubt he would just stay in his office, it's too predictable!" The Entermate user answered, turning around to run back to where they came from in search of Roget.
"Hold on, Yuya!" Ryoga shouted, but to no avail, as Yuto's counterpart didn't even bat an ear. Ryoga cursed under his breath with an aggravated tone. "That idiot!"
"Sakaki Yuya makes a good point." Tsukikage noted, walking in the direction of where Yuya was running. "You three keep searching for Roget's office. Sakaki Yuya and I will search for Roget together!"
The statement was absolute, and Tsukikage wasn't in the mood for complaints. The masked ninja took off after Yuya, darting back down the hallway with great speed.
"Damn it!" Ryoga cursed, furiously slamming his fist into the wall, hissing from the screaming pain that rushed through his knuckles.
"Calm down, Ryoga." O'Brien said calmly, placing a hand on his comrade's shoulder. "They know what they're doing. They'll be fine." His stomach lurched. While O'Brien knew that Yuya and Tsukikage would be fine, he couldn't help but feel slightly infuriated like Ryoga that they just broke off the group like that. "Right now, we've got our own business to finish."
Ryoga's fist removed itself from the wall. He turned around, his back facing the direction in which Tsukikage had ran after Yuya.
"Fine…"
The now group of three continued down the corridor in search of Roget's office. They didn't actually know what it looked like, as this was the first time they were ever in the building. However, they were willing to search every single room in the building just to stop the brainwashing.
Eventually, they came across an open door that led to a room. It was pitch-black inside. Hoping that it would be Roget's office, the trio walked inside, keeping their guard in the event of an ambush.
Unfortunately, keeping their guard up did nothing to prevent what happened next. Soon, the dark room shined with a red light. Suddenly, the door behind them closed shut. Ryoga immediately ran to the door, trying to pry it open, only for his attempts to fail horribly.
"Damn it!" Ryoga cursed one again as he banged the locked door with his fist.
"Hehehehehe…" The laugh of a grown man could be heard.
The group of three grimaced, turning to see the blond-haired man with two big figures next to him., Roget has sprung a trap and they fell for it…
"Hello, foolish children." Roget said. "Since you have decided to invade my grand kingdom, I shall treat you the same way I always treat trespassers. Destruction."
Ryoga widened his eyes as he finally acknowledged the presence of the two machines with Roget. "Sergey?"
"Close, but not quite." O'Brien said with narrowed eyes. "Just take a good look at them, the Sergey that participated in the Friendship is much bigger than the two of them."
"Excellent observation." Roget applauded with a slow clap. "You would be correct. These two machines are mere prototypes of the original Sergey of whom you know so well."
"Prototype or not, we're still going to crush them and you!" Ryoga proclaimed, holding out his Duel Disk.
"No!" A higher-pitched voice exclaimed next to him.
Ryoga turned to the owner, Sora, giving him an appalled look. "What the hell do you mean 'no'?! He's the enemy and must be defeated. He's formally Academia!"
"I know. That's why you're not taking him on." Sora remarked with a fixed tone, his mind already made up. "I will."
"You really think we'll trust you to-"
"That's exactly why I want to do this. Alone." Sora tried to reason with his former enemy. "This is my chance to fully make my mark as a permanent Lancer. By defeating a former member of Academia, I can start my journey of cutting ties with Academia. I would have preferred an actual member, but this will do fine."
"Shiunin Sora." O'Brien muttered the name cyan-haired boy. The side glance he received told him that he was listening. "We do not know anything about Roget or how strong he is. We must act with caution and take him on together."
Sora moved his gaze to stare at Roget. "I've already made my decision. You can change what I want to do now."
This was his chance. His chance to start atoning for his sins as an Academia soldier. Beating fodder Obelisk Force members was not going to cut it. To prove himself, he'd have to get his hands dirty and engage in battle with the stronger members of Academia.
Roget would be the first. Then another. And another.
Once Sora defeats at least three people who were at one point aligned with Academia and still have despicable intentions, then and only then will he be cleansed of his sins.
Throwing his arm out, his Academia-issued Duel Disk activated. With a determined glare, he challenged Roget. "Just you and me! One on one, Roget!"
Roget clicked his tongue out of annoyance. However, this annoyance soon grew into interest when he saw the Duel Disk strapped onto Sora's wrist.
"Academia, huh? So you've cut ties with them too. How interesting...very well. If it is a Duel you want, then it is a Duel you get!" He too activated his Duel Disk, telling his Sergey prototypes to handle Ryoga and O'Brien.
Damn! How did we get into a situation like this?! O'Brien wondered internally as he moved to the left side of the room, activating his Duel to face his Sergey prototype.
Meanwhile, Ryoga did the same with his opposing prototype.
"Once this is all over, I'm going to strangle you, Shiunin Sora." And with that, Ryoga activated his own Duel Disk as well, facing down his opponent with a cold stare. "Are you prepared to die?"
The machine gave no response. It merely activated its Duel Disk instead.
"DUEL!"
Meanwhile
"Black Rose Bloomlight Dragon, attack directly!" Izayoi Aki declared, her large dragon whipping her large tail at the remaining Security member. The man released an ear-screeching scream as he was blown to the side, crashing into the wall with a loud crack, resulting in a few broken ribs and unconsciousness.
To say Aki was pissed off was an understatement. She was absolutely livid. There was no way she was forgetting about her parents. Roget had made them suffer and used them for ransom so Aki would join his side.
Her business at the moment was freeing her parents, getting them to safety, funding Roget and giving him a piece of her mind. Whatever he was planning, the man needed to be stopped.
With that in her mind, Aki ran through the building, defeating and going through anyone that stood in her way. Eventually, she ran into two other people. A ninja and a boy with tomato-colored hair. These people weren't Security, and she actually mistook one of the two for someone else.
"Yuto!"
The tomato-haired boy blinked. "Oh no! I'm not Yuto. My name is Sakaki Yuya. This here is Tsukikage. Actually…" Yuya took a closer look at Aki, his eyes brightening when he realized who it was. "I remember you. You're Izayoi Aki, you faced Yuto in the Friendship Cup...wait a minute…" His eyes widened when he remember something. Taking a step back, he held his right out, ready to activate his Duel Disk. "You're with Roget!"
"What? No!" Aki shouted almost immediately, much to the boy's surprise. "At that time, yes, I was working with Roget…but not by consent. He has my parents captive. He threatened to kill them if I didn't obey his orders…"
Yuya put his arm down, an angry expression on his face now. "That bastard...now he's threatening people's families? And I thought it couldn't get worse than this…"
"We are currently hunting for Roget." Tsukikage spoke up, making his presence known. "He must be stopped. I have a feeling something bad will happen if he manages to go through with whatever he is planning."
"He's after Yuzu, Serena, and Ruri!" Yuya added with a grim look. He felt bad for the girls because it seemed like someone was always after them for some reason they didn't know of.
"Ruri?" Aki repeated with shock and concern. She walked in front of Yuya and placed her hands on his shoulders. "Is she in danger?"
"No, currently she is alright. However, if we don't do anything, Roget could make an attempt to capture her!" Yuya replied, uncomfortably shifting under Aki's surprisingly tight grip on his shoulders.
Aki sighed. "Then that is another reason why I must take Roget down. I will not let Ruri be captured by someone as slimy as him!" Overtime, in their time together before getting captured by Security, Aki and Ruri bonded very well. Aki found herself becoming very attached to the girl. Despite not knowing her for a long time, she felt the urge to protect her from anything.
Tsukikage cleared his throat, causing Yuya and Aki to pay heed. "It is good that we all wish for Roget's defeat. However, if we don't hurry, he'll be long gone."
Yuya gave Tsukikage an apologetic look. "Sorry, we got off track. Tsukikage's right, we need to hurry!"
And so, the newly assembled group of three continued to search for Roget (and in Aki's her parents). However, they had very little luck, and they ran into Security a lot, slowly but surely tiring them out. Eventually, they turned into a corridor. There, they saw Roget, standing with a wide smirk on his face.
"You bastard! Get over here!" Aki yelled as she, Tsukikage and Yuya ran towards him. Using his superior speed and agility, Tsukikage darted past Aki, pulling out his sword with his eyes set on Roget.
Suddenly, he seemingly disappeared, only to appear moments later right behind Roget, who still wore a smirk on his face. Tsukikage attempted get the blond man into a strangle hold, but when he wrapped his arms around Roget's neck, they just went right through him, with the projection of Roget disappearing after a few moments.
"A hologram?" Tsukikage mumbled under his breath as Yuya and Aki finally caught up with flabbergasted features on their faces. "It was all just one big trap, wasn't it?"
"Correct." A male voice called out.
Aki's heart skipped a beat, her eyes growing with shock and fear. She didn't want to turn to the left, but she managed to muster the courage to do so. She laid her eyes on two adults standing in the corridor, and while Yuya and Tsukikage had never seen them in their lives, Aki knew that all too well.
A woman with auburn-colored hair just like her own...
A man with a similar facial structure to her own...
"Mother! Father! Oh I was so worried about you!" Aki exclaimed with a smile on her face.
"No. Something's wrong…" Tsukikage stated.
Aki was about to say something in response, but she then acknowledged the Duel Disks on her parents' right arm, along with the lack of life that their eyes held.
She immediately connected the dots.
"Roget...that snake! He's brainwashed my parents!"
"How horrible…" Yuya whispered under his breath. He composed himself, letting Roget's ruthlessness leave his mind for the moment. "Aki-san, leave Roget to me! I'll stop him at all costs."
Aki nodded to her new comrade. "I'll trust you to do that. The state of my parents is my business and my burden to bear. I'll take you two on if that's what it takes to help bring you back." She punched her right arm forward, activating her Disk.
"I shall assist you." Tsukikage said, taking a step forward, also activating his Duel Disk. "Sakaki Yuya, you go on and keep searching for Roget!"
Aki turned to the ninja. With a sigh, she said, "Fine. It seems like I won't be able to say anything to change your mind. Sakaki Yuya, you must go while you still have the chance."
Without any argument, Yuya nodded. "I promise you I will find Roget. I swear it!" The Entermate user turned around and ran back to where they came from, hoping to find an unexplored area of the building.
"Alright Tsukikage-san," Aki said once Yuya was in the clear. "It looks like it's just you and me now. I'll be counting on you!"
As Aki's parents activated their Duel Disk, Tsukikage said, "Failure is not an option. I will do my best to buy time for Sakaki Yuya."
"DUEL!"
With Yuya
After a few more minutes of searching alone. Yuya came across a large circular room with what seems to be two entrances. The one he came in from and another one on the other side of the room. The room was quite dull as opposed to the rest of the building, so perhaps it wasn't finished yet.
The room was like a circular arena with stands. There it definitely seemed like 8n the middle of construction as there were some windows on the right side while the left side was completely empty.
Where are you...Roget?
"Oh? What do we have here?"
Yuya froze the moment he heard the voice. The voice sounded very similar to his own, but it was more chilling. It seemed like there was a hint of evil and desire for mischief behind it. He looked to the other entrance of to the circular arena only to see a boy clad in purple clothes with purple hair walking into the room with a grin on his face.
His face…
The same as me! Yuya thought to himself. But if he had the same face as him,then that meant…
"You're my counterpart…" The purple-haired boy spoke the exact thing Yuya was thinking of. "Nice to meet you." He greeted politely. Almost too politely. "My name is Yuri. What's yours?"
"Sakak Yuya." Was the response. "You...you're with Academia, aren't you?"
"You are correct, fellow lookalike. I assume from that question that you are against Academia, huh?" The look on Yuya's face in response was the only thing Yuri needed to confirm his suspicions. "I thought so. Well then, if you're not with me, then you're my enemy. And since you are my enemy, you must be dealt with."
As if they were reading each other's minds, the two boys held up their arms, ready to initiate a Duel without another word.
Meanwhile, in the stands above them. A lurking Roget grinned, ready to strike at any moment…
In the Commons Area
He had lost again…
He had failed...again.
Now here he was, a piece of junk lying down in the alleyway of the Commons.
"Roget-sama…"
No, he couldn't quit. Not for his master. He needed his help at this dire moment, and he wasn't there.
He couldn't die. Not yet.
"RAAAAH!" A damaged mechanical voice screamed into the air, mustering whatever strength he had left to stand up again.
The defeated, broken, and battered Sergey Volkov stood to serve one more...
Whoosh, only 13 days. Nowhere near as bad.
So as usual, I have an interlude chapter again to set up some Duels. I've set up five Duels. Next chapter, I'm hoping to pump out three of the five. They are…
Sora vs Roget…
O'Brien vs Sergey prototype...
Ryoga vs Sergey prototype…
I was originally planning to pump out these three Duels this chapter, but I'm making a Deck for Roget from complete scratch in order to fit his character and his addiction to chess (hint hint).
Now you might be wondering, how is Roget Dueling Sora and watching Yuya and Yuri at the same time? Simple, technology. I don't know if I will mention in this in the next couple of chapters, but Roget basically made a temporary clone for himself similar to the anime, except it won't keep respawning and he doesn't need to stay in the room and hook himself up to something.
Yuto vs Jack is happening while all this is happening, I will go back to that Duel some of the Duels here are done. I think I will save Yuya, Yuri, and Roget after the Yuto and Jack Duel though.
And yeah, the Synchro arc will finally be over soon. This and I think the final arc will be the longest in the fanfic definitely.
Neonecrodarkman: I think Yugo made a comment like that in the anime about a Goddess of Luck or something like that. So I changed luck to fate and there you go.
That's all for now, hope everyone enjoyed this short setup chapter.
Take care, goodbye!
i wish you all a happy new year!
