Chapter 10: The Power of Darkness (Part 1)
Yuya helped Maguro up and they, along with Skip, left the duel field to give everyone else the good news. Once the news was brought to them, they were all happy.
Amitie: "Yay! Everything's all good again!"
Zuzu: "Uh-huh. Yuya, I'm glad that you and Maguro were able to overcome your problems."
Yuya: "Me too, Zuzu."
Draco: "I'm just happy that we got a great duel in the end."
Sora: "Yeah, I couldn't have said it better myself. What about you, Lidelle? What do you think of all this?"
When Sora asked Lidelle that question, the latter felt like she was being put on the spot. However, she still decided to answer the question.
Lidelle: "O-oh, it was very good to see, Sora! Although… Parts of that duel were a little too exciting for someone like me to watch."
Sora: "Don't worry, I understand. It's a bit of a learning experience for you. After all, you and Amitie haven't been part of an action duel yet… right?"
Lidelle: "Um… *giggles awkwardly* Yes, I suppose we haven't, Sora. But, I've been taking in strategies that were being presented in the duels for the past few days. I'm not sure about Amitie, though…"
Amitie: "I-I, um… … Okay, I still don't really get a lot of things in Duel Monsters… But, I wanna learn more stuff from it. I just don't know where to start…"
Amitie frowned for a bit before shaking it off and regaining her smile.
Amitie: "I'm sure the way to start will come to me at some point, though."
As Amitie said that, Skip looked at the time.
Skip: "Holy cow! It's already getting late? Well, we should all leave and come back tomorrow."
Yuya: "In that case… Maguro, Sora. Let's get going."
Maguro: "Right behind you, man."
Sora: "Same here."
And so, the three boys said their goodbyes to Skip and the girls, leaving You Show to head back to Yuya's place. Once they returned and told Yoko what happened while eating dinner, Yoko smiled.
Yoko: "Yuya, I'm glad that you and Maguro were able to clear out your doubts with that duel."
Yuya: "I'm glad too, Mom. Although…"
Yuya then remembered the couple of opportunities Maguro had to win the duel for himself, but didn't go for them.
Yuya: "... Maguro."
Maguro: "Hm? What is it, Yuya?"
Yuya: "While we were dueling, I noticed that you had a couple of clear opportunities to win the duel, but you didn't go for them."
When Yuya brought that up, Sora's eyes widened slightly.
Sora: "Oh yeah! I noticed a couple of those opportunities as well… Maguro, what's up with that?"
Suddenly, Maguro felt somewhat embarrassed by what he was hearing.
Maguro: "O-oh yeah, that… Uh… Yuya, I guess deep down inside… I didn't really have it in me to win the duel in its earlier stages. I just didn't wanna beat my new best friend, no matter how much I was letting my competitive spirit get to me. I dunno, I can't explain it. So because of that, you ended up being the winner of our duel. In retrospect, I'm grateful it ended up that way; it cleared our doubts."
Hearing that response, Yuya smiled…
Yuya: "And now everything is hunky-dory for us."
Maguro: "Yeah."
With that, the boys and Yoko continued to eat dinner, happily chatting away. A couple of hours later though, when Amitie and the other girls were all sleeping together, Amitie was the only one who was still awake; she couldn't fall asleep.
Amitie: (Oh, who was I kidding? It's hopeless for me… Even if I do learn something from the duels I watch, I don't think I'll be just as good as the others. Maguro and Draco learned things so quickly, and Lidelle takes info in like a notebook. Also, I think I would be bad in action duels. I can't run very well, I get tired so fast… and I just can't make those cool moves. And well… I'm afraid that I'll mess it all up for myself. … What am I supposed to do? What CAN I do? Normally, I can count on Arle and Ringo to help me whenever I don't know what to do. But, ever since we were all sent away from Primp Town and separated from each other… I've been in this weird spot. Things could've been a lot worse, but… *sigh* I'm gonna need to do a lot if I ever want to see my best friends again. All I have right now is Lidelle, and my new friends, Yuya and Zuzu… … Well, I guess there's Sora, too…)
When Amitie said Sora's name in her mind, she stopped in thought for several seconds until…
Amitie: (Sora… Sora… … …! That's it! He knows how to Fusion Summon! And he's great at it, too! I'll just ask him to teach me how to Fusion Summon!)
Amitie smiled from her own decision and felt better about herself. This allowed her to relax and fall asleep. The next day came and a couple of hours after Yuya and Zuzu went to prep school, they went to the courtyard to eat lunch. Once they found a bench to sit on, they started to dig into their food. Yuya chowed down, which made Zuzu jump a little.
Zuzu: "Geez, you don't have to eat your lunch that fast, you know? Take your time with it."
After Zuzu said that, Yuya stopped and swallowed the last bit of the food he had in his chopsticks at the time.
Yuya: "You're right, Zuzu…"
And so, Yuya started to take things much slower with his lunch. As this happened, Sylvio suddenly came up to him and Zuzu.
Sylvio: "Ah, I see you two are eating your lunch outside as opposed to eating it in the school."
Hearing Sylvio's voice, Zuzu was in no mood to be around him.
Zuzu: "What do you want, Sylvio?"
Sylvio: "*sigh* Look, I get your current animosity towards me, Zuzu, but… I wanted to talk to you about something important. And this goes for Yuya, too; he needs to be a part of our conversation."
When Sylvio told Zuzu that in a serious tone of voice, the latter's sour attitude lightened.
Zuzu: "Important?"
Yuya: "What could be important enough for you to come to us like this?"
Sylvio: "... I heard that a duelist got attacked more recently."
After Sylvio revealed that information, Yuya and Zuzu gasped.
Yuya: "Attacked?!"
Zuzu: "Are you pulling our legs?"
Sylvio: "I'm afraid I'm not, Zuzu. Yesterday afternoon, that Julia girl came to me, and well… It seems she knows something about it."
Zuzu: "...?! Did she happen to know who was attacked?"
Sylvio: "Yeah. Apparently, the victim of the assault was a professor from the Leo Institute."
Yuya: "A teacher?"
Sylvio: "Not just a teacher, Yuya. This professor I speak of teaches Leo students, like Julia, through the institute's Advance Fusion course: Professor Marco."
Yuya: "The Advance Fusion course?! … Is he okay?"
Sylvio: "That, I don't know. Hell, Julia herself didn't know whether or not Professor Marco was all right. Aside from that, it seems no one has heard from the professor since."
Yuya and Zuzu gasped from this, remembering that a couple days ago, Declan suddenly chose to put his duel with Yuya on hold.
Yuya: "... That must be why Declan suddenly took off a couple of days ago. He must have heard about Professor Marco getting attacked."
Zuzu: "Yeah. … Sylvio, does anyone know who attacked the professor?"
Sylvio: "Hmm… Well, it's not anything concrete, but… There's this rumor going around. A couple of guys wearing dark cloaks were seen more recently around various points in the city. Whether or not they're the ones responsible for the assault, no one knows. In any case, whoever attacked Professor Marco had to have been a good enough duelist to get the best of him. Now, personally… I'm not interested in looking for a phantom that attacked a teacher I didn't learn from. Though, I could see you and your friends performing a search around the city for Professor Marco's attacker. I don't know where you would start if you were to do that, but… … Anyway, Yuya."
Yuya: "Hm? What is it, Sylvio?"
Sylvio: "I heard that the Leo Corporation is starting to look into how to correctly develop Pendulum cards. Once they release fully functioning Pendulum cards to the public, you'll be in quite the pickle with your dueltainment shtick no longer being unique to you. After all, you already struggled to deal with the fact that Declan Akaba now has Pendulum cards to call his own."
When Sylvio said that, Yuya made a serious face.
Yuya: "So? I've already recovered from that."
Sylvio: "Wait, what?"
Yuya: "You heard what I said. … Yesterday, I realized something… I shouldn't deny others the opportunity to have fun with their own Pendulum cards."
Sylvio: "Is that so? Then I guess you won't mind when you duel those same people in the Junior Arc League Championship that's coming up in a couple of weeks. Though, that's assuming you can."
Yuya: "Huh? What do you mean?"
Sylvio: "... Are you serious? Did you not look at your own win rate? I ask this because if your win rate is less than 60 percent, then you're not qualified to enter."
As Sylvio told Yuya that, the latter's eyes bulged up.
Yuya: "Oh no! How am I supposed to become a pro dueltainer if I can't qualify in time?!"
Sylvio: "Heh. I'm sure you'll pull it off somehow. As for me, I have an 83 percent win rate, so I'm already qualified to enter."
Sylvio then walked away with a smirk on his face, leaving Yuya and Zuzu to their own devices. Once prep school ended for the day, Yuya walked out with an expression that showed he was bummed out. Zuzu followed behind and she felt bad for Yuya. When the two got to the entrance gate, they saw that Amitie and the others were waiting for them. Though, Sora was nowhere to be seen within the group.
Amitie: "Ah, there you are!"
Maguro: "How was-"
Maguro quickly noticed the look on Yuya's face and decided to drop his smile.
Maguro: "What's wrong, Yuya?"
After Maguro asked this question, the others noticed Yuya's expression and dropped their smiles. From there, Zuzu spoke up.
Zuzu: "Let me explain while we all walk to You Show…"
As the group began to make their way to You Show, Zuzu explained the whole Junior Arc League Championship and mentioned Yuya's problem to the others.
Maguro: "You can't enter the Junior Arc League Championship, Yuya?"
Yuya: "*sigh* Nope, not this year…"
Amitie: "But why?"
Yuya: "Because, in order to be qualified to enter, your yearly record has to show a minimum of 50 Junior Arc League-sanctioned duels with at least a 60 percent win rate."
Lidelle: "So what does your yearly record show, Yuya?"
Yuya: "46 duels, 26 wins."
Draco: "So uh… What does that average out to?"
Maguro: "Well… If we were to divide 26 by 46, that's… … 56.5? If I calculated that right, then that's not quite good enough to qualify. Though, I think dueling four more times and winning those duels should be enough to get you up to a 60 percent win rate. … Did you try to duel any of the students at prep school today, Yuya?"
Yuya: "I tried… but no one wanted to have a duel with me, all because I'm still the one duelist who's known to use Pendulum cards. *sigh* This is demoralizing… I wanted to become a pro dueltainer, but I can't do that if I'm unable to enter this year's Junior Arc Championship. Like come on, I need four more-"
Yuya suddenly realized who he could duel to get those wins. He grinned as a result, giving Amitie and the others quite the look. They all saw this and shuddered, except Draco.
Maguro: "Uh, I don't think you're getting another duel out of me, man. I'm thinking about entering the Junior Arc League Championship, and I don't want you to mess up the small win rate that I have."
Amitie: "Y-yeah… I don't really wanna duel against you, Yuya…"
Lidelle: "M-me neither… Sorry, Yuya…"
Draco: "Yeah sorry, you'd better look for someone else to duel, pal."
Yuya then looked dejected before giving Zuzu a look.
Zuzu: "... Yuya, if you're thinking about dueling against me, then think again. Right now, I have exactly a 60 percent win rate, and I don't wanna ruin that."
Yuya: "Ah-! *sigh* Who am I supposed to duel against, then?"
Zuzu: "Have you thought about talking to Gong about it?"
Yuya: "...! Gong… That's it! Thanks, Zuzu! I'll go find Gong when I have the time."
Zuzu: "Good. Now, as for me… I got some stuff to do. So I'll be going now."
When the others heard Zuzu say that, they were surprised.
Amitie: "Huh?"
Yuya: "Go where?"
Zuzu: "Don't worry about knowing where I'm going."
Maguro: "But what about class, Zuzu?"
Zuzu: "Tell my dad I can't make it today."
And so, Zuzu began to run off, confusing everyone else.
Draco: "Uh, do any of ya know what that was about?"
Lidelle: "N-no…?"
Maguro: "Nope."
Yuya: "Nuh-uh."
Amitie: "Not a clue."
The group looked at each other again before Yuya realized something and spoke up.
Yuya: "Oh yeah, where's Sora, Maguro?"
Maguro: "Oh, uh… He told me that he wanted to do some stuff today before coming to You Show today. He left my sight about an hour ago."
Yuya: "Did he say what he wanted to do?"
Maguro: "Nope. Though, I wouldn't worry about it. Let's just go to You Show."
With that, the group began to make their way to You Show Duel School. Meanwhile… Sora found himself near the Leo Corp Building, reminding him of Declan.
Sora: (How curious that Declan turned out to be the president of Leo Corp. Perhaps I should do a little investigating here… But, the security looks pretty tight right now. I don't think I'll be able to just walk right in and request to see the president of the company. After all, to the company: I'm just some kid who isn't worth the president's time. Man, no one lets me have any fun… Oh well. I guess I'll try to look into that mystery duelist Zuzu told us about. The one that had a black Xyz dragon… Who could this mystery duelist be? And where would they be in this-)
Before Sora could dwell in his thoughts further, he heard Zuzu's voice.
Zuzu: "I knew it!"
Sora: "Huh?"
Sora looked behind to see Zuzu walking up to him.
Zuzu: "I thought I would find you here, Sora. I noticed that you weren't with the others when Yuya and I finished our day at prep school. So, I excused myself to others, saying that I had some stuff to do, in order to look for you. And, seeing as how I've just found you hanging around here… You must be trying to cozy up to Declan."
When Zuzu said that, Sora freaked out somewhat.
Sora: "N-no way! You've got the wrong idea here, Zuzu!"
Zuzu: "You're a slimy little weasel, aren't you? You just try to latch on to whoever you think will make you duel better."
Hearing that, Sora felt awkward for a second before faking a chuckle and smiled at Zuzu.
Sora: "But Declan seems really cool! He used Fusion, Synchro, Xyz and even Pendulum. Though, that one last one, he had a bit of a mishap with. But aside from that, think of how much he could teach me!"
Zuzu: "Okay, but… I thought you wanted to learn at our school."
After Zuzu brought that up, Sora sighed.
Sora: "I wasn't sure if you guys liked me being with you all more recently. I mean, I didn't duel for You Show in that little event a couple of days ago."
Zuzu: "What?! No way, we like you being there with us! Anyway, um…"
Zuzu stopped talking as she shuffled her feet in place. Her shoes made a small sound while she did this. And then…
Zuzu: "I kind of need your help with something… Something important."
Sora: "Huh? My help?"
Zuzu: "Yeah. Come with me, Sora."
From there, Zuzu grabbed Sora's hand and the two ran off, moving away from the Leo Corp building. As they did, the mystery duelist who almost lost to Sylvio was watching them from the shadows of an alleyway.
?: "Hmm… Guys, I think we have found one of our targets."
Just like that, two other young men came right up to him, seeing what he was seeing. These two had previously saved the mystery duelist from losing his duel against Sylvio. One of them was the guy that Arle's group hid from after they were sent to Heartland City, thanks to that wormhole. As for the other young man: The sword he had while the mystery duelist was taking on Sylvio… its blade was clear, as if it was made of glass.
And as for this young man's appearance, he had short white hair, wore a solid blue headband, a dark blue cloak with brown trimmings, dark blue pants, dark blue fingerless gloves, and even had footwear that looked like they came directly from a suit of armor. Safe to say, this was quite the trio of young men. The sword-wielder spoke up after seeing what the mystery duelist saw and who the latter was pointing at.
?: "That boy there? Are you sure?"
?: "Yes, I'm certain. Follow me, before we lose him."
And so, the three young men began to secretly pursue Zuzu and Sora by moving through a lot of dark alleyways. As for Zuzu and Sora, they had know idea that they were being followed. The two made their way to one of the warehouses at the port and went inside. Zuzu closed the warehouse doors behind her before she faced Sora again.
Sora: "So, why'd you bring me here?"
Zuzu: "..."
Zuzu didn't say anything at first, but then she bowed and…
Zuzu: "Sora, I need you to teach me how to Fusion Summon!"
Sora: "What? Here? Right now?"
Zuzu: "Yeah."
Sora: "Uh, I dunno…"
Zuzu: "Come on, I really need help! I need to be a better duelist, 'cause…"
Zuzu suddenly stopped and looked down to the floor beneath her. At that point, Sora understood what was going on.
Sora: "Oh, I get it… You lost to Julia a couple of days ago, and that loss has affected you ever since."
Zuzu: "... Yeah… I felt like I got crushed by Julia, as though I wasn't even in the same league as her. Like sure, the whole event was ultimately cut short when Yuya was dueling against Declan, but still… I'm worried that the Leo students will come back. If and when they do, I wanna be able to stand up with Yuya and the others to help defend You Show. That's where you come in, Sora…"
Sora: "... You called me a slimy little weasel, remember?"
Zuzu: "Right. It came out wrong. I'm sorry."
Sora: "Hmm… … I just don't know."
Zuzu: "Please?"
Hearing Zuzu plead to him like that, Sora felt conflicted.
Sora: "*sigh* It's not that I can't teach you, Zuzu… I'm not sure if I should."
Zuzu: "Huh? What do you mean by that?"
Sora: "Because if I teach you stuff, your dueling skills will improve."
Zuzu: "Well, yeah, of course. That's kinda the whole point. You teach me, and I get better."
Sora: "..."
Zuzu: "Come on, Sora!"
At this point, Sora couldn't relent any longer, he had to come to a decision.
Sora: "... Fine. Here, take this."
Sora handed a card to Zuzu; a very specific card.
Sora: "This card is Polymerization, the end-all-be-all of Fusion. It's pretty much the foundation. It's used to combine monsters together. Got it?"
Zuzu: "... Got it. So, the required monsters can either be on field or in my hand, right?"
Sora: "That's right. The important thing to remember is that they're all in one or the other. There are exceptions, of course."
Zuzu: "... So when I activate this, the monsters I'm fusing together go to the graveyard. Then, I summon the Fusion Monster from my extra deck."
Sora: "Yeah, that's-"
As Sora was saying that, he saw someone from the corner of his eye. This someone was lurking within the shadows, which immediately put Sora on edge. He turned to face the figure and the latter realized that they were spotted. They went higher up in the warehouse and Sora chased after them. Only then did Zuzu take her eyes off of her new Polymerization card.
Zuzu: "Huh? Hey, where are you going, Sora?"
However, Zuzu didn't get an answer from the boy. Sora meanwhile, when he approached the figure, the latter jumped to their right and the former gritted his teeth. Sora then put on his duel disk and leapt from a container to try and catch the figure. Then and there, Zuzu was able to see this other person being chased by Sora, and she realized that this person was actually the mystery duelist who almost lost to Sylvio.
Zuzu: "Wait a minute, that's-"
The mystery duelist prepared his duel disk, jumped on to a different container, then jumped to the wall to charge at Sora with the duel disk. Sora did the same and the two clashed with their duel disks. The mystery duelist realized that he and Sora were evenly matched, and this made him worry slightly. That was until… One of his partners suddenly appeared, and it was the guy who had the sword. The young man leapt to where Sora was. The boy looked over to his right to see this other figure coming towards him, and he was caught totally off guard. And then, the sword-wielding young man punched Sora.
Sora: "Aagghh!"
This caused Sora to be knocked down to the floor, left of where Zuzu was standing. Speaking of Zuzu, she was shocked to see what had happened to her friend.
Zuzu: "*gasp* Sora! Are you all right?!"
Zuzu ran up to Sora, who was in the midst of recovering from the punch he received. As this occurred, the sword-wielding young man joined the mystery duelist. Zuzu and Sora look over to those two and…
Sora: "Urgh… Who are you guys?"
But when Sora asked that question, neither of them answered. This prompted Zuzu to speak up.
Zuzu: "Sora, that guy in the mask! He's the mystery duelist I told you and the others about!"
Sora: "Wait, the one with the black Xyz dragon?"
Zuzu: "Yeah!"
After Zuzu said that and nodded, Sora stood up to face the mystery duelist and his partner.
Sora: "I see… … Mystery guy, you and your partner aren't from around here, are you?"
?: "... Neither are you."
That short response from the mystery duelist confused Zuzu.
Zuzu: (Huh? What is he talking about…?)
However, Zuzu shook that confusion off for the time being and she spoke up again.
Zuzu: "Tell me something, Mr. Mystery… Do you happen to be the one responsible for the assault I heard about today?"
Sora: "Assault? Zuzu, what are you talking about?"
Zuzu: "Sora, a teacher from the Leo Institute was attacked a couple of days ago."
Sora: "Really, now… That would explain why the security at Leo Corp was so tight."
Sora then looked back at the mystery duelist and his partner, pointing at them.
Sora: "Alright, you two… You've got a lot of explaining to do."
Zuzu: "How about we start with who you guys are? Mr. Mystery, why'd you duel against Sylvio? Just what are you up to? What's your guys' problem with Leo Corp?"
When Zuzu asked those questions, the sword-wielding young man walked forward a couple of steps and spoke up.
?: "Girl, do you not know when to stay out of other people's business? This has nothing to do with you. Besides, even if-"
Before that young man could finish, the doors of the warehouse opened. And, coming into the warehouse, was Julia!
Julia: "That might be true for their case, but me? That's a different story, you bastards!"
Hearing Julia's voice, Zuzu looked behind to see her. Simply put, Julia was FURIOUS, and her current expression showed that. Meanwhile, the sword-wielding young man was bothered by Julia's appearance
?: "Hmph. Who do you think you are? How does this have to do with-"
Julia: "You attacked my professor! Someone that I looked up to a lot! So, who are you? What did you do to him? And where the hell is he?! I want answers to these questions, and I want them now!"
?: "You won't make either of us talk further on it."
Julia: "Ugh… Fine, swordsman. If you and your partner don't wanna talk, then I'll just duel the answers out of you! After all, I can see that you two have duel disks. So who wants to get kicked to the curb first? You, swordsman? Or maybe you, masked man?"
Julia demanding a challenge irritated the swordsman a great deal.
?: "Urgh…! Damn it! We don't have time to play games with you!"
The swordsman then faced the masked man and…
?: "Permission to knock that Julia girl down?"
?: "You're free to do that. Just leave the other girl alone."
?: "... Very well."
Then, the swordsman completely vanished from the sights of Zuzu, Sora and Julia.
Zuzu and Sora: "Huh?!"
Julia: "Where did the swordsman go?!"
The three kids looked around to see where the swordsman might be, but they couldn't find him. That was until the swordsman suddenly appeared again, to the left of Julia. As this happened, Julia noticed him and was taken by surprise.
Julia: "...! How did you-"
Before Julia could finish, the swordsman threw a haymaker of a punch and hit Julia in the stomach.
Julia: "Urugh-! Ooough…"
Julia then fell to the warehouse floor, trembling in pain. From there, she coughed out some blood, shocking Zuzu.
Zuzu: "*gasp*"
Seeing Julia in that state, Zuzu could do nothing but scream out…
Zuzu: "JULIAAAA!"
Then, Zuzu ran up to Julia and knelt down to her level. As that happened, tears began to drop from Zuzu's eyes.
Zuzu: "Julia, are you gonna be okay?!"
Julia: "I don't know…! Zuzu… take your friend and leave before something happens to you as well. Not that I care about you, but… I'd hate to be responsible for someone else getting hurt because of me. So hurry up and go…"
Zuzu: "But-"
Julia: "Go! Now! … Please…"
As Julia said please, she shed a single tear. Even seeing that and hearing Julia's plea, however, Zuzu didn't want to abandon her rival.
Zuzu: "No! I'm not leaving you behind! Who knows what else could happen to you if Sora and I just go without you!"
Julia: "...?! Why do you… care about me like this…? I crushed you in our duel a couple of days ago…"
Zuzu: "Yeah, but that doesn't mean I should hate you! You're not like those guys who attacked Professor Marco! Right…?"
Julia: "... Zuzu…"
Zuzu: "Julia, I promise that they'll get what they deserve. Just stay close to me while I take on-"
Just before Zuzu could finish what she was saying, Sora got up from the punch he received from the swordsman.
Sora: "Zuzu, I'll handle one of these guys. I don't think you'll be able to take on either of them. Just take Julia and get out of here."
Zuzu: "But, Sora-"
Sora: "I'll be fine. I promise to duel my hardest and win. After all, I'm tougher than I look."
Zuzu: "..."
Zuzu looked at Sora for a bit before she came to the realization that this was for the best. She remembered what Sylvio said regarding that whoever Professor Marco's attacker was had to have been good enough as a duelist if they were able to get the best of him. And seeing that this swordsman was now standing near an injured Julia, she made an assumption in her mind before speaking up again.
Zuzu: "All right, I'll take that promise, Sora. Please don't break it."
Sora: "I'll try not to, but I can't be certain that I won't."
Zuzu: "In that case, before I take Julia and leave…"
Zuzu wiped off her previously shed tears and turned back to face the swordsman.
Zuzu: "Tell me, swordsman… Were you the one who attacked Professor Marco? You seem to be more than capable of doing that."
?: "... No, I didn't attack this Professor Marco individual."
Zuzu: "H-huh?"
Zuzu was surprised to hear that kind of response, taking her assumption into account.
Zuzu: "But, you must be a good duelist, right? I was told by someone that whoever attacked Professor Marco had to have been a good enough duelist to get the best of him. And, you seem to be pretty strong, physically speaking."
?: "Hmph. Although that last bit is true to a degree… I'm actually fairly new to dueling. But make no mistake, girl: That doesn't mean that I lack any skill as a duelist whatsoever."
Zuzu: "... I see. In that case, I'll just leave."
With that, Zuzu helped Julia up and the latter reluctantly placed her arm over the former's shoulders. From there, the two girls left the warehouse. After this happened, the swordsman walked over to the warehouse's doors and closed them shut. Then, the swordsman walked back around to face Sora and speak up.
?: "So you don't intend on letting us take off, huh? Well, that's fine by us, because we came here solely for you, boy."
Sora: "Huh? Me? What're you talking about?"
?: "You'll find out our reasons in due time, but for now… Let's just say that you're one of our targets."
Sora: "Targets? As in, like that Professor Marco guy?"
?: "Yes. Though, I believe we had made a mistake in targeting him. You see, after one of us made our attack on the man, we discovered that he didn't fit in with the kind of people we were looking for."
Sora: "What do you mean?"
?: "That, boy, you don't need to know. Aside from that, however, I suppose I can tell you that we know for a fact you fit in with the people we're looking for. But enough of that. One of us is going to duel you right here, right now. If you lose, we're taking you with us."
Sora: "... In that case, if I win… Then you guys will back off and not try something like this again."
?: "Not likely. After all, my partner there is more than capable of-"
Before the swordsman could finish saying that, the mystery duelist himself spoke up.
?: "No, I shall sit by and watch you duel the boy."
Hearing those sudden words, the swordsman became confused.
?: "What? Why? I'm not as good of a duelist as you. You know that!"
?: "And that's exactly why I want you to duel him."
?: "... Are you trying to ruin our chances of being able to take the boy?"
?: "No, that wasn't my intention."
?: "Then what is it?! You know why it's imperative that we do all we can to make sure he doesn't roam free!"
?: "For one, I think it would be fair to give the boy a fighting chance. If he loses against you, then well… We'll truly know that he is nothing more than a pathetic person. And secondly, I want you to take all that you've learned and use it to defeat the boy."
?: "..."
The swordsman wasn't sure how to respond after that was said by the mystery duelist. While the swordsman was thinking of something to say, Sora spoke up.
Sora: "Look, I don't know why you guys want me so bad, but I don't wanna listen to you two bicker to each other like this. Just decide on who's gonna duel me already."
The two young men then remained silent in the face of Sora's comment for a bit before one of them sighed. It was the swordsman, of course.
?: "Fine. I'll be the one who duels you, boy. It won't take that long, anyway. I might be fairly new to Duel Monsters, but I learn things quickly. So I suggest you prepare yourself."
Hearing the swordsman say that, Sora smirked.
Sora: "Heh. Just to let you know, you're not gonna scare me with words. If you really wanna scare me, then show me what you can do."
?: "You're a cocky brat, aren't you?"
Sora: "Nah. It's just that I know I have skill."
?: "We'll see about that!"
Sora and the swordsman then activated their duel disks and…
Sora and ?: "Duel!"
The swordsman was the first to make a move.
?: "I will take the first move for myself."
?'s LP: 4000 - Sora's LP: 4000
?'s Hand Size Before DP: 5 - Sora's Hand Size Before DP: 5
?: "Draw!"
The swordsman drew the top card of his deck and looked at it. Seeing what the card was, he smirked.
?: "Heh. This seems to be a fairly good start… I'll start things off by doing this: By discarding one level five or higher dark monster from my hand, I'm allowed to summon Dark Grepher directly from my hand!"
The swordsman discarded a level five dark monster from his hand and Dark Grepher appeared on the field. This monster had 1700 attack points, and he looked threatening with a longsword that he held in his right hand. Sora took note of Dark Grepher's attack points and stood there in silence, looking to see how the rest of the swordsman's turn would play out.
?: "Then, by banishing one dark monster from my graveyard, I can summon this second monster directly from my hand… Luna the Dark Spirit!"
The swordsman's second monster then appeared, and she was a lady with purple skin wearing a black outfit of sorts. Luna the Dark Spirit had 1600 attack points, which wasn't anything to scoff at either. Though, what surprised Sora was not the monster herself, but the way in which she was summoned to the field.
Sora: "A second monster being summoned directly from your hand?"
?: "What's wrong? Did you not expect me to do something like that?"
Sora: "Not really, considering you said that you were fairly new to Duel Monsters, I didn't think you were capable of doing this."
?: "Well, think again, boy! I also said that I learn things quickly, and this is just one of the things I picked up on. Speaking of which, you're about to see another thing that I picked up on. You said you had skill, right? Notice anything peculiar about my two monsters here?"
Sora: "..."
Sora looked at the swordsman's two monsters, and he quickly realized what the latter was insinuating.
Sora: "They're both level four; you're gonna Xyz Summon."
?: "That's right. Now… I take my two level four monsters and build the Overlay Network!"
The swordsman's two monsters went into a vortex and…
?: "I Xyz Summon… Cairngorgon, the Antiluminescent Knight!"
This third monster showed itself, and it was quite imposing with his gray-ish armor. Cairngorgon had 2450 attack points, which was an odd amount for a monster to have. His right arm was covered up by a large gauntlet that looked tough. Aside from that though, Cairngorgon's armor seemed to be in a bit of a weak state for how big it was.
Sora: "Not bad. Looks like you really can Xyz Summon."
?: "Flattery won't get you anywhere with me, especially with what I know about you. At any rate, I'm not quite done with my turn yet."
Sora: "You still have more to do?"
?: "Indeed… For my next move, I'll summon Axe Dragonute in attack mode!"
Axe Dragonute appeared on the field, and it was simply a dark bipedal dragon holding a battle ax. It had 2000 attack points, and those points obviously weren't just for show.
?: "From there, I'll place these two cards down on the field and end my turn. You're up, boy. Let's see if you can bring in the pain."
Sora: "All right, if you insist."
?'s LP: 4000 - Sora's LP: 4000
?'s Hand Size Before DP: 0 - Sora's Hand Size Before DP: 5
Sora: "Ha!"
Sora drew his card for the turn and looked at it. Upon seeing what the card was, he smiled.
Sora: "Cool, I got what I needed. Let's see if you can handle this! I summon Fluffal Owl in attack mode!"
Fluffal Owl appeared on the field, displaying a level of intelligence with a pair of reading glasses that rested on its beak. It had 1000 attack points, which wasn't much to work with on its own. When the swordsman saw Fluffal Owl, to say that he was indifferent to it would be an understatement. The swordsman was simply underwhelmed.
?: "You summoned an owl? How sad. It barely has 1000 attack points. What can it possibly do for you here?"
Sora: "Quite a bit, actually. See, when it's summoned to the field, I can take one Polymerization from my deck… and add it straight to my hand!"
Sora added Polymerization to his hand, and when the swordsman saw Polymerization, his eyes widened considerably.
?: (It's that Polymerization card! The others warned me about it… So it seems it was right for us to target this boy; he can actually Fusion Summon! In that case, I need to watch out. I can tell there's more to the boy than meets the eye.)
Sora: "Heh. You must already know what's coming, based on your expression. Right?"
?: "... You're going to Fusion Summon a monster."
Sora: "Yup! I'll activate Polymerization, fusing the Fluffal Leo and Edge Imp Saw that are in my hand together!"
Polymerization then started to do its work, fusing Sora's two monsters to create a new one.
Sora: "I Fusion Summon… Frightfur Leo!"
Frightfur Leo showed itself to the swordsman, and it was quite intimidating, even for the latter. This monster had sharp red claws, red eyes, a red mouth that smiled widely, and it had a mane that was made up of various sawblades. As for the attack points, Frightfur Leo had 2400, making it almost as strong as Cairngorgon.
?: "Even I have to admit, this new monster of yours is rather unnerving."
Sora: "Hah! So you adm-"
?: "However… I can see that it stands no chance against Cairngorgon! So I'm not worried. I suppose you could attack my Axe Dragonute, but that wouldn't really solve your biggest problem right now… would it?"
Sora: "No, but I think I have a solution in mind for ya."
?: "Is that so? I'd like to see you try and deal with Cairngorgon."
Sora: "Alright, you asked for it. I'll activate Frightfur Leo's special ability! Once per turn, Frightfur Leo can cut down one of your monsters. As a bonus, you'll take damage equal to your destroyed monster's attack points!"
Hearing that from Sora, the swordsman was taken aback a little.
?: "What?!"
Sora: "That's right! Though, the ability does have a bit of a downside. My Leo isn't able to attack directly the turn I used its special ability. But that's fine for now, 'cause that means I can get rid of your Cairngorgon now! Frightfur Leo, fire your saw blades at Cairngorgon!"
Frightfur Leo then fired its saw blades at Cairngorgon. However, just when the saw blades were approaching the swordsman's Xyz monster… the Swordsman spoke up.
?: "If you think I'll just stand here and let you destroy Cairngorgon like that, then you're wrong! I activate Cairngorgon's special ability!"
Sora: "Huh?"
?: "You heard me… Cairngorgon, the Antiluminescent Knight has his own special ability. By using one Overlay Unit, I can switch the target of Frightfur Leo's special ability to another card that's an appropriate target for it on the field. As much as I want to redirect that special ability back to your monster, I can't, simply because it only applies to my monsters, and not your own. So because of that, I have to switch the target of Leo's special ability to my Axe Dragonute. But, that's a sacrifice that I'm willing to take... So do it, Cairngorgon!"
And so, the target of Frightfur Leo's special ability was redirected to Axe Dragonute, destroying it. The swordsman was sent flying from the destruction of his dragon, taking 2000 points of damage in the process. The swordsman soon landed on the warehouse floor in quite some pain.
?: "Urgh…"
The swordsman had some difficulty in getting up, but his stance became firm soon enough. As for Sora, he was bummed that Cairngorgon was still around.
Sora: "Aw man… Oh well. At least I took out your other monster and did a substantial amount of damage to you, for what it's worth. I'll set one card face-down and call it a turn."
Sora set a card down on the field and the swordsman could care less about it. The mystery duelist had witnessed what happened up to that point in the duel in silence, feeling somewhat doubtful of his partner.
?: (I'm not sure if he can defeat the boy. Sure, he protected Cairngorgon by making Axe Dragonute the target of that Fusion Monster's special ability instead… but he gave up half of his life points to make that happen. A necessary sacrifice, but a costly one nonetheless. I hope that sacrifice doesn't become in vain.)
Meanwhile, outside… Zuzu and Julia had just left the port, and the former decided to put Julia down below a decently-sized tree. Julia had recovered a little bit from her pain, but she was still in no condition to walk around like normal. As for Zuzu, she was tired from helping Julia get all the way up to the tree. So she decided to sit down, next to where Julia was resting on the tree.
Zuzu: "Phew… We made it…"
Julia: "... Not very far from the port's perimeter, though… ... I can't believe I got hit by that swordsman. Like, he disappeared and reappeared… Just, ugh! It pisses me off! Not the one who attacked Professor Marco? Yeah, right. With the way that swordsman hit me, I'm sure he didn't even need to duel the professor to put him out of commission."
Zuzu: "I understand how you feel, Julia, but… The swordsman seemed serious with that answer."
Julia: "And how do you know he didn't just lie to you, Zuzu?"
Zuzu: "I don't know. I just… I can just feel like he was telling me the truth."
Julia: "With what? Your heart? You know you can't just take what he said and believe it to be true. Where's the evidence proving his lack of involvement in attacking Professor Marco?"
Zuzu: "..."
In the end, Zuzu couldn't prove the swordsman's words true with anything, and she knew it.
Julia: "Like I thought… Zuzu, the swordsman HAD to have been the one who attacked the professor. I refuse to believe anything else at this point."
Zuzu: "Julia, I might not have any evidence, but that doesn't mean I should doubt the swordsman's words. We have to wait and see if he really was the one who attacked the professor."
Julia: "Absolutely not! I won't simply wait and see for confirmation of something that's practically guaranteed to be the case! At least, that's what I would normally say at a time like this… But I got myself hurt, and now I can't do much."
After Julia said that, tears began to flow from her eyes. And then…
Julia: "I'm in pain, Zuzu; actual pain. I've never been hit by someone that hard before… You don't know the hell I've been put into. You might know what my feelings regarding the assault of Professor Marco are… But, you'll never know what pain I'm feeling right now until you get hit like I was. And when you do, you're gonna wish that I was right about everything."
Hearing that, all that Zuzu could do to respond to Julia's words was frown and say…
Zuzu: "Julia…"
About thirty seconds went by before either of the girls did anything. As for which of the two acted first… it was Zuzu. She suddenly felt the need to get up. Julia saw this and looked up to face Zuzu.
Julia: "Where are you going? You're just gonna leave me lying here by myself?"
Zuzu: "... No, I'm not. I'm gonna come back soon enough, Julia. Just hang tight for a bit!"
Zuzu then began to run off, making Julia quite mad.
Julia: "Hey! At least tell me where you're-"
But before Julia could finish saying that, Zuzu disappeared from her sight.
Julia: "... Tch. I can't believe she left me like that… What compelled her to just do that out of the blue? I just don't under-"
As Julia was in the middle of ranting to no one, she stopped herself, realizing something.
Julia: "... I see… She wants to get her friends over here. She wants to help me and stop those guys in the warehouse. Damn it, Zuzu… Why must you be my only means of delivering justice to Professor Marco's attackers? I'm a much better duelist than you, but… I was the one who got physically struck down. Why were you spared from such pain? Did the attackers not see you as a threat? If so, then what's the reason for them not hitting you…?"
Julia began to shed more tears in silence as she continued to rest her back against the tree. Meanwhile, in the warehouse... the duel between Sora and the swordsman raged on.
?: "You may have dealt 2000 points of damage to me, boy, but I can assure you… This duel won't end well for you. But, it's as they say: Talk is cheap. My turn!"
?'s LP: 2000 - Sora's LP: 4000
?'s Hand Size Before DP: 0 - Sora's Hand Size Before DP: 2
?: "Ha!"
The swordsman drew his card for the turn and looked at it.
?: "Not the worst draw, I suppose… I'll summon the monster I just drew in attack mode: Dark Crusader!"
The swordsman's Dark Crusader appeared on the field, holding a large sword by the handle and planting the blade into the warehouse's floor. Dark Crusader was a skeleton wearing a black suit of armor, as well as a tattered red cape. Not the most intimidating monster, but he had 1600 attack points. However, the thing that stuck out to Sora the most was not the monster himself, but rather what all of the swordsman's monsters had in common at the time.
Sora: (Yet another dark monster… Every monster this guy has summoned so far has been dark. … I think I see a theme going on with his deck.)
From there, the swordsman continued to play out his turn.
?: "And now, while the opportunity is prime… Cairngorgon! Attack Fluffal Owl now! Gauntlet Crush!"
Cairngorgon went in to take out Fluffal Owl, however, before the attack could land…
Sora: "Trying to deal as much damage to me as possible, huh? Well, sorry, but I have a trap. Punch-in-the-Box to be exact."
Sora revealed his trap card to the swordsman, the latter of which gritted his teeth.
?: "What does it do?"
Sora: "I'm glad you asked. What it does is that it stops your attacking monster in its tracks and sends another one of your monsters to the graveyard. Then, the attack points of the monster that was sent to the graveyard by this trap's effect is subtracted from the first monster's attack points!"
?: "What?! But then-"
Sora: "That's right. Your Cairngorgon's attack is stopped, Dark Crusader is sent packing, and Cairngorgon loses 1600 attack points."
The swordsman then watched that series of events play out. Cairngorgon's attack stopped dead in its tracks, then Dark Crusader was punched by Sora's box and sent flying into Cairngorgon. So with that, Cairngorgon's attack points dropped to 850. The swordsman looked at this change, ashamed of his Xyz monster's now weakened state.
?: "Such a disgrace… … No matter. It seems it was inevitable I would run into a trap like that the first time around. In that case, I will have to bring my turn to an abrupt end."
Sora: "Then here I come with my next turn!"
?'s LP: 2000 - Sora's LP: 4000
?'s Hand Size Before DP: 0 - Sora's Hand Size Before DP: 2
Sora: "Draw!"
Sora drew his card for the turn, but didn't look at it, for he had an Xyz monster to destroy.
Sora: "Alright, Frightfur Leo! It's now time to show off the sharpness of your claws! Attack Cairngorgon!"
Frightfur Leo acted on command and leapt to Cairngorgon. From there, it destroyed the knight, causing an explosion to occur. However, to the surprise of Sora, the swordsman didn't lose any life points.
Sora: "Huh? What happened? Why didn't you take any damage from that attack?"
?: "Heh. I see you weren't paying attention closely enough. Just before your attack connected, I played a trap: Defense Draw. Not only did this little card save me from taking any damage from that battle, but it also allows me to draw one card from my deck."
The swordsman then drew his card, thanks to Defense Draw. From there, he continued to speak.
?: "I knew that you would have done the inherently smarter thing by having Frightfur Leo attack, rather than use its special ability again. After all, had you used that ability instead, I would have only taken 850 points of damage from Leo, which would have not taken me out of the duel… even when taking Fluffal Owl's attack points into account. I knew I had to insulate myself against Frightful Leo's attack, so I used Defense Draw as a form of insulation."
Sora: "I see. Not half bad, swordsman. I know you said that flattery won't get me anywhere, but that was pretty solid. But, just like you pointed out… I still have another monster to attack with. Fluffal Owl, give the swordsman a good lecture! Attack him directly!"
Fluffal Owl then flew up to the swordsman and slapped him with one of its wings, dealing 1000 points of damage to the latter directly.
?: "Ack-!"
After the owl finished its attack, it returned to Sora's side of the field.
Sora: "Didn't feel too good, did it?"
?: "Silence, brat…"
Sora: "You say that, but I don't think I'm gonna shut up just yet. I'll set these two cards face-down and that'll be it for now."
Sora set two cards down on the field, putting the swordsman on edge a little. Even still though, he wouldn't let that scare him as he started his next turn.
?: "It seems I'll have to ramp up the challenge for you. My turn!"
?'s LP: 1000 - Sora's LP: 4000
?'s Hand Size Before DP: 1 - Sora's Hand Size Before DP: 1
?: "Ha!"
The swordsman drew his card for the turn and looked at it in anticipation. Seeing what the card was, he wasn't disappointed with the draw.
?: "Well, this ought to help me ramp things up. I activate the spell, Pot of Greed. With this card, I'm allowed to draw two cards from my deck."
The swordsman drew the two cards and looked at them. He saw that one of them was another draw card of sorts. And so...
?: "I now activate another spell: Dark World Dealings. Thanks to this card we are both allowed to draw one card. But then, we both have to discard one card from our hands."
Sora: "Then discard one?"
?: "Yes… Ha!"
The swordsman drew his card from Dark World Dealings, then Sora did the same. After that, the swordsman picked a card to discard from his hand; it was another dark monster.
?: "I'll discard this monster."
He sent it to the graveyard, passing the torch to Sora.
Sora: "I don't know what you're doing, but I'll just toss out this Fluffal Rebirth spell, since I don't need it."
Sora then sent his discard of choice to the graveyard. From there, the swordsman chuckled, catching Sora's attention.
Sora: "Huh? What's so funny?"
?: "I now have the means to destroy that Frightfur Leo."
Sora: "Really?"
?: "Do you doubt me?"
Sora: "Well, considering you mean business, I don't. Though, I wanna believe that you're just joking."
?: "Heh, this is no joke, boy… And let me show you why. I activate a third spell: Hammer Shot!"
The swordsman played his third spell card for the turn and it showed up on the field, displaying a huge hammer crushing some goblins in its artwork.
?: "This spell destroys the monster with the highest attack points on the field. And currently, your Frightfur Leo has the highest, so it will be facing the might of this hammer. Appear."
The swordsman snapped his fingers and, as if on command, the giant hammer from the card's artwork popped out and slammed itself down on Frightfur Leo, destroying it.
Sora: "No, Leo…!"
?: "Excellent. Now we're practically even… Not for long, however, because I'll summon Witch of the Black Forest, in attack mode."
Schezo's latest monster appeared on the field. Witch of the Black Forest had a relatively simple look to her. She had the appearance of a young woman, with long purple hair and a third eye, and she wore a black cloak. She was relatively weak in terms of attack and defense points, only having 1100 and 1200 respectively, but it was just enough to match Sora's Fluffal Owl.
?: "As you can see, my witch is just strong enough to defeat your Fluffal Owl. So I'll have her attack it now!"
Witch of the Black Forest fired off a spell that destroyed Fluffal Owl, and Sora took 100 points of damage as a result of the attack, bringing his life points down to 3900. However, this wasn't just any regular duel damage to Sora; it felt real.
Sora: (That little bit of damage… It felt real. Seems like Zuzu wasn't kidding about the damage feeling real when she told us about the duel that Sylvio had with the masked man. I dunno who these guys are, but it's clear they aren't normal duelists. Somehow, they're making the damage real in whatever duels they take part in. I might as well take advantage of Owl's destruction while I have the chance.)
So with that, Sora acted as he spoke up.
Sora: "Thanks for destroying my Fluffal Owl, swordsman, because I activate a trap: Fluffal Crane!"
?: "What does that do for you?"
Sora: "It's pretty simple, really. Since you destroyed my Owl, I'm allowed to take a Fluffal monster from my graveyard, add it back to my hand, then I get to draw one card. So of course, I'm going to add back Fluffal Owl… and draw my card. Ha!"
Sora drew a card with the effect of Fluffal Crane after adding Owl back to his hand. This wasn't ideal for the swordsman, but it could have been a lot worse.
?: "*sigh* In that case, I'll end my turn."
Sora: "My move, then!"
Sora reached out to his deck to draw his card for the turn, then...
?'s LP: 1000 - Sora's LP: 3900
?'s Hand Size Before DP: 0 - Sora's Hand Size Before DP: 3
Sora: "Ha!"
Sora drew his card for the turn, looked at it, then smiled. The swordsman noticed the smile and sighed again.
?: "I'm guessing your draw was a fairly good one... Wasn't it?"
Sora: "Mm, yeah. Pretty good, I would say. I'll play it right now! I activate the continuous spell, Toy Vendor!"
Toy Vendor then appeared on the field, literally materializing and becoming a vending contraption. The swordsman saw the Toy Vendor, and he had an unamused look on his face.
?: "Great… More childish nonsense."
Sora: "It might come off as that to you, but this thing will help me out big time. Once per turn, I get to draw one from my deck. And if that drawn card happens to be a Fluffal monster, I get to summon it directly to the field. But, if the drawn card isn't a Fluffal monster, it's sent to my graveyard instead."
?: "Hmph, counting on luck of the draw to help you?"
Sora: "Yup! I feel quite lucky today, so I'll use the effect of my Toy Vendor to draw one card. Ha!"
Sora drew the one card, thanks to his Toy Vendor spell, and was excited to find out that he drew a Fluffal monster.
Sora: "Sweet! The card I just drew with Toy Vendor was my Fluffal Bear. And since he's a Fluffal, I can summon him, just like that!"
And so, Fluffal Bear appeared on the field in attack mode. Sora put Bear in attack mode because he had 100 more attack points than the swordsman's Witch of the Black Forest. Seeing those 1200 attack points from Fluffal Bear, the swordsman was rather annoyed.
?: "How insulting… Your Fluffal Bear has 100 more attack points than my Witch of the Black Forest. Could things get any more humiliating for me?"
Sora: "Careful what you wish for, 'cause it might come true for all you know."
?: "S-silence, boy! Just continue your turn."
Sora: "Alright, then. In that case, I'll do this: I summon Fluffal Owl to the field again in attack mode!"
Fluffal Owl appeared for a second time, and the swordsman knew what this meant.
?: "I know where this is going… You're going to add another Polymerization to your hand with that owl."
Sora: "Uh-huh, that's exactly what I'm gonna do. I use Owl's special ability to take another Polymerization from my deck... and add it straight to my hand."
Sora added his second and last Polymerization. He would have had three to work with, if it weren't for Zuzu wanting him to teach her how to Fusion Summon. So thanks to him giving her his third Polymerization, Sora was going to have to use this second Polymerization carefully. He couldn't afford to waste it, especially since the swordsman had two face-downs. Therefore, he decided to not activate it this turn.
Sora: "And now…! I'm gonna have Fluffal Bear attack your Witch!"
Fluffal Bear then gave Witch of the Black Forest a big hug, one that looked painful for the latter. After a couple of seconds, Witch of the Black Forest was destroyed and the swordsman took 100 points of damage, putting his life points down to 900. As all of this happened, the swordsman was confused.
?: (He didn't use his second Polymerization card? Why?)
The swordsman eyed at his lone face-down for a brief moment before looking back to Sora.
?: (Was he perhaps worried that my face-down card could bring down whatever Fusion monster he would have summoned? Well, he should have been more gung-ho with his assault this turn. But, thanks to his hesitation… I'll be able to survive a direct attack from that Fluffal Owl.)
And then, Sora spoke up again…
Sora: "Alright, Owl! It's time for you to end this duel and bring me victory! Attack him directly!"
Fluffal Owl awkwardly charged forward for a direct attack on the swordsman. But of course, the swordsman wasn't going down so easily.
?: "If you think you're beating me here, then that means you have no idea what's in store for you! From my graveyard, I activate the special ability of Necro Gardna!"
After the swordsman said that, Fluffal Owl was suddenly blocked by Necro Gardna, who suddenly appeared in front of it. And thanks to that, Fluffal Owl had to fly back over to Sora's side of the field.
Sora: "Huh? What was that? When did that card get in the graveyard?"
?: "Heh. You must have not been paying enough attention to me, because after I drew a card from the effect of Dark World Dealings during the previous turn, I discarded the monster you now see: Necro Gardna. Thanks to him being in my graveyard, I was able to negate your direct attack by banishing him from my graveyard. And so, that's I survived your attack, and by extension, this turn."
After the swordsman explained it all to him, Sora wasn't exactly thrilled with the outcome of the turn.
Sora: "Well, it could've been a lot worse for me…"
?: "Indeed, it could have. Speaking of which, you held off on using that second Polymerization… Can I assume that my face-down card had something to do with that?"
Sora: "Kinda. But I really just wanted to beat you with Fluffal Owl, since you pretty much deserve to be humiliated."
?: "Wha-?! Why?!"
Sora: "I dunno, maybe because you assaulted a teacher?"
?: "I didn't do that! I'm telling you, it wasn't me who attacked that man!"
Sora: "And why should I believe you at this point? Sure, Zuzu seems to believe what you told her, but I don't buy it. Plus, you guys want me for some reason, and I don't want to be a part of whatever it is you guys are trying to do."
When Sora said that, the swordsman calmed himself and crossed his arms.
?: "Tch. It seems I'll have to pick up the pace if I am to defeat you, boy."
Sora: "Hm? You've been holding back?"
?: "Somewhat. Though, I haven't done much since the first few turns of this duel, mostly because I used up almost everything I had at the time. That said, it's time for me to activate my Witch of the Black Forest's special ability! Since she was sent from the field to the graveyard, I can take one monster from my deck that has 1500 or less defense points… and add it to my hand. So I'll choose… this one."
The swordsman briefly showed Sora the monster he picked out from his deck. Sora had no idea what the monster was. The only thing he knew for sure was that it was a high leveled monster with 1000 defense points. A second or two later, the swordsman added the monster to his hand and his deck was shuffled. Then…
Sora: "Well, I'll have to end my turn. There isn't anything that I can do at the moment."
Hearing that from Sora, the swordsman smirked. As that went one, the masked man had taken in everything that had happened in the duel thus far and began to speak in his mind.
?: (It's concerning that he almost lost to the boy a couple of turns ago, but he thankfully found a way to stay in this duel. Let's just hope he can keep standing and prove he's capable enough to defeat the boy. We can't afford to show any sort of critical weakness, otherwise…)
The masked man stopped himself to watch more of the duel unfold before him. Meanwhile, in the Xyz dimension… Arle, Lemres, Raffina and Sig all have found the time to explore Heartland City. This is because earlier on in the day: As they hid, they watched the young man they saw when they first appeared in the wrecked city, along with two other cloaked individuals, disappear. Once the four thought they were in the clear, they got out of hiding.
Arle: "Where did those guys go, anyway?"
Lemres: "I dunno. But we might finally be able to explore this city and see what it's all about."
Raffina: "May I ask why? What would be the point?"
Lemres: "Raffina, we need to know our way around here. If this is going to be our new home, then we need to learn how to live here."
Raffina: "Like hell I'm living in a place like this for the rest of my life. Everything here is so… unsightly."
Lemres: "I don't blame you for thinking that way about this place, but we've got nowhere else to go."
Raffina: "... *sigh* Fine. I realize that I can't be picky with how things are for us right now. But can we PLEASE find some kind of home to stay in for the foreseeable future? I'm tired of living off the land. I'm cold, hungry, dirty… That last one really stings for me; I hate getting dirty."
That last comment made by Raffina got under Arle's skin, because she heard that from her ever since the four appeared in the wrecked city.
Arle: "Ugh, we know! You won't shut up about that, Raffina…"
Raffina: "Well, maybe if I had a place to BATHE and CLEAN myself up in this mess of a city, then I wouldn't be complaining about it."
Lemres: "Arle, Raffina… You two need to chill, like a couple of scoops of ice cream. We probably don't have a lot of time to explore the city, so we need to hustle."
Arle and Raffina: "*sigh* Okay…"
Arle, Lemres and Raffina began to walk off in a random direction together, leaving Sig by himself. After about ten seconds, Raffina looked behind her and realized that Sig was just standing in the spot they were just at, displaying a blank expression on his face. It was as if he was daydreaming.
Raffina: (Ugh, that stupid bug boy…)
Raffina then ran back to Sig and got his attention by grabbing his right hand.
Raffina: "Sig, get a move on. We're going."
Sig: "Huh? Going where?"
Raffina: "Who cares?! Just come with us already! We'll lose Lemres and Arle if you just keep standing here!"
Raffina, still holding on to Sig's hand, began to pull the boy in the direction where Arle and Lemres were walking. She ran, and as a result, Sig was forced to run. It was something that Sig himself wasn't used to doing. Eventually though, the two caught up to Arle and Lemres and the four started to explore the ruins of Heartland City.
For a little while, the group surveyed a large number of partially collapsed structures, for that was all they ever really saw when they first got themselves into this situation. However, they then found a structure that was almost completely intact… When Raffina saw the home in question, she got her hopes up.
Raffina: "Yes! A home that ISN'T in complete shambles! I thought we would never find one around here."
Lemres: "Me too. I just figured that every home in this city was destroyed in some way."
Arle: "Well, at any rate, we found a place to stay and that's good enough for me."
Lemres: "Now hold on, girls. We need to see if anyone's living there first. If there is someone, then we'll need to inform them of our situation. If we don't do that, then we might not be able to stay there. I'll go up to the door and knock. If someone opens the door, I'll explain our situation and convince them to let us stay for the foreseeable future."
Raffina: "You better not screw this up for us, Lemres."
Lemres: "Don't worry, I'm good at the whole "convincing" thing. My choice of words will help out big time."
Lemres walked up to the door alone and knocked. Several seconds later, the door opened from the inside, and out came a girl. This girl seemed to be around the same age as Raffina, perhaps a little older. She had long, dark purple hair, and shorter parts of it were lilac-colored. The hair is kept in check with wing-shaped barrette. Her eyes were pink, complementing the aforementioned hair color. She wore a cream-colored vest, a strange underdress that split itself into three, worn out pants and boots, had two belts around her waist, and a red sash was at her right hip.
Safe to say, this girl had been through some stuff in the past. When she saw Lemres, she looked at him with curious and somewhat cautious eyes before speaking up to him.
?: "Yes? What is it, stranger?"
Lemres: "If it isn't too much trouble for ya, my friends and I need a place to stay for the foreseeable future. You see, we aren't from around here."
When Lemres said "we aren't from around here", the girl's body tensed. She was now worried about a certain possibility…
?: (Oh no… These guys might be from the-)
But before she finished her own thought, she stopped herself.
?: (Wait a minute… They aren't those soldiers that attacked Heartland City. Maybe they can be trusted. Well, I'm not entirely sure about this guy… But the other three look like they really need help.)
And then, Lemres continued the conversation.
Lemres: "Could you let us stay here for the time being? I'll explain our situation to you if you're willing to let us inside."
?: "Um… I guess I could. You're not a bad person, right?"
Lemres: "I'm definitely not a bad person if that's what you're worried about. I can tell that you're rather unnerved right now."
?: "H-huh? You can tell? How?"
Lemres: "By looking at your eyes. Look, I wanna help you feel more comfortable. I promise we won't hurt you. Isn't that right, guys?"
Lemres looked back to Arle, Raffina and Sig, prompting one of them to speak up. Of course, Raffina ended up being the one to say something first.
Raffina: "Yeah, I just want somewhere to finally get myself clean. I haven't bathed in days."
Raffina's comment seemed to have resonated with the girl at the door, because the latter's body eased itself. Then…
?: "Oh, um… Yeah, I feel you. I'll let you guys in. But please clean yourselves as soon as possible. You all have that outdoor person smell, and I don't want you guys to stink this place up. It's not just me who lives here, you know."
Raffina: "Oh, you don't need to worry about that. Because once I'm done cleaning myself, I'll push the others into doing the same."
?: "*sigh* Thank you. Now then, let's get inside and go through with some introductions."
The girl led Arle, Lemres, Raffina and Sig inside and she closed the door behind her. From there, the five got themselves into a living room of sorts and sat down. And then, the girl spoke up to Arle and the others, starting up another conversation.
?: "So, tell me. Who are you guys? Where are you from?"
Lemres: "Name's Lemres. The boy there is Sig."
Sig: "Hi."
Lemres: "The girl with the curly pink hair is Raffina."
Raffina: "Charmed."
Lemres: "And the other girl's name is Arle."
Arle: "Nice to meet you."
Lemres: "We all come from a place known as Primp Town."
?: "Primp Town? Never heard of that town before..."
Lemres: "It's not surprising that you don't know about it. Truth is, we're from a completely different world; one that we can't get back to by ourselves."
?: "... Is that so?"
Lemres: "Yeah."
?: "*sigh* Okay, then let me ask you something… Are you from the Fusion dimension?"
When the girl asked that question, the others raised an eyebrow (aside from Sig, who was now in his own little world again).
Lemres: "The… what? Sorry, but I don't know what you're talking about. What's the Fusion dimension? Is that where we are right now?"
?: "N-no, this isn't the Fusion dimension. This is the Xyz dimension. And the city we're in… it's called Heartland. I guess you all have no idea what's been going on."
Arle: "With what?"
?: "You know… the whole thing with this city being mostly in ruins."
Raffina: "Oh yeah, what's with that? Why is the city in that state? What happened to it?"
?: "Well… It's a long story. I'm not sure if you would be interested in it. Besides, knowing the context behind it requires you to know about something else… Something that I doubt any of you have any idea what it even is."
Lemres: "What is this something?"
?: "... Do you guys know what Duel Monsters is?"
When the girl presented that question to the others, they all shook their heads, except Sig.
Lemres: "Nope."
Raffina: "No."
Arle: "Nuh-uh."
The girl noticed Sig's absentmindedness and she decided to snap her fingers to get his attention. And, it worked like a charm; Sig was now out of his own little world again.
Sig: "Huh?"
?: "Do you know what Duel Monsters is, Sig?"
Sig: "Uh… No…?"
?: "I see… Well, I should probably tell you all what it is. Before that, however, I should introduce myself to you all. My name is Lulu."
Lemres: "Nice to meet you, Lulu. So… What's Duel Monsters?"
Lulu: "Alright… Where to start?"
Lulu suddenly got up and grabbed a duel disk, one with a deck placed securely inside from a nearby table. Then, she sat back down and showed the duel disk to the others.
Lulu: "This is a duel disk… and these are Duel Monsters cards. You use these to engage in a duel with someone else, making yourself what's known as a duelist. As for what Duel Monsters is... it's a game. At least, it was supposed to be a game."
When Lulu said that last bit, her tone and expression suddenly became solemn. Of course, Lemres noticed this change and...
Lemres: "Hmm… I assume some bad people used this "game" as a means to a destructive end?"
Lulu: "Yes. The reason why Heartland City is the way that it is right now is because an organization of truly callous duelists is trying to take over this dimension by force. These duelists take the monsters from the monster cards they have... and summon them outside of the game to cause real-world damage, which is not supposed to happen."
Lemres: "I see… And what's the name of the organization?"
Lulu: "... Duel Academy."
Raffina: "Duel Academy? How peculiar… It just sounds like a place to learn how to play this Duel Monsters game."
Lulu: "It is, actually… But it's only used for the expressed purpose of having its students invade the Xyz dimension."
Arle: "This Duel Academy group is not in this dimension?"
When Arle asked this question, Lulu shook her head.
Lulu: "No."
Lemres: "Then where is it?"
Lulu: "It's… … Actually, I think it's better if we wait for my brother and his partners to come back here. They can answer your question much better than I can. You see, they live here with me. So if you were wondering why you haven't seen anyone else here, there's the reason for it."
Raffina: "Do you know where they went off to?"
Lulu: "N-not exactly. Earlier today, they told me that they were going to a different Duel Monsters dimension for something important. They didn't say what, though."
Lemres: "Wait a minute… If you guys are able to travel to a different, uh… Duel Monsters dimension, then why are you still here? You guys can find a better place to live-"
Lulu: "No, we can't leave the Xyz dimension to stay in another Duel Monsters dimension, Lemres."
Lemres: "What? Why not?"
Lulu: "Because, it ties back to the question that I want my brother and his partners to answer for you all. Like I said before, they'll explain the reason for it a lot better than I ever could. They have a better grasp of the things related to Duel Academy. Until then, who's going in the shower first? I'm assuming you want first dibs, Raffina?"
Lulu faced Raffina as she said that last bit, then the latter stood up.
Raffina: "Yes, I want first dibs, Lulu."
Lulu: "In that case, you may go in there now. Oh, and I have a few spare outfits that you can wear after you're done. From there, you can take your dirty clothes, and place them in the washing machine."
Raffina: "Great! So where can I find those spare outfits?"
Lulu: "In my room, Raffina. I'll show you."
Lulu then stood up and took Raffina to her room. The others simply sat in silence for a minute or two before Lulu returned to the living room by herself.
Lulu: "All right, and while she's cleaning herself up… Who here wants to learn how to play Duel Monsters?"
Arle: "Huh? Why would we want to learn how to play? Didn't you say that those people from Duel Academy use it as a means to cause destruction?"
Lulu: "Yes, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't use it. We can use it to stop, or at least slow down, Duel Academy's progress in taking over this dimension for a while. Speaking of using… We could sure use your guys' help if Duel Academy decides to invade this dimension again."
Lemres: "Eh, why not? It's not like we can go back to our home anytime soon anyway. We might as well help out. Right, you two?"
Lemres faced Arle and Sig after saying that, getting their attention.
Arle: "Sure! I'm always happy to help friends in need! And the way I see it, you're definitely a friend of ours, Lulu."
Lulu: "Aw, thanks Arle. I'm glad you see me as a friend. … Sig?"
Sig: "Um… I guess I could help if I learn how to play Duel Monsters."
Hearing Sig's response, Lulu whispered something to Lemres.
Lulu: "Is Sig always like that?"
Lemres: "I wouldn't get concerned with his quirks if I were you; that's just how he is."
Lulu: "Whatever you say… Ahem! Anyway… You seem to be the sharpest one here, Lemres, so I'll start with teaching you how to play Duel Monsters."
Lemres: "Sweet. Show me the basics, then."
Lulu then nodded and started to teach Lemres the basics of Duel Monsters. A little while later, Raffina came back into the living room, looking a little... different than usual. She was no longer wearing her signature outfit that consisted of orange and yellow. No, instead she was now wearing clothes similar to Lulu's outfit. This new look of her consisted of a dark blue vest, a white underdress, maroon pants, and black knee-high socks. It took a bit for the others to notice Raffina standing there, but when they did, things became a little awkward for her.
Raffina: "Um, how do I look, Lulu…?"
Lulu: "I think you look good in that, Raffina. Though, not as good as your actual outfit."
Raffina: "Well, duh. I just look better in orange and yellow. And geez, now my shoes will probably look out of place if I choose to wear them with an outfit like this."
Lulu: "We'll find a decent pair of boots for you in the city tomorrow, Raffina. That's how I found my pair after the Xyz dimension was attacked for the first time, and I haven't parted with them since."
Raffina: "I suppose that wouldn't be a bad use of my time… At any rate, it seems you've been teaching Lemres that Duel Monsters game. What did I miss?"
Lulu: "Several things, but it shouldn't be hard for you to catch up to where Lemres is right now if you want to learn how to play. The other three have already told me they wanted to-"
Raffina: "I overheard that bit while I was getting myself in the shower."
Lulu: "Oh. Then, you already know why they wanted to learn…"
Raffina: "Uh-huh. And speaking of which... Since I don't have much else to do either for the time being, I think this will be a productive use of my time. Teach me, Lulu."
Lulu: "Okay, let's get things rolling, then."
With that, Lulu began to teach Raffina the basics of Duel Monsters...
Author's Notes: Originally for this chapter, I planned on having the whole duel between Sora and the mysterious swordsman only take up this chapter. However, I wanted the latter to be established as a potential threat for our heroes, and to do that... I needed to have him show off a good portion of his deck. What you guys saw in this chapter was only roughly a third of the duel. That's right; you read that correctly. Only a third. It's gonna end up being a long one, possibly even the longest duel so far in this story. And it's an original duel too!
So that's why the duel is being split up, with a third covered in this chapter and the remaining two-thirds being covered in the next chapter. And that's why it has taken longer than usual for me to update this story. That said, I'm sorry for those of you who had to wait like that. But trust me when I say that the wait will be worth it once the next chapter is finished. Until then, I hope that you all have enjoyed this chapter's portion of the duel between Sora and the swordsman.
Aside from that we got to see more of Arle's group in the Xyz dimension. Those four got to explore the wrecked Heartland City for a good while, we got to see some more exchanges between them… And they even found a place to stay, thanks to Lulu allowing them to be with her. That being said, however, a lot of things that happened in this chapter are quite different from the anime. And because of that, I think you guys will be in for some surprises. That's all I will say about that for now.
In any case, it seems Sora will continue to have quite the duel with the mysterious swordsman in the next chapter. As for what that could entail, feel free to speculate. Until then… What will happen during the later stages of the duel? Will Sora come out of this okay? What about the swordsman? And what will Arle's group do now that they're with Lulu? Next chapter, Chapter 11: The Power of Darkness (Part 2).