Chapter 4 - Performers of a different shade
Dennis leaps from the rubble that he's staged himself on, to join Yuya on the ground, greeting him with a friendly smile, and a warm wave. "Hello, Yuya." Yuya looks at his former ally with surprise. "Dennis?!" He's taken back, even stepping a few feet back against some of the fallen brick. "What are you doing here?" He asks, out of concern, based on his history. "Well, I felt like I belonged here more than at Academia." Yuya is confused, knowing that Dennis is from the Fusion Dimension. "Are you still with them? Academia I mean?" Dennis shakes his head. "No, it's just me on my lonesome. Trying to find the survivors. I heard they were this way." Dennis points towards the remains of Heartlands tower. Looking where he points, Yuya thinks to himself. "Maybe that's where Shun is." Yuya looks back at Dennis, who continues to have an innocent smile on his face. "I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. I'm looking for Shun, so let's go together. Sound good to you?" Dennis agrees, bowing before Yuya before the duo walk towards the remains.
Yuya and Dennis approach a scorched fence with a torn down gate. The fence surrounds a large group of tents. Yuya rushes off upon seeing people pumping water out of a water pump. Dennis stays by the gate, watching Yuya approach them. His smile fades, and his face turns to sadness. "Hey!" Yuya calls out to a small family pumping water. "Excuse me. I'm looking for someone. A friend of mine, named Shun Kurosaki." The mother in the family speaks up. "Well, a lot of people that were missing are coming back, so you're in luck. What does your friend look like?" Before Yuya could speak, a grown man, probably the father, stepped out of their tent. "If you're with him, then get out of here!" Yuya looks shocked, but then turns to see that he was pointing at Dennis, who quickly changes his frown to a smile again. "His people are the reason we have no home!" Yuya tries to calm him down, but more people come out, some just children with only a single parent beside them, the majority of them look scared.
Dennis starts laughing, which tries a chord with Yuya. "Sorry Yuya. I'm going to have to double cross you again." Dennis slaps his hands. Out of a smoke that appears, a purple masquerade mask appears on his face. "Thank you for leading me to the survivors. Big help." Dennis straps on his Academia duel disk, and turns on a beacon. "Dennis? No!" Dennis leans over a little. "What do you say Yuya? Duel me for their safety?" Dennis gives a subtle wink to Yuya, which he picks up on. Yuya, with his duel disk still strapped to his arm, activates it. "You're right about that." Dennis smiles again, for the second time today he has something to be happy about.
"Duelists locked in battle! Kicking the earth and dancing in the air alongside their monsters!" Dennis starts the action duel chant, for Yuya to continue his lead. "They storm through this field! Behold! This is the newest and greatest evolution of Dueling!" Together, they give chorus to the final oath. "ACTION DUEL!"
Dennis 4000LP
Vs.
Yuya 4000LP
Field gets scattered with action cards, Yuya starts to note where some of them may have landed, but doesn't get a clear view due to the rubble and debris. "I'll start first. I summon Performapal Silver Claw." Yuya summons a signature level 4 of his deck. A grey wolf with sharp, metal piercing claws.
[Silver Claw LVL 4 Earth Beast ATK 1800]
"Yeah. Show this Fusion Scum not to mess with Heartland!" The father cheers from the sidelines, to much of his wife's dismay. Without missing a beat, Yuya leaps onto Silver Claw's back, and starts to run around the camp. "Wait? Where are you going? Don't leave us!" The father's tone turns from anger to fear as he looks on at Dennis. "My turn, draw." The mother takes her husband's hand, and invites him to sit with them.
Dennis begins his turn. "I normal summon Performage Bubble Gardna." Dennis summons a small doll like being, that creates bubbles upon its summoning. The kids in the audience smile and laugh as they pop the bubbles that float down. "Because I summoned a Performage, I can summon Flimsy Slimmer to the field too." Dennis summons a roll of film that turns into a wizard.
[Gardna LVL 4 Water Spellcaster Pendulum ATK 800]
[Slimmer LVL 4 Earth Spellcaster Pendulum ATK 100]
The heartland survivors look on at the monsters, confused on how they could have caused destruction. "Their monsters sound the same. Are they together?" Dennis comes closer to the survivors. "You guys remember this card?" Dennis reveals his Polymerization spell card. "I activate my spell card to fuse Slimmer with Gardna." Combining his two monsters together, Dennis brings out his second ace monster. "Fusion summon, level 7, Performage Trapeze Witch!" The leading lady of his trapeze performance appears on the duel field.
[Witch LVL 7 Dark Spellcaster Fusion ATK 2400]
Yuya continues to ride on the back of Silver Claw, looking for any of the scattered action cards. "I equip Witch with Ancient Gear Mask." The survivors take steps away, the words of ancient gear and fusion hit them in the wrong places.
"Battle. I attack Silver Claw with Trapeze Witch." The witch throws her staff in the air, creating a trapeze rope for her to swing on. Finding an action card, Yuya readies to play it. "With the effect of Witch, Silver Claw loses 600 attack points. And because of the mask, you can't activate spells or traps in the battle phase."
[Silver Claw ATK 1800 - 1200]
Yuya doesn't have time to react when Trapeze Witch kicks Silver Claw. Yuya is sent flying, crashing down into one of the tents. He drops the action card when he lands. Silver Claw crashes into the ground, and is destroyed.
[Yuya LP 4000 - 1600]
"Oh, and by the way Yuya. With Ancient Gear Mask, the battle damage is doubled." Yuya dusts himself off before getting back up. "I must say Dennis, you had me going for a while. Now, it's my turn." Yuya draws from his deck, adding to his hand, he looks at his cards with doubt. "None of these alone can beat that thing." He says to himself in his head. "Good job you're not alone." Yuya hears Yuto's voice in his mind. "Look at your extra deck Yuya." Yuya has a look at his deck, and sees that he has Yuto's cards. "This isn't a fight just for me, it's for us." Yuya closes his eyes. When he opens them, they turn grey.
"I set the pendulum scale, scale 2 Performapal Gongato, and scale 5 Performapal Changeraffe." Dennis hears Yuto's voice. "So this is what he wanted?" Dennis says to himself. "I pendulum summon, Silver Claw and Performapal Coin Dragon." Yuto in control of Yuya, summons back his Silver Claw, as well as a green dragon.
[Gongato LVL 1 Earth Beast Pendulum Scale 2]
[Changeraffe LVL 1 Earth Beast Pendulum Scale 5]
[Coin Dragon LVL 4 Water Dragon Pendulum ATK 1700]
The crowd is amazed by the new summoning method. "Pendulum summoning?" Yuto continues his roll. "I use my level 4 Silver Claw, and Coin Dragon to build the overlay network." His monsters turn to stars as they awaken his ace monster. "Xyz summon! Rank 4! Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon!" The pitch black dragon of revolution makes their grand reappearance.
[Dark Rebellion Rank 4 Dark Dragon Xyz ATK 2500]
Yuto spots an action card by his foot and picks it up. "Action Magic, Disburse. When a monster with 2000 or more attack points is summoned, you have to shuffle 1 of your spell or traps back to your deck." Dennis is forced to return his equipment spell to the deck. "Next, I activate, Xyz Prejudice. All monsters that aren't Xyz, have their effects negated this turn." Witch turns a grey colour as her powers are stripped away. "I detach 1 material from Dark Rebellion. I cut your monsters attack point in half, then he gains them. And I'll use the effect twice." Dark Rebellion uses his treason discharge to wrap Witch in a purple lightning that drains her attack.
[Witch ATK 2400 - 1200 - 600]
[Rebellion ATK 2500 - 3700 - 4300]
"Battle. I attack Witch with Dark Rebellion!" The pitch black dragon charges for Witch, piercing her with it's razor blade, destroying her before Dennis could grab an action card.
[Dennis LP 4000 - 300]
Dennis dusts himself off, smiling. "Well done Yuya, or is it Yuto?" He questions, rubbing his chin. "No matter, you're the same guy anyway." Dennis leaps onto the floating platforms created by the action field. "Ready for my comeback?" Yuto looks up at him. "Only if you show us your real face." Dennis starts laughing at Yuto's remark. Grabbing his mask, he flings it into the air for it to explode into glitter. "I knew you'd pick up on my sign."
[Rebellion ATK 4300 - 2500]
Dennis draws from his deck as he talks. "I was telling the truth earlier. I feel like I belong here. This is my mess, and I intend to make up for my mistake." Dennis's words reach the people below, who look on at the performer. "Besides. Seeing what my soul card is, I'd be a hypocrite to deny myself the truth. This card will show you what my soul is."
"Set the pendulum scale, Scale 2 Performage Reverse Dancer, and Scale 6 Performage Fire Dancer. Pendulum Summon, level 4s Bubble Gardna and Flimsy Slimmer." Yuto smiles, knocking what's coming next. "I build the overlay network with my 2 monsters. The show must go on! Rank 4! Performage Trapeze Magician!" The star of the show appears. Throwing a magic ball in the air, Trapeze Magician catches it, and explodes it into flowers to fall on the audience.
[Reverse Dancer LVL 1 Earth Spellcaster Pendulum Scale 2]
[Fire Dancer LVL 4 Fire Spellcaster Pendulum Scale 6]
[Trapeze Magician Rank 4 Light Spellcaster Xyz ATK 2500]
Yuto, looking down, finds the action card that Yuya dropped earlier, and picks it back up. "Battle. I attack Dark Rebellion with Trapeze Magician to crash." The performer leaps from trapeze to trapeze to kick Rebellion. "Action Magic, Miracle. My monster survives." A barrier is formed around the Dark Rebellion. As Trapeze crashes into it, only it is destroyed. "That was only part of the plan. I activate Rank-Up-Magic Magical Force!" Yuto hears those words, and holds his hand to his heart. "He's one of us." "I can revive Trapeze Magician to then rank him up. Rank Up! Xyz Change! Performage Trapeze High Magician!" The Trapeze Magician has evolved to a higher state in its power, making it stronger than before.
[Trapeze High Magician Rank 5 Light Spellcaster Xyz ATK 2700]
"I detach 1 material to allow my monster to battle thrice this turn. That's 3 times for those at home." Yuto sprints off, forgetting about Yuya's skates, in search of another action card. While hanging from a trapeze rope, the magician makes its first attack, throwing a set of playing cards at Rebellion. Yuto reaches for an action card, only for Dennis to swipe it. "Action magic, Over Sword. I increase High Magician's attack by 500." The attack connects, destroying the black dragon.
[High Magician ATK 2700 - 3200]
[Yuya/Yuto LP 1600 - 900]
"I use the effect of Changeraffe. I destroy it, to revive Dark Rebellion to the field. And it cannot be destroyed by battle this turn." The pendulum monster uses its chains to pull Dark Rebellion from the graveyard, before disappearing from the board altogether. "You forget. My magician can attack 3 times this turn." Trapeze Magician leaps down, holding a single playing card, and slashes at Dark Rebellion like it was a sword. "My monster survives the attack." "But you still take the damage."
[Yuya/Yuto LP 900 - 200]
Now desperate, Yuto continues to look around for an action magic. "Tag me in." He ears in his head. "Yuya?" Yuto closes his eyes, and hands control back to Yuya. Immediately he uses his skates. Dennis sprints beside him, somehow keeping up with him. "Looks like this is your role now Yuya." A head of them, an action card hovers above, and they both reach for it, as Trapeze goes for their third attack. By the skin of his teeth, Yuya grabs it. "Action Magic, Take Flight! My monster gains 600 attack points." The attack strikes the dragon, but they powered up in time to avoid a total loss.
[Rebellion ATK 2500 - 3100]
[Yuya/Yuto LP 200 - 100]
"Turn end. Looks like I couldn't finish you off this turn Yuya." Dennis sits on one of the platforms, looking down at Yuya. His eyes turn back to grey as he draws from his deck. "Dennis. You're the type of person we need to help us with our mission." "Mission?" Dennis asks, playing coey. "Zarc is coming back. And Reiji asked me to collect the lancers together. Last I checked. You're one of them." Dennis holds his chest, feeling the warm feeling.
"I activate Rank-Up-Magic The Phantom Knights' Launch! Rank Up, Xyz Change!" Yuto ranks up with ace dragon into a higher form, just like Dennis did. "Rise! Dark Requiem Xyz Dragon!" The edgy dragon returns with a new coat of paint, bone armour, and beautiful glass wings. "Now set Xiangeke Magician on the pendulum scale. I use its effect to treat your rank 5 High Magician, as a level 5 monster." The new magician uses its power to affect High Magician, removing its level-less advantage.
[Dark Requiem Rank 5 Dark Dragon Xyz ATK 3000]
[Xiangke Magician LVL 7 Dark Spellcaster Pendulum Scale 3]
"I activate my dragon's effect. By detaching 1 material from my dragon, I can target your now level 5 monster, and reduce its attack to 0, and my dragon gains it." Requiem captures High Magician in a dark bond that stops them from moving, as well, weakens them fully.
[High Magician ATK 2700 - 0]
[Requiem ATK 3000 - 5700]
"I activate my Reversal Dancer's pendulum effect too. When your monster gains attack, I can have mine do so too." The dancer blows High Magician a kiss. It grants it the ability to free itself, and increase its power.
[High Magician ATK 0 - 2700]
"Dennis." Yuto says, looking up at his opponent. "Yeah?" "Welcome home." The evolved black dragon ascends into the sky. Opening its wings, it reveals the stained glass light that beams from the dragon. Soaring at max speed, the dragon clashes with the magician, destroying it. Dennis falls off the platform, only to be caught by the dragon, with Yuto riding on the back.
[Dennis LP 300 - 0]
With the duel over, Yuya returns in control, and sets them down. The survivors come forward to confront Dennis. "I'm not your enemy. I promise." Before any of them could speak up, a small army of trucks pulled up at the gates. They blare the Academia logo on the side of it. "See, here's my proof!" Out of the trucks, leading a squad of Academia duellists, were the Tyler Sisters. "Yuya!" Gloria holds her fangirling sister back before she could tackle Yuya. He looks at Dennis, confused, until he sees the blinking light on his disk. "You weren't looking for Shun. You were looking for the camp. But why?"
"To provide help!" A commanding voice is heard from the trucks. Atop of one of them, Edo Phoenix stands, being in charge of the operation. More troops pour out of the trucks, holding supplies; food, water, blankets, anything. Behind the sisters were Allen, and Saya. "Yuya!" They both look pleased to see him. Coming down, Edo helps the troops hand out the supplies to the survivors, along with the other survivors that they had picked up on the search. Edo stands alone with Yuya. "I've seen him recently, but not here." Yuya asked Edo where Shun is. "He's in the Fusion Dimension. But why are you so desperate to find him?" Edo looks down at Yuya, concerned about the issue. "Zarc is returning, and we need all Lancers to fight him." "That didn't work last time. What makes you think this time would be any better?" Yuya clenches his fist. "Because this time, I'll be ready to fight him." Edo looks at him with an amused look. "Is that so?"
End of chapter 3...