Starting Notes:
Welcome! It's been a while since I wrote fanfiction properly. I still love Yu-Gi-Oh!, but unfortunately, despite trying, I haven't been able to write for any of my past fics. The writing style of this fic is somewhat different.
In this story, there are two new dimensions—the Ritual Dimension and the Link Dimension—which exist naturally as a part of the Arc-V universe, and as such, two new dimensional counterparts for each. The Link Dimension counterparts will get more focus than the Ritual Dimension counterparts initially, which is why I'm introducing the Ritual counterparts first. The main characters are also aged up by two years, purely because I'm uncomfortable discussing some of the shows' themes with fourteen-year-olds. So the counterparts are all sixteen, and characters like Reiji and Shun are eighteen instead. The age change doesn't affect the plot at all—it's just to make writing this feel a little less odd.
Also, there is a pretty short Tag Duel in this chapter, so it's worth mentioning that the Tag Duel rules in this universe have been modified so that both sides start with 8000LP. If any other Tag Duels (such as the canon ones) occur, they will be rewritten to fit the rule change. Also, all duels follow Master Rule 5, with the addendum that Pendulum Monsters do not need to be summoned to the Extra Monster Zones either. So now, only Link Monsters are locked to the Extra Monster Zone.
This chapter is entirely about the Ritual counterparts, and the next one will be about the Link counterparts. There'll be a few chapters where they're properly being set up before the story properly intersects with the canon counterparts and characters. Disclaimer-the duels in later chapters are a lot better than the ones here.
Thanks for reading. Now, onto the chapter.
Chapter #1: The Ritual Dimension
"Are you certain?" The man sitting all the way at the back of the room stood up. "There are two more dimensions?"
"There are two more dimensions," the scientist in charge of the scouting team reported. In addition to the Synchro, Xyz and Standard Dimensions, which we have already discovered, there is also a Ritual Dimension and a Link Dimension."
The man pondered for a moment. The fact that the Link Dimension existed was not quite as surprising as the existence of the Ritual Dimension. With what he knew, the system of the 'Master Rule 5' that they currently use, with one Extra Monster Zone, only started existing after the Link Monsters started existing, even though the Extra Monster Zone remained unused for its true purpose—most people simply used it as an additional zone for their Fusion Monsters. However… they had Ritual Monsters in their own dimension too. The man had initially dismissed that as a fluke—possibly because of Ritual not being an Extra Deck method—but if the Ritual Dimension truly existed, how was it possible for Ritual Monsters to exist in the Fusion Dimension?
And how had it taken so long for them to find either dimension?
"We should investigate all the dimensions before we invade any of them," the man decided. The scientist nodded in deference to his answer. "Who is the current best Ritual duelist among the students?"
"That would be Asuka Tenjoin of Obelisk Blue," another voice spoke up. This was one of the teachers—Professor Chronos de Medici, the one who the 'Training Deck' of Academia was based on.
"Very well," Professor Leo Akaba said, standing up. "Send her and another student that she works well with to the Ritual Dimension to find out more about that place. And send another two less conspicuous students to the Link Dimension."
"Very well," Professor Chronos said, though his eyebrows creased in confusion. "If I may be so bold, why not send Marufuji-san or Yuri to investigate?"
"That would be sending in our strongest weapons before learning anything," the Professor said. He sat back down, leaning back. "... make the necessary arrangements. I need to think."
The room cleared out, until it was just him. Only then did the Professor pull up a screen. There, the face of a young, red-haired woman could be seen, smiling at the camera. The Professor's expression softened for a brief moment.
There was another reason why he could not send Yuri there, of course.
Because if there were two more dimensions, there were likely two more girls who shared the same face as his daughter. And two boys who shared the same face as that monster.
He could not let Yuri see that, until he could do so in a controlled environment.
He could not let anyone learn his true deepest desire, not until it would be fulfilled.
In another world:
Standing outside of the school gates, Yuji Fujita checked his watch again, watching the second hand go by. People were all stepping out of the school gates, going home with their friends, while he actively glanced away from them, trying to avoid eye contact. People glanced at him as they walked by, but as long as they didn't talk to him, then Yuji was perfectly fine with that.
Yuji was a boy with somewhat white and light blue hair that somehow still looked intentionally messy, despite it being a result of him being too lazy to actually figure out how to comb his hair properly. His hair was a little longer than most boys—if it was straight, it would probably go down to the bottom of his neck. His eyes were a sharp, bright silver. He was wearing an unzipped grey jacket, despite the fact that the weather was in fact extremely hot right now, with a dark undershirt, and dark blue jeans.
The seconds ticked by. The moment that the minute hand ticked over to '12' and it became two in the afternoon, he strolled back into the school, still avoiding looking at or bumping into any students. He still looked around though, and he soon began walking at a brisk pace, until he was near the back of the school.
There, he saw what he had expected to see. There were a few boys all tossed against the wall. There were two girls on the other side—one of them was someone that he recognised, while the other was not. It was as simple as that. The girl that he recognised was clearly the one that had delivered the beatdown—she had dark red hair that she had left untied, going down to her shoulders, with a sideswept fringe that was clipped up with a single hair clip of a maple leaf. She was wearing blue jean shorts, with white leggings beneath the shorts, and a simple white shirt. She also had a silver bracelet around her wrist, thin on one side and widening to look like a flickering flame, with a single red gem in the middle of the 'flame'.
She had a scowl on her face as she put her hands on her hips, glaring at the boys with those intimidating bright brown eyes.
"Chiaki," Yuji greeted. Chiaki Katsuya turned to him, raising an eyebrow.
"Yuji," she said. "Weren't you waiting at the gate?"
"It's 2.01," he said. "You were late. I came looking for you."
"I'm late," Chiaki repeated, and then she sighed, acknowledging that fact. At that moment, one of the boys on the ground lunged up, about to punch her. Chiaki rolled her eyes and grabbed his arm, dodging him and causing him to stumble. She tripped up his legs, causing him to sprawl out on the ground. "Try again. It'll have the same result."
"I know that you like to go after bullies," Yuji said after a short pause, not even bothering to look at the boys, "but you're late, Chiaki."
"Sorry, sorry, I'll make it up to you." Chiaki turned back to the boys. "See? If you weren't bullying this poor girl, I wouldn't have had to step in and be late. There's nothing Yuji hates more than people who can't keep to the right time."
"Then shouldn't you be appeasing your boyfriend?" One of the boys groaned out. Both Chiaki and Yuji rolled their eyes—they were far too used to people making jokes about that at this point, that they weren't even embarrassed at the proposed idea.
(Most people in the school that knew of the antisocial nerd and the bully hunter assumed that they had to be dating, considering that they spent most of their time just with each other. Even Chiaki's older brother had assumed that they were dating, though unbeknownst to Chiaki and Yuji, he assumed that because it was so painfully obvious that they liked each other, and they would probably be the last ones to ever realise that.)
"Why should I be upset at her?" Yuji said, shrugging. He put down his school bag, turning around and brushing off the sleeves of his jacket. "She was late because you were bullying someone at the exact time to make her stop and deal with you. I'd say that it was your fault."
"She's a busybody—"
Chiaki took one step forward, and the bully shut up. The girl behind Chiaki blinked, seeming mildly confused at what exactly was happening. Yuji didn't blame her. This was usually everyone's reaction to Chiaki—except him, of course.
"Alright, alright," Chiaki said, rolling her eyes. "I'll follow my brother's philosophy. You were stealing this girl's deck, right? Let's duel. Yuji and I against two of you. If we win, we take your decks, if we lose, we give you our decks."
"You can't!" The girl behind Chiaki blurted out. "It's alright, I just—"
Chiaki patted her shoulder, smiling for once. "No one's allowed to tell me that I can't do anything," she said.
Yuji shrugged. "She's at least correct about that much. Believe me, I've tried." He turned over to the bullies. "I guess it's a Tag Duel then. Are we alright with those stakes?"
"You're just going along with this?" The girl behind them said incredulously.
"Like Chiaki said, no one can ever get her to stop doing anything," Yuji said. "It's fine. We've never lost a Tag Duel."
"Despite your best efforts."
"It's not my fault that my cards are xenophobic," Yuji muttered. "Enough of that." He took out his deck, casually swapping out cards. The fact that his deck was this xenophobic meant that some changes had to be made to make it even somewhat compatible. He was used to this, however, and he turned back a moment later. "Alright. Let's go."
They fired up their duel disks, which showed their registered names on the projected screen above their heads.
[TAG DUEL!]
Chiaki Katsuya & Yuji Fujita: 8000LP
Tetsuya Yumizuki & Junpei Shoutori: 8000LP
[Turn 1: Chiaki] [H:5]
"I'm taking the first turn," Chiaki said immediately, swiping up the top five cards of her deck. "I'll Normal Summon Diviner of the Herald." A bright white light appeared in front of her, the holograms forming around them. From the light, rainbow feathers of light emerged, a small angel floating out of the light. The blue-skinned angel let out a soft sigh, tugging at her hood, before she glanced forward.
[Diviner of the Herald (2*/500/300/LIGHT/Fairy/Tuner/Effect)]
The boy on the left—Junpei—laughed. "I thought the rumours couldn't be true! Who'd expect a brute of a girl like you to use Fairy monsters!"
"You'll find that Fairy monsters are far more brutal than you think," Chiaki said. Diviner even looked somewhat indignant at Junpei's description of Chiaki. "I'll use her effect. I can send a Fairy monster from my deck or Extra Deck to the graveyard to increase her Level by that amount. I will send the Level 9 Sacred Arch-Airknight Parshath to the graveyard." Diviner seemed to be quietly chanting a spell, before she glowed with a brighter light.
[Diviner of the Herald: 2* + 9* = 11*]
"Next, I will activate the Spell, Pre-Preparation of Rites. With its effect, I can add a Ritual Spell and a Ritual Monster that is specifically listed in that Ritual Spell from my deck to my hand." Chiaki added two cards to her hand immediately. "I will activate the Ritual Spell, Dawn of the Herald. For the monster that I am Ritual Summoning, I need to tribute monsters with a total Level of 6 or more. As should be frankly obvious, my Level 11 Diviner is enough."
A large altar appeared on the field in front of Chiaki and Yuji. Diviner flew over to it, dissolving into rainbow light.
"Beautiful rainbow light that dances in the sky. Now, angel of absolute perfection, let the world around you bend to your divine declaration. Advent! Level 6! Herald of Perfection!"
A strange, white angel with a body made out of two white spheres that were attached to each other appeared. Orange, green and purple feathers sprouted from all over its body. It had no face, nor any expression. It simply floated there in Defense Position, silent and deferent.
[Herald of Perfection (6*/1800/2800/LIGHT/Fairy/Ritual/Effect)]
"And when Diviner is tributed," Chiaki continued, "I can Special Summon a Level 2 or lower Fairy monster from my deck. Come—Light Law Medium."
A pink-haired angel surrounded by gold and pink light appeared, twirling around by Herald of Perfection's side, a calm smile on her face.
[Light Law Medium (2*/400/300/LIGHT/Fairy/Effect)]
"And I can banish Dawn of the Herald from the graveyard to add a monster tributed for that Ritual Summon back to my hand." Chiaki picked up Diviner from the graveyard. She was smirking. "I'll end my turn."
"Hah!" Their opponent drew a card, clearly confident in himself. "You didn't even leave that weak pink Fairy in Defense Position!"
Yuji mentally lit some incense for his opponent, mourning his imminent suffering. Clearly, he was not one of the bullies that had dealt with Chiaki Katsuya before. Otherwise, he'd know what kind of hell he was about to go through, considering that Chiaki had summoned Herald of Perfection on the first turn and had four cards in her hand right now.
[Turn 2: Tetsuya] [H:6]
"Draw! I'll Normal Summon Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands!" One of the most universal Ritual support cards appeared—a monster that seemed to be made fully out of silver, with large, silvery hands floating all around it.
[Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands (4*/1400/1000/LIGHT/Fairy/Effect)]
"And I'll activate its effect! I'll add a Ritual Monster to my hand!"
"I'll activate the effect of Herald of Perfection," Chiaki said with a shrug. "I'll discard a Fairy monster from my hand to negate the activation of a Spell, Trap or monster effect, and destroy that card. Declaration of Divinity!" She discarded a card from her hand, and with a bright ray of light, Herald of Perfection blasted the silver fairy off the field. "And I'll activate the effect of Sacred Arch-Airknight Parshath. Since I negated the activation of a Spell or Trap, I can banish two Fairies from my hand, field or graveyard to Special Summon him from the graveyard. I will banish the Fairy I just discarded, and another in my hand. Come!"
A tall, imposing fairy appeared, clad in royal blue and gold armour. White wings jutted out from the armour, forming a wingspan far wider than the fairy's height. A large white ring of glowing light formed behind the fairy. It—he?—was holding onto a large sword that was almost as long as it was tall. Its bottom half seemed to be in the shape of a face. For all the times that Yuji had seen this card—it was one of Chiaki's 'beatsticks', after all—he had never understood why it had a face on the bottom half of its body. How did that make any sense?
[Sacred Arch-Airknight Parshath (9*/2800/2300/LIGHT/Fairy/Effect)]
… anyway, the looks on their two opponents' faces were priceless.
"I'll activate Pre-Preparation of Rites!"
"Declaration of Divinity!"
Another Fairy, another card blasted away. Apparently, they hadn't known that this effect wasn't once per turn.
"The problem with us Ritual Monster users is that we brick easily," Chiaki said, tilting her head. "So? Do you have the materials to Ritual Summon at all?" It was a clear taunt—Chiaki had never been a 'nice' person. "If you do, I'll let you."
"I'll activate the Ritual Spell, Curse of the Masked Beast! I'll tribute a Level 8 monster in my hand! Come out now—The Masked Beast!" A tall, chimeric creature appeared—its midsection was certainly human, but the bottom of its body was an amalgamation of monstrous parts. It was wearing a red and green mask.
[The Masked Beast (8*/3200/1800/DARK/Fiend/Ritual)]
"I—"
"At the start of your Battle Phase, I'll activate Light Law Medium's effect. I can force one of your monsters to target her for an attack this turn. Compelling Light!" The Masked Beast was surrounded by pink and golden light again, turning towards Light Law Medium as it was compelled.
"Hah! Whatever! Attack!"
"Once per turn, when Light Law Medium is targeted for an attack," Chiaki said with a sharp laugh that for a moment, caused Yuji's heart to jolt, "she can negate the attack and inflict damage to you equal to half the attack points of the attacking monster!" Light Law Medium flew up into the air, dodging the attack. "Refract Law!" The pink-haired angel fired off a shot of light at their opponents.
Tetsuya Yumizuki & Junpei Shoutori: 8000 - 3200 / 2 = 6400LP
"You—" Tetsuya shook his head. "I end my turn."
[Turn 3: Yuji] [H:6]
"Why am I even here?" Yuji said dryly. "You could take them both out on your own."
"But then I'd have to waste time on two sets of four thousand life points," Chiaki said. "Man up a bit, Yuji."
"There's a nice novel at home that I was going to read…"
"Like I said, man up."
"Fine, fine." Yuji drew a card. "I'll Normal Summon Tour Guide From the Underworld." A pink-haired woman in a blue tour guide's uniform appeared on his field. "I'll Special Summon a Level 3 monster from my deck, but its effects are negated.
[Tour Guide From the Underworld (3*/1000/600/DARK/Fiend/Effect)]
And it couldn't be used for a Synchro Summon, whatever that was. There were just so many mechanics in this game that were extraneous, or didn't exist at all—for example, Chiaki's Diviner of the Herald was a 'Tuner', along with one of Yuji's own cards, but what the hell was a Tuner, anyway?
"I'll Special Summon Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss." The white-haired boy held out the card, as the monster appeared in front of him. "Farfa would normally destroy itself in the presence of Chiaki's monsters, since they're not "Burning Abyss" monsters, but thankfully, Tour Guide negates that."
Farfa was a rather stereotypical-looking demon, with long horns and wings—kind of like a Shin Megami Tensei demon, but Yuji wasn't exactly going to make that reference out loud. Everyone already thought that he was a nerd, after all.
[Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss (3*/1000/1900/DARK/Fiend/Effect)]
"I'll then activate my own Ritual Spell. Good & Evil in the Burning Abyss. I will tribute the Level 3 Tour Guide and the Level 3 Farfa." Both of the monsters dissolved into light and shadow, which then fused together into a single large swirling orb.
"For the providence that gave them the fifth pit to govern as the ministers of its will takes from their souls the power of leaving it! Appear now, leader of the Malebranche! Rule over this world with your heart of fire and brimstone! Ritual Summon! Level 6! Malacoda, Netherlord of the Burning Abyss!"
On the field, a dark portal of fire appeared, and then an armoured figure stepped through it, one hand holding onto a red-hot blade and the other blade gleaming blue with a strange type of magic. A long tail with the head of a dragon appeared, letting out loud growls at the same time as the demon itself, and finally, dark purple and brown wings stretched out as the demon let out a roar.
[Malacoda, Netherlord of the Burning Abyss (6*/2700/2200/DARK/Fiend/Ritual/Effect)]
"Farfa's effect activates when sent to the graveyard," Yuji said. "I'll banish a monster from your field until the End Phase." The Masked Beast was swept away in a wave of darkness. "And you didn't bother putting up a defence, which is literally the most important thing to do. Herald of Perfection moves to Attack Position. Light Law Medium, Malacoda, Herald of Perfection, Parshath. Attack directly!"
All four monsters attacked, and their opponents' life points fell to zero.
Tetsuya Yumizuki & Junpei Shoutori: 6400 - 400 - 2700 - 1800 - 2800 = 0LP
Winner: Chiaki Katsuya & Yuji Fujita!
"Keep your decks," Chiaki said with a sigh. "I just wanted to teach you a lesson." She touched her own hair. "We were going to get burgers, right, Yuji?"
"The place is likely crowded by now," Yuji said. Had Chiaki really rushed that duel for the sake of burgers? Alright, that made sense, considering the kind of person that Chiaki was. "We can get cake at the cafe?"
"Cake for lunch?" Chiaki stared at him, before she smiled. "Sounds great." She picked up his bag, tossing it to him. Yuji nearly dropped it as he caught it. She walked towards the gate, and Yuji followed her, before she turned around, facing towards the girl who she had helped. "Hey, you. Come along. Yuji will treat you to cake."
"You only want me for my money," Yuji said, clear sarcasm in his voice. "But yes, come along. I guess I'll treat you to something."
As the three of them left, and the bullies left soon after, two people glanced at each other. One of them was a blonde girl in a white and blue uniform. She glanced over at her friend. "That boy…"
"He looks like Yuri," her companion agreed. "... it's weird. Should we look around more?"
"Sure. I guess we should make sure to avoid any Fusion Monsters for now."
The two that had been hiding nearby walked off, looking all around them. No one noticed them. If they did, they probably just assumed that those two were students.
"So," Chiaki said, once the three of them had all sat down in a cafe, at the table by the window. "What's your name?"
The girl who was sitting there, staring awkwardly at the cake in front of her, had sky blue hair, and eyes that were the same colour as that bright blue. She had a strand of hair that defied physics and wiggled above her head, shaped like a lightning bolt. She was wearing her hair in two high mid-length ponytails. She was wearing fingerless cobalt gloves, and a slate grey off-shoulder blouse, as well as a purple striped skirt. "Kyorin Rinsoka," she said after a moment. She was fidgeting, her fingers pressed tightly against the bench that she was sitting on.
"Hey, no need to be nervous." Chiaki was smiling. "I'm only mean to people that deserve it. I don't think you do."
"You're mean to me," Yuji pointed out. Chiaki smacked the top of his head, proving his point. To their surprise, Kyorin giggled.
"You two are really good friends," she said. "I heard a lot of rumours about the two of you from all around school…"
"All bad, I suppose," Chiaki said.
"Well, some of it was bad, but everyone just said that the two of you were aggressively antisocial. Are you childhood friends?"
"Yeah," Yuji said. "We grew up together."
He wouldn't tell this to someone that he had just met, but he and Chiaki had known each other from the start. They had grown up on the streets, and they had stuck together—the boy that could never quite talk to another person and the girl who couldn't seem to be near someone else without getting in a fight. She'd had that bracelet on her wrist since she was a baby, apparently, and kids in the orphanage liked to try to steal each other's things, so she had run away. Neither of them knew where they had come from.
They had both been adopted, and luckily, they were adopted by two friends that were living in the same neighbourhood. Neither of those were old enough for Chiaki or him to view them as a parent—in fact, neither of them had even been planning to adopt someone. However, they had found Chiaki and him getting scolded for shoplifting, bailed them out, and offered to help them out.
Chiaki's brother had said that they reminded him of himself, when he was a delinquent teenager.
"I haven't seen you around school before though," Chiaki said. "And no offence, but your demeanour literally screams 'I'm a prime victim to be bullied'. How have we never met?"
Kyorin bit her lip. "I'm a transfer student," she said. "I was getting bullied at my last school, and an incident happened that was large enough for my guardian to find out about it, so he, um, got mad at the school and decided to send me here instead."
Yuji and Chiaki exchanged a look. "Well," Yuji said, "you are not… terrible."
"Wow," Chiaki said, elbowing him. "Great job."
"Shut it, Chiaki." He grimaced. "I don't mind hanging out with you."
"Yes," Chiaki said. "So if anyone's mean to you, come to me! I'll beat them up!"
Kyorin nodded. "It's not like I can't stand up for myself," she said. "And I'm good at dueling too! But I get shoved around easily too, I have, uh, jelly arms." She waved her arms through the air. "See? Nothing. I'd get knocked over by a gust of wind."
Chiaki laughed. Yuji couldn't help but smile.
Somehow, he didn't quite mind this girl. And really, anyone that made Chiaki laugh was… fine enough in his book. It would take him a while to learn how to talk to her though. The only reason that Chiaki and him communicated flawlessly, despite him never saying what he meant, was just because they knew each other.
As they left the cake shop, they were chatting, only to be interrupted by two people. One of them was the blonde girl that had been observing the duel earlier, not that either Chiaki or Yuji knew that. The other one was a boy with teal hair and eyes. The boy's eyes brightened as he saw the two of them.
"Hold up!" He called, running over. "You two… you're the ones that we saw dueling just now!"
"Johan!" The blonde girl called with a sigh, resignedly following along. Yuji immediately felt a sense of kinship with her. "Uh, hi…"
"I'm Johan Andersen!" The teal-haired boy declared. "Your duel was amazing! Uh, you two are, uh…"
"Chiaki Katsuya and Yuji Fujita," Chiaki said, introducing the two of them, if only because they both knew that Yuji was perhaps the worst person in the world in terms of introductions. "And this is Kyorin Rinsoka." She gestured to Kyorin, to try and avoid their friend feeling left out.
"I'm Asuka Tenjoin," the blonde girl said, seemingly recognising that there was no chance that she could escape now. "Hello. You have a very pretty bracelet."
Chiaki's hand immediately went to her bracelet—Yuji knew that it was a reflex from her time in the orphanage and on the streets. He had the same reflex too—someone saying that you had something nice was usually a sign that they wanted to steal it. He reached out and gently tapped Chiaki's shoulder, and she relaxed. "Thanks," she said. "But why did you approach us?"
"I didn't approach you directly, because I have some semblance of social grace," Asuka said. Johan laughed. "So, Johan? Why'd you approach them?"
"I'd like to duel you!" Johan said, looking directly at Yuji. There was something slightly different about the way that he carried himself as he said that—as though he was suddenly more confident. "I mean, during the duel, we saw that your friend over there kicked ass, but you kind of just summoned one monster and attacked."
"That's 'cause Yuji's a slacker," Chiaki said. Yuji stared at her, slightly betrayed—well, both of them knew that, but there was no need to expose him to someone that they had just met! "You should duel him, Yuji."
"I don't want to," Yuji said, putting his hands in his pockets. "There's a nice novel at home—"
"I let you treat me to cake," Chiaki said. "Duel him."
Kyorin, Johan and Asuka all exchanged confused and incredulous looks. Kyorin mouthed 'what kind of argument is that' and Johan laughed, while Asuka shrugged and made a 'what the hell' look.
Yuji sighed, taking off his bag and tossing it to her, before he raised his duel disk.
"That worked?" Johan asked, grinning widely.
"It is useless to talk Chiaki out of anything," Yuji said with a sigh. "Let's do this, I suppose."
"Alright!" Johan cheered, before he lifted his duel disk too. "Let's go!" The pattern on the duel disk was a little weird—like a sword, instead of the flickering flames on both sides of a curved blade that most duel disks had. A custom model, perhaps.
Well, someone who loved dueling enough to get a custom disk was a very different person from Yuji Fujita, who had never enjoyed a duel in his life.
[DUEL!]
Yuji Fujita: 4000LP
Johan Andersen: 4000LP
[Turn 1: Yuji] [H:5]
Yuji drew his hand at the same time as Johan, and the duel disk automatically assigned him the first turn. He sighed. "I forgot to change my deck composition." Chiaki laughed. "This is fine. Everything is under control."
"If you have to say that," Kyorin commented, "it's probably not." Chiaki laughed, patting her on the shoulder.
Yuji sighed. "Thank you for the support. I'll Normal Summon Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss. And since I control no Spells or Traps, I can Special Summon Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from my hand."
Scarm was a demon in a helmet, with a head of white, curly, eerie hair. He had long, three-fingered, bony claws that carried no flesh or skin on them. Each claw was larger than his own head. It had long wings as well.
Meanwhile, Graff was far more animalistic. It was a large canine with eyes of burning fire, a cross-shaped scar and several wounds on its underbelly that also burned with the same red light. The red light contrasted its coal black fur. It also had two large, demonic wings that jutted out of its back.
[Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss (3*/800/2000/DARK/Fiend/Effect)]
[Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss (3*/1000/1500/DARK/Fiend/Effect)]
"I'll set one card facedown. Over to you."
"Huh? That's a really suspicious play…" Johan frowned, but he drew a card anyway. "Alright. Let's go!"
[Turn 2: Johan] [H:6]
"I'll activate the Spell, Crystal Bond," Johan declared immediately. "I'll add a "Crystal Beast" monster from my deck to my hand, and place a "Crystal Beast" monster in my backrow as a Continuous Spell."
A Continuous Spell, huh…
"I'll add Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus to my hand, and I'll place Crystal Beast Cobalt Eagle in my backrow." A large, dark blue crystal appeared in front of him, glowing brightly. Yuji raised an eyebrow. Interesting. "I'll then Normal Summon Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus!"
A white pegasus appeared, white and gold wings spreading out and long horn peeking out from its head. Dark blue crystals could be seen on its wings.
[Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus (4*/1800/1200/WIND/Beast/Effect)]
"Sapphire Pegasus's effect. I can place a "Crystal Beast" monster from my hand, deck or graveyard in my backrow as a Continuous Spell. I will place Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger there." A yellow crystal appeared next to the dark blue one. "I will then activate the Spell, Crystal Beacon. I will Special Summon the cutest monster you'll ever see—my partner, Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle!"
A cute purple-grey creature appeared, with wide red eyes and a large red orb at the end of its tail. Its four pointed ears wiggled.
Kyorin let out an 'aww' sound. Chiaki and Yuji both blinked, unfazed by the supposed cuteness.
[Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle (3*/300/300/LIGHT/Fairy/Effect)]
"And when Ruby Carbuncle is Special Summoned, I can Special Summon all crystallised "Crystal Beast" monsters—or, in game terms, all "Crystal Beast" monsters that are currently being treated as Continuous Spells!"
Both the yellow and dark blue gems shattered in an instant, and two animals came charging out—a pale tiger appeared, with yellow-white fur, as well as black stripes, pouncing forward and landing next to Ruby Carbuncle. The tiny… carbuncle… looked hilariously small next to Sapphire Pegasus and Topaz Tiger.
What was a carbuncle, anyway?
The other beast that had escaped from its crystal form was an eagle with brown feathers, and blue-black gems near the top of its wings.
[Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger (4*/1600/1000/EARTH/Beast/Effect)]
[Crystal Beast Cobalt Eagle (4*/1400/800/WIND/Winged Beast/Effect)]
"I'll enter my Battle Phase," Johan said. "Topaz Tiger will attack your Graff!"
"I will activate my Trap Card," Yuji said, sounding just as calm and nonchalant as ever. "Fire Lake of the Burning Abyss. I can send two "Burning Abyss" monsters I control to the graveyard. Then, I can destroy three cards on the field. I'll destroy Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger, Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus and Crystal Beast Cobalt Eagle." The two monsters on his field turned to ash, which flew over to Johan's field, smothering all his monsters.
"When they're destroyed in the Monster Zone," Johan said, "I can crystallise them again!" Three gems appeared in front of him—blue, dark blue and yellow, with a glowing light in the middle of them. Ruby Carbuncle let out a timid sound, seeming afraid to be the only one left on the field. "It's alright, Ruby." He leaned down and patted Ruby Carbuncle on the head. "We can just attack directly—"
"When sent to the graveyard," Yuji called, interrupting him. "Graff allows me to Special Summon a "Burning Abyss" monster from my deck. So I'll be bringing out Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from my deck."
A purple-skinned, orc-like monster appeared, with two enormous fists that were bound by long chains, which had since broken and left him free to roam.
[Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss (3*/1600/1200/DARK/Fiend/Effect)]
"I'll move onto my Main Phase 2. I'll activate the Spell, Rainbow Bridge. I can add a "Crystal" Spell or Trap from my deck to my hand. I'll set a card facedown. Over to you."
Yuji raised an eyebrow.
While most people might look down on Johan for ending with a weak monster and a set card, and nothing else, Yuji himself disagreed. There was something sly about Johan Andersen, something that wasn't quite so simple.
Yuji had never liked people that were too complicated.
"During the End Phase, since Scarm was sent to the graveyard, I can add a Level 3 DARK Fiend monster from my deck to my hand," Yuji declared. He subsequently drew a card, signifying the start of his turn.
[Turn 3: Yuji] [H:4]
"... I will activate the Spell, Pre-Preparation of Rites. I will add a Ritual Spell and its corresponding Ritual Monster to my hand. I will then activate the Ritual Spell, Good & Evil in the Burning Abyss, and I'll tribute the Level 3 Cir on the field, and the Level 3 Farfa in my hand. For the providence that gave them the fifth pit to govern as the ministers of its will takes from their souls the power of leaving it! Appear now, leader of the Malebranche! Rule over this world with your heart of fire and brimstone! Ritual Summon! Level 6! Malacoda, Netherlord of the Burning Abyss!"
Malacoda appeared, flames bursting all around him.
[Malacoda, Netherlord of the Burning Abyss (6*/2700/2200/DARK/Fiend/Ritual/Effect)]
"I will activate Farfa's effect. When sent to the graveyard, I can banish a monster on the field until the End Phase." Calmly, Yuji pointed to Ruby Carbuncle, who vanished from the field. If Ruby Carbuncle was returned to the field later on, it wouldn't count as a Special Summon, so he wasn't giving his opponent free Special Summons. "Cir's effect allows me to revive a "Burning Abyss" monster, except for Cir himself. So I will revive Graff." The beastly demon reappeared on the field.
[Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss (3*/1000/1500/DARK/Fiend/Effect)]
"Graff will attack you directly."
"Set card, activate," Johan said, smiling widely. "The Trap, Crystal Boon. I can Special Summon up to two "Crystal Beast" monsters from my Spell and Trap Zone, and I gain life points equal to their total attack points. Return—Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger! Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus!" The yellow and blue gems exploded, and the two beasts reappeared, zooming out of the glimmering shards. A yellow and blue glow surrounded Johan as well, as his life points ticked upwards.
[Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger (4*/1600/1000/EARTH/Beast/Effect)]
[Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus (4*/1800/1200/WIND/Beast/Effect)]
Johan: 4000 + 1600 + 1800 = 7400LP
"And Sapphire Pegasus will place Crystal Beast Emerald Tortoise in my Spell and Trap Zone as a Continuous Spell."
"Graff, stop your attack." Yuji waved out a hand, and the beast came back. "And Malacoda will attack your Topaz Tiger."
"Since a "Crystal Beast" monster I control is battling, I can Special Summon Crystal Beast Rainbow Dragon from my hand!"
Rainbow Dragon?
A small, thin white dragon appeared, bright white wings spreading out, gleaming with bright light. Seven different gems could be seen all over its white body, in small orbs.
[Crystal Beast Rainbow Dragon (8*/3000/0/LIGHT/Dragon/Effect)]
"Three thousand attack points?" Chiaki raised an eyebrow. "But that causes a replay, right?"
"Yes."
"Malacoda changes attack target," Yuji said, as Chiaki had known that he would. "Attack Rainbow Dragon."
"Huh?" Asuka blinked in surprise.
"Once per turn, I can discard a "Burning Abyss" monster from my hand. The monster it battles loses attack and defense points equal to the monster I discard." Yuji revealed another card. "Barbar, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss. Hellraking Drain!" Malacoda summoned up shadows that attached themselves to the dragon, draining away its strength.
[Crystal Beast Rainbow Dragon: 3000 - 1700 = 1300ATK; 0 - 1000 = 0DEF]
"And with Barbar's effect, I will banish Scarm, Farfa and Cir from my graveyard. With this, I will inflict 300 damage to you for each card I banished, up to three."
Three large fireballs shot towards Johan's field.
Johan: 7400 - 300 x 3 = 6500LP
Then, Rainbow Dragon was destroyed too.
Johan: 6500 - 1400 = 5100LP
"I will activate the effect of Crystal Beast Rainbow Dragon to crystallise it!" A white gem, shimmering with seven colours inside it, appeared next to the cobalt gem. "And since a card was crystallised, I can banish Crystal Boon from the graveyard and reveal the top card of my deck. If it's a "Crystal Beast" monster, I can add it to my hand or Special Summon it." Johan flipped over the top card of his deck. "I'll Special Summon Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth!" A grey mammoth appeared, with four long off-white tusks, and a tuft of white hair on the top of its head. It had an amber gem on its forehead.
[Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth (4*/1700/1600/EARTH/Beast/Effect)]
"I'll end my turn," Yuji said. He shrugged. "Over to you." Ruby Carbuncle reappeared on the field as a result.
[Turn 4: Johan] [H:3]
"Draw," Johan said. "So now, I have a crystallised Crystal Beast Rainbow Dragon, Crystal Beast Emerald Tortoise and Crystal Beast Cobalt Eagle. And on the field, I have Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger, Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus, Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth and Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle."
Yuji frowned. Was there a point to Johan pointing out that he had seven Crystal Beasts on the field?
Seven…
"Rainbow?" He asked, and then realised how stupid the question sounded. He had meant to ask whether or not there was an effect that only activated with seven Crystal Beasts, considering that the strongest monster seemed to be a rainbow, which had seven colours. However, his communication issues had cut off his entire sentence—
"Are you going to reveal some magical effect that comes forth with the number seven?" Chiaki said, raising an eyebrow, and alright, there it was. She turned to Yuji and smiled, and Yuji nodded.
At least there was always Chiaki, when he was in trouble.
"Yes," Johan said with a smile. "When I have seven Crystal Beasts with different names on the field or in my graveyard, I can Special Summon Rainbow Dragon from my hand!"
And there it was. A far larger version of Crystal Beast Rainbow Dragon. The wings were far brighter, taking on the hue of cooler colours—smaller golden appendages like tiny wings could be seen over its midsection. A dark blue horn could be seen peeking out of the top of its head, long and imposing. There were gold rings around its serpent-like body, and some small fin-like appendages at the tail and the 'neck'. (Did serpents have necks, or was their entire body their neck?)
[Rainbow Dragon (10*/4000/0/LIGHT/Dragon/Effect)]
Yuji watched impassively, unbothered by the monster.
"Not impressed?" Johan said with a chuckle.
"It's a Nomi, right?" Yuji cleared his throat. "I'm impressed. But I've never cared about attack points. What's its effect?"
The one thing that Chiaki Katsuya had taught him is that certain effects can kill a deck altogether.
"Oh, no need to worry about that for now." Johan pointed forward. "Rainbow Dragon attacks Graff!"
A three thousand point difference. No monster that Yuji discarded could make up for that.
So what was the point in trying to?
"I will discard Farfa for Malacoda's effect. I'll target Amber Mammoth. Hellraking Drain!"
[Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth: 1700 - 1000 = 700ATK; 1600 - 1900 = 0DEF]
"That's a Quick Effect?" Johan exclaimed, bringing a hand to his mouth.
"Yes." Yuji cleared his throat, messing with his white and light blue hair. "I discarded Farfa. I will remove Rainbow Dragon from the field for this turn."
"Well, that sucks," Johan said lightly. "Sapphire Pegasus will take out Graff!"
Yuji didn't bother to do anything. Graff was destroyed by the pure white pegasus, stabbing it with the horn.
Yuji: 4000 - 800 = 3200LP
"Graff's effect. I'll Special Summon a "Burning Abyss" monster from my deck. Come—Scarm!" The white-haired, conventional demon appeared, crouched in Defense Position.
"Nice," Johan praised. "But unless you have some proper effect destruction, you're just putting off the inevitable." He ended his turn, and Rainbow Dragon reappeared.
"That's the most annoying part about Yuji's dueling," Chiaki said, smirking. "He lacks any kind of energy whatsoever. It's so obvious that he can do better, but he just stalls."
"Hmm." Johan blinked, seeming somewhat contemplative. "So he's not overly excited about dueling and happy to duel the strongest people ever?..."
Chiaki burst into laughter. For a moment, she couldn't seem to hold it back—and Yuji glanced over at her, sighing.
"You don't have to laugh so much."
Chiaki rubbed at her eyes, which were tearing up somewhat from laughter. "I'm the one that loves dueling out of the two of us," she said. "Maybe someday Yuji will like it… but it's not like him to ever get competitive. That's not my Yuji."
Yuji glanced away, his cheeks feeling like they were burning, though he didn't understand why.
"Still though, he is good. So come on, Yuji. Do something."
And well—
Yuji Fujita had never been able to disagree with Chiaki Katsuya.
[Turn 5: Yuji] [H:1]
"Draw," Yuji said.
"This will have to be a really lucky draw," Johan commented.
Yuji shrugged. "No need," he said. "I'll banish Good & Evil from the Burning Abyss from my graveyard, and discard a card in my hand. Then, I can add any "Burning Abyss" card from my deck to my hand. I will add the Spell, The Terminus of the Burning Abyss, to my hand." He gestured to the graveyard. "I'll activate the effect of Cir, who I discarded. I will revive Barbar. And now, I will activate the card that I just added to my hand."
He placed Terminus down.
"I can perform a Fusion Summon of a "Burning Abyss" monster using cards on the field and in my hand!"
"What?" Johan and Asuka exclaimed.
Chiaki smiled smugly, always ready to brag about him. "Yuji can perform both Ritual and Fusion Summoning," she said. "Most people can only do Ritual Summoning, since it's by far the easier one, but he's never had a problem with it!"
Asuka and Johan exchanged a look.
Johan could see his own confusion reflected in Asuka's eyes. Yes, the Fusion Dimension had Ritual Summoning, and in fact, it was the only dimension that seemed to have started out with more than one method. But now they were finding out that the Ritual Dimension had Fusion Summoning too?
Out of all of the dimensions, while every other dimension had its own summoning method, the Ritual Dimension and the Fusion Dimension seemed to have intersected somehow—gaining each other's summoning method. Why was that? The Professor had said that the worlds used to be one, so had something odd happened with how they split up?
And Johan was still not over seeing Yuri's face on this boy in front of him.
This was obviously not Yuri. And yet…
"I will fuse Malacoda, Barbar and Scarm," Yuji continued, though he was slightly embarrassed by Chiaki's praise. "Woe to you, depraved spirits! Hope not ever to see Heaven. I have come to lead you to the other shore; into eternal darkness; into fire and into ice. And thou, who are there alive, depart thee from these who are dead."
"The day when you stop quoting texts for your summoning chants is the day when I stop calling you a nerd," Chiaki said, rolling her eyes.
"Miss 'let me use 'Advent' instead of 'Ritual Summon' since it sounds cooler' wants to lecture me about summoning chants?" Yuji sighed, the moment ruined. "Fusion Summon! Dante, Pilgrim of the Burning Abyss!"
A pale, blue-haired man appeared, seeming at odds with all of the demons that Yuji had summoned thus far. There was something unmistakably bright and holy to the man—something untouchable. Laurels were braided in his hair. He was wearing white, gold and purple robes—not metal, just soft fabric. He was holding onto a bright, elaborate-looking staff. The man did not look like a warrior in the slightest.
[Dante, Pilgrim of the Burning Abyss (9*/2800/2500/LIGHT/Fairy/Fusion/Effect)]
"Malacoda's effect triggers," Yuji declared. "I can send a card on the field to the graveyard. Retribution Flame!" Flames consumed Rainbow Dragon. That card had no effects that could protect it? Interesting. Yuji had expected some kind of protection effect… to put in that much work for four thousand attack points didn't seem all that worth it. Still though, he shouldn't judge too much.
Just a little.
"I will use Barbar's effect. I will banish Graff, the previous Barbar and Farfa." The three monsters vanished from the graveyard. Three more fireballs shot towards Johan.
Johan: 5100 - 300 x 3 = 4200LP
"Dante will destroy your Amber Mammoth," Yuji continued. The attack continued without interruption, destroying the monster. It crystallises, of course.
Johan: 4200 - 1100 = 3100LP
That left Sapphire Pegasus, Ruby Carbuncle and Topaz Tiger. All of the Crystal Beasts seemed to only have one effect, and Sapphire Pegasus and Ruby Carbuncle couldn't use theirs while face-up on the field. He'd yet to see what Topaz Tiger could do, but…
"I'll end my turn," Yuji said. "Scarm will add another Level 3 Fiend monster back to my hand."
[Turn 6: Johan] [H:3]
"Draw," Johan said. "You know, if you put more energy into it, you would easily defeat anyone!"
"Maybe," Yuji said. "But that's not what I want."
"Then what do you want?" Johan asked, tilting his head.
"... I just want to live a perfectly average life," Yuji said. "I couldn't care less about standing out, or being someone special, or anything like that."
"... well, fair enough!" Johan chuckled. "Sorry. It's been quite a while since I've heard someone wish to be completely ordinary." He placed down a card. "Spell Card, Crystal Abundance!" He clicked his tongue. "I can only activate this when I have at least four crystallised Crystal Beasts. By sending the four of them to the graveyard, I can send as many cards as possible from the field to the graveyard, and then revive Crystal Beasts from my graveyard, up to the number of your cards that are sent to the graveyard by this effect."
Yuji narrowed his eyes, making a split-second decision. "I'll activate Dante's effect. I'll send a "Burning Abyss" card from my hand to the graveyard to draw one card. I sent the Graff that I searched last turn to the graveyard. I will Special Summon Cir." His effect resolved first—and thus, Cir was sent to the graveyard by Crystal Abundance's effect. However, with that, he managed to revive Scarm in Defense Position, leaving himself with a single shield by the time that the Spell had resolved.
Graff, Cir, Scarm. The easiest ways to earn card advantage in this deck. Cycling through them over and over.
"I'll revive Crystal Beast Rainbow Dragon," Johan declared. The small white dragon reappeared on his field.
[Crystal Beast Rainbow Dragon (8*/3000/0/LIGHT/Dragon/Effect)]
"Attack and destroy that monster!"
Scarm had been in Defense Position, thankfully, so Yuji was spared the damage.
"I'll end my turn for now."
"Scarm's effect," Yuji said, plucking up one more card from his deck—knowing immediately what he was searching out.
[Turn 7: Yuji] [H:3]
"Draw," he said stoically. He had run through all his copies of Cir and Graff at this point. "I will activate Allure of Darkness. I can draw two cards, and then banish a DARK monster from my hand."
To be honest… if he hadn't swapped out his deck for a duel that he had barely done anything in, he would have no answer to give right now.
But he was a Ritual duelist.
He was used to bad odds. He was used to having to think carefully about every move, because a wrong move would mean that tons of card advantage would go down the drain. He was even more used to bad odds because his best friend was Chiaki Katsuya, who loved making everything difficult for anyone who dared to become her opponent, whether in beliefs or in a duel.
"I will activate the Spell, Pre-Preparation of Rites," he said calmly. "I'll add a Ritual Spell and the monster listed in that Ritual Spell to my hand. I'll Normal Summon Armageddon Knight."
A black-haired warrior with a large red cape appeared, dressed in armour and holding out a long, large sword in his hands.
[Armageddon Knight (4*/1400/1200/DARK/Warrior/Effect)]
"I will send a DARK monster from my deck to the graveyard." Yuji flipped it over. "Djinn Demolisher of Rituals." He dropped it into the graveyard. "And I will activate the Ritual Spell, Ritual of Destruction. I will tribute the Level 4 Djinn Presider of Rituals in my hand. Then, with the effect of the Level 3 Demolisher in my graveyard, I can banish it from the graveyard to fit the tribute."
He held out the Ritual Monster in his hand.
"Dark king of destructive rage. Break all and obliterate." He kept his summoning chant short—he had no real connection to this monster, even if it was one of the monsters that he used more often. "Ritual Summon. Level 7. Garlandolf, King of Destruction!"
A muscular-looking fiend appeared, with dark purple skin. Gold bands surrounded his limbs, and long, dark red spikes could be seen jutting out from his forearms as well. Two long tusk-like appendages grew out from his shoulders. A gold medallion could be seen hanging from his chest, four golden chains criss-crossing over the centre of his chest. Red eyes glared from within a bone white face.
[Garlandolf, King of Destruction (7*/2500/1400/DARK/Fiend/Ritual/Effect)]
"When Garlandolf is Ritual Summoned," Yuji continued with an air of finality, "all monsters with lower defense points than its attack points are destroyed. Destruction Revelation!"
Crystal Beast Rainbow Dragon, with no defense points, was obliterated in an instant. It was crystallised next to Johan a second later.
"Garlandolf gains 100 attack points for each monster it destroys by its own effect."
[Garlandolf, King of Destruction: 2500 + 100 = 2600ATK]
"Attack directly, Armageddon Knight, Garlandolf."
The silent knight struck forward with a sword, before Garlandolf slashed downwards with a howl, taking out the very last part of Johan's life points.
Johan: 3100 - 2600 - 1400 = 0LP
Winner: Yuji Fujita!
Johan stayed still for a moment, before he grinned widely. "Amazing!" He declared. "So you do have some level of energy after all!"
Yuji shrugged. He took a step back, such that Chiaki was in front of him.
"We're heading home now," Chiaki said brusquely. "See you around, or not. Do you live near us, Rinsoka?"
"Um—" Kyorin seemed startled by the sudden change in topic. "I don't know where you live."
"... right. Where do you live?"
Johan and Asuka were thankfully able to understand that as a cue for them to leave, and they did. Kyorin turned out to live in the same neighbourhood as them now—in fact, she was the new neighbour that Chiaki's brother and Yuji's guardian had mentioned a while back. So they all walked back together, and they walked Kyorin to her doorstep, before they headed back to their houses.
"He looks a lot like Yuri—"
"It's the exact same face," Johan agreed. "Uncanny…"
Asuka looked at him, and then she sighed. She was loyal to Academia—she believed in what they were fighting for. Even if they would have to wage war in the future, she thought that she would still stay loyal to Academia. Even so, seeing a city like this… they seemed just like her own world.
These were people, living their own lives.
"Let's go and write up our report," she said. "You dueled him because you wanted to see if he was like Yuri, right? What do you think?"
"Physically, maybe. And on some level, even though their personalities are so different…" Johan ruffled his hair, eyebrows creasing, as he frowned, thinking about the duel. "There is something about their vibe that is oddly familiar."
Asuka couldn't help but smile. "So did he pass or fail the vibe check?"
"Passed it." Johan chuckled. "If we're staying here a bit longer, Asuka, don't you want to duel too?"
Chiaki stopped at her doorstep. Yuji stopped at his. They glanced at each other. Their houses both had gardens, but Chiaki's was far more overrun, while Yuji's was filled with bright rose and ixora bushes.
"See you tomorrow," Chiaki called.
"See you tomorrow," Yuji responded.
They always exchanged these words, at these exact spots on their doorsteps. Every single day was more of the same.
Some might have found it boring. Yuji did not.
He would be happy with normalcy and a lack of change, if a lack of change meant that his best friend would always be there by his side.
"Oh, you're home!"
"Hello, big brother," Chiaki greeted, tossing her school bag onto the floor by the staircase. Her brother grinned.
"I bought takeout today," Katsuya Jounouchi said. "That chicken rice you like?"
"Sounds good." Chiaki moved to the dining table. The two of them sat down together.
Katsuya Jounouchi was perhaps the most apt example that people in their city would point to, when it came to a 'rags to riches' story. Starting as a gang member back in middle school, and eventually reforming, learning how to play Duel Monsters and becoming a world-famous Pro Duelist. He had raised money for his sister's eye surgery, allowing her to go to university despite the two of them both growing up in lower-income backgrounds.
And then, he had seen a hungry little girl on the street, and adopted her as his younger sister as well. He had convinced his friend to take in Yuji—who wasn't as close to his guardian, but was nevertheless still taken care of by someone. Who was still there next to her.
Chiaki would always be grateful to him for that.
(They would not talk about how they'd messed up her name registration when he'd adopted her. Neither of them were good at paperwork, and there'd been a pigeon, and a bicycle had gone out of control, and by the time that the forms had made their way to the appropriate offices, a tick had ended up in the wrong box. So instead of becoming Chiaki Jounouchi, as would have been more appropriate, she'd ended up as Chiaki Katsuya. Which was just fine with her, honestly. It was the same thing, wasn't it? She still shared a name with her brother, and at the very least, Chiaki Katsuya sounded way better than Chiaki Jounouchi. She'd take the good with the bad.)
"Don't sleep too late," Chiaki chided. She touched the bracelet on her wrist for a moment—a premonition?—and then she let go. "Don't you have a match tomorrow?"
"Yes, yes." Her brother chuckled. "Why don't you tell me about your day first though? While we have dinner."
Chiaki began eating, talking through chewing her food. "Well, I beat up some people."
"Great!" Jounouchi said enthusiastically. "Uh, don't tell Shizuka that I praised you for that. She'll think I'm teaching you the wrong things again."
"Hey, if someone wants to hit someone else, they shouldn't complain if I hit them," Chiaki said, and Jounouchi nodded. "Uh, Yuji and I dueled them into submission. We… uh, met the new neighbour girl. Kyorin Rinsoka. She seems alright. I like her."
"Oh? A new friend?"
"I want to make sure that she and Yuji get along first."
Jounouchi sighed. "You really have to make good friends other than Yuji," he said.
"I know, I know." Chiaki yawned. "I do have some people that I know. But neither Yuji or I get along with people very well. It's rare to find someone who can deal with both Yuji and I. And I've never been optimistic. If we end up friends… great. Otherwise, it's just as per normal."
In the Fusion Dimension:
The Professor stared at the report on the table, which had just been sent back from the Ritual Dimension. Specifically, at the photograph that Asuka and Johan had managed to snap of three teenagers sitting in a cafe. Leo dismissed one of them immediately, looking at the other two. Those faces were unmistakable. So these were the Ritual counterparts of his daughter and the Demon Duelist…
But, the fact that Fusion Summoning existed in the Ritual Dimension, and the other way round…
Did that carry some greater significance?
He'd have to see if the Link Dimension was an outlier too.
In the Ritual Dimension:
After dinner, Chiaki headed up to her room. She sat down, looking out of the window, touching her bracelet again.
As per normal.
This was all perfectly normal now, huh?
Sometimes, Chiaki felt like there was something more out there. Something more that existed somewhere that she couldn't see. Something that she sometimes felt the urge to chase.
She heard something whizzing past her window, and she looked over. There was a transparent wire tied between her window and the house next to theirs, and a tiny paper note had been tied on it and sent over. She saw a flash of white, and then Yuji waved to her from his window.
Chiaki untied the note, and she saw Yuji's scrawled handwriting.
'Good night.'
Chiaki smiled to herself.
No matter what was out there… as long as Yuji was here, she would be perfectly satisfied with what was normal.
And if one day, they did discover that there was something else… they would explore it together.
Duel 1 Summary: Chiaki Katsuya & Yuji Fujita vs Tetsuya Yumizuki & Junpei Shoutori
Format: Tag Duel
Turn 1: Chiaki Katsuya
Chiaki Normal Summons Diviner of the Herald (2*/500/300) from her hand. She uses its effect to send Sacred Arch-Airknight Parshath (9*/2800/2300) from her Deck to the GY, and increases Diviner's Level (2* + 9* = 11*). Chiaki activates Pre-Preparation of Rites to add Dawn of the Herald and Herald of Perfection (6*/1800/2800) to her hand. She activates Dawn of the Herald to tribute the Level 11 Diviner and Ritual Summon Herald of Perfection in Defense Position. Dawn of the Herald's effect is activated as Chain Link 1, and Diviner's effect is activated as Chain Link 2. Diviner's effect resolves, Special Summoning Light Law Medium (2*/400/300) from her deck in Attack Position. Dawn of the Herald adds Diviner back to her hand. Chiaki ends her turn.
Turn 2: Tetsuya Yumizuki
Tetsuya draws. He Normal Summons Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands (4*/1400/1000) from his hand and activates its effect. Chiaki chains Herald of Perfection's effect, discarding a Fairy monster and negating the effect, destroying Manju. She banishes a Fairy from her hand and the Fairy she just discarded to Special Summon Sacred Arch-Airknight Parshath from her GY. Tetsuya activates Pre-Preparation of Rites. Chiaki discards another Fairy to negate the effect. Tetsuya activates Curse of the Masked Beast and tributes a Level 8 monster in his hand to Ritual Summon The Masked Beast (8*/3200/1800) in Attack Position. Tetsuya enters his Battle Phase. Chiaki uses Light Law Medium's effect to force The Masked Beast to attack Light Law Medium. The Masked Beast attacks, and Chiaki uses Light Law Medium's effect to negate the attack and inflict damage to Tetsuya equal to half of the attacking monster's ATK. [TY & JS: 8000 - 1600 = 6400LP] Tetsuya ends his turn.
Turn 3: Yuji Fujita
Yuji draws. He Normal Summons Tour Guide of the Underworld. (3*/1000/600) With Tour Guide's effect, he Special Summons Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss (3*/1000/1900) in Defense Position. He activates Good & Evil in the Burning Abyss and tributes the Level 3 Tour Guide and the Level 3 Farfa to Ritual Summon Malacoda, Netherlord of the Burning Abyss (6*/2700/2200) in Attack Position. Uses Farfa's effect to banish The Masked Beast until the End Phase. Changes Herald of Perfection to Attack Position. Attacks directly with Light Law Medium, Malacoda, Herald of Perfection and Sacred Arch-Airknight Parshath. [TY & JS: 6400 - 400 - 2700 - 1800 - 2800 = 0LP] Chiaki Katsuya and Yuji Fujita win.
Duel 2 Summary: Yuji Fujita vs Johan Andersen
Format: Normal Duel
Turn 1: Yuji Fujita
Yuji Normal Summon Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss. (3*/800/2000) He Special Summons Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss (3*/1000/1500) in Attack Position since he controls no Spells or Traps. Yuji sets 1 card facedown. He ends his turn.
Turn 2: Johan Andersen
Johan draws. Johan activates Crystal Bond. He places Crystal Beast Cobalt Eagle (4*/1400/800) in his Spell/Trap Zone as a Continuous Spell, and adds Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus (4*/1800/1200) to his hand. He Normal Summons Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus, and with its effect, sets Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger (4*/1600/1000) from his deck in the Spell/Trap Zone as a Continuous Spell. He activates Crystal Beacon to Special Summon Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle (3*/300/300) from his Deck in Attack Position. With Ruby Carbuncle's effect, Johan Special Summons Topaz Tiger and Cobalt Eagle from his Spell/Trap Zone in Attack Position.
Topaz Tiger attacks Graff. Yuji activates Fire Lake of the Burning Abyss. He sends Graff and Scarm from his field to the graveyard to destroy three cards on the field. Yuji destroys Sapphire Pegasus, Topaz Tiger and Cobalt Eagle. Johan activates the three "Crystal Beast" monsters' effects, placing them in the Spell/Trap Zone as Continuous Spells. Yuji activates Graff's effect to Special Summon Cir from the Deck in Attack Position.
Johan activates Crystal Bridge to add a "Crystal" Spell/Trap from his Deck to his hand. He sets the card that he just added facedown. He ends his turn. Yuji activates Scarm's effect and adds a Level 3 DARK Fiend monster from his Deck to his hand.
Turn 3: Yuji Fujita
Yuji draws. He activates Pre-Preparation of Rites. He adds Good & Evil in the Burning Abyss and Malacoda, Netherlord of the Burning Abyss (6*/2700/2200) from his Deck to his hand. He activates Good & Evil in the Burning Abyss, tributing the Level 3 Cir on the field and the Level 3 Farfa (3*/1000/1900) in his hand to Ritual Summon Malacoda in Attack Position. With Farfa's effect, he banishes Ruby Carbuncle until the End Phase. Cir revives Graff in Attack Position.
Graff attacks Johan directly. Johan activates Crystal Boon to Special Summon Topaz Tiger and Sapphire Pegasus in Attack Position, and gain life points equal to their total life points. [JA: 4000 + 1600 + 1800 = 7400LP] Johan activates Sapphire Pegasus's effect to place Crystal Beast Emerald Tortoise (3*/600/2000) in his Spell/Trap Zone as a Continuous Spell. Yuji cancels Graff's attack. Malacoda attacks Topaz Tiger. Johan activates the effect of Crystal Beast Rainbow Dragon (8*/3000/0) in his hand and Special Summons it in Attack Position. Yuji uses the replay and changes target to Crystal Beast Rainbow Dragon. He discards Barbar, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss (3*/1700/1000) from his hand to reduce Crystal Beast Rainbow Dragon's stats by Barbar's. (CBRD: 3000 - 1700 = 1300ATK) Yuji banishes Scarm, Farfa and Cir from his graveyard with Barbar's effect to inflict 900 damage to Johan. [JA: 7400 - 300 x 3 = 6500LP] The battle completes and Crystal Beast Rainbow Dragon is destroyed. [JA: 6500 - 1400 = 5100LP]
Johan banishes Crystal Boon from his GY. With this effect, he reveals and Special Summons Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth (4*/1700/1600) from his Deck in Attack Position. Yuji ends his turn. Ruby Carbuncle returns to the field.
Turn 4: Johan Andersen
Johan draws. Johan Special Summons Rainbow Dragon. (10*/4000/0) Rainbow Dragon attacks Malacoda. Yuji discards Farfa from his hand for Malacoda's effect and targets Amber Mammoth. (CBAM: 1700 - 1000 = 700ATK; 1600 - 1900 = 0DEF) With Farfa's effect, Yuji banishes Rainbow Dragon from the field until the End Phase. Johan has Sapphire Pegasus destroy Graff. [YF: 4000 - 800 = 3200LP] Yuji uses Graff's effect to Special Summon Scarm from the Deck to the field in Defense Position. Johan ends his turn.
Turn 5: Yuji Fujita
Yuji draws. He discards Cir from his hand to use the effect of Good & Evil in the Burning Abyss in the GY, banishing it to add a "Burning Abyss" card from his Deck to his hand. With Cir's effect, he revives Barbar in Attack Position. He then activate The Terminus of the Burning Abyss to fuse Malacoda, Barbar and Scarm on the field to Fusion Summon Dante, Pilgrim of the Burning Abyss (9*/2800/2500) to the field in Attack Position. Yuji uses Malacoda's effect to send Rainbow Dragon from the field to the graveyard. He uses Barbar's effect to banish Graff, Farfa and another Barbar to inflict 900 damage to Johan. [JA: 5100 - 300 x 3 = 4200LP] Yuji has Dante attack and destroy Amber Mammoth. [JA: 4200 - 1100 = 3100LP] Yuji ends his turn. He adds a Level 3 Fiend monster from his Deck to his hand with Scarm's effect.
Turn 6: Johan Andersen
Johan draws. He activates Crystal Abundance, sending all cards on the field to the graveyard, including four Crystal Beasts. Yuji chains Pilgrim's effect, discarding a "Burning Abyss" card to draw one. He discarded Graff, Special Summoning Cir in Attack Position. Crystal Abundance resolves, destroying Cir too. Then, Johan revives Crystal Beast Rainbow Dragon in Attack Position, while Yuji uses Cir's effect to revive Scarm in Defense Position. Crystal Beast Rainbow Dragon destroys Scarm. Johan ends his turn. Yuji adds a Level 3 Fiend monster to his hand with Scarm's effect.
Turn 7: Yuji Fujita
Yuji draws. Yuji plays Allure of Darkness, drawing two cards and banishing a DARK monster from his hand. He activates Pre-Preparation of Rites to add a Ritual Spell and a Ritual Monster specifically listed in that Ritual Spell to his hand. He Normal Summons Armageddon Knight (4*/1400/1200) from his hand, using its effect to send Djinn Demolisher of Rituals (3*/1500/600) from his Deck to the GY. He then activates Ritual of Destruction, tributing the Level 4 Djinn Presider of Rituals and banishing the Level 3 Demolisher from his GY to Ritual Summon Garlandolf, King of Destruction (7*/2500/1400) from his hand in Attack Position. Garlandolf's effect activates, destroying Crystal Beast Rainbow Dragon and increasing Garlandolf's attack points by 100. (GKOD: 2500 + 100 = 2600ATK) Garlandolf and Armageddon Knight attack directly. [JA: 3100 - 2600 - 1400 = 0LP] Yuji Fujita wins.
End Notes:
For the most part, cards will use their OCG/TCG effects, even if they have a unique anime effect. As of now, the only exceptions are the Dimension Dragons, because Odd-Eyes lacks the Level 5 effect in the OCG/TCG, and I want the dragons to all share one trait in terms of their effects. In this story, Link Summoning existed in the United World too.
For now, Yuji's deck runs a few other DARK Rituals, and focuses on sacking for interference with his opponents' plays, sometimes through Ritual Summons, sometimes through other methods. He'll swap to a pure Burning Abyss build once he gets to learn the other Summoning Methods. Chiaki's deck, on the other hand, is exactly what you think it's going to be—Herald and Fairy negates. Not much is going to change about her deck.
Chiaki is a lot more headstrong than even Serena—I'd say that she's the most aggressive counterpart. She's a bit of a bully hunter, has a lot of conviction in her own judgement of what is correct, and mildly pessimistic and antisocial when it comes to other people—she could not care less about connecting to people, she'd rather just help them if needed.
Yuji is far more antisocial than her. A literature nerd who can't really communicate well—he is more empathetic than Chiaki, but he's bad at expressing himself. He just wants to spend his time normally and to live a peaceful life unnoticed and not having to interact with other people. Unfortunately, he happens to be a Yu boy, and thus he will never be able to be normal in this plot. Also, I know that there is a certain dragon that is missing, but we likely won't see Yuji's Dimensional Dragon for a while.
Kyorin is an OC, though for now, she is just here so that the Ritual Dimension isn't literally just Chiaki and Yuji's bubble. She's going to do some stuff later, but it's probably not important?... :) Either way, she's not as important as the dimensional counterparts, obviously.
Next chapter, we meet the Link counterparts. Similar to Chiaki, the Link counterpart of Ray is going to be a younger sibling of a 'legacy character', so I look forward to introducing the two of them to you all!
Thanks for reading!