X
Before the ink on its blueprints was even dry, Ryōzanpaku had been intended to "separate and stand tall" above any other Duelist and Duel School in Maiami City. The reclusive institution had no online presence; recruiting was done at martial arts dōjōs and tournaments, and through word of mouth at Duel Monsters championships—where curious spectators would take one look at the athleticism their students put on display and decide they were worth a look.
Those who showed sufficient interest were given a single card inscribed with the name of a mountain temple on the outskirts of the city—and those who showed up would find the single, straight staircase that ascended up the length of the mountainside at a steep grade, designed to weed out anyone who showed even the slightest bit of fatigue or reluctance. Any friends or family who came with them could go no further. Those who made it to the top, and made it through the heavy door that met them, would have only a moment's rest before the day's exercises began.
Umesugi Ken and Takeda "Shin" Makoto, two of the school's top Duelists, had drawn the short straws to stand watch at the door today. They flanked it either side—Ken, stocky and muscular; Makoto, short but wiry—leveling their steely gazes down the staircase as if in silent challenge to anyone who would approach them in the middle of their duties. They did their best to ignore the sounds of combat that broke through the deceptively peaceful birdsong in the trees. This, to them, was even harder than standing watch.
But Makoto had suddenly been distracted by something else—a pair of teenagers, making their way up the staircase with joined hands. He grinned to Ken—but on the inside, he was doing everything but. These kids didn't look like the usual applicants. And they were girls—twins, too, by the look of them. They weren't identical; he could tell as much even from here. But they shared too much between their facial features to be anything less than sisters.
Makoto, however, neither minded nor cared any further. Ryōzanpaku had had so few female applicants in the time it had existed, and graduated even less of them, that he had overheard his sensei discussing making the school boys-only, and funneling the girls to some sister school. He didn't mind or care much about that, either—sometimes these things needed to happen in order to preserve his school's reputation of not abiding weakness in any way.
He was privately surprised that these two would-be hopefuls hadn't turned back and gone down the stairs by now.
Ken was the first to step forward. "Who goes there?" he demanded, making himself loud and clear.
The girls stopped, still holding hands. One of them, a redhead, stared straight ahead—not even blinking, never mind looking their way. The other, her face partially hidden by equally tangled blue hair, appeared more relaxed—except where her free left hand was concerned. The fingers darted this way and that, contorting at speeds that drew a raised eyebrow from Makoto: he'd only learned to be that deft with his hands here—and yet they could do this naturally?
Before he could adjust his glasses for a better look, the redhead spoke. "She says we need to see your headmaster," she declared. Her strange eyes seemed to stare right through them.
Ken and Makoto traded glances. The same thought passed between them, and their first question was answered as soon as it had been posed—and discarded almost as quickly. Weakness didn't matter, after all.
"You're new here," Makoto said, "so we'll excuse you this once. Deliveries go to the back entrance. The sensei has too much to do to sign paperwork himself. A representative will receive you at three o'clock."
"If you're willing to wait that long," Ken added, not a little bit snidely, "we have a bench where you may rest." He was fighting the edge to smirk—this lone bench was on the complete other side of the mountain on which the school stood. Makoto hoped they'd take this as a lesson going forward—nothing unnecessary, said a voice in his head.
It was the girls' turn to trade glances. Their necks were the only part of them that moved, and they did so in unison, each slowly swiveling to meet the other's gaze in a way that Makoto found more than a little creepy.
Then, again at the same time, they looked forward once more. "Sorry, we're not willing," said the redhead. Makoto wasn't sure he'd even seen her blink yet. "And we're not leaving."
Ken and Makoto stiffened. "Say that again," Ken rumbled, clenching his fists. "Make our day."
The twins raised their hands, once more together—the redhead her right hand, the blue-haired girl her left; they were still using the others to intertwine their fingers. They displayed their palms, and the single black kanji that had been inked onto each one.
Makoto had keener eyesight than Ken. He had just enough time to read them before his world was turned inside out.
Inside the main courtyard of the school, two males watched as the training regimen unfolded before them. One was younger, with bushy, purple-dyed hair and vividly colored clothing that set him apart from the conservative uniform of Ryōzanpaku. This was Kachidoki Isao—formerly the ace student of the school. Formerly.
The embarrassing spectacle he'd put on during the Maiami Championship had been the start of a dark journey for him, one of which he had disclosed very little, even to his classmates. He had thought it was better at the time if they did not know where he had gone, to say nothing of why. But the school, miraculously, had taken Isao back—although they had not welcomed him with open arms, nor had they returned the trappings he had once enjoyed as the tip-top of the tip of the top. That wasn't how things worked here. So here he was, a neophyte once more, observing the practices but never participating—and always waiting for a signal from the sensei sitting in front of him.
Only the eyes of Gōdagawa Ryōzan moved. They roved over the newest crop of his students—each iris as blue as the gathering storm, and almost as dark and foreboding, set within sallow, scarred skin framed by long, iron-gray hair, with a mustache and beard to match. Occasionally, with a glint not unlike a flash of lightning, his eyes would fixate on one boy and the technique he used to evade the blows delivered by his practice partner. Other times, they would follow the line of students taking laps around the school. But all the while, he said nothing, and did nothing. His presence alone was more than enough for his charges to give each other his all.
The front gate opened just then. Gōdagawa's eyes immediately flicked towards it, and for the first time today his face shifted. The frown that permanently creased his mouth deepened and darkened as he saw the two boys he'd sent to guard the entrance to the school come inside—against their orders, he noted. There would be consequences for this; Gōdagawa was not a man who was given to explaining himself twice.
But Ken and Makoto were not alone—with them were two others, both girls, and it was them who made the sensei suddenly uneasy. He saw the hands they'd pressed against his students' necks, at the bases of their skulls—saw the oddly blank look splashed across both boys' faces—and knew instantly that they had forced their way in somehow.
Then he took a closer look at them, and a distant memory raised him from his seat so quickly that Isao took a hasty step backwards. He didn't notice, nor did he care; he had just realized who these two girls were.
"Renshū wa owarimashita!" he bellowed, and instantly every practicing student froze. Weapons clattered to the ground, and every runner skidded to a halt. "Minasan, dōjō no naka!"
Uneasy looks were traded. One of the braver sorts opened his mouth to speak his confusion. " … Sensei?"
"GIRON SHINAI!" Gōdagawa stomped the floor hard enough that the impact vibrated a nearby gong that he would ring to signify the end of practice. The effect was immediate: students by the scores streamed for their dormitories, leaving the courtyard deserted but for the two girls, Isao, Makoto and Ken—and a full score of the school's senior students, who remained where they stood at a single gesture from their sensei.
Gōdagawa waited until all was still and silent before he spoke again, crossing his arms. "Nande koko ni?" He did not bother asking who the girls were. He disliked it when people asked pointless questions to pointless answers.
The girl with brilliant red hair did not meet his gaze. "We need a place to hide, Mister Gōdagawa," she replied. "Could you please let us in?"
She offered no explanation as to how she knew his name. Not that Gōdagawa wanted one. "This is an élite school, not a bomb shelter," he said dismissively. He had been pleased that the attack on Maiami City had not come close enough to harm his school, and was not keen on any more outsiders drawing the attention of more attacks any time soon. "And if that makes you want to join us, don't bother. You are too young—too frail. Yowa sugiru."
And you're girls, he pointedly did not add—but there was no need to get into that. He knew better.
The girls traded glances. The one with blue hair moved her free hand. "She doesn't want to ask again, Mister," said the redhead, clutching at the free hand of her twin sister. "Please let us in?" Her voice took on a wheedling tone.
That just made Gōdagawa want to boot them out of the gate himself. He was just about to take a step forward when three of his seniors had done the same thing first. One of them—far and away the biggest among every student in the courtyard, with a head like a boulder and a sturdy body to match, cracked his knuckles threateningly.
"Gōdagawa-sensei." Lips that could swallow rocks peeled, revealing teeth that could crush them, and unleashed a voice that sounded like it gargled the gravel. "Please leave them to us. We will escort them from the premises."
His two classmates raised fists, approaching the twins. Neither girl seemed remotely surprised at this cold reception.
"We're not asking you," said the redhead—and as one, she and her sister released Makoto and Ken from their grasp.
Gōdagawa saw them stiffen, and knew at once that the two boys had come to their senses. "No, wait!" Makoto cried. "Don't touch them—don't let them touch you—!"
But it was too late for them to listen. Two of the seniors—each as stocky as the other, and half as tall as the girls again—had already laid hands on their shoulders, grasping tightly so as to turn the twins back the way they came.
"We're making you."
Gōdagawa could not see what happened next. Both boys had their backs turned to him, and Makoto and Ken had distracted him enough as they scrambled to his side. Their brief stumble backwards, however, told him that each girl had slammed their free hand into an unguarded chest. The strength that required, he knew, was surprising.
"What?!" One of them clutched at his head, rubbing at his eyes as though he'd gotten sand in them. "I can't see! Get her off me!"
His cohort was no different—he had released his blue-haired opponent completely, such was his panic. "She's in my head!" he was screaming. "Get her out of my head!"
Bedlam had taken root in the courtyard. Makoto and Ken were already rushing forward, fists raised. Isao moved to join them, but a single glance from Gōdagawa kept him by his sensei's side.
"Stop them!" The first senior did his best to make his rock-gargling voice heard above the furor. "Get them—!"
Château Pique-Diamant
Yaiba's sudden burst of mania startled Masumi so badly that her legs wobbled, nearly sending her sprawling onto the mansion's front drive.
"Forget the cars—there's no time!" he was shouting to Himika, before rounding on both the LID's Junior Duelists. "Rika—Hotene—we need to get airborne now." Both girls, each as wild-eyed as the other at his sudden outburst, recovered fast enough that by the time Yaiba had whirled to face Angel-IQ, they were in the middle of Summoning several of their monsters in rapid succession.
"Can you mark Ryōzanpaku on our map function?" the Synchro ace asked the hologram.
A nod. "I already have."
"Good. Transfer yourself to LDS, but keep yourself on standby." Angel-IQ nodded, and disappeared from view.
In the meantime, Spiritual Beast Rider Kannahawk and Daigusta Falcos had shimmered into being on either side of Masumi, spreading their wings to their fullest. She clambered onto the former, heart racing madly, as she watched Hokuto conjure his Sacred Ptolemy Messiers 7. The brilliantly armored dragon dwarfed them all, shining blindingly bright in the sunlight and forcing the Xyz ace to shield his own eyes, as he and Fuyu climbed aboard its back.
A hand tapped her shoulder, and Masumi flinched instinctively. Yaiba was behind her. "I need to make a call," said her boyfriend, tapping at his Duel Disk with his other hand. "So I may need to hold on extra-tight for a little while."
Masumi was too full of adrenaline to tell him that she had no problem with this at all. "Is it … him?"
Yaiba nodded. "But there's no way he could reach us in time!" the Fusion Duelist protested as Hotene and Rika shimmied up the necks of their respective mounts. "He's too far away!"
"We have no choice," said Yaiba grimly. "If Markus really is heading for Ryōzanpaku, then we have to assume he's about to use that mind control tech of his on their students, and turn every single one of them into his private army. So we're going to need as much strength as we can get. Even Angel-IQ can only handle so many of them at once. And good luck getting me to fight anything besides one-on-one with them."
"How could Ryōzanpaku have any connection to Academia, though?" Masumi wanted to know. "Just because Kachidoki Isao joined up with them doesn't mean—"
"We don't know that," Yaiba said bluntly. "We don't know the whole story behind why he did what he did."
He gripped the bamboo shinai strapped across his shoulder. "But I don't think for a second that that school didn't get something in return. Anyway"—he smiled winningly—"I'll make sure my friend hears what he needs to hear. Hell—if I know him, he's on his way already. Probably flying over Tsushima Island right now."
"Let's hope so!" Masumi cried out—she had to raise her voice over the gust of wind Kannahawk blew up around its beating wings. Slowly, they rose into the air.
Yaiba looked down at Himika. "Contact Sora and tell him to call Masumi yesterday!" he shouted over the din, and in more firm a tone of voice than Masumi had ever heard him use on the headmistress of LDS. "We need every last shred of information he has on Markus Streiter in our brains by the time we get there! What he Duels with, how he uses them, and any weaknesses we can use against him!"
"You'll have it!" Himika nodded once—before her eyes suddenly widened very briefly, as though she'd forgotten something. Quickly, she nodded to Nakajima, who tossed a small, thin package up to Masumi, who only just caught it in her fingertips.
"We had LeoCorp work on these after Z-ARC came back!" the aide hollered up at them. "Hopefully you'll be able to put them to good use!"
Masumi took one look at what was inside the package and immediately gave it to Hotene for safekeeping. "Make sure Fuyu gets his, too," she muttered in her ear. The tiny Duelist gave her a thumbs-up.
Yaiba, meanwhile, had dialed zero on his Duel Disk. "Connect me to Shanghai," he said tersely into the receiver.
There was no more time for conversation after that: with a storm of wings, the three monsters and their riders were airborne, and Masumi's heart leapt into her mouth even as Yaiba held on tight. Château Pique-Diamant shrank behind them quicker than they could believe, and they soared into the sky at breakneck speed for Ryōzanpaku.
Colonel Markus Streiter counted four hundred and thirteen steps before he began to suspect something was wrong.
He was close enough to see the edge of the gate that closed off his destination upstairs from the rest of the world. But the gate was ajar, and the air around him was totally silent. There was no birdsong to mask the sounds of combat training from within the walls—and it was the absence of one that led him to note the absence of the other.
Streiter did not quicken his pace. There was nothing to be gained from him acting more quickly if he was already too late. But he gripped his briefcase a little more tightly, ever mindful of what he carried inside it, and he made sure his Duel Disk was primed and ready before he turned his gaze back up to the gate.
At length, he crested the summit—and he knew before he'd even crossed the gate that his fears had been confirmed.
Ryōzanpaku had become a microcosm of the attack that Streiter had orchestrated in Maiami City. The front façade of the school had taken a hard hit; windows were broken, and a whole wall bent inwards as though something very heavy had careened right into it. Smoke drifted from craters in the courtyard. One whole partition of the outer wall had collapsed. Cards, Duel Disks, and Duelists alike were strewn all over the place in varying states of wear, tear—and, in the case of the last, consciousness. None of the boys before him had mustered the energy to stir themselves.
Streiter took all this in with one glance as he crossed into the courtyard. His own forces, meticulously drilled and outfitted for urban warfare, had caused this much damage to the whole of Maiami City—and yet the two girls they were searching for had wreaked an equal amount of havoc on a single Duel School. He snorted at the irony.
"Oh, Wendy," he sighed in disappointment, half to himself. "You are never going to let me hear the end of this."
He'd made it twenty paces inside—about ten meters—before the heavy gate banged shut behind him. Ever wary of ambush tactics, Streiter stiffened, chanced a glance behind him—and did not relax even as he saw no one there, and came to realize it had been a gust of wind.
Then: "So. It's you."
He knew the voice, and that was the only reason Streiter did not bristle at the hostility that dripped from every word. Forcing himself to remain calm, he turned his attention to the gutted building before him.
Gōdagawa Ryōzan was kneeling there, cradling a stunned Isao. Every inch of his face, from the X scarred onto his brow to the sneer lining his mouth, was etched with dislike—and yet, with it, there lurked a sense of resignation.
"I knew the day might come, when I'd find you on my doorstep," the sensei of the school grunted, getting to his feet and making his way to Streiter. "I was hoping it never would—that sooner or later, you'd accept the quiet life and retire—or that you'd faded into silence long ago and died in disgrace along with your school. But I know your kind too well. Men our age don't have it in us to just up and quit." He spat on the dirt at Streiter's feet.
The Kämpfer did not flinch at this, as much as he detested the habit. "Master Gōdagawa." He set the briefcase by his feet, and performed the smallest and simplest of bows. "You received my message. You know why I'm here."
"I can only imagine how far you've traveled," said Gōdagawa, clearly trying his best to sound pleasant, and failing miserably. "But I'm sorry to say you've traveled for nothing. I no longer have what you seek. The twins got to them first." He gestured all around them, indicating the feebly moving students that composed Ryōzanpaku's best.
His eyes were almost exactly the same shade of stormy grayish-blue as his own, Streiter noted. "It happened faster than I believed was possible," the sensei went on, the haunted look on his face only accentuated by his piercing stare. "By the time I thought to enter the fight personally, my best pupils were as you still see them now. After they defeated Kachidoki, they left as quickly as they'd arrived—and they took that card with them."
He cast a downward glance at Isao. Streiter found it hard to assume any semblance of pity for teacher or student.
"You realize," he sighed through his teeth, "that this puts you in a most difficult position, Master Gōdagawa. The card they stole was created as a symbol of the deal we struck—not as just another trophy for the wall of your dōjō."
Gōdagawa was incensed. "It was that clown—Dennis—who approached Kachidoki!" he blustered. "It was he who gave him the idea to join Academia to further his journey! The words may have come from his lips, and the card may have come from his hands. But it was your mind who came up with the idea—your hands behind the weapon that my student coveted so! If you were truly serious about your plans for Kachidoki, you would have conducted your business personally instead of using Dennis as some unwitting pawn!"
"In any case," said Streiter, quite unruffled, "as far as I am concerned, everything I am seeing before my eyes right now has told me enough. You have not held up your end of the promise you struck, Master Gōdagawa." He cast a dispassionate glance around him. "The warriors that my associates would have by their side would have regained consciousness by now. Kachidoki Isao was meant to be the first of many. He was not meant to be the only one."
"I don't give a damn about your associates, Streiter!" Gōdagawa shot back. "Misgarth toadies, all of them—oh, yes, even your so-called Direktor. They have no respect for what it means to achieve success—all they want is to lower the bar until they see the success they want from more and more people. Quantity over quality," he sneered. "Is it any wonder that the Obelisk Force only sees the most success when they fight en masse, and not one against one, as it should be? I don't think so. I take pride in taking my time—and I intend to do just that with Kachidoki."
Streiter chewed his tongue. "Is that what he thinks?" he asked, nodding to the boy.
"Sore wa kankei arimasen," Gōdagawa snorted dismissively. "If he wishes his words and thoughts to matter to me, he ought to make his actions matter first. He spoke much louder and clearer that way, when he was in my favor."
"And yet you keep him by your side," the Kämpfer mused out loud. "Or … do you merely keep him away? Do you find it preferable to keep your prized pupil safe, Master Gōdagawa … or to keep him starving?"
"You expect me to welcome him back into the fold so easily?" Gōdagawa said hotly. "Out of the question. I am not nearly so forgiving." He walked back to Isao's body. "Kachidoki knew he would be shunned after his loss at the Maiami Championship. He had suffered it already when he took runner-up standing the year before. And he knew in turn that if he wished to regain the standing he once possessed at my school, he had to start over at the beginning. And for him," he added, "that meant getting his vengeance on Sakaki Yūya."
He sighed, shaking his head. "We both know what happened next. You secretly arranged for Dennis McField to come to Ryōzanpaku, and he … persuaded me to make Kachidoki your protégé. Then Dennis persuaded him in turn, neither any wiser of your involvement, and took him to Academia so that he could learn to use his new toy."
Gōdagawa chanced a look back at his star pupil. "I don't know what happened over there, I don't know what was done to him … but it changed him—drastically and permanently. Kachidoki is no longer the Duelist he used to be. Though I saw this all too clearly, I gave him the chance afterwards—against my best wishes—to reenter my school as the same novice he was in his youth. But even as he strived and climbed, Dueled and fought and won … I knew, deep down, he would never reach the same heights as before, regardless what amount of power you had a hand in giving him. No … in giving us," he said bitterly.
Streiter sniffed. "Do not flatter me, Master Gōdagawa. The funds were to use as you saw fit. If I might be so bold, I would say you and your school—er, schools, pardon me—benefited far more in both the short- and long-term than Academia did. Just because they are defunct does not mean the same for any return on our investment."
"If you're telling me I can't flatter you, Streiter, then I ought to say that you can't insult me or my students in turn." The sensei narrowed his eyes. "I know bribery and extortion when I see it. I just needed to know the identity of the person who was using Dennis McField as their middleman. Boys don't carry that many banknotes on their person."
"And when you finally knew that person was me?"
Gōdagawa was silent for a moment. "I thought I had it in me," he said, more quietly than before. "I thought I could just walk away from it all. But there was a part of me that wanted to watch you get your just desserts first. Before I knew it, this one tiny thought had become a wish to get rid of you myself—a weed burrowing into my brain. So … I waited. I watched as one clandestine payment turned into ten; I used the money to found a second school. Deep down, I think I kept on going because I knew it would stop—I knew the NTA had to be building a case against me, and that I'd soon be under investigation for having all this money and no apparent source of it. But I didn't care—I knew the further I went, the more chance I had of forcing you to step into the light with me."
He crossed his arms. "You recruited me because you thought I could help fulfill your cause with Kachidoki under your care. You never once considered that I might also be helping my own?"
Streiter tilted his head. "You know, I've always wondered what it felt like to be double-crossed," he said mildly.
"Wonder no more." Gōdagawa spat again. "I say good riddance to that card, Streiter—and good riddance to you. Whatever alliance we shared in those days is over. You have cast your lot with the losing side one time too many."
The Kämpfer sighed. He heaved it just enough to look genuine. "I'm sorry to hear that," he said, feeling a lot less sorry than he sounded. "But unfortunately for you, Master Gōdagawa, one of your duties still remains outstanding."
He picked up his briefcase, and turned as if to leave. "The twins who attacked your school represent a … significant investment to the Ædonai. I have been directed to recover them at any cost, and to use all available resources at my disposal. You will supply me those resources—just as you supplied Kachidoki Isao to Academia. Do this thing, and both you and your institutions shall receive special consideration upon the installation of our regime in—"
"My students," hissed Gōdagawa, "will no longer be pawns for your chessboard! Now get out! Never darken my school with your shadow again! There are no words in your language or mine that will sway me in my decision."
The smile wasn't big. It wasn't even remarkable. But Streiter knew his history even as it spread over his lips—he knew that empires had died, régimes had been toppled, and kings had been deposed when the right man smiled the way he was smiling now.
"How appropriate that you mention that," he said to Gōdagawa, looking down at Isao. "Because we are not yet past the point of words." He pursed his lips, took a breath, gripped his suitcase a little tighter.
And pressed the hidden switch under the handle.
As the machinery within hummed to life, he began to speak, loudly and clearly. "Legion. Consume. Twelve."
"No … " Even the scar on Gōdagawa's brow had gone bone-white. What little color resided in his sallow skin was rapidly draining with every word. He'd whirled on Isao, and was greatly dismayed to see him stirring. "No!"
But Streiter plowed on. "Adapt. Violet." He knew once he'd started reciting the trigger phrase—the same words Academia had planted in every single one of its soldiers in the event of any defections, the same words he had made sure were constants in their education—he could not stop for any reason until it was complete. "Twenty. Evolve."
"You must stop this! Now!" Gōdagawa hurtled forward with a speed that belied his age. "Stop, you monster!"
He raised a fist, aiming right for the huge German's head—BOOM. Dust stirred at their feet from the shockwave of his punch—but it had hit nothing but air. At the last second, Streiter had blocked it with the wrist of his free hand, deflecting it effortlessly past his right ear with inches to spare.
And still he continued to speak. "Biding. Six. Crucible. Survive." He paused before the final word. "One."
Then, as if the word—and the silence that preceded it—carried immeasurable power, he saw Isao's eyes snap open. Fingers clenched into fists, relaxed again. A rush of breath expelled itself from his mouth.
Only then did Streiter afford himself a moment of triumph. Much less of a hassle than Yūya and Yuzu, he thought.
Ignoring Gōdagawa's venomous look of hatred, he called out to the boy. "Can you hear me, Isao?"
The boy's eyes were glassy, and stared up at the sky. " … Yes." His words were rough, coarse.
"You know where you are?" Streiter kept his voice firm—which was tougher than it seemed, not least because Gōdagawa's strength against his forearm was all the more surprising. Desperation could do that to an old man.
"Do not answer him, Kachidoki!" The sensei was red in the face with exertion and rage, and very close to foaming at the mouth from at least one of these. "I forbid you to speak a word in his presence! Shita o motte!"
But Isao's mouth was already moving. "Yes," he said again. "Ryōzanpaku. I'm at Ryōzanpaku, Colonel Streiter."
"You know who I am?" That was surprising; he guessed Isao must have seen the bust of him Academia had erected inside their alumni hall.
"Yes, sir."
Streiter fought down a smirk. "Very good," he said. "I will tell you what happened here later. For now, you must wake as many of your classmates as possible. Our position has likely been compromised; you will not have time to rouse them all, so you must choose your compatriots with swiftness and wisdom."
Isao nodded. "I understand."
"Good. I still have business with Master Gōdagawa, but I will be concluding it very shortly. In the meantime, you and the team you put together must track down the twins who attacked your school. You will strike them down as a true warrior of Ryōzanpaku for what they have done to your brothers-in-arms, and recover the property they have stolen from you. But you must ensure they come to no unnecessary harm. This is most crucial—my colleagues will be pleased with you if they are returned undamaged. Do you understand your orders as I have given them?"
The ace of Ryōzanpaku was already securing a goldenrod-colored Duel Disk to his wrist. "Yes, sir."
Streiter smiled grimly. "Then carry them out." He waited until the boy turned to his first target. "And Isao?"
"Yes, sir?"
"If anyone tries to stop you," said the Kämpfer, eyeing the device and arching his brow, "don't bother with a Duel."
The boy took the hint, and smirked. "With pleasure, sir." And Streiter watched him run off to do his bidding.
That just left Gōdagawa—and the sensei had stepped back from him, breathing heavily, with fury written in every line in his face. "You're a fool, Streiter," he rumbled, shrugging off one sleeve of his cloak, then the other—and finally the red and gold robes he'd been wearing underneath. "And your journey here was a fool's errand."
He reached inside his pockets, and took out a Duel Disk the same shade of olive green as the cloak that had clothed him. "Now we're past the point of words." He slid a Deck into the device, activating a blade the color of a clear sky. "Now, it no longer matters what we say. From here on out, how we act will define who and what we are."
Streiter loosened his tie, and switched on his own Duel Disk, watching the blade's golden light shine across laser-sharpened steel. Then, thinking about it, he activated a second switch on the device, and felt the very air around him turn electric with anticipation—and something else, he thought with a smirk. Finally, he unrolled the same gloves he'd worn to defeat Sakaki Yūshō, and put them over his hands, flexing each finger and feeling the circuitry inside.
Gōdagawa, now clad in nothing but simple pants, shoes, and shin wrappings, assumed a battle-ready stance. "Sā jā!" he spat at Streiter, swiping five cards from his Deck with surprisingly toned arms. "DUEL!"
Masumi wasn't sure how long they'd been airborne. Nor was she willing to open her eyes and find out where in the world they were. She'd tried a few times, but the stinging, screaming wind swiftly shut them before she could see anything more than blue sky.
Yaiba was still clutching her for support; his other hand was clutching his girlfriend's Duel Disk with equal strength. " … Got it, Sora," the Fusion Duelist was just able to hear him say grimly. "We'll keep you updated. Bye."
One second later, the device was back on Masumi's wrist. She heard it chime—Yaiba must have sent them a group chat notification, because his voice came from the speaker grid an instant later. "Okay—can everyone hear me?"
The LID flashed a collective thumbs-up. "Sora's been doing some digging," Yaiba told them. "When he was a student at Academia, Markus Streiter didn't just create his own Deck—by all accounts, he created a whole subtype of Fusion Summoning for it. Sora also thinks that the terrain programs we've encountered before are derived from his own creation as well! So we should expect him to use one right from the get-go!"
Before Masumi could register any surprise: "Now—Markus' monsters are called Gladial Beasts! Almost every one of them can Special Summon another one at the end of the Battle Phase if it battles, by returning itself back to the Deck! This is also how he Summons his Fusion Monsters—that's right!" he added, his voice raised slightly higher, for Hotene had let fly with a squawk of surprise. "Markus uses Contact Fusion!"
It wasn't just that; Masumi had been listening as intently as the wind would let her. Had Markus really created the same Fusion Summoning method that their own Hotene used with her Spirit Beasts?
"After Markus left, he passed on his Deck to one of his students, a guy called Sanders who went on to be a teacher at Academia himself." Yaiba shivered. "Nasty piece of work, Sora said he was. A real survival-of-the-fittest kind of guy—the strong survive, the weak die, that sort of thing. And his best student was even worse; Sanders was strict with everyone he taught, but he went all out on the guy. His training was so relentless that it drove him mad—turned him feral. All he wanted to see was victory. All he got to see was destruction." He shook his head.
"After a while, they became one and the same, and everybody started calling him the "Battle Beast" because of how bloodthirsty he was. He couldn't be a soldier, with that attitude—so Sanders kept him under lock and key at the school, and only let him out for the Survival Duels he used as practice for his exams." Yaiba swallowed. "Sora said most of those kids didn't even know the Battle Beast was part of the test until he sealed them into cards himself."
Masumi felt a sudden, urgent need to throw up.
"That's sick." Murmurs of agreement echoed Rika's outburst. "That whole school was sick!"
Yaiba nodded. "Sanders got his in the end, though. According to Sora, the Kingdom of Misgarth didn't even bother with forcibly retiring him—they cashiered him and chucked him in an eight-by-eight cell until they try him for war crimes along with Leo. The Battle Beast has a psych ward all to himself—God knows how long he'll stay there. Nobody's seen or heard from them since—and I figure that both of those guys must have soured with Markus as well, if he didn't bother to use his mind control tech on either of them. I actually wouldn't be shocked if he came to personally confiscate the same Deck he passed on to his student."
"Do you think he's anything like Sanders?" Fuyu wondered.
There was a burst of static from Masumi's Duel Disk—Hokuto had snorted derisively. "After what he did to Sakaki Yūshō? I'm worried Markus might actually be worse! And to think he could be halfway to Ryōzanpaku by now—"
"He already is at Ryōzanpaku."
Masumi's heart nearly stopped, and only Yaiba's firm grip kept her from falling off Kannahawk in shock. She had not been expecting to hear Angel-IQ chime in on the conversation—to say nothing of what she'd said just now.
"A-already?!" Yaiba spluttered.
"Affirmative, Yaiba-san. LeoCorp reported a variance of Fusion radiation on their premises two minutes and nine seconds ago. It matches the energy signature that was used at You Show prior to Yūya and Yuzu's Duel."
"Son of a—" Masumi only just remembered Hotene was three feet in front of her. The bottom had dropped out of her stomach into the empty space below. "We're too late … he's already brainwashing their students right now!"
"No," Angel-IQ said abruptly. "LeoCorp has confirmed a new contact on site. Someone at Ryōzanpaku appears to have forced Markus Streiter into a Duel."
Silence. Masumi held her breath. Had this unknown person just handed them the lucky break they needed to catch up with that bastard? "Who's his opponent?" she demanded.
There was a short pause. "Accessing satellite telemetry," said Angel-IQ. "Duel Disk serial number confirmed. … Accessing Duel Monsters database. All cards archived and verified." Then: "His opponent is Gōdagawa Ryōzan."
Masumi bit her lip. The headmaster of Ryōzanpaku was Dueling Markus personally—and by himself?!
"Get this to the headmistress," she said urgently. "Have her tip off the authorities so they can surround the school."
"Himika-sama has already telephoned the Minister of Defense," Angel-IQ told her. "I calculate the best possible response time from the nearest JSDF base to be eleven minutes." A pause. "We will reach the campus in fifteen."
"I don't care if it's fifty," Yaiba growled. "Markus is ours. Make sure Himika tells that to the army. They contain him—but we stop him."
Masumi was struck by a thought. "Angel-IQ—put us in observer mode! If this Gōdagawa guy is smart, he'll have the same idea we do. He'll use the Duel to keep Markus in one place until the LID or the JSDF reaches him first!"
"And give us a chance to see Markus' cards in action!" Yaiba was grinning, swiping the air with a gleeful fist. "What better way to learn how to beat him?"
"Agreed." And the screen of Masumi's Duel Disk shimmered into the overlay of a Duel in progress. It had only just started, by the looks of it; both Streiter and Gōdagawa had the same 4000 Life Points with which they'd begun the Duel, and there were only four cards on the field—all of which had been Set to Streiter's Spell and Trap Zone.
It was Streiter's Field Zone, however, that sent the LID into more muted muttering.
Masumi squinted at the sight. That's not good.
Kachidoki Isao had managed to bring a full dozen of his classmates back to consciousness. There were no war cries, no threats of retribution—only silent, resolute stares of vengeance on their faces as they rushed out of the gate and into an unsuspecting summer's day, in pursuit of the nameless twins who had humiliated them so thoroughly.
That just left the hundred or so junior students of Ryōzanpaku and a scattering of seniors. All of them were peeking through the doors and windows of their dormitories to watch the Duel that was unfolding right before their eyes.
"My turn! DRAW!"
The air was palpable with hard light—but no Solid Vision could compare to the two furies that radiated from the two combatants in the courtyard of Ryōzanpaku. They were as different as could be—one was hot, the other was cold; one had boiled over, while the other continued to simmer—except in one respect: by the end of it all, both furies would have abated for good, and nothing would do so save the total extinguishment of its sworn enemy.
Gōdagawa checked his hand, and set his jaw. "I activate the Field Spell: Perfect Sync – A-Un!" he said, slapping a card onto his blade. The campus courtyard shimmered with a sudden heat haze; violet flames had erupted along his forearms and lower legs, consuming his Duel Disk and singing at his flesh. Long, vaporous tongues licked at his knees and elbows, and Streiter thought he saw the fleeting images of snarling lions around Gōdagawa's fists.
"By activating this card," said Gōdagawa, "I may add a Dual Sky monster from my Deck to my hand! I add—"
But Streiter was already moving to intercept. "Trap Card, open: Gladial Beast of Troy!" he interrupted, before Gōdagawa had even chosen his monster. "With this card, I may Special Summon 1 Gladial Beast monster from my hand to your field, and draw 1 card in return! I Special Summon Gladial Beast Hoplomus in Attack Position!"
As he drew his card, something tan, blocky and bulky stomped to Gōdagawa's side: an armored behemoth with the head of a rhinoceros; eight feet tall and almost as broad. A ring of shields floated around it like the ring of a planet, rearranging themselves into different patterns and formations every so often (Level 4: ATK 700/DEF 2100).
"A second Trap Card!" cried Streiter, revealing the second of the quartet he'd Set on his opening turn. "I activate Handicap Match! With this card, I may Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower Gladial Beast from my hand or Deck! From my Deck, I Special Summon Gladial Beast Bestrouli in Attack Position!"
Something green and blurry rocketed out from behind him, soaring high into the air—then landing on the field in a three-point stance: a bird-like warrior with wings more of metal than flesh, and fist-sized cannons mounted on both of its armored arms (Level 4: ATK 1500 » 1600/DEF 800 » 900).
Gōdagawa grit his teeth as he saw the change in the point gauge—and in Hoplomus' own as well; the rhino-man had roared in pleasure as it crept upwards to 800/2200—without any sign of another card to bolster it.
"I should have known you'd have some dirty trick up your sleeve!" he sneered at the Kämpfer. "Scum like you can never could make it two steps without having to tilt a losing battle in your favor! So admit it—you're using one of those infernal terrain programs, aren't you?!"
"The first one I ever made." Streiter permitted himself to betray a glimmer of pride. "Field Spell: Dungeon of the Gladial Beast – Colosseum. Each time any monster is Special Summoned from any Deck, it gains a special counter. Then, for each of those counters, every Gladial Beast on the field gains 100 ATK and DEF. Behold!"
He gestured to the courtyard. Blue lines of energy were carving into the ground, tearing through brick and rock with impunity. The walls of the campus had been transformed through Solid Vision into primitive stone staircases, so wide as to possibly serve as grandstands for throngs of bloodthirsty crowds in another world—another time.
"You should feel honored, Master Gōdagawa," Streiter told him. "I only go this far for opponents I deem worthy of a good fight. I saw no such fight in Sakaki Yūshō."
"Did you?" Gōdagawa snorted as though he'd been asked to add one to one. "Then perhaps I ought to show you enough fight for the both of us! What better way to prove the final triumph of strength over smiles?
"Now! I Summon Yūhi the Dual Sky Fists in Attack Position!" he bellowed, and a tall, powerfully-built man who could have been a younger, cleaner-shaven Gōdagawa catapulted in front of the sensei, landing ahead and off to his right. He was clad in black-gold robes and a gauntlet over his bare right arm; prayer beads clattered gently against the simple armor as Yūhi raised his fist at Streiter with a loud battlecry (Level 4: ATK 1800/DEF 1000).
"Next—the Spell Card: Dual Summon"—Gōdagawa slapped a second card across his Duel Disk—"to permit me a second Normal Summon this turn! I Summon the monster I added with A-Un's effect: Kōkoku the Dual Sky Feet!" And a second young man materialized to his left: this one in robes of pure white, with a similar piece of armor as Yūhi clamped over his right leg, bound by another length of prayer beads (Level 3: ATK 800/DEF 2000).
The two monsters—who could well have been brothers, so similar were they in appearance to each other—assumed a battle stance. "Kōkoku's effect activates when it is Normal Summoned," smirked Gōdagawa, searching through his Deck, "and permits me to add a Dual Sky Trap Card from my Deck to my hand!" He fished one such card out, glanced at it, and moved on. "Now for A-Un's second effect! If I control a Dual Sky Effect Monster, I may Special Summon a Dual Sky Soul Token to my field! Behold!"
Streiter raised an eyebrow: both of Gōdagawa's monsters were erupting in flames much like the ones that had all too briefly consumed the man's limbs earlier. Yūhi raised his right fist, ablaze with scarlet flame, and Kōkoku put his foot forward, cracking the dirt beneath it and baking it into clay with the blue fires that roared from the sole of his boot. Between them emerged a third fireball, fueled by the flames they were generating: a lion-like demon the size of a large dog, snarling at Streiter as if wanting to tear him to shreds itself (Level 2: ATK 0/DEF 0).
"Yūhi's effect!" Gōdagawa cried just then. "By targeting a Dual Sky monster I control, I can destroy that monster and add 1 Dual Sky Spell Card from my Deck to my hand! I destroy my Soul Token"—he paused only to shield his face from the BOOM of his monster exploding into a sheet of flame—"and then add and activate the Spell Card: Dual Sky Invitation!"
His face grew menacing. "And with this card," he hissed, hunkering down like a sumo wrestler about to charge, "I will show you, Markus Streiter, an achievement that none of your foolish Ædonai will ever live to realize for themselves! By discarding 1 card, I may Special Summon as many Dual Sky Soul Tokens to my field as I possibly can, for a total of three, but they are destroyed during the End Phase!"
He let fly with a wordless bellow of rage. At once, the crimson fire that had been crackling over his arms and legs up until now had almost literally exploded into a roaring inferno. More flames poured from his fists, their tongues solidifying into a brace of more lions with blazing manes (3 × Level 2: ATK 0/DEF 0).
"This matters not," Gōdagawa stormed, halfway to sounding like one of the very lion-demons he'd conjured. "For I will now activate the second effect of Invitation: by using monsters from my hand or field as Fusion Material, I can Fusion Summon a Dual Sky monster from my Extra Deck, not once"—his eyes blazed—"but twice!"
Streiter tilted his head. He hadn't expected that. But he'd lived and Dueled for long enough to not let it show.
"Thus I fuse my Yūhi and my Kōkoku with one Token apiece," growled Gōdagawa, as his beard and mustache began to whip about from the winds blowing from the vortex forming behind him, "and sow the seeds of your demise!"
Both his monsters were blazing now; the dark flames encasing their armor now consuming flesh and cloth with ease. With a final roar, the twin unions of man and demon-beast leapt into the portal, and their master began to chant:
"Guardians of the Absolute! With overt violence and latent strength, return to this realm and dispel all evil!"
"Double Fusion Summon! Come forth! Dual Sky Fists and Feet – Armored A and Armored Un!"
As the last word roared from Gōdagawa's lips, so too did his Summons burst from the hurricane of color and mass that had birthed them. Little had changed; A and Un looked as youthful and spirited as they had been in their days as Yūhi and Kōkoku. But their robes and prayer beads were nowhere to be seen, and gleaming armor covered their entire bodies as opposed to a single forelimb (Level 6: ATK 2100/DEF 1500; Level 5: ATK 1700/DEF 2100).
High in the air, Masumi was stunned. One single card did all that?! the Fusion user thought, numb with shock.
Nor was she alone. "Incredible … " Yaiba was watching her Duel Disk, still in observer mode, from over her shoulder. Hotene and Rika wore the same slack jaws and bugged eyes as one another. Hokuto and Fuyu were in silent but animated conversation, each trying to figure out how this was possible—and apparently failing miserably.
"I guess he had to be the headmaster of Ryōzanpaku for a reason," Masumi huffed, loud enough that only Yaiba could hear her over the wind. And of course Gōdagawa would keep the best and most secretive methods for himself.
She noted one Fusion Monster apiece had been Summoned in Attack and Defense Position—and, as they'd already found out, with greater card economy than would ordinarily have been needed—which meant that, combined, they could put Markus on the defensive while keeping Gōdagawa's own LP protected at the same time, and still have cards left over for any surprises Markus might try to throw at him next.
Masumi checked her Duel Disk's map function. Twelve minutes to Ryōzanpaku, it showed, and she stifled a smile. It was obviously still too early to tell, but she liked the thought of arriving there and finding the Ædonai commander defeated—and before the LID had even needed to challenge him themselves.
"Dual Sky Fist – Armored A's effect!" Gōdagawa boomed. "Should it ever be Special Summoned, I can target any monster in Attack Position my opponent controls, and destroy it! I target and destroy your Gladial Beast Bestrouli!"
He punched the air with a fist. So did his Armored A; the force and speed of the monster's movement generated a shockwave of flame, incinerating Markus' Duel Monster before it could spread its wings to evade the blast.
"Armored A's second effect! While I control a Fusion Monster that was Special Summoned with a Dual Sky Effect Monster as material, all Dual Sky Fusion Monsters I control gain 300 ATK and DEF!" And indeed, as Gōdagawa gestured to his imposing duo, the red-hot flames that bathed their armored bodies crackled just a bit louder and rose just a bit higher, almost reaching the point gauges overhead that showed their strength at 2400/1800 and 2000/2400.
"Now—Battle Phase!" The sensei of Ryōzanpaku pointed a finger right at the Kämpfer. "Gladial Beast Hoplomus! Attack Markus Streiter's Life Points directly!" The earth shook as the monster moved to obey, charging forward like a mobile brick wall at the man who had once commanded it—
"Quick-Play Spell: Gladial Tame!" Streiter swept out with one hand, revealing yet another of his Set cards. "By activating this card, I can target a Gladial Beast monster my opponent controls, and gain control of it until the End Phase!" He flexed a gloved fist, and a whip had shimmered from out of nowhere into his broad palm. This he lashed at the rampaging rhino-man bulling towards him—and as if the Solid Vision had struck its armored hide for real, Hoplomus skidded to a halt with a roar … and turned back towards Gōdagawa with a lethal gleam in its eye.
But Gōdagawa was smiling. "You just made a big mistake, Streiter," he said, cracking his knuckles. "When I used my Armored A's first effect to destroy your Bestrouli, it prevented me from attacking directly with it this turn. Now that you've regained control over your other Gladial Beast, Armored A is no longer under that restriction—which means I can use it to damage you even more! Armored A—attack and destroy Hoplomus! Flaming Fist of Agyō!"
And as his monster launched forward to do his bidding, Gōdagawa moved with him: he sprinted forward with a yell as leveled one of his fists, blazing with fiery hard light, right at the German's solar plexus—
But Hoplomus had flexed its arms, expanding the floating ring of shields around it so that they enveloped Streiter as well. Both punches, which might have done life-threatening damage even to the Kämpfer, instead ricocheted harmlessly to one side, though the gust of wind that followed was enough to ruffle the lapels of Streiter's blue suit.
"Hm. Well, you've certainly proved you've kept your body's physique at its peak in your age, Master Gōdagawa," the German admitted. "It is unfortunate that the same cannot be said about the mind that governs it."
Streiter tapped at his Duel Disk, revealing his final Set card. "Trap, activate: Defensive Tactics. For the rest of this Battle Phase, I cannot take battle damage, and my Gladial Beast monsters cannot be destroyed by battle—but in exchange, when it resolves, I must place it on the bottom of my Deck instead of sending it to the Graveyard."
He did so, ignoring the grinding noises coming from Gōdagawa's teeth. "Since that was your last monster to attack, that concludes your Battle Phase—which means that my Gladial Beast Hoplomus' effect activates: at the end of any Battle Phase it battled, I may shuffle it into my Deck, and Special Summon a different Gladial Beast from my Deck in its place! I therefore Special Summon Gladial Beast Sparticus in Attack Position!"
With one final battle cry, Hoplomus shimmered into blinding light and disappeared—but its roar, if anything, echoed even louder. The reason why was soon apparent: a hulking dinosaur in spiky armor had stomped next to Streiter, nine feet tall, even longer from its head to the tip of its tail, and clutching an equally enormous golden axe as though it wanted nothing more than to hear the wide blade sing in battle (Level 5: ATK 2200 » 2400/DEF 1600 » 1800).
"As you can see, this places another counter on my Colosseum," Streiter smirked, and the blue fires slicing across the courtyard seemed to burn even brighter at his words. "Furthermore, Sparticus' effect activates when it is Special Summoned, and lets me add a Gladial Beast Equip Spell from my Deck to my hand." A single card jutted out from his Duel Disk, tiny against his fingers.
Gōdagawa seethed, but knew there was nothing more he could do. "Two cards face-down!" he shouted, retreating from Streiter, and a brace of flat holograms briefly shimmered at his feet before fading from view. "Turn end!"
Yaiba grimaced as he continued to watch the Duel. "What a killjoy," he huffed.
They were a little more than ten minutes from their destination now—Masumi was keeping track on her Duel Disk. "Markus spends all those cards on his hand to Summon one monster—but that one monster ends up being just as strong as anything Gōdagawa put on his field this turn."
The Synchro ace groaned. "God, I can already tell I'm going to hate Dueling against this guy."
"It's still anyone's game," Masumi reassured him from just ahead. "If Markus' monsters rely on them battling all the time, then that might just give us an advantage. He's got an older style of Deck—it's more grind-y than ours, but it's slower because of it. If we can use that speed to our advantage, we've got a way to beat him already!"
"Not from what I just saw him play," Hokuto said darkly from his Messiers 7. "Look at this."
Yaiba did. Immediately he slammed his palm against his face. "Like I said, I'm going to hate Dueling this guy … "
Streiter inspected the card he'd just drawn with a calculating look on his face. "Tell me something, please, Master Gōdagawa," he said conversationally. "What was the toughest choice you have ever had to make in your life?"
The sensei drew back, momentarily confused. "Choice? Life is nothing without tough choices, Streiter. If you want me to give you the dignity of an answer, you're going to have to be more specific."
"So will you," was the reply. "There's a lot you've not told the world, you know. I have to wonder what the Duel Monsters community would think of you if they knew about Dennis paying his little visit to Isao. Would you be able to spin that off as simple abduction? Coercion?" He raised an eyebrow. "Is this why you truly keep him by your side? So you know that he won't squeal?"
Gōdagawa grit his teeth. "You imply the existence of choice where none was to be found. I had nothing to do with his decision. In all the time I've known your name—of all the times you asked me for a favor here, or to look the other way there—you have never once given me a choice in the matter. So don't pretend otherwise with me."
"I'm not pretending," said the Kämpfer. "I wasn't then, and I certainly am not now. As you said, life is nothing without tough choices. It isn't supposed to be easy, nor is it fair. And they certainly aren't meant to be painless."
He stroked the edges of the card in his hand on the last word. "When we are done today, you will face a reckoning for every single choice you have made as the sensei of Ryōzanpaku, Master Gōdagawa—and in particular, every one that you made involving me. And it is all too appropriate that I should start with this card right here."
His face darkened, and at last he revealed the card for Gōdagawa to see. "I activate the Spell Card: Painful Choice."
A/N: Ho-o-o boy.
So, a couple things that nagged at me about Ryōzanpaku: first, I don't think I ever saw a single female in any footage that featured the school, its grounds or its students. I think it occurred to me then that the school was either boys-only or well on its way. But I like to think girls can be that kind of physical, too—and the notion of a girls-only counterpart to Ryōzanpaku is an interesting one to consider for another time.
The second happened late into ARC-V's run, when I wondered how Dennis got into a school as reclusive as Ryōzanpaku at all when he spoke to Isao. At the time, I'd assumed, "oh, he can travel anywhere he likes because of his Duel Disk." But as this story took shape, I began to wonder if maybe some unseen third party had arranged it so that Dennis didn't get physically booted off campus the moment he'd showed up—and that, more to the point, Isao's teacher might even have known of this third party to begin with.
… That'd be me sweating the details instead of focusing on the sharp left turns I keep taking with this story.
As for the Duel, I've found myself surprisingly attracted to the Dual Avatars. The first draft of this Duel came before Phantom Rage introduced them—I'd had Isao giving Gōdagawa his Deck and Dueling with that, for cryin' out loud. But that felt boring—and when the Dual Avatars were leaked, I realized I'd found a Deck that Gōdagawa could use for himself. So I remade the whole battle from the ground up, and this is … well, it's the first half of the result. Part two should be along soon, but this may depend on how long it takes me to sort out taxes and some other things I've been putting aside.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! – K