Chapter 54: Standard Wrap Up
With Dartz defeated, the triumphant Lancers returned home, Gong and Sylvio dragging the exhausted Seto Kaiba with them. Once they returned to Leo Corp, Ishizu took the Quantum Cube and began concentrating. After a minute, the cube glowed, and several rays of light shot out of it and into the distance. Then, the cube stopped glowing and lay flat on the desk.
"There," Ishizu said at last. "All of the souls Dartz took have been restored to life."
She then handed it to Declan.
"As promised, I leave it in your capable hands."
"You're more than welcome to stay," Declan offered. "We need people with your talents."
But Ishizu shook her head.
"Thank you, but I must return to Egypt. I have a lot of catching up to do with my brother."
"Understood."
"Good luck, all of you. And thank you."
With that, Ishizu bowed and left, leaving Declan to turn to the group.
"Go home, and get some rest. Enjoy the time you have with your family, because once we leave I can't guarantee when you'll see them again."
A week later, everyone got the call to action. While they were scared to leave their family and friends behind, they knew that it was necessary to keep them safe. So after many heartfelt goodbyes, everyone gathered in Declan's office. Kaiba and Pegasus were there as well.
"Excellent," he said as he looked over the chosen duelists: Shay, Lulu, Yuto, Yugo, Rin, Serena, Barrett, Yuya, Zuzu, Gong, and Sylvio. "We're just waiting for three more."
They weren't kept waiting long, because two ninjas materialized from out of nowhere, bowing to Declan.
"Moon Shadow, Sun Shadow, excellent."
"We came as soon as we got your message, Sir."
"And we brought Riley, as instructed."
Riley, as it turned out, was a little boy, who remained silent as the other Lancers balked.
"You have got to be kidding me!" Shay shouted. "A child? You expect us to take a child into Duel Academy?"
"Shay, calm down," Lulu tried to soothe him, but he shrugged off her hand.
"No, this is bullshit! Academy didn't show any of the children in our dimension mercy, you think they'll show him any?"
"Your concern is noted, but I assure you that Riley is more than capable," Declan said without even flinching. Realizing Declan wouldn't back down, Shay relented, allowing him to continue as Claude handed several of them card packs.
"Pegasus and I have taken the liberty of creating new pendulum cards for you as possible. They'll serve us well in our fight against Duel Academy."
He then handed all of them back their duel disks.
"We've also modified your duel disks with a miniature Solid Vision projector to allow you to initiate an Action Duel anywhere, as well as dimension crossing technology."
"Alright!" Yugo shouted. "Let's go kick some Fusion Ass!"
"We're not going to Duel Academy just yet," Declan clarified.
"WHAT?!" Sylvio shouted. "All of this build up, and we're not taking the fight to them! I did not sign up to sit around and wait for action! I say we go there right now and kick their door in!"
"And in turn, they'll kick you out, or worse," Serena said.
"Oh please, I defeated scores of those pathetic Obelisk Force during the Arc League Championship, I think I can take them."
"Not an entire island of them," Barrett said. "What they lack in skill, they make up for in numbers."
"Barrett and Serena are right," Declan nodded. "While all of your are skilled duelists, they have far superior numbers to ours. And with Zuzu, Lulu, Rin, and Serena among our ranks, it'd be easy for them to weed them out."
Realizing he was defeated, Sylvio gave a weary sigh and relented.
"Fine. What's the plan then, O' wise leader?"
"We'll head to The Synchro Dimension first. According to Yugo and Rin, Duel Academy has no presence there. By forming an alliance with them, we can bolster our forces and prepare a tactical strike on Duel Academy with an army of our own. I'll allow everyone here a few minutes to prepare while we set the coordinates."
Everyone milled about the room, not even bothering to talk with their mission looming over their heads. Zuzu did, however, walk over to Yuya.
"Hey."
"Hey."
"You alright? I haven't really gotten a chance to talk to you lately."
Yuya sighed.
"It's not right. Dueling is supposed to bring people together, not tear us apart."
"I know."
"But at the same time, if we don't stop Duel Academy, they'll crush everything and everyone! Sometimes I wonder what my dad would do…"
"Yuya…"
"But…if it saves everyone, so that they can keep smiling…I think Dad would do whatever it takes to stop them."
Zuzu smiled, and gave Yuya a hug.
"Then that's exactly what we'll do."
"Alright everyone, time to go!"
With that, everyone gathered in a circle, ready for transport.
"Good luck, all of you!" Pegasus said. "I wish we could join you, but Kaiba and I will support you from home. And we'll keep an eye out for potential recruits for a Lancer squad here."
"Great, stuck on babysitting duty," Kaiba deadpanned.
"Alright everyone, activate your dimensional transport device…now!"
WIth the press of a button, the chosen warriors disappeared, leaving Kaiba and Pegasus alone.
"Good luck, Yuya-boy," Pegasus whispered to himself. "You're going to need it."