Chapter 27: Meeting the Father

The next day, Yusei was visiting Akiza again. They were just sitting in her hospital room, enjoying each other's company when the nurse came in.

"Excuse me, Akiza, but there's someone here who wants to see you?"

"Who is it?"

"He wouldn't say, but he insists I let him in."

"It's probably someone from Goodwin," Yusei reasoned. "We should probably see what they want."

"Send him in," Akiza nodded. But when the man stepped in through the door, she wished she hadn't.

"D-Dad?"

Indeed, her father stepped in through the door. When his eyes met Akiza's, he smiled.

"My baby girl…"

"Leave. NOW."

Her father stopped in his tracks, shocked.

"Akiza…"

"You wanted to send me away because I was different, and you expect me to welcome you back with open arms?"

"Akiza, you're not listening, please…"

"Oh, I've heard all I need to. You got what you wanted at any rate, so go back to your meetings."

Realizing that the tension was getting tight, Yusei stepped in.

"I think it's best that you leave."

"Excuse me, but who are you?"

"He's Yusei Fudo, my boyfriend and real family."

"And you must be Mr. Izinski. I wish I could say I've heard good things about you."

The Senator scowled.

"Listen here, young lady! I am your father, and…."

"NO! You lost the right to call me that when you decided to send me away. LEAVE."

"Then I challenge you to a duel," he said, still not backing down. "If you win, you'll never have to see me again. But if I win, you'll come home with me and forget all about this Yusei."

Akiza was about to respond, but trying to sit up sent a jolt of pain through her body. Seeing this, Yusei stepped in.

"She's in no condition to duel. Duel me instead."

Hideo looked him up and down for a minute, then nodded.

"Very well. I'll give you a day to prepare. Enjoy the time with my daughter, because after tomorrow you won't see her again."

With that, he turned and walked away.

"Yusei, you didn't have to do that."

"He wouldn't give up unless he got his duel," Yusei countered.

"Just be careful," she advised. "I don't want to lose you."

Yusei smiled, and took her hand in his.

"You won't, because I have something worth fighting for."

She returned the smile, along with a kiss.

The next day, Yusei met Hideo in the Hospital Duel Court. Leo, Luna, and Tanner had been made aware of the situation, and were watching off to the side with Akiza.

"Be careful, Yusei," Akiza whispered.

"Don't worry!" Leo said with his usual enthusiasm. "He beat Jack, so beating your dad will be a piece of cake!"

Akiza smiled, appreciating his enthusiasm.

"Alright, young man," Hideo said. "I hope you've enjoyed your time with my daughter, because when I win she's coming home!"

"But if I win, you'll leave us alone," Yusei reminded him.

"IF you win, yes."

DUEL!

Hideo: 4000

Yusei: 4000

"Family first! And for starters, I'll activate the spell card, Double Summon! This allows me to normal summon twice this turn. Next, I'll summon Gemini Soldier (500/300) in defense mode! Next, I'll summon him again so that he can use his effect! I'll end my turn there."

This play confused everyone on the sidelines.

"What gives? Gemini Soldier is already on the field?" Leo asked.

"And it's an effect monster," Luna added. "Why should he have to summon it twice?"

"That's because it's a Gemini Monster," Tanner added. "You see, Gemini Monsters are a special kind of effect monster. When they're first summoned or in the graveyard, they're treated as Normal Monsters. You have to Normal Summon them while they're on the field to get their effects. They're a tricky bunch to use, but in the right hands can be quite deadly."

"But Gemini Soldier is so weak!" Leo butted in. "What kind of effect can it have that will pose a threat to Yusei?"

"I don't know, but I don't like it…"

"I'll start with Speed Warrior in attack mode! Now I'll have him attack Gemini Soldier!"

But to everyone's surprise, Gemini Soldier wasn't destroyed.

"Gemini Soldier can't be destroyed by battle once per turn after it's been Gemini Summoned. Once more, if it battles I can special summon a different level 4 or lower Gemini Monster from my deck, like Future Samurai (1600/1200) in attack mode!"

Yusei growled, but could do nothing more.

"I set two cards face down and end my turn. Your move, Senator."

"I'll start by tributing my two monsters to summon Phoenix Gearfried (2800/2200) in attack mode! Next, I activate Synthesis Spell. By sacrificing the Chthonian Emperor Dragon in my hand, I can Ritual Summon Lycanthrope (2400/1800) in attack mode! Lycanthrope, attack his Speed Warrior!"

"Go, Card Defense! By discarding a card from my hand, your attack is negated, and I get a new card."

A storm of cards surrounded Lycanthrope preventing him from reaching Yusei's side of the field.

"You might have stopped one attack, but I still have another. Phoenix Gearfried, destroy Speed Warrior!"

The Gemini monster brought his sword down, cleaving Speed Warrior in two.

Yusei: 2100

"That ends my turn."

"I don't get it," Leo said. "Why use his Card Defense trap on Lycanthrope? He would've saved more life points if he waited for Phoenix Gearfried."

"Not necessarily," Tanner said. "See, Lycanthrope has a special effect that when he deals battle damage, he also deals 200 points of damage for every normal monster in your graveyard. And with three Gemini Monsters in the grave, that'd be an extra 600 points of damage being dealt to our pal Yusei."

"Oh, so by taking the stronger attack, he wound up with less damage?"

"Bingo."

"To start, I'll activate Limit Reverse to bring back Speed Warrior in attack mode! Next, I'll summon Junk Synchron, and with his effect I'll bring back the Quillbolt Hedgehog I discarded last turn. But he won't be around for long, because Junk Synchron is going to give him a tune up! Come on out, Junk Warrior!"

"Falls a little short in the attack department, doesn't he?"

"Not for long. When he's Synchro Summoned, the attack points of every level 2 or lower monster on my field get added to his own (2300-3200). Attack Lycanthrope, Junk Warrior!"

Junk Warrior charged forward, smashing his fist into the werewolf and destroying it.

Hideo: 3200

"I end my turn with one card face down."

Hideo scowled when he saw what card he had drawn.

Damn, no monsters. Oh well, I'll have to make do with this.

"I'll begin by normal summoning Phoenix Gearfried once more. Next, I'll equip your Junk Warrior with Unstable Evolution! Since my life points are higher than yours, your monster's attack points becomes 1000 (3200-1000)! Attack Junk Warrior, Gearfried!"

Yusei remained calm as his monster was sliced in half and his life points plummeted.

Yusei: 300

"I'll end my turn. Hurry up and make your last move so I can bring my daughter home!"

"You don't get it, do you?"

"What's there to get?"

"She's finally happy because she got away from you. She told me all about what you called her, why she ran away. You're her own father, and you called her a witch? Do you understand how much that could hurt a child? I may never have had parents, but I should hope they would've been better than that."

Hideo remained silent for a minute, before sighing.

"You're right, I did say those things. And I regret that every day. When Akiza was younger, I was never around much. It was always some meeting, or some task that required me to stay late. I thought I could buy her love, but all I did was drive her away."

He then turned to look Akiza in the eyes.

"That's why I want to bring you home. I know I can't undo the past, but I want to show you I can change. And I'll do just that after my next turn!"

"There won't be a next turn."

Hideo, despite how serious he was a minute ago, scoffed.

"Oh? And how do you plan to do that with a monster that has only 900 attack points?"

"With this. First, I'll activate Tuning! This lets me add a Synchron monster from my deck to my hand, like Road Synchron! Afterwards, I send the top card of my deck to the graveyard."

"Phoenix Gearfried's effect activates! When you activate a spell card, I can special summon a Gemini Monster from my graveyard. Come on out, Chtonian Emperor Dragon (2400/1600)!"

"Next, I'll summon Road Synchron (1600/800) in attack mode! Next, since I have a tuner on my side of the field, I can bring back Quillbolt Hedgehog from my graveyard. Now my level 4 Road Synchron tunes with my level 2 Quillbolt Hedgehog and my level 2 Speed Warrior! Come on out, Road Warrior (3000/1500)!"

"It's strong, but not strong enough to end this duel!"

"I'm not done, Road Warrior's effect now activates! I can special summon two level 2 or lower Warrior or Machine monsters from my deck, like Tuningware (100/100) and Nitro Synchron (300/100)! And when Tuningware is being used for a Synchro Summon, he can count as a level 2 monster, so I'll tune them together and make Armory Arm! Now Armory Arm will equip to Road Warrior and give him 1000 attack points (3000-4000)! Destroy Phoenix Gearfried!

Hideo: 2000

"Well played, but I still have life points!"

"No, you don't. If a monster equipped with Armory Arm destroys another monster by battle, you take damage equal to its attack points."

"What?"

Hideo didn't have time to react before a wave of fire hit him, wiping out the rest of his life points.

Hideo: 0000

"No…I failed…"

To his surprise, Akiza got up and walked over to him.

"I'm not ready to forgive you yet…but one day I will be. But until then, please let me be happy."

Hideo sighed, but nodded.

"Okay. Just…when you're ready…the door is open. For both of you."

"Thank you."