"How did you get in my room?!" Yuzu-but-not-Yuzu screamed.
Eddie pulled apart her hands and noted she did not have the bracelet any more. "...I might have just made a horrible mistake."
"In-truder!" She said as she picked up what looked to be a duel disk, more in the shape of a shield (ala Mid Shield Gardna) than anything else. The not-Yuzu was dressed in Slifer reds and had blue hair a lot like her own.
"Wait wait wait nonono, I'm not here on purpose, I've just had a horrible accident." Eddie said truthfully, physically trying to prevent her from using her duel disk. "Please don't set up alarms, I don't even know where I am but I know that would be bad for both of us!"
"How would that be bad for both of us, you are in my suite," Fusion-Yuzu… Fuzu said as she tried to get her duel disk back.
"Because I have information you might want and if I'm detained I won't give it to you."
"Oh really? You who intruded into the depths of Academia."
Shit. Time to go for the hail mary. "It's about Starving Venom Fusion Dragon and its user. You too, obviously."
"Huh, what does Commander Yuri's ace monster have to do with me?" She asked.
Eddie filed that away for later. "Because it's part of a set of 4 across the 4 dimensions. That's why I'm here." Probably true? Hopefully true. "And you are also part of a set, as is Yuri."
"Huh? You are talking crazy, more of me? There is only one of me."
"The bracelet on your arm, you've had it your entire life." Eddie stated.
"How do you…?"
"Yuzu, the other you I was literally just with less than a minute ago, has the exact same bracelet. Also face and voice and build. One of Yuri's counterparts disappeared in a flash of light and her bracelet flashed too, so I tried putting Duel Energy into it and now I'm here, with you, and the other bracelet." Eddie said frantically.
"That sounds utterly irresponsible, Duel Energy can be volatile when not used in a Duel, do you not know that?"
"I am a self-trained magician and untrained future seer, I literally don't know what I'm doing in regards to it."
"Future Seer? Like Master Sartorius?"
"Yes! Exactly like Sartorius, just not trained. I can only accurately see things once I can't change them any more." Eddie said, hoping against hope Sartorius was not a puppet for the Light of Destruction.
"That sounds utterly useless."
"I literally call it the Gift of Useless Prophecy, but you'd be surprised." Eddie said. "Like… here, give me information to work off of, what's your name?"
"Serena."
Moon theme, pendulum era, fusion cards… rabbit plush?
"You use a Lunalight deck!"
"How did you?" She asked in shock and slight awe.
Score! "Gift of Useless Prophecy! Well, maybe not useless so much as… retrocognition I think is the word? But you see what I mean right? That doesn't help me in the situation other than proving it, and I can't change it." Eddie prattled. "Further proof: Yuri uses Predaplants."
"Yes, he does, I have seen some of his duels."
"Okay, so we've established I'm untrained and I came here by accident right?" Eddie asked.
"Yes I believe that now," She responded.
"So I'm not an intruder, right?"
"I guess under that definition, I guess not."
"Okay, good, awesome. If you still wanna get rid of me, I will willingly let you escort me out of… I don't where we are exactly but I can guess an Academia dorm, and either I try to find my way home the hard way or try to do what I did before with your bracelet if you'd let me."
"If I threw you out, the guards outside would get you, and have you interrogated, but you said you have information?" Serena asked.
Well there went that potential out. "Yes, kind of. Important question, what's your opinion of Leo Akaba?"
"He is the man that will lead Fusion to glory and bring the dimensions back together under an utopia." Said though it sounded like she was just repeating sound bites, with no real conviction. If anything, she actually sounded kind of bitter.
"Okay that's Academia's opinion, what's Serena's opinion?" Eddie asked gently.
"I am… cross with him, I am one of the strongest duelists in Academia yet he will not allow me to join the frontlines to assist in the battle against Xyz."
Okay, that was setting off McGuffin alarms. "Because of the bracelet. You, and your counterparts are special and are somehow linked to his idea of merging the dimensions into utopia." Cool motive still murder. "The fact that you and Yuri are the only ones with counterparts that I've actually met, and the fact both you and Yuzu have that same bracelet, tells me there's something special about you. Either you will also merge or you're the key to the merge."
"Is that why he took me in? Because I am needed for his plan?" She wondered out loud.
"Probably! Never met the guy, but let's be fair here: he abandoned his son and wife in the dimension I just came from, came here, and started training child soldiers. That part may not sound like a big deal to you but trust me that's a big deal. And now he is actively attacking and killing people in XYZ dimension for… what, peace?"
"Ki-killing? Why would they be killing people, Obelisk Force fights with honor and dignity against Xyz! We declared war as is appropriate, they will be carded, but once they have given up their Duel Energy, they will be reborn in Utopia."
"...oh honey." Eddie said, pulling back the sleeve of her hoodie to reveal (one of) her duel disk(s). "I'm gonna pull up a video that I think you need to see." Thank god she'd asked Reiji for a copy to analyze.
She was a little cautious but she nodded her head to let her.
Eddie pulled up the video and let it play. She didn't watch it, she'd seen it almost a hundred times already, and instead watched Serena's face as it played.
Her face was one of confusion as she watched the news report, and then her face turned to horror as the mechanical menace appeared, and…
"I… why… urghh," Suddenly she was pushed to the side by Serena as she got off her bed and ran to a door and not even a few seconds later Eddie heard the sound of hurling.
And this allowed her to get a look at where she was.
Serena had said suite, and that was what it was, it was basically a one room apartment with a kitchen over in the corner, a tv on a stand, a table, a desk with a computer, and a large bed that Serena had been laying on that was filled with stuffed animals of the bunny variety.
Eddie took the moment to put Serena's duel disk on the floor on the opposite side of the bed from the bathroom door, making sure not to move from the bed herself.
After 30 seconds, she carefully entered the bathroom and started rubbing the girl's back as she kneeled in front of the porcelain throne.
"Urgh…" She groaned as she lifted her head to look at Eddie. "Why?"
"The video, the contents, or why I showed you?"
"All of it."
Eddie took in a deep breath. "You are not going to like the answer. It… it will change how you see things."
"Just tell me, my life is a lie apparently."
Eddie sighed. "Okay. I can't speak for Akaba's motivation, but I do know his means involve murder and suppressive tactics. Clearly he believes that anything is worth it for utopia, and I'm certain your people 'Card' opponents, but there's a lot of collateral. Because he's using Duel Monsters as a weapon to enact his will. He's using your classmates to do this, because he's too much of a coward to do it himself- that, or knows that the only people who would believe in him are those who know nothing else."
"Why… I thought… Professor, you told me…" Serena said sadly. "...You're lying please tell me you're lying, that was fake." She begged.
"Unfortunately I haven't lied at all since I got here." Eddie was pretty sure that was true, she'd guessed a lot, avoided a bit of truth, but she hadn't lied. "That's how I met one of Yuri's counterparts. He was looking for Ruri, his version of you. Because… because someone with Leo's symbol took her… oh god you are the McGuffin." Eddie realized aloud.
"Huh? I am not a muffin." Though the seeming non-sequitur seemed to help snap her out of the depressive spiral(?).
"No, but you, or maybe your bracelet, may be the Key to his whole plan." Eddie said. "I got here by putting Duel Energy into your counterpart's Bracelet. And now I'm here. He already has dimensional technology. The only reason he would want the Bracelets- assuming you aren't equally important to his plans- would be if he needed an amplifier…. He's collecting Carded Duelists as batteries to channel through your Bracelets and merge the dimensions." Eddie realized aloud. Wow, talking someone through an existential crisis really helped her put things in perspective, that kept happening.
"So I am just a tool to him," Serena said. "Just a tool, an object to be used."
"I can't speak for his personality or how much he may care about you in particular but…" She trailed off.
Silence fell over the bathroom for a long moment.
"So the question now is," Eddie broke the silence. "What are you gonna do about it?"
"I… don't know."
"How about this?" Eddie said. "You don't want to believe me, obviously. How about investigating yourself, ask around a bit without revealing what you know, and then confirm what I've said. And if I'm right, you can make your decision then, with all the information. And if I'm wrong, I will personally let you kick my ass."
"I will do that…" Serena said as she got back up her legs rather shakily.
"Okay, great. You obviously don't have to do anything today, if time's synced up it's probably getting late. Gather your strength to face the new challenge." Eddie said. "Meanwhile, I… will, uh… I don't think you can introduce me as a friend or new recruit since I kind of… exposed… an Obelisk spy… and whooped him but good…"
"...You were the one that exposed Sora Shiunin?" She asked. "You're Eddie."
Eddie had a sinking feeling at that. "Yes, I am Eddie."
"He was shouting about a traitor in Standard when they pulled him into the infirmary, I was actually planning on sneaking out to capture them."
"Despite Sora's accusations during that duel I have no previous affiliation with Academia. I don't know if that makes it better or worse."
"Huh."
"So…" Eddie said. "Can I… try to use your bracelet to go home?"
"Well you can't use my Duel Disk, it doesn't have the Dimension Move App," Serena said.
"Of course there's an app…" Eddie said, before pausing. "...So is that a yes?"
"Yes."
"Thank you!" Eddie said, and a moment later she was holding the bracelet. Identical to its counterpart… is what she thought, but now that she was actually holding it, where Yuzu's was a sort of double-band with a small red gem, Serena's was a single thin band with a big purple gemstone. Same silvery-but-not-silver material tho. "Okay… Let's see if this works…" She said before clearing her throat.
"...Sacrifice the life force," Eddie said after a moment, focusing on the feeling of her Darklord cards when they took her health to use their effects. "To call forth the bright morning star! Descend from the heavens like lightning! Darklord-!"
Her vision blurred again-
"Eddie!"
"Big Sis!"
"Oh thank god that wo-blurk…" Eddie's relieved comment was cut off by her coughing up something hot and wet into her hands.
She looked down to see…
Blood.
That was… a lot of blood… and why was the floor moving so-
—
Eddie sat on the stairs of a temple, of a pyramid that was of familiar architecture, her eyes locked onto the pillar of light which both ascended and descended.
And the light became stairs and from it walked the most beautiful creature that she had ever seen.
"Summoner." The First Darklord spoke.
"Lucy." Eddie responded with her best curtsy.
"You have recovered, you must now awake back to the physical realm." His voice both soft and demanding. "We have faith in your success, and so do others."
—
Eddie woke up with a start, looking around in confusion at a… hospital room? Oh and there was an IV in her, that wasn't good.
Wait, correction, just an IV drip and a hospital gown, no diodes, so that was probably a good thing.
More pressingly was the red and green at the edge of her bed, which her eyes took a moment to focus on to reveal Yuya.
It was at this moment that Eddie put together the events that lead to this and the likely conclusion. "...Oops." She said raspily, which was concerning. How long had she been out for?
Not wanting to pull her IV out and not wanting to strain her throat, she lightly nudged Yuya with her foot under the blanket.
"I am awake Sensei!" Yuya shouted as quickly sat up straight in his chair. "...Huh?" His eyes moved and quickly landed on her. "Eddie!"
She waved at him. "Hallo." She rasped.
"Are you okay? Are you in pain? You suddenly started coughing up blood and passed out, the doctors said you burst some veins near your lungs," Yuya's voice was filled with concern.
"...Did I not teleport in a flash of light first?" Eddie asked, concerned why that wasn't mentioned.
"You did, twice. But that was what you did after you got back," Yuya said. "We called for an ambulance, and now you are here at Leo Corp. Private Hospital."
'Of course they owned a hospital,' Eddie thought to herself. "Don't tribute summon without a tribute, I had to Mausoleum of the Emperor myself to get back."
"Huh?"
Eddie went to continue before coughing. No blood this time, thankfully. "Nurse water first please?"
"I will be right on it!" Yuya said as he ran out of the room…
Making Eddie just sigh as her eyes landed on the call nurse button that was on the wall, and the one that was just out of her current reach.
She shook her head fondly as she hit the one intended for her.
Within a minute a nurse showed up who quickly got her sorted out, and after that Yuya returned to her room, with one silver-haired CEO following right behind him. "Went and called the others to tell them you are awake, and ran into Akaba-san on the way."
"Hey, so my Spontaneous Recon Mission was a massive success." Eddie said to the two. "Got a bunch of… very worrying information. Is this room secure?"
"This is my property," Reiji responded.
"And who invented your technology again?" Eddie asked rhetorically.
Reiji just narrowed his eyes as if he internally called her dumbass. "And going by what Sakaki said, you used the Bracelet possessed by Yuzu Hiiragi to teleport after learning it managed to displace the Xyz Counterpart of Sakaki, who is currently, maybe, still in Standard." He paused. "Also it has been three days since the incident."
"Thank you for the time check, I'm assuming nothing notable has happened while I was out?"
"The Head Teacher of the Fusion Course has gone missing with his Duel Disk last being activated in a Duel against an Xyz User," Reiji answered.
"We tried to find Yuto, but we had no luck so far," Yuya answered.
"Going off the fact I ended up in Fusion Dimension, I can guess why." Eddie said, going for the first bombshell.
"You went to Fusion?" Reiji asked. "What have you learned." It was not a question.
"Your sperm donor is a megalomaniac with utopian ideals who believes that the ends justify the means. As far as I've learned, his plan involves merging the four dimensions to create his 'Utopia', and -this is well informed speculation- is likely using carded duelists to generate the Duel Energy necessary to do so."
"Well, good to know that he has not had a change of heart over the last three years," Reiji said as he pushed up his glasses.
"Why would he do that? Why can't he just let people smile in their worlds?" Yuya asked in clear sadness.
"I don't know the why, but I have a fair bit of info on the how." Eddie said. "His plan clearly revolves around Yuzu's bracelet, along with its counterparts on the Synchro counterpart, Ruri the Xyz counterpart who has explicitly been captured/kidnapped by Academia, and the Fusion counterpart, Serena, who has been raised by Leo but was being kept in the dark on the truth of his operations. Clearly, these bracelets are important, as is the fact that one of his Commanders is the fusion counterpart to Yuya, Yuri, who uses a Predaplant deck and his ace, Starving Venom Fusion Dragon, probably uses Super Polymerization and similar tactics to use his opponent's monsters as material for his cards. I have a lot more info on Starving Venom than the rest of his cards that we can go over after the rest of it."
"So there is an Evil Me?" Yuya asked.
"At least one evil you and one edgy-but-good you."
"...I am guessing since you used Hiiragi's Bracelet, you appeared right next to Serena?" Reiji asked. "And she is still a prisoner?"
"Yes, and as best I can tell she didn't even realize she was a prisoner from her gilded cage, but I'm reasonably certain that, thanks to the Xyz footage, she is firmly against Leo and is going to bide her time, so we have a woman on the inside." She paused. "Also, they apparently have an app on their Duel Disks that lets them travel between dimensions, so if we can nab one of those we could also crack the dimensional travel issue."
"Hopefully." Reiji replied. "That would speed things up significantly."
"...Wait, hold on, back up real quick." Eddie said. "What do you mean still a prisoner?"
"I encountered Serena three years ago." Reiji answered. "And so the fact you called her ignorant of Leo's plans is concerning."
"How so?" Eddie asked, concerned.
"Because from my memories, she was fully aware of his plans, and was trying to escape when I encountered her," Reiji stated.
"Wait, are you saying he edited her memories or something?" Yuya asked.
"If not outright brainwashing of some variety, in addition to the mundane brainwashing/indoctrination." Eddie said. "You can get up to a lot of scummy things with the magic side of duel monsters. Though she didn't seem possessed, so that's a plus."
"That does mean that some of Fusion are not doing so out of their own free will, which makes sense," Reiji said. "While many have bought into the ideals and thoughts, others probably have gotten wise, though I assume that to be the case for most of the adults or even teachers. Though that is just a theory."
"That… that is just not right…" Yuya said.
"It's also more incentive for us to be the good guys and not kill anyone, because the soldiers of Academia are likely victims of that." Eddie said. Not that she wanted to kill anyone, but any reason to not do so was a good thing.
"Of course, they are just children," Reiji spoke, though Eddie thought he was clearly leaving out his 'father' in that statement.
"Yeah, we need to show them that they are wrong," Yuya said. "Show them what Duel Monsters should be used for."
"That's the spirit! Though, depending on how aggressive they are, we may have to do the carding thing ourselves, assuming we know how to reverse it, to take enemy pieces off the field."
Yuya grimaced at that.
"And save any prisoners they take." She added at the sight, which helped lighten his expression.
"That is a route we might have to go, but if it is done via technology, reversal should be accomplishable," Reiji said. "Is that all?"
"Uh… well, that's all that's relevant to you, I think? We're pretty sure Yusho is in or was very recently in Xyz but that's all the tactical information… oh, other than the fact that Yuzu should have someone with her at all times, because if her bracelet is in fact the cornerstone to Leo's plan, then we need to make sure she and it don't get into it. I have a feeling she as a person is also very important."
"We can have a member of LDS be introduced as a mentor tomorrow, she uses Melodious yes?"
"Yeah she does," Yuya answered.
"Then one from Fusion should be appropriate," Reiji concluded. "And speaking of tomorrow, if you have recovered enough, LDS wishes to have a set of Feature Matches against You Show Duel School and its friends. To demonstrate Extra Deck Summoning, with you having your fifth match against the special Duelist I had selected."
"I am literally always down to throw down, so assuming they give me a clean suite of health? Sure!" Eddie said, distinctly not saying anything about Reiji for being slick about collecting data on Pendulums, because it was pretty clever this time and sounded fun.
"You should, I will see you all tomorrow then," Reiji said as he left the room.
Once he closed the door, Eddie focused on Yuya. "Yuya, can you check and make sure no one's listening outside?"
"Uh, sure," He replied as he quickly opened the door, stuck his head out for a few seconds before pulling back and closing. "...We were really scared."
Oof, gutpunch. "Eeh, sorry? I only have Fusion and Tribute energy mastered, so it was the only way I could see to get hom-back here." Eddie quickly corrected the slip. "I am sorry for being reckless with it though, we -that is, I- probably should have done that better."
"Ah, well don't do that again," Yuya said. "And you should."
"On the note of reckless things… Yuya." Eddie said seriously. "I have this feeling about you, Yuzu, and your counterparts. And it's not a good feeling."
"Your Gift is triggering?" He asked.
"Yeah, and it's… the pieces of this puzzle I'm picking up are not putting together a pretty picture." Eddie said. "Because of what Serena told me about Yuri, your fusion counterpart, and what I know of the Predaplant archetype."
"I guess he isn't a nice guy?"
"Not sure if he's nice to his allies, but there's one thing I know about Predaplants? Anyone who uses them is a sadist. Someone who likes causing pain in others." Eddie said. "Since it revolves around using your opponent's monsters to make your own, turning your opponent's power against them, that sort of thing. And while there's nothing wrong with sadistic tendencies even when dueling, see: me, considering Academia's inclinations and the fact he's a Commander…"
"Hmm, well then I wanna show him that he is wrong," Yuya said. "That he doesn't have to hurt people, like actually hurt them to have fun Dueling." Eddie could guess Yuya's thought process a little, as he was probably thinking about showing Yuri the error of his ways and teach him that it was a game.
"That's… part of what I'm worried about, actually, Yuya." Eddie admitted.
"Why?"
"Because this is Duel Monsters. He's an other-dimensional counterpart. When Yuto got close enough to you, Yuzu's bracelet teleported him away. I think that, for whatever reason, her bracelet exists to keep the four of you separated, or maybe dimensional counterparts in general. And I have the feeling that if you duel… one of you will stop existing." Eddie said. "Or both of you, and you merge into something new. And that terrifies me, that in just one duel, you could be… gone, or suddenly change into a whole new person." Especially if, like in the card game, Yuri in particular was a Super Poly user, since that card could do things in a world like this.
Yuya's face went from smiling to horrified.
"So… I agree with you, but… if it comes down to it… let me duel him, let me carry your duel philosophy to him." Eddie asked, begged. "Don't- don't risk it for that, please."
"I will try…" Yuya simply said, and that was the best he really could promise, it wouldn't be his fault if he got ambushed by him.
"Just- just don't stop smiling, okay? Don't let go of making people smile, no matter what happens, no matter how bad things may get, okay?"
"I won't Eddie. No matter what, I will keep smiling," Yuya promised with his whole heart.
Eddie smiled at him in response. "Good. Then let's get me out of here and… I dunno, you wanna do some mock duels?"
"No duel disks?" He asked.
"No duel disks." She confirmed.
"We can do that while mom cooks dinner, she is going to come pick us up."
"Sounds great! Now unless you're willing to pay the price, I suggest you get out so I can get dressed." Eddie said, smiling 'sweetly'.
"Yes sis."
—
There was a knock on Eddie's window.
Her room in the Sakaki household was on the second floor.
She activated a duel disk (her left-hand one, the one still shaped like a blade) as she carefully pulled back the curtain, to see…!
Yuto standing on the sloped roof.
Immediately, she opened it. "Okay first, get in, second, how?"
He got in.
"I climbed?" Yuto responded like it was a question.
She rolled her eyes and deactivated her disk. This was definitely a Yuya-variant. "I mean how did you find out where I was staying?"
"I tracked down… Yuya the day after, heard what happened to you, followed him to the hospital, and then waited for you to recover, and then followed you back." Yuto answered.
"...You're lucky you have a variation of Yuya's puppy dog energy or I would think that's super creepy."
"Puppy dog?" He asked, sounding rather scandalized.
"Yeah, like the rottweiler to Yuya's golden retriever." Eddie said seriously. "Looks fierce, actually a big softie."
"...Shun must never hear of this." Yuto muttered.
"Never heard of him, so don't worry." Eddie said with a smile. "Anyway, I'm assuming you're here about the everything."
"He is my best friend, and Ruri's Older Brother, and yes," Yuto responded. "What exactly happened?"
"Counter question to figure that out- did you land in this dimension or in yours after you got poofed away?"
"I got sent back to Xyz, scared the shit out of Kaito and now he came along this time," Yuto answered.
"Kaito Tenjo?" Eddie repeated. Kaito probably equaled Kite, right? "Uses Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon?"
"How do you know that?"
"Wibbly wobbly magic stuff." Eddie said seriously.
"Ah okay." Yuto responded accepting that answer at face-value. Further cementing him as a Yuya.
"So, let's get on the same page here." Eddie said. "What do you know about Leo Akaba's plan?"
"The Heartland Resistance have gotten a few Obelisk Force members to talk, so we know that they want to card people to make an Utopia, and he chose Xyz specifically because we were the weakest, and that he's looking for something called the Numeron Code." Yuto stated.
"That… cannot be good." Eddie said. Numeron was the word on some of the Rank-Up cards, and more importantly, the Numeron archetype whose boss card had 100,000 attack points, which sound pretty damn important to the plot, so it was probably a major McGuffin.
"We think so too, we think it's related to Numbers, but they all left when Astral did after he and Yuma beat E'rah." Yuto elaborated.
"Astral left? Wait, no, 'E'rah'? Who or what is E'rah?" Eddie asked.
"She called herself a Goddess of Despair, though her real form was the Duel Spirit, Dystopia the Despondent." Yuto answered.
"Oh, okay, that makes sense." She was pretty sure the main bad guy of Zexal was Don Thousand based off of what she'd heard and the epic card that was Don Thousand's Throne, but the local Battle City had involved the Wicked Gods so maybe everyone was running on Manga Timeline Versions? Sora had mentioned Hibiki as being a person, so it would track if so.
"How does that…" Yuto muttered.
"Retrocognition."
"Huh, that is pretty cool," Yuto said.
"You are literally the first person to say that. You are now officially my second favorite Yu-boy."
"Yu-boy?"
"Yuya, you, you're dimensional counterparts, Yusho, Yugi Moto the King of Games, Judai Yuki, Yusei Fudo, Yuma Tsukumo, the greatest of the different generations of duelists." Eddie said. "Technically, Ruri and her counterparts would have been included through Yuzu but so far only her name starts with Yu so we're sticking with Yu-Boys, since if I'm not clear yet a lot of the greatest duelists across the dimensions have names starting with Yu for some reason."
"Me? One of the greatest?" He asked shyly as he rubbed his neck, a small blush on his face at the praise.
"I mean, I saw how you play, and not only was that awesome, but you run Phantom Knights. That's one of the most difficult archetypes to master, so with how well you did? I can only assume as such." Eddie gushed not-at-all biasedly about one of her favorite archetypes.
Yuto blushed even harder. "Hmm, getting back on topic, can you tell me what got you sent to the hospital? I only heard that you did something 'dumb' according to Yuzu's shouting."
Eddie snapped and pointed a finger gun at him. "Right, the critical information I need to share. Ruri, Yuzu and their counterparts? They're important on a cosmic level for reasons I can't yet determine, and their bracelets are tied to the dimensions themselves. With the right energy, they can send people to the corresponding dimension. The Fusion Counterpart, Serena, has been presumably brainwashed by Leo Akaba into complacency to be used for his plan to merge the dimensions likely using them and the bracelets."
"That… why?" Yuto asked.
"To bring about 'Utopia', which I can only assume is a misguided-at-best megalomaniacal view of things that he thinks he can not only make it work, but rule the world afterwards or some crap." Eddie spat. "He's clearly a proper dastard with delusions of grandeur."
"You don't have to tell me that, but why does he need Ruri and the others?" Yuto asked. "For what reason could they need to be taken and not just the bracelets?"
"Why are there four of her, four of you, and four of your dragon?" Eddie asked back. "Why did Yuzu's bracelet seem to separate you from Yuya?"
"Ehh, I don't know? There are probably other versions of people, like there is probably a version of Yuma somewhere here."
"There isn't." Eddie said. "I checked. I've been checking. Only 3 of the people I referred to as Yu-boys exist in this dimension. All the rest seem to have been scattered from the-" Eddie had a brain blast as she spoke, starting to pace as she spoke. "Oh my god the history I know is what Leo is trying to recreate, no wonder- the timeline was split that's why there's so many holes! Something split the timeline… and split you, her, and your dragon! That has to be it!" Eddie declared. "You split the timeline!"
"Huh?" Yuto asked in confusion.
"You and Yuzu, or rather, your original selves, for whatever reason, split the timeline I know into four separate dimensions, splitting yourselves and your ace dragon into four copies. Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, Starving Venom Fusion Dragon, Clear Wing Synchro Dragon, and Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon. By god, it's even in the names! The only archetype with its summoning type in its name is Pendulum, of course, how didn't I see this before!" Eddie half-ranted, half madly envisioned.
"Eddie, what are you shouting about?" Came Yuya's voice from the other side of her door.
Eddie immediately threw herself against it. "Yuto's here, he's a good boy, but do not open this door! We don't know what'll happen if you two get too close to each other."
"Odd-Eyes, Dark Rebellion, me, him were… one," Yuto stated, and Eddie saw his iris glow purple oh hell no. "Were one… we must… become…"
Eddie changed tactics and instead tackled Yuto. "Change of plans! Yuya, go to school! Stay out of the house until I call you!"
"It's evening. What happened? I am-" She heard the doorknob rustle.
"DO NOT OPEN THAT DOOR!" Eddie all but yelled. "Just- get your mom, go for a drive, just get out of the house!"
"But what about you?"
"I'm fine, he's not violent," Eddie said, still pinning the boy to the ground but he just seemed confused now, his eyes no longer glowing. "So I'm fine! Right now, the ones we need to be worried about are you, and him."
"...I understand." Yuya replied and the door handle stopped turning, and she heard steps and then she heard Yoko's muffled voice.
"...Urgh… what just happened?"
"Are you yourself again?" Eddie said before flinching. "Bad phrasing, are you in control of yourself?"
"Yeah, I just… really wanted to… duel Yuya for some reason," Yuto answered.
"Okay so this is going to sound crazy, but you and your counterparts are probably the main thing keeping the dimensions separate." Eddie said, not letting him up until she heard a car pulling away. "And Ruri and her counterparts are keeping you separate. In other words, congratulations, you're literally a pillar of the multiverse."
"Uh… yay me I guess," Yuto replied.
"Which… which means you're also critical to Leo Akaba's plans." Eddie realized with a sinking feeling.
"Well, that just means we really have to save Ruri," Yuto said. "If she is that important."
"God, you really are a Yuya, did you not hear the part where I just said- ugh, lemme put this in duel head terms." Eddie said with a sigh. "If you or any of your counterparts duel each other, you'll probably merge, and that could mean the loser dies or you start becoming whoever you were originally, or the winner keeps the driver seat and your in the passenger seat, or god knows what. Your reaction just now cemented that. And if you are what's holding the dimensions apart, that means Leo Akaba wins."
"Oh…" Yuto relented.
"That means, whatever you do? You cannot duel Yuri, your Fusion Counterpart, he uses Predaplants and Starving Venom Fusion Dragon. Which your deck is particularly susceptible to, because lemme guess- mono dark attribute?"
"Yes."
"He can make his ace out of any 2 dark types, including on your field with the right cards." Eddie said. "This is on the off chance you do have to fight him at some point, I'm giving you info to win if you can't escape, but if possible? Run, escape, just leave. You get me?"
"I understand," Yuto responded.
"Good, now then, two very important questions that got buried because of all that- one, how did you get back here on your own? Or rather, with Kite?"
"The way me and Shun came here, we managed to jury rig a few stolen Academia Duel Disks, but we only have access to Standard." Yuto explained.
"Can you go back as well, or only via Yuzu Express?"
"Only via Yuzu Express, it was kind of a hail mary to come here," Yuto said. "But this time as I said Kaito came along, to try and make it happen both ways."
"Okay, perfect. I can get you guys in contact with Reiji Akaba, who is the biggest Leo Akaba hater of this dimension, he is also in charge of Leo Corp and has, like, all the resources. If anyone can help crack it, it's him."
"Well you are gonna have to convince Kaito of that, he got a lot colder when they card'd Haruto." Yuto stated with deep sorrow.
"That… complicates things, but if you can get him in contact with me, I can probably convince him." Eddie said. "I have a way with people and a deep, deep disgust for Leo Akaba."
"I can do that," Yuto said.
"Here's my number, next time you can just message or call me and I can let you in the front door." Eddie said, giving said number.
He took it. "Going back to what we were talking about before, it sounds like you went to Fusion considering you know the name of the fusion version of Ruri?"
"Yeah I lead with that, you didn't hit your head when I tackled you did you?" Eddie asked, genuinely concerned. These people were anime tough, but she was anime strong when panicking.
"Just confirming, so how did you do that exactly?"
"Magic, aka manipulation of the soul, aka channeling the Duel Energy of a summoning type directly into the bracelet, summoning chant included." Eddie said. "I don't think it would be a good idea for you to try to recreate that."
"Probably not, but you used fusion and got to Serena right?" Yuto asked.
"I can see where you're going with this, that was the plan yes, but we'll need a way to get her back, like a working version of the app Academia uses. The bracelet itself stays so it's likely she would too."
"I mean are we sure about that?" Yuto asked. "Like if it can push, maybe it can also pull or it needs to stay on her for her to be brought along, but I definitely need to teach you how to harness Xyz Energy."
"We are not sure, we are flying by the seat of our pants at the moment." Eddie freely admitted. "Though we would be appreciative of learning."
"I mean the Resistance has been doing that since Heartland got invaded, and this has honestly been the biggest breakthrough yet… again this was a hail mary as we are getting dwindled down, Yuma is gone, Quatro is gone, Anna, Shark…"
"Not Anna Kaboom!" Eddie said instinctively before remembering she wasn't supposed to know them.
"No Anna Kozuki," Yuto said.
"Redhead with bazooka-cannon-airbike that runs train deck."
"Yeah that is her," Yuto said. "Also has a little brother, but I guess you already knew that, man you are just as Psychic as Haruto."
"Nope, cheating, I know a good bit of history about a unified version of the timeline. Names seem to be different sometimes, like with Anna just now." Eddie admitted, deciding to trust the angsty but clearly goodhearted Yu-boy.
"Yeah you mentioned that just before… does that mean you are like… from another universe entirely?" Yuto asked.
"That's getting into semantics that aren't helpful at the moment, but probably."
"Goes a little bit over my head, but Kaito said something despite them being called dimensions, Fusion, Xyz, Standard, Synchro exist within the same universe and timeline, because time progresses the same between each dimension." Yuto explained. "I had to do a lot of reading of theoretical physics thanks to this…"
"That… would track, but I'm a mystic not a physicist." Eddie said. "Speaking of, that duel against Sawatari. How were you using Real Solid Vision without a field? I've only seen Academia Disks do that and that does not look like an Academia Disk."
"Well we got some Academia Duel disks and jury rigged some of their systems onto our D-Pads, the AR system doesn't really work with Real Solid Vision." Yuto explained. "So we had to adapt."
"Sounds rough, and also like another thing linking up with Leo Corp would help with." Eddie said. "Now on the topic of real solid vision, there's a question that's been burning in my mind since the last time we spoke- you know who Yusho Sakaki is. How?"
"He was a Pro Duelist and Teacher at Heartland Duel School's Clover Branch." Yuto answered. "He talked about using dueling to make people smile as a Dueltainer, but he vanished when the invasion started… some people think he betrayed us, or he was one of the first to get carded."
"Almost certainly the latter over the former." Eddie said instantly. "Yusho is a good man."
"Going by how Yuya acts… I can believe that," Yuto said with a smile. "Though how did he come from Standard to Xyz?"
"Considering the timing and what I know? He found out about Leo Akaba's plans and tried to confront him, but instead of going to Fusion he got shunted to the, as you said they saw it, 'weakest dimension' where he wouldn't be able to threaten Academia."
"...Why didn't he warn anybody?" Yuto asked as
"Leo Akaba was his best friend." Eddie said sadly. "And if you found out your best friend may have done something horrible, you'd want to confirm it first, right? To see for yourself, to give them the benefit of the doubt?"
"...Yeah I know that feeling, Vector you dick." Yuto muttered alongside another name she could not make out.
"Yeah… well, you have my number now. I'm going to be sending you Yuya, Yuzu, and Reiji's contacts. You get Kite-o in contact with me, I'll smooth things over with him. Also, only talk with Yuya over a call, and only when you have a friend nearby to snap you out of it in case that happens again."
"Will try, but I think that just the proximity and the info you gave knocking something loose in my brain." Yuto stated. "It's weird to think about the fact that this might not be your first life."
"That's rough buddy." Eddie said, not sure what else to say. "You wanna duel about it?"
Yuto just sighed. "Maybe later, I wanna see how you fair against Kaito first."
"You said Astral took all the Numbers with him right?"
"Yeah, but he was compensated with new ones," Yuto said. "Those Ciphers are a menace."
"Heha, I'm gonna lose." Eddie laughed.
"Most people do, he has only lost to Yuma and Shun," Yuto added.
"You'll have to introduce me to everyone then, we have a tourney tomorrow at 4:00, so if you guys are available I can meet up during school hours, minimize the chance of Yu-Yu encounters."
"School hours it is."
"Great! Once you have things figured out with your guys, send me some directions and I'll head right there to get my ass whooped."
"That will be fun," Yuto said with a smile. "Well I will be going then."
"Would you like to use the door?"
"Leave through where you enter as they say," Yuto said as the boy parkoured out, showing that he was just as acrobatic as Yuya(That boy had hops).
Eddie waited a moment to watch him leave before dialing up Yuya on her disk.
"Eddie, are things okay now? Are you well? What exactly happened?" Yuya's questions were like a flood.
"Things are okay, you guys can come back now. I can explain better in person I think. And I also have good news and bad news."
"That is sadly starting to sound like the new normal." Came Yoko's voice over the line.
—
"-so you are saying that the universe used to be one and that Yuya and Yuzu was involved in things splitting into multiple different dimensions?" Yoko asked as Eddie got done explaining.
"As best we can tell, yes." Eddie said, her eyes drifting once more to Yuya.
Who was sitting there but his eyes were a million miles away.
"Well at least it is good to know that Yusho didn't make babies with other people," Yoko said, sounding relieved, which made Yuya start to cough as that statement clearly knocked him out his fugue.
"Mom!" Yuya shouted, his voice cracking as he did.
"What is a woman supposed to think when she sees a boy sneaking around that has her son's face?" Yoko stated. "But it is now good to know that it is just a brother from another mother… and father… and dimension."
"Ma'am, you live in a world where people can see the future and summon real, physical dragons using a children's card game. There are a surprising amount of explanations that don't involve parallel universes or cheating." Eddie said, not dismissively just matter of factly.
"True, what is it called again? I remember it being mentioned when I was younger… ah right, Saber-face syndrome."
"Plghck," Eddie choked at the reminder Fate was considered ancient here. Funnily enough, the Apocrypha MMO actually happened here because mobile games never took off (how could they compete with Duel Monsters?) though the franchise was no longer active by far.
"Uhh," Yuya just sounded, as the boy was at a loss for words.
"Don't worry… just… reminded my Ancient Gear-ass is ancient." Eddie groaned.
"Yeah you are technically older than me…" Yoko said.
Eddie recoiled as if struck that time. "No, stop, I only have 100 life points left."
"Well you shouldn't have used all those Darklords effects then," Yuya added.
"Hmm, I activate Just Desserts." And with that she actually stood up to probably get a small desert for them, due to the heavy talk.
Even as Eddie dramatically flopped backwards as if she had lost a duel.
"Hahaha," Yuya laughed as the mood was lifted.
"Ugh…" Eddie said as she picked herself off the ground. She almost had her dramatic falls down, hence the silly practice. "Oh yeah, I just remembered something, Yuya can I sit next you for something?"
"Sure," He replied.
She did so, and put an arm around him, pulling him into a hug.
"Huh?"
"Just making sure you don't get jealous." Eddie said.
"Get jealous of what?" He asked.
"Yuto. I was hugging him when you left."
"Urghh…"
"I'm being silly and trying to remind you you are my favorite Yu-boy."
"...Thanks?" He asked. "You are my favorite Ed-girl(?)"
Eddie rolled her eyes. "Yu-boys are the best duelists of a generation, who all coincidentally have a 'Yu' in their name, which includes Yugi Moto, Yuto, Yusho and Yuya Sakaki."
"...You think I am one of the best?"
"Either are or will be." Eddie said completely sincerely.
"Thanks… outside Mom and Yuzu… no one has really said that to me," Yuya said. "That I could even be one of the best." Well, technically Reiji did but she wasn't going to ruin the moment, he was talking about the cards more than the duelist anyway.
"In my book you already are, because you're the shining beacon of what Duel Monsters is supposed to be about, Yuya." Eddie said sincerely. "It's a game. For fun. Even without getting into your genuinely top-tier skills, you've got the core, the spirit of dueling."
Yuya's smile was like a thousand suns.
Xxx
Soul Subtitle: An Exception Has Occurred… Rebooting…!
Xxx
A/N: If you like this or any other of my stories, you can donate to my SubscribeStar. Adult /StreamingViking or my Pa Tre on at pa tre on. com (slash)StreamingViking776 and read commissioned stories and chapters before they are released publicly and where you can participate in polls, that determine which story is written next or determine things in them for only 3$ a month.