"Well this was certainly a day," Yuya said as he slumped against the sofa in You Show's lounge together with Yuzu and Serena. The Xyz group had left for their Warehouse, while the Synchro pair had been given lodging by Reiji at LDS so that Yugo could fix his Duel Runner and that Reiji himself could study it. Eddie mentally noted it gave him a Yu-boy on hand to access the Academia disks she handed over.
Serena had been invited to Yuzu's house as a guest, but that was still a bit until it was night proper.
"You think you've had a long day, I'm the one who coordinated that whole thing after fighting my way through enemy territory." Eddie said, lying flat on one of the blankets on the floor, arm over her eyes to block the light.
"And we appreciate what you are doing," Yuzu said.
"We do." Serena agreed.
"Thanks, if you excuse me I'm gonna lie here for a while and think strategies."
"What are you planning now?" Yuya asked.
"Because we had a few things, but if you are tired we can wait," Yuzu said.
"No, please, by all means." Eddie said, sitting up with her legs crossed. "I was just thinking deck strategies. If there's something more pertinent, go ahead."
"Well Serena and I were wondering about the Voice," Yuzu said. "The one we assume was… us before the split."
"And we were wondering if it would be a good idea to try and establish full contact with her," Serena continued.
"I'm not opposed to the idea, but she seemed really… lacking, in terms of energy." Eddie said. "You'd need either fuel, a vessel, or both… oh I see what you're getting at now."
"Well she is acting through our bracelets, connected to it in some way, so I was wondering if I could contact her to see if that whole banishing thing can be turned on and off," Yuzu said.
"While it would be bad for Sakaki to combine with his counterparts, from just interacting with Yuzu here and the others for just a few hours, I know that this… sibling bond should not be denied to them." Serena said, seeming a touch conflicted but resolute.
"Yeah okay, floor time girls, we're doin' a seance." Eddie said eagerly.
"Like an actual seance, commune with the dead psychic thing?" Yuya asked.
"We're summoning a spirit." Eddie said. "The only difference to talking with a Duel Spirit is a lack of direct vessel like a Card."
"That sounds logical," Yuzu said.
"Well if Eddie and I can do it, I think you can too," Yuya said.
"You've summoned Duel Spirits?" Serena asked.
"Yeah I managed to talk a little with Star and Time," Yuya said as he showed the two Pendulum Magicians.
Eddie eagerly put her hands together, a little gasp of pride passing her lips. "You did?"
"Yeah, they didn't say too much, but I know that according to them that I am apparently just reaching the surface of my abilities as a duelist, that for them to use their true power I need to learn the other summoning methods."
"How has progress been on that?" Yuzu asked.
"Well I got a few tips from Yuto on Xyz, and I tried to do it, but I couldn't get it fully stabilized." Yuya answered.
"What are you trying to summon?" Eddie asked.
"Well Eddie you mentioned that they were Odd-Eyes monsters for Extra Deck, so I was trying to see if I could Shining Draw it forth," Yuya answered.
"Ahh, you were trying for Absolute." Eddie nodded. "...Wait, were you going straight for the Pendulum one or were you trying to make a normal one first?"
"Pendulum?" Yuya asked with a look of confusion.
"Yeah, remember Special Pendulums? Can't remember what it's called, but it's Rank 7, Scale 1, I think it has the Blue-Eyes statline."
"Urhg, I think it was just a normal one." Yuya said.
"Okay, let's focus on Absolute then. That is to say, Odd-Eyes Absolute Dragon. 2800/2500, Rank 7, Water Dragon. 2 Materials. Can't remember the exact wording, but it has a Utopia effect- that is to say, you can detach a material to negate an attack, then I believe you can special an Odd-Eyes card, though I can't recall if its from your deck or your Extra Deck." Eddie explained as much as she could remember, then added the Vibe. "It's a blue dragon embodying ice. The Absolute is for Absolute Zero. And… that's all I got."
"...Does she do that a lot? Just pull information out of nothing about a card that doesn't exist." Serena said, seeming quite disconcerted.
"Well it exists in her universe," Yuya said. "Thanks Eddie, I think that is going to help a lot."
"Yeah when you try to cook something, knowing the recipe and what the end result is usually helps," Yuzu said. "Now back to the other kind of cooking, what do we do?"
"Right, sorry, Duel Monsters is the ultimate distraction." Eddie said, focusing on the seance, the Bracelet Girls now sitting on the floor with her in the same position, already in a rough triangle. "Perfect. Alright, are we going to try and channel her through the Bracelets themselves or one of us?"
"I think the bracelets are the way to go," Yuzu said.
"It makes the most logical sense," Serena said.
"Yes, because when enacting arcane rituals logic is the first thing you should consider."
Serena blushed a little.
"I am being serious by the way, you just need the right logic." Eddie said. "I think either could work, it just may be easier to talk with a human vessel. But if you two, the most linked, feel more comfortable using the Bracelets as the focus, then logically that is the thing to do."
"Yeah it feels the most right, like having her going through us feels… wrong."
"I agree, I wonder if it is her emotions we can sense."
"In case it wasn't clear, I was offering to channel her so you could ask your questions, but so be it." Eddie said with a shrug. "What feels more right, taking the Bracelets off and putting them in the center or keeping them on?"
"I think putting them in the center is the best way to do it," Yuzu said as she and Serena took their bracelets off and placed them in the center of the little circle they had made.
"Alright." Eddie said, holding out her hands to them, Serena on her right and Yuzu on her left as they linked up. "Alright… eyes closed. Deep breaths. In, and out. In, and out." She began, effectively leading a group meditation in what just felt right. "Focus inward. Focus on the energy of your summons. That pool of energy within you. Now rid yourself of the idea of fusion. Focus just on the energy. In, and out. The energy builds within you."
Eddie, as she led this, was doing the same, but as she now had access to all four summoning type energies -she was far from mastering Synchro but that match with Yugo had unlocked it- she instead was using all three of the pools and preparing the last step.
"Let the energy flow through you… and into me, and from me into you." Eddie said, feeling the flow begin. Choppily at first, but it was working. "Alright. Now, think on what we're summoning. Who we're summoning. More than a monster. More than a Spirit."
Eddie took a breath of her own as she felt the energy whirling through them.
"Swing, Pendulum of Souls." Eddie started.
"Set the Scales, 1-5." They said in unison. "Draw an arc of light across the ether. Come forth, Spirit split across worlds, manifest from two into one!"
The gems on the bracelets lit up, shining their color until Eddie's vision was consumed and…
"Well I didn't expect this to happen," A voice spoke with a quality and style that was very similar to four girls that Eddie knew.
Her vision cleared and in the middle of the circle floated the see through form of a woman that looked to be in her twenties.
"When I'm around you can expect the unexpected." Eddie said with a grin. "Hello, Miss…?"
"You say that, but I didn't even think this was a possible thing, though with all that Duel Energy you've been pumping into me, I guess new things are possible Eddie."
"AHHH! It's a ghost!" Three voices shouted.
Eddie facepalmed. "...Yes, that was… the point… do you people not trust me yet?"
"We do, but, but, I didn't expect it to work! Also I think there is a difference between Duel Spirits and actual dead people." Serena said.
"Not really." Eddie and the still yet-to-introduce herself spirit said at the same time, before sharing a look.
"And also, I didn't die like a normal person," She added.
"Hmm, so are you the previous version of Yuzu and Serena?" Came Yuya's voice from behind her and every girl beside Eddie turned to look at the Entertainment Duelist.
And Eddie could see the face of the still unnamed woman as it went through many emotions before settling on a simple smile, a customer service-type smile that spoke volumes by saying nothing. "They were born from parts of my soul, but they are their own people. I am merely a guardian spirit… well as best I can be."
"Well that makes me feel a little better," Serena said.
"So… who are you?" Yuzu asked.
"My name is Ray, Ray Akaba, daughter of Leo Akaba." She answered. "The man you are all fighting against."
"He doesn't give a single iota about utopia, he just wants you back, doesn't he?" Eddie asked breathlessly as she recontextualized what she knew.
"Yes…" Ray answered. "My father seeks to undo my sacrifice, and resurrect me, sacrificing thousands in madness to do so."
"He is going to kill us…" Serena said with horror.
"It would most likely result in the death of three, maybe in all four of you." Ray said with sadness.
"But we can do this." Eddie said plainly.
"Huh?" Ray asked in confusion.
"We are speaking right now with a spirit of someone who shouldn't exist, yes?"
"You are speaking to two/fifths of me." She answered.
"There's a fifth one!?" The living all said in shock.
"Not quite," She answered. "There is only a little bit of me in you four, but the vast majority of my soul, my core is the companion of a young girl named Reira." Polly Oliver? Interesting.
"Henrietta's newly adopted child. Hooh boy." Eddie said.
"A happy coincidence," Ray said. "Henrietta does not know of my existence, as Reiji is my half-brother."
"And your mom is…?"
"She passed before the Separation occurred." She said, "Don't know if she was given a new life in this like so many others were."
"...Was her name Zuzu Boyle?" Yuzu asked.
"...That was her maiden name…" Ray looked at Yuya. "Some things do stay the same."
"Huh?"
"It's nothing," Ray said.
"No, Ray, spill the beans, we are running on so little information." Eddie said.
"It's about who we were, right? That was the sacrifice you talked about right? We were evil and you stopped us?" Yuya said, shocking her.
"You aren't evil." Eddie immediately denied.
"No you aren't evil Yuya, none of you four are," Ray agreed before sighing. "Okay do you want the full truth?"
"Yes."
"It was the newly born 22nd century." Ray said. "The issue with Ener-D had been solved and synchro monsters were reintroduced back to the public and with it a new form of Dueling was being born with the birth of Real Solid Vision Technology."
"Action Duels!" Yuya declared eagerly.
"Yes and with it a new way to duel spearheaded by one Yusho Sakaki." Ray said.
"Pretty on point so far, just timeline-shifted." Eddie noted.
"Yes, Standard seems to be a combination of my time, well its people and the age of the King of Games." Ray said. "And things were fine but then Leo Akaba and Yusho Sakaki met the loves of their lives and two children were born."
"You, presumably, and…?"
"Yes, me and Zarc Sakaki."
Eddie wracked her mind as the name rang through it, and only two things came to her. A dragon that dwarfed everything around it, and an irritated, nasally shout of "WHAT?!" in response to it being called out.
"So old me was born to the same parents I was?" Yuya asked.
"Fate is funny like that it seems," Ray responded. "Zarc and I eventually became duelists ourselves, our fathers introducing us to each other and we… well a relationship started."
"But something went wrong didn't it?" Yuzu asked even if there was a small blush on her face at the mention of 'relationship.'
"Yes, Zarc excelled as an Entertainment Duelist, dancing with his four dragons to make people happy, but during one duel an accident happened." Ray said as she clutched her arm. "As you know Real Solid Vision gives Duel Monsters mass, they can be ridden on but they can also hurt people."
"And he hurt someone didn't he?" Yuya asked somberly.
"Like I said it was an accident, the arm of his opponent got broken badly, but as he tried to go help him, that was when his downfall happened, I still remember it. The crowd cheering."
"...Yuri's a sadist." Eddie stated in dawning horror. "He… liked it, didn't he?"
"Not at the start," Ray said. "He was horrified, but… Zarc, he lived for dueling, he breathed it, he wanted nothing more to make the crowd cheer. So it started happening more, and more."
"Until he started to like it," Yuya said, the boy looking horrified.
"That is where Yuri got it from, while you are not him, you did inherit traits from him, Yuri his sadism, Yugo his ambition, Yuto his long buried desire to protect, but also his hatred, and you got his love of dueling, but you've made that your own." Ray said.
"He… he eventually killed somebody didn't he?" Serena asked, growing horror on her face.
"Yes." Ray answered. "He was consumed by the growing darkness in his heart, despite my best attempts to help, but he rejected me and eventually he decided he was going to give the people the violence they so desired on a massive scale."
"You don't mean…?" Eddie asked, realizing what she was leading to.
"Through manifesting their spirits via Solid Mass he called on magicians that controlled space and time to fuse him with his dragons, and there I saw the Supreme King Z-Arc be born." Ray said.
"I'm sorry, did you say Supreme King?" Eddie repeated. "As in the Gentle Darkness?"
"Sorry I have no idea what that is?" Ray said.
"Uhh, do the names Yubel or Judai Yuki mean anything to you?"
"I know that Judai Yuki is in the hall of fame of Legendary Duelists, but what does that have to do with us?"
"He was a reincarnated soul from the Ancient Eras who commanded vast armies of Dark Magical Power via the Gentle Darkness, known as The Supreme King." Eddie said. "Hence the question, that name is too specific to be a coincidence, especially because he also ended up merged with a Duel Spirit."
"His arrogance had grown quite high, so maybe he merely assumed he was the reincarnation." Ray said. "I don't know what was going through his head at that point."
"So, he Super Poly'd himself and you… what, attempted to De-Fusion him? Keep going?"
"That was basically what happened," Ray answered. "As Zarc rampaged many Duelists tried to fight him, but none could succeed, but my father, the foremost expert on Duel Energy and Solid Vision created four cards, the En series, four Continuous Spells of great power that separated Zarc back into his dragons. And me… and the timeline."
"Soooo everything is Leo Akaba's fault?"
"No he saved everyone, he planned on using the cards, but I stole them and used them, as…"
"You loved him." Yuzu finished.
"Yeah." Ray said, the one word holding so much emotion that it almost hurt to hear it. "I still loved him, so it was me who had to put him down. I just didn't expect the consequences of doing so was going to be this."
"Well I like existing, so uh thank you," Serena said. "But how does the professor know of the previous timeline? Nobody else seems to?"
"I have no clue," Ray simply answered.
"He's the one who discovered the split dimensions." Eddie said. "It'd be reasonable to assume he either retained his memories or was able to pull on it in fragments or left behind clues, leading to finding the inconsistencies in the timelines and such, before reverse-engineering the technology of your era and then some. Then, he got injured (?) in the 'accident' 3 years ago which is why he's a cyborg now… or maybe that's how he has the knowledge?"
"He's a cyborg?" Yuya and Yuzu asked.
"Is he a cyborg or is it just a skull plate?" Eddie asked the only person who might actually know.
"I… I am not sure…" Serena said as she clearly thought about it for the very first time. "I haven't seen him with his clothes off."
"And if you did I would choke/murder him." Ray and Eddie said, but one clearly said a different word. The two looking at each other again.
"Well where have you been all my life?" Ray asked.
…
…
"Oh my god are you hitting on her?" Serena asked in outrage.
"No?/Maybe?" It was unclear who said which, which only made her more mad.
"Okay we are done here." Serena shouted as she stood up, breaking the circle...
Aaaand Ray was still there.
"Looks like we're not." Eddie said with a grin. "Sit back down."
"I am done, not gonna sit here and see my super ghost mom flirt with the person that saved me," Serena said as she exited the room.
"Hey, Yuzu, did you try a new hairstyle?" Came Syuzo's voice from the hall as Eddie heard Serena stomp off ignoring the man and then he stuck his head into the lounge room. "Hey kids did I… Yuzu? But I just saw you?"
"Ehh, hey dad, that wasn't… you know what, I am just going to explain some things to him," Yuzu said as she quickly left the room pulling her father with her, who had not reacted at all to Ray's presence.
Eddie clicked her tongue. "Sooooo. What kind of deck did you run?"
"Eddie!" Yuya said with a flabbergasted tone.
"Come on, you can't admit you're not a little curious, right?" Eddie asked. "She was able to stop Zarc at least once, she's clearly good."
"Well for that I ran my Ritual Deck." She answered. "It's actually what I gave to young Reira."
"You didn't use Nekroz did you?" It was that or Gishki, those were the only real Ritual decks that came to mind that weren't already claimed.
"You know your cards very well," Ray responded. "They are very much so against extra deck monsters, though I did run a few other archetypes based on the other elements."
"Did you have a Pendulum deck?"
"No Pendulum is technically my and Zarc's creation made through Yuya," She answered.
"Huh?" Yuya asked.
"The desire to become one and the desire to stay separated those two contradictory feelings we make in you swung back and forth like a Pendulum." Ray said.
"So Pendulums are your and Zarc's kids." Eddie stated.
"You had to phrase it like that didn't you?"
"Yes, yes I did." Eddie said with a forced grin that quickly fell. "I'm still working through the sheer implications of all this, and the desire to burn every copy of Solemn Judgment within 10km is rising and I'm trying to quash it."
"Wait, aren't you here because of that guy on Solemn Judgment?" Yuya asked.
"Is that how you are here? A Duel Spirit pulled you? I was wondering how you were even here." Ray said. "Because I definitely didn't know about you from before."
"Oh honey you definitely didn't know me, I'm from the 20th century, technically." Eddie said. "Well, was born in it."
"You are definitely from another universe," Ray said.
"Anyway, is there any other information you can give us before we uh… put you back to rest before we figure out how to do this more sustainably and preferably right in front of Leo Akaba so you can tear him a new one yourself?"
"That sounds very tempting, and yeah this manifestation is starting to run out of juice." Ray said as her body had started to get more and more see through over the last minute.
"So yeah, any last minute bits of advice, cryptic or otherwise?"
"Try and help Yuri, if my father has degenerated like this, he might… push to the breaking point in retaliation for what you did." Ray said.
"...Shit, now I have to go kidnap him." Eddie said.
"What? No?" Both Yuya and Ray shouted before Yuya continued. "You've already pushed your luck the first time."
"Yeah, well, third times the charm." Eddie said with a shrug. "It's that or we wait for my other plan to bear fruit and that's gonna be a bit, but that sounded urgent."
"What other plan?" Yuya asked.
"Spoilers~!"
"Well whatever you decide to do please don't be rash, and Yuya."
"Yeah?"
"You are a good kid." Ray said and he blushed as she petted his hair. "I wonder if things hadn't gone wrong would all of you have been…"
And with that Ray vanished.
Eddie picked up the Bracelets -still warm from lingering Duel Energy- as she did. "Well that was fruitful!" She said as she held them.
"Yeah…" Yuya said. "But… am I going to end up like him?"
"Nope!" Eddie said with absolute confidence. "Not in the slightest! Not if I have anything to say about it."
"How can you be sure of that? Zarc was good and he…"
"Didn't have me." Eddie finished. He probably didn't have much anyone left, beside maybe Ray (her family was not stable enough to support anyone, she could guess) and one person was not enough to keep someone stable… Actually, that was a good angle. "He may not have even had Gong."
"Huh?" Yuya asked, taken off guard by the mention of his friend.
"Ray didn't mention him at all. Zarc was probably really lonely and only had himself, Ray, and his audience. And your remember what we've said about the audience?"
"They are not a substitute for friends." That had been one of Syuazo's big lessons, which was… also being recontextualized.
"So unlike you, he didn't have a big support group." Eddie reiterated. "...Like Yuri, right now." The parallels were uncanny. Whether he realized it or not, Leo Akaba was unintentionally recreating that which he feared.
"Leo Akaba hates us doesn't he." Yuya said. "And so he took it all out on him?"
"I'd be willing to bet that, yeah." Eddie agreed. "Which is part of why I'm so eager to go get him."
"I want to help him," Yuya said. "I want to make friends with him. But how can we go and get him?"
"Well, either A. I go back for round 3-"
"Wouldn't they be at, like, maximum alert still?"
"I didn't mean immediately, but that is why I'm not jumping to do so right now." Eddie continued. "Option B, we wait for him to come to us or for circumstances to change."
"Well I think we should wait, home advantage and all that." Yuya answered.
"True, true…" Eddie agreed, still wanting to A. "Anyway, I think I was trying to say this earlier, I got some generic support XYZ from my new deck that can work in my main deck. You wanna have our 3rd action duel to see if we can make that breakthrough you need for Absolute?"
"Sure!"
"WHAT!?"
"...Maybe we should hurry and help before Sensei tries to kill me."
"Probably a good idea."
—
A conversation later Eddie and Yuya were in the Duel Arena with Sensei being left in the lounge room doing his best 'Shinji in the chair' impression, meaning Yuzu took over as the operator with Serena being in the observation room as she wanted to watch a proper Action Duel and not as she called it.
"The circus you and Yugo did."
Yuya had taken a little bit of offense to that.
Since what Yuya did? That was a circus; that match had just been buffoonery (on motorcycle).
And Eddie had said as much, but Yuzu had ended up yelling at them to "Get on with it already!" so they did.
"Alright, you wanna go first Yuya?" Eddie asked.
"I wanna see you do your Xyz summoning so, you can go first." He answered.
"...Dang it, okay, fine." Eddie sighed. She could not say no to him.
"Wait, you need me to go first?" He asked.
"It would make it easier to XYZ summon sooner, so yes."
"You should just have said so."
"But I like you so I wanted it to be your choice."
Yuya blushed at that, scratching his chin. "Thanks big sis."
"Just start dueling already you two!" Yuzu shouted as she generated the field, this being an entire candy island straight out of Willy Wonka's best dreams.
"Alright then, Ladies and Gentlemen!" Eddie said, before Yuya continued.
"Duelists locked in battle!"
"Kicking the earth and dancing in the air alongside their monsters!"
"They storm through this field!"
"Behold! This is the newest and greatest evolution of Dueling! ACTION DUEL!" They shouted in sync.
Eddie LP: 8000/Yuya LP: 8000
"And I shall be going right for the prize," Yuya said as he immediately started moving, using the large popsicles as springboards to get on top of the Gingerbread house where he immediately grabbed an Action Card. "I shall play the Quick-Play Spell Card - Super Hippo Carnival allowing me to Special Summon, Performapal Hip Hippo(800/800) and fill the board with Hippo Tokens(0/0)!"
Eddie grimaced even as she picked up an Action Card at a more sedate pace. Both because of Hip Hippo and the Hippettes shaking their semi-literal tailfeathers, and because that gave her zero chance to XYZ summon any time soon.
"With my defense set up I am going to Release Performapal Hip Hippo to Special Summon, Performapal Sleight Hand Magician(2500/2000) from my hand." Yuya said as a circus Ringmaster appeared, one whose lower body was made out of solid crystal. "With that I end my turn."
"Welp, guess Imma have to work for my XYZ summon." Eddie said as she drew. "I'll play Banishment of the Darklords to add one Darklord from my Deck to my hand, and then activate Darklord Nasten's(2600/2600) effect to summon himself by discarding two cards. I'll then use Nasten's effect to use Banishment again to add Darklord Ixchel, who I'll discard with a friend to draw two. I'll then take the sweet levels to the high heavens and play Sanctuary in the Sky!"
And with that from the sea of syrup that surrounded the island of candy the home of angels rose up behind Eddie.
"But wait, there's more!" Eddie said. "Darklord Contact! Allowing me to summon Superbia (2900/2400) from the Grave, who gets to bring a friend with him! Say hello to Darklord Ixchel(2500/2900)!" Eddie assessed the board, her hand, and what she was actually able to do here… but no, she had something better planned.
"Eh… for Xyz aren't you supposed to have monsters with the same levels on the field?" Yuya asked as he looked at the Level 7, 8, and 10 monsters.
"That's correct, luck wasn't on my side to do it right away." Eddie confirmed. "Imma take my frustrations about that out on your monsters! Battle phase!"
"I activate my Action Card, Candy Coat which prevents my monster from being destroyed by battle."
"I'll still attack! Nasten, hit him with the Heavenly Haymaker! Ixchel, get rid of the blue ham!" Eddie declared even as the candy prevented the magician's destruction, motioning her turn was over.
Eddie LP: 7000/Yuya LP: 7900
"I draw, and I will activate the Spell Card - Pendulum Call, discarding the Action Card I found while you were attacking to add two Magician Pendulum monsters from my deck to my hand!"
"I'll interrupt to chain Nasten's effect to Sanctify your Sleight Hand, negating its effects for this turn, and giving me LP in the process." Eddie said quickly.
Eddie LP: 8500/Yuya LP: 7900
"Well, I will set the Pendulum Scale, Oafdragon Magician Scale 2. Wisdom-Eye Magician Scale 5." Yuya said the scale manifested behind him- one a very buff magician, the other rather lithe. "Next, Swing pendulum of my soul, strike an arc of light across the darkness. I Pendulum Summon, Performapal Pendulum Sorcerer(1500/800) in defense and when he is Special Summoned I can destroy two of my cards, and that shall be two of my Hippo Tokens."
The spellcaster moved his own pendulum and the two tokens were converted into orbs of light that went into Yuya's deck, resulting in two cards being ejected from it. "And I can add two Performapals from my deck to my hand."
"That's all well and good, but do they give you what you need to get around my defenses?"
"Sadly not, but I can still Normal Summon, Performapal Skullcrobat Joker(1800/100) and when he is normal summoned I can add an Odd-Eyes or Performapal monster to my hand, and I pick Odd-eyes Advance Dragon, can't summon him now, but I will next turn."
"How confident of you, that you'll get a next turn with an unchanged board." Eddie said with a wide smirk.
"I will go to battle phase, and remove Darklord Superbia from the board."
"No, you won't." Eddie said. "I'll first use Ixchel's effect to Contact the second Nasten from my Graveyard."
"I will resume my attack?" Yuya said, slightly confused.
"And then I play the Action Card - Candy Shower to put your Sleight Hand in defense position." Eddie finished as a barrage of gumballs pushed the already weakened magician into a defensive position, covering its head.
"I am going to end my turn."
"Draw." Eddie said. "I'll start by playing Banishment of the Darklords to add a-" Eddie's words cut off as she went to pick up an action card she'd been moving towards, hoping to use the play as a distraction.
"That action card is mine," Yuya said, having left the roof of the gingerbread house as he raced towards her sliding across the slick ground like an ice skater, but… he couldn't stop, resulting in him continuing past Eddie, leaving her victorious.
"Looks like it's mine." Eddie said as he slipped past. "Anyway, I'll then use one of my Nasten's to Banishment again, adding another card to hand."
"Argh," Yuya groaned as he collided with a sugar cane bringing him to a stop.
"Yuya." Eddie said dead seriously, getting his attention as he got his balance back.
"Yeah?" He asked.
"In the fight against Academia," She said, immediately getting him to focus properly on her. "There is one type of summon you will fight the most. And the most powerful spell used for fusion summoning… is Super Polymerization!"
The spell hit her disk, and she felt an inescapable pull like a black hole form that sucked in 3 of her monsters.
"Nothing escapes from its power! And arising from the awesome power comes a fusion!" Eddie declared. "Behold! The First Darklord(4000/4000) in all his resplendent glory! Memorize this feeling!"
"...He is so cooooollllll."
"I know." Eddie agreed. "Now, when the First Fell he brought friends with him! Superbia, arise from the grave, and bring Indulged Darklord(1600/0) with you! She gets to bring a friend too, summoning Capricious Darklord(0/1600) to your field and adding another Darklord to my hand!"
"That is a lot of friends." Yuya simply said.
"And we're done yet." Eddie said. "Behold! As he descends from heaven like a burning star! I sacrifice Superbia and Indulged to summon forth Darklord Morningstar(3000/3000)! And he brings more friends! That'll be Darklord Nergal(2700/2500) and Darklord Ukoback(700/1000), who will send a Darklord card from my deck to my grave. Then, I'll activate Morningstar's effect, milling myself 1 for every fairy on the field and gaining 500 lp for every Darklord I mill!"
Eddie LP: 8000/Yuya LP: 7900
"But I'm not done yet!" Eddie said exuberantly.
"You-you aren't?" The Bracelet girls watching shouted.
"Ixchel! Cast from the grave! Let the forces align! The earth cries out for mercy as tyranny rises in the heavens! The heavens respond, and are cast out for righteous justice! Angel! Dominion! Cherubim! But where light falls, the shadows must rise! Darklord Uprising! First Darklord(4000/4000) arise once more!"
"Two!?" Yuya shouted in confusion.
"BUT!" Eddie said, almost manic. "I'M NOT DONE YET!"
"How?"
"I have two level 12 monsters on the field." Eddie said, grinning wide. "And while it isn't optimal… that's fine. Because I'm building the Overlay Network."
"What!" All three shouted.
"XYZ Summon! Level 12 Level 12 = Rank 12! Behold, the finale of rebellion! STRIKE DOWN THE GODS FROM THE SKY! DIVINE ARSENAL AA-ZEUS SKY THUNDER(3000/3000)!"
Her boss monsters combined in a swirl of antimatter and matter to form the resplendent giant mecha, 2 materials floating around it as it bore down on everything menacingly, scorching the nearby candy into hard caramel as she hard-summoned ZEUS.
"Ah…" Yuya sounded as he stared up at the massive robot.
"And while I can't use his effect this turn due to Indulged's lock… this is a teaching moment." Eddie said with a smile. "Though, I'm not done yet."
"Are you playing Duel Monsters or are you playing solitaire?!"
"Solitaire theorem is a real thing, look it up!" Eddie responded. "I'll just use Nergal's effect to Banishment a Contact to my hand, using it to summon one of my Nasten's back to the field. And now… for the battle phase."
"Huh?" Yuya said lost in his thoughts. "Ah! I forgot to activate Rain Goat!"
"Too late! Zeus, destroy Capricious, debuffing all of your monsters by 1500/1500 this turn." Eddie said with a smile. "And when Ixchel attacks Sleight Hand, I'll use my Action Card, Nanana, to boost her attack by 700 this turn."
Eddie LP: 6000/Yuya LP: 5200
"Wait what? where did the damage come from?" Serena asked.
"Nergal gives my fairies piercing." Eddie said. "Which makes Nergal's attack on Pendulum Sorcerer that much more devastating."
Eddie LP: 6000/Yuya LP: 2500
"I activate Performapal BaroKuriboh's(300/3000) effect in my hand allowing me to special summon him when you destroy a monster."
"This is exactly why I wanted to do this duel, Yuya." Eddie said. "It would have served you much better to do that when Ixhcel destroyed Sleight Hand so I couldn't attack again."
"I lost track." He groaned. "So much stuff was happening."
"Yes, that's the point." Eddie agreed. "And here, that's fine. No harm no foul. Nothing's at stake. Just remember that when things are at stake, you need your full attention on dueling your heart out. End turn."
Yuya gave a nod of determination at her words.
"I draw! I release Performapal BaroKuriboh to Advance Summon, Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon(3000/2500)! And when he is Advance Summoned-"
"He gets negated because Nasten is Sanctifying him." Eddie interrupted.
Eddie LP: 8000/Yuya LP: 2500
"And now you are back to full, I am going to activate the Quick-Play Spell Card - Draw Muscle by targeting a defense position monster with 1000 Def or less, I can draw one card." Yuya said and took a breath, "Now come on please work like I hope this does…! I activate the Pendulum Effect of Wisdom-Eye Magician- if I have a Magician in my other Pendulum Zone, I can destroy Wisdom-Eye and replace him with another Magician Pendulum card."
With that the monster destroyed itself and was quickly replaced with Timegazer Magician.
"Yes! It worked." Yuya said with a shout of joy. "The Spell Card - Spiral Flame Strike will add a Level 7 Odd-Eyes to my hand, and so, Pendulum of my soul swing an arc of light across the darkness, Pendulum Summon Level 7 Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon(2500/2000) and Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon(2500/2000)!"
"And there is Yuya's Ace Monster!" Yuzu shouted in joy. "Show Eddie what you got Yuya!"
"I will!" Yuya took a deep breath, hand hovering over his now-glowing extra deck slot. "I am going to Overlay my Level 7 Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon and Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon to create th- what?" Yuya shouted as the summon fizzled and failed. "Why?"
"Your token." Eddie stage whispered.
"...Ahhhhhh!" Yuya roared after he reread his card. "WHY DOES IT HAVE THAT STIPULATION!?"
"Because it's a Scapegoat on steroids?" Eddie provided, not able to answer the real reason (Master Rule 4).
"...Can we go to your turn, you destroy it?"
"Imma wipe out everything except for your level 7s if I do."
"That is fair."
"I draw, and play Banishment of the Darklords, then activate Amdusc, discarding it and the card I just added to add Morningstar from the grave back to my hand." Eddie said. "I'll then use Nasten to Banishment again to add Capricious to my hand, and summon her and use her effect. Now, descend once more! Darklord Morningstar(3000/3000) and bring another Nasten with you to replace the one you used! Capricious will then debuff your monsters by 1500/1500, but don't worry that's not the end."
"Hey isn't he going to die from that?" Serena asked from the booth. "Should Nergal not have been the target?"
"If I was just attacking, sure, but I'm BMing right now." Eddie said. "Now, battle phase. Zeus will destroy the token. Ixchel will destroy Advance Dragon. Main phase 2, Morningstar activates to mill me some more. Now, Ixchel will use Darklord Rebellion from the grave to destroy Skullcrobat."
Eddie LP: 7500/Yuya LP: 1500
"This is the furthest of a homie drop I can reasonably do." Eddie said. "End turn."
"Thanks," Yuya said. "And let's try this again! I am going to Overlay my Level 7 Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon and Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon to create the Overlay Network!" This time the void of antimatter formed fully. "Come forth, Supreme Dragon of Frost with dual colored eyes! XYZ SUMMON! Rank 7! Odd-Eyes Absolute Dragon(2800/2500)!"
The field of candy and sweets became colder as ice started to form as from the portal emerged a dragon that bore a striking resemblance to Odd-Eyes but was covered in scales of icey blue instead of red.
Eddie couldn't help but applaud. "Excellent! ¡Muy bueno! Well done! Now, will that be enough to turn this duel around, Master of the Pendulum?"
"I certainly won't give up!" Yuya shouted. "Battle phase! Odd-Eyes Absolute Dragon, attack with Spiral Frost Strike! On Darklord Ixchel!"
"Now behold," Eddie said, clicking the button as she hammed it up a bit. "The power of antimatter! I detach both materials from Zeus to obliterate the field! SCORCH THE EARTH AND DESTROY EVERYTHING, TILL NOTHING REMAINS!" She cried as lightning thundered around her.
"What is happening!?" Yuya shouted as the energy from Zeus was unleashed, sending every card on the field to the graveyard.
Every card but Zeus, of course.
"Where did my cards go?"
"Sent straight to the graveyard." Eddie said as they stood on the burnt-sugar glassed island. "The power of XYZ often comes from their activated effects, after all."
"Well I am going to go to main phase 2 and Pendulum… Where did my scales go?"
"When I said 'everything', I meant till nothing remains."
"Oh." Yuya simply said.
"This is a standard generic XYZ support card you can expect to find in any competent XYZ user's extra deck."
"Wow…" Yuya simply said. "Well I am going to end my turn…"
"Draw. Battle phase. Zeus- finish this."
"CANDY SHOWER!" Yuya said as he played the same Action Card Eddie had played earlier.
Eddie grinned. "There you go. One shot, Yuya. Your not getting another one. End turn."
"I draw… and I am gonna pick up this Action Card," Yuya said as he slid over and picked an action card from a burnt cake. "I am gonna stake everything on this next draw. I activate the Spell Card - Performapal Popperup and draw three!... ah dang it!"
And with that he took 3000 effect damage.
As the field faded, Eddie shook her head fondly. "You should leave the gambling to Yugo."
"Hrmmm."
"But hey, congrats! You just shining drew an XYZ into existence, and a pretty dang strong one, too." Eddie said as she ruffled his hair. "I'd say that's pretty good for a loss, right?"
"Yeah it was a good duel, but if Popperup didn't have that burn damage I actually drew something that could work." Yuya said.
"Didn't you do the exact same thing Eddie?" Yuzu asked. "Shining Drew into a loss?"
"Yup. Something to be proud of at le-"
"Well at least Yuya had a chance on his gamble unlike you."
"You're next." Eddie said, duel disk raised. "Yuya, queue us up on Sanctuary in the Sky."
"I am gonna show you," Yuzu said from her spot as she began coming down.
"Thanks for the help Big Sis."
"Any time, Yuya."
A moment later, Yuzu and Yuya had swapped places.
"You know, I was deliberately going easy on Yuya there to teach him XYZ and Fusion energy." Eddie said idly as Yuzu got into position.
"And I've gotten an upgrade, so I am so gonna kick your butt now Eddie, I am gonna go full Dies Are on you!"
"It's Dies Irae, you uncultured brat."
"I am gonna show you who the uncultured one here is, you Gaijin." Yuzu replied.
Eddie recoiled as if struck. "Gaijin? I'll have you know I'm no Gaijin… I am an otaku and a weeaboo!"
"Ah, so you are not a mere foreigner then? Just cringe."
Eddie's eyes blazed with 'righteous fury'. "I'm not the one who'll be cringing."
And that was when the action field started to form and they said the chant 'angrily'.
"I will be going first." Yuzu declared.
"Are you guys really going to be fighting?" Serena asked in shock.
"Yes!"
"Of course! Don't you know anything about Duelists!?" Eddie said in her best imitation of an old favorite reviewer. "When you have a disagreement, you settle it in a duel! And I say Yuzu is still 50 years too early to break her losing streak against me."
"I am going to destroy you!" Yuzu declared.
Eddie LP: 8000/ Yuzu LP: 8000
"Because you are no longer dealing with the average Yuzu anymore Eddie," She stated.
"Sorry to intrude you two but we don't have Sanctuary as an available one, so I am going with Cosmic Sanctuary." Came Yuya's voice.
"What?! Yuya!" Both duelists shouted, though at different degrees of anger.
"Hey it's not my fault it isn't part of the package we got." He answered as a very similar but more starry and more open field formed around them.
"I'm gonna kick Akabaka's butt for this…" Eddie grumbled. "Please, Yuzu, continue your speech."
"For I have restructured my deck thanks to my new power and so you are now dealing with the Legendary Super Yuzu!" Yuzu said. "And I am going to demonstrate it by playing the Spell Card - Ostinato! Which allows me to fusion from the deck if I control no monsters, two melodies come together to form an orchestra of sound! Fusion Summon! Level 7! Bacha The Melodious Maestra(2500/1800)!"
"Am I supposed to be impressed?" Eddie asked, looking at her nails instead of the board, not even bothering to go for any action cards.
"Oh just you wait, I know what you can do, as Bacha's effect activates allowing me to Special Summon Sonata the Melodious Diva(1200/1000-1700/1500)), who gives 500 points of ATK and DEF to all my fairy monsters. Next I am gonna summon Refrain The Melodious Songstress(1600/800-2100/1300) and when she is, I can add a Melodious monster to my hand from my deck."
Now three beautiful songstresses stood on the field ready to conduct the duel.
"I set a card face-down and end my turn. And since Bacha was summoned using Ostinato, she is destroyed during the End Phase, but when she is I can Special Summon her materials from the graveyard and those are Elegy the Melodious Diva(2000/1200) who boosts attack by 300 and Aria the Melodious Diva(1600/1200) and now my defense is complete." Yuzu finished as she picked up a Action Card that was stuck in a marble pillar.
"My turn. I'll start by destroying your facedown with Twin Twisters cause I know how strong your traps can be." Eddie started, still feigning boredom but actually moving now. "Then, I'll use Banishment of the Darklords to add Ixchel to my hand, discarding her and a friend to draw two. Then, I'll use the effect of Darklord Nasten(2600/2600) to summon himself to the field by discarding two. I'll use his effect to use Banishment again, this time for Darklord Contact! I'll play it to summon Ixchel(2500/2900) from the graveyard, and use her effect to contact Darklord Nergal(2700/2500). Then, I'll move into the battle phase. Nasten! Hit Sonata with the Heavenly Haymaker!"
"Action Card Activate - Twinkle Comet, the attack of your Nasty Nasten is reduced by a thousand and you take 500 points of damage," Yuzu said as a small comet struck Nasten on the head before bouncing off and hitting Eddie as she was going for an Action Card.
"Gah!" She couldn't help but exclaim as she was tripped by it.
Eddie LP: 5500/ Yuzu LP: 7900
"But you still take a bit of chip damage." Eddie pointed out as she got back to her feet. "Main phase 2, I'll throw down a face down and end my turn. Your move."
"I draw, and I will summon another Refrain to the field, activating her effect to add a Melodious Monster to hand." Yuzu said.
"You know, for all your talk, you aren't really seeming all that 'super' yet."
"Well I am not done yet, victory is in sight as I am going to set Couplet the Melodious Songstress as Scale 9." A singular pillar of light appeared next to Yuzu containing the singing monster. "And then I am going to use her Pendulum Effect to add a Melodious Spell or Trap card to my hand."
"I'll play the Action Card Cosmic Arrow! Reveal your card, and if it's a spell, it's destroyed." Eddie said, an arrow of blue light shooting out of the card, revealing…!
"Sorry it was Musical Mayhem, a Trap Card not a Spell Card," Yuzu said.
"Then nothing happens, please continue."
"I will change Elegy to attack position and I am going to battle your Darklord Nasten."
"No." Eddie interrupted. "Ixchel! Cast from the grave! Let the forces align! The earth cries out for mercy as tyranny rises in the heavens! The heavens respond, and are cast out for righteous justice! Ophanim! Principality! Seraphim! But where light falls, the shadows must rise! Darklord Uprising! The First Darklord(4000/4000) descends upon the battlefield!"
"You've gotten better at summoning that out," Yuzu stated.
"More like I've shaken the rust off." Eddie said. "I've been dueling this whole time till recently without my boss monsters, you know? You haven't even seen my final form yet."
"Well a replay occurs and Elegy is going to continue her attack!" Yuzu stated. "And I win!"
"No you don't…?"
"Because during damage calculation I activate the effect of Score the Melodious Diva, and she allows me to reduce the attack and defense of your monster to 0!" Yuzu said. "And… it… does… not… target."
"But that means…!"
"Your First Darklord goes from gold to trash! Elegy hit the beat!"
"Aaaa~!" The monster sung as the attack of The First Darklord plummeted.
And was then destroyed.
Eddie LP: 1700/ Yuzu LP: 7900
"...Huh." Eddie said. "Welp, only one thing to do about that." She said before dead-on sprinting for the nearest action card.
"Oh no you don't!" Yuzu shouted. "Girls attack!"
Eddie was struck down by a dual high-heeled dropkick courtesy of both Refrains, just shy of the Action Card she'd been running for.
Eddie LP: 0/ Yuzu LP: 7900
"Hahaha, Near Perfect Victory… I won!" Yuzu shouted in joy. "I actually won." She said almost in disbelief.
"Congratulations." Eddie said with a slight groan as she got off the ground. "Your first victory against me."
"First of many, and the next one is going to be during the Arc League Championship."
"Uh, Yuzu, I lost my streak." Eddie said, mentally laughing like a loon.
"...Oh… right." And her mood immediately did a one-eighty.
"Hey, don't worry about it." Eddie said, putting an arm around her shoulder. "The fact is you just whooped me as fast as Kite… actually, I've only lost on turn 3, now that I think about it."
"You mean the guy that demolished Hokuto?"
"Yup…. actually hold on, Yuya also beat me on turn 3… and Yuto… and Yugo… hang on a second here…" Eddie said, thinking very hard on that. "Mana was turn 4 but I bricked so it might as well have been turn 3… interesting…"
"So if you make it past turn 3 your ability to win rises?" Yuzu asked.
"Exponentially so, it seems." Eddie agreed as they left the field. "Probably because I get more material to work with? And/or adrenaline."
"Probably both," Came Serena's voice. "And also excellent use of your fusion monster and spell to establish a strong defense with your monsters."
"Thanks."
"It really was, normally a bunch of monsters is just fodder but they were untargetable, immune to destruction, and massively buffed." Eddie said, switching fully out of her Dueltaining Persona. "I was downplaying it during the duel but I legitimately couldn't do anything about it with what I had, so Brava! Magnifico!" Eddie said with a little applause. In hindsight, she'd made a misplay not summoning First in Yuzu's main phase to shore up her own defenses, not having expected Score.
"Hehe, thanks for the praise Big Sis," Yuzu replied.
"Yeah you did amazing Yuzu," Came Yuya's voice as he arrived down in the arena. "Much better than me."
"You did fine Yuya, the point was for you to learn and you did that." Yuzu replied.
"And anyway, no putting yourself down even if it's to prop others up." Eddie added. "You two are both fantastic duelists with a ton of potential that you've still yet to realize. Both of you should be proud."
The two just smiled at her words.