Author's Note:
So this is Chapter 15 of "The Kingdom [be]Comes"!
It took a bit longer to write than I thought but writing duels always takes awhile for me – it's also a Riding Duel and that took extra effort to write. There is also some plot that I had to explain and stuff to describe so there is less Yusei x Aki than I would have liked...but I'll make up for that in later chapters.
I have to thank all of you guys for all your reviews, favourites and putting this story on alert. An author can't ask for more awesome readers :)
So thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy this chapter!
NineInchNailed.
PS: By the way, if you haven't checked out the new Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's Ending#5 you must: it's got serious Yusei x Aki in the end! Eeeeeeeee!
"Life is under no obligation to give us what we expect."
~Margaret Mitchell.
The two years of constantly upgrading his D-Wheel engine really did wonders: even though he had an additional passenger Yusei still effortlessly accelerated past Sho Higuchi and obtained the first turn.
"My turn, draw," Yusei declared and drew a card.
[Yusei Fudo]
[Beginning of Turn One: 0 Monsters; 0 Cards on Field; 6 Cards in hand; LP4000]
|[Yusei's Speed Counters: 0]|
|[Sho's Speed Counters: 0]|
Aki looked over Yusei's shoulder at the cards attached to the left arm of his D-Wheel. She saw that his first hand consisted of three monsters and three Trap cards. A pretty neutral hand although Yusei had a tendency to surprise and go against odds.
"I summon Dead Guardna in Defence Mode," Yusei proclaimed and a Level 4 white robotic monster appeared, its attack points at zero but its defence points at 1900. "I also place two cards face down on the field and end my turn," he concluded as two face down cards appeared.
[Yusei Fudo]
[End of Turn One: Dead Guardna (Lvl.4) ATK0/DEF1900 in Defence Mode; 2 Face down Cards; 3 Cards in hand; LP4000]
|[Yusei's Speed Counters: 0]|
|[Sho's Speed Counters: 0]|
Yusei looked into his left mirror and saw Aki glancing over at his cards with a thoughtful look on her face. "Bored?" he teased.
Aki gasped, directing her gaze to his reflection. "Never!" she instantly responded, distraught by his deduction.
The corners of Yusei's mouth tugged upward by her response. And just as he thought that she couldn't get any cuter...
"Okay, my turn," the guy named Sho Higuchi announced, accelerating so that he was now on the same eye-level with Yusei, and drew a card.
[Sho Higuchi]
[Beginning of Turn One: 0 Monsters; 0 Cards on Field; 6 Cards in hand; LP4000]
|[Yusei's Speed Counters: 1]|
|[Sho's Speed Counters: 1]|
"When my opponent controls a monster and I don't, I can normal summon Big Piece Golem without tributing. Big Piece Golem, come forth in Attack Mode!" Sho said and a Level 5 monster, shaped as a big gray rock, appeared, its attack points at 2100 and its defence at 0.
"Now, Big Piece Golem, attack his Dead Guardna!" Sho exclaimed and watched as his monster went in for the attack.
"No," Yusei said simply and flipped up one of his face down cards, "I activate my Trap card, Scrap-Iron Scarecrow – once per turn I can negate your attack. Then this card is set back face-down on the field instead of being sent to the Graveyard." The metallic scarecrow appeared and took the attack of the Big Piece Golem onto itself, negating it, before returning into its face-down position.
"Ah, I should have predicted that," Sho mumbled and, after a few more seconds of deliberation, he set three cards face down on the field and ended his turn.
The two of Sho's friends caught up with the duellists, trailing some distance after Yusei and Sho, not wanting to miss out on a duel.
[Sho Higuchi]
[End of Turn One: Big Piece Golem (Lvl.5) ATK2100/DEF0 in Attack Mode; 3 Cards on Field; 2 Cards in hand; LP4000]
|[Yusei's Speed Counters: 1]|
|[Sho's Speed Counters: 1]|
"Aren't both of you Duel Riders? Why did you take on an extra passenger?" Sho decided to inquire.
Yusei gave him a look of indifference. It wasn't like this was any of his business.
"My D-Wheel is going through some repairs," Aki decided to answer, figuring that there was no harm in casual talk, "But how do you guess that I'm a D-Wheeler?"
"I'm not guessing, I know – you two are on the Team 5D's, the winners of WRPG tournament. I was part of the team in the WRPG as well: unfortunately we weren't able to make it all the way to face you guys," Sho explained.
"Who were you with?" Yusei asked.
"I was with Duel Warriors and we lost the preliminary rounds to the team lead by Sherry LeBlanc," Sho informed them with a disappointed sigh.
Ugh, Sherry? Aki thought in sudden outburst of annoyance, She's everywhere! And I remember how smug she was about winning that duel too. She just had to come in on our own celebration and boast about it.
"I heard about that battle although have not personally witnessed it," Yusei said and drew a card, declaring his turn.
[Yusei Fudo]
[Beginning of Turn Two: Dead Guardna (Lvl.4) ATK0/DEF1900 in Defence Mode; 2 Face down Cards; 4 Cards in hand; LP4000]
|[Yusei's Speed Counters: 2]|
|[Sho's Speed Counters: 2]|
Yusei wheeled sharply to the right to avoid a rusted garbage bin lying in the middle of the road, and his move caused Aki to squeeze him so tightly that for a moment he felt like he would suffocate.
"I summon Hyper Synchron in Attack mode," Yusei said and a blue robotic Level 4 monster, its attack at 1600 and defence at 1800 points, appeared.
"A Tuner monster?" Sho mumbled.
Yusei is getting his Stardust out already? Amazing... Aki thought.
"Now I tune my Level 4 Hyper Synchron to my Level 4 Dead Guardna," Yusei went on and activated the silver Synchro card after showing it to Sho, "Clustering hopes will become a new shining star. Become the path its light shines upon. Synchro Summon! Take flight, Stardust Dragon!"
Aki lost her breath watching Yusei's beautiful silver dragon take flight and unleash its piercing roar.
Sho also seemed speechless as he stared up at the magnificent dragon which he could get should he win this duel.
"When Hyper Synchron is used for the Synchro Summoning of a dragon monster, that monster gains extra 800 attack points. So Stardust Dragon now has 3300 attack points," Yusei said, observing his dragon growing in strength.
"Not so fast!" Sho intervened and flipped up one of his three face down cards, "I activate my Trap card, Overworked – this card destroys each monster whose Attack points are higher than its original Attack points. Your Stardust is going straight to the Graveyard!"
Yusei shook his head and activated his own face down card, the one besides Scrap-Iron Scarecrow, "My trap card, Remote Revenge, can deflect the effect of a Trap when my monster becomes a target of destruction. The target of your Trap then becomes your own monster, Big Piece Golem."
"Oh fuck me," Sho muttered as his only monster shattered into pieces, leaving him defenceless with the exception of his two face down cards.
"And now, Stardust Dragon, attack his Life Points directly. Shooting sonic!" Yusei directed his dragon into attack and Sho growled as a Solid Vision blast obliterated his Life Points down to 700 in one turn. His Speed Counters went down to zero and his D-Wheel decelerated, pushing him back behind Yusei.
"Yusei..." Aki smiled, awestruck.
"Due to Hyper Synchron' effect, Stardust Dragon is removed from game at the end of my turn," Yusei said and then, as Stardust disintegrated, he concluded, "I place three cards face down on the field and end my turn," and three hidden cards appeared in mid-air in addition to his Scrap-Iron Scarecrow, and then disappeared.
[Yusei Fudo]
[End of Turn Two: 0 Monsters; 4 Face down Cards; 1 Card in hand; LP4000]
|[Yusei's Speed Counters: 2]|
|[Sho's Speed Counters: 0]|
Yusei looked over his shoulder at Sho, finding himself to be a bit underwhelmed by his tactics. He expected a bit more from a WRPG duellist. And at this point he no longer had to wonder just how Sherry beat Sho's whole team just by herself...even if this discredited her a little.
Aki, on the other hand, was anything but bored even if this was Déjà vu for her in some way: being such a personal spectator on Yusei's Riding Duel, seeing what he sees, and enjoying every moment of it. And at the same time this was quite different and so, so much better: for starters, Yusei wasn't duelling Sherry who was so snobby and hitting on him non-stop for the duration of that duel. That was quite annoying and so this guy Sho thus seemed much more likeable. Second, she wasn't sitting awkwardly and hazardously on top of a D-Wheel but comfortably seated behind Yusei. It was so much hotter like this too and she could now hold on to him as intimately as she wanted. And third, this wasn't happening at an allocated duel lane but, rather, on a narrow abandoned Satellite street which made her feel like she was experiencing a significant part of Yusei's life, his struggling Satellite past. Aki closed her eyes, momentarily relishing in the feeling of the cool breeze on her face as well as the heat of the body she was holding on to.
"No monsters on the field but for trap cards, huh? Okay, let's go," Sho said and declared his turn, drawing a card.
[Sho Higuchi]
[Beginning of Turn Two: 0 Monsters; 2 Face down Cards; 3 Cards in hand; LP700]
|[Yusei's Speed Counters: 3]|
|[Sho's Speed Counters: 1]|
Sho looked at the card he drew and was about to play it when his eyes looked forward and he suddenly looked shocked.
Aki noticed his expression and quickly looked to the direction of his surprise. She instantly gasped at the image of flashing police lights at the distance: there was a road block waiting for them and with the speed they were all going they would crash into the police squad in ten seconds.
Yusei saw all of that moments earlier than either Sho or Aki and, by the time Aki opened her mouth to warn him, he already knew what to do. "There," he said, gesturing his arm to the side street they were about to pass and turned sharply into it. Aki let out a quiet squeak of terror, grabbing onto him tighter than ever as she felt like she was about to fall off. Sho followed his command instantly and was now trailing behind them, while his friends reversed and drove the other way.
"Do you want to stop this?" Sho called out to Yusei.
"No," Yusei responded although added, "But we could."
Sho laughed, shaking his head, "No way!"
Yusei smiled, nodding his approval. Now this will be fun, he thought.
These guys are crazy, Aki thought in bafflement, looking back and seeing that the police squad had just turned around the corner to their alley, apparently having decided to chase them after splitting into two groups: five people going after Sho's friends, and four people going after them. What added even more so to her shock was the fact that the squad going after them was led by a large-framed man whom she instantly identified as Ushio.
"Yusei, it's Ushio!" she hissed, "He'll know it's us!"
"He won't if he doesn't catch up," Yusei said calmly and then accelerated, nearly doubling his speed, and becoming pleased with the fact that Sho caught up to him while Ushio's squad drastically fell behind. Apparently the Investigation Bureau still hasn't invested in WRPG-type engines for their D-Wheels.
Aki found herself believing Yusei without a grain of doubt and, despite everything going on, relaxed.
"I summon Marauding Captain in attack mode," Sho announced and a knight in silver armour and a cape, a Level 3 monster with attack of 1200 and defence of 400, showed up on the field. "When Marauding Captain is Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon one Level 4 or lower monster from my hand. So I pick Command Knight to appear in attack mode!" Sho continued and another knight showed up, this time a Level 4 monster and its attack at 1200 and its defence at 1900 points, "Command Knight's special effect is that it cannot be targeted for an attack while another Warrior-type monster is in play – so while Marauding Captain is on my field, Command Knight cannot be targeted! And lastly, when I have one or more Speed Counters I can activate a Speed Spell – Mystical Space Typhoon. I can destroy one Spell or Trap card on the field and so I choose to destroy your Scrap-Iron Scarecrow – you are now open for direct attack!"
Aki stared at Yusei's face in his side mirror and saw that he didn't look at all concerned despite having no monsters for defence and now also having his Scrap-Iron Scarecrow destroyed. If anything, he looked like he was very entertained. And as if to reaffirm his fun and control to her, Yusei flipped up a Trap card.
"I activate Slip Summon – after my opponent summons a monster, I can Special Summon a Level 4 or less monster from my hand to Defence position. So I summon Shield Wing," Yusei said and a Level 2 monster in a form of a scrawny-looking green dragon appeared, its attack at 0 and its defence at 900. Letting a direct attack through was never in his plans, even without his Scrap-Iron Scarecrow.
"Hmm, okay," Sho mumbled at the interruption but was unfazed when he continued, "As long as Command Knight is on the field, it increases the attack of all Warrior-Type monsters by 400 points. So both my Marauding Captain and Command Knight have their attacks increased!" His two monsters grew larger in size, as if emphasizing their increased strength. "And now, I attack Shield Wing with Marauding Captain!" Sho commanded with a smile and watched as his monster, now with attack power of 1600, slashed its sword at the bony dragon. His smile vanished when he realized that Yusei's monster remained on the field after it was supposed to be destroyed.
"What the..." Sho began.
"Shield Wing cannot be destroyed up to two times in battle," Yusei explained. Aki smiled, knowing that this was definitely a good defence monster for Yusei to pick.
"Alright, then I activate my Trap card, Battle Mania!" Sho announced and activated one of his trap cards, "All Monsters my opponent controls are changed to Attack position. So your Shield Wing is now in Attack mode with only 0 attack points! So now, Command Knight – attack Shield Wing!"
Yusei frowned as his Shield Wing got smashed into pieces but right before damage calculations began applying, he flipped up his second to last face down card. "I activate Defence Draw – any battle damage I take is reduced to zero and I get to draw one card from my deck," Yusei said, protecting both his Life Points and his Speed Counters, and drew a card.
Sho let out a sigh of frustration and ended his turn.
[Sho Higuchi]
[End of Turn Two: Command Knight (Lvl.4) ATK1600/DEF1900 in Attack mode/ Marauding Captain (Lvl. 4) ATK1600/DEF400 in Attack mode; 1 Face down Card; 1 Card in hand; LP700]
|[Yusei's Speed Counters: 3]|
|[Sho's Speed Counters: 1]|
"Take a right into the next alley," Sho suggested to Yusei, "That leads to the Shinjuku East boulevard."
"Why there?" Aki asked.
"Because most of the buildings there have been demolished with plans to reconstruct that part of the city. But since the construction has been indefinitely delayed, it's currently an abandoned Satellite district," Yusei answered, recognizing Sho's plan. He himself knew that region inside and out, having often driven through it years before the uniting of Neo Domino and Satellite: it was ruins then and it was ruins still.
"Yes," Sho nodded, "The police don't know their way around these streets well and all the scraps, junk and dead-ends in Shinjuku district will severely hinder them."
"That's a plan," Yusei agreed and drew a card.
[Yusei Fudo]
[Beginning of Turn Three: 0 Monsters; 1 Card on Field; 2 Cards in hand; LP4000]
|[Yusei's Speed Counters: 4]|
|[Sho's Speed Counters: 2]|
Yusei took a sharp right turn into Sho's recommended street, leaving tire marks on the pavement, and then accelerated, bouncing back to the high speed that let them outrun Ushio's squad. Sho followed after him.
Yusei took a look at the Speed Spell he just drew and smiled. Aki caught a quick glance of it and guessed that Yusei will probably be going for a finale.
"When I have two or more Speed Counters I can activate my Speed Spell, Angel Baton," Yusei said and played a card, "By discarding one card from my hand I get to draw two cards." He sent his Bolt Hedgehog into the Graveyard and then drew two more cards.
"Now, when my opponent has monsters on the field and I have none, I can Special Summon Level Warrior from my hand," Yusei went on and summoned a Level 3 monster with attack points of 300 and defence points of 600, its appearance that of a caped superhero, "When Level Warrior is Special Summoned this way, its Level rises to 4. And then I Normal Summon Nitro Synchron in attack mode," Yusei said and a pink robotic-like Tuner monster, Level 2 and with attack of 300 and defence of 100 points, appeared. For a second Yusei tore away from the duel at hand to check out his mirrors for Investigation Bureau. He saw the flashing blue lights but they were at an impressively far distance; additionally, even though the police was using a megaphone to call out for them to stop, those orders could barely reach them.
Yusei switched his full attention back to the duel, and continued, "Additionally, when I Normal Summon a monster this turn, I can Special Summon Oneshot Booster," and a yellow robotic monster with Level 1 and attack and defence points of zero showed up. Yusei then pulled out a card that suddenly appeared out of his Graveyard and showed it to Sho, saying, "Lastly, when there is a Tuner monster on my field, I can Special Summon Bolt Hedgehog from my Graveyard." So another monster appeared on his field, this one in a shape of a hamster and its attack and defence points both of 800 and its Level was 2. He didn't actually need Bolt Hedgehog for what he had planned but an additional monster couldn't hurt.
"Did you seriously just summon four monsters in one turn?" Sho mumbled in disbelief, his eyes wide. Even Aki was astonished by this feat and she had seen Yusei practically perform miracles when duelling. Additionally, Aki saw then that she was slightly mistaken. She thought that Yusei would be trying to bring back Stardust Dragon but he wasn't: he was going for a different Synchro Summon.
"Now I tune my Level 2 Nitro Synchron to my Level 4 Level Warrior and to my Level 1 Oneshot Booster," Yusei continued like it was nothing, "Clustering feelings will now become a new force! Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Blaze on, Nitro Warrior!" And a Level 7 monster, shaped as a large green robotic-monster with a canon, appeared, with attack points of 2800 and defence points of 1800. "When Nitro Synchron is used as a Tuner material for Synchro Summoning of Nitro Warrior I get to draw one card," Yusei declared and added an additional card to his hand. And then he simply said, "Since your Command Knight's effect gives extra 400 attack points to a Warrior-type monster, Nitro Warrior's attack increases to 3200 points."
Nitro Warrior let out a battle roar and increased in size.
Is this over? Aki thought, Even though Sho still has one face down card?
Sho was chewing on his bottom lip while not looking very happy with what was happening.
"Since your Command Knight cannot be selected as an attack target, I will choose Marauding Captain instead. Nitro Warrior, attack!" Yusei ordered and watched as Nitro Warrior plunged into attack, destroying Marauding Captain in a moment.
Aki held her breath, convinced that Yusei had just won a duel, but her good mood vanished when Sho quickly flipped up his one face down card. "I activate Barrel Behind the Door Trap card!" Sho announced, "All the damage that I receive goes to my opponent's Life Points instead! Get prepared for 1600 points of damage, Yusei!"
Aki stared at her lover worriedly as 1600 Life Points were drained from him. Yusei, however, was completely unfazed when his Life Points went down to 2400 and his Speed Counters decreased to 3. He began smiling instead.
"Why are you smiling?" Sho inquired impatiently.
"I activate my own Trap card, Synchro Destructor," Yusei answered and turned over the only trap card left on his field, "When my Synchro monster destroys an opponent's monster by battle, Synchro Destructor inflicts damage to my opponent's Life Points equal to half the attack power of the destroyed opposing monster. Marauding Captain's attack points were at 1600, so that makes it 800 points of damage."
"Yusei!" Aki exclaimed in amazement. Since Sho had only 700 Life Points left it still rendered Yusei a winner despite the fact that Sho countered his main deadly attack.
Sho stared at his opponent in shock for a few seconds before a slow smile crossed his features as well. "What a great duel," he commented with approval while his Life Points went down to zero.
[Winner: Yusei Fudo]
It was customary to make a complete stop when duel ended but this wasn't something they could do right now. Sho accelerated so he and Yusei could be on the same eye level and spoke up. "Thank you for the duel," he said, "Even though I lost I have definitely learnt a lot. You are not to be underestimated, Fudo Yusei!"
"That was definitely a good battle," Yusei nodded and added, "If you ever want to duel again it would be great, Sho-kun."
"Sounds like a plan!" Sho grinned, "And now to pay off my end of the bargain: FDA is about a twenty minute drive away from here. It's located in Neo Domino unlike what the Investigation Bureau is probably assuming."
"Please take us there before the police catches up," Aki requested.
"That's what we decided on," Sho confirmed and then accelerated past Yusei's D-Wheel, taking the lead and calling out to them, "Follow me!" before he sped off at nearly one hundred kilometres an hour.
Yusei sped up right after Sho and they were soon crossing the bridge to Neo Domino, having completely lost Ushio's squad by then. Not even the police patrols stationed at various spots on the bridge delayed them for longer than a few seconds.
After leading them through the heart of Neo Domino, Sho finally started slowing down when they were close to the edge of the city. He made a complete stop when they reached some kind of a closed-roof stadium.
"Isn't this place out of order?" Yusei asked.
"That's the point," Sho responded and lead them towards the entrance. It had an "Out of Order" sign hanging at the front and the wide doors were barricaded with wood planks. Sho knocked on the door and patiently waited for thirty seconds before the peep hole opened and some gloomy brown eyes peeked out. "This place is under construction, go away," the man behind the eyes informed them.
"What about freedom?" Sho asked.
Apparently that was the password of some sort because the peep hole closed and then the wide doors began parting in the middle, the fenced up planks evidently only for show.
"We're wheeling our D-Wheels in there – nobody parks outside or else it'd be too obvious," Sho indicated to Yusei and Aki and the three of them pushed the motorcycles inside, the doors behind them closing.
Yusei and Aki involuntary took a sharp breath as they bestowed upon what was definitely a feat of organizational accomplishment: the multiplex had six levels – four higher up, one on the ground level and one underground – and on each of those levels was a different duelling arena with Riding Duels already underway – the floors were also slightly transparent so it was possible to observe a different Riding Duel from any floor; there were hundreds of designated ground duelling spots where there were people duelling and encircled by cheering spectators; there were numerous large TV screens alternating between showing the current city news and current duels; there was a colossal parking space situated on the side accommodating hundreds of cars and D-Wheels; and there was a tight security like no other.
"Name?" barked a booming voice and the three of them stared up at the bulky man holding up what looked like an electronic clipboard.
"I'm Higuchi Sho," Sho hurried to answer and the man quickly scanned through the clipboard and, having found his name there, he waved at him to pass.
Sho gave Yusei and Aki an anxious look and hurried to walk through.
"Name?" the bulky man repeated.
"Fudo Yusei and Izayoi Aki," Yusei answered for both of them. Aki gulped as the bouncer looked through the electronic list – she didn't want to imagine what could happen if they weren't on it. Would he just tell them to leave or would something worse happen since nobody was supposed to know about this place? Yusei, meanwhile, attentively noticed the names of Jack Atlas and Crow Hogan flashing for a split second as the man searched.
It seemed almost like an eternity before the man had finally found their names there and allowed them through.
Yusei pushed his D-Wheel into the closest parking spot and saw Sho waiting for them there.
"You guys made it! Although it would have been a real shocker if you didn't," Sho said excitedly. Yusei nodded while Aki sighed with relief.
"Okay, I'll show you the basics and then I'll go and wait for my friends," Sho decided and lead them to one of the large computer screens situated on the sides of the arena. "It's easy," he said as he touched the screen, "You type your name and then your duelling profile shows up." Sho demonstrated this by typing his name and in a moment his picture and various stats appeared on the screen. "So this is just the basic stuff that's probably been downloaded from WRPG database – so here you can see various tournaments and official duels I've been in, my winning and losing rate, my Ace card, my deck-type, Riding or Ground Duel preference, and blah blah blah. And here is where you look up other people in the FDA," Sho clicked on a link which opened the screen to a large list of names categorized alphabetically, "You can also choose to see all the members by their reputation or by their winning rate. Last I checked I think you were in the top ten," Sho said, looking at Yusei.
Yusei just shrugged while Aki smiled.
"Alright, and here is one more thing you should probably know: if you click here, it will take you to your Challenges page. It shows here the duellists that decided to challenge you to a duel – and you can simply choose to accept or refuse – and then people's replies to you if you challenged anyone," Sho pointed at the column containing some people who challenged him and then another column showing the replies of people he himself had challenged, ranging from "Refused," to "Accepted," to "Awaiting Reply." Sho then showed them one last page and concluded, "And here is the FDA schedule for Riding Duels – since there are only six arenas, you need to book a time and a date and, preferably, a time estimation although four hours is always the maximum allotted. That's really it, I think. This place is open 24/7 and I think there is a minimum age of 16+ to be here – they probably don't think that younger kids could keep a secret. Additionally, you don't really have to be too formal about going about duels, you can always just challenge whomever you see and hope they're not too busy."
"This is insane," Aki whispered and Yusei agreed with her. How did something so intricate, so well thought-out, so organized and so immense managed to build itself in a matter of days?
"Okay, I'll go wait for my friends," Sho finished and turned to face them, "It was nice to meet both of you. I'll see you guys around and, Fudo Yusei, it would be an honour to duel you again someday!"
"Thank you for everything, Sho-kun," Yusei said and both of them shook hands before Sho departed.
Yusei and Aki were then alone...with the exception of numerous people, duels and overall loud crowds everywhere. Yusei stared at Aki silently and then turned to the computer screen, beginning to type his own name in.
"What are you thinking?" Aki asked him quietly, looking around with a mix of anxiety and curiosity.
"That this is suspicious," Yusei responded with a frown, and then skimmed through his duelling profile, noting the 100% win rate, the current title, and the FDA ranking of "#1." He also saw a long list of at least fifty requests to duel him. "You want to check yours?" he asked Aki but she just shook her head, instead mumbling, "What are we going to do now, Yusei?"
"Walk around," was his answer. Aki nodded, agreeing that this the best thing to do.
They slowly and cautiously walked around the ground-floor duelling arena, with Yusei generally observing the duels in front of them and with Aki looking around nonstop at everything. There were even food, coffee and snacks places alongside with spots to sit and relax. It was basically a freaking mall...exclusive only for duellists.
After checking out every floor of the multiplex they finally stopped at the top level. Aki pressed her hands against the glass separating the duelling arena and sighed, at this point unable to hide her fascination and awe with this place, regardless of some worries. This was amazing and it allowed people to be free after the duelling prohibition hindered each and every single one of them.
Yusei absently looked away from the duel at hand and checked his cellphone. There was no reception although that was expected: they probably didn't want anyone contacting the outside and spreading the information while in here. Speaking about them – who was it that had organized all this? Who was the creator of this place and of the Organization? Yusei began searching the floor they were on, trying to find some designated place that would be indicative of somebody in authority or power.
Aki breathed on the glass and then pulled back, noticing the condensation her breath left. With a smile she drew a small heart with her finger and shyly looked at Yusei. She lowered her eyes in sadness when she realized that he wasn't looking at her but was instead staring off somewhere at the distance.
"Aki...there," Yusei said and pointed at what looked like an announcer's box at the far end of the multiplex, hanging right above the six duelling arenas and having a nice view of everything going on. His expression and voice did not conceal his alarm.
Aki stared at the source of his gesture, for a moment wondering what it was that grabbed his attention, when her next breath became a gasp: the slightly dimmed glass of the announcer's box revealed what looked like a control room – due to some monitors and controls she distinguished – and some people in it. And one of those people was the pale white-haired young man who was none other than Mahdi. Mahdi seemed alive and well and was saying something to an unknown tall man in a suit, whose face was completely concealed by the shadows.
Yusei turned to one of the random passing-by duellists. "Excuse me," Yusei asked and the guy stopped, listening to him courteously, "Would you happen to know who that is?" Yusei said and gestured towards the people in the announcer box.
The random guy looked at their direction attentively for a few seconds before speaking up. "I don't know who the white-haired guy is," the stranger said, "But the hidden guy next to him is supposed to be the owner and the organizer of this place. Nobody knows who he is though but apparently he's somebody from the higher up with interest in keeping duelling games alive."
Yusei thanked him and then ran off in the direction of the box. Aki ran after him and when she caught up she saw him standing off on a side and quickly looking for something in the computer system.
"He's not here," Yusei mumbled to her when she approached him and stared at her, his eyes expressing his unease, "He's not in the system as one of the duellists."
"Mahdi?" Aki looked at the list of FDA members he pulled up and saw that he was right, "What are you planning to do, Yusei?"
"Have a talk," Yusei responded. To be fair he wasn't going to have just a talk. He was also going to challenge Mahdi to a duel and pay him back for what he did to Crow and for all the people that suffered in the sacrificial duels. Since this Mahdi seemed to be their only link to Set this was his only chance. Additionally, if Mahdi and that unknown man were behind FDA then something bad might be going on.
Aki stared up at him with concern. She didn't think this was a good idea but she figured that this was the only reasonable thing they could do. "Okay," she nodded and began walking in the direction of the control room when his stretched out arm in front of her stopped her.
"Wait for me here," Yusei requested gently. He didn't want her to come with him because he didn't think that this was a necessarily safe thing. Also, he remembered how Aki forced Mahdi and Crow's duel to end and knocked Mahdi out using her powers, and so he didn't think that Aki should come near Mahdi. Ever. Who knows – what if he would want to hurt her?
"Yusei-" Aki began protesting.
"Please?" Yusei insisted, grabbing her shoulders.
Aki was very unhappy about this. She couldn't shake off her worry and she didn't want Yusei to go and have a talk by himself with a guy related to hundreds of deaths and who had almost killed Crow. But he was almost pleading her and she just could not make herself go against his wishes.
"Be careful," Aki finally said, conceding, and reached up on her tiptoes to gently kiss him on the lips. Yusei returned the kiss and, after flashing her a quick smile, he left in the direction of the control room. Aki leaned against the wall, folding her arms, and nervously chewed on her bottom lip as she waited for him to return.
As Yusei finally reached the place he saw that the entrance to the room was blocked by two guards. "There's no passing here," one of the guards informed him coolly.
For a second Yusei contemplated punching them out of his way the way he once did on his way to see Jack and Rex Godwin but instead decided that being polite would probably work better this time.
"I need to talk to someone from that room. It's important," Yusei said.
"Sorry, no passing," the guard repeated.
"Why don't you tell Mahdi that he has some unresolved business," Yusei said.
The guard suddenly looked apprehensive. He stared at the other guard who seemed just as uncomfortable. "Um..." the guard finally mumbled, apparently not knowing what to do, "Hold on," he decided and stepped inside the room, closing the door behind him.
Yusei didn't have to wait too long. Less than a minute later the door opened and Mahdi came out. He seemed aggravated.
"Who are you and why are you wasting my time?" Mahdi questioned, staring at him with his eyes narrowed.
"My name is Fudo Yusei and, after you fought my friend Hogan Crow in a duel, I have a few questions I'd like answered," Yusei answered coldly.
Mahdi stared at him in what seemed like a mix of confusion and boredom before a devilish smile crossed his features. "Ah, I see now," Mahdi snickered, "I recognize you now – you're just another one of WRPG's Team 5D's. The leader too, I presume? Oh well. I'm not really interested in you or your team anymore, Fudo Yusei – even my duel with your friend Crow was a waste of my time. Although, to be fair, I wouldn't mind having another discussion with him."
Yusei frowned. "Why Crow?" he asked, "Why not have your discussion with me instead?"
Mahdi laughed harder before he replied, "Why do I need to talk to you? I have nothing to talk to you about. You offer me nothing. Your friend Crow, on the other hand, has something I want and I do intend to get it. Eventually."
Yusei clenched his hands into fists. What is it that Mahdi had wanted from Crow? And why did Mahdi challenge Crow to a duel to begin with? Yusei suddenly realized that he'd never asked Crow about Mahdi – could Crow possibly know something about this? But if it was something important then wouldn't he have mentioned it to them by now?
"If you want to get to Crow you're going to have to go through me," Yusei informed Mahdi. At this point it was a simple and pure truth and there was no other way around it.
Mahdi sighed as if he was desperately trying to remain patient and listen to what Yusei was saying. "Is it a duel that you want, Fudo Yusei? Alright, as you wish. I guess I should have expected that one of you would eventually come to avenge your friend – I think I'm getting a taste of my own medicine, how ironic is that?" Mahdi chuckled and then looked away, waving his hand as if dismissing him, "But before we duel you should probably prove your worth to me. Duel a top ranked duellist to show me that I wouldn't be wasting my time. And if you win against them I'll consider duelling you. So why don't you check the FDA ranking list and see who's ranked the highest?"
"That would be me," Yusei responded.
Mahdi stared at him and Yusei distinguished notes of surprise in his expression. After a few moments of bewilderment Mahdi laughed. "Well done," he said, "Still, if that's the case, then pick somebody from the Top 5 and duel them anyway. And then I'll accept your challenge. Is that a deal?"
"Alright," Yusei agreed without hesitation. His eyes conveyed his loathing.
"Do that as soon as possible, Fudo Yusei, I'm a busy man," Mahdi concluded and then, without uttering another word, disappeared back into the room, slamming the door in Yusei's face.
This was definitely an unexpected outcome, Yusei thought as he walked away, But at least we're no longer at the complete dead-end – coming here was a right decision.
He quickly skimmed through the Top 10 and, as he had expected, he saw Jack – who was ranked second after him – Crow, Aki and Sherry among the best duellists, as well as some people they had previously duelled in the WRPG. He also checked for Bruno, Rua and Ruka but he couldn't find them on the list. For Mahdi's challenge Yusei settled on Jean from Team Unicorn – Jean was an commendable duellist who, during the WRPG, had decided that he wanted to win honourably although he could have easily won had he simply ended his turn. Yusei figured that this was a good time to have another battle with him – rather than duel one of his friends – and so he sent Jean a duel request.
When Yusei finally made his way back to Aki, he realized, looking at her, that he should probably never be allowed to leave her alone: he was gone maybe ten minutes and she was already circled by two random guys.
Aki smiled shyly at the guy who introduced himself as Koichi as he continued showering her with compliments. "I just couldn't help but notice how cute you were, you know?" Koichi was saying, "I just had to stop and say hi. Female duellists – especially some as cute as you – don't come around often!"
"Thanks," Aki mumbled, absently tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. What else could she say to that? It wasn't often that she got so blatantly hit on and she didn't really know how to react.
"Would you also happen to be a D-Wheeler?" the second guy asked her. Aki couldn't remember his name – it was Sakuya or something like that.
"Yes," Aki nodded.
The guy who-was-Sakuya-maybe let out a happy sigh.
"So are you going to tell us your name?" the guy named Koichi playfully asked her.
Yusei's jaw clenched as he watched the interaction from afar. Why was she so nice to these guys especially when they had such obvious and vile intentions? He didn't know that he was capable of despising total strangers so much and so suddenly. Without wasting another second, he neared the little group and nonchalantly pushed the two guys out of his way, mumbling, "Excuse me," as he stopped in front of Aki.
"Yusei, hi..." Aki greeted him with a dreamy smile.
"Hi," Yusei said and then grabbed her as he pulled her into an ardent kiss.
Aki gasped, taken aback by the suddenness of his action, but she was simply unable to be unresponsive to him for longer than a split second. She let out a soft moan and encircled her arms around his neck, returning the kiss and deepening it.
"Wow...get a room," sounded an annoyed and discontented complaint from one of the guys.
Yusei broke the kiss as abruptly as he had initiated it and then possessively took a hold of Aki's hand. "Let's leave," he said and, without acknowledging the two guys or even waiting her reply, he pulled her away.
Aki was just too surprised to say anything, and after she politely waved goodbye at Koichi and Sakuya-or-something, she let Yusei lead her away. It didn't take her too long to begin hyperventilating from happiness, however: Yusei was holding her hand. For everyone to see! She felt kind of idiotic for being so ecstatic at something so simple – especially since she had sex with him for a third time today just hours ago – but it just meant so much to her. It was as if he was affirming that she was, indeed, his. Aki couldn't help but wish that Sherry was here to see this...it'd be too good to be true if that happened.
Also, was it her or was Yusei acting like he was a little jealous? If it was true then it was the cutest thing ever and Aki couldn't help smiling widely at the thought.
Yusei stopped at the elevators and pushed the "Down" button, waiting. Still holding Aki's hand, he turned to look at her and noticed a bright smile on her face. "What?" he asked, demanding to know the source of her amusement. If she was laughing at him then it wasn't funny! Besides, he didn't do anything that warranted laughter...right?
"Nothing," Aki replied, looking down and trying to hide her smile. It didn't work and she actually began giggling.
"What?" Yusei asked again, eyeing her.
The look of exasperation on his face was too great and just kept fuelling her amusement. "Nothing," she repeated, her shoulders shaking in a fit of giggles and she clapped her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing too loudly.
The elevator opened and Yusei pulled her in there, pressing the ground floor. When her silent laughing didn't seize he began mumbling under his breath, "You can't expect me to do nothing when something like that happens."
Aki tamed her laughing to look up at him in wonder. "When something like what happens?" she pressed, wanting to hear him say it.
Yusei stared at her. What? Wait, what was she laughing about? If it wasn't over him maybe, sort of, kind of being jealous then did he just gave away that he was? Yusei quickly looked away, suddenly feeling kind of self-conscious. "Nothing," he hurried to answer, avoiding her eyes.
His reaction was better than chocolate. Aki's smile grew broader. She could swear that he seemed embarrassed and almost shy, and it was endearing. She had never before seen Yusei like this.
"Yusei...could you possibly be jealous?" Aki teased him as she now moved to stand in front of him and began lovingly running her fingers up and down his chest. She had to bite on her bottom lip to keep her smile from growing any wider.
"No!" Yusei answered, perhaps a little too quickly for it to be believable, while still avoiding looking at her. Why am I acting like this? he thought in bewilderment.
Aki sighed with delight: she got all the confession she wanted from his expression. So she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pressed into him, nuzzling against his chest. Just when I thought I couldn't get happier, Aki thought.
Yusei stared at her and then relaxed, embracing her. He appreciated that this was her only response, that she wasn't pushing further...especially since the truth was probably more than obvious to her. Sometimes a single action was worth a thousand words.
On the way back to Poppo Time, Yusei informed Aki about his deal with Mahdi, his possible duel with Jean tomorrow, and disclosed that he was having some worries about Crow since Mahdi seems to be after him for whatever reason. Aki didn't want him to duel anyone for Mahdi's sake but she wouldn't reveal her objections: instead, she offered Yusei her unconditional support.
It was around midnight when Yusei and Aki finally walked into the kitchen of Poppo Time and greeted its other inhabitants. All their friends looked groggy and gloomy.
"Where did the two of you run off to?" Jack asked as he drummed his fingers impatiently on the table.
"Like you, we were looking for those illegal duelling rings," Aki answered. She stood a little behind Yusei and they weren't holding hands anymore.
"Sure, that's exactly what the two of you were doing," Crow snorted.
Yusei shot a look at Crow. "We were and we found one," he affirmed.
Crow looked up at Yusei with a startled look on his face.
"...Did you guys actually?" Carly asked with surprise.
"Yes, did you? Because we had wasted all evening looking for them and we found nothing!" Bruno added.
"We did," Aki smiled.
Everybody was silent for a little while after Yusei and Aki finished recounting their experience with FDA. They told them about the immense organization of the whole thing, all the duellists, the place, the security, Mahdi and the mysterious owner of the Association, Yusei's upcoming duel with Jean, as well as the people listed as members.
The first person to speak up was Rua.
"Why am I or Ruka not invited to be in it?" he complained.
"Also me, why am I not invited?" Bruno joined in.
"...You guys want to be in it?" Aki asked in disbelief. Did the fact that the place might be run by Set pass their ears?
"Why not? Yliaster and the whole Arc Cradle business were technically behind the WRPG and we still had fun in the actual tournament. Besides, I want to be there to support Yusei in his battle with Jean," Rua responded.
"Until we figure out what Mahdi's deal is I might get to Riding Duel somebody other than you people. That's good enough for me," Jack decided to share.
"Am I going to be able to get in? Being a reporter and all...This is such a great scoop!" Carly mumbled thoughtfully to herself.
"They have an age limit to keep Riding Duels organized, I presume," Yusei answered to Rua and then turned to Bruno, "And they probably haven't figured out that you're Dark Glass."
"Oh yeah...I kind of kept that a secret, didn't I?" Bruno laughed.
"If Rua and Ruka are not in it then this isn't about the Signers," Crow suddenly made a quiet observation.
Silence fell and everybody stared at Crow, realizing that he was right. If this wasn't about the Signers then what was this about?
"Crow, what do you remember about your duel with Mahdi?" Yusei asked him, "Did he say anything to you? Did he indicate why he came after you or why all these things were happening? Did he have some kind of grudge against you?"
Crow avoided his eyes as he shook his head. "Sorry, Yusei, but I can't remember," Crow said sadly, "I can't seem to remember anything from the time I left the coffee shop to waking up in the hospital. That lightning really got me, huh?"
Yusei nodded, appreciating any input, even if it created more questions than answered them.
"Why are you duelling Jean anyway, Yusei? Is there any significance or are you trying to have fun?" Ruka questioned, curiously.
Yusei smiled at her. "I'm duelling Jean to get to Mahdi. He won't duel me unless," he explained.
Aki, who was absently watching Crow all this time, suddenly noticed significant worry register on Crow's face in response to Yusei's explanation. Her eyes widened. For a second it donned on her that Crow might be lying about the whole Mahdi thing. But why? She continued staring at him with shock until Crow noticed that she was ogling him. He quickly wiped the worry off his face and smiled at her. Aki instantly looked away pretending like she didn't see anything.
"Any other questions?" Yusei asked the group.
Everyone shook their heads while Jack stifled a yawn, mumbling, "It's going to be a long day tomorrow. I'm going to sleep."
"That's a good idea," Crow agreed, getting up, and Bruno, Rua and Ruka followed his example.
"Okay, see you all in the morning," Carly nodded and went up to hers and Jack's room. Yusei and Aki departed as well.
Or, rather, as everybody else disappeared in their quarters, Yusei and Aki stopped in the hallway between his and hers room.
Aki shuffled her feet nervously. "Good night?" she guessed, holding her breath.
"Only if you want it to be," Yusei said quietly, opening the door to his room.
Aki's eyes darkened with desire and she neared him, grabbing his hand, and pulling him inside of his room. As the door behind them closed, they engulfed each other in passionate kisses, their hands pulling and tugging at each other's clothes.
"I don't think we'll be doing much sleeping tonight," Aki whispered breathlessly when Yusei broke the kiss to do away with the remainders of her clothing.
"And I never intended to," Yusei answered.
So we're getting closer to one of the climaxes of the story. Instead of creating a separate sequel I decided to split this story into two unofficial parts – so part 2 is coming up and it will be a bit different in formatting and some things from how the story is now. But yeah, there is still quite a few long chapters to go until then ^.^
I was also thinking of skipping Yusei and Jean duel next chapter because, frankly, I don't find this duel that important to the story; it's more about the implication of it anyway. So if I end up skipping it altogether or just implying to it, I hope that Chapter 16 will take less time to write. I guess I'll see.
So for next chapter: Will Yusei win against Jean? Will Mahdi agree to duel him if he wins? Will we find out if Crow is hiding something (if anything)? Will Yusei get jealous again? Will more sex happen? And will Carly be able to make it into FDA (lol)?
Stay tuned and you (might) find out!