Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Dancing flower petals, pink cherry blossoms fall from tress along the wooden bridge of the castle. A young man wearing a white uniform and a deep red headband looks up at his opponent. "Alright! Bring it to me, The Man Gongenzaka!" The man with the deep red headband shouted.

“Ah- Ha! Alright it’s my turn! I Draw! I activate the spell card Hippo Carnival!” A green and red haired boy said as he placed the card into his duel disk. As he did several hippo’s wearing dancers clothes appeared as they started their parade.

Hippo Token: Lvl 1, Atk:0 Def:0

“Yea now we’re feeling it!” The boy said happily.

A girls yells could be heard from a room, “Yuya stop goofing off! There’s a potential student watching!” she said as she slapped in the machine in front of her in frustration. However just as she did the machine started to make a sound as it started smoking.

“Oh no.” the pink haired girl stated as she looked onto the field.

As the boy was laughing and making a grand show of the hippo’s the tiled roof underneath him started to glitch and break as soon the generated building underneath him disappeared. “Oh no.” The green and red haired boy said as he looked down still suspended in the air before falling down to the ground with a loud crash.

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After the fire in the control room had been put out the group had reconvened in the break room.

“Man that sucks... I was just about to get my biggest show yet started...” Yuya said still rubbing his head which was sore after his fall.

“Yea sorry Yuya” Yuzu said a little embarrassed. Yuzu continued “But still you should stop goofing off and pay attention a little more! You probably could have landed on your feet if you did.”

“You’re blaming this on me?! You’re the one that put the machine on the fritz!” Yuya responded back clearly annoyed.

“No Yuya she’s right.” Gong chimed in before Yuzu could make a remark to Yuya. “You fool around too much and it makes you sloppy, I was outplaying you that entire match due to your clowning around.”

Yuya bit his lip before responding “Well at least I managed to make that boy laugh while I was doing it.”

“There’s a big difference between someone laughing because of you and at you Yuya! A true laugh comes from the heart! Isn’t that the point of this place!” Gongenzaka shouted roughly.

However just as Yuya was about to comment the door slammed open, it revealed a man with bright orange hair in a red tracksuit. “Oh man this is really bad... The solid vision system is completely busted. We won’t be able to get any more students enrolled with it broken...” Shuzo muttered to himself depressively as he sat down.

Soon after he did though the sound of footsteps could be heard coming from the hallway. As a strange man came through the door dressed in a yellow and black striped suit. “Hello, I don’t mean to catch you at a bad time but I have a proposition to make.” The man said as he moved in through the door.

“And who are you?” Shuzo said a little wary.

“I am Nico Smiley, the manager of duelist Strong Ishijima, and I am here to give one of your students the chance to redeem someone close to them.” He said looking toward Yuya.

“Strong Ishijima?!” Yuya said remembering that day 3 years ago, the tears he cried and all that had happened after that.

The air became tense as Nico continued “I come here on behalf of same said Ishijima to invite Yuya Sakaki to a duel that will take place in two days time. People have said that my client would not have won if your father Yusho did happen to make it on that day, and he wishes to clear any confusion up.” Nico said while smiling casually.

“What that’s not fair!” Yuzu spoke up, “Mr. Yusho not showing up shouldn’t involve Yuya at all!”

“That’s right Yuzu, I won’t let you disrespect Yuya like that.” Shuzo declared proudly.

“And if I were to say that for his participation the LEO organization would pay for a new state of the art solid vision system for your school, would that change your mind?” The man with yellow glasses said smiling.

“W-well maybe...” Shuzo said before being cut off.

“DAD!” Yuzu said turning around angrily to face the man with orange hair.

“I’m sorry Yuzu, but we do need a new Solid Vision system.” He said looking down.

“Well anyway it should be Yuya’s choice.” Gongenzaka said while turning around to meet his best friend only to find nothing. “Yuya?” the burly teenager said. “Oh he’s already gone...” Yuzu muttered, a bit of worry starting to build up in her chest. For some reason she had the feeling that this would be the start of something bad, but she couldn’t quite tell why yet...

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Yuya was peering off onto the stadium, sitting on top of the bridge swinging one of his most precious belongings, his pendulum, in front of him. Reflecting on a time quite a while ago.

“Remember Yuya, whenever you feel scared or sad, try to make someone else happy, anybody. Then soon the good emotions, the joy and courage will swing right back to you. Just like this pendulum...” His words echoed in Yuya’s mind just as strong as ever.

“I’ll do my best dad...”

“I figured I would find you here.” A motherly voice said as a blond woman started approaching the boy. “I heard about what happened earlier from Yuzu. I’m assuming that you’re going right?” Yuya’s mother, Yoko said knowingly.

“Mhm, I’m gonna beat him mom. And I'm gonna put on a show that’s just as good as anyone that dad put on, one that he would be proud of. I’m sure.” Yuya said with a determined look on his face.

Yoko looked to her son with a bit of a disappointed look on her face “You know, I think he would be more interested in seeing what a ‘Yuya’ entertainment duel looks like don’t you think?”

Yuya looked up at her with a bit of a confused look. “It’s ok I'm sure you’ll get it eventually, if he was here he would already be incredibly proud as well, I know. Don’t ever forget that no matter where he is right now both of us love you very much got it? Don’t sacrifice who you are for anyone.” Yoko concluded now also starting to gaze off onto the stadium.

“Yeah.” Yuya responded.

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The night before the match.

Yuzu found herself in a strange place, the city that she saw around her was unfamiliar to her. The landscape was far more advanced, with towering buildings littering the surroundings. The sky was a clear blue with birds chirping happily, the winds blowing through her hair which felt longer than it normally did and the gorgeous flowers blooming in the green park that she found herself in as she moved along. She found herself unable to control where her body was moving as she watched through eyes that seemed familiar to her.

As she continued watching she watched as she sat down on a picnic blanket in the park, pre laid. She saw the movement of another person, however she couldn’t make out any distinct feature of the figure.

She felt her lips move but only heard muttered words out of it. The conversation between herself and the figure lasted for a while. She could feel the light of the sun shining down on both of them, as she did she felt a strange feeling in her stomach of excitement and nervousness. She saw her arm raise up to touch the figures shoulder.

And as she did she managed to make out the first actual words she could hear. “Good luck on your next duel, by the way.”

And after that she felt herself be pulled from her body as she suddenly snapped awake.

As the pink haired girl opened her eyes to her room being filled with morning light, giving the room a warm glow. Her eyes moved down to the bracelet that she never took off. “Another one of those dreams...” Yuzu muttered before getting up to get ready for the day ahead.

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As Yuzu made her way to the stadium she stopped by Yuya’s house to check and see if he was there. But Yoko had claimed that he had already left earlier in the morning.

With an uneasy feeling of worry in her stomach the songstress duelist started her march towards the stadium, where the rest of the school was already waiting.

There was a truly enormous amount of people waiting in the stands, the excitement of the crowd to see a show that they had been waiting to see for it felt like almost 3 years, riling up the crowd to an almost dangerous degree.

Yuzu went over to meet her father and Gongenzaka, and there she found the two other students of her school. Ayu and Futoshi, the two smaller students almost bouncing in their places with excitement.

“Ah! Big sis Yuzu!” Ayu cheered happily.

“Have you seen Yuya yet? I’m absolutely shivering to watch his dueling!” the boy said with a little dance.

“Ummm, no not yet.” Yuzu said a bit worried. “Have you seen him yet dad, Gongenzaka?” Both of them looked to her and shook their heads.

As they did they heard a voice behind them “Don’t worry he’ll make it.” As Yoko made her appearance known to the group as she sat down with them.

As the group looked onward they saw the angry face of the purple haired man in the stadium. He looked impatient as he much like everyone else in the stadium was waiting for the announcer to start.

He didn’t have to wait long however, as soon a high pitched voice echoed throughout the stadium. “Everybody make way for today’s royalty match, the current champion Strong Ishijima meets the son of the man who he challenged 3 years ago who sadly failed to appear to defend his title!” A large portion of the crowd let out a huge boo of disdain for the mentioned entertainer.

Everyone in the Yusho group clenched their fists at the crowds jeers except for Yoko who looked on with a serene expression on her face.

“Now his son takes up the challenge in his fathers name to finally settle the score once and for all! Having said all that, lets get started! Action Field Spell activate! Castle of Chaos!”

A huge castle and field started to make itself upon the stadium, with a rocky texture and a huge forest covering the land. The crowd saw standing atop the castle waiting for his opponent the pro duelist.

As he sat waiting there a couple of tense minutes passed by. The crowd started to chat amongst themselves “Did he not show up?” “Figures, a coward through and through, just like his father.”

Yuzu looked around for any sign of the green and red haired boy only to find nothing. “Yuya....” she said worriedly.

“Big bro Yuya will show up right, Mrs. Sakaki?” Futoshi said. She simply continued to look down onto the field.

“YUYA SAKAKI!!!!” The purple haired man shouted angrily. “COME OUT AND FACE ME!” however just as he was about to go on a tirade a figure started to creep up on him.

A man in a clown attire making a funny face at the man behind his back. The crowd tried to get Strong’s attention, however it was Nico Smiley who managed to get through.

“Oh what’s this? A clown has appeared behind the champion!” He declared excitedly hoping for any sort of action. “You don’t think that is....” Yuzu started pondering, dreading the reveal to a question she already knew the answer to.

“God dammit Yuya!” the red head-banded boy cursed out.

Strong turned his back and looking confused and incredibly annoyed started talking with the clown. Yuzu looked on from the crowd until eventually the clown took of his guise and revealed himself. Of course it was him. The tomato haired boy.

“And the challenger Yuya finally makes an appearance!” Nico said with a hint of relief in his voice very clearly glad he would still have a job after this.(For sure)

The duelists on the field made a chant and began.

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Yuzu watched the match closely analyzing all the moves that were made, trying to see who had an advantage at all times. The cheering of the two younger children helped to ease the tension a bit but it was still an incredibly tense environment.

It was until Yuya managed to gain an advantage in the duel using several action cards to chain together to survive Strong’s Battleguard kings attacks. This was thankfully due to monsters with more attack points having slower attacking speeds allowing for more time to react. And to top it all off he managed to summon his favorite card, Odd Eyes dragon. Yuzu could have sworn that when it was summoned her bracelet started to glow a little, but it was probably just her imagination, right?Either way Yuya had managed to activate a card named “Wonder Balloons” and change the tides.

“C’mon Yuya you got this!” Yuzu cheered loudly along with many other people in the crowd who had started to get excited. However despite everything as Odd Eyes managed to charge up a strike and Yuya declared his attack. It was revealed that Strong survived with an action card. And even managed to boost his monsters attack points to a huge amount.

Yuya not being able to do anything else had to end his turn. The group was wrecked with nervousness the highs and ups were without a doubt entertaining but things looked bleak for the entertainment duelist.

Strong immediately attacked Yuya and he managed to survive by the skin of his teeth with an action card, but his life points were low. Worse still he activated some kind of trap card to send Odd Eyes back to Yuya’s hand after the battle. Yuya seemed to have given up hope he was on the ground. When looking over Yuzu saw the worried expression of the older woman as she muttered “Cmon Yuya, you got this...” under her breath. Yuzu hoped that she was right.

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Yuya: Life; 400 Hand: x4

Strong: Life; 4000 Hand: x1

Yuya layed on the ground after that last attack. ‘Man this is really bad. I’m gonna lose....’ as he thought he tried to think of any possible counter attack with his current hand but found nothing. ‘I’m gonna lose, I should have known that it was impossible to take dad’s place...’

However as he was thinking that his pendulum dropped down from his shirt in front of him. As it flashed by his eye swinging from the momentum his fathers words started to awaken from deep inside his head. ‘Thats right. If I want to be able to do anything...’ “I need to take a step forward with courage!” The boy said defiantly looking up at his opponent.

“Oh-ho so you have some fight left in you after all huh?” Strong jeered.

“That’s right, I’m not giving up just yet! It’s my turn, I draw!” As he did a strange feeling came over him. A confidence like none he ever felt before. As he looked down at his hand he saw his pendulum necklace, still swinging, began to glow along with his cards.

Up in the stands a certain girl’s bracelet also began to lightly glow.

As Yuya’s cards changed before his eyes he saw a brand new light, one that would show him his way to victory.

“With Scale 1 Stargazer Magician (PS: 1 Atk:1200 Def:2400) and Scale 8 Timegazer Magician (PS: 8 Atk: 1200 Def:600) I set the pendulum scale!” The entertainment duelist cried out as he placed his monsters in the new zones.

“What?!” Strong cried out in confusion.

“Pendulum!!?” almost everyone in the crowd shouted as they looked around in confusion.

“With these monsters I pendulum summon! Draw an arc of light across the sky! Appear my monster friends!

Entermate Whipsnake (Atk: 1700 Def:900)

Entermate Sword Fish (Atk:600 Def:600)

And arise dragon with dual coloured eyes! Odd Eyes Pendulum Dragon! (PS: 4 Atk:2500 Def:2000).

The crowd went into an uproar. “Yuya Sakaki has just shocked the crowd with a brand new summoning type!” Nico Smiley roared into the microphone.

“The fun starts now!” Yuya declared with a grin, feeling a strange force almost guiding his actions.

“I activate the effect of Entermate Whipsnake! Once per turn I can swap one of your monsters attack and defence points!” Battleguard King (Atk: 5000 -> 1100)

“Wait what?!” Strong shouted as he looked at how his monster suddenly grew much weaker.

“Thats not all, next up I activate the effect of Entermate Sword Fish! Once per turn I can lower your monsters attack points by 500!” Battleguard King (Atk: 1100 -> 500)

“Ughhhh....” Strong looked around for a card to be able to protect him from the oncoming attacks.

“Alright! Battle! Odd Eyes attacks Battleguard King!” Yuya declared his attack.

“I wont let you I activate my trap card!” Strong attempted to flip over his set card however he was cut off. “Nope! I activate Timegazer Magicians pendulum effect!” The boy declared.

“Pendulum effect!?” Strong stared in horror.

“Monsters in the pendulum zone are treated as spells and can activate their effects there!” Yuya explained. “Due to Timegzaers, your trap is negated and it can’t be activated again until the end of the turn!”

“Tch-” Strong replied with as he dashed around to look for an action card which he luckily found. “Then I activate the action spell evasion!”

“I wont let you! I activate Stargazers pendulum effect! Once per turn I can negate the activation of spell card during battle and you cant activate it again for the rest of the turn!”

“Then I have no way out...” Strong said as he looked on to the dragon charging up its attack.

“Time for the finale! Odd Eyes attacks with Spiral Strike Burst! Then Odd Eyes’ effect activates! When it battles a level 5 or higher monster it deals double the damage! Reaction Force!” Yuya declared as Odd Eyes let out a mighty blast of fire.

Strong: Life: 0

It connected with the Battleguard King as Strong’s life points depleted.

“YUYA SAKAKI WINS!” Nico Smiley declared in an uproar of cheers and applause.

“Yuya did it!” Yuzu said as she hugged Gongenzaka and he patted her on the back.

“Pendulum eh?” A commanding voice murmured out. “I’ll have to keep my eye on you then, Sakaki Yuya.”

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As the group ran down to congratulate Yuya he was simply in a haze after the final blow. As he was thinking images flashed into his mind. A cup he was holding, a figure that he couldn’t make out greeting him. An intense feeling of happiness deep inside of him. As suddenly he snapped back to reality.

“I knew that you could do it, Yuya” Yoko said with a comforting smile on her face.

“That was awesome Yuya, can you teach me sometime!” Ayu spoke up

“Big bro Yuya! That was so cool you gave me shivers!” Futoshi said while dancing in place.

“You never told me you could do that! That sure was some duel Yuya!” Shuzo shouted loudly.

“The Man Gongenzaka is impressed with you Yuya! That was a mighty duel you had!”

“Great job Yuya! I knew you could win!” Yuzu congratulated. “Say though where did you learn to summon that way?” She asked in confusion.

“Huh summon what way?” Yuya said with an equal amount of confusion.

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Somewhere In Another Dimension

“Signature readings of him again?” A cold voice asked out

“Yes sir, strong ones too.” A desicive voice spoke out.

“Very well then. Move up the planning, we can’t allow this to develop further” The cold voice responded.

“Right away sir.”

Chapter Text

“Yuya are you seriously saying you don’t remember what happened during the last part of your duel?” Yuzu said a little worriedly. The group had gone back to Yuya’s house to celebrate his victory, there were a couple of bowls of sweets and drinks on the table. Yoko had volunteered to cook dinner for the group. 

“Well uhhh, yea that’s pretty much what happened. I felt a strange focus come over me and I don’t remember much after that.” Yuya said looking down. “But either way the cards in my deck definitely are different now.” Yuya murmured to himself while glancing at his deck. 

“Well no matter! You beat Ishijima Yuya! You beat a pro duelist by yourself!” Shuzo said with a huge grin on his face.  

“Yea big bro Yuya! Enjoy the moment you earned it!” Futoshi said while looking up at the taller boy with stars in his eyes.

“I can’t wait to see you duel again! It was such a fun match today!” Ayu exclaimed out loud in sheer joy.  

As the duo fawned over Yuya he blushed a bit at all the attention, while the two younger children swarmed him with questions about his match earlier in the day. While Yuzu and Gongenzaka attempted to free Yuya from the barrage of queries from the duo, Shuzo and Yoko watched on from the other side of the room. 

“Yuya did great today, I was sure I was gonna burn up just watching him. His father would definitely be proud.” Shuzo said while taking a sip out of his red cup while looking over to the blond haired woman. 

“I know he would be. But even still....” Yoko said as she looked into her own cup, “I really wish he could have seen him today, he would have loved to watch the show.” As Yoko continued she looked up at the younger kids talking happily with Yuya, Yuzu and Gongenzaka. “I don’t know why he left or even where he is, but I just hope wherever he is that he’s doing alright.” Yoko said as she watched on with a look of reminiscence on her face. 

“Yoko, I don’t know why Yusho disappeared but I do know one thing” Shuzo turned to Yoko with a serious look on his face. “I know he would go through hell and back to get back to both of you, I know it that he’ll be back. And on that day we can congratulate Yuya’s progress together with our hearts burning.” The man said while getting a bit more heated up. 

Yoko gave a little smile at that. “You’re right, thanks Shuzo.” she responded with a look of content at the idea of that day hopefully sometime in the future."

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After the celebration that the small party had finished up they all went their separate ways back to their homes. 

The following morning was a similarly bright one, fluffy clouds made their voyage through the grand blue sky. Yuzu had went with her father to the school to prepare for the new solid vision system that had been promised to be implemented. 

As Yuzu was waiting and watching her dad try not to cry over the happiness of the new system her mind drifted to the match that she saw yesterday. ‘Yuya managed to beat Strong huh...’  

Yuzu walked around the breakroom of the school before sitting down and pulling out her deck. As she stared at it longingly, a strange feeling of uncertainty and unease set in as she looked at it. 

‘Although Yuya doesn’t remember how he did it, and not to mention that weird summoning method. I’m not sure why, but I have this strange feeling that something bad is about to happen soon.’  

However as the songstress duelist was sitting in her thoughts that almost cloaked the entire room in a tense air. It was broken by a strange sound. 

*THUNK *THUNK *THUNK 

As Yuzu made her way to the source of the rapping of knuckles on the glass of the door, she was met with an unfamiliar sight. People. More specifically people waiting outside of the school. A small group of kids had made their way to the currently locked doors of the school with what appeared to be the oldest of the bunch knocking at the door. 

“Oh, this is going to be a busy day isn’t it?” Yuzu said excitedly but also a little nervously to herself. 

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The day had progressed with the sun making its daily journey across the sky coating the city in light. 

Yuya and Gongenzaka were making their way toward the school while conversing about both of their win rates and how many more duels they needed to win in order to qualify for the upcoming tournament. 

“Surely I’ll be able to find some matches easier now thanks to that match yesterday.” Yuya stated to his best friend with his hands behind his dead allowing the sun to shine on his arms more than they would be able to naturally. 

“You shouldn't be too sure of yourself Yuya.” Gongenzaka responded while walking in his usual composed manner. “If you ever need help in trying to find duels don’t feel ashamed in asking me, our dojo has plenty of duelists who also need to make the cut and would be looking for a duel.” Gongenzaka said while turning his eye down to Yuya. 

Yuya’s face flashed briefly with a twinge of guilt before quickly returning to a neutral one. The green haired boy then responded with “No it’s fine, I'll definitely have a bunch more offers after this, thanks for everything though. Gongenzaka.”  

The conversation was soon cut off however as the two boys had just arrived at the school, however there was a difference on this day that was different than any others. There were actually other people there. 

The boy with goggles and the boy with a headband looked at each other curiously before turning back and approached the building. As they did however, it wasn’t long before the crowd of people noticed the two, or more specifically Yuya. 

As the entertainment duelist made his way into the building he was swarmed by potential students. “Hey Sakaki!!!”,“Can you teach me to pendulum summon???”, “How did you learn a new method???” Many questions similar to these bombarded Yuya as Gongenzaka had to double as his body guard to protect him from getting trampled on. 

Yuzu looked over as she was dashing around trying to get forum’s ready for the hopefully new student’s. However, she stopped briefly to give a small look over to Yuya. ‘Yikes he’s really got a big following now huh...’ she thought to herself as she returned back to her preparations. 

--------- 

After the forums were printed Yuzu watched as she saw both Ayu and Futoshi made their way into the lobby. She waved over to them as Yuya was addressing his mob. 

“Man it looks like he’s gotten really popular.” Futoshi said a tad bit absentmindedly.

“Yea, I'm sure he probably has a lot of fan girls.” Ayu said with a cheeky look to Yuzu. 

Yuzu’ scrunched her hands up in shock as she quickly regained her composure while shooting an angry look to the red-haired younger kid. “Look either way.” Yuzu said while shooting another look of disapproval to Ayu. “We have a lot of new students!” Yuzu claimed as she walked over to the group. 

“Oh hey Yuzu!” Yuya said relieved to not have to answer any more questions that he didn’t actually know the answers to. Quickly changing the topic of conversation Yuya called out to the crowd. “Anyway, guys how about you all sign up to the new er.... Pendulum Course! Yea, we just started teaching it” Yuya said while making jazz hands to hype up the *totally real summoning course* 

“Uhhh, yup! Just like Yuya said we just opened up! Just sign her to join out school and we can get to it.” Yuzu said going along with Yuya’s stunt. 

“Hey c'mon we want to see it again first!” A voice from the crowd said. “Yeah show it us!” another chimed in. Soon the entire crowd was raring and ready to see another duel with the enigmatic new technique. 

Yuzu seeing the burning desire in the crowd, looked over to Yuya and tugged on his arm. She whispered, “C’mon lets give them a show.” Yuya looked over with a brief look of worry, but the girl saw him quickly wipe it off his face and put on a brave smile. “Ok, let's go!” 

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The two duelists walked out into the brand-new arena in the school. 

“Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the one-man extravaganza!” Yuya said to hype up the crowd. 

Yuzu responded by immediately smacking him with her old reliable paper fan. “What the hell Yuya! You can’t duel alone!” She said still holding her trusty weapon. 

There was some rowdiness from the crowd as they started to jeer at Yuzu for her somewhat unjustified behavior towards Yuya. Shuzo, who had taken a break from enjoying the new machine, sat back with a bit of guilty look on his face as he didn’t speak up due to not wanting to get mauled by the fan base. 

“Oh, I see how it is. You must be Strong’s disciple, here to take revenge for his loss!” Yuya said trying to rile up the crowd while giving a playful wink to his dueling partner. 

Yuzu’s face was not amused. 

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Gongenzaka who had been forced to operate the new system due to Shuzo wanting to spectate and persuade the potential applicants grumpily sat down in the chair.  “Making the man Gongenzaka do something like this.... treating him like a slave....” he murmured to himself in slight annoyance. 

“Action field spell! Plain Plain Activate!” Yuzu cried out as Gongenzaka hit the button. A beautiful blue sky painted with white clouds overtook the room. Comfy and soft grass covers the floor along with several rivers along with a stone stage. 

“DUEL!” Both players chanted. 

Yuya: 4000 LP  Hand: x5  

Yuzu: 4000 LP  Hand: x5  

“Alright I’ll make the first move!” Yuya declared as he looked at his hand. Only to be met with a good bit of bad news. He didn’t actually draw any pendulum monsters. ‘Hmph I’ll have to stall in that case then...’ As he looked up to Yuzu. 

“Alright I’ll start off with summoning my Entermate Hip Hippo!”

Hip Hippo: lvl; 3 Atk:800 Def: 800  

Yuya summoned his faithful ally the Hip Hippo as he hopped on. 

The crowd cheered in recognition of the likeable monster. “And with that I end my turn!” Yuya finished his turn as he began to speed off on his monster. 

‘Heh, same old same old Yuya. Fortunately, I've dueled you so often I know most of your tactics by now.’ Yuzu thought as she began her turn.  

“I draw! I summon my Aria the Melodious Diva!”

Aria: lvl; 4 Atk: 1600 Def: 1200

As Yuzu summoned her monster with an orange outfit and purple hair she continued with her turn. “Then since I control a Melodious monster, I can special summon my Sonata the Melodious Diva!”

Sonata: Lvl; 3 Atk: 1200 Def: 1000

As she summoned a yellow skinned monster wearing green and blue clothing. 

Yuzu then immediately went on the offensive “Battle! Aria the Melodious Diva attacks Entermate Hip Hippo!” Yuzu declared her attack. Luckily for Yuya he had already gotten a head start, this along with the fact that Yuzu attacked with a decently high attack point monster, gave him time to find an action card. 

“I activate Action Magic: Evasion!” Yuya said as he placed the card into his duel disk causing his monster friend to dodge the songstress's attack. 

“That won’t fool me!” Yuzu exclaimed. “I activate Aria’s effect! When she doesn’t deal battle damage the opponent takes 800 points of effect damage! Compensation Melody!” As the Orange covered singer’s voice began to ring higher in pitch a shockwave was sent toward the boy with goggles. 

Yuya: LP: 4000 -> 3200  

“Ouch!” Yuya cried out as he was knocked off his monster. “I’m not done yet! Sonatta attacks Hip Hippo!” As Yuzu declared her attack, yet another sonic wave was let out toward the poor dapper hippo as in a small explosion Yuya was sent flying back even more.  

Yuya: LP: 3200 -> 2800  

“I don’t know how you managed to beat my master with power like this!” Yuzu shouted out dramatically trying to get the crowd going. Which she did as the crowd let out gasps of shock and uproars. 

‘Alright Yuya, I've set you up now show them a great time!’ Yuzu thought to herself as she looked over at the boy getting up out of the small crater in the ground. 

“I end my turn!” Yuzu declared. 

‘Damn, I don’t have a single pendulum card. I need to get something that gets me two of them, I think’ Yuya thought to himself before starting his turn. 

“Alright! My turn I draw!” Yuya drew for his turn. As he looked at the card he let a big smile overtake his face. “Let’s go! The pendulum cards are here! I activate the magic card Magical Mallet!” Yuya exclaimed as he excitedly entered the card into his disk. 

“This card lets me shuffle back cards from my deck and draw cards equal to the number I put back!” Yuya explained while shouting out his cards effect to the crowd. 

The crowd’s oppressiveness got even more noticeable as the tension increased. As Yuya shuffled back his cards his deck automatically dispensed 4 new cards. 

As Yuya added them to his hand he saw the elusive cards. ‘Alright, I managed to get Pendulum monsters. Now while I don’t remember how to actually do it, I’ll just follow along with what I saw on the recording.’ 

“Ladies and gentlemen! Get ready for the grand finale! With Scale 1 Stargazer Magician and Scale 4 Odd Eye’s Pendulum Dragon I set the pendulum scale!” Yuya’s disk lightened up as he placed the cards on the ends of his duel disk. 

“Pendulum! Pendulum!” The crowd erupted into cheers. “Go on Yuya! Show them your burning pendulum summon!” Shuzo shouted over to his younger student. 

“Alright I pendulum summon!” Yuya declared as he attempted to place 2 monsters onto the field. Unfortunately, he was met with a resounding *Error* by his duel disk as his monsters failed to come to the field. “Uhhh...” Yuya attempted to place them down again to get a similar message. ‘C’mon remember how did I do it against Strong?’ 

“Umm Yuya? You good over there?” Yuzu said with a little concern. The crowd started to look confused and was starting to get suspicious. Yuya looked back up to the pink haired girl ‘Back then I was in a really bad pinch... Thats it!’ 

“Yuzu come at me with your full strength I’ll be able to do it then!” Yuya advised his friend. “Apologies folks, looks like the grand finale isn’t here just yet.” He said with a playful shrug. The majority of the crowd sighed as their hopes were dashed. 

“Anyway, I’ll set a monster face down! And with that I end my turn!” 

Yuzu, starting to get a little worried, acknowledged her opponent's move as she began to start her turn her thoughts started to creep in on her. ‘Should I play worse to give him more time? But it seems like he's confident in what he’s doing.... I’m sure it’ll be fine I just have to trust him on this.’ Putting on an antagonistic voice she started her turn. 

“That’s all you have? How disappointing. I’ll crush you right here! My turn. I draw!” Yuzu drew for her turn. ‘Alright I’ll just summon Mozarta and then-’ However as she looked at the card, she just drew she stopped. Her eyes began to get a little blurrier as her thoughts slowed down like a train on a track. This card wasn’t in her deck before this. But it was undeniably here and moreover it wasn’t one she had ever seen before, yet she knew what it was. 

It was a card with strange scales on either side of it. 

------------- 

Yuzu’s thoughts immediately sped up again going at about 100 miles an hour. ‘How did this get here? Where did it come from? Why is it in my deck? Should I use it here?’ All of these thoughts and more started seeping into her brain. However, she was abruptly cut off from them by her opponent. 

“Umm Strong’s disciple, aren’t you going to start your turn?” He said trying to put on a showman's voice to distract from Yuzu’s sudden pause.  

“Uh, yea.” Yuzu replied with as she looked back at her hand. ‘Operata the Melodious Diva’ Yuzu did not know what to do at this point however she quickly ran through the possibilities. ‘I could attempt to use this but I'm pretty sure you need two pendulum cards to be able to summon. Also, the crowd is mainly looking for Yuya’s summon, and he already has two out. I don’t have anything to add cards to my hand either so I can’t even really try. So really, it’s better to just move normally, yeah, definitely.’  

However, there was another reason hidden underneath her thought process over her decision, one that she wasn’t proud of herself for making. Along with all those other thoughts was as she looked over to the semi displeased crowd that was waiting in anticipation for something to happen was ‘What if I fail and they think I'm cheating.’ 

Regardless her choice had already been made, “I tribute my Aria and Sonata to Summon my Mozarta the Melodious Maestra!”

Mozarta the Melodious Maestra: lvl; 8 Atk: 2600 Def 2000 

She summoned her monster, a woman with musical note wings and a beautiful flowered red dress with uncertainty in her voice. 

“I activate her effect which lets me special summon another level 4 or lower Melodious monster, I summon a second copy of Aria the Melodious Diva!” As glowing light sprouted from the conductors stick in its hand as another Aria appeared on the field. 

“Battle! Aria Attacks your face down monster!” Yuzu declared her attack. Instead of running away to find an action card Yuya stood in place wanting to get into an even tighter spot. As the sound wave hit the set monster it was destroyed.  

“Tch thanks Raingoat!” Yuya said over the shockwave.

Yuzu proceeded to run around the plain of grass until she found an action card she was looking for. A look of guilt on her face the entire time. ‘This is fine, it’ll be ok he’ll get it this time.’ she reasoned with herself. 

Yuya once again did nothing to stop her from getting an action card nor did he attempt to find one himself. “I activate action magic: Flower Power!” Yuzu declared. “I can target one monster I control, then it gains 200 attack points for every monster I control!”

Mozarta Atk: 2600 -> 3000  

Mozarta’s attack rose as flowers started to bloom out of it’s back. As Yuzu looked at her hand one last time, she squashed the feeling of anxiety in the back of her mind. “Mozarta attacks directly!” Yuzu shouted out! 

“Alright! I’m in a pretty bad pinch now! Here we go! Pendulum summon!” Yuya cried out. “Here it comes! Pendulum!” Shuzo shouted loudly as the entire crowd started to chant. 

Sadly, as Yuya attempted to place the card he was met with another *Error*. Yuya looked up at the oncoming sound wave as he had no further lines of defense. “Aw ma-” was all he managed to get out before he was blasted by the sound, several flower petals following him as he landed in the dirt of the plain. 

Yuya: LP: 2800 -> 0

The field deactivated as the crowd was left speechless. Gongenzaka and Shuzo, Ayu and Futoshi were in total shock. As Yuya got up off the ground, he made his way out of the duel room. 

As Yuya saw the crowd leaving all he could think was ‘I knew I couldn’t be that good, not as good as him at least...’ As he put on his goggles and started to walk out of the room as Yuzu looked from the side of her eye with guilt. 

As both the duelists left the room, they went to answer the questions that the crowd had. A boy spoke up “Hey you mentioned something like a pendulum card. What is that exactly?”  

“A pendulum card?” Yuzu said with great interest.

“Yeah, well I mean that’s just what I call them. I don’t know the official name.” Yuya replied while taking out one of his cards showing it to the group. Yuzu looked at the card and noticed it looked exactly like the one she drew. 

“Wait so are you telling us that you can’t pendulum summon without these cards?!” a boy chimed up. “Yeah, that’s not fair! Only you have these!” another girl said. A hum of agreement showed itself in the crowd. 

Yuzu went up to say something but stopped herself as a fear whispered into the back of her head. ‘If I say that I have them too then that could make everyone think that all the people who come here are ‘cheating’. But he’s not! I know it! There's something strange going on!’ However, she just couldn't muster up the courage to actually speak up. 

After this the crowd started to leave in a hurry. 

Shuzo attempted to stop them, but none were interested. The chatter of people could be heard as they left “Yeah it makes sense the coward’s son wouldn’t have been able to win without cheating.” another saying, “Most likely LEO just rigged the match to create excitement or something.” 

‘Maybe I should have gone for it back in that duel... now they think that the match was fake... I might have been able to do it if I ignored my doubts... and now Yuya... What the hell even are these cards??” Yuzu could only wonder. 

---------- 

Yuya felt like he could curl up and disappear, he had just costed the school their time to come out into the spotlight. ‘Damn this really sucks, Dad what would you say if you were here?’ the boy wondered to himself. 

However, as the Yusho group was standing there, tension, heavy in the air an unfamiliar voice shot out.

“He’s not a cheater!” A small blue-haired boy was still there. “He fought and beat Strong fair and square.” The boy concluded. 

Gongenzaka spoke up “He’s right! The man Gongenzaka is standing by Yuya on this one.”

Ayu then replied “Yeah! Yuya would never cheat to win!”

Futoshi let out a “Mhm!” in agreement.

Shuzo looked at the kids and smiled. “Of course, we’ll just have to figure out how this whole thing works!” 

Yuzu looked around at the support Yuya was receiving and felt an immense amount of guilt, even still she nodded her head along with the rest of them. Yuya started to smile a bit more as he was glad to have people who backed him up, even when he made mistakes like these. 

“Also, Yuya don’t you have something to say to your first fan?” Gongenzaka asked the boy with goggles.

“My first fan?” he responded a bit confused.

“He’s from a couple of days ago, his names Tatsuya” Yuzu added on.

“He became your first fan after he saw your match against Strong.” Ayu followed with.  

Tatsuya looked up to Yuya before he began to speak. “When I saw your duel that day, all the people who were excited and having fun. All I could think was ‘I want to duel like that as well!’”  

Yuya looked around as he took off his goggles and started to smile in a much more natural way. “Heh, well I guess it would be a pretty big let down to a fan to act so uncool then huh?” He said when rubbing his head. 

“Well then let’s get to work!” Shuzo exclaimed. As the group agreed and started to introduce Tatsuya to the building, Yuzu went over to Yuya and pulled on his coat to get him away from other people.

“Hey... Yuya do you mind if I talk with you for a second?” she said looking down. 

“Of course, what’s going on Yuzu?” the tomato haired boy replied with. The songstress duelist took a gulp before she looked Yuya in the eye.

“When we had our duel, there was a reason I stopped for a second.” she said and took a breath and pulled out her deck and checked it just to make sure she wasn’t crazy before continuing. Yuya looked at her with a bit of confusion.  

After clarifying her suspicions, she showed Yuya her cards. “I drew one of these during our duel.” She said while not looking him in the eye. Yuya instantly recognized it as being a ‘Pendulum card’ 

“You have them too?!” He asked in shock and confusion.

“That’s the thing, I didn’t have these before. I didn’t put them in my deck or anything.”

He looked over at the rest of the group. “Well, we have to tell them!” He said while attempting to move over to the rest of the group that was running around the building showing Tatsuya the premises. 

“No wait!” Yuzu said in a panic as she grabbed Yuya’s arm. “I would prefer if only you knew about this at the moment.” she continued.

“What why?” Yuya asked confoundedly.

The girl’s face showed a flash of unease as she talked “I don’t know if I trust this, I mean card’s showing up out of nowhere is weird right?” 

“Sure, it’s strange. But it allowed me to beat Ishijima and even if I don't remember how to do it it’s still a useful skill once I learn how to.” Yuya responded with determination in his eyes. 

“Hm, ok then. I’ll be with you on this” Yuzu responded with. However, there was still a strange sense of dread in her stomach, she didn’t know why but she felt that something was about to change very soon. For a brief moment, less than a second. A pink bracelet could be seen glowing. 

------------ 

Later that night, a girl dreams of the same strange city that she has had dreams of for every night of her life. 

------------ 

Off somewhere in a random alley in Paradise city during the night, two flashes of blue light could be seen against the orange glow of the alleyway street lights.

Coming out of the alleyway were two people who should not have been there.

Chapter Text

Birds could be heard starting their daily ritual. Their chirps and singing could be heard throughout Yusho Duel School. Inside of the training room two young boys could be heard, in the midst of a duel. The pink haired girl could be seen on the other side of the looking glass watching the duel between the tomato and brown haired boy. 

“Huff* Huff* Alright here we go!” Yuya declared as he drew a card. “With Scale 1 Stargazer Magician and Scale 8 Timegazer Magician, I set the pendulum scale!” Yuya placed the cards on his duel disk. 2 monsters flew up in pillars of light as a pendulum started to float in the sky.  

“I can now special summon monster with levels between 2 and 7! Pendulum draw an arc of light across the sky! Pendulum summon! Come out my monster friends!” Yuya chanted as he placed more cards on his disk in a motion that he had carried out many times before now. The two other duelists saw a beautiful curve across the sky as several beams of light descended, appearing in the form of Yuya’s monsters. 

“I-Is that it? Did I do it?” Yuya said looking up dark rings around his eyes, he had been up for the last 21 hours and hadn’t eaten in the last 9 of them. Gongenzaka rushed over to his friend ending the duel as he grappled him in a hug with tears bursting out of his eyes.  

“You did it Yuya! I wasn’t sure if you could but you did! After all this training ‘The Man’ Gongenzaka is so happy for you!” the larger boy said currently crushing his friend in goggles. Yuzu quickly put down her cup of tea and made her way into the room. “Great job Yuya! It’s great you managed to do it!” Yuzu said walking up to the pair as Gongenzaka stopped crushing Yuya’s spine. 

“Thank’s guys, couldn’t have done it without you thanks again.” He said noticeably less energetic then normal. As he suddenly collapsed from exhaustion Gongenzaka and Yuzu caught him by the arms each. 

“Yuya we have about 3 hours before school starts so we can both take a nap here until then.” Yuzu said to a barely conscious Yuya. “O-Ok sounds good...” Yuya said as he instantly fell asleep in both their arms. 

“Yea, I'm going to go lay down now as well.” Yuzu said as the two carried the sleeping Yuya on the couch. “You can stay here as well if you want Gongenzaka.” She continued as she rubbed her eyes.  

“No ‘The Man’ Gongenzaka is ready for the day! It’s good to test your endurance.” said the Superheavy duelist. “Alright then see you later at school.” Yuzu replied as she watched the brown haired boy leave the building. 

Yuzu went over to an armchair next to the couch. As she sat down she pulled out her deck and examined the new cards in it. There were at least 8 new cards that weren’t there before. She examined them again for about the 80th time now. As she sighed she looked over to the sleeping boy and let out a contented smile. She closed her eyes and let sleep take over her. 

---------- 

After the long, looong day of school both Yuya and Yuzu were exhausted after staying up for so late as the duo walked out into the bright blue sky of the city from their school. 

There they met up with 3 smaller children, the sun illuminating the red stone entrance of their school. Tatsuya, Futoshi and Ayu.  

“Yuya, Yuzu!” Ayu exclaimed at the sight of their upper-classmen.  “Hey guys.” Yuya said as he greeted the trio.  

“You ready to go to Yusho now? I heard that you perfected pendulum summoning, I can’t wait to see! It gives me shivers!” Futoshi yelled rather loudly causing several birds nearby to fly away. “Hey don’t be so loud, we’re both pretty tired.” Yuzu explained to the younger boy.  “Oh Sorry about that....” The boy in the overalls said. “Oh, it’s fine just be careful about the volume” Yuya followed up with. 

However as the conversation was about to continue, an unknown voice was heard by the group which interrupted them. 

“Oh, you’re Yuya Sakaki right?” A boy in the school uniform and dirty blond, styled hair said. “Umm yea that’s me.” Yuya said a little confused. The blond haired teenager then approached him to shake his hand. 

“I must say that match against, Ishijima was incredible! I was sure you were going to lose until the big finale at the end!” He said while shaking Yuya’s hand. “Heh-heh, thanks I guess.” Yuya said a little bashfully. Annoying the rest of the gang as they looked at the boy enjoying being praised a bit too much. However Tatsuya noticed a strange pin on the boy before pointing it out. “Sorry, sir but what’s that pin on your shirt?” 

The rest of the group then noticed it before the boy responded.  “Oh yes, I’m apart of the LEO Duel School. Also how could I forget? Where are my manners? My name is Shingo Sawatari.” Sawatari said while doing a short bow. “LDS?” Ayu said a bit confused. 

“Yea, they’re the biggest school in the city. They have direct funding from the LEO corporation.” Tatsuya explained. “Indeed, we have access to the best courses and equipment.” Sawatari bragged looking proud. Yuzu and Yuya couldn’t help but feel a little bit jealous of the teen despite knowing that they would never consider joining LEO. 

“Also, I didn’t mean to snoop but I heard that you were planning to show your famous ‘Pendulum Summon’ earlier. Is that right?” The blond duelist said innocently. 

“Uh, yea that was the plan anyway...” Yuya said anticipating what the person in front of him would say next. 

“Well how about we have the show at a proper venue? I have a court registered at 5.” He said with a small smirk to the crowd. “Um, ok yea that sounds like a plan, I am kind of curious about what the inside of LDS looks like.” Yuya answered. 

“Great let’s get going then!” The boy in the uniform exclaimed as he turned around and walked. Yuzu went over to Yuya and whispered to him. “Yuya are you sure this is a good idea? LDS is a rival after all.”  “It’ll be fine, just think of it as recon.” Yuya replied with a cheeky wink. 

“Yea! Let’s do some recon!” Ayu said as she ran off. Futoshi also followed after her before Tatsuya realized. “W-wait up! We still have to follow that other guy!” Tatsuya yelled out. 

The two teens looked to each other before laughing and walking off following their under-classmen. 

------------- 

The inside of LDS was pristine. The level of cleanliness was truly a tad eerie. Crisp marble floors that echoed through the large halls when you stepped on them. The chatter of people in the building could barey be heard over the sound of the training of the student’s. 

The Yusho gang followed their new ‘Friend’ to a court, however on the way their Yuya accidently bumped into a smaller bright blue haired boy. 

“Sorry!” the teen with goggles said before moving off, not noticing the pair of eyes that followed him. As the group went through a door the group saw the blond hair teen meet up with what appeared to be his friends. Chatting away they waited for everyone to enter the stadium. 

“Well here we are. Say while we are here, I heard that there was something going on about things called ‘Pendulum Cards’ from some people who went to your school before. Do you mind showing me?” Sawatari asked curiously. 

“Yea of course.” Yuya said as he took out his deck and showed his two main pendulum monsters, Timegazer Magician and Stargazer Magician. Sawatari walked over and took the cards gently out of Yuya’s hands as he examined them. “Oh, oh let me see!” A couple of Sawatari’s friends said trying to get a good look at the cards. 

Yuzu’s stomach felt a little off, something wasn’t quite right here. 

“Say, I was told that these cards are necessary to be able to pendulum summon. Right?” Sawatari said with a strange tone his face slightly covered by the group. 

“Y-yea, you need them to be able to, thats right.” Yuya said feeling a little off. 

Yuzu looked at the group again but something wasn’t the same, something was missing. 

“Well then, I've been thinking. These cards are a waste on a loser like you, why dont I keep them?!” Sawatari said as he backed away in a hurry before snapping his fingers. 

“NOW!” the teen said with a cruel grin on his face. Yuzu finally noticed what was different, one of the boys that had been seen when entering was now out of sight. Yuya and Yuzu heard several yelps behind them as one of Sawatari’s friends had grabbed all three of them in a bear hug. 

Yuzu looked around just in time to see another of the boys reach out to grab her, thankfully she managed to dodge just in time. “HEY!” she yelled angrily. A voice could be heard originating from Sawatari’s duel disk. 

“Sawatari, this wasn’t the plan! You were meant to get the cards and report back immediately!” A voice said outraged. 

“Ah Nakajima.” Sawatari said as he recognized the voice. 

“Let, him fight.” A more demanding voice said 

“Presi-”  

“Let him fight.” The demanding voice repeated. The connection then suddenly ended. 

“Alright then now with that sorted.” Sawatari mocked. “Things may get dangerous around here if you don’t listen to what we say.”

“You wouldn’t!” Yuya shouted at the other teen. 

“Yuya!” Ayu cried. 

“Help! Please!” Futoshi screamed in a scared voice. 

“I’m sorry.” Tatsuya said a little depressed due to his weakness. 

“C’mon now be quiet and no one gets hurt.” The teen holding them said as he began to grip a little tighter. 

“So, Mr. Big Shot, how about this we’ll duel, and I’ll show to you the REAL potential of pendulum summoning. If you win, I'll back down and give you your cards back, along with the brats.” Sawatari said as he looked on with a cocky grin. “Listen here, you-” Yuzu said as she was reached to put on her duel disk. 

However as she did the teens grip on the smaller students got tighter causing them to cry out in pain. Yuya looked on in disdain. 

“Sorry Miss but this will just be a battle between Sawatari and Yuya. Best to just give up and watch the show on this.” The teen said while keeping his grip on the kids. ‘Damn this is bad, I can help Yuya but then they’ll get hurt. Or I could try and ignore that moron and attempt to free them. But can I do that before they get hurt?’ Yuzu’s gritted her teeth in rage. 

“Yuzu.” Yuya finally spoke. “It’ll be ok, trust me on this. Just stay with them and make sure their safe. I’ll be fine.” the boy with goggles spoke plainly. 

“Alright, but take these!” Yuzu said as she threw over 2 cards to Yuya. 

Catching them he looked on and nodded. “Thank’s Yuzu.” 

The girl walked over to the children and let herself be restrained by another of Sawatari’s goons. “Tch!” she let out at the discomfort. 

“Oh that reminds me! Here since I took some cards from you have some of mine!” He said as he threw many cards next to Yuya. 

“They’re all trash of course, but that's fitting for you no?” He said while snickering.

“Why... why would you do this....” Yuya said tonelessly as he picked up the cards lying on the ground. 

“Hmph, card’s like those aren’t worthy of a duelist like me.” he replied. 

“You should treat cards, better than that. You’ll hurt their feelings.” Yuya claimed as he picked a card up from the pile and added it along with Yuzu’s to his deck. “What nonsense!” Sawatari shouted angrily, clearly outraged at the concept of such a silly thing. 

“Why even bother taking hostages? Are you really that cowardly?” Yuya said with a bit of an edge in his tone. “They’re just here to help with the show in our duel, let’s get this started! Action field spell: Prison Tower of Darkfield!” Sawatari declared. 

A tower appeared around Yuzu and the Yusho kids, past that night quickly over took the sky and a dark, dirty and unkept town filled the arena. A huge river and bridge was surrounding the tower. “AHHHH!” the group cried out as they were lifted about 90 feet into the air. “The princess is now trapped in a tower!” He claimed with a confident smile on his face. “Let’s see how the story plays out!” he concluded. 

“Duel!” Both duelists declared as they activated their duel disks. 

------------- 

Yuya: LP: 4000     Hand; x5  

Sawatari: LP: 4000     Hand; x 5  

“I’ll take the first move!” Yuya declared. As he looked at his hand he saw the undeniable existence of Yuzu’s pendulum card. Nodding, he scrawled over his hand and slapped a different card on his duel disk. “I summon Entermate Whipsnake!”  

Entermate Whipsnake: (Lvl; 4  Atk: 1700 Def: 600)  

Using Whipsnake he started to swing around the environment, rushing through gaps and the rooftops of the building attempting to make his way to the tower. “Then I set 1 card face down! I end my turn.” Yuya concluded his turn fast as he began to make his way to the tower. 

“Pwhaha, that’s it? How pathetic. I draw!” Sawatari declared. The well dressed teenager looked at his hand before smiling. “First I'll-” 

“Don’t” A demanding voice called out from Sawatari’s duel disk. “Ck, fine. I admit I was getting a bit worked up there in the first place.I summon Lightning Hoverboard!” As a large target board with several yellow sparks appeared next to Sawatari. 

Lightning Hoverboard: Lvl; 4 (Atk: 1400 Def: 1200)  

Hopping on his hoverboard Sawatari gave chase to the entertainment duelist. Rushing through the city the two duelists managed to jump and fly (respectiveley) over the river to land on the bridge. Both duelists looked and saw an action card lying in the centre of the bridge. Not wasting any time and not wanting his opponent to seize the obvious advantage, Yuya reached for the action card and attempted to add it to his hand. 

However as he looked down he saw what it actually was. 

“Action trap?!” he said as he looked down in shock. The card disappeared as a low rumbling sound could be heard from either side of the bridge. 

“The Action Trap: Breakshot, it’s a card that lowers the highest attack point monster on your side of the fields attack points by 900. Not all action cards are positive you know?” The teen said smugly. 

Entermate Whipsnake Atk: 1700 -> 800  

Numerous pool balls where headed barreling toward Yuya from either side of the bridge. 

“Ah!” was all he had time to cry out before he had to jump on one of them to avoid being crushed, unfortunately leaving his monster behind. As he had to ride the ball Sawatari started to taunt him again. “You know a real ‘hero’ isn’t supposed to make the situation worse for the ‘princess’.”  

“What are you talking ab-” Yuya was cut off by the ball slamming into the side of the tower in the middle, splatting him against the wall. As he did the tower loosened and became unstable. Several cries of panic could be heard coming from the top of the tower. 

“Dammit!” Yuya cursed out. “Well, now let’s battle! Lightning Hoverboard attacks Entermate Whipsnake!” Sawatari declared his attack. 

Yuya looking around for an action card found another one, innocently lying on the ground only 2 metres away from him. As he leapt out to grab it he looked down to activate it only to be met with something that caused him to grimace. 

“What an idiot...” Sawatari muttered under his breath. “Don’t you know by now that all the action traps are placed so obviously?!” He yelled. 

“It’s Action Trap: Jump Shot, This card lowers the highest attack point monster on your field by 500 points.” Sawatari explained. A large white playing ball erupted from the river and smashed into Whipsnake. Causing it to lose more attack points. 

Entermate Whipsnake: Atk: 900 -> 400  

More concerningly the ball smashed into the bridge causing it to start collapsing. As Yuya was near the edge he got caught by the blast and was falling into the water. 

“The battle continues, Lightning Hoverboard destroy Whipsnake!” Yuya was knocked even further into the water by the blast of his monsters destruction. And the tower now started to shake and slant even more than before. 

Yuya: LP: 4000 -> 3000 Hand; x3  

As Yuya sank lower into the water, Sawatari spoke loudly as he rode his hoverboard onto the bank of the town. “And that will be the end of my turn.” 

------------ 

Yuzu was at the top of the tower watching the match play out, she was trying to keep the younger children calm, assuring them that it will be alright. However despite her brave face, on the inside her mind was racing with a variety of different emotions and thoughts. 

‘How dare that guy turn me into just another ‘Damsel’!’  

‘I hope Yuya get’s out ok, I know he can win this but he just fell down.'

'I’m scared, I don’t want Ayu, Futoshi and Tatsuya to get hurt, I don’t want to get hurt.’ 

However she didn’t have time to linger on any of these thoughts for long as soon a large white pool ball smashed into the bridge destroying it and tilithing the tower. The entire gang let out a scream of terror and even worse still due to the crash Futoshi was knocked off balance and fell off the tower. 

“HELP!” he cried out, thankfully Yuzu managed to grab onto his wrist just in time. “I-It’ll be ok...” Yuzu said trying to put on a smile for the group as they held onto her. ‘Yuya please, get up!’ she thought while trying to hold back tears as she looked around 100 feet down. 

-------------- 

Yuya swam back up from beneath the water. Looking up he saw two figures on the edge of the tower, dangling. 

Swimming fast to the edge he got up coughing water only to meet the smug face of Sawatari. “Enjoy your swim?” he said looking down on the entertainment duelist condescendingly. 

“Tch, It’s my turn. I draw!” Yuya declared ignoring his taunts. “I’ll get to them by water then! I summon Entermate Skeeterskimmer!” Yuya summoned a water-bug with cartoonish gloves, a top hat and bowtie. 

Entermate SkeeterSkimmer: Lvl; 4 Atk: 500 Def: 1600  

Hopping on his monster Yuya glided across the monster leaving a couple of ripples on the cool murky water. “I end my turn.” he declared. 

“You only have 3000 LP left, I’ll finish you perfectly. I draw!” Sawatari started his turn. A commanding voice spoke out from Sawatari’s duel disk. “You drew a powerful card.” 

“Hmm, you’re right. I activate the spell card Tribute Trade! By sacrificing a monster on my field I can add another monster from my deck to my hand with a level that is 1 higher than the monster tributed. I add Stargazer Magician.” Sawatari explained. 

“You have all the pieces you should need, those cards are already charged with enough energy for you to use.” The voice calmly explained. Sawatari grinned “Perfect! Just the cards for someone super rare like me!” he gloated.

The two voices overlapped as the voice from the duel disk told Sawatari the correct chant. “Then with scale 1 Stargazer Magician and Scale 8 Timegazer Magician I set the pendulum scale! I can summon monsters with levels 2 through 7 simultaneously!” Sawatari continued. 

‘Man, I’m in a really bad pinch right now.’ Yuya thought to himself while cursing his decision to hand over such valuable cards to someone he just met. 

“Appear Lvl 5 Power Dart Striker! Lvl 6 Granmarg the Rock Monarch! And Lvl 7 Ultimate Dart Striker!” 

Power Dart Striker: Lvl; 5   Atk: 1800  Def: 600  

Ultimate Dart Striker: Lvl; 7 Atk: 2400  Def: 300  

Granmarg the Rock Monarch: Lvl; 6 Atk:2400  Def: 1000  

“What an awesome ability dont’cha think? Yuya~ Kun” Sawatari goaded mockingly once again. ‘I have to get closer to them, before he gets to attack me!’ Yuya thought in his head looking at the top of the tower. 

As the goggled boy was riding on his monster he saw an action card, floating through the water. He was about to reach out for it however a thought entered his mind. ‘Wait this might be a trap card... And even if it isn’t he has Stargazer Magician which would negate it.... I can’t take this risk.’ 

"Battle! I attack Skeeterskimmer with Power Dart Striker!" Sawatari declared as rocket darts fired out of his monsters weapon.

"I activate Skeeterskimmers effect! By switching it to defense position it negates an attack!"

 The wave crashed into Yuya and his monster like a truck, knocking the poor boy into the water as all he could do was let out a yelp as rocks collided into Yuya’s Skeeterskimmer as it was destroyed.

“Granmarg attacks your Skeeterskimmer!” Sawatari commanded his monster to attack his opponent's monster he started to run closer to where Yuya was going to land at the end of his attack. 

Rocks were sent forward throughout the ground rising the water level into a wave. The wave crashed into Yuya and his monster like a truck, knocking the poor boy into the water as all he could do was let out a yelp as rocks collided into Yuya’s Skeeterskimmer as it was destroyed.

“Now Ultimate Dart Striker attacks directly!” Sawatari followed up. ‘Damnit!’ Yuya could only sit as he watched several rockets come toward him in the water blasting up against the wall with a loud crash, leaving small cracks against it. 

Yuya: LP: 3000 -> 600  Hand; x3  

“ I throw pretty nice darts, right?” Sawatari asked the boy on the ground. 

‘Why? Why can someone so horrible use pendulum summoning? How is that fair?!’ Yuya thought to himself, suddenly words of his father flashed into his mind. He looked up at the rest of his friends hanging by a thread at the top of the tower and calmed down. ‘That’s right I have people who I need to keep safe, and not just that... I need to make sure they have fun during this too!’ Yuya concluded in his own mind. 

“Well now that my attacks are over, I’ll seal your fate even more!” Sawatari called out. “I activate Action Magic: Card Of Bribery! For every time I summoned to my field this turn, I can draw one card!” Sawatari went to his deck to draw 2 cards but the same voice stopped him. 

“Sawatari, despite summoning 3 monsters a pendulum summon counts all as 1 summon.” The voice said this in it’s usual cold tone. 

“Damn that's annoying. Well either way, I draw 1 card and end my turn!” Sawatari declared. 

“Here we go! Everything rides on this! I draw!” Yuya declared. 

-------------- 

Yuzu’s arm was getting tired, she wasn’t sure how much longer she could hold onto the shorter boy.  “Big-Sis Yuzu, is Yuya going to be ok?” Ayu asked innocently with a scared look on his face. 

Tatsuya looked nervous he was clearly thinking about the current situation of the duel. “Well, Sawatari has Timegazer and Stargazer so he can’t use spell or trap cards that target Sawatari’s monsters once per turn each per battle... It’s not looking good for Yuya.” 

“It’ll be fine I know Yuya can get out of th-” Just as Yuzu was about to finish that sentence she gleamed just a second of her bracelet glowing a grand pink. “It’s here.” Yuzu said with a hopeful smile. 

“What’s here?” Futoshi said still gripping on to her for dear life. “Something that should help us.” She replied. 

----------------- 

As Yuya looked at the card he drew he couldn't help but start smiling. ‘It’s here. Thank you, Yuzu.’ he told himself. “Get ready for a surprise! I summon my Block Spider!” Yuya declared as he summoned a cartoon spider with several Lego looking like blocks on top of it. 

Block Spider: Lvl; 1 Atk: 0  Def: 100  

“Hah, that useless monster? And in attack position too? You really are an idiot Sakaki.” “I wouldn’t call it useless just yet Sawatari!” Yuya declared. 

“Then I’ll follow it up with this! Mimi-clay!” Yuya shouted out loud enough for the onlookers to hear. 

“Mimi-clay is a magical clay made by a famous wizard, it has the properties to shift it’s shape into any form it so desires!” Yuya said with a theatrical voice. 

“The power of Mimi-clay allows it to, by switching that monster into defense position, be summoned as an exact copy of a monster on the field. Including it’s attack and defense points, name and its effect!” Yuya finished describing his card’s effect. 

“So you plan to copy a monster of mine eh?” Sawatari said curiously.  

“Absolutely not!” Yuya replied with a confident smile. 

“The monster I choose is my Block Spider!” As Yuya revealed his target for his spell. Block Spider swapped to defense position a clay mold of it appeared right next to it. 

Sawatari scoffed at this before talking. “So you have two useless monsters on your field, psh what a waste of my time.” 

Yuya replied with a cheeky grin. “Thanks to that actually you can no longer attack me.” 

“Wait what?” Sawatari said shocked. 

“Tch Tch Tch, for someone who used to have this card you really don’t know its effects. Huh? Due to Block Spider’s effect you can’t attack any other monsters than it and since I have two, you can’t attack at all.” Yuya revealed. 

“Yuya stopped Sawatari’s attacks!” Tatsuya said in wonder. 

“Alright!” Ayu cheered on. 

“He’s not done yet though.” Yuzu said looking on. 

“And now for the showstopper’s of my turn! With Scale 1 Operetta the Melodious Diva and Scale 8 Concertta the Melodious Maestra, I set the pendulum scale!” Yuya declared. 

Operetta the Melodious Diva: Lvl; 4  Atk: 1400  Def: 1600  PS: 1

Conertta the Melodious Maestra: Lvl; 6  Atk: 2100  Def: 2500  PS: 8

“THAT SHOULDN’T BE POSSIBLE!” Sawatari cried out in anger and confusion. “I TOOK YOUR HIGH END PENDULUM CARDS!” he continued in a rage. 

“Wait Yuya has Melodious monsters?!” Ayu said confused. “How did he get those?” Futoshi said equally confused as he took a breif glimpse of the scene below him. Tatsuya looked over to Yuzu a look of realization going over his face. 

‘Wait... those cards that girl threw to him earlier...’ Sawatari’s mind flashed back to the moment Yuzu threw Yuya her cards. His face contorted from rage back into calmer anger. “Ah figured it out, eh?” Yuya taunted. “Quit your gloating! You don’t have any more cards in your hand! You cant pendulum Summon!” 

“For now, but how long will that be?” Yuya said continuing to stare at Sawatari. 

“Let’s battle!” Yuya declared. 

“What!?” Everyone else but Yuzu shouted out in confusion. ‘So he’s using that ability huh?’ She thought to herself with a smile. 

“Due to Operreta’s pendulum effect, during battle I can target spell card that was activated on the last turn and then set it face down on my field.” Yuya explained. 

“I select the Action Magic: Card of Bribery! Spell Choir!” Yuya commanded his monster. A glowing card flew out of Sawatari’s duel disk as a set card appeared on Yuya’s field. 

“You thief!” The blond haired duelist accused. “I end the battle! Then I activate the set action card! Two monsters were summoned so I draw two cards.” Yuya drew two cards as he smiled. 

‘Odd-Eye’s and Draw Muscle, I’ll save Odd-Eyes for the next turn.’ the entertainment duelist thought as he looked at the cards. 

“With that I’ll set a card face down and end the prelude to the penultimate turn of the duel.” Yuya said while bowing. 

“That’s what you think?! I’ll end this right here!” Sawatari claimed.  “I draw!” Sawatari looked at the cards he drew. "I activate spell card Pot of Greed" Sawatari said. "I'm sure you already know what it does." he continued with a smirk

Sawatari looked at the cards he drew ‘Tch, despite what I said, I can’t do anything right now.’ he thought to himself. 

“Pendulum cards are treated as spell cards in the pendulum zone” the voice in the duel disk advised. “Oh really? Perfect, I knew the cards would choose me. I activate the spell Cricket Close!” Sawatari activated his spell card with a smile. 

“Due to this card’s effect I can negate two spell cards on my field to negate the effect of one on your field!” Sawatari explained. “Wait but he doesn’t have any spell cards!” Futoshi cried out. 

“I’ll negate my two pendulum cards, which are treated as spells. In return I negate your Mimi-clay!” Sawatari concluded as two dart boards encircled the two magician monsters and a dart fired out at Yuya’s copied spider. Yuya looked on with a determined look. “Since, Mimi-clay's effect was negated it’s destroyed.”  

“That’s not all! I now activate the spell card Monster Reborn! Revive Power Dart Shooter!” as the rose colored armor wearing monster was summoned back to the field. “Hold on there! I activate my face down card! Draw Muscle! This spell allows me to draw a card, then if it is a monster I can add it’s defense points to another monster’s defense points!” Yuya said as he flipped over his spell. 

“I draw! Alright! I got Entermate Kaleidoscorp! It has a defense of 2300!” Yuya revealed to the other duelist.  

“Block Spider’s defense raises!” 

Block Spider Def: 100 -> 2400  

“Damn I didn’t account for that!” Sawatari cursed with a sour look on his face. However this didn’t last for long as he soon smiled a wicked grin as he looked back at his opponent. “Just kidding! I activate the spell Magical Stone Excavation! By discarding 2 cards I can add a spell card from my grave to my hand I’ll add my Monster Reborn back.” Sawatari discarded his two cards and added back his older card back to his hand. 

“He’s doing the same thing twice? How boring...” Ayu said puffing her cheeks out. 

“I now activate it again! Appear Rocket Dart Striker!” The orange-colored armor wearing monster made an appearance again. “Thanks to that spell I can finish you perfectly! I activate Power Dart and Rocket Dart Striker’s effects. I tribute both to raise my Ultimate Dart Stiker’s attack points by 600 and give it the ability to deal piercing battle damage!” Sawatari screamed loudly to the opposing duelist. 

As the two strikers activated their effects they transformed into a large cannon that attached itself to the deep blue Dart Striker. “Battle! I attack your Block Spider with Ultimate Dart Striker! Dart Barrage!” Sawatari declared his final attack. 

Yuya glared at the attacks as he braced himself, a hoard of dart misiles launched into his spider. This launched him crashing into the tower wall. As this occurred the Yusho students at the top of the tower were suddenly swept off their feet as they began to plummet off the tower. All they could do was let out a scream of terror as they started to descend. 

“Finally! I activate my trap! Empty Fishing! This card allows me to halve any battle damage that I take, and then I can add two cards that have their effects negated added to my hand, I select Stargazer and Timegazer.”  Yuya revealed while picking himself up off the ground

Yuya: Lp; 600 -> 300  

Yuya reacted quickly by commanding his monsters “But before they return, Timegazer, Stargazer help Operetta and Concertta catch the others!”  

The two magicians and the singers flew up to catch a person each Timegazer catching Yuzu, Stargazer Tatsuya, Operetta Futoshi and Concerta Ayu. The monsters then dropped the group safely on the ground far away from the destroyed section of the bridge right next to Yuya. 

“Yuya, you saved us!” Futoshi said tears still in his eyes. “No, not me. The real thanks goes to these gentlemen and lovely ladies.” Yuya said gesturing his hand over to the monsters as they did a bow before returning to their rightful positions in the duel. 

Waving his arm in frustration Sawatari shouted out “Dammit! And Granmarg doesn’t have enough attack points to beat Block spider! I have to end my turn. Due to Ultimate Dart Strikers effect, my tributed monsters are summoned back.” 

“Alright now it’s time for the show stopper. I draw.” Yuya started the final turn. Yuzu walked over to Yuya as he began his turn. Yuya noticed this as he looked over. 

“Yuzu, they’re your cards so it feels wrong to take the whole spotlight here, wanna share?” Yuya asked with a playful smile. “That’s something I can get behind.” Yuzu responded with an equally jovial tone. 

The two voices overlapped as they started their chant. “Pendulum of souls, draw a harmonious arc of light through the sky! Appear my faithful monster friends!” the two continued. 

“Entermate Turntoad: Lvl;2 Atk: 0  Def: 800  PS: 3”  

“Entermate Kaleidoscorp: Lvl; 5  Atk: 100  Def: 2300 PS: 4”  

“Stargazer Magician: Lvl; 5  Atk: 1200  Def: 2400 PS:1”  

“Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon: Lvl; 7  Atk: 2500  Def: 2000  PS: 4”  

The monsters fell like meteors from the hole that was carved in the sky as they landed with an impact. 

Somewhere else many readings were occurring with the detection of a very powerful source of energy. 

The Yusho group watched from behind at the wonder of the show that was being presented before them. “We’re not done yet!” The two claimed, a strange sense of familiarity washed over the two. “Let’s activate the effect of Entermate Kaleidoscorp, now one monster can attack all of your special summoned monsters each! The monster chosen is Odd-Eyes!” The two declared. 

Sawatari was now visibly starting to sweat as a nervous look washed over him. Kaleidoscorps effect caused the entire field to be lit up in bright lights and different shapes, in this Odd Eye’s gained 3 identical copies all in the same bright colours. 

“So pretty...” The onlookers gazed on. 

“Battle! Odd-Eyes attack Granmarg!” The duo declared the first attack. As a copy of Odd Eyes attacked the titan monarch, it was hit by the flames and blown into rubble. “Odd-Eyes’ effect doubles damage when it battles a monster with a level of 5 or higher!” The entertainers revealed with a smile as they watched the fireworks. 

Sawatari: LP: 4000 -> 3800  

“Then Odd Eyes attacks Ultimate Dart Striker! Say it with us everyone!” 

The kids roared back “The damage is doubled!!!” They cheered happily. 

Sawatari: LP: 3800 -> 3600  

“Continue Odd-Eyes Rocket Dart Striker is next!” 

Sawatari: LP: 3600 -> 2400  

“Finally Odd-Eye's attack Power Dart Striker! Reaction Force, one last time everyone!” 

“And damage is doubled!” The cheers from the audience of 3 erupted once more 

Sawatari: 2400 -> 1000  

“Dammit...” Sawatari said as he looked down at his empty field and still another attack coming. Looking around for anything that could save him he saw it. An Evasion spell hidden behind some dirty barrels.  

Running over to it before the next attack could be declared he barely managed to reach just over halfway. “This might be it folks! Stargazer attacks directly!” As the magician wound up its staff several stars appeared as they were flung toward Sawatari. 

Fortunatley for the duelist, he made it just in time. 

“I activate Action Magic: Evasion!” Sawatari declared as the attack swung by barely missing him. 

“Huff* Huff* ha.... Haha! You idiots missed! You have no more monsters to attack with! I’ll win next turn!” Sawatari declared. “Not quite! Turn Toad’s effect activates. We can once during battle swap a monsters position along with its attack and defense points!” The duo pointed upwards as they selected their target. 

“We choose Block Spider!” 

Block Spider: Atk: 0 -> 2400  

“Huh?” Sawatari said almost confused about the situation he found himself in the smug grin completely wiped off his face. 

“Here’s a calculation for you, how many life points will you have when we attack? Let’s answer for you it’s 0. Block Spider attacks directly!” As the Lego spider made its way towards Sawatari its fist extended out and its glove made sharp contact with Sawatari’s face pummeling him into the ground, Unconscious. 

Sawatari: LP: 1000 -> 0  

The duel was over. 

----------------- 

As the duel ended the Solid Vision system ended as the field went away, the duo wiped their brow as that feeling of synchronicity and familiarity mostly faded but was still partially lingering. 

The smaller kids immediately ran over to their seniors as they began to hug them desperately. 

“Thank’s so much for saving us!” Ayu cried out. “And for not dropping me during the duel, Yuzu!” Futoshi cried out. “Mhm, thanks so much you guys. Although Yuzu, you never mentioned you had pendulum cards.” Tatsuya commented on. 

“Oh yea... What was that about?” Futoshi followed up with. The two teens looked from the unconscious body of Sawatari and back to each other before speaking. “We can talk about that later everyone.” The pink haired girl said to the younger Yusho students 

“Phew, that was one great show huh Yuzu?” The teen with goggles said while grinning widely as he handed Yuzu’s card’s back. “Yea, I didn’t think I could keep up with what you were doing for a bit but I'm glad that I managed to perform. Although even though we haven’t done many tag duels did you get that it felt a little familiar?” Yuzu queried. 

“I guess it did now that you say it.” He responded. However their introspection was cut off by the remembrance of Sawatari’s goons. Strangely though as they looked over all they saw was more unconscious bodies. And even stranger still, a short blue-haired boy was standing there. 

“That was... AWESOME! I can’t believe how cool that was! You guys can both use that ‘Pendulum Summon’ or whatever it was right? I was going to come here to learn but I’ve definitely decided now that you guys are going to be my teachers! My name is Sora Shunin by the way!” The blue haired boy spat out in a rapid fire way seemingly ignoring the unconscious bodies laying right next to him. 

“What?” Was all the entertainment duelists could manage in response to the shorter boy’s incredibly speedy speech. 

----------------------- 

Somewhere in a distant abandoned warehouse, two refugee’s were making a place to call home temporarily. As they finished scouting the area, the taller one called out to the other one. 

“Yuto, I’m heading out to look. If what that person said was true, there’s a chance she’s somewhere around this city.” The voice called out. “Fine, I’ll guard this place and look around the general area. Call me if you find anything. Shun.” A purple haired boy replies. 

As the taller teenager left the dark of the warehouse, Yuto pulled out a small locket as he opened it. Inside was a picture of a younger boy standing in front of a man and woman. 

“Mom, Dad, Ruri... I miss you.” The boy reminisced as he stared at the locket picture. 

Chapter Text

The crowd was roaring, the stage was set. A green and red-haired duelist declared his final attack as the crowd's cheers climaxed. Smiles were seen everywhere. 

‘I did it father I finally managed to reach your level. I hope you’re proud of me’ The boy said while holding a trophy that had materialized in his hands as he was waving at the crowd. 

As the teen was in a state of pure euphoria, he felt someone rush over to him and tackle him to the ground. 

“Hey master! That was such a cool match! You should go and teach me how to do that as well!” A blue haired boy with shining eyes said almost deafening Yuya. 

“AH!” Yuya woke up. 

‘Man, this suck’s he really followed us around all day...’ Yuya recollected the previous day’s events, and the mental toll of the enthusiastic Sora took on both him and Yuzu. 

Getting dressed Yuya left his room, the bed still slightly messy from his turning and twisting due to the nightmare. Outside he was met with Core and En. Petting both of them he made his way to the first floor via the fireman’s pole in the living room gliding down with the sound of metal sliding against flesh. 

As he did he smelt the cozy and recognizable smell of his mothers cooking. His favorite breakfast, pancakes. The smell wafted through the air into his nostrils as he instantly forgot about the bad dream and made his way to the table. 

“Morning mom.” Yuya said still a little groggy. 

“And good morning to you too Yuya.” Yoko responded quietly as she was a bit busy flipping a pancake. 

“And good morning master!” Sora chimed in. 

“Hello Sora, WAIT SORA?!” Yuya said as he quickly turned his head back and forth giving himself a light case of whiplash. 

“Yup, I went over to Yuzu’s but she was already asleep and her dad was out so I came over here and your sister invited me in for pancakes.” Sora explained happily with an innocent grin on his face. 

“Oh you don’t have to worry, any friend of Yuya’s is a friend of ours!” The blond woman said while sliding a plate with a pancake over to Sora, which the boy began to dig into after saying his thanks. 

‘That was going to be mine...’ Yuya though with an unamused look on his face. Which quickly grew into one of disgust as he watched the boy across from him pour ketchup on his pancake. 

“Alright, look I have to go to school so I’ll just take one and leave. Thank’s for cooking mom.” Yuya said as he managed to snag a fresh pancake of the pan and mold it into a crepe style shape. 

Yoko looked on as her son ran out the door before muttering quietly. “That boy, always living life in such a rush.”  

The blue haired boy took a bite out of his pancake with ketchup on it. “He always has his sister to keep him company at least though, right?”  

“Oh you!” 

---------------- 

The day progressed as time marched on. Two young entertainers managed to get through their daily routines as the sun arced over the sky creating different shapes of shadows against the objects far below it. 

As the bell rang and they started to make their way home the duo were conversing about a particularly annoying math question that had been the bane of a 40 minute interval of their day. 

This was soon to be interrupted by a familiar optimistic voice. “Yuya, Yuzu! There you guy’s are! I was wondering when you would get out of your school.” Sora said while running up to them before slowing down to march with them. 

The two taller teenagers walked with a bit of awkwardness now in the air between them, the pleasant discussion they were having now wrought with the expectation of including the new 3rd party. 

“Say when can you teach me to duel like that? The way you went up against that Sawatari guy was awesome!” Sora peppered the duo with questions as he was rushing around them as they walked. 

“I’m not just going to teach you how to duel! I don’t even know you that well.” The blue haired boy’s face dropped in disappointment at the rejection before looking up to the pink haired girl with a hopeful twinkle in his eye. 

“Can’t you tell him to teach me?” He asked is a cute voice while looking up to Yuzu with eyes so adorable they would but a newborn puppy’s to shame. 

The songstress duelist glanced at the adorable eyes with a curious glance “What makes you think I’ll be able to convince him?” 

“Well, he’ll have to listen to his girlfriend.” 

The air went silent as the only thing that could be heard was the songs of the birds flying through the sky. 

Yuzu’s face instantly went almost as red as the bottom of Yuya’s hair. “I’m not his girlfriend!” the girl replied in a small shriek. 

Yuya looked over with sheer shock at the audacity of such a claim, along with a little annoyance from the intense reaction from a good friend of his. ‘Yeesh, couldn’t be a bit less offended huh.’ Yuya thought to himself before responding. 

“Yeah! You really think I'd be dating the female version of Strong Ishijima?!” Yuya claimed with a playful grin while pointing at the pink haired girl next to him. 

*SLAP* 

This was kindly met with Yuzu’s signature paper fan greeting Yuya’s left cheek, leaving a large red mark while Yuya was knocked to the ground. Sora stood and watched as Yuzu began to walk off angrily murmuring under her breath. 

-------------- 

As Yuzu entered the cozy and familiar lounge of the Yusho duel school, still reeling from the outrage of earlier she dumped her heavy school bag onto the somewhat worn floor. As she let herself sink into the red couch, she thought over her interaction a couple of minutes prior with a grimmace on her face. 

“Hey Yuzu! You’ll teach me how to duel like that right?” An energetic boy said looking at her while sitting with his legs crossed on an opposing chair with a lollipop in his mouth. 

“Oh hey Sora – wait, Sora!? What are you doing here? How did you get here so fast?” Yuzu questioned the lollipop licking boy in front of her. 

“Oh yea Yuya was nursing his wound so I decided to come here, I took a shortcut.”  

“Ok but that doesn’t explain how you got here before me.” The boy looked at her with a wink “It’s because I’m so fast. Anyway please teach me!” 

As the two began to get into a one sided argument, the familiar (but still red) face of Yuya walked in followed by Ayu, Futoshi and Tatsuya. They were playfully chatting with each other as they entered the comforting room. 

“Oh Yuya you’re here!” Sora said running up to him ignoring the children already talking to him. “Can’t you please tell Yuzu to teach me? Or if you can’t, can you reconsider what you said earlier???”  

“Like I said earlier, no!” Yuya declared to the smaller teenager. “Yuya, he seems really determined. He’s not going to stop asking.” Tatsuya noted to his senior. Sora simply shrugged in agreement with the students appraisal. 

“Ok how about this then? I’ll duel both you and Yuzu at the same time, If I win you have to teach me to duel like you guys do and if you win, I'll stop bringing it up.” As the boy with the lollipop still currently in his mouth made his challenge the room was sent into a disbelieving silence. 

‘Is he really that cocky?’ Was the thought shared between all of them. 

“Well, I don’t know about the two of us, that seems a bit unfair but the idea itself isn’t bad...” Yuya mentioned as he looked over to Yuzu.  “Alright Sora, I'll take you up on that!” Yuya exclaimed before he was cut off. 

“Actually Yuya, do you mind if I duel him? I still need to practice it.”  Yuzu said while looking at Yuya with a determined look. 

“Ooohhh does she mean-” Ayu said before being cut off by her rounder friend. “Pendulum Summon! It’s giving me the shivers just thinking about it!” 

Yuzu giggled a bit before starting her departure from the break room as she searched for her father to go and run the Solid Vision system. 

------------------ 

Yuzu went to her father who was currently filing papers in the store room and told him about the bet. As expected he instantly dropped the papers on the ground as he ran over to the control booth for the solid vision system with a burning look in his eye. 

As Yuzu walked into the dueling area, filled with a nice breeze coming in from the small openings in the roof. She saw her opponent looking around with interest at his surroundings, he appeared to be waiting in anticipation. 

The rest of the Yusho gang was watching on the other side of the glass waiting for the show to begin. Sora snapped out of his day-dreaming as he looked at his opponent. “Alright you remember the deal? I win you and Yuya HAVE to teach me!” Sora reminded Yuzu. “Yup that’s the deal!” Yuzu said confidently. 

On the sidelines the only thought going through Yuya’s head was “Dear god please don’t lose, Yuzu.” 

Shuzo’s voice could be heard through the glass at the top as the duelists began to get ready. “Alright for a showdown like this a more western aesthetic is needed!” As Shuzo programmed in the action field an old styled wild western town made itself around the room. 

“Action Field Spe-” However before Shuzo could even declare the name of the   field the shorter of the two duelists looked up to the glass box he was standing in. 

“Sir, this town is kinda boring. Could you please give us something a bit more sweet?”  Looking up with puppy dog eyes. “Ummmm... How about this? I activate Action Field Magic: Candy Kingdom!” As Shuzo slammed on the button the old western town overwrote itself into a paradise of sugary snacks. 

Cakes, biscuits, cookies and all manner of sweets made up several houses and other objects. Sora ogled the environment around him as he was almost bouncing from the excitement. “Ohhhhhh! Thank you so much sir I love this!”  

“He’s so cute!” Shuzo gushed in the room. Both Yuya and Yuzu sighed watching this as the latter readied her duel disk. 

The crowd began their chant for the action duel.  

DUEL  

Yuzu: LP: 4000 Hand; x5  

Sora: LP: 4000 Hand; x5  

“I’ll take the first move Sora!” Yuzu shouted over as she started her turn. She looked down at her hand and smiled. ‘I already have one pendulum monster in my hand, I just need to buy time to find another one.’ 

She looked back up at her opponent. “Ill start off by summoning my Canon the Melodious Diva!” She placed her monster on the field. 

Canon the Melodious Diva: Lvl; 4 Atk: 1200 Def: 2000  

A blue woman wearing a suit with a short skirt, spiky hair and goggles appeared on Yuzu’s side of the field. “Then I’ll set a card face down! I end my turn!” 

The rest of the students looked on in confusion. “Hey wait big-bro Yuya, why did Yuzu summon that monster into attack position? Doesn’t it have a lot of defense points?” Futoshi innocently asked. 

Tatuya was the one who answered. “Well she also set a card so she probably is counting on that.” Yuya ‘mhm’d’ in response. 

Sora took a deep breath in of the delicious air as he began his turn. “Ok then! I draw.” Looking at his hand he nodded. “I summon my Fluffal Leo!” 

Fluffal Leo: Lvl; 4 Atk: 1600 Def: 1200  

A giant stuffed lion made it’s appearance onto the battlefield. Everyone quickly started to fluster over the cotton stuffed monster except for Yuya who just sighed at his friends reactions. 

“Battle! I attack with my Fluffal Leo! Fluffal Leo’s effect makes it gain 500 attack points when it attacks!” The shorter duelist exclaimed while pointing at the Melodious monster. 

Fluffal Leo Atk: 1600 -> 2100  

“Hold on there!” Yuzu responded. 

“I activate my trap card! Note Shift! This card allows me to swap the battle position of a monster on the field, then if it is swapped to attack position half of its defense points are added to it’s attack points and vice versa for defense monsters!”  

Canon the Melodious Diva Def: 2000 ->2600  

“Oh no! Flufal Leo stop!” Sora yelled out innocently however it was much too late as the monster collided against the songstress a shockwave was sent out and collided against Sora pushing him back a bit. 

Sora LP; 4000 -> 3500  

“Aw man! I didn’t expect that good job future teacher!” Sora praised Yuzu while waving over to her. The Yusho gang (minus Yuya) all collectivley got cavities from the sweetness of his words. 

“And also due to Note Shift’s effect if the monster I targeted was a Melodious monster I can draw 1 card.” Yuzu finished as she drew her card. 

Yuzu Hand; x 4  

“So cool! I’ll also set two cards face down and end my turn.” Sora finished. 

“Man, Yuzu really got him huh?” Ayu pondered out loud. Yuya looked on as he spoke  “Yeah but even still, it’s fairly obvious that was going to be a trap...”  

Yuzu drew for her turn. “My Turn.” The girl looked at her cards and as she did she smirked a little. ‘Perfect’ she thought to herself. 

“Here’s the main show everyone!” Yuzu declared out loud while pointing toward the sky filled with cotton candy clouds. “She’s gonna do it!” the kids said in unison. “GO YUZU, SHOW THEM YOUR BURNING PASSION!!!” Shuzo cried out over the microphone. 

“With scale 1 Operetta and Scale 8 Concertta I can set the pendulum scale!” The two monsters, Operetta clad in a black and purple dress and Concertta in a blue and white one raised up into the sky ready to begin their choir, already singing. 

Sora and the kids looked up awestruck. Yuya had an excited smile on his face and Shuzo was practically weeping with joy. “Pendulum, draw a harmonious arc of light throughout the sky! Appear my faithful monsters!” 

Aria the Melodious Diva: Lvl; 4 Atk: 1600 Def: 1200  

Fadaigio the Melodious Maestra: Lvl; 7 Atk: 2500 Def: 2000 PS: 4  

Sonata the Melodious Diva: Lvl; 3 Atk: 1200 Def: 1600  

3 beams of light crashed into the soft cake ground and 3 monsters were left standing in their wake. Yuzu’s original two monsters made an appearance with a brand new stage mate. 

A woman with a long flowing dress made out of flower petals, gold ornaments decorated over it reminiscent of spores and vines. Pure white skin along with 2 wings made of cherry blossoms finished with piercing yellow eyes. 

The rest of the students were enthralled, Yuzu’s new monster was truly captivating. Sora was left speechless with the appearance of Yuzu’s monster. Yuzu however, was still focused on the duel, spotting an action card on a biscuit in the lake of chocolate milk she leapt onto it and grabbed it. 

‘Alright that’s perfect!’ she thought before speaking. “I activate the Action Spell: Nanana! Nanana is a friend to entertainers and thus a monster that I control gains 700 attack points! I select my Fadagio!” 

Fadagio Atk: 2500 -> 3200  

“Hey that wasn’t in your hand before! That’s no fair!” Sora complained out loud. “Sora, this is an action duel, there are cards everywhere for both players. Did you not know that?” Yuzu questioned the boy with confusion clearly painted on her face. 

“Well then I’ll just find an action card.” Sora said indignantly looking around obviously before his face lit up and he started to run toward a ice cream cone house. 

“Aren’t action duels basically all over the world? Where did he come from to not know about them?” Tatsuya questioned. The rest glanced at him briefly before looking back at the duel. 

As the card was in sight sitting on a windowsill of the house Sora tried to stand on his monster to boost him up enough on the confectionary. Just as he was about to reach it the scent of flowers breached his nostrils. Yuzu, holding onto her new monster's arm as it soared through the air, grabbed onto the action card. 

“You have to be quicker than that!” Yuzu shouted as she landed on the ground safely with her monsters right behind her. “Aw c’mon!” the boy cried out at the unfairness of the situation. 

“I switch my Canon into attack position. Battle! I attack your Flufal Leo with Fadagio! I activate my Concertta’s pendulum effect! For every pendulum Melodious monster I control your monster loses 1000 attack points until the end of the battle phase! Then I activate Fadagio’s effect, for every fairy type monster on my field it gains 400 attack points when it attacks!” Yuzu revealed her combo proudly. 

Leo Atk: 1600 -> 600  

Fadagio Atk: 3200 -> 5800  

“She’s going for an instant win!” Futoshi exclaimed. “Go for it Yuzu!” Ayu cheered. Yuya looked on with excitement. 

As a torrent of flowers charged up and were sent flying toward the poor stuffed lion both it and the duelist were lost in the petals. 

“Thank you everyone for watching the show.” Yuzu declared about to go for a bow as she noticed something, a shining light from where her opponent was. 

“Nice try teach but I also had a little something up my sleeve.” Sora stepped aside and revealed his trap card. “Draining shield, your attack is negated and I gain life points equal to your monsters attack!” Sora said with a cute grin. 

Sora LP: 3500 -> 8300  

The rest of the group was left speechless, Yuzu’s finale was stopped and Sora looked stronger than ever. 

“Tch, Alright the battle is over yet though! I attack Leo with my Sonata!” Yuzu declared another attack. 

However Sora was more than ready as soon as the monster started to sing, the blue haired duelist jumped with frightening speed to the location of an action card atop of a smore with several acrobatic flips. 

“Where did he learn to do that!?” Tatsuya raised his voice for once not quite believing what he was seeing. “He’s really good.” Yuya remarked looking at the movements. Sora managed to grab the card.  

‘Impressive, seeing as how the lower a monsters attack is the less time you have to respond in an action duel.’ Yuzu thought to herself. 

“I activate Action Magic: Candy Surge! My monster cannot be destroyed once this turn.” A giant piece of wrapped candy appeared in front of Sora’s monster as Leo began to devour it happily. As the shockwave connected Sora didn’t flinch. 

Sora LP: 8300 -> 7700  

“Then Cannon attacks!” This time another shockwave blasted out and Sora was too far away to any action cards. It connected and Fluffal Leo was blasted away 

Sora LP: 7700 -> 7100  

“Awww I wanted to see more of that monster...” Ayu said a bit disappointed. Sora instantly responded “Now I activate my trap card Fluffal crane! When a fluffal card I control is destroyed I can add it back to my hand and then add 1 polymerization card from my deck to my hand!” Sora revealed. 

“Wait what!?!?” Yuya and Yuzu exclaimed shocked. “Polymerization?” Ayu asked confused. “Can that boy really...” Shuzo asked himself watching from above. 

“Polymerization is card needed to fusion summon, it’s an extremely rare card around these part’s only LDS students seem to have students who actually have card’s similar to them.” Tatsuya explained to Ayu. 

Yuzu now much more nervous about the next turn continued. “Aria Attacks Directly!” Sora dropped down from the giant smore and attempted to look for another action card but was too late as the attack hit him pushing him back and into a building sized chocolate cake. 

Sora LP: 7100 -> 5500  

Yuzu looked at her current hand and back to the field. “I activate my Cannon’s effect to switch it into defense position and end my turn there. At this instant Fadagio’s attack returns to normal.” She said waiting in anticipation. 

Fadagio Atk: 5800 -> 2500  

Sora returned out of the sweet confectionary covered in chocolate. “My turn then. I draw.” Sora started his turn casually unaware of how off put the others were. 

Sora: Hand; x6  

‘Hm, that’s pretty good...’ He looked to his opponent. “I activate my spell card Toy Vendor!” A giant slot machine appeared behind the boy. 

“I use its effect to discard my Fluffal Wings! Then I can draw a card and if it’s a monster with a level of 4 or lower I can special summon it! Let’s see what I get!” The slot machine spat out a ball as Sora drew. 

“I got the Lvl 3 Fluffal Bear! So, I special summon it.” 

Destoy Bear: Lvl; 3 Atk: 1200 Def: 800  

“Now I’ll activate the spell card, Polymerization!” Sora declared placing it into his duel disk. 

“So he can actually do it?” Shuzo wondered to himself shocked. “The brave lion and the dangerous blade meet! Become one and rip everything to shreds! I fusion summon!” Sora chanted with a smile on his face. 

-Somewhere in the city multiple sensors went off at once...- 

“Appear! Level 7 Frightfur Leo!” Sora finished. 

Frightfur Leo: Lvl; 7 Atk: 2400 Def: 2000  

Several red blades appeared as claws, the lions mane became a giant saw razor and it’s form became much more feral than before. 

“Ahhhh it’s so scary it’s giving me shivers!” Futoshi said cowering. “I don’t even want to look at it.” Ayu chimed in. 

But Sora was not finished. “I activate the effect of Fluffal wings in my graveyard! By banishing my Fluffal Leo and sending Toy Vendor to the grave yard I can draw 2 cards!” Sora continued as he drew. 

“I’m not done yet though teach!” Sora said smiling. “Why do you want me to teach you if you can summon a fusion monster and you’re still not done!!??” Yuzu shouted in sheer confusion. 

“Because the I want to learn how to entertain others!” The boy replied happily, “Anyway I activate the spell Fusion Recovery! I can pick a monster in my graveyard and a Polymerization in my graveyard and add them back to my hand!” Sora continued. 

“He’s going to do it again!!?” Yuya predicted. “Yup that’s right teach!” Sora responded to the green and red haired boy on the other side of the class. “Soon us 3 can spend a bunch of time together!” he said innocently. Yuya shivered in horror. “Yuzu you have to win this duel.” 

“I activate the spell card Polymerization again! I fuse my Edge Imp Sabers in my hand and the Fluffal Bear on my field! The sleeping force meets the sharpness of horror! Awaken again the nightmare from the woods! I fusion summon, appear Frightfur Bear!” 

FrightfurBear: Lvl; 6 Atk: 2200 Def: 1800  

A large dull pink bear with bulging eyes that was bisected by a pair of scissors appeared on the field. Yuzu looked on nervously at the monsters.  

“I activate Frightfur Leo’s effect! Once per turn I can target a monster you control and destroy it, then you take damage equal to it’s attack points!” Sora declared as his monsters sent out golden chainsaw’s of light to Yuzu’s pendulum monster. 

“Not so fast, I activate my Action Card: Mirror Barrier! My monster can’t be destroyed by card effects once per turn!” Yuzu revealed the common action card she found last turn. 

Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief as Yuzu was safe for now from taking a huge amount of damage. “You can pull back from this Yuzu!” Shuzo cheered on. 

“In that case I activate my spell card! Toy Parade! Now for every card that is equipped to a monster I control that monster can attack again.” Sora explained. 

“But he hasn’t got any equip cards...” Ayu claimed wondering what the Destoy duelist was doing. 

“Now let’s battle! I attack your Sonata with my Frightfur Leo!” Sora declared. “I activate the pendulum effect of Operetta! Once per turn during the battle phase, I can activate a spell card that was used during the last turn and use it again! I’ll use your action spell Candy Rush! Go, Spell Choir!” Yuzu declared her monster’s effect. 

The golden saws collided pushing Yuzu into the orange juice water. 

Yuzu LP: 4000 -> 2800  

‘Yuzu...’ Yuya thought to himself a little worried, based on the looks of those monsters.  

“Well, you made a big mistake there teach.” Sora claimed.  

“What are you talking about?”  

“You’ll see just now. I attack your Sonata with Frightfur Bear!” Yuzu attempted to look around for an action card but all she could do was try to wade through the sweet juice as she saw a bear paw coming toward her monster. It made contact and Sonata was destroyed. 

Yuzu LP: 2800 -> 1800  

Yuzu was launched onto the shoreline, her clothes now covered with sticky orange juice. “Frightfur Bear’s effect activates. It equips your monster to it as a spell and then gains it’s attack points.” Sora explained 

“Oh no!” Tatsuya shouted. “Now his spell is live.” Yuya clarified to the rest of the kids. As Frightfur bear dug up the KO’d monster from the juice it dropped it into its mouth as it grew larger. 

Frightfur Bear Atk: 2200 -> 3400  

“This is really bad, Frightfur bear is going to keep chewing threw her field until it gets to attack her directly.” Yuya noted. Tatsuya nodded in agreement. 

“Well, this is probably it teach; it was fun though.” Sora explained to Yuzu. “Battle! I attack your Aria with Frightfur Bear!” Sora made his attack. 

“I activate Action Magic: Juice Break! It changes all monsters on my field into defense mode!” Yuzu declared still picking herself up from the ground. 

“Wait when did you get that?!” Sora exclaimed. “That must be from when she was knocked into the juice!” Ayu exclaimed. “Good job Yuzu!” Shuzo cheered his daughter on through the glass. 

“Well a lucky break is a lucky break, I still activate Bears effect.” Sora continued. 

Bear Atk: 3400 -> 5000  

Frightfur bear grew to a gigantic size, eclipsing the field. “Frightfur bear is truly terrifying...” Shuzo claimed. 

“Now I'll get rid of that Fadagio, Frightfur Bear Attack!” Yuzu tried to run and find another action card especially due to the slow attack speed but it seemed her luck had left her. The giant paw slammed her monster into the ground as she was sent flying. “AHHH!” she screamed. 

As Yuzu was on the ground she laid there for a bit unmoving. “What is she doing?” Ayu said confused on why she wasn’t putting up a fight. 

“She’s disappointed in herself probably.” Yuya responded to Ayu’s question. “At the beginning of this Yuzu probably wanted to prove to herself that she could win using pendulum summoning for the first time. She most likely frustrated in herself.” Yuya continued with a somber look on his face as he looked at his best friend. 

“But that’s not her fault! Sora’s just really strong!” Futoshi claimed. “Yeah he is, but that doesn’t matter to her right now.” Yuya concluded. 

‘This sucks... I really thought I would be able to do this... be brave like Yuya is... win and captivate the crowd like he did... guess that it was wrong of me to think I was as good as him...’ All these thoughts were going through Yuzu Hiiragi’s head. 

As Frightfur Bear was attempting to dig around the caved in cake floor for the body of Yuzu’s monster, Yuzu noted a strange light from her duel disk. It was coming from her extra deck. She pressed on the button in there and let out a smile. 

“Huh why isn’t Frightfur Bear’s effect working?” Sora questioned. “Because my monster isn’t in the grave yard.” Yuzu responded as she stood up putting on a brave face. 

“It’s in my extra deck!” She revealed. 

“Pendulum monsters go to the extra deck when destroyed?!” Yuya remarked, surprised at this revelation. 

“Sora’s monster’s effect can’t activate and thus he can’t attack this turn anymore!” Tatsuya claimed. “That’s great, that mean’s Yuzu is still in this!” Ayu added on. 

“Wow, you really surprised me there, teach! I’ll have to end my turn there. Good luck!” Sora gave his graces to his opponent as he passed his turn. 

Yuzu pushing past the fear called out to the audience. “Now folk’s it’s time for the grand finale!” She exclaimed with a loud voice. “I draw! She looked at her card and smiled, ‘This should do it.’ 

“With the already set pendulum scale I pendulum summon! Pendulum, draw a harmonious arc of light through the sky! Appear, my faithful monsters!” 

“Repente the Melodious Maestra: Lvl; 6 Atk: 2100 Def:1800 PS: 5  

“Fadagio the Melodious Maestra : Lvl; 7 Atk: 2500 Def: 2000 PS:4”  

Along with the previously summoned pendulum monster, a new actor came onto the scene. Clad in a bright green dress with several leaves at the tips of the arms and end of the skirt, a yellow skinned woman with oak brown hair appeared. 

“Yuzu resummoned her monster!” The kids all exclaimed at once. “So it can revive huh?” Yuya said under his breath with a smile on his face. 

“I activate Repente’s Monster effect when it’s pendulum summoned I can target one monster on my field and this turn, it can activate it’s effect twice!” Yuzu revealed. “I select my Fadagio!” Yuzu said. “Wait that means...” Futoshi wondered out loud in viewing room. “Then I'll move my Canon into attack position.” 

“Battle! This turn I can use Fadagio’s effect twice!” Yuzu finished. “Well teach that’s great and all but how are you going to deplete all my life points?” Sora questioned his opponent. Yuzu grinned. 

“Forgot about Concertta’s pendulum effect? During my battle phase, your monsters lose 1000 attack points for every ‘Melodious’ pendulum monster I control. I control two, so both your monsters lose 2000 attack points!” Yuzu declared pointing at her pendulum monster. 

“Oh No!” The blue haired boy cried out. 

Frightfur Leo Atk: 2400 -> 400  

Frightfur Bear Atk: 5000 -> 3000  

“Time for the show stopper Fadagio attacks Frightfur Bear!” Sora looked around for another action card and as the attack of the torrent of flowers was charging up he managed to grab onto one. “This should help!” Sora exclaimed as he looked at the card and read it out. “Huh? Action Trap: Sugar Crash?” he said in confusion. 

“Shouldn’t have been so greedy! All your monsters lose 500 attack points!” Yuzu explained with a grin on her face. “Oh cmon!” Sora watched as both of his monsters fell to the ground exhausted. 

Frightfur Leo Atk: 400 -> 0  

Frightfur Bear Atk: 3000 -> 2500  

“I activate Fadagio’s effect! For every fairy monster I control, when it battles it gains 400 attack points! I control 3, so that’s 1200 Attack points! Now due to Repente, I can use it again to gain another 1200!” Yuzu declared. 

Fadagio Atk: 2500 – 4900  

“Go Fadagio! Attack Frightfur Bear! Floral Melody!” The monster started to sing as it beat it’s wings at the demon bear in front of it slashing it to ribbons as it was destroyed. 

Sora LP: 5500  -> 3100  

The boy was pushed back from the impact as he was lying on his back as he went to get up he discovered he was already too late. 

“I attack Frightfur Leo with my Canon!” The blue haired spiky monster attack 

Sora LP: 3100 -> 1900  

“And here’s the showstopper everyone! Repente attacks directly! Vine Vocal!”  

“GO ON YUZU!!!” Shuzo shouted loudly through the mic, the children were cheering and Yuya looked on excitedly with a wide grin. 

As Sora looked up at the monster beginning its song he looked up with a smile. ‘Not bad.’ 

Several vines burst out of the caked ground and whipped at Sora as he was sent bouncing off the soft floor getting a face full of sweets. 

Sora LP: 1900 -> 0  

Yuzu WIN  

------------------- 

As the duel concluded, Yuzu walked over and helped Sora up. The others also entered the room. “Way to go Yuzu, no better way of showing the Yusho way of dueling than that!” Shuzo shouted proudly. “That duel was so intense! It gave me shivers!” Futoshi said huddling around Yuzu dancing on the spot. “Mhm!” Ayu agreed. Tatsuya just looked at his friends and sighed a bit at their over excitement. 

Yuya looked at Yuzu with a huge smile. “That was great Yuzu you had me on the edge of my seat, and even I didn’t know that pendulum monsters go to the extra deck when destroyed.” Yuzu blushed a little before returning to Sora. 

“Well anyway, since I won, you’ll stop trying to learn from us as your teachers, right?” Yuzu questioned the boy who was still patting himself down. “Yup, but now I've decided that I'm going to learn from you as a friend!” He replied excitedly, with stars in his green eyes. 

The room went quiet for a moment filled with Yuya’s dread at the next coming up lines. 

“Say Mr. Hiragii I can enroll here right?” Sora questioned the orange haired man with his signature puppy dog eyes. “We never turn away young duelists looking to learn from here! I’ll go get some papers.” Shuzo declared proudly as he left the room, his footsteps marking the end of Yuya’s hopes of some days of peace and quiet. 

“Now we can all laugh and play together everyday! Isn’t that great!?” Sora said happily his words ringing into the room. The smaller students were excited as they greeted their new classmate and the two pendulum users looked at each other before shrugging and giving a snicker to each other. 

The day continued on happily. 

------------------------------ 

Somewhere in another world. 

A girl was seen walking through the halls of a school an annoyed look sat on her face. “Ugh! I don’t care what he say’s I'm definitely ready to go!” The girl had purple hair with a yellow bow tying back a pony tail.  

Footsteps. Loud one’s could be heard walking up behind the girl. “I’m sorry about what happened, but quite simply there is no way you can go out to the field, not for a mission like this at least.” A mature and gruff voice reached the ears of the girl. A tall cyan haired man with an eyepatch and a military uniform stopped behind the much shorter girl. 

“Barrett, I'm going to go. No matter what, don’t try to stop me! I’ll definitely find that breach and end it!” The girl responded to the man with a determined tone in her voice. 

Barrett sighed tiredly. “Yes, I figured that. Well if you’re so insistent on going it’s going to be a hassle to stop you. So how about you take some accompaniment?” The man said with a bit of a lighter tone than before. 

“Really, you’d be willing to?!” The girl said her face smeared with confusion 

“Well it’s going to be more of a pain to keep you here than keep you safe out there, and it’s also easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. I technically can choose whoever I want as my personal staff as well. So how about we keep this between you and me?” Barrett proposed. 

“Thank you Barrett. I promise I won’t let you down!” 

“No problem, Serena.” 

Chapter Text

The day was a warm, almost boiling day. The sky was clear blue with not a single cloud drifting along the horizon. The students of Yusho Duel School were training in the solid vision room, specifically their ability to scale up different environments and ride on their unique monsters to find those ever so useful cards.  

It was fun but grueling work, the students were being dragged along near the end by the ever-energetic Shuzo, whose boiling nature mixed well in the heat of the warm Spring Day.  

Many field spells were selected. Canyons, mountains, old towns, a haunted house and many others passed by them over the course of 2 and a half hours.  

Thankfully for them the training soon ended, and they were released from their required training. “Hah... man... why did we have to do this on a day like today?” Futoshi complained as he dragged his feet across the floor on the way to the washroom.  

“Yea... it’s such a nice day too.” Ayu joined in on the complaining. ‘Well, we should always keep a schedule.’ However, Tatsuya looked at his friends before deciding not to say what he thought.  

“You have to always be ready for anything! Training helps that!” Sora piped up still somehow energetic despite the hours long training session he was a part of.  “That’s right it’s important to always stay nimble, especially in action duels” Yuzu added on.   

“Not to mention it’s just fun too.” Yuya mentioned slightly under his breath with a smile plastered on his face. Yuzu looked at him with a disapproving look of taking supposedly ‘serious training’ as a joke.  

The team entered the washroom before using the sinks to wipe the sweat off their necks and faces. “Man I could really go for some Ice cream right now...” Futoshi said under his breath. Sora’s radar that seemed to only activate for sweet treats immediately went off.  

“Ice cream?” he mentioned loudly like a child who just learned about a planned trip to a theme park. The rest of the group looked at him and as the idea fully went through their ears into their skulls excitement quickly spread like a plague throughout them.  

“That’s a great idea!” “Yea, let's go get some!” As the chatter started both Ayu and Yuzu looked at their friends that quickly devolved into just chanting ‘Ice cream! Ice cream!’ over and over again.  

“Hey Yuzu, if I give you some of my allowance will you buy us some from the shop nearby?” Yuya asked his friend while holding out some money.  

“Ughh, ok fine.” Yuzu said as she took the money swiftly, so she didn’t have to hear more of the chanting from the newly found ice cream cult. As she started to leave and go out into the streets which had now cooled and were being bathed in orange light Ayu ran up behind her. “Can I come with you? I don’t want to have to listen to Futoshi and Tatsuya talk about their favorite flavors.” Yuzu looked down at the girl before smiling and gesturing to the door with her head.  

‘Me too, Ayu me too.’ Yuzu thought as she walked out the door.  

----------------  

1 hour prior.  

The heat was oppressive, the sun was at its apex in the sky but slowly descending. A teenager in ragged clothing was walking throughout the streets. Purple hair, a face mask and a long cloak which was almost alien in the heat of the day.  

Walking in an abandoned ally the boy was occasionally glimpsing up at the giant corporate tower almost piercing the heavens. ‘LDS, if the info that Allen had was right... then he should be up there. The only question is how do I manage to get his attention?’ The boy mused to himself as he stopped near a small exit of the ally to stare at the wall when thinking.  

‘I guess, that’s more Shun’s department though...’ Yuto thought as he looked onto the street. Several people passed by enjoying their lives, children licking their ice cream happily while holding onto their parents' hands. ‘To think... all these people living normally... not even aware of what’s happening...’   

Yuto’s heart began to twinge at the sight as he sighed. Deciding he had done enough exploring for the day he decided to head back to the warehouses that him and his friend had made their temporary base of operations.  

As Yuto walked feeling the weight of everything, he had been through with each step, his stomach cramping from hunger, the sun began to set. Basking this side of this world in orange light. He finally managed to make it to the docks where the warehouses are.  

As Yuto started making his way to the large empty building, he was staying in he saw something a little odd. A door leading into one of the concrete buildings was left open.  

‘Hm, I thought that this area was mostly abandoned.’ Yuto carefully approached the door. Inside he saw a similar lonely room. However, it definitely had signs of life. There was a worn couch in there along with a dartboard and notably several boxes of opened snacks on the table.  

Yuto’s eye looked over to an opened box of doughnuts, ‘I know that it’s bad to steal things... But on the other hand, me and Shun haven’t eaten anything in about 2 days...’ Yuto warily approached the opened box. It looked to be around half eaten, there were still 4 lefts in the box.  

Picking one up he undid the mask that he had been wearing for the entire day. Finally, being able to breathe fully he took in the cool air of the warehouse as he took a bite out of the sugared snack.  

It was a bit stale but still one of the best things he had eaten in a long time, Yuto could taste the small bit of sweet jam in the middle of it. Making sure to enjoy it while he had the opportunity, he started to reminisce about a day long before this had all started.  

-------------  

8 Months Prior  

“Hey Yuto, remember to take the base of the cake out of the oven!” A soft motherly voice reminded him. “I’m on it” The boy replied with a smile on his face.  

As he took the base of the cake out of the searing oven, a soft and gooey middle yet still solid enough structure. As Yuto placed the tray with the cake onto a countertop. He breathed a sigh of relief as he rubbed his hands which were still hot even with the aid of baking gloves.  

As he did that same voice spoke up. “These pastries are going to be so good when we all have them at your parents place!” It said excitedly. Yuto looked down at the dozens of different sweet treats that the trio had made. “Yea... they will.”  

The trio of friends later enjoyed some of the treats as a reward for getting it done in time.  

And they were delicious.  

-------------  

As Yuto was stuck living in a daydream that he didn’t want to end he heard the scraping of metal along with a loud arrogant voice. “And with my new ‘Neo Sawatari’ mode I definitely won’t lose to anyone!” the voice gloated to another set of footsteps. Yuto reacting quickly managed to put on his mask just before the two managed to spot him.  

“Hey! Who do you think you are? Why are you at our hideout!” Sawatari’s goon shouted in outrage. “Now, now calm down. I’m sure our friend here has a good reason for coming to this place.” The cocky duelists eyes drifted toward the slightly shifted box of doughnuts that had barely been touched compared to empty wrappers that had been lying over the place for who knows how many weeks.  

The blond-haired duelist's face contorted into a mocking grin. “Oh, hungry, are you? Well, that’s fine just pay up the 2000 yen for the doughnut you stole.”   

Yuto internally sighed. ‘Oh, he’s that type of guy huh. The most I can do here is apologize and say I don’t have any money, but I have a feeling that won’t matter...’ The masked teen looked over to the duo across from him.  

“I apologize for stealing what wasn’t mine. But me and my friend are very hungry, we haven’t had anything to eat in the last 2 days. I also don’t have any money at the moment. Again, I’m sorry, just please let me leave and I'll go with no more issues.” Yuto pleaded with the cocky teenager.  

His mocking smile widened. “Well that just won’t do now, won’t it? You’re going to have to work to pay this off... Say why don’t we sit down and have a chat?” He nodded to his friend to grab the strange, cloaked man in front of him.  

As a green-haired student attempted to reach out, he quickly felt a pain in the side of his jaw as he was hit and pushed away lightly. “Please, I don’t want to hurt anyone.” Yuto attempted to reach out again, but this just enraged the LDS student even more.  

“Oh really?! You dare act like you’re better than me even though you were caught stealing!?” Sawatari questioned. However, as he did, he saw a flash of a certain pin around his neck. “Say you’re apart of LDS right?” The masked individual questioned pointing at the collar.  

“Oh??? Is this what I think it is? Are you really going to challenge me to a duel?” Sawatari jumped to the correct conclusion. As he did the scraping of a door was heard by everyone in the old warehouse. Two more of Sawatari’s friends arrived. “Hey guy’s we got the Ice...” the sentence tapered off as the two looked at the current situation.  

The student on the ground just looked at them and shook his head at them, vaguely telling them to stay out of it which thankfully (for them) they recieved.  

“Oh, and we even have an audience! Well, let’s get this show on the road already! I’ll make sure to give everyone a fantastic time!” Sawatari proclaimed attempting to mimic a certain duelist. ‘He’s just copying Yuya Sakaki now...’ the remaining teenagers though as this display occurred.  

As Sawatari began to attach his duel disk, Yuto began to think ‘I could just try and run away... I could probably lead them a decent bit away from here and turn back to get our things... But right now I have a good chance to learn about LDS and its student’s this could be good information to have.’ He concluded.  

As the cloaked figure revealed his duel disk which looked a good bit different from the normal type of duel disk he began to speak. “Alright then, how about this if you win, I’ll do whatever you say. But if I win, I want information about LDS and the founder there.” A purple light emitted from the machine attached to the purple haired boy as a loud whirring noise filled the warehouse with noise.   

‘That’s a strange duel disk, and why is it so loud?’ Sawatari noted before activating his own. “I’m not going to lose anyway so that’s fine!”  

As the two were about to start they were interrupted by yet another noise, a loud footstep echoing in the large room. “Oh, and what now?!” Sawatari cried out impatiently.  

It was there that Yuto saw the face of someone he knew very well.  

Someone who by all accounts, should not be here.  

--------------  

Yuzu and Ayu were walking back to the school right next to the river running through their town, a plastic bag radiating relief from the heat of the day could be felt by both of the girls. “Why couldn’t they have just gotten their own ice cream?” Yuzu complained to her smaller friend.   

“To be honest you did accept when Yuya asked you, and even then, you bought more with your own money. You really are nice aren’t you, Yuzu.” Ayu said while looking up. However, as she was about to continue talking, the pink haired girl kneeled down to her and put a finger up to her mouth indicating to her to be quiet.  

“Man, Sawatari really is out on a warpath for Yuya Sakaki huh?” A male voice spoke up over the sound of footsteps against cobblestone. “I know, he won’t shut up about it. After last time, I'm starting to think that there’s not anything or anybody connected to him he wouldn’t go after to get an advantage.” Another voice replied.  

“Look anyway we should hurry up he’s probably already there by now. And you know how much he hates when people are late.” The first voice called out as the footsteps quickened.  

‘Sawatari again? And he’s thinking about going after the people close to Yuya?’ Yuzu thought to herself as she remembered the incident that they had back in LDS. A deep feeling of anger started to boil in her as she scowled at the memory. ‘He’s not just going to turn me into another damsel again.’ Yuzu thought to herself, making up her mind.  

The Melodious duelist looked down to the red-haired girl. “Alright, you head back to Yusho, I’ll take care of this.” She ordered Ayu. “B-but Yuzu wouldn’t it be better to wait?” Ayu responded a little afraid at the fire in her friend's eyes.  

“I’ll be fine, just please go and take care of this.” Yuzu tried to say reassuringly as she began to run off to follow the two LDS students. Meanwhile Ayu turned with a panicked look as she began to run back to her school.  

‘I promise you Yuya, I'll take care of this creep and put him in his place!’  

As Yuzu followed the two students of LDS she made sure to occasionally duck behind trees or buildings as she was led to the docks. The smell of the sea invaded her nostrils as she ducked in behind the side of a warehouse.  

As she slowly approached the door, she heard the sound of a familiar voice shouting inside. ‘Tch, what’s that guy doing now? Probably chewing out one of his cronies.’ Yuzu thought to herself as she stirred up the courage and stepped into the warehouse.  

There she found a strange sight. Sawatari, his goons and a strange man in ragged clothes wearing a mask. Sawatari and him both had their duel disks activated, however the masked man had a strange look to it and a loud sound whirring off. ‘What’s even happening here?’ Yuzu thought to herself with a confused look on her face.  

------------------------  

Yuto looked at the girl standing in front of him as dozens of memories flooded into his brain. His mind racing ‘What is she doing here? How did she escape? What happened to her hair? Why is she wearing different clothes? Does she not remember me for some reason?’ Yuto took note of the little differences between his memory of the girl in his head and the one standing just behind him.  

A different hair colour, style along with different clothes and eye colour. But even with all of those the similarities were frightening, so much so that Yuto couldn’t possibly believe that it could be anyone else.  

“What are you doing here in a place like this?” The man in the mask asked. “Well, what are you doing here? I’m here to challenge this guy!” Yuzu answered sternly while pointing at Sawatari.  

“Oh-ho so the princess wants to challenge me?” Sawatari mocked. Yuzu looked up at him with a near murderous look in her eye. “You think you could beat me you 3 rd , no 4 th , no 100 th rate duelist!!!” Yuzu yelled at him as she reached for her duel disk.  

“What did you say...” Sawatari muttered under his breath as he turned his attention to the Melodious user. As Yuzu readied her duel disk the man put up a hand.  

“No please, stay back.” The cloaked man pleaded to the girl. While Yuzu was going to protest something inside of her recognized the tone of his voice and the meaning behind it. “Hmph, fine. I’ll let you take this for now.” Yuzu agreed.  

“Ah so the knight steps in for the princess, how noble.” He continued to mock. ‘Don’t jump in, don’t jump in, don’t jump in’ Yuzu thought to herself as she used all of her will power to not disobey what she just declared.  

“Enough talk, lets duel!” Sawatari shouted  

Duel!  

------------------  

Yuto: Lp; 4000 Hand; x5  

Sawatari: Lp; 4000 Hand: x5  

“I’ll go first.” The man in the mask shouted over. “I set 5 cards face down and end my turn.” He concluded. As he concluded, he readied into a prepared fighting stance almost like he was waiting for his opponent to attempt to come after him directly.  

“What?!” The entirety of the remaining teenagers in the warehouse stood in shocked silence. “He didn’t summon any monsters? Quick use heavy storm!” Two of Sawatari’s goons jeered.  

“Start your turn.” The man in the mask said plainly. ‘Why is he standing like that? This is a duel not a boxing match.’ Yuzu thought to herself  

“You don’t have to tell me twice! I draw!” Sawatari started his turn. “First things first I’ll summon my Eidos the Underworld Squire!”  

Eidos: Lvl; 2 Atk: 800 Def: 1000  

A monster clad in black armor with a long strand of hair made its way to the field with a royal presence. “Say hello to my new monster! But it won’t be staying for long since due to its effect, I can gain an additional normal summon this turn. I’ll use that normal summon to tribute summon, appear to the stage, Mobius the Frost Monarch!”  

Mobius the Frost Monarch: Lvl; 6 Atk: 2400 Def: 1000  

A monster with a large red cape and white and blue rounded armour appeared onto Sawatari’s side of the field.  

“Then I’ll activate my monster's effect! When its tribute summoned, I can target two spell or trap cards you control and destroy them! Freeze Break!” Sawatari declared his monsters' effect as two of the man’s set cards were frozen over and destroyed.  

“But don’t think I’m done! I activate the spell tribute carnival! This turn I can tribute summon again!” Sawatari his spell card. “He’s doing it again?!” Yuzu shouted in surprise.  

“I’ll tribute my Mobious the Frost Monarch to summon my Mobius the Mega Monarch!”  

Mobius the Mega Monarch: Lvl; 8 Atk: 2800 Def:1000  

An even larger and more regal looking monster despite having the same general visage replaced its inferior version on the field.  

“Due to Mega Monarch’s effect, I can tribute summon it by tributing 1 monster that has been tributed summoned. But now it’s time for Mega Monarch’s second effect! Since I tributed a Water attribute monster I can target up to 3 spell or trap cards on the field and destroy them!” Sawatari continued.  

“Oh, you might want to use them mister!” Sawatari’s lackeys advised despite knowing what comes next. “Ah but that won’t work. Due to Mega Monarch’s effect the cards targetted cannot be activated! Go Blizzard Break!”  

As Sawatari declared his effect a large blizzard appeared in the room, strangely everyone felt the temperature drop. ‘There isn’t a solid vision system, but I can feel the cold?’ Yuzu questioned as she shivered.  

‘Hmph that’s annoying, he destroyed my Lost Vambrace, but oh well I can’t complain that he took my bait.’ Yuto thought to himself which was interrupted by someone wearing the face of his dear (girl)friend.  

“Hey mister you said things would be fine so confidently! But you’re wide open, just let me handle thi-” As Yuzu was about to continue the man looked at her in the eye with a calm and determined look, equivalent to a veteran sailor looking onto a stormy sea.  

“She’s right! I’ll finish this quick battle! I attack directly with Mega Monarch!” Sawatari ordered his monster to attack the doughnut thief.  

“I activate the effect of the three copies of the spell card The Phantom Knights of Shadow Veil from my graveyard!” The man with rugged clothes declared.  

“From the grave?!” Sawatari’s friends said in unison. Yuzu watched on with interest and curiosity at who this mistery man was.  

“Due to their effect when I would take a direct attack I can special summon them to my field as monsters in defense position.” The man explained as he placed all of his spells onto the field.  

Shadow Veil: Lvl; 4 Atk: 0 Def: 0  

“Tch! So, you placed those cards down just hoping I would destroy them? How gimmicky!” Sawatari accused his opponent of.  His opponent simply remained silent, which annoyed the blond-haired duelist even more.  

“Fine! I attack one of your Veil’s!” Sawatari said, making up his mind. As the attack landed shockwaves were felt throughout the building. ‘What was that?’ Yuzu noticed as some of the windows started to rattle.  

‘Ok this guy has no idea what he’s doing, he just got lucky I decided to play it safe and summon Mobius. On my next turn, no matter what monster he summons I can tribute it with my Monarch’s Stormforth and then if he has any more return them with the effect of the Raiza in my hand.’ Sawatari reasoned with himself calming down.  

“I end my turn.”  

“My turn.” The man with purple hair stated, the tense form that he held at the start of the duel faded as he relaxed his fighter's form.  

‘As I thought he isn’t going to attack me; in that case I just have to make sure that I don’t harm him too bad so that he can still answer most of my questions.’ Yuto concluded.  

“With my two level four Phantom Knights of Shadow Veil I build the overlay network.” The echo from the mask was near deafening as that engine sound from the man’s duel disk roared. “WAIT WHAT!?!?” Sawatari cried out.  

‘Xyz summoning?!’ Yuzu thought as she watched on. The man began to chant his monster’s summoning “Fang’s born from pitch black darkness descend to fight against the powers of stupidity! Appear Rank 4, Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon!”  

Dark Rebelion Xyz Dragon: Rank; 4 Atk: 2500 Def: 2000  

A purple dragon with large cable like wings, razor sharp fangs and claws, several spikes sticking out of the creatures' body and two glowing yellow eyes illuminating the darkness of the warehouse.  

The warehouse began to shake at the summoning of this dragon as several of the windows were shattered just from the sheer force of its entrance to the field.  

Somewhere in the city there were several readings that alerted someone to the summoning of such a monster.  

“Xyz dragon...” Yuzu looked up at it with a bit of awe and also a strange familiar sense of dread and anxiety.  

“Who are you?!” Sawatari questioned the man angrily. The purple haired duelist did not respond. “I activate the effect of Dark Rebellion. By detaching an overlay unit, I can target one level 5 or higher monster you control and halve its attack, then Dark Rebellion gains that lost attack. I use both of its units. Treason Discharge!”  

Several chains made of lightning wrapped around Sawatari’s monster as it got weaker. In the meantime, Dark Rebelion could be heard howling at the increase in its own strength.  

Mobius the Mega Monarch Atk: 2800 -> 1400 -> 700  

Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon Atk: 2500 -> 3900 -> 4600  

“Battle.” The echoed voice declared coldly. “Wait wait wait wa-” Sawatari tried to convince his opponent. “I attack Mobius the Mega Monarch with Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon, Lightning Fang of Disobey!” The dragon roared as its wings spread open and dived at the monster with its fang on the bottom of its chin.  

Sawatari Lp; 4000 -> 100  

As the monster’s colided a huge shockwave occurred all around the warehouse setting several sparks around lighting some of the wrappers left around the place on fire.  

Sawatari was blasted back by the force, his friends watched on as they ducked for cover under anything they could find. The blond-haired duelist was currently against a wall barely able to hold himself up.  

“I-I’m still alive?” He said still being shell-shocked. “I activate the effect of Phantom Knights Spear. I can banish this card from my graveyard to deal 100 points of damage to you.” The purple haired man finished.  

“Wait no, no, no!” Sawatari shouted in a panic as he saw a spear form around 10 meters away from his before being shot out. “Wait!” Yuzu also yelled out as she saw a gnarly spear about to pierce the monarch user.   

Thankfully the spear just barely missed Sawatari’s main body and pierced his jacket. In the shockwave of the clash as the duel came to a close the straps that had held the mask to Yuto’s face to come lose and fall off.  

As Yuzu looked at the very clearly young man’s face she was met with a flurry of different emotions. The dominant one being confusion, she was trying to fit together opposing pieces of information that didn’t make any sense to her. She felt a bit dizzy while looking at the boy’s face.  

“Yuya Sakaki?!!!” Sawatari tried to shout but his voice was too weak, he soon passed out from exhaustion “Guy’s let's get out of here!” One of his goons said as he picked up his friend and carried him away.  

 Yuto looked a little confused and walked over to Yuzu. “Ruri... why are you in Standard? Why are you dressed like that and why are you making that face? Do you not remember me?” He said with a confused and pained look on his face.  

“Uh, wha- huh?” Was the only thing Yuzu could get out before a bright pink light started to flash in her eye. “What’s happening?” She asked, trying to catch her breath. However, as she looked back at the boy with her best friend’s face, she found nothing.  

Several footsteps could be heard coming from the docks and as Yuzu looked over, she found in his normal clothes still somewhat sweating and catching his breath was her best friend Yuya Sakaki.  

“H-hey I saw a bunch of people run out of here before hand do you know what happened? Ayu told me that you went to go ‘take care’ of Sawatari.” He asked innocently.  

Yuzu looked at her bracelet and back to Yuya before collapsing onto her knees from the whiplash of everything she just experienced. “Yuzu!” Yuya expressed his worries for the pink haired girl as he went down to check if she was alright.  

She was not. Not quite.  

----------------------  

Somewhere In A Different World.  

The smell of oil was palpable, it was so thick and present in the air one would think that the garage room was simply made of it. The sound of a clanking of metal could be heard, the tightening of metal and the bumps of the wrench creating the racket.  

“Hmph! Hmph!” Grunting came from the throat of a young man. Soon it came to an end. “Alright! That should be the last of the repairs!” He said happily.  

“You sure about that? You accidentally thrashed it on your last ride out, you don’t want to make it worse by not fixing it properly because you were lazy.” A more feminine but still youthful voice nagged.  

“Alright, Alright, I got it. I’ll do another once over.” He replied with a tone. “Good, you really are reckless on that thing aren’t you? Yugo.” A girl with green hair said in a light voice to her dear old childhood friend.  

“Hey I know how to have fun is all! Besides I'm going to need to know how to pull stunts like that for the friendship cup it’s coming up in the next couple of weeks!” A boy with yellow and blue hair complained.  

“Ok you make a fair point. I guess sometimes a broken clock is right twice a day.” The girl said playfully.  

“Hah! More than twice Rin!” Yugo said happily as he ran over the list of repairs for their duel runner  

Chapter Text

It was a cold day. A breeze shifted through trees in a city that Yuzu did not recognize. Billboards advertised the different objects of desire, just in time for the season. Lights could be seen plastered all over the concrete jungle. Hung from rooftop to rooftop. The sounds of birds were infrequent, however their song was welcome into the several choirs that were happening throughout the city. 

With no control over her body's actions Yuzu saw as she was walking toward an area she recognized. The same park that she had seen almost every night in one form or another. As the pink haired girl watched on, she felt the cold air on her cheeks, seeing the mist of her own breath against the chill of the winter’s night. 

As she felt herself sit firmly on a freezing cold wooden bench she gazed off into the beautiful and strangely familiar city, its lights dancing like comets moving across the sky in her eyes. As she admired the beauty of the location, she heard the creak of the bench as another figure sat next to her. 

Looking over she couldn’t quite make out the face of the figure but for some strange reason it felt like she had seen it many times before. Yuzu noticed her mouth began to move but couldn’t make out the words she was producing. Her hand reached into a pocket and felt her fingers wrapped around some sort of wrapped rectangular box. 

Pulling out the box she handed it over to the figure. More words spilled out of her and the strange figure’s mouth’s, but she noted the presence of butterflies in her stomach upon hearing laughter coming from the figure. As the laughter died out the figure pulled out a golden locket and placed it in the gloved hand of Yuzu. 

As her eyes glanced over the inside of the locket she tried to perceive what picture was in it, however she could not make out any discernable figure as her sight became a bit fuzzy with warm tears against her cheeks which were red from the cold. 

“Thank you _ _ _ _ !” Were the only intelligible words that the pink haired girl could make out from her mouth. 

Yuzu suddenly woke up. As she did, she looked down at her silver and rose-pink bracelet with a small tear still in her eye. For a second she could swear she saw it glow a hue similar to yesterday. 

-------------------------------- 

Steps could be heard echoing throughout the near empty halls of the top floor of the massive skyscraper of the LEO Corporation. The lack of any other noise, a testament to the prestige that many lack to be able to simply be in these halls. 

A woman completely in red, dark red hair, a bright red business suit and even brighter red lipstick and high heels were the ones creating the cacophony of steps throughout this floor. As the woman opened a grand set of doors into a board room she made her way over to the comfy blue armchair at the end of the room. 

Sitting down wearily she waited patiently for the person who would fully explain the current situation to her. ‘Hmph, hopefully Reiji can fill me in on this concisely. It’s been a while since having a simple and straight conversation.’ The woman thought as she remembered her travels and all the deals and loopholes she had to navigate on her recent travels abroad. 

As she sat, the door directly to the side of the giant display system opened up the sound of computers coolers whirring could be heard briefly before being shut off again by the sound. “Mother.” A grey-haired duelist greeted his mother while nodding. Wearing a clever looking blue sweater, white pants and business shoes along with bright red glasses and a long flowing scarf.  

“Ah Reiji, it’s good to see you again after my business trips.” Himaka Akaba said showing a bit of informal happiness at seeing her son again. However, the grey-haired CEO just shifted his glasses as he began to mentally prepare to answer the questions that were inevitably going to be asked. “Yes, it’s been a while mother.” 

“Well, enough with reunions anyway. Just as I arrive back from all of those long trips of making deals and forming new locations for LDS, I come to find that there’s an entirely new summoning method developed right here.” The older woman said with an entertained smirk on her face. 

“Yes, that is correct. It is known as pendulum summoning. Using pendulum cards, it allows the user to summon multiple monsters at the same time. Even high-level monsters without tributing.” Reiji explained as the red-haired woman sat with a more serious look on her face taking in all the information that was being presented as the display screen lit up. 

“Fortunately, we have already detected the energy type and the basics of it already, but we need a closer look for more information about it to be able to fully replicate it.” Reiji continued. “And do you think it has anything to do with the enemy?” Himaka asked her eldest son. 

“Potentially, the real interesting fact are the duelists who possess the knowledge of this summoning method. Yuya Sakaki and Yuzu Hiiragi.” Reiji put up both of their profiles on the display screen. 

“Both of their win rates are under 60 percent... They don’t seem to be anything special.” Himaka commented as she glanced over to her son neglecting to read past the first couple of statistics that she had grown used to glancing at. 

“The founder, Yuya Sakaki, is the son of Yusho Sakaki.” Reiji replied simply as he shifted his glasses. The woman looked over with panic on her face before speaking. “Don’t tell me it has something to do with him, does it?” 

“I don’t know. But I have reasons to believe that it doesn’t. Either way I would need to get a closer look at them before making a final conclusion.” Reiji finished. The air got tense as both people in the room remained silent. 

“Well either way that can be tested somewhat soon.” Reiji broke the tense air, his mother looking up at him with intrigue. “Yesterday, mayoral candidate Sawatari’s son was attacked...” 

----------------------------- 

Yuya had finally arrived at Yusho duel school. Despite it being a great day and a Saturday, they still had to do study work on the basics. As Shuzo was going over the basics of tribute summoning Yuya noticed the sound of munching as Sora was snacking in class ‘As usual’ Yuya thought. 

He turned his head around to look at Yuzu as Tatsuya was answering a question, she appeared to be in a daze. ‘She seemed really off-put ever since yesterday...’ Yuya thought to himself as he returned his attention back to the lecture. 

“And finally monsters of level 7 or higher need 2 tributes to summon.” Tatuya finished. ‘Showoff’ Ayu and Futoshi both thought at the same time. 

“Full marks Tatsuya! That concludes our segment on tribute summoning. I’m going to talk more about fusion summoning now but I’ve never done it before, so I'll only cover the basics of it.” Shuzo explained as he moved the slides of the projector in the dark room. 

“Here I'll show you how!” Sora shouted. “I fuse this bagel of mine, and this donut I found in the kitchen into a delicious combo!” Sora said with a cute crocodile grin on his face, knowing well that Shuzo was about to erupt. 

“Hey that’s mine! I was saving that!” Shuzo cried out almost deafening the students before calming down. Sora giggled before putting the food down and looked on with amusement. 

“Ok well anyway that aside... Fusion is the combination of two monsters normally through the application of a fusion card called polymerization. Monsters are sent directly from the hand or field to the graveyard and the fusion monster is summoned from the extra deck.” Shuzo concluded as he showed a step-by-step guide. 

“And what about Xyz summon??” Yuzu asked standing up from her desk. She realized her position and decided to sit back down with a bit of a blush. Sora looked over at her with a bit of intrigue and the others with a mix of concern and confusion at the outburst. 

“W-well I know the basics of the summoning, but I've obviously never been able to obtain the cards necessary to actually perform it. Even LDS has decently few Xyz teachers in their course...” Shuzo clarified. 

“A-ah sorry then I just... I just wanted to know more about it.” Yuzu said while glancing over to Yuya with a heavy look in her eyes. ‘Yesterday... I’m so sure that it was him... and even still I also am so sure it wasn’t.’ She thought to herself before the group were interrupted by a loud shouting originating from outside. 

“Oh, what is it now?” Yuya complained as he got up from his desk, Yuzu shortly yet hesitantly following soon after. Once the duo got outside into the fresh air and light of the Saturday afternoon they were met with a couple of familiar faces. 

The first of which was one of their oldest friend Gongenzaka, the others being not so friendly faces. Many of Sawatari’s friends were currently engaged in an argument with the steadfast duelist. 

“Hey Gongenzaka, why are these guys here?” Yuya queried. “Well I was just out for a run to train my legs, until I found them loitering around the school for some reason.” The larger teenager explained. 

“We’re here to get payback for what happened to Sawatari!” The one with bright green hair shouted at Yuya. “Yea! He’s currently suffering in the hospital because of what you did yester!” The goon next to him added on. 

“Wait what?! I didn’t do anything to Sawatari!” Yuya protested. “Oh really?? Why don’t you ask your friend there? You saw it you know you did.” The green haired one said pointing to Yuzu with a grin on his face. 

“What? Yuzu what the hell are these guys talking about?” Yuya asked Yuzu with a look of sheer confusion on his face. “W-well I don’t know...” Yuzu responded, her eyes filled with worry.  

“I was at the school basically all day yesterday and I stayed behind with the rest of the guys! I showed up at the port and you were the only one there!” Yuya tried to reason. 

Yuzu looked to the ground and stayed silent as she became lost in thought. ‘I know he was wearing different clothes... And his hair and eyes weren’t the same either... But even still...’  

Yuzu did not answer Yuya’s plea. 

“Tch, Tch, Tch. Well either way we’re here to get payback!” The shortest member of the gang piped up. “Yea, we’ll make sure that everyone knows about what happened!” The green haired teen piped up. 

A commanding feminine voice spoke up. “Now, now boys. I applaud you for your loyalty, but I can take it from here.” A fairly tall woman walked just behind the group. Himaka Akaba looked at the argument before smirking. 

“Apologies for my manners. I’m here as an official representative of LDS, I’m here to discuss the incident that involves some of the students of this school that happened yesterday.” The woman explained in a slightly condescending tone. 

“Please boy’s just head out. I have it from here.” she said quietly. The group looked at each other before nodding. “Allright but Yuya Sakaki, this isn’t over!” The tallest member of the group said as they moved off the property trampling on the poor grass in the process. 

“What even is this all about?” Yuya asked the older woman. “I don’t know about all this talk with Sawatari in the hospital, but Yuya would never do that!” Gongenzaka supported his best friend. Yuzu remained silent. 

“How about we talk more about this inside?” The woman in red didn’t ask for permission before making her way through the duelists into the building. Yuya took a look at Yuzu who was still looking down not making eye contact with an almost pained expression on her face. 

‘What happened at that warehouse yesterday?’ Yuya thought before following the woman into the building. 

------------------------- 

The air was almost electric. Himaka had made herself known to the rest of the school along with the reason for her arrival and went to go wait in the breakroom to discuss the matter at hand. Sora had been told to watch over the younger students. 

As the woman sat down on the blue couch in the school’s break room the rest of the group moved over to the other side of the room. Shuzo sat directly opposite Himaka with a small creak from the old chair.  

“So, you really think that Yuya injured Sawatari?” Shuzo questioned the woman with a protective look in his eye.  

“He was seen at the scene by 4- no, 5 people” The woman said as she looked over to the pink haired girl. “So, what’s the plan? Are you planning on trying to seek damages?” Shuzo said trying to cut straight to the point. “While we could, no that is not the avenue that we wish to pursue.” Himaka answered. 

Yuya and the others breathed a silent sigh of relief, however this respite was quickly cut off by the woman sitting across from them. 

“However! Because of this act our pride as a school has been damaged! We won’t back down until this has been restored!” Himaka shouted out breaking the expectation of her normally stoic behavior. 

Shuzo looked at her with surprise as he thought to himself ‘LDS has been going on a crusade recently, taking over other schools all over the world... I wonder if this whole thing is just one giant set up to get to us...’ 

“And what’s the deal to bring your ‘honor’ back then, huh?” Yuya asked a little annoyed at the woman’s aggressiveness. Everyone looked at the tomato haired boy. Some with a look of approval and others with uncertainty. But Himika simply looked at him with intrigue before answering. 

“Quite simply, we will have a competition of sorts. Some of our best duelists against yours, if we were to win the Yusho duel school and all of its students would become a part of LDS and if you were to win this entire matter simply goes away.” Himaka explained. 

‘With this I can see what truly makes both Yuya Sakaki and Yuzu Hiiragi capable of pendulum summoning by having access to their decks. And more over to find out if they really are connected to him.’   

“ So, you’re using this whole event as a scapegoat to get to Yuya and my daughter then hm?” Shuzo accused the businesswoman. The rest of the group now really started to pay attention; the air was so dense that you could practically choke on it.  

Himaka took a moment to prepare herself, almost patting her already pristine suit down for any flaws with her eyes before answering. “Around 8 years ago, at the dawn of the concept of action duels Yusho Sakaki pioneered the concept of entertainment duels. He even today, despite his recent *ahem* shortcomings, is celebrated as a revolutionary duelist. Now today his son manages to create a brand-new summoning method, I simply want to allow pendulum summoning to be a common factor amongst dueling. LDS could have several courses that can learn to really tap into the potential of the method. You really should just join us right now it really would be for the best.” 

Another long silence followed her answer. “Are you done with your sales pitch?” Yuya said with more visible annoyance. “I’m not sure what this is all about, but you using whatever happened to Sawatari as an excuse to throw your weight around is annoying.” He stated plainly. 

“The Man agrees with Yuya, you don’t care about this place or the honor of your school. You just wanna’ get your hands on Yuya and Yuzu’s pendulum cards.” Gongenzaka backed up his friend. Yuzu looked back and forth with uncertainty and Shuzo just continued his stare down with the woman. 

“Well, I guess it can’t be helped then. I assume you'll want to put up a fight instead of going to face charges though, right?” Himaka said with a small smirk. 

Shuzo looked to Yuya and both nodded. “Of course!” He shouted out getting fired up. “Let’s get ready then!” The woman said standing up with incredible haste and walking toward the entrance of the building. As Shuzo quickly followed afterwards the 3 friends were left alone in a moment of solace. 

“Yuzu... do you really think that I did that yesterday?” Yuya said as he stood up looking over to the pink haired girl. 

“I- I honestly don't know." 

----------------------- 

The Yusho group reconvened in the viewing room next to the solid vision system. With this the younger of the group were all incredibly confused about the current situation. The woman with red hair finally came back except this time she was followed by several duelists. 

One of them had purple hair along with several ornaments with gold plating around his hair, he wore a blue and indigo suit and a cocky grin. The second one was a girl, dark brown skin and ruby eyes, she wore a simple cardigan and practical skirt with combat shorts underneath. Finally, a shorter teenager followed up the rear, wearing a baggy kendo uniform and carrying a practice sword with him. 

“These are the some of the highest-ranking duelists in the junior division of the Miami tournament.” Himaka introduced the group with a sense of pride in her voice. She looked up to Shuzo who was currently in the booth and smiled. 

“Each of them is a master of a unique summoning style as well.” She concluded. 

“Wait what?!” The children of the Yusho group gasped in suprise. The purple haired one spoke up. “Yup! That’s right, we’re basically top of the food chain!” He bragged while styling his hair. 

He pointed to himself his confidence infecting the very atmosphere around him making it seem more sparkly “My name is Hokuto Shijiima! I'm a master of Xyz summoning and I’ll be your opponent today, so don’t lose too fast, ok?” he pointed towards Yuya. 

‘This guy is completely full of himself...’ Everyone thought (including his allies) 

“Tch, fine. Don’t underestimate me though, I’ll put on a show like one you haven’t seen yet!” Yuya responded, getting riled up. Both duelists locked their eyes and started to enter the space where their monsters would have the chance to duke it out. 

“Good luck Yuya! Show him our schools burning passion!” Shuzo shouted. “Yea good luck big bro! Show him who’s boss!” Ayu Tatsuya and Futoshi cheered.  

“The Man will be cheering for you buddy!” “Good luck Yuya!” Gongenzaka and Sora added on.  

Yuzu felt immense guilt cloud her mind. ‘All day, the only thing I've been thinking about was if I really believed what I saw. I never actually considered Yuya in any of it... I can make it up to him here though!’  

“YUYA YOU GOT THIS SO DON’T LOSE OK!?” Yuzu shouted at the top of her lungs. Yuya after rubbing his ears (much like everyone else) looked over to the glass and gave small chuckle and made a silly face breaking some of the tension in the room. 

‘Ah she really did pick up some enthusiasm from her old man... But not to focus on that now!’ A voice cut through his thoughts “The ones who are being challenged will get to pick the action field, so if you wouldn’t mind Mr. Hiiragi.” Himaka said. 

‘For the field... well Yuya is a star so...’ “Boil your blood Yuya!!! Fight with the power of the stars! Action field spell activate! Cosmic Sanctuary!” Shuzo yelled through the speakers causing everyone in the building to almost go deaf. 

As the environment shifted a beautiful skyline was painted onto the roof, ruins made themselves around the two duelists along with the twinkling stars in the sky that beckoned adventurers to explore them. 

As Hokuto looked around, he started to laugh as he realised his position. “How hilarious! He picked a field that I'm an expert in!” He laughed as he started to attach his duel disk. 

“WHAT??!!” Shuzo said in dispair. “His name means Big Dipper... You really could have seen this coming.” Sora jabbed at Shuzo. 

Tatsuya started to tap on his own duel disk as he suddenly made a worried face. “What is it Tatuya?” Ayu asked concernedly. “He’s played 58 duels this season and won 53 of them. He’s an amazing duelist...” Tatsuya remarked looking up. “But Yuya will win- right?” Futoshi replied with a worried smile on his face. 

The other two remained silent. 

The duelists started their chant. 

Action Duel! Yuya V.S. Hokuto  

Yuya: LP: 4000     Hand; x 5  

Hokuto: LP: 4000    Hand; x 5  

“I’ll take the first move!” Hokuto declared. “First up I’ll normal summon my Constellar Algeidi!”  

Constellar Algeidi: Lvl; 4 Atk: 1600 Def: 1400  

A dark-skinned woman wearing pure white armor and cape with a sprinkle of small sparkling. “I activate its effect! When it’s normal summoned, I can special summon one level 4 or lower Constellar monster in my hand! Appear! Constellar Klaus!” 

Constellar Klaus: Lvl; 4  Atk: 1800 Def: 700  

A centaur clad in white armor appeared on Hokuto’s field, it wielded a large glistening and golden bow. “I’m not done yet though, since I have a Constellar monster on my field, I can special summon my Constellar Caduceus from my hand!” 

Constellar Caduceus: Lvl; 4 Atk: 1600 Def: 1550  

A humanoid form with large golden armor with blue orbs embedded in it, holding a large scepter like caduceus in its hand appeared in a burst of starlight. 

“He summoned so many so fast...” Ayu commented worriedly. ‘Three monsters with the same level...’ Yuzu thought, thinking back to the evening prior with the stranger wearing the face of her best friend. 

Hokuto smiled before continuing. “I activate the effect of Constellar Caduceus! I can add one Constellar spell card from my deck to my hand. I’ll add Constellar Star Cradle.” 

“Next up is Constellar Klaus’ effect! Twice per turn I can either raise or reduce the level of a monster on my field. I’ll raise both Klaus’ and Algeidi’s levels by one! Constellar Raise!”  Klaus raised its bow and shot two golden arrows into the sky. The two arrows split apart and rained down in a glorious shower of light. 

Constellar Klaus: Lvl; 4 -> 5  

Constellar Algeidi: Lvl; 4 -> 5  

“Say what you want about Hokuto, but he certainly does know how to put on a light show.” The ruby eyed duelist commented with a bit of a snark on her face.  “It’d be more enjoyable if he could shut up about his ‘greatness’ for 2 seconds though.” The swordsman added on. 

“This isn’t good...” Tatsuya said out loud, however he was cut off by an unexpected voice. “It’s ok, there’s no way Yuya would lose to a guy using summoning like this.” Sora responded while unwrapping a lollipop. 

“Now with level 5 Constellar Klaus and Algeidi I build the overlay network! Through the beautiful cosmos travels the shining warrior! Xyz summon, Arise! Constellar Pleiades!”  

Constellar Pleiades: Rank; 5 Atk: 2500 Def: 1500  OVU: 2  

A monster appeared in a flash of radiant light from the black void, a humanoid form carrying a double-bladed sword, draped in armor with golden accents and a long flowing cape made from a nebula. 

Yuya gazed on with an uneasy look, despite this he tried to give a confident smile. “He summoned an Xyz monster on his first turn?!” Gongenzaka said with an uncomfortable look on his face. “Don’t give up Yuya!” Shuzo screamed over the microphone. 

“This is the power of someone at the top of LDS! You don’t stand a chance even with your weird form of summoning!” Hokuto challenged his opponent with an extended finger. “You seem way too sure of yourself, it’s not good to have that big of an ego you know.” Yuya snarked back. “It’s not ego it’s the truth!!!” Hokuto shouted. 

“Tch, I'll show you on the next turn, I end my turn.” Hokuto declared. 

“I draw!” Yuya shouted. He took a good look at his hand as he started formulating a plan of attack. ‘Ok... good, I have two pendulum monsters with different enough scales and also drew a monster with more attack points than his. I should be able to wipe out his monsters this turn.’ Yuya nodded. 

“With Scale 3 Entermate Turn Toad and Scale 8 Timegazer Magician I set the pendulum scale!” As Yuya set the pendulum scale and a gigantic pendulum appeared in the sky there was a small glimmer on the horizon. Seeing this Hokuto gave a noticeable smirk. 

‘What is he smiling about?’ Yuya questioned for a brief moment before continuing. “With the pendulum scale set I can summon monsters with levels 4 to 7 at the same time! Pendulum of my soul draw a grand arc of light across the sky! Pendulum summon! Appear my monster friends! Entermate Whipsnake and Entermate Elephammer!” 

Entermate Whipsnake: Lvl; 4 Atk: 1700 Def: 600  

Entermate Elephammer: Lvl; 6 Atk: 2600 Def: 1800  

Two monsters descended onto Yuya’s field, one being a swordfish with glasses and a bowtie and a gigantic blue elephant wearing a circus hat, vest, and tie with a gigantic hammer at the end of its trunk. “Yuya managed to get a monster with more attack points than Pleiades!” “He can do it!” Futoshi and Ayu cheered. “Don’t celebrate just yet.” Yuzu wisely said waiting to see what the opponent's monster could do. 

Several beautiful blue lights shined in the sky of the field, Hokuto gave a confident toothy grin as comets began to enter the atmosphere of the dueling arena, crashing into several key locations. 

“Next up on the act, I'll activate my-” As Yuya was about to continue his turn he was cut off by his purple haired opponent. “I activate the effect of my Constellar Klaus! By detaching one overlay unit I can return one card on your field to your hand, I’m sending Elephammer.” Hokuto smiled as the large elephant made a shocked face as in a burst of light in returned back to Yuya’s hand. 

Constellar Pleiades ORU: 2 -> 1  

“Elephammer!” Yuya shouted in worry as he looked over at his opponent with an annoyed look on his face. “Oh no! His monster got sent back to his hand, he won’t be able to attack Hokuto now...” Futoshi said in a disappointed tone. “Did you forget?” Tatsuya replied to his friend with a concerned and slightly incredulous look. “Forget what?” Futoshi said looking between his two friends. He soon got his answer, however. 

“In that case I activate Whipsnake’s effect! I can swap the attack and defense points of one of your monsters, I choose Constellar Pleiades!” Yuya declared as his monster began to hypnotize his opponent's monster. 

Constellar Pleiades Atk: 2500 -> 1500  

Hokuto, acknowledging the situation he was in hung onto his golden monster’s arm as it jumped away using its cape almost as a glider. “You won’t get away! Battle, Whipsnake attacks Pleiades!” Yuya declared his attack as he wound up his monster which made itself at home on his arm and slung it at his opponent. 

With a series of quick dodges as fast as a comet Hokuto managed to dodge for long enough to land on top of a large pillar, beautifully crafted out of stone. Whipsnake began to charge up another attack as Hokuto held up a hand as a familiar blue light of a comet shined. 

“Why isn’t he moving anymore?” Yuzu said out loud confused. “Don’t doubt his methods, even if he constantly brags about them.” The auburn brown-haired duelist replied still looking at the duel. As whipsnake was just about to reach the larger of the two monsters next to Hokuto a beam of blue light streaked by right through Hokuto’s hand. 

“I activate Action Magic: Star Sacrifice! When a monster would be destroyed I can pay 500 life points to negate that destruction, then the monster gains 500 attack points until the end of the next turn!” Hokuto declared as Whipsnake recoiled off the monster. Its golden plating and white armor started to shine a luminescent glorious glow as its attack power grew. 

“But you still take some damage.” Yuya concluded. 

Hokuto: LP; 4000 -> 3300  

Constellar Pleiades Atk: 1500 -> 2000  

“Pft, a measly 700 points means nothing. Is that really all you can do?” Hokuto said pridefully standing above Yuya quite literally now. Yuya looked at the cards in his hand and groaned internally. ‘This guy’s going to be a problem. This is the first duel as well... I can’t afford to lose this for the school!’ 

“I set one card face down and end my turn, at this point Whipsnake’s effect ends. Come at me!” Yuya said trying to confidently provoke his opponent. 

Constellar Pleiades Atk: 2000 -> 3000  

“I’ll finish you this turn Sakaki Yuya! I draw!” Hokuto said drawing for his turn. “First up is Constellar Caduceus’ effect, I can add a Constellar spell card from my deck to my hand. I add Constellar Twinkle!” Hokuto declared. 

Hokuto Hand; x5  

More comets with some carrying action cards fell around the arena. 

Yuya began to shift over to one of the cards slowly walking while keeping his eyes fixed upon his opponent. Unphased Hokuto continued. “I then activate my Burden of The Mighty spell card!” Hokuto said happily sliding it into his duel disk. 

“Bah! How annoying!” Gongenzaka noted on the sidelines. ‘A classic huh?’ Sora noted in his head. “Wait what-” Ayu went to ask a question before hearing Hokuto go to explain his spells effect. 

“Now all monsters lose attack points equal to their level x 100.” Hokuto said with a cruel smile on his face. ‘Tch, Xyz monsters don’t have levels...’ Yuya thought trying to conceal how badly he wanted to break out into a sprint to the nearest action card. 

Constellar Caduceus Atk: 1600 -> 1200  

Entermate Whipsnake Atk; 1700 -> 1300  

“Now I activate Constellar Twinkle, this card levels up one of my monsters by one or two, I level up my Caduceus by 1.” 

Caduceus: Lvl; 4 -> 5  

“Oh no, the only reason he would raise his monster's level is...” Yuzu mentioned to have her statement finished by her biggest friend. “He plans to Xyz summon again.”  

Yuya seeing the warning signs, immediately began to sprint toward a temple where an action card could be seen at the roof. He wore a serious expression as he tried to focus as much as possible. As he went to reach for Whipsnake, it grabbed onto a pole sticking out of the monolithic temple.  

“I got you! I activate Pleiades’ effect! I return one card on your field to your hand!” As Whipsnake began to be covered in light it lost its strength as it made a shocked face. 

Yuya who was in the middle of a swing began to fly upwards towards the invisible ceiling. “YUYA!” A majority of the school screamed. Luckily Yuya managed to with the last of Whipsnake’s strength to spin back around onto his legs landing onto the ceiling with a small crack. “Gyah!!” Yuya grunted in pain. The Yusho gang let out a sigh of relief that their friend was not grievously harmed. 

“How dirty! Using that during a move like that!” Gongenzaka shouted indignantly toward the LDS students. They simply looked at him with a brief glance of superiority before returning their attention to the duel. 

As the final bits of light surrounded Whipsnake Yuya looked up from his pain and touched his duel disk. “I activate my trap card! Commanding Prescence! Since I control an Entermate monster I can change all monsters on your side of the field into defense position!” Yuya revealed. Shuzo’s shouts of support rang through the stage as Whipsnake took it’s bow back to Yuya's hand. 

Constellar Caduceus OVU: 1 -> 0  

‘I know that card on the roof is Meteor Shield, it’s a card that will allow him to take my attack’s this turn... But I can plan around that.’ Hokuto thought. Yuya began to move towards it and very deliberately before adding it to his hand. 

“That’s not my turn over though. I then summon my Constellar Siat!” 

Constellar Siat: Lvl; 1 Atk: 100 Def: 1600  

A childlike figure wearing the same white luminescent armor of all of Hokuto’s other monster’s carrying a giant jar made an appearance. 

‘It looks kind of cute...’ Ayu thought to herself starting to blush a bit. “I activate Siat’s effect It can copy the level of one monster on the field or my graveyard! I copy Caduceus’ level.” Hokuto explained, eyes glaring at his opponent. 

“Here it comes again... Let’s see how I can get out of this one...” Yuya said under his breath clutching his pendulum to give him strength. Hokuto began his summoning chant. “Appear! Rank 5! Constellar Pleiades!” 

Constellar Pleiades (#2) : Rank; 5 Atk: 2500 Def: 1500 OVU: 2  

“Now you’re in for a real treat.” Hokuto said with an extremely detestable face, filled with pride and arrogance. “Just get on with your turn.” Yuya replied still wincing. 

Ayu looked on with concern. “Yuya seems so serious...” she noted. Yuzu continued to look out onto the field, and she couldn’t help but agree. ‘She’s right, he’s so concerned with the school and winning he’s forgetting to have fun and entertain the crowd... I’m not sure if Yuya would like to win that way at all.’ 

Yuzu took a deep breath before speaking. “YUYA! FORGET ABOUT WINNING AND START HAVING A GOOD TIME! THERE ARE PEOPLE WATCHING STILL!” she cheered at the top of her voice. Everyone and even Sora  

“SHE’S RIGHT KEEP YOUR HEART BURNING, YUYA!” Shuzo joined in content with his daughter’s burning cheering. 

Yuya looked up at the crowd waiting in the room before it fully crossed his mind. ‘They’re right, I completely forgot. How stupid of me, I don't need to worry about winning. I just have to show everyone a good time in this duel and that will be good enough for me. Yuya smiled as he looked at his opponent. 

“Well? I’m waiting for that super special secret move that you’re planning! C’mon let’s give everyone a great time!” Yuya said with a smile on his face, standing up on the roof trying to forget about the pain in his leg he looked down on Hokuto.  

A small blood vessel could be seen on Hokuto’s head. “You really think you’re in a position to joke around with me?” Hokuto said outraged someone would dare not take him 100 percent seriously in a duel at all times. 

“I’ll show you! I can summon this monster by using a Constellar Xyz monster! Rank Up Xyz Change! Soar through the endless horizon of deep space and become the light of humanity! Appear Rank 6, Constellar Ptolemy M7!” 

Constellar Ptolemy M7: Rank;6 Atk: 2700 Def: 2000 OVU: 1   

A dragonesque machine of pure white and gold rose up from the hole that swallowed Constellar Pleiades. Its wings seemingly taken from the former warrior’s cape as they were made of nebula. 

“There’s Hokuto’s strongest monster; this should be ending soon.” The dark-skinned girl said. 

“What do you think of my monster? It’s really awesome right? Unfortunately, it can’t use its effects on the turn it’s summoned this way.” Hokuto gloated; however, he only heard a “Mhm” of agreement. He looked up at Yuya only to find that he had a calm demeanor with a pleasant smile. 

“Let’s see if you can still look down on me after this then... Battle! I attack directly with Constellar Pleiades!” As the purple-haired duelist attacked, he hopped on the back of his dragon-like machine and started to fly to the other end of the arena. A mass of floating rock, meteor-like. He grabbed an action card. ‘This should help on the next turn.’ Hokuto reasoned with himself as he saw his monster charge up a slash with its sword. 

“I activate Action Magic: Meteor Shield! Whenever I would take battle damage this turn, that damage is negated!” Yuya activated his action card as he flipped off the roof to dodge the remainder of the attack perfectly landing in front of the temple. 

“Alright then! I set one card face down, then I activate my continuous spell Constellar Tempest. I then end my turn!” Hokuto stated. 

“KEEP BURNING YUYA!” Shuzo cheered happy that Yuya managed to survive the turn. “It’s not over yet! At this moment, the effect of Constellar Tempest activates! By sending all the overlay units of at least 2 Constellar Xyz monsters to the graveyard I can half your life points!” Hokuto said with a manic look up at the sky where a large sigil was forming. 

“Wait what?!” Yuya screamed in shock as the blast charged. A large pink ball of glowing energy built up like a star in the sky in contrast to the normally white and blue stars shown in the field. “Yuya stand strong!” Gongenzaka advised. 

The ball erupted into a small energy meteor storm as Yuya covered himself with his school jacket. “Agh!!” Yuya grunted as several pellets hit his body almost like being pelted with several stones. 

Yuya LP: 4000 -> 2000  

“Ahahahaha! How’s that now you idiot! Don’t ever look down on me again!” Hokuto screamed, getting his anger out. Yuya unveiled his cloak still wearing a bit of a pained smile on his face. ‘Why would he do that? He knows that now he won’t be able to stop my monsters, right? Unless...’ Yuya suddenly took note of the action card still present in his opponent's hand. ‘I need to work my way toward an action card, one that will either help with the attack this turn or survive the next. Regardless of that I need to act!’ 

“It’s my turn I draw!” Yuya looked at the draw and his smile widened. ‘This will help out, thanks for showing up’ 

“With the already set pendulum scale I pendulum summon, Pendulum of souls draw a fantastical arc of light through the sky!” 

Entermate Whipsnake: Lvl; 4 Atk: 1700 Def: 600  

Entermate Elephammer: Lvl; 6 Atk: 2600 Def: 2000  

Entermate Partnaga: Lvl; 5 Atk: 500 Def: 2100 (Def)  

Whipsnake Atk: 1700 -> 1300  

Elephammer Atk: 2600 -> 2000  

Partnaga Atk: 500 -> 0  

This time along with the previous actors a new friend joined the show. A much bigger snake with a cartoonish glove for a rattle with a top hat and bow tie. 

“Hold on there! I activate my set card, Xyz Reborn!” Hokuto activated his face down card. “This card allows me to summon one Xyz monster in my graveyard! Then I can attach this card to it as an overlay unit! Revive Constellar Pleiades!” 

“Oh no! Now he can return a monster of Yuya’s back to his hand!” Futoshi complained. “Don’t worry he’ll be fine.” Sora, who had opened yet another lollipop. ‘After all this guy is a complete amateur, I can’t even feel his Xyz summons.’ 

Yuya continued. “At this point Partnaga’s effect activates! When it’s summoned, I can choose one monster I control, and have it gain 300 attack points for every Entermate monster I control! I choose Whipsnake, since I have 3 Entermates Whipsnake gains 900 attack points!”  

Whipsnake Atk: 1300 -> 2200  

Hokuto let out a grunt of annoyance. ‘Tch, clever. Thanks to that damn snake and toad’s effect the obvious choice to send back Elephammer is now way more complex. Even If I send one of them back, he can still normal summon a monster. Even still...’  

“I activate the effect of Constellar Pleiades! I use one overlay unit to send Elephammer back to your hand!” Hokuto made his decision as Pleiades sent a wave of light which encompassed the giant monster sending it back to the entertainment duelist's hand. 

“Trying to keep an actor off the stage is rude you know! Thankfully we have someone willing to sub out! I tribute Entermate Partnaga to summon Elephammer! Pendulum monsters go to the extra deck instead of the graveyard when destroyed or tributed on the field.” Yuya explained as the giant snake gave a friendly wave with its tail before disappearing into the form of the blue elephant. 

“Next up is Turn Toad’s pendulum effect! Once per turn I can swap a monster's attack and defense points! I swap Pleaides number 1’s attack points. Then I’ll use Whipsnake’s effect swapping Ptolemey M7’s attack points with its defense points!” Yuya shifted over to the side of Hokuto while still remaining near the entrance of the temple to get a better angle as he declared his monsters' effects. 

Pleiades 1’s Atk: 2500 -> 1500  

Ptolemy M7 Atk: 2700 -> 2000  

Hokuto looked at him in confusion at what the boy was doing running around. Nevertheless, he braced himself for what may come. “Battle Elephammer Attacks Pleiades!” Yuya declared his attack.  

“Idiot! I activate Action Magic: Star Force! This card boosts my monsters attack by 1000 until the end of the next two turns!” Hokuto gloated as his monster started to shine brighter. 

Pleiades Atk: 1500 -> 2500  

“I wouldn’t be so sure Hokuto-san! I activate Elephammer’s effect when it attacks all of your spell and trap cards are returned to your hand! Hammer shot!” Yuya activated his monster's effect as instead of attacking the knight in shining armor it slammed the ground letting out a huge gust of wind. 

“Wait, then that means-” Hokuto realizing the implications of what just happened. “Yup! Burden of the mighty is returned to your hand! Thus, raising my monsters attack points again!” 

Whipsnake Atk: 2200 -> 2600  

Elephammer Atk: 2000 -> 2600  

“Keep going Elephammer!” The massive Elephant with the roar of a trumpet raised its hammer above the warrior as it brought it down smashing it to pieces. 

Hokuto LP: 3300 -> 3200  

“Ptolemy M7!” Hokuto called out to his monster to let him ride it. But his opponent was just a bit too quick. “Don’t think you’ll get away from this time! Whipsnake attacks Ptolemy M7!” The huge machine did it’s best to avoid the lashes of several strikes of the whip but the snake in the top hat just kept extending. 

After several missed bites Hokuto realized that no more action cards near him were available at the time. He managed to jump down onto the middle of the arena again just before the monsters made contact. The shockwave knocked him off balance. 

Hokuto LP: 3200 -> 2600  

‘That was annoying, but I still have another Pleiades. On my next turn I can overlay it again an-’ His train of thought came to a screeching halt at his opponent’s next words. 

“I activate Action Magic: Asteroid Entry!” Yuya declared. “Oh?” The girl in the blue sweater looked surprised at the activation of such a card. “When did he get that?” Ayu questioned struggling to keep pace with the high speeds the two were moving at. “Well, he-” Yuzu attempted to knowingly explain before being cut off. 

“I had Whipsnake grab it for me from behind one of those pillars when you were flying around!” Yuya explained. Yuzu did not look amused to have her sentence cut off mid-way. 

“Anyway, due to the effect of Asteroid Entry I can draw one card, then if it’s a monster as long as it is a lower level than any monsters you control, I can summon it.” Yuya smiled cheekily. 

“Xyz monsters don’t have levels, so as long as he draws a monster, he can summon it.” Tatsuya went on. Yuzu looked at him a bit indignantly, annoyed that he got to finish his sentence uninterrupted. 

‘C’mon I'm waiting here for you. My friend.” Yuya thought, trying to gather his concentration for this draw. For some reason, whenever he thought like this, when he desired for his favorite card to show up it somehow more often than not did. 

“I draw!” Yuya drew his card and looked at it. “All right! The showstopper is here! Come on out Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!” 

Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon: Lvl; 7 Atk: 2500 Def: 2000  

Pointing at the opponent's monster he directed his own to start a battle. “Odd-Eyes attacks Pleiades! Spiral Strike Burst!” The dragon jumped up and let out a sea of flames as it connected with the knight. However, the knight also jumped up and let out a slash of light which let out an explosion which destroyed both monsters. 

“I hope everyone enjoyed my turn and look forward to more on the next one! At this point Partnaga’s effect ends It’s your move Hokuto.” Yuya said bowing.  

Whipsnake Atk: 2600 -> 1700  

The younger children clapped with excitement at the evening of the odds. Now it was Hokuto who was in the worse situation. 

“You... you think you’re going to win this? Someone like me couldn’t lose to someone like you not ever! I draw” Hokuto now wore a furious expression on his face. 

“First up, Ill activate my continuous spells Constellar Tempest and Burden of the Mighty again!” 

Whipsnake Atk: 1700 -> 1300  

Elephammer Atk: 2600 -> 2000  

“Then I activate the effect of Constellar Twinkle in my graveyard! I banish Constellar Klaus to add it back to my hand!” 

Hokuto Hand; x 4  

The air suddenly got much more intense, the purple haired duelists desire to win infected the atmosphere itself. The Yusho duelists (plus Gongenzaka) were a bit off put by this. The group from LDS were staring with a bit of confusion before the swordsman came to a conclusion. “He’s really mad huh? He shouldn’t have done that.” His fellow student gave him a small side eye in agreement. 

“I then normal summon Constellar Pollux!” A monster with similar white armor appeared, it had duller gold outlining and was carrying a sword with two blades attached to the hilt. 

Constellar Pollux: Lvl; 4 Atk: 1700 Def: 600  

“I activate Pollux’s effect. I can normal summon a Constellar another time this turn! I normal summon Constellar Aldebaran!” This time, in a burst of light, a shorter monster still clad in armor holding a big orange ring of light appeared on the field. 

Constellar Aldebaran: Lvl; 3 Atk: 1300 Def: 800  

“I activate Constellar Twinkle! I raise Aldebaran’s level by 1” 

Constellar Aldebaran Lvl: 3 -> 4  

“Now he has two monsters with the same level again!” Ayu noted nervous about what comes next. The Constellar duelist looked on with a serious and angry expression, his brow completely furrowed. “I overlay level 4 Pollux and level 4 Aldebaran! Brave knight fighting through the darkness, with your fist break through the void of space! Xyz summon! Appear, Rank 4 Constellar Praesepe!” 

Constellar Praesepe: Rank; 4 Atk: 2400 Def: 800  

‘Oh, I could slightly feel that one.’ Sora noted. 

A large monster, almost mechanical with several machine-like attachments on its back leading into a gigantic goldeb cannon on its right arm descended from the hole in space made from the Xyz summon. 

“I’ll crush you this turn!” Hokuto said with a menacing grin, Yuya after seeing the monster immediately began to turn and run into the temple behind him. 

“Run Yuya!” Shuzo shouted into the room through the microphone. “I’m not just going to let you get away!” Hokuto said as he tried to begin chase but before he made it anywhere close to the building, The giant blue elephant blocked the entrance. “Elephammer’s stopping him from reaching Yuya it’s giving me shivers!” Futoshi shouted. 

Hokuto looked at the blockade of the Elephant. ‘Dammit, why is he running in the- Oh wait! It’s probably appeared there by now at the very end of the temple! Evasion! I need to attack before he gets there, thankfully it’s pretty well hidden.’ 

“Battle! I attack Entermate Whipsnake with Praespe! I now activate its effect! When a Constellar monster battles I can use one overlay unit to increase its attack points by 1000!” Hokuto’s monster dashed into the air and started charging its canon with golden energy. 

“But wait! Whipsnake’s still in the building with Yuya!” Yuzu shouted out. Hokuto replied with a laugh. “He shouldn’t have run in there if he didn’t know the risks! Go Praespe bring the house down! Star rail cannon!” Hokuto declared. Yuya could hear noises of something charging up outside as he ran through the hall. ‘Where is it? Where is it? Oh dam-’ 

Praespe Atk: 2400 -> 3400  

Praespe Atk: 3400 -> 2400  

As the golden energy shot out it was met with the roof of the temple. “YUYA!” The group shouted at the same time. The attack connected. The duel was over. 

The girl with dark hair sighed and nodded. “Figures, it’s impressive he got Hokuto this far but to be fair both of us would just beat him outright.” She reasoned. 

But something was off. 

The Solid vision was not deactivated. 

“Wait what?” The LDS student’s said almost simultaneously. As the smoke of the attack cleared, they were met with a familiar sight. A young man with goggles on, next to him were monsters which were the exact same of Yuya Sakaki’s 

“Phew that was dangerous.” He said happily while taking his goggles off. He had several bruises on his body; his cheek was cut lightly and had a line of fresh blood running down it. 

Wiping the blood off his cheek, he looked to his opponent. “Confused right? I couldn’t find Evasion, but I did find this!” Yuya stepped aside and revealed the glowing card. “Action Magic: Miracle! Luckily, I had Whipsnake with me, who pulled me out of most of the rubble in time! Thanks, buddy!” Yuya thanked his monster who started to blush a little from the praise. 

The school breathed a collective sigh of relief. “That was so scary!” Ayu cried out. “Don’t do that again Yuya!” Yuzu said anger over taking her now that the fear had worn off. “To be fair, Yuya always had been a risk taker!” Gongenzaka said proud of his friend who managed to survive. 

Yuya LP: 2000 -> 900  

“So is that is Hokuto?” Yuya said grinning. “I- I end my turn.” Hokuto said in response looking down. “Ok lets go! I draw! With the already set Pendulum Scale I pendulum summon! Revive my monster friends!” 

Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon: Lvl; 7 Atk: 2500 Def: 2000  

Entermate Partnaga: Lvl; 5 Atk: 500 Def: 2100  

Odd-Eyes Atk: 2500 -> 1800  

Partnaga Atk: 500 -> 0  

“I activate Partnaga’s effect! One Monster I control gains attack points equal to the amount Entermate monsters I have x 300! Odd-Eyes gains 900 attack points!” Yuya activated his monsters effect causing Partnaga to attach its hand-rattle to Odd-Eye's spinal cord. 

Odd-Eyes Atk: 1800 -> 2700  

“Then I activate Turn Toad’s pendulum effect, I swap the attack and Defense points of your monster!” Yuya continued. Hokuto looked up to see his monster lose some of it’s shine as it grew weaker. 

Praesepe Atk: 2400 -> 800  

“Battle! I attack with Entermate Elephammer.” Yuya declared his attack as the elephant rushed at it’s opponent. Hokuto racked his brain for an action card that would save him, but the only ones anywhere near grabbing distance were for support purposes. 

“Elephammers effect returns all spell and trap cards you control to the hand!” The cards flew back with a gust of wind to the controllers hand. “No, wait we can talk about this!” Hokuto tried to reason with his opponent. 

Elephammer Atk: 2000 -> 2600  

Whipsnake Atk: 1300 -> 1700  

Partnaga Atk: 0 -> 500  

Odd-Eyes Atk: 2600 -> 3400  

“Sorry! Go Elephammer!” Hokuto tried to run away and as he did, he activated his monster's effect. “Due to Praesepe’s effect I can use an overlay unit to give it 1000 attack points...” He said faintly trying to survive. 

Praesepe Atk: 800 -> 1800  

“Not enough!” Yuya claimed as the hammer came down on the machine. This sent a shockwave which knocked the purple haired duelist off his feet. 

Hokuto LP: 2600 -> 1800  

Hokuto looked up and he saw it there! An action card! Anything would help him now just anything. It’s so perfect that it was lying right in grasp on the floor! He went to go pick it up. As he did the announcer’s voice for his duel disk came up. It echoed into his ears like a drum. “Action Trap: Star Fall. Action cards in the duelists hand will immediately be sent to the graveyard.” 

Hokuto just lied down and accepted his fate from the embarrassment of forgetting a card’s placement on his own favorite field. 

“Time for the finale!” Yuya jumped on his favorite monster’s back and watched the fireworks. “Odd-Eyes attacks directly! Spiral Flame Burst!” As a spinning circle of flames connected with the duelist on the ground he bounced up and down about two meters in the other direction. 

Hokuto LP: 1800 -> 0  

Yuya: WIN  

----------------------- 

Somewhere in Miami City  

A man was walking down the street, wearing cloth over his face and goggles. He wore a long purple overcoat and had his hands in his pockets. 

Currently he was hunting down prey. “You, you still haven’t told me about Reiji Akaba. Why is he here? What is he planning?!” The voice was gruff and indistinct due to the mask. Behind him was a giant shadowy figure, resembling that of a hawk or falcon, talons that tore into the brick and mortar and concrete of the buildings they were in between. 

The man who was crawling away looked horrified, he was bleeding a bit from the nose and he got a bit cut from a previous duel. His uniform, proof he had made it into and surpassed the stages of a simple student at LDS. 

“P- Please, I d- don't know what you’re talking about...” The man said clutching his wounds trying to kick away. 

“Willing to go down for the cause huh? You really are that loyal to get carded for this huh? Oh well, better luck next time.” The cloaked man pressed a button on his duel disk as in a flash of purple light there was no longer a man in front of him. 

A few moments of silence filled the air as the whirring of the duel disk died down. “DAMMIT!!!” The cloaked man cursed out. Taking a deep breath he composed himself. ‘I’ll definitely find out why he’s here. Professor... Why would you send your son some place like this???’ 

The man heard sounds of several people, concerned about the noise that had just been made for the last couple of minutes. And the man in the mask slipped away. 

‘Ruri... what would you think of this now?’ 

Chapter Text

The duel came to a spectacular close. “GREAT JOB! YUYA!!!” Shuzo said tears nearly pouring out of his eyes. Yuya after the solid vision system disappeared and the beautiful, celestial environment around them returned to that of a stale room took a deep breath.  

He stumbled a bit when he walked but was quickly met by his fellow students. “Yuya that was amazing! You managed to beat someone who has an over 90 percent win rate!” Tatsuya noted. “And you did it in a really cool way too! It gave my shivers!” Futoshi added on. “I really want to see Partnaga again, it’s so cute!” Ayu gushed about her new favorite monster.  

He smiled at them and looked over to his other friends “Hope you guys enjoyed the show too!” Yuya said happily to them. “You did a splendid job Yuya! I’m proud of you as well for standing your ground against that spell!” Gongenzaka noted. “Yea, I knew you were going to win of course but it was still pretty fun to watch.” Sora added on.  

Yuya looked over with a slightly bruised face to his pink-haired best friend, she didn’t meet his eye for some reason. Nevertheless, he tried to lighten her mood by making a silly face toward her and sticking his tongue out for a second.  

Yuzu looked up at him with an unamused expression. “It was amazing, Yuya. But you should really be more careful, you’re still bleeding a little bit.” Yuzu said pointing out the cut on his cheek. Which Yuya quickly wiped away and gave a grin.  

The tall woman wearing crimson walked over to the group, Hokuto had picked himself up after the duel and to the LDS students. They were awaiting him with smug grins knowing damn well that he could no longer talk any amount of sass to them in the group chat anymore.  

“How did you lose to someone on the field you’re supposedly an ‘expert’ on?” The ruby-eyed duelist said looking at her friend while winking. “Say, Masumi this picture is pretty good quality right?” The swordsman chuckled to himself while holding up his duel disk with a picture of the final moments of the duel on it.  

Small chatter continued before the woman still looking at Yuya spoke up. “Ahem*, Apologies for interrupting your triumph. It was quite the splendid match, pendulum summoning even being able to revive is really quite spectacular, isn’t it?” She said plainly, clearly not very enthusiastic about the ending.  

She quickly turned to the purple-haired boy with a much more critical look on her face. “And you have brought shame to LDS’ Xyz course, do not let something like this happen again.” She called out coldly before turning back.  

Yuzu looked up at the woman a bit confused. “Say, I didn’t see you anywhere in the room during the match at all.” The woman smirked slightly before answering the query from the girl. “I went in and out of the room again apologies, but I really am busy, I caught the most important parts at least.”  

The microphone could be heard once again from the control room. “Allright, we have 1 victory now. So, I suppose you want to start the next match?” Shuzo asked, his voice baked with anticipation for the woman’s answer.  

“Of course. The next duelist that we will be sending in is Masumi.” Himaka said while gesturing toward the dark-haired girl. She took a moment to stop snickering at Hokuto before turning to the other group. Her face suddenly goy much sharper and more focused, like a master diamond cutter managing a precious gem.  

“I’m Masumi, I’ll be the next duelist. Please, whoever chooses to duel me next, I ask of you to give me a challenging time. I don’t like holding back, it’s so boring when I do.” She said with a confident, cool smile on her face. Sora took a brief glance at her and gave a small smirk for just a second.  

Yuzu looked at her, the way she was standing and her overall posture exuded confidence. It slightly annoyed her that she was this calm after Yuya managed to beat her ally. “I’ll challenge you next then.” Yuzu declared.  

“You got this big-sis Yuzu!” Ayu cheered her older classmate. “Show ‘em how it’s done!” Futoshi added on. Tatsuya simply gave a thumbs-up and a smile.  

Yuya and Gongenzaka looked on with a grin “Bring it to her Yuzu! Remember what we practiced.” Yuya said giving her a huge grin so sweet it could almost give diabetes. “’The Man’ Gongenzaka agrees! You trained hard for this, defeat her, Yuzu!” Gongenzaka added clenching his fist in passion.  

Yuzu looked up with a small and nervous smile, however as her eyes crossed over to the green-haired entertainer she could not meet his eyes as she looked down. Yuya’s seemed to notice this as his face flashed a look of disappointment before gaining back its usual cheeriness again.  

Amongst these cheers the loudest was definitely Shuzo “YUZU SHINE LIKE A DIAMOND!!! SHOW THEM THE PASSION OF OUR SCHOOL!!!” The orange-haired man’s face lit up with pride and energy. Sora on the other hand just gave a grin with a wave.  

However, to contrast this jubilant energy the LDS the ruby eyed student simply walked forward wordlessly, no cheers or semblances of good luck from her allies were given to her. She simply walked to her place inside of the room waiting for her opponent.  

Himaka looked at Yuzu with a confident smirk on her face. “Good luck, Hiiragi.” She said dryly, clearly believing that she would need it. Yuzu didn’t bother to answer back, glancing at the woman before making her way into the dueling room.  

----------------------  

As Yuzu marched into the dueling room, her opponent looked at her with a confident smile. “Hello, my name is Masumi Kotsu. I’m an expert in fusion summoning.” She said gazing at Yuzu.  

Sora had to stifle a chuckle.  

Masumi’s ruby eyes pierced into the blue of Yuzu’s; Yuzu saw a look of cool determination in them for some reason she felt the desire to avert her eyes down almost like she was being judged.  

“Well, it’s nice to meet you. Even if I have to beat you for my school.” Yuzu said now starting to look down and try on focus on anything else except the weight of expectations now on her shoulders and the previous quandary of the “Yuya” fiasco earlier.  

The dark-haired girl simply scoffed. “You won’t have to worry about that. You’re definitely going to lose; I know deep down that you won’t win this duel.” The girl stated plainly as if it were a commonly known fact.  

Yuzu’s face turned to one of slight annoyance. “You’re acting as if it’s over, but we haven’t even started yet! That’s pretty arrogant.” Yuzu retorted.  

“Yeah! Why is she so confident when she just watched her teammate lose?!” Futoshi questioned out loud. “Because she’s on a completely different level than her. She’s the strongest fusion user in the junior youth division.” Hokuto said with a knowing smile on his face, trying to gas up his ally in hopes that he would be spared from mocking.  

“To be fair you don’t get to say much about talent after you lost on your own turf like that.” The swordsman said, giving him a sideways glance. Hokuto quickly shut up with a comically depressed look on his face.  

Masumi, her gaze unwavering, ignored the chatter from the peanut gallery. “I can tell I'm going to win because your eyes are clouded. You won’t be able to beat me just because of that.”  

A flash of the boy with Yuya’s face at the docks appeared in Yuzu’s head before she dashed it out of her brain. “Just stop talking and let’s get on with the duel, please.” Yuzu said trying to change the subject.  

Masumi simply sighed and readied her duel disk. The voice of Shuzo could be heard through the PA system. “And just for you Yuzu, I’ll give you a field you can really shine on!!! Action Field Magic: Crystal Corridor!” Shuzo announced unmatched pride clear as day in his voice.  

A beautiful hallway of crystalline structures started to make their way into existence; tessellating patterns of the gems lined every speck of the grandiose hallway. Several rows and columns fully formed creating an almost maze-like construction.  

Yuzu looked up to where her father currently was operating the duel from. “DAD! STOP SPECIFICALLY MENTIONING ME! IT’S WAY TOO EMBARRASING!!!” Yuzu yelled at the top of her lungs, her cheeks flushed with red.  

Masumi giggled smarmily at the display before her as she took a look around. “Your father really does care about you, I know because he thinks that you shine. We both know that’s not true though. And on top of that he even picked my favorite field too.” Masumi said as she activated her duel disk.  

The Yushou gang (plus Gongenzaka), after hearing that Shuzo had once again unwittingly put them at a disadvantage, spoke no words but instead looked up to the controller room with a look of sheer disappointment in their teacher. Shuzo felt a cold sweat run down his neck as he quickly decided not to talk for the next bit.  

Yuzu looked to her opponent with unease, anger and an intense desire to prove her wrong painted in her face. “We’ll see about that.” She responded her words like icicles. The pink-haired girl readied her duel disk.  

The duelists recited their chant.  

Action Duel: Masumi V.S. Yuzu   

-------------------------  

Masumi: LP: 4000 Hand; x5  

Yuzu: LP: 4000 Hand; x5  

Masumi took the initiative and spoke first. “Since we’re the challengers I'll start first.” She peered down at her hand before smiling.  

“First up I'll activate my Gem-Knight Fusion! I can use monsters on my field or hand to fusion summon a Gem-Kinght monster from my extra deck!” Masumi revealed her cards effect.  

“Wait she’s starting off with instantly fusion summoning?!” Ayu shouted confused. “All of these guys are probably going to be doing the same thing in terms of quickly summoning.” Tatsuya noted looking over to the brown-haired duelist who was focusing intensely on the duel. Sora looked over to the field, slightly interested.  

Masumi continued. “I fuse Gem-Knight Obsidian with Gem-Knight Garnet in my hand. The pristine void merges with the heat of the earth! Join together and become the warrior of sturdiness! Fusion summon! Appear! Level 6, Gem-Knight Citrine!”  

Gem-Knight Citrine: Lvl; 6 Atk: 2200 Def: 1900  

A large knight completely comprised of stone dropped onto the field causing it to shake. The knight had a large cape with glowing orange hands that gave off a strange warmth even from several meters away.  

‘Hmph, that’s annoying but, I should be able to deal w-’ Yuzu’s thought was cut off as Masumi continued her turn with as much vitality as when it began. “I activate the effect of Gem-Knight Obsidian in my graveyard! When it’s sent to the grave I can special summon a normal Gem-Knight monster from my graveyard! Revive Gem-Knight Garnet!”  

Gem-Knight Garnet: Lvl; 4 Atk: 1900 Def: 0  

This time a similar looking knight covered in pale red armor with a rocky texture appeared in a wonderful flash of fire. Its heat radiated out into the hall, making Yuzu start to sweat a little bit.  

“Now I activate the effect of my Gem-Knight Fusion in my graveyard! I can banish a Gem-Knight in my graveyard to add it back to my hand! I banish Gem-Knight Obsidian.” Masumi said, adding her spell card back to her hand.  

Ayu looked on in confusion. “Wait, what? How does a card that fuses things have an additional effect?” Unexpectedly, this time a particular bright blue-haired boy currently eating a lollipop answered her. “Despite polymerization being the main card that fuses monster’s together, there have been cases of other card’s with specific effects being used to fuse monsters.” Sora said not taking his eyes off his lollipop.  

The students of LDS and Himaka looked at the boy in a mix of suspicion and curiosity, wondering how the boy knew such a thing despite fusion summoning being a relatively new summoning method as well that was quite rare.  

Yuzu looked at her opponent with a much larger sense of anticipation than before, she deeply understood that her current position was not a good one.  

“I now activate my Gem-Knight Fusion once again! I fuse my Gem-Knight Garnet on my field and Gem-Knight Sapphire in my hand. The heat of the earth meets the tides of the ocean! Fusion Summon! Appear! Level 6, Gem Knight Aqua Marine!  

Gem-Knight Aquamarine: Lvl; 6 Atk: 1400 Def: 2600 (Def)  

A blue shining suit of crystalline armor appeared next to the orange warrior. This new knight carried a giant shield with a clear blue gem in the middle and a short sword at the end.  

Masumi smiled at her two monsters before looking at the last card in her hand. “And finally, I set one card face down and end my turn. Just do your best, it won’t matter in the end but at least you’ll have tried.” The Gem-Knight user taunted while flicking back her hair.  

‘Can she shut up already? This is worse than that Hokuto guy constantly talking about himself. At least he somewhat got mad at Yuya, she’s just condescending.’ Yuzu pondered, an annoyed expression painted on her face.  

Another sound could be heard from the PA system. “Don’t let her get to you Yuzu! Show her your dueling! Just focus on entertainment and have fun!” The man in the tracksuit shouted giving support to his daughter.  

“I’ll do it! I draw!” Yuzu started her turn and looked at her hand. ‘I managed to draw some of my pendulum monsters but that’s not great... All the monster’s I have are too high scale to pendulum summon more than one. I’ll just make do with what I have then.’  

Yuzu looked up with a confident expression, a bluff. Something she used to fool the crowd, opponent and self into believing that she was full of an entertainer’s confidence.  

“I set the pendulum scale with Scale 5 Repente the Melodious Maestra and Scale 8 Concertta the Melodious Diva!” Two beams of light descended next to Yuzu, a giant pendulum could be seen drawing an arc through the top of the hall as the two monsters began their flight inside the ethereal columns.  

“What!? There’s another person who can use that type of summoning?!” Hokuto wondered aloud his eyes entranced on the pendulum, now a much more beautiful sight no longer being on the receiving end of it. “I guess all of these guys are better than I thought then...” The swordsman said pondering to himself about his original assumptions of the school.  

‘She can do it too? I guess it shouldn’t be surprising seeing as how she’s part of the Yusho school but even still it’s alarming that she has those cards at all.’ Masumi looked up breaking her cool demeanor for the first time for seemingly just a second. She soon put back on her confident face.  

Yuzu began her show as the pendulum above her began to draw a wider and wider arc her opponent looked to the side and readied herself. “Swing pendulum of my soul! Draw a harmonious arc of light across the sky! Pendulum Summon!”  

Fadagio the Melodious Maestra: Lvl; 7 Atk: 2500 Def: 2000  

The songstress with a chromatic dress made of flowers and cherry blossom wings bloomed from the hole formed in the sky drawn by the pendulum. Yuzu looked to it with a smile, she was always happy to see her new monster. It represented new opportunities despite her original trepidation. It even allowed her to stand on even footing with Yuya...  

His face flashed in her mind as her smile was wiped off her face as she looked to her opponent.  

“Is that it? I can’t say I was expecting that, but I figured you would summon more. Oh well.” Masumi mused looking at her opponent's monster with a level of appreciation, however her face remained bored after the initial level of shock faded.   

“I’m not finished my turn yet.” Yuzu stated plainly trying to ignore her anger and focus on the duel. “I summon my Aria the Melodious Diva!”  

Aria the Melodious Diva: Lvl; 4 Atk: 1600 Def: 1200  

A purple and orange songstress made itself out of light singing a calming note as it appeared on the field.  

‘Despite all this time having passed I can’t see any obvious action card’s anywhere... I haven’t studied this field that much at all so I’m not quite sure how it works. I’ll just have to take my chances and hope that there’s some factor stopping her from getting them too.’  

“The show starts here!” Yuzu shouted, pointing up trying her best to match the Yusho style. “Bring it to her Yuzu!” The smaller children cheered on their friend. “I activate the pendulum effect of Repente! I can activate the pendulum effect of a Melodious pendulum monster twice this turn! Repeat chime!” The monster in a bright green vine like dress let out a low hum.  

“Battle! I activate Concertta’s pendulum effect! Your monsters lose 1000 attack points for every Melodious pendulum monster I control! I can also use it twice so that’s 2000 attack points!” Yuzu activated her monsters effect as the fairy in a white and blue dress started her song.  

Gem-Knight Citrine Atk: 2200 -> 200  

Gem-Knight Aquamarine Atk: 1400 -> 0  

It was during this point that Masumi started to dash off into the cramped maze-like hallway, its pillars concealing her exact movements.  

‘She’s going for an action card, right? I need to attack now!’  

“The main act starts here! I attack Gem-Knight Citrine with Fadagio, I activate Fadagio’s monster effect-!” The Gem-Knight user quickly cut her off.  

“Due to Gem-Knight Citrine’s effect you can’t activate card effects when you battle with it!” Her voice rang out throughout the hall despite hiding behind a random pillar somewhere in the corridor.  

“Alright then but your monster will still have to leave the stage!” Yuzu said with faux extravagance, trying very hard to keep the crowd entertained and to keep her mind off the face that’s been infesting her brain.  

Fadagio built up a stream of flowers and launched it towards Citrine with a soothing tone. However just before it made contact Fadagio along with its attack were covered in light and disappeared from the field.  

“Wait what?!” Yuzu said in a panic, confused at where her monster had disappeared to. “Where did it go?” Futoshi said equally confused. Yuya looked on with a nervous look, he tried to not show any worry and just focus on the show. But something seemed wrong, it wasn’t like Yuzu to not notice what had happened even this late.  

“I activated my trap card, Gem-Enhancement. I can destroy one Gem-Knight monster I control to then special summon a Gem-Knight from my graveyard. I destroyed my Aquamarine and special summoned my Gem-Knight Sapphire.” Masumi explained flicking her hair back.  

Gem-Knight Sapphire: Lvl; 4 Atk: 0 Def: 2100  

“Ok but where did Fadagio go?” Yuzu questioned her opponent. The voice paused before walking out from behind a pillar into clear view. She had a slightly disappointed look on her face, almost verging to the point of pity.  

“Are really so distracted that you haven't noticed? Due to Aquamarine’s effect when it’s destroyed, I can send a card you control back to your hand.” Masumi revealed as a shadow of Aquamarine could be seen. Yuzu looked down only now rendering in her head that she had a card that was not originally there at the start of the battle.  

“I- I.” Yuzu felt her head rush, she needed to act, her opponent was right there and she only had so long left before she lost due to time out. In this thinking a loud voice broke into her mind “Yuzu! Keep going!” Shuzo shouting again trying to cheer on his daughter as best he could. Yuzu looked up snapped out of her daze as she made the decision to continue.  

“I attack Citrine with Aria!” Yuzu ordered her monster to attack; in a quick blast of sound the shockwave slammed into the rocky knight. Masumi was pushed back a bit, but she still managed to look up with her original look of cool determination.  

Masumi LP: 4000 -> 2600  

“Now that that’s over... I activate Action Magic: Diamond in the Rough!” The ruby eyed duelist said playing her spell. “You already found one? But there aren’t any around here yet...” Yuzu said trying to strain her eyes in the overly bright hallway for a speck of brown of a card.  

“There are always places where you can find useful things, as long as you know how to properly look for them. Anyway, due to this card’s effect I can draw a card for each of my cards that were to destroyed his turn.”  

Masumi Hand; x2  

Yuzu looked down at her hand, the face of her new ace monster sat there along with the other cards in her hands. ‘I need to find one of those on the next turn. I definitely will!’  

“I’ll set two cards down and end my turn. Let’s put on a good show Masumi!” Yuzu shouted over once again putting on her entertainment dueling smile.  

Masumi simply looked over unamused at the girl in front of her. “Alright, well I think it’s time to put an end to this performance, it’s getting sad.” She stated, matter-of-factly.  

Yuzu felt a drop of sweat run down her neck. She felt a strange aura come off the duelist in front of her, a show of pure confidence. ‘I have Note Shift and Melodic Countdown face down... but something feels off despite that.’  

“I draw.” The dark-skinned girl started her turn.   

‘Oh this duel is over.’ Sora noted the shift in the air of the room.  

“I activate the effect of Gem-Knight Fusion in my graveyard. I banish Aquamarine to add it back to my hand. I then activate my said Gem-Knight Fusion. I fuse my Gem-Knight Lapis and Gem-Knight Lazuli. The blue and green stones that hide mysterious power. Now become light and appear! Fusion Summon! Level 5 Gem-Knight Lapis Lazuli!”  

Gem-Knight Lapis Lazuli: Lvl; 5 Atk: 2400 Def: 1000  

A monster dressed in purple robing, a large gemstone in its chest and a hairstyle that seemed a little too familiar to its users.  Yuzu looked for any form of action card nearby that could potentially help but she couldn’t find any in sight.  

“It kind of looks like her...” Ayu pointed out a bit suspiciously wondering the chances of a card looking exactly like it’s owner. Gongenzeka noted this as well but didn’t want to mention it.  

“I activate the effect of Gem-Knight Lazuli, I can add back one normal monster from my graveyard when this card is sent to the graveyard. I add back my Gem-Knight Garnet.”  

Masumi saw the worried look on her opponent and sighed. “I’ll take some pity on you and give you some advice. This field is special in that you can only see action cards through reflections. Of course this won’t help you at all though.”  

Yuzu suddenly realised her predicament and began to look into the nearest column to try and find an action card in its reflection. Futoshi began to complain quietly about the unfairness of this specific action field. Tatsuya nodded in agreement that it did sound like a very cheesy gimmick.  

“I activate my Gem-Knight Fusion again. I banish Lazuli to add it to my hand.” Masumi added her spell card back to her hand. “I activate my fusion card once again! I fuse Gem-Knight Garnet and Gem-Knight Emerald in my hand and Sapphire on my field! The heat, bounty and power of the earth conjoin together to form a beautiful masterpiece! Fusion Summon! Appear, Level 9 Gem-Knight Master Diamond!”  

Gem-Knight Master Diamond: Lvl; 9 Atk: 2900 Def: 2500  

A huge warrior 12 feet tall, holding a monstrously huge sword imbued with several gleaming and glittering gems. Its armor adorned with strong and shining diamonds.  

“Gem Knight Master Diamond gains 100 attack points for every Gem-Knight in my graveyard.” Masumi explained her monsters effect as Master Diamond began to glow a radiant gold.  

Master Diamond Atk: 2900 -> 3400  

‘I should be able to make it out of this turn, even if I don’t manage to find an action card!’ Yuzu thought a hopeful look painting her face. This look was soon blown away.  

“I activate Lapis Lazuli’s effect! I send a monster with the same name as it to the graveyard and then I can deal you half of this monster’s attack points plus 100 points for every monster special summoned from the extra deck!” Her monster charged a blue stream of light into it’s gem.  

Master Diamond Atk: 3400 -> 3500  

Yuzu braced herself as a blue beam of light pushed her back into a pillar.  

Yuzu LP: 4000 -> 2600  

‘Oww...’ Yuzu picked herself up from the ground as she readied herself for what would come next. “Yuzu keep going!” This time the tomato-haired boy was the one who cheered her on. Sora replied to him, unexpectedly to the other students due to his unusual quietness during this event. “This duels already over sadly.”  

“I activate the effect of Gem-Knight Master Diamond! I banish a Gem-Knight monster in my graveyard and Master Diamond gains its effects. I banish Gem-Knight Citrine.” Masumi revealed. “Than that means...” Ayu remembered.  

Master Diamond Atk: 3500 -> 3400  

“Battle! I attack with Master Diamond! Behemoth Blade!” The black-haired girl ordered her monster to attack. ‘I can’t use my traps due to that effect!’ Yuzu concluded as she saw the monster’s giant sword come crashing down on her poor singer. The shockwave knocked her further back into the corridor.  

Yuzu LP: 2600 -> 800  

“Well time to finish this. Lapis Lazuli attack her directly!”   

Yuzu looked up at the pillar, in her reflection she saw it. An Action Card! If she ran further she could reach it, it was standing just by it! How did she miss it earlier?  

She stepped up as the robed monster charged it’s attack running toward it. ‘Please let it be something good!’ She continued to run, the monster launched its attack. As the beam of light approached the entertainer duelist, she dived for the action card, it was at the tip of her fingers but.  

Her fingers found nothing but cold solid rock.  

‘ Cards are visible in the reflection ’ Yuzu realized as she knew that the actual card was just behind her out of reach.  

“Fooled by a fake? Your eyes must be very clouded.”  

The attack connected.  

Yuzu was knocked back through the corridor. ‘How did I let that happen? How did I get shaken so easily?’ The face of her friend and the same one she saw the day before flashed in her mind before being cleared. Now able to clearly distinguish them. Yuzu let out a small smile, content with at least being able to completely trust her friend.  

Yuzu LP: 800 -> 0  

Masumi: Win  

----------------------  

A purple-haired girl with a yellow bow tie and a cyan-blue haired man with an eyepatch appeared in a flash of blue light on an abandoned rooftop. It was noon, the day was a clear one, fluffy clouds moving through the sky.  

Serena looked out over the city taking a deep breath in. Freedom. Or at least the closest to it she had ever gotten.  

“Serena, we’re here to do a simple mission. It shouldn’t take that long however; it is wise to keep your wits about you. We’re looking for two rogue Xyz users so we should go and find out more info about our surroundings.”  

“Yea, yea I know. We talked about this before.” Serena said plainly looking out over the city. Barett looked at the girl with a slightly sad look before spotting the exit to the roof.  

“Serena let’s head out, the mission officially starts here.” Barett said putting on a serious tone.  

The girl sighed before following her chaperone. At least he was willing to give her a shot in the first place. Now time to start the hunt.  

Chapter Text

Yuzu lied on the ground, her body sore after being thrashed through the corridor from Masumi’s last attack. She had a grimace of pain on her face as she rolled over and attempted to stand up on her own two feet. ‘Excellent.’ Himaka thought, a smirk creeping over her face as she glanced over to the fusion user.  

“That’s what she get’s for trying to take on LDS’ top fusion user.” Hokuto said with a shrug. The brown-haired student wearing half of a traditional kimono looked at him with an annoyed look. “Are you really that desperate to distract us from the fact that you lost?”  

“Shut up.”  

“Aw man Yuzu lost...” Ayu said now worried that score had been set to 1-1. “It’s fine, we’ll just have to win the next one right Futoshi?” Tatsuya responded trying to cheer up his friend. Futoshi gave a slightly worried look but ultimately gave a smile and a thumbs-up  

Masumi flipped her hair back as Yuya went into the room in a bit of a hurry ignoring her and helping Yuzu back on her feet. His eyes had a twinge of concern for his friend as he patted her shoulders clearing them of dirt.  

“Yuzu are you ok?” The tomato-haired boy said giving a hug to his friend. She leaned into him still dizzy from the crash. ‘I didn’t believe him... I was so sure that it was him yesterday... But because I didn’t have faith in him I left him alone. And worse than that, my decision didn’t mean anything, I just lost us a duel...’  

As she was leaning against the boy quiet words left her lips. “I’m sorry I didn’t trust you before, and sorry I just lost at such an important time too...” She said trying to voice her grievances to her friend. “It’s ok Yuzu you tried your best, that’s what counts.” The two separated from the hug and gave a hopeful look to each other.  

“You two are really putting on a great show huh?” Masumi said teasing the two duelists. Yuzu quickly realized her situation and swiftly moved away from Yuya.  

Looking at her with a confused look Yuya continued, “Well, anyway all we have to do is win the next one.” An annoyed voice interjected, one that spoke up loudly for the first time. “You think it’s going to be that easy? The next one up is LDS’ Synchro course’s Yaiba Todou!” The swordsman spoke up holding a focused demeanor.  

--------------------  

As everyone reconvened in the viewing room during the downtime in between duels for a break. Chatter started to break out from both schools, strategizing with the rest of their team to puzzle out the next opponent and how to deal with them.  

“Who’s going to go duel that guy over there?” Futoshi questioned his older classmates. They looked at each other and then back to the Yaiba who was currently doing stretches. “Well, I could go, but I'm still pretty tired from the first match with Hokuto. I imagine the same with Yuzu and her match.” Yuya mentioned gazing at his own injuries and Yuzu’s.  

‘The Man’ Gongenzaka spoke loudly as always. “Gragh! I want to go in and get payback for Yuzu. But I’m not a part of the school.” His head turned to the light blue haired boy currently sitting down, plainly licking a swirly lollipop. “Sora you’d better not fool around with this!” He continued to rant, the other students looking down silently agreeing that Sora probably wasn’t going to take this very seriously.  

Sora looked at the focused swordsman, he was currently away from the rest of his group doing stretching and preparing himself for the action duel. “I’m not really feeling it right now. If you want, I could just give up my spot to you Gon.”  

“G-Gon?” The taller teenager said with a slightly confused look as he shook off the strange term of address used. Turning back to the Yusho students he looked to Yuya. “Would that really be alright? Even if I’m a part of the Gongenzaka dojo duel school? You would really trust me to do this?” Gongenzaka asked trying to confirm if it would in-fact be alright if he was allowed to take part in the duel.  

Yuya just smiled confidently. “I mean you’re my best friend Gongenzaka, I can absolutely trust you with something like this. Besides Sora would probably goof off and throw the match.” Yuya said coyly while peeping over to the sitting boy.  

“Hey c’mon! I’m not that bad!”  

Gongenzaka was near tears from his friend's statement. “Alright! I’ll do my best!” He turned over to the challengers and shouted. “I’ll substitute for a Yusho student! Yaiba, I, ‘The Man’ Gongenzaka will be your opponent!”  

The synchro user stopped his agressive stretching and looked over. “Hmph, guess I won’t be dueling someone with pendulum summoning then. Oh well, so are we going to get this thing started or are you going to quit out of fear?”  

“Don’t underestimate the Gongenzaka dojo’s immovable duel style! Let’s go!” Several cheers from Ayu, Futoshi and even (lightly) Tatsuya poured from the window as the two left to enter.  

Shuzo looked down with a look of trepidation, sweat started to form now from nerves. ‘This could be bad, that guy down there is meant to be incredibly powerful. He has a higher win rate than Hokuto at 95 percent, and on top off that he was one of the first people to perform a tournament Synchro summon when it was discovered a year and half ago... I’ll need to give Gongenzaka a field that he can properly duel on...’ Shuzo racked his head as the duelists stepped into the room.  

Suddenly he scrolled past a certain image on the field spell selection screen. “Ah! That’s it! Gongenzaka keep burning and bury Yaiba in this field! I activate Action Field Magic: Sword Cemetary!”  

A desolated battlefield filled with broken swords of all kinds filled the empty room. Mud and trampled grass with several crevices in the distance formed and opened, the duelists readied their duel disks glowing orange and green respectively started.  

Yaiba looked around and lightly chuckled before muttering under his breath. “And that makes 3 for 3 on bad field choices.”  

The woman in red, Himaka looked up to the control room with the man in a jumpsuit. “If we win this, than Yusho duel school and all its students will belong to us.” She stated simply. Shuzo was quick to reply with a sharp tone. “And if we win, you’ll stay out of Yuya’s business for good.”  

With all the talking done the only thing left was to take action. The teachers recited the ritualistic chant.  

Action Duel: Gongenzaka V.S. Yaiba  

----------------------  

Yaiba: LP: 4000  Hand: x5  

Gongenzaka: LP: 4000  Hand: x5  

The swordman took the initiative and spoke first. “As always us challengers take the first move! So, let’s start! I summon my X-Saber Boggart Knight!  

A troll-like monster with a large sword, red cape and metal armor was summoned onto Yaiba’s field slashing.  

X-Saber Boggart Knight: Lvl; 4  Atk: 1900 Def: 1000  

“I activate the effect of my knight! I can summon 1 level 4 or lower X-Saber monster from my hand. Appear! The tuner monster X-Saber Palomura!”  

Crawling onto the field from Yaiba’s hand, a small lizard wielding a lance and silver plating’s covering it’s form. A red cape wrapped around it like a shroud.  

X-Saber Palomuro: Lvl; 1  Atk: 300  Def: 600  (Tuner)  

Yuya’s and Yuzu’s face turned dark as they saw the appearance of the tuner monster. “This is bad, he already has one.” Yuya noted. “Has what?” Ayu wondered, looking up at the tomato haired boy with slight worry. “Tuner monsters are what’s needed to synchro summon. Since he has one out already, he’s most likely going to do it this turn.” Tatsuya filled in.  

“Next up since I have 2 X-Saber Monster’s on my field I can special summon my XX-Saber Faultroll!”  

This time a monster wearing a bright red armor with two pieces of armor sticking out of its back like wings carrying a giant sword.  

XX-Saber Faultroll: Lvl; 6  Atk: 2400  Def: 1800  

Yaiba took a deep breath as he cleared himself of any uncertainty. Every move had to provoke sheer unadulterated focus. “Now I tune level 1 Palomuro with level 4 Boggart Knight! Come forth X-Saber Wanye!”  

With the sound of a gun firing, a monster burst onto the field from the two monsters. Dressed in an attire somewhere between a cowboy’s and a knights. Covered head to toe in knives and different pieces of weaponry the most notable aspect of it was it’s revolver which had a dagger in place of a barrel.  

X-Saber Wayne: Lvl; 5  Atk: 2100  Def: 400  

Yaiba continued to move with the focus of a swordsman. “Due to his effect when he’s synchro summoned I can special summon a level 4 or lower! I special summon my Tuner Monster Fulhelm Knight!”  

A blond warrior with a bright and flashy orange outfit, red cape and a whip made out of a chain of swords was summoned out into the field of swords.  

X-Saber Fulhelm Knight: Lvl; 3  Atk: 1300 Def: 1000 (Tuner)  

“Then due to Faultroll’s effect I can special summon a level 4 or lower X-Saber monster from my graveyard. Revive! X-Saber Boggart Knight!”  

The troll like monster with gnarly teeth pulled itself up from the ground like one of the forgotten sword’s masters on the field had been brought back to life.  

X-Saber Boggart Knight: Lvl; 4  Atk: 1900  Def: 1000  

Futoshi started to pout as he continued to look at the duel. “He’s basically just playing by himself. This is so boring.” “He already has 4 monsters on the field and he didn’t even pendulum summon...” Ayu continued.  

“That’s what you should be expected of him; he’s always been good at swarming the field.” Hokuto noted as he watched his friend.  

Yaiba took a moment to consider his actions before completely following through. Taking a deep breath, he poured his focus and looked up at Gongenzaka who was standing on a hill in the center of the field. ‘Oh he’s already going all out huh?’ A boy licking a lollipop noted the atmosphere in the room changing.  

“Level 3 Fulhelm Knight Tunes Level 6 Faultroll! Bearing a sword that cuts away darkness and a voice that commands knights of justice, reform all that is evil and unjust! Synchro Summon! Appear Level 9 XX-Saber Gottoms!”  

XX-Saber Gottoms: Lvl; 9  Atk: 3100  Def: 2600  

A warrior, brandishing a great sword and covered in metalic silver, a large red cape and several blue lines of energy running through the crevices in the armor. Yaiba’s boss monster showed itself.  

Gongenzaka looked at his opponent with an uncharacteristic nervousness, but he knew he would have to stand strong no matter what ability this thing may have. After all, if he went all out straight away and Gongenzaka could beat this then surely the swordsman would have no way to come back.  

“Do you think you’re safe because it’s the first turn? You’re not! I activate Gottom’s ability! Due to his effect, I can tribute an X-Saber monster and discard a card from your hand! I tribute Boggart and Wayne to discard 2 random cards!”  

Gottoms let out a yellow slash as it hit the sturdy duelist, but there was no visible damage. Gongenzaka looked down to find two of his cards glowing purple, needing to be discarded. ‘Tch! He got both Soul Cannon and Soulbreaker armor! I was going to use those to survive until I could find a way to summon Big Benkei.’  

Grumpily Gongenzaka discarded the cards. “Welp, good luck with 2 less cards in your hand! I set 1 card face down and end my turn!”  

Gongenzaka looked down at his opponent with a stern expression on his face. “Are you done flailing around?” Gongenzaka said clearly annoyed. Yaiba looked up and nodded his head with a confident smile on his face.  

“Alright it’s my turn! I can’t lose here; I’ll definitely beat you! I draw!” The teen with a red sash drew with a powerful draw putting effort into the force of the pull.  

Yaiba: Hand; x0  

Gongenzaka: Hand; x4  

Gongenzaka looked at his hand and felt relief. He looked up before speaking. “My immovable duel style will prevail! I summon my Superheavy Samurai Kabuto!”  

Superheavy Samurai Kabuto: Lvl; 4  Atk: 1000  Def: 2000  

With brown and samurai armor a machine with a large war hammer made its way to Gongenzaka’s field in a flash of light. Its body looked cumbersome and difficult to move.  

“Next, since I don’t have spell or trap cards in my graveyard, I can equip this monster to mine! My Superheavy Samurai Soulpeacemaker!”  

“A card that acts like a spell if you don’t have any other spells in the grave? That’s new.” Yaiba noted the rare event that was occurring before his own eyes.  

A large pair of arms attached to shoulder pads placed itself ontop of the monster on the field. “Due to this card’s effect, you can’t attack any other monsters, but more important than that ‘The Man’ can tribute the equipped monster to special summon a Superheavy Samurai from my deck!”  

Gongenzaka revealed his monster effect. “A card that acts like an equip spell but only as long as you haven’t used any other spells before it? That seems very situational. Although it is good luck for him to draw it there.” Masumi made a comment. Yuya knowingly gave her a side eye and smiled lightly. Sora couldn’t help but agree with the Gem-Knight duelists statement.  

Gongenzaka added the card that he would be summoning to his hand. “I special summon level 8 Superheavy Samurai Big Benkei!” Gongenzaka’s ace, a giant war machine carrying a very deadly naginata with several exhausts attached to the back of it appeared onto the field.  

Superheavy Samurai Big Benkei: Lvl; 8  Atk: 1000  Def: 3500 (Def)  

Yaiba looked with a confused expression on his face. “You had a card that could special summon anything and you used it to summon a big wall? Can’t say I'm complaining but it’s a bit disappointing.”  

Gongenzaka looked with smile before uttering a single word. “Battle.”  

Yaiba’s face immediately dropped. He began to run sideways toward a sword stuck in the ground. ‘I don’t know what’s about to happen, but I should get something that will at least save my monster this turn!’ As he managed to loosen the sword from the mud, he threw it up into the air.  

An action card soon appeared in between the two duelists. Gongenzaka continued. “Big Benkei can attack in defense position using its defense points as its attack points! Big Benkei attack Gottoms!” Gongenzaka revealed.  

Yaiba grit his teeth as he saw the card up in the air. Miracle! It was the only Miracle that spawned on this field, but it could save him! “Go Gongenzaka! Show ‘em what you have!” Yuzu cheered on. “Keep going buddy!” Yuya added.  

As Big Benkei charged up an attack the exhausts on its back flared with a blue gaseous flame charging toward the giant knight. The card still in the air was nearer to Gongenzaka. “Gottoms! Throw me!” The brown-haired duelist ordered. Gottom’s with frightening speed managed to pick up the duelist and throw him toward the action card.  

“I activate Action Magic: Miracle! My monster isn’t destroyed and the damage I take is halved.” Yaiba explained activating the card in midair. The slower monster unfortunately couldn’t make it in time before a protective barrier formed around the shining knight. A blast of excess wind hit Yaiba during his descent, but he managed to recover and land on his two feet.  

Yaiba LP: 4000 -> 3800  

Yuya showed a visible look of impressment on his face at the swordsman’s acrobatic skill’s, it wasn’t an easy thing to do something like that. Meanwhile Masumi had a look of intrigue, Yaiba normally didn’t go this far on the first turn because he liked to keep Miracle open as a card for later.  

“Alright, ‘The Man’ has no more moves to make. It’s your turn.” Gongenzaka ended his turn swiftly. “See that was a simple turn, it didn’t take ages to get to the action...” Futoshi continued complaining.  

Yaiba smiled as he dusted himself off. “I’ll admit you’re pretty good, I didn’t expect your monster to still be able to attack.” Gongenzaka looked down with his usual serious look. “That’s what my immovable duel style is all about! Fighting without unrooting yourself!”  

“Yeah but because of that style you lost out on that action card! You could have destroyed my monster had you went for it.”  

“I won’t move no matter what.”  

Yaiba snarked, showing his canine’s as sharp as a wolf’s. “Well, enough waiting around! I draw!”  

Yaiba Hand; x1  

Gongenzaka Hand; x2  

“I summon my X-Saber Ragigura!” A green lizard with 2 daggers wearing light armor with metal accents was summoned to the field.  

X-Saber Ragigura: Lvl; 1  Atk: 200  Def: 1000  

“I activate it’s effect I can add my Faultroll back to my hand!”  

This time both Ayu and Futoshi groaned. Tatsuya silently agreed with them yet again trying to keep a mature view on things.  

“I activate the effect of Faultroll in my hand to special summon itself again!”  

XX-Saber Faultroll: Lvl; 6  Atk: 2400  Def: 1800  

“Then I use its effect to special summon a monster in my grabeyard! Come out the tuner monster X-Saber Palomuro!” Another reptilian covered in armor holding a small lance crawled from Yaiba’s hand to the field.  

X-Saber Palomuro: Lvl; 1  Atk: 200  Def: 300 (Tuner)  

“Now I tune the level 1 Palomuro with level 6 Faultroll! Wielder of crossed blades of light, trample over this mountain of corpses! Synchro Summon! Level 7 XX-Saber Souza!”  

XX-Saber Souza: Lvl; 7  Atk: 2500  Def:  1600  

A large humanoid figure, holding two longswords one in each hand. It had a mad look on its face covered from the waist down in armor and past that in bandages.  

‘I’ll pick up Extreme Sword this turn and use it on Gottom’s if he won’t move from that spot so I can get away with it.’ Yaiba looked at his opponent. “I activate my Souza’s effect! I can tribute my Ragigura to allow it to automatically destroy a monster it battles! Battle! Souza attacks Big Benkei!”  

Ragigura disappeared into particles of light which then covered Souza’s blades as it charged to the giant robot. “I activate the effect of Superheavy Samurai Soulbeads! I can discard it when I have no spell or trap cards in my graveyard to negate the destruction of my monster!” Gongenzaka sent his monster to the graveyard as it appeared in front of the enemy attack destroying the beads.  

“That’s twice now? How many of these cards do you even have? You know they’re useless when you play a spell card right?” Yaiba said both confused and angry at the seemingly incredibly lucky taller student.  

“It’s not luck.” Yuya piped in this time out loud. He carried a big smile on his face proud of his friend. “Gongenzaka... Doesn’t use spell or trap cards at all, his deck only has monsters.” Yuya revealed to everyone, now happy that everyone knew that his friend wasn’t simply ‘lucky’.  

Masumi and Hokuto looked to be in pure shock, Sora and the younger kids too for that matter Himaka appeared to not particularly care. “Only monsters? That’s insane!” Yaiba said his attention was drawn from the actual duel.  

“It’s my style! I won’t move from this spot! I won’t be tempted by action cards to move!” Gongenzaka yelled out his pride now known to everyone in the school.  

Yaiba shook himself. ‘If he won’t use any spells at all I can abuse this... Normally, going for action cards on this field acts like a quick draw, picking up a specific sword spawns a specific action card. But the field accounts for this, the more action cards are used by a person the closer it spawns to the other. I’m free to use as many as I need to get rid of that monster as long as I don’t go over the time limit.’  

Yaiba immediately took off around the arena. Picking up a sword ingrained in the ground. A card started to float down in the artifically generated wind, a bit closer to Gongenzaka than the last time. Yaiba struck it with his sword to grab onto it. “Action Magic: Exteme Sword! My Gottom’s attack raises by 1000 until the end of this turn!”  

Gottoms Atk: 3100 -> 4100  

Yaiba then proceeded to run over to another seemingly random sword, kicking up mud and dirt along his path. “Really? He’s just going to keep stacking action cards and Gongenzaka won’t do anything?!!” Tatsuya said in awe at what he was watching.  

‘Welp, I guess staying at this place was fun while it lasted, but this is pretty much over.’ Sora noted as he started to open another lollipop.  

“Action Magic: Extreme Sword!”  

Gottoms Atk: 4100 -> 5100  

“Action Magic: Wild Strikes! My monster’s attack increases by 500 and can deal piercing damage this turn!”  

Gottoms Atk: 5100 -> 5600  

Gongenzaka started to sweat a little, cards were almost directly within arm's reach only to not be grabbed by ‘The Man’.  

Yaiba looked down at the timer. 30 seconds left until he was disqualified. “Gottom’s attacks Big Benkei!” Yuya looked as a truly titanic sword glowing with the power of several action cards increasing its strength swung at his best friend.  

Gongenzaka simply stood there. Unmoving as the sword descended on his monster. *BOOM* almost an explosion of force. Dust and mud covered everyones view.  

Big Benkei Def: 3500 -> 2700  

Gongenzaka Life: 4000 -> 1100  

As the dust settled everyone was shocked to find Gongenzaka and more importantly his monster still standing and wearing a new fire designed set of armour. Bruised and missing some of its strength but still there. “I activated the effect of my Soulfire Armour sending it to the graveyard and lowering my monster’s defence points by 800 to negate it’s destruction...” He said in a grunt trying to not acknowledge the several bruises and scrapes that had appeared over his body causing him to slightly bleed a bit under his clothes.  

“Man! You really are crazy! But sorry to say I still won’t be going easy on you. You’re probably planning a counterattack of some kind, right? Well sorry to say but that’s not happening! Set card open! Synchro Zone! Only synchro monsters are allowed to attack.” Yaiba explained his cards effect.  

“I end my turn.” He sighed under his breath; he only had 8 seconds left before being disqualified. Yuzu looked on in horror, “Gongenzaka... he won’t be able to win, will he?” Yuya didn’t respond, he simply looked on while clenching his fist. Sora simply nodded and started to dissociate completely. Shuzo and the kids remained quiet, unsure of how to cheer in this situation.  

Gongenzaka looked down, in shame almost. His friends had trusted him. They were counting on him. And he let them down. His refusal to change caused this. Had he just grabbed that final card he wouldn’t be in this situation.  

‘The Man’ felt the most amount of disappointment in himself than he ever felt in his entire life. “Gongenzaka! Don’t worry about it! Just keep dueling, that’s your style right! To endure everything!? Just keep following your heart!” Yuya shouted out angrily, clearly upset that his friend was so mad about himself.  

Gongenzaka looked over and smiled gently. ‘That’s right. Throwing away what brought me here? Where is my pride? How can I truly call myself ‘The Man’ if I don’t go on here? I’ll do it! I’ll keep dueling to the end!’  

Gongenzaka let out a primal shout, resonating deep in his soul. “MY TURN I DRAW!”  

Sora was instantly snapped out of his bored daze. He looked over to the duel. ‘No way...’ The feeling in the air instantly changed, it felt far more defiant, far more proud.  

Gongenzaka looked at his draw of fate, confused but going with it decided not to question how this card that he had not seen ended up in his deck. “I summon the Tuner monster Superheavy Samurai Trumpeter!”  

Superheavy Samurai Trumpeter: Lvl; 2  Atk: 300  Def: 600 (Tuner)  

“Wait what?!” Almost everyone in the school shouted. Yaiba being the clear loudest.  

“’The Man’ Gongenzaka tunes level 2 Trumpeter with level 8 Big Benkei! Raging Deity, in unison with the roar of a thousand blades, come forth in a spiraling sandstorm! Synchro Summon! Appear Level 10 Super Heavy Samurai Warlord Susano’o!”  

Superheavy Samurai Warlord Susano’o : Lvl; 10  Atk: 2400 Def: 3800  

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Chapter Text

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The day was reaching a conclusion; the sun had begun to set painting the entire city in an orange hue. Cars congregated in the streets when coming back from their day at work. Two young boys could be seen on a bench talking with one another.  

“Really??!! You don’t use any spell or trap cards Gongenzaka?” The boy with goggles said leaning so far off his seat that he was practically standing. He handed the deck of cards back to his friend.  

The burlier boy with dark black hair nodded and looked down at his deck. “Yup. I’ve been told that in action duel’s using action cards are like cheating. Also, it’s random and not reliable at all.”  

His crimson eyed head shook his head violently in disagreement. “No, no. Using action cards is great! It adds so much surprise, not knowing what you’re going to get!” He tried to argue.  

“A duel being decided by luck is cowardly. I don’t want to run away from things; my dad taught me that.” The bigger boy looked at his friend trying to see his reaction to the words he was saying. Yuya sighed and leaned back in his seat. “Well, I guess that’s fine, but don’t you think it’s a bit... boring?”  

Gongenzaka continued to look at his friend with a confused expression. “How so?” Yuya took a moment to think about his answer before speaking. “Well... not changing things makes it get boring. If you do the same thing over and over again, you’re going to get sick of it. I guess since I'm going to be an entertainer it’s more important to me though...” The boy’s thought wandered off.  

Gongenzaka looked back to his deck. ‘A need to change huh? I wonder if it’s possible...’  

------------------- 

Cheers reverberated through the grand stadium. The islands floating in a sky setting, filled with broken bamboo started to disappear into nothing more but particles of light. A giant display showing the victor of the duel was blaring to the audience, documenting it for all to see.  

Gongenzaka sat there with a big grin on his face, similar to many of the people in that stadium he was filled with a sense of wonder. The 12-year-old boy had gotten lucky enough that his father permitted him to go to the exhibition match between LDS and another independent duel school.  

There he had just witnessed the new summoning method, Synchro summoning live, everyone did, for the first time in recorded history. He turned to his father who wore his perpetual scowl, always prepared.  

“Father, that was really impressive right?!” The boy asked, trying to gauge his father's reaction to the duel. The duelists had collected themselves with both shaking hands and leaving the arena. “Hmph. It’s nothing but flashiness. A real duelist shouldn’t have to resort to relying on new fads to save themselves.”  

The younger boy looked around at the joy of the crowd and the sheer excitement that was radiating from it. And more than that he looked into himself, and there too did he find a similar feeling of jubilation. “But father would it not even be worth-”  

“No. We have been teaching this method of dueling for as long as this sport has existed. We won’t stop here just to follow the crowd. Our immovable style will prove itself worthy purely of its own merits.” The older man sighed before getting up to leave. Gesturing for his son to follow him, despite his stern expression he still did have a bit of kindness behind his eyes.  

Gongenzaka looked down at the stadium and turned his head to his father upright. He started to evacuate the arena along with the other viewers. But nonetheless an idea rang throughout his mind. ‘Just how long can we keep standing still while everyone else steps forward?’  

----------------- 

Yaiba LP: 3800  Hand; x0  

Gongenzaka LP: 1100  Hand; x0  

Everyone stood in shock at what had just happened. On Gongenzaka’s side of the field was a truly giant green monster covered in green plating. Holding a disproportionately large Naginata even larger than its own body, the monster sat with its legs crossed in a meditative pose. 

A blue haired boy’s lollipop rested shattered on the ground. It had dropped from his hand as he watched the duel. ‘His energy spiked as he summoned that... Was he always this powerful or did something trigger it???’ 

“Gongenzaka... Synchro summoned?!” Yuzu stated in complete shock.  

“How did he do that??? Did he always have that card???” Tatsuya exclaimed.  

“Go Gongenzaka!!” Ayu cheered, not quite sure what was going on.  

Futoshi had sparkles in his eyes as he admired the cool samurai machine monster “It looks so cool!!! It’s giving me shivers!!!”  

Shuzo screamed at the top of his lungs. “GONGENZAKA! I DON’T HAVE A SINGLE CLUE HOW YOU DID THAT BUT I’M BURNING UP!!! KEEP GOING!!!” 

Yuya gazed on happily, a radiant smile that could light up a dark room covered his face as the boy fully took in his friends' new ability. He wanted to cheer for him along with his friends, but his heart decided against it. Concluding deep down that he didn’t want to interrupt the look of sheer focus that he had yet to see from Gongenzaka before. 

‘He learned Synchro summoning on the fly? I figured that only LDS students had the natural talent to be able to even obtain a tuner monster... He’s incredibly talented. Gongenzaka was it? I’ll have to investigate them and their school more’ The woman in red’s visage contorted into one of worry. 

Both Hokuto and Masumi could not find the words to convey themselves. Almost in a state of shell shock at what they had just witnessed. ‘He did it on the fly?!’ 

 Yaiba was equally surprised quickly focused realizing that he did not have the time to worry about it for now as he laid his eyes on his opponent's monster. 

“Ok I'll admit it square head. I underestimated you; you’re easily the strongest person here.” The boy with brown, spiky hair praised. Gongenzaka with a confident small smile on his face and an intense look of focus in his eyes acknowledged his opponent's compliment. “I could say the same to you. Even if you run your mouth too much.” 

“Battle.” The words cut through the air like a knife as the tension between the two was released. Yaiba started to run towards another specific sword halfway across the field. Meanwhile the heavy, green samurai readied itself for combat. 

“Due to Susanoo's effect, I can attack with it when it’s in defense position and use its defense points as it’s attack points and since it’s a synchro monster it can bypass your Synchro Zone. I attack XX-Saber Souza!” The giant samurai raised its weapon, the blade shining in a pure white light. 

 Yaiba looked around quickly trying to ponder his options. Realizing that the action cards needed to boost attack points were starting to thin and the nearest defensive one was too far to possibly be able to reach he decided to jump away from his monster as the blade collided into it slicing the horned warrior in half. 

Yaiba LP: 3800 -> 2500  

“Agh!!” A grunt escaped the swordsman's mouth as the resulting explosion caused him to slam into the floor. As the younger kid’s cheered Gongenzaka’s new monster’s strength ‘The Man’ didn’t react at all. Iron focused on his opponent. 

Standing up, covered in dirt, Yaiba began to respond. “When an X-Saber monster I control is destroyed by battle... I can pay 500 life points to special summon X-Saber Palomuro from my graveyard.” A small shock envelopped the swordsman as his life points lowered a familiar reptilian monster rose up out of a hole that had opened in the ground. 

X-Saber Palomuro: Lvl; 1  Atk: 200  Def: 300  (Tuner) (Def)  

Yaiba LP: 2500 -> 2000  

The boy with the pompadour took a final deep breath before speaking. “‘The Man’ ends his turn.” 

“I draw!” The swordsman placed his fingers upon his deck and drew a card blasting a strong wind across the field. He looked at his card and originally started to curse in his head before stopping to analyze it. 

Closing his eyes Yaiba planned his turn and began to move. Rushing around he picked up a sword and chucked it into the air. A card soon fell from the clouded sky; gentle winds pushed it lightly until it landed only 2 meters in front of Gongenzaka. 

“Gongenzaka please! Just grab it! He’s going to try to chain them together!” Ayu said trying to get through to the stubborn duelist. But he did not respond, eyes still focused on the duelist in the partial kimono. 

Yaiba pulled out his wooden training sword and slashed it creating a powerful gust of wind that knocked it away from the immovable duelist. While it was floating down like a feather, Yaiba jumped up and activated it in his duel disk. “Action Magic: Extreme Sword! My monster gains 1000 attack points! And its attack can’t be negated!” 

Gottoms Atk: 3100 -> 4100  

The silver warrior’s tremendous longsword grew even larger covered in gold.  

Gongenzaka remained sturdy as Yaiba continued his turn. “Battle! Gottom’s attacks Susano’o!” The monster’s large glowing blade raised up high over its head before slamming it down creating a huge wave of power travelling through the ground toward Susano’o. 

Just before it collided Gongenzaka shouted out. “I activate Susano’o's effect! I can pay 500 life points to select a spell card in the graveyard and banish it! Then I can activate that card’s effect! I choose Miracle!” A barrier formed around the monster protecting it from harm. 

Gongenzaka LP: 1100 -> 600  

“Ragh! What an annoying effect! He can’t use action cards so he’s stealing the ones that his opponents use!” Hokuto complained outloud. Yaiba sighed in annoyance. “That’s pretty clever of you. Hope you get the best use out of it since you only have the life for one more. I set one card face down and end my turn. At this point Extreme swords effect ends.” 

Gottoms Atk: 4100 -> 3100  

Yaiba seemed to regain composure and met his opponent with an equal amount of intensity. Gongenzaka broke their stare down and closed his eyes. With a mighty roar he drew his card. “I DRAW!” Gongenzaka looked at it and smiled. 

“To win he has to draw any card that boosts his monster’s defense, or something like that.” 

Gongenzaka showed the card he drew to his opponent who had already strolled over to a sword and picked it up with the smugness of a person who had just been proven right in a long argument. Placing a card directly in front of Gongenzaka’s face, floating there in an almost taunting way. Evasion. 

‘It’s the only copy on this field. I’ve been saving it for a situation like this, knowing him he won’t do anything with it.’ 

Gongenzaka continued ignoring the card floating in the air. “I activate the effect of Superheavy Samurai Soulshield Wall in my hand. Since I have no spell or traps in the grave, I can equip it to a monster I control and it gain’s 1200 defense points.” Yaiba didn’t care to listen to anything else as he once again swiped his blade in the direction of the card sending it flying. 

Susano’o Def: 3800 -> 5000  

“It was directly in front of him and he still didn’t grab it?” Yuzu said amazed at her friends dedication. 

The heavy duelist’s voice shouted again. “I activate Susano’os effect. I pay 500 life points to banish a spell card and activate it. I activate Action Magic:Wild Strikes! Now my monster deals piercing damage!” 

Gongenzaka LP: 600 -> 100  

Susano’o Atk: 2400 -> 2900  

Yaiba jogged over, almost leisurely, to the action cards lying near a gaping crevice made by his monster earlier. Grabbing the action card which had been blown over in a simple and calm movement. 

“Battle. I attack-”  

“I activate Action Magic: Evasion. The attack is negated.” 

The Yusho gang save Yuya was completely shocked, Sora was almost ready to spit his lollipop out all together again. “HE KNEW WHAT IT WAS AND DID’NT GRAB IT???!!!” Futoshi cried out at top of his voice causing it to almost tear. 

“‘The Man’ End’s his turn. Make your move.” Gongenzaka plainly said. He looked tired, but his drive was still going strong. The small levels of bleeding could be seen through his uniform as they dried. 

Yaiba obliged. “I draw. I activate my reverse card Gottom’s emergency call! Since I have a X-Saber monster I can special summon 2 X-Saber's from my graveyard. Revive! Souza and Ragigura!” 

XX-Saber Souza: Lvl; 7  Atk: 2500  Def: 1800  

X-Saber Ragigura: Lvl; 1  Atk: 200  Def: 1000  

Tatsuya looked at the situation and started to look down. He truly didn’t believe that it was going to end like this. Gongenzaka tried so hard to win, even Synchro Summoning. But it wasn’t enough. 

Sora was much the same shrugging lightly. 

“Ragigura’s effect, I can add an X-Saber from my graveyard back to my hand. I choose Faultroll. I’ll then summon him to the field.” Yaiba said swarming the field yet again. With monsters in signature red capes wielding incredibly sharp tools. 

XX-Saber Faultroll: Lvl; 6  Atk: 2400  Def: 1800  

“I’ll use Souza’s effect to tribute Ragigura to automatically destroy a monster it battles.” The gecko shattered into light which covered the mad berserkers' weapons. 

“I’ll use Faultroll’s effect to summon back Fulhelm Knight.” Gongenzaka remained silent as the blond whip swinging warrior appeared onto the field. 

X-Saber Fulhelm Knight: Lvl; 3  Atk: 1300  Def: 1000 (Tuner)  

“Fulhelm Knight tunes Faultroll!” A green ring and a flash of light revealed a new monster. The mood of the group was that of mourning as the turn went on and on, all except for Yuya. 

Another silver commander appeared. 

XX-Saber Gottoms: Lvl; 9  Atk: 3100  Def: 2600  

“That’s what makes his deck so frightening. His monsters can come back so easily.” Hokuto praised. “You’ve been doing an awful lot of praising lately. Perhaps losing really was the best thing to happen to you.” Hokuto almost wanted to sit in the corner and cry at the constant shots at his ego. 

Yaiba took a break from the focused and smug look he had to look up to Gongenzaka. “Y’know, I haven’t said this to many people. But you are definitely incredibly strong, maybe one of the strongest I’ve faced. I wouldn't mind dueling you again but for now it ends here. Battle.” 

Gongenzaka lightly chuckled at that. Wearing a smile on his face. “I attack with XX-Saber Souza, due to its eff-” 

“I activate Soulshield Wall’s effect! I can send it to the graveyard to negate an attack by my opponent, but it lowers my monsters defense to 0!” Gongenzaka declared with an equally cheeky grin on his face matching Yaiba’s from earlier. 

Susano’o Def: 5000 -> 0  

The swelling of a gland could be seen on Yaiba’s forehead. “STOP MESSING AROUND AND JUST ACCEPT DEFEAT GRACEFULLY! THIS DOESN’T EVEN CHANGE ANYTHING!” Yaiba said outraged that his moment of respect got completely shut down. 

Gongenzaka smile turned into a full-blown grin. “But that’s not just it. ‘The Man’ isn’t the type to spit on a graceful ending. I’m doing this to win.” 

‘Huh ?’ Nearly everyone in the school thought at the same time. Gongenzaka soon revealed exactly what he was talking about. “I activate the effect of Super Heavy Samurai Soul Breaker Armor! When a Superheavy Samurai monster’s defense is lower than its original defense... I can banish it to deal you the difference!” 

“Susano’o originally had 3800 defense...” Ayu lowly said trying to come to a conclusion. 

“And it now has 0...” Futoshi continued. 

“So, he deals 3800 damage! Gongenzaka Wins!” Tatsuya concluded. 

Sora at this point had just decided to stop judging this duel with anything he knew about it. It clearly didn’t apply here, and it was just causing him to waste good candy. 

“He could only get here by believing in his deck, had he grabbed any action cards this wouldn’t be possible for him.” The tomato haired boy declared. 

Yaiba looked down as out of the ground a hole opened up showing a piece of purple armor donning a skull on it with 4 glowing red orbs around it. “Right at the beginning... That was a card I discarded, wasn’t it?” 

Gongenzaka nodded as the orbs started to coalesce into the armor. It charged into a large glowing mass, pulsing with energy humming a low sound. Yaiba looked up to the hunk of metal with an annoyed sneer. 

The battlefield was quiet for a moment. Many swords pulled from the earth created a much more open environment for the silence to travel through. This silence was soon broken. 

“Go! Soul Breaker Armor!” Gongenzaka ordered his monster to fire its stored artillery. A beam of light launched toward the Saber duelist as his visage turned to a large cocky grin. “Too bad! I activate my reverse card! Saber Reflection! When I would take effect damage the damage is negated!” A blue barrier formed around the boy as he pointed toward the larger boy. The large blast was completely absorbed and dispersed in its energy. 

“Oh crap!” Yuya cursed actually concerned now for the first time since after Gongenzaka’s Synchro summon.  

“And then you take the exact same amount of damage that I would have taken!” The energy that was once dispersed reconvened again at a single point in the barrier before firing. 

“Gongenzaka!” The Yusho students and teacher yelled in unison. Himaka smiled contentedly while the other LDS students breathed a sigh of relief that they were correct in their original assumption.  

Sora shrugged and remained silent. 

‘The Man’ looked towards his own attack headed towards him with a grimace, knowing what had to be done. “I activate the effect of Superheavy Samurai Soulbang Cannon in my graveyard!” Another piece of armor appeared from a hole which formed in the sky. It had a yellow and blue color scheme along with a glowing electrical energy in its center. 

“A final play?” Yaiba cried out in shock. 

Gongenzaka looked up as the armor managed to completely block and re absorb the blast of white energy into its lightning center. Looking down with a somber look of dissatisfaction on his face, he explained his cards effect. “When I have no spell or traps in my graveyard... I can banish Soulbang Cannon whenever I would take effect damage to negate it...” Gongenzaka wiped his sad look of his face into one of a victorious grin. 

“Then every monster on the field is destroyed! And we take damage equal to the combined levels of the destroyed monsters times 100!” He pointed to his monster giving it the cue to start its explosion. It started to quake and crackle with energy. 

“W-Wait to the combined levels?” Everyone in the room immediately counted the combined levels of the monsters before reaching the answer with each person having a unique yet completely expressive reaction. 

3600 points of damage. 

Sora had now officially wasted two perfectly good lollipops. 

The humming continued before stopping. Releasing a huge explosion which covered the entire field in a brilliant white. The monsters of the duelists were eviscerated. And they themselves were knocked back several meters too. Gongenzaka finally moving from his spot for the first time, and Yaiba finally going limp. 

Gongenzaka LP; 100 -> 0  

Yaiba LP; 2000 -> 0  

Gongenzaka let out a smile knowing he truly did give it his all as his back met the ground. 

------------------- 

In a cold analytic room, tainted in the sickly blue light of several computers, many people were working. The sound of tapping on their holographic screens just barely drowned out the humming of the machines themselves. 

Making his way into the middle of the room, a smartly dressed man, wearing red glasses and scarf along with a blue shirt and white pants stopped to gaze at the primary monitor. 

Behind him sitting in a chair attached to the side of the ramp that elevated the middle of the room a man in pure black clothing sat waiting to be asked a question. 

Reiji looked down next to where the screen was. “You had a report for me.” He stated. 

A man with black sunglasses and a suit responded. “Yes, we still have no idea about where Pualani went, he hasn’t been seen in about 30 hours. On top of that yesterday another small sign of dimensional frequency was picked up. Nothing too notable but something you should know. We sent Ashkii to investigate the area, but he too has yet to respond.” Nakajima summed up in a professional manner. 

Tipping his glasses Reiji started to speak aloud. “Two signs of minor dimensional folding. It could simply be more of the refugees but there’s not enough data to go off yet.” The grey haired CEO turned his head back to the man in all black. 

“What is your opinion on this?” He asked genuinely. With a large exhale the man started to speak his voice weary and tired. “It’s most likely a batch of hunters. They most likely don’t want any ‘Refugees’ sneaking out for aid. They would want to quell it as quietly and quickly as possible, so the chance of an actual invasion is unlikely.”  

Reiji nodded his eyes glazing over as he started to think about the next move. The man in black spoke up again. “You want me to go check it out?” 

“No. If word gets out about your existence it could trigger them to move even faster. And if you run into the ‘Refugees’ they most likely won’t want to make any deals here anymore and we need all the allies we can get.” Reiji summed up. 

As he finished his pocket shook. A phone call from his mother. Most likely informing him about the duels at Yusho. The CEO turned his back to leave. “I have to be somewhere now, if you get any updates call me.” 

And with that the boy with grey hair was gone. 

The man in black let out a long drawn out sigh. He really was similar to his father in some ways after all. 

------------------

Chapter Text

The room rang quiet. The hum of the solid vision died down as the action field disappeared leaving the duelists on the ground. Rushing in Yuya went to go check on his taller friend. 

“Gongenzaka you alright? That was a pretty big blast.” He kneeled down trying to lift his friend's torso up from the floor. Gongenzaka opened his eyes in a wince as he looked to his friend with goggles. 

“I-I’m sorry Yuya buddy, even trying my hardest. The most I could pull off was a draw.” The immovable duelist looked into his friends' eyes trying to hold back a look of utter disappointment in himself. Yuya chuckled lightly at seeing his friend's reaction. 

“Are you kidding? That was amazing! A nail-biting duel to the very finish! You definitely showed up my duel. And hey you even learned to Synchro summon, where did that come from? You hiding something from us huh?” he said cheekily. 

Gongenzaka was on the verge of manly tears as his friend comforted him. Meanwhile, Yaiba picked himself up from the floor. He heard an impatient voice call to him, Himaka beckoning him with a stern look on her face. Masumi and Hokuto had small smiles on their faces. Not as large mainly due to the fact that Himaka would likely lose the remainder of her patience at any jokes made at this moment. 

------------------ 

The students reconvened in the waiting room. The smaller duelists were unsure of what was about to happen next. A voice over the PA system made its way into the room. 

“Our agreement was that if you won 2 duels you would get the school. You only one duel, so please get out of our school and stay out of Yuya’s business.” Shuzo said much more demanding than anyone had ever heard him before. 

Himaka’s eyes flared with indignant rage. The ferocity of her voice almost matched the noise of the PA system. “No, a winner has not been decided yet. You have not won twice either. There is no such thing as a draw in a matter of pride between schools.”  

“But very clearly there was a draw. There are no more duelists to go through.” Shuzo retorted trying to convince the insatiable woman. 

“Then we’ll have overtime. The winners of the two duels will win.” In response to her teachers words Masumi confidently stepped forward with a confident smirk. 

Shuzo sighed to himself. ‘Geez this woman is relentless; she won’t back down until she gets her way...’ 

Yuya walked through his friends with his signature goggles on. He still had some light bruises but the cut on his cheek had stopped bleeding. The students looked in concern for what he was about to say. 

“After that last match, I'm all fired up. Gongenzaka managed to last long enough that I'm feeling way more energetic than before, so sure. I’ll duel whoever comes my way.” 

Yuzu looked down at her shoes desperately, not wanting to make eye contact with anyone. If she hadn’t lost then Yuya wouldn’t be in this situation at all... 

A voice cut through the silence as Masumi was just about to speak. 

“Actually, if it’s alright with you I'll be your opponent.” 

A tall silver-haired teenager spoke. He was older than the rest of the students with silver hair and wearing a long red scarf which draped to his middle section, red glasses, blue shirt and white pants and shoes. 

Yuya looked back to the voice at the door. Tension built again as he didn’t take off his goggles, which were hiding the fact he was trying to analyze this new challenger to the best of his ability. 

“Ah Reiji. It’s good to see you.” Himaka smiled knowingly as she glanced at the CEO. 

------------------- 

“Yes Reiji, it’s me. I’m currently at Yusho Duel School. The first match is already underway and almost about to finish. We are most likely going to lose from the looks of it though.” A woman’s voice said through a phone. She could almost hear the cogs turning on the other side, thinking intently of the exact words to use.  

In a clear and precise tone Reiji on the other end spoke back. “And of what you’ve seen how the prospect of him is looking.”   

Himaka paused thinking about the boy’s demeanor. “Immature, he’s trying too hard to replicate his father. He has no clue about the true potential or identity of what he just did.”  

A small ‘Hmph’ of acknowledgment came from the other side.  

“I want to see for myself. If things turn out the way you are expecting, then try and bargain for one more match with him. I’ll be there by that time.”  

Himaka’s eyes widened in shock. Her breath filling the empty hallway outside the viewing room. Reiji almost never directly made an appearance unless it was something he considered of utmost importance. Although she supposed that this was a very special occasion.  

“Very well. We’ll discuss the full events after.”  

The phone hung up with no room for any sign of conventional affection from either side.  

-------------------- 

The young adult walked closer to the group; a strange sense of superiority radiated of him to the others. He looked down to the shorter duelists with a deadpan look on his face. 

Yuya peered back locking eyes with the challenger. Yuya nodded at the previous proposition wordlessly beginning to walk into the room awaiting whatever opponent showed up. 

‘Who is this guy? He seems strong... I hope everything will be alright... I just keep my game face on not to worry everyone. I have to win this duel no matter if it’s him or Masumi or whatever!’ 

Reiji looked to the rest of the challengers from LDS, Masumi had a look of intrigue and slight confusion. Hokuto and Yaiba not talking and standing upright in front of him, despite not knowing who he was they understood he had a certain level of power if Himaka knew him specifically. 

Himaka nodded to her son with a smile on her face. ‘Thanks to Reiji, this school and the secrets of pendulum summon will be ours.’ Grateful she had such a reliable chairman leading them. 

Reiji stepped past the Yusho students to enter the duel arena. They also understood that he must have been strong or at least believed it from the almost arrogant level of self-confidence he carried himself with. 

Sora in particular looked interested in him as he walked by as he stopped licking his lollipop for a brief moment. 

-------------- 

As both duelists took their place on the field Shuzo got a good look at the young man who had made a dramatic entrance to the battle between the schools. ‘Reiji Akaba...’ The burning man thought as recognition burst into his head. 

Yuya looked up to the control room and gestured to the man with orange hair that he would trust him with choosing the field. 

‘Is he that Reiji Akaba? From 3 years ago?! He stopped dueling around that time but before even making it to the junior youth championship he had become a pro duelist before stopping suddenly. It was right around the time Yusho-san went missing too... Either way even if it feels unfair for the good of the school, I need to pick a field that Yuya knows in and out...’ 

“YUYA THIS FIELD IS PERFECT FOR YOUR GRAND ENTERTAINMENT!!! KEEP BURNING! ACTION FIELD SPELL: ACROBATIC CIRCUS!”  

The duelists were lifted up onto a stage as it along with the rest of the environment made up of floating balancing balls, running wheels and tightropes formed around creating several places that could only be reached with some level of acrobatic know-how. 

“This is Yuya’s favorite field!” Ayu said happily aware of her older friend's interest in acrobatics and gymnastics. “Finally, Principle picked something that helps us.” Futoshi said cheerily happy that the curse of fields that they had disadvantages on had been broken. 

Gongenzaka and Yuzu looked on with worry for their friend, but decided to cheer, nonetheless. “You got this Yuya!” “Show him what you have best buddy!” 

Himaka stifled a snort of laughter at their cheers showing a clear sign of amusement on her face at the hope of the enemy. ‘This duel is already over.’ 

As the grand circus finished forming spotlights from the top beaming around the arena with the majority pointed at the center platform where the two duelists were standing. Yuya finally took of his goggles to look his opponent in the eye with nothing blocking his own. 

“I hope that you can bring a good show for everyone! I’ll do my utter best to make sure that everyone has a great time, even you! That’s the Yusho style of dueling!” Yuya proudly declared his ideology to the crowd and his opponent. “That’s it Yuya! You’re really going to be burning!” Shuzo said to himself thankfully not talking into the microphone which spared everyone’s eardrums. 

Reiji remained expressionless as he began to speak. His voice commanded a certain level of respect. “I’ve been informed of the previous duels, apparently, we’ve all taken the first turns so far, correct?” The silver haired duelist asked completely ignoring his opponent's affirmation. 

“H-huh? Well yea that’s right.” Yuya confirmed confused at why his opponent was asking this question. “In that case you may take the first turn if you wish.” 

Yuya gulped nervously, this guy was completely unresponsive to his words! Even people like Hokuto or Sawatari would at least have a reaction to his style of dueling, but this guy just kept trying to get to brass tax! 

Yuya slowly readied his duel disk as Reiji did the same. Their duel disks fired up and their decks shuffled. The duel began. 

--------------- 

Reiji V.S. Yuya  

Yuya: LP; 4000  Hand; x 5  

Reiji: LP; 4000  Hand; x 5  

Yuya took a look at his opening hand and smiled, although a bit nervously. Regaining his composure he began to move. 

“Here we go ladies and gents! The opening act will consist with our leading lady! I summon my Entermate Uni!” A blond woman with spiky hair and a horn of ivory peeking out at the center of its head. She was wearing a showgirl's outfit, a leotard with long flowing sides with a somewhat dubious jacket with a section cut out leaving a portion of its chest exposed. 

Entermate Uni: Lvl; 4  Atk: 800  Def: 1500  

Yuya knew what was about to come so before anything could happen, he continued as fast as he could to complete his turn. “Due to Entermate Unis effect I can special summon a level 4 or below Entermate monster from my hand! Appear to the stage Entermate Corn!” 

In a flash as the former performer pulled at a large blanket in space next to it and quickly pulled it off to show the new monster. This time a woman with long flowing blue hair in several pigtail-like places and a horn on its forehead appeared. She was also wearing a showgirl's uniform with long leggings leading into almost horseshoes and a leotard with two diamond cut outs on its stomach and chest area. 

Entermate Corn: Lvl; 3  Atk: 600  Def: 1000  

As some of the boys were goggling at the monster’s Gongenzaka and Futoshi knew better. They had seen the reaction before and they too, like Yuya, braced for impact. 

“ Yuyaaaa... ” the songstress duelist’s voice echoed throughout the school. Putting ice in the veins of several of the students (mainly the poor tomato-haired boy). Even Sora was caught off guard from the level of vitriol in her voice. 

“WHAT THE HELL YOU JERK! YOU KNOW THERE ARE KID’S WATCHING SO WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! DON’T YOU DARE EVEN THINK ABOUT ENJOYIN’ YOURSELF LIKE THAT DURING A DUEL!!!” Despite not having a PA system her voice was almost as loud as Shuzo’s when she got worked up.  

Yuya recognizing if nothing was done, he would most likely end up as a tombstone, he tried to continue on expeditiously. “Well- uh... Due to Entermate’s Corn’s effect! By swapping 2 of my Entermate monsters from attack position to defense position I can add one pendulum monster from my deck to my hand! I add Odd-Eyes Pendulum dragon!” 

Entermate Uni: Atk -> Def  

Entermate Corn: Atk -> Def  

Yuya Hand: x 3  ->  x 4  

The two girls seeing their summoner would most likely be brutally murdered after this duel if nothing was done looked to each other before swapping to defense mode putting up capes that protected themselves in more ways than one. 

“He managed to get Odd-Eyes to his hand!” Tatsuya noted happily, feeling free to speak now that the Yuzu bomb was no longer ready to explode.  

Yuya took a deep breath glad that he should be safe now before speaking. “Now it’s time for the showstopper! With Scale 1 Stargazer Magician and Scale 8 Timegazer magician I set the pendulum scale!” The two magicians floated up in the air flying high the white and black of their garbs serving as an adequate contrast for the pendulum carving through the sky. 

“All right! It’s time to pendulum summon! It’s already giving me shivers!” The more rotund boy claimed excitedly. “Why does he always manage to get at least 2 pendulum cards?” Hokuto complained still slightly salty at the match he had just played. 

Reiji looked at the arc appearing in the sky with a look of intrigue in his eyes, for one of the first times since he actually paid attention to his opponent. “Swing pendulum of souls! Draw an arc of light across the sky! Appear my monster friend! Today’s main attraction, Odd-eyes Pendulum Dragon!” 

Yuya’s ace monster hit the field. A red dragon with a red and green eye, multiple orbs sticking out of two spines like spikes sticking out of its main body. Roaring proudly, it shocked the other two entertainer monsters on the field as they attempted to gesture with a bow at the summoning while still remaining mostly covered by their capes. 

Odd-eyes Pendulum Dragon: Lvl; 7  Atk: 2500  Def: 2000  

Yuya started to jump up on separate floating bouncy balls doing incredible flips showing his felxibility up to one of the ends of the tightrope board. The onlookers watched with interest the stunts that the boy was pulling with Shuzo smiling proud as he could knowing that his training was paying off. 

“And with that I set 1 card face down, the opening act has come to an end! I end my turn. Well then sir lets show everyone else a good time!” Yuya said looking down with several lights shining behind him casting a large shadow over the field. 

Reiji looked up before looking down again. ‘On this field action cards aren’t particularly well hidden, they are in quite obvious positions, but the catch is that they need to be obtained through acrobatics. He’s already positioned himself close to a miracle just in case.’ 

The chairman started to speak. “Very well. My turn, I draw.”  

“Your father is Yusho Sakaki right? I can see the resemblance.” These words caught Yuya off guard, he didn’t quite know if it was a compliment or not yet. “Y-yea he is, I want to do my best to live up to what he managed to do.” 

Yaiba snorted a small amount from the side. “Well to be fair, I wouldn’t imagine that surpassing that guy is a very high bar.” 

“ Silence. ”  

The mood that was previously high from Yuya’s first turn dropped at the command from the young man with silver hair. Himaka dropped her eyes down at the mention of that man. 

Reiji looked back up to Yuya and took a deep breath to calm himself down. “I apologize for that. The truth is I hold a great deal of respect for your father; he was a true pioneer in the world of dueling. Carving a brand-new world for duelists.”  

Reiji continued, both Yuya and the rest of the students from Yusho had a bit of sweat run down their backs, unsure of where this was going. 

“I never got the chance to duel him myself, but I do hold him in high regard. However,...” Reiji paused causing the tension to ramp up even further like a rollercoaster right before the drop. 

“That’s exactly why I wish to see what you are capable of.” In a flash, with near inhuman movement, the duelist jumped upon several bubbles, swing on a rope around the tower opposing Yuya’s and in a turn worked the slack in the blue rope that was coming unwrapped from the tower disappearing from eyesight in a moment before letting go at the vertex of his swing launching him onto the tower. 

Yuya gawked at the movements he just witnessed. Pretty much everyone had wide eyes at the acrobatics of the duelists. ‘I couldn’t even see him... How hard did he train to move like that?’ Sora pondered as the young man in the red scarf stood up from his kneeling position, fixing his glasses. 

“I'll start my turn with activating 3 spell cards. The first two are the same. Dark Contract with The Gate. And the third Dark Contract with The Swamp King” 3 cards showed themselves to Yuya turning around. 

“At the start of my turn while I control these cards, I take 1000 points of damage for each.” He explained. 

“Wait what?!” Yuya exclaimed shocked at such a steep cost. “That means...” Ayu pondered off. “At the start of his next turn he’ll take 3000 points of damage.” Sora finished actually intrigued in what was happening ever since the last duel with Gongenzaka. 

“I use the effects of my two Dark Contracts with The Gate. I can add one D/D monster from my deck to my hand, so I’ll add two. D/D Berfomet and D/D Lilith.” 

Futoshi looked around to see if anyone else was confused before asking his question. “Uhh, what does D/D stand for?” Sora was also quick to answer this question leaving the other surprised that he was actually speaking. “D/D stands for ‘Different Dimension.” 

“So, they come from another world?” Tatsuya asked looking up. “‘The Man’ has a bad feeling about this...” 

Reiji added the two cards to his hand and tilted his glasses. “Next up is the effect of Dark Contract with the Swamp King. This card allows me to fusion summon without polymerization!” 

“WHAT?!” Everyone was shocked at this, but Reiji was too focused on his turn to react to them. “I fuse my D/D Lilith and Berfomet! Chimera of the abyss, vamp of the dark night! In a whirlpool of light from the realm of dead becomes one and gives birth to a new king! Fusion Summon! Be Born! D/D/D Flame King Temujin!” 

D/D/D Flame King Temujin: Lvl; 6  Atk: 2000  Def: 1500  

A giant demonic looking creature, wearing heavy armor, with the head of some sort of horse or goat and carrying a great shield and sword in each hand. Its very presence caused the inside of the circus to heat up with a burning red aura around it.  

“That monster, the amount of energy... he really is the real deal huh...” Sora remarked in actual awe, something quite rare from him. “Another fusion user? This is going to be rough...” The smaller red-haired girl said worrying about her friend. Yuzu couldn’t agree more, especially after her match; she looked up to the two duelists who were nearing the roof. ‘Please keep going Yuya.’ 

This time Tatsuya looked confused at the monster. “So, if D/D stands for ‘different dimension’ then what does D/D/D stand for?” 

Sora, for the first time that the group had seen not eat sweet treats for 10 minutes in a row, answered for the silver haired duelist. “It must mean, ‘different dimension demon’.” 

Masumi, Hokuto and Yaiba all looked at their new comrade in a new light. They had heard tale of him, Reiji Akaba the duelist who qualified to become a pro at the age of 13, the youngest in the world to hold that title. 

Shuzo looked down at the monster in thought. ‘Reiji Akaba, he managed to become a pro, but he randomly decided to stop dueling for 3 years. Could it be he spent them training instead? If so, what kind of monster is he?’ 

Reiji fixed his glasses. “I’m not done with my turn though. Next, I summon the tuner monster D/D Nighthowling!” A giant grizzly maw, teeth pointed and as long as knives barked onto the field. 

D/D Nighthowl: Lvl; 3  Atk: 300  Def: 600  (Tuner)  

“A-A a tuner?” Yuya cried out. His opponent was quick to respond. “Yes, and with its effect I can special summon a D/D monster from my graveyard without its attack or defense points! Revive D/D Berfomet!” 

Appearing from a hole right next to Yuya on the tight rope board a chimera with several parts of different beasts seemingly mashed together on a vaguely human body. Matted mane and hair, two horns one semi broken, a single arm with sharp claws, crowlike feet with talons, a single wing sticking out awkwardly from its body and a metal muzzle around its face. 

D/D Berfomet: Lvl 4;  Atk: 0 (1400)  Def: 0 (1800)  

Yuya leapt back in surprise along with the two showgirls, all three of them holding onto the tower they were standing on. Even the dragon looked worriedly to its master because of the shock.  

“A tuner monster, then that can only mean-” Tatsuya was going to finish his sentence, but he didn’t have to. 

The D/D duelist continued to move. “I tune level 3 D/D Nighthowling with level 4 D/D Berfomet!” The two monsters latched onto bars attached with ropes from the ceiling and jumped down from their boards. Nighthowl was almost crushing the bar with its teeth before gaining the momentum along with Berfomet to let go and meet the other in the middle of their ascent. 

“Howls that tear through the night. Gain the swiftness of a gale and become the cries of a newborn king! Synchro Summon! Be born! Level 7 Gust King-Alexander!” 

In a flash of light, a new monster formed. A large silver knight with glowing red eyes. A green cape flowing with a constant wind that blew around it making it seem much like a giant leaf in the wind. It wielded a one-handed sword and this time the summoning of the monster inundated the room with a powerful gale of wind. 

Gust King-Alexander: Lvl 7;  Atk: 2500  Def: 2000  

“A synchro monster and a fusion monster on the first turn?” Gongenzaka shouted his brow furrowed as he had a feeling that the chairman wasn’t done yet. 

He would be correct in this assumption. “Now the effect of Flame-King Temujin activates! When a D/D/D monster is summoned to my field I can special summon a D/D monster from my grave! Revive D/D Lilith!” 

This time a plant like woman ascended from the bottom of the room. It had a dark mossy vine growing out of its shoulder and descended down into a lower body, pink tattered flower’s almost for its shoulders and the top of its head along with sickly yellow eyes. 

D/D Lilith: Lvl; 4  Atk: 100  Def: 2100  

“Then D/D Lilith’s effect! I can add one D/D monster from my grave to its hand when it’s special summoned. I add back Nighthowling. But at that same moment Gust King-Alexanders effect also activates! When a D/D monster is special summoned I can bring back another D/D monster grave. Return D/D Berfomet.” 

Reiji Hand; x4  

The Chimeric monster made its return next to the demon-like plant. Yuzu looked at the monsters with a sense of recognition, flashing back to that day at the warehouse. “Two level 4’s... there’s no way...” 

Everyone in the school looked up expectantly awaiting the next move with bated breath. The inside was already warm enough thanks to Temujin, and it was only getting warmer. Unfortunately, things would not be getting any better for Yuya anytime soon. 

“I overlay my level 4 D/D Lamia and level 4 D/D Berfomet to construct the overlay network!” The two monsters turned to dark orbs dancing in the sky before entering a gaping opening in the top of the room. The light that came down was now not only from the chromatic circus. 

“In order to subjigate all that resides in the world, now, descend unto the peak of the world! Xyz summons! Rank 4 D/D/D Wave King- Caeser!” 

A black monster also carrying a giant overbearing sword floated down next to Reiji. It had a turtle-like plating on its back and green eyes akin to the raging oceans. It had a blue aura around it that projected a cool feeling into the room which mixed with the other kings creating a cacophony of sensations. 

“Fusion to synchro to xyz...” Hokuto said in wonder, unaware of how someone was actually able to use all 3 in such perfect unison. 

Reiji smiled to his opponent in an almost cocky way, yet it didn’t quite feel as overblown as the previous LDS students smiles. He began to hold a hand up to his chin almost in thought of what to do next. 

“Is he really pondering what he’s going to do after all that?!” Futoshi 

“Is he not taking him seriously?!” Tatsuya said in a state of both shock and wonder at how somebody could be so arrogant. 

“That’s really cocky!” Ayu pouted her face squishing into one of anger that didn’t 

“Ragh!!! He doesn't deserve to be called a duelist!” Gongenzaka shouted gripping his hands causing his knuckles to turn white. outraged that somebody would act so nonchalantly after pulling out all the stops on their first turn. 

Yuya ignored the jeers of his allies (and the thoughts in his own head) to marvel at the monsters in front of him. “Holy cra- wow.” He stopped himself realizing that the younger kids were still listening. “3 types of summoning in one turn? That’s incredible! You really took what I said last turn seriously huh?”  

Reiji stopped his visible planning to look directly at his opponent. He blankly stared with an expressionless look. “It was my obligation after all, I wonder can you survive the onslaught of attacks?” 

Yuya smirked with a large grin. “You bet! After all, even if you have all 3 types of extra deck summoning, I have something unique to Yusho, Pendulum Summon!” Yuya smiled but he still felt a bit of anxiety ball up in his chest staring down the three monsters, what he was fighting for? He couldn’t afford to lose. 

Reiji’s blank face broke for a second into a small smile at Yuya’s statement before slipping back into its usual no nonsense expression. “Very well! Battle. I attack Odd-eye's Pendulum Dragon with D/D/D Gust King-Alexander!” The monster raised its blade high above its head seemingly channeling the winds which were generating around it directly into the blade. 

“Wait what!???” Yuya exclaimed shocked that his opponent would just throw away his monster to attack him.  

“All right! On the next turn Odd-eyes will revive! He just threw away his monster!” Futoshi cheered happily putting his hands behind his back. 

Yuzu looked on confused at the move that Yuya’s opponent made before something clicked in her head. “Yuya get an action card!” 

‘He must not know pendulum’s can reviv-’ Yuya looked more closely at his opponent and did an extremely quick count in his head as the winds started to ramp up in speed. 

There was a card in his hand that shouldn’t have been there. 

‘An action card?! Back when he did that stunt to get up here... he definitely passed it, he must have picked it up then!’ 

“Odd-eyes throw me!” Yuya exclaimed running up the back of his monster to its head, the wind had reached its maximum speed as the attack launched. Yuya soared through the air, spotlights casting multiple shadows across the jester's battlefield. 

“Action Magic: Amazing Acrobat. My monster can’t be destroyed in battle this turn, and if it battles you take half of its attack points as damage!” Reiji revealed the card in his hand as Yuya reached for a giant set of monkey bars which had a card that would soon be in his grasp.  

“Stop him, Alexander.” The Gust King swung its sword covered in winds in a diagonal strike aiming toward Yuya first. With a nasty thud it connected with Yuya’s chest *winding* him and knocking him out of the air in a headfirst free fall, but not before continuing to strike toward the bright red dragon. 

“YUYA!” Everyone said out loud in a state of shock that Yuya was in a swan dive toward the ground. Yuya heard his allies' cries and quickly opened his eyes. Just as he was passing by a floating balancing ball, he quickly flipped himself around and pushing off the edge of the ball he aimed for a trampoline on the far end of the room. 

With a THUD Yuya both heard his leg crack and the blade of the monster with the flowing green cape meet his dragon. A huge boom of wind overtook him and pushed him further toward the trampoline which he thankfully hit. Nearly touching the ground, the springs strained as it launched the entertainer up into the air and onto a nearby ball. 

Yuya Hand; x1  

Yuya LP: 4000 -> 2750  

Yuya clambered to saftey as he sighed a huge gasp of relief under his breath. He looked to his opponent wide-eyed who met his gaze with a look of intrigue. Because not like that could have hurt him or anything! 

“HEY, WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!!???” Yuzu shouted in a rage. I mean the nerve of that guy?! He could have maimed Yuya by pulling a stunt like that! If she was on the field oh boy, he would have it. 

“Yea no she’s right more careful! That could have ended terribly!!” Ayu said not having the same level of situational awareness as her older classmate to understand the full implications of what just happened. 

The chairman ignored their outrage and stared at his opponent wordlessly. He paused a bit to gauge Yuya’s reaction. The tomato-haired boy looked down with a nervous look painted all over his face. He could feel his heart racing from that, although it wasn’t technically illegal to stop your opponent from getting an action card with monsters most people have the awareness to know when somebody could get really hurt. 

A voice came over the PA system. “Mr., I would appreciate if you did not attempt to do something like that again.” The dark-red haired woman scoffed almost condescendingly. 

“Don’t worry guys I'm all good! After all I'm basically a master at this sort of stuff!” Yuya shouted trying to reassure his teammates and also prevent the murder of his opponent after the duel. Nonetheless Reiji continued with his turn 

“If you’re done. Alexander’s effect activates, since I destroyed a monster in battle I can destroy one other card on the field.” 

Yuya’s face dropped from his normal happy go lucky smile that he wore like a mask falling off. ‘I managed to pick up an action card when I was climbing up that ball but there’s no way he doesn’t know about it. Miracle. I can protect one of my monsters from being destroyed in battle once. I can survive this turn without taking any more damage, but both of my monsters will be destroyed...’ 

Reiji fixed his glasses. “I’ll destroy... Timegazer Magician in the pendulum zone!” Alexander placed its heavy straight sword in front of itself horizontally reading its special effect. 

Futoshi spoke up. “Oh no! That means next turn-” 

“He won’t be able to pendulum summon.” Hokuto answered somewhat giddy that he was getting some form of ‘revenge’ on Yuya despite it coming entirely from someone else. 

“Go Tyrant Tornado!” A single swipe of the sword crashed into the monster in the pillar of light destroying it. “Pendulum monsters go to the extra deck when destroyed, even when in the pendulum zone...” Yuya explained to his opponent placing his magician in the extra deck, preparing himself for the uncoming attacks. 

“Now! Wave King Ceaser attack Entermate Corn!” The black turtle-like monster swung its heavy club creating a huge tidal wave toward the blue haired monster. Yuya debated his options before ultimately using the opportunity to jump back over to his original position on the stage near the bottom. 

Tatsuya noticed this. “He has an action card so why isn’t he using it?” Yuzu kept looking toward Yuya, despite the situation his eyes held a focus and his face its usual smile. “It’s because he wants his monsters to be destroyed probably.” the songstress said looking down to Tatsuya whose face lit up with recognition. 

The tidal wave connected, and the monster was crushed by the pressure, leaving a little jacket floating in some of the puddles near the board before disappearing into sparkles. 

“Now Temujin attack Entermate Uni!” Reiji ordered another assault; this time the demonic beast rushed toward the monster as it attempted to use its cloak like a bull fighter taunting it before it’s face dropped as it was smacked with the behemoths shield. 

Yuya looked up to his monsters. “Sorry guys... but now I can activate my trap; Entermate Finishing Act! For every Entermate monster that was destroyed in battle this turn I can draw a card, two were destroyed so I can draw 2!” Yuya revealed his trap card now looking up to his opponent. 

He heard the commanding voice beckon down. “Are you able to do it?”  

Yuya was confused at the mysterious question which stopped him from drawing his cards. “Sorry but what exactly are you talking about?” 

Reiji looked down with almost disappointment plastered on his face. “Ah you haven’t figured it out yet, I wasn’t expecting that. I expected that after your duel with Ishijima that you would know, especially after your friend accomplished it.” 

Yuya continued to stare incredulously, his desire to entertain gave way to curiosity and confusion. Reiji continued. “Well, if you don’t remember how to, I’ll just say this, how you are now, you won’t be able to defeat me.”  

Himaka smiled at her son’s proclamation. 

Yuya winced at the harsh words before painting a smile on his face that felt a little too wide to be natural. “H-heh! We’ll just have to see about that!” Yuya drew his two cards. 

Sora was staring intently at the duel, specifically Reiji. ‘He knows about it. He’s definitely the one, Yuya really does have no way to win this duel.’ 

Masumi looked to her shorter ally “Do you have any idea on what he was talking about?” The swordsman looked up to his friend. “I’m not sure for certain, but I think I have a good idea.” 

Gongenzaka looked angrily at the duel, “Tch! What is he blabberin about! He needs to just get on with the duel!” Both Ayu and Futoshi agreed.  

“I set two cards face down and end my turn. Please do show me something interesting.” He said dryly. Yuya looked down at the cards he drew and began strategizing.  

‘I just need to find a way to deal 1000 points of damage, but Timegazer was destroyed and the cards I drew won’t help me get Odd-eyes back out... I need to draw something here that lets me summon Odd-eyes. But even if I manage to do all that, do I really want to win this way?’  He shoved that thought to the back of his head, he didn’t have time to worry about it. 

“Ladies and Gentlemen! The first act has come to a close, however up next may be deciding factor!” Yuya built up both the tension of the crowd and his own courage to do what needed to be done. Taking a deep breath the boy’s eyes focused as he ripped the top card from his deck creating a small breeze. 

‘Not enough yet.’ 

Yuya looked at the card in his hand and smiled. ‘I’m glad you came friend!’ Yuya spread out his arms starting his show. “Please welcome a new castmember! With the already set Stargazer Magician I set the pendulum scale with Entermate Odd-eyes Unicorn!” A cyan unicorn with a small jacket, different colored eyes and an electric blue mane floated up next to the magician as a glowing ‘8’ appeared underneath it. The pendulum started to scrape the sky once more. 

“Oh hey Yuya got that card recently, didn’t he?” Ayu said happily her face morphing into a marshmallow as she admired the cute animal. Sora turned his eye to the younger girl after her statement before locking in again. 

“With the already set pendulum scale I pendulum summon! Swing pendulum of souls! Appear my monster friends! Entermate Kaledioscorp from the hand and Timegazer Magician and Odd-eye's Pendulum Dragon revive from the extra deck!” 

Odd-eyes Pendulum Dragon: Lvl; 7  Atk: 2500  Def: 2000  

Timegazer Magician: Lvl; 3  Atk: 1200  Def: 600  (Def)  

Entermate Kaledioscorp: Lvl; 6  Atk: 100  Def: 2300  (Def)  

The Dragon, Magician and obnoxiously cute scorpion crashed down in beams of light mixing with the stage lights to Yuya’s field. “Crap! He managed to get his monsters back!” Hokuto cursed. Yuzu looked to him with a deadly look that screamed ‘Language.’ despite him not having cursed. 

Yuya breathed a sigh of relief now that he had monsters on his side of the field. “You may have mastered all the types of extra deck summoning, but I have a power that only us from Yusho got!” he declared, pointing up dramatically to the pendulum moving through the big-top. 

“We’ll see about that.” Reiji responded. 

Ignoring that dangerous idea Yuya continued with his turn. “Anyway, let’s get the main act on the road! First up is the pendulum effect of Odd-eyes Unicorn! I can target one monster on my field and another Entermate monster I control, then the first monster gets the attack points of the first one!” The dragon roared as a sparkly aura surrounded it, raising its strength. 

Odd-eyes Atk: 2500 -> 2600  

“Aw yea! His monster is stronger than all of Reiji’s! It’s already giving me shivers!” The green-haired child said eyes glued to the window starting to fog it a bit. “And he also has the monster he used to beat Sawatari with!” Tatsuya added on. 

Yuya then pointed to a scorpion friend. “Get ready one and all for the magical light show! Due to Kaleidoscorps effect I can target a monster I control, and this turn it can attack all special summoned monsters you control once each!” 

A hurricane of lights filled the room as different shapes appeared in the shadows, cubes and different types of triangles coalesced into each other as the brilliant scorpion flashed its tail to the dragon splitting it into 3. Reiji remained perfect still, not even bothering to reach for another action card. 

“Here we go! Battle! Odd-eyes Pendulum Dragon attacks D/D/D Flame King Temujin! Spiral Burst!” The first copy of Odd-Eyes started to trample across the ground, jumping up and charging a searing wave of flame toward the demonic figure. 

Reiji waited until it was at the apex of its leap to strike. “I activate my revers card! Dark Contract with The Witch!” 

“Another one!?” A majority of the crowd yelled simultaneously. 

“That means on his next turn he’ll...” Tatsuya didn’t even get to finish. 

Reiji explained as the dragon continued its attack. “Much like my other contracts I take 1000 points of damage at the start of my next turn, in return my monsters attack points increase by 1000.” Temujin’s aura flared to life as the heat rose to match the dragon’s attack, swinging back with a powerful strike. 

Temujin Atk: 2000 -> 3000  

‘Crap I'll have to use my action card here!’ 

“I activate Action Magic: Wonder Leap! My monster gains 500 attack points when it battles a monster!” The monsters slash of flames crashed against the first copy of Odd-eyes' breath of fire creating an explosion that knocked the silver-haired duelist back a bit and destroyed the flame covered demon.

Odd-Eyes Atk: 2600 -> 3100  

Reiji LP; 4000 -> 3800

Odd-Eyes Atk: 3100 -> 2600

“And because your monster was higher than level 4 the damage is doubled thanks to Odd-eyes! Reaction Force!" Yuya celebrated with a fist bump in the air.

“Tch! That was pretty risky... But to keep this going, I still have a couple of attacks left! Odd-eyes attack Alexander next!” Yuya knew that a majority of cards around the area that Reiji was standing around were all mostly offensive cards that worked when attacking, so there shouldn’t be any more surprises on that front. 

 The second copy of the vibrant red dragon leapt up into the air and sent out its duplicate torrent of crimson flame. This time as the air around Alexander raised trying to protect it, the strength of the gale waned and was ultimately engulfed causing Reiji to be pushed back a single half step. 

Reiji LP: 3800 -> 3600  

Yuya commanded his dragon with his usual playful smile. “And here we go the last attack! Odd-eyes, Spiral Flame Strike!” The attack managed to collide, eviscerating the monster. Reiji did not move from his spot as the damage was dealt this time. 

Reiji LP: 3600 -> 3400  

“Due to Caeser’s effect, I can add a Dark Contract from my deck to my hand when it’s destroyed. I add my 3rd Dark Contract with The Gate.” Reiji replied still bracing from the shockwave. 

Brushing himself off the chairman looked down at the stage. Yuya was petting his dragon for all the work he put in (and also almost being destroyed again.) The tomato-haired boy looked back, this time his smile had faded slightly and instead he had a look of uncertainty. 

“I think I learned a bit more about you.” The young man with the scarf explained to Yuya. “And that’s supposed to mean?” 

“Despite it clearly being the obvious move, you hesitate to end your turn and attempt to finish the duel. Could it be out of some sense of dissatisfaction?” 

Yuya flinched, he didn’t want to admit it, but it was somewhat true. Despite the situation, he found a victory in this sort of way to be unrewarding. There wasn’t a bang or due to his own efforts, he simply won because his opponent got too cocky and spent something they shouldn’t have. 

Yuya looked down. “I can’t lie, yea it’s disappointing, you’re really strong so to beat you in this way feels... off. I don’t like it.” Reiji for one of the few times that Yuya had seen smiled genuinely. However, it hastily returned to his usual expressionless viasge. 

“That is the philosophy of those without ‘Hunger’. If you see a chance to win you should take it, it’s foolish otherwise not to.” The entertainment duelist looked directly up the lights getting in his eyes. He was clearly annoyed that his words hadn’t gotten through to Reiji even if he was about to win. Yuya waved his hand to his silver-haired opponent and clenched his fist. “I end my turn. Now your turn begins, and you will have to pay the cost of the 4 contracts you activated!” 

“Contracts? What contracts?” Reiji said now actively grinning. His cards flipped around revealing themselves to Yuya before smashing into pieces. 

“What!!??” Yuya cried out in shock, his face going pale. 

Gongenzaka was in a state of clear confusion. “Why didn’t he take the damage?!” 

Reiji adjusted his glasses and spoke. “During the end of the battle phase, I activated my trap, Contract Laundering. This card lets me destroy all the contracts on my field and then I can draw a card for each one at the end of the turn.” 

Yuya took a few steps back in complete panic and shock. He quickly reoriented himself. ‘This isn’t too bad he’s going to draw 4 new cards... If he does a combo like last time, I can probably survive it and even if he tries to destroy my pendulum card’s Timegazer’s effect stops him...’ 

Reiji’s voice echoed to the top of the canopy. “I promise you I will finish you this very turn!” Reiji drew his 4 cards before starting a powerful rush blasted through the arena. ‘Oh, it’s actually just over.’ Sora concluded. 

Reiji Hand; x6  

“I draw!” Reiji looked at his hand and immediately knew what was to be done, acting with complete certainty. The next words that would come out of his mouth would be a complete upheaval to everyone in the room. 

“With scale 1 D/D Savant Galilei and Scale 10 D/D Savant Kepler, I set the pendulum scale!” Two machine monsters soared into the sky with their respective pendulum scales hovering beneath them. Galilei was made out of two boulders being held together by machinery inlaid into the seams of the boulder with a large blue screen. Contrarily Kepler was made entirely out of glorious silver and metal with several planet-like orbs orbiting each other inside of it. 

Yuya wanted to puke right then and there with how sick to his stomach he felt. 

“He can... use pendulum?” Yuzu said quiet as a mouse, she looked down to Yuya who had a similar horrified look in his eyes. 

Sora unwrapped his lollipop and started to pay only half attention. 

‘Ah so he mastered the technique already? I should expect nothing less from Reiji. Well, I suppose I don’t need this school for much anymore, after this I could always just tear it down. I’ll see about it.’ Himaka thought, trying to contain a laugh in front of the awe-struck students. 

“With scale 1 Galilei and scale 10 Kepler I pendulum summon! Grand power that shakes my very soul, arise within me and become a new light that rends the darkness. Pendulum Summon! Come before me, my monsters!” 

x3 D/D/D Doom King Armageddon: Lvl; 8  Atk: 3000  Def: 1000  

A trio of identical monsters, large and crystalline flashed down in three beams of purple light. They did not have any discernable limbs with only black and gold plating around their heads affixed to the top of the deep purple pendulum shaped objects. 

Ayu had a look of fear on her face for her older friend “T-this is bad, three monsters with 3000 attack each?”  

Gongenzaka and Yuzu both gritted their teeth, not wanting to scare the 3 other smaller kids. 

The crimson-eyed boy placed his goggles over his eyes with ruffle of metal, he once again plastered a jovial and confident look onto his face, he spoke with the circus lights gleaming of the glass of the goggles. “T-that’s a neat trick, where did you learn to do something like that? And where did you get those cards from?” 

Reiji responded simply. “I made them, same as yourself really.” 

Yuya was thankful that he managed to hide his eyes before asking that question, his eyes almost bulged out of their sockets from that alone. Reiji continued to speak. “I’ll ask you out of common courtesy, would you like to see the true potential of pendulum summoning this turn?” 

“The true potential?” Yuya queried the young man above him. 

Reiji tilted his glasses back into position. “Very well, I'll hold off for now. I do hope you can survive this turn though. I normal summon my D/D Nighthowling.” 

The gaping maw of a monster summoned itself to the field with a ear bleeding scream. 

D/D Nighthowling: Lvl; 3  Atk: 300  Def: 600  (Tuner)  

“Now for Nightholwing’s effect, I can special summon a D/D monster from my graveyard again. Revive D/D Berfomet!” 

D/D Berfomet: Lvl; 4  Atk: 0 (1400)  Def: 0 (1800)  

The chimera revived from the graveyard with a large growl. Yuya started to search for his surroundings before what would come next. 

“He has 2 monsters again...” Tatsuya noted, head turned down in anxiety. 

A fiery voice could be heard from the PA system. “Yuya don’t just give up here! Ignore it and keep entertaining! No matter what!” 

Yuya nodded swallowing the ball of nerves in his throat. He hopped on his dragon which started to charge around the arena in a circle building up speed. Reiji this time ignored the efforts. 

“D/D Berfomet’s effect, I can change a D/D monsters' level I control from anywhere in the range of 1 to 8, I change Nighthowling to level 4.” 

Nighthowling: Lvl; 3 -> 4  

Reiji raised his hand to the sky as Yuya started to build up even more speed, a large trampling sound could be heard all through the arena. The crowd wondered what Yuya was planning to do but for the most part their attention was on Reiji. 

“I tune level 4 Nighthowling with level 4 Berfomet! Climb over the corpses of heroes carrying your blood-stained blade! Synchro Summon! D/D/D Cursed King Siegfried!” Another shock filled the room, nearly knocking Yuya off his feet. 

The crimson-eyed boy thought to himself. ‘What the heck is causing that?’ 

A glorious knight, white hair, dull silver armor covered in yellow inlays. Carried a sword with a giant split down the middle over its back with a long flowing red scarf draped down to its feet. 

D/D/D Cursed King Siegfried: Lvl; 8  Atk: 2800  Def: 2200  

“Another synchro huh? Figures that the strongest would use the strongest method the most.” Yaiba said shrugging with a confident smile Masumi glanced over about to call him out on only getting a draw instead of winning, but she was cut off. 

“Battle!” Reiji declared as his monsters moved to strike. Odd-Eyes was now at full blast running at full power with incredible amounts of momentum. 

“Here’s the moment of fate everyone! Will the intrepid hero get out of this, or will he ultimately fall?” Yuya exclaimed holding onto his best monster friend during its high-speed charge. 

This play into character lifted the spirits of Yuya’s allies, he wasn’t worried after all! He could definitely pull his way out of this! “Go on Yuya!” “It’s all on you!” multiple cheers cried out. 

“Cursed King Siegfried attacks Timegazer magician!” The fiendish warrior raised its sword high above its head as it charged a yellow beam of pure light. Swinging down, the magician of time couldn’t hope to defend itself or move out of the way of the attack. 

Yuya recognised his monster's sacrifice. ‘Thanks for taking a hit, Timegazer.’ The entertainer quickly nodded to his dragon and with a roar of approval it managed to circle around to the opposite beam of the trapeze podium and jump with a massive amount of force directly onto another trampoline. This launched both the dragon and Yuya high into the air right toward the top of the ceiling which contained an opening in the circus showing the artificially produced night sky. 

Unfortunately, his opponent was all too aware of this. “Doom king Armageddon number 1, attacks Odd-Eyes pendulum dragon!” The first of the pendulum shaped monsters readied a beam of malicious purple energy to fire at the couple in the air. However, the duo had already succeeded in their plan. As Yuya dropped, now disconnected from Odd-eyes he slotted the card he found into his duel disk. 

“Action Magic: Dramatic Close! All monsters except the monster with the most attack points on both player’s field are destroyed and then, the battle phase ends!” 

Every monster on the field except the attacking Doom King and Odd-Eyes which now plummeted to the bottom of the field leaving Yuya atop a floating ball started to glow with a blue energy, reading to be shattered to pieces. 

“THATS WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT YUYA!!!” Shuzo screamed at the top of his lungs. “Is he really going to survive?” Hokuto complained clearly annoyed that his former opponent managed to escape from the skin of his teeth yet again. 

“Dramatic Close, only a single copy appears on this field at the very top of the field...” Reiji looked down not looking to Yuya before slowly turning his eyes to him. 

“But because of that it is extremely obvious what you’re going for.” His expression radiated intensity and almost dissatisfaction. “I activate the effect of Cursed King Siegfried! Once per turn I can target a spell or trap card on the field and negate its effects! I choose your Dramatic Close!” 

“Oh no...” Yuya looked to his action card as the knight-like monster converted the blue energy that surrounded it back to yellow, before straining itself letting out a blast of wind smashing it into stardust. 

“His action card...” Yuzu started. 

“Was completely stopped.” Sora this time concluded. 

“Doom King Armagedon continue your attack!” The purple light resumed its process before firing at the dragon now on the ground. 

“Odd-eyes!” 

It collided with the monster causing an explosion knocking Yuya down again. 

Yuya: Lp; 2550 -> 2050  

“My 2nd Doom King Armageddon attacks Kaleidoscorp!” The alien from another world readied its purple ball of energy before sending it in the form of a giant beam toward the poor scorpion which attempted to hide its face behind its shield to no avail.  

“He doesn’t have any monsters left...” Futoshi said worried that his school was now about to be shut down. “Yuya find another action card!” the young man with the pompadour yelled to his friend. The others had noted that the situation had gotten so dire that even Gongenzaka was advising the use of action cards. 

Yuya looked at his opponent. “I don’t have any monsters left to cover me; you’ll just slam into me again when I try to go for it” 

Reiji nodded thoughtfully. “I want to see if this will make push you far enough, next turn do try your best. My final Doom King attacks.” 

Yuya clicked his tongue. Damn so that guy didn’t forget, he really was way too damn good. The woman in deep red narrowed her eyes at that sentence. “Wait what does he mean ‘next turn’?” The swordsman asked aloud, gaining everyone’s attention. 

The final piece of energy was finished charging, standing by readied to be fired from the behemoths head, in a bright flash it originally went in a straight line before making a sharp 80 degree turn to meet Yuya directly. 

“Yuya dodge!” Yuzu screamed worried about her friend. However, the entertainer simply stood there unmoving.  

An explosion. 

Smoke covered half the arena with the young man wearing a long red scarf unmoving from his position, standing over the majority of the arena. 

“Yuya... lost.” Ayu had tears in her eyes, she attempted to raise her hands to cover her face to not let the others know. Yuzu had a look of both worry and despair; it looked like Yusho had finally come to an end. 

But then the smoke cleared. 

Yuya stood there, unharmed next to two monsters. The two showgals from before! They both aided each other in lifting up a giant hat with an enormous bulge that appeared far too large to fit in the relatively small tophat. 

Yuya stood there smiling happily. “Thank you, my lovely assistants! Would you like to wish everyone one final bow out from your part in this duel?” He asked them playfully. 

Giggling the monsters threw the enlarged hat in the air before it exploded into sparkles glittering off the spotlights of the circus as the girls bowed into the starlight. 

“W-what?” Sora said completely star struck, he didn’t realize that he had a trick like that up his sleeve this time! Yuzu was so happy she didn’t even bother to yell at Yuya for flirting with those monsters again (although she would do that later). Shuzo was practically crying with pride, not even able to give his ‘burning speech’ over the microphone. 

“Thanks to Entermate Uni’s effect I can banish it and another Entermate to reduce any damage I would take to 0.”  

Tatsuya’s face lit up. “So that’s why he didn’t use miracle on those monsters earlier!” Gongenzaka had a huge smile on his face, he too had forgotten about the effect of Uni. 

The silver-haired duelist remained resolute. “Well, that should be enough. You have no other option but to show me it. Sakaki Yuya.” 

“With that I end my turn. It’s your move.” The tension on the side of the Yusho students was relieved for just a second. Although they all knew that they weren’t close to being out of the woods next. 

Yuya looked to his deck, he was hesitating. Despite the bang of the last turn he didn’t know if he could pull it back. He started to plan out his turn in his head like a mad man going over all possibilities of what he could draw. ‘As much as I want to keep going, I don’t know if I can. I can pendulum summon back all of my monsters that were destroyed at the very least. But even if I draw another Entermate and use Unicorns pendulum effect it wouldn’t work thanks to that synchro monster...’ 

After nearly 20 seconds of deliberation, he placed his two fingers on his deck and tried to channel all of his will into this next draw, hoping that he would get something to get him out of this bind. 

Reiji looked across to the circus ball Yuya was standing on with expectation, however a noise was soon heard. A noise coming from Reiji’s duel disk. “- Sir, we have to inform you of something.” a deep voice came out of the disk.  

Reiji looked down slightly annoyed. “What is it? I’m in the middle of an important matter right now.” The voice responded with words that made Reiji’s eyebrows go up. 

“We have a new reading and also about Marco, we found him. He isn’t in a good state however.” A picture appeared on Reiji’s duel disk that was unseeable to everyone else. 

Masumi and the others looked to each other with concern before turning to their principal. “What’s happening?” the dark-haired girl asked the older woman with a look of panic on her face. Masumi couldn’t make out many words of what was said to Reiji, but she did hear the names ‘Marco’ and ‘Pualani 

Himaka looked down at the girl with a stern expression. “I don’t know, you shouldn’t worry about it anyway.” she said decidedly. 

Reiji quickly jumped down in an impressive series of movements from the tight rope board that he had been standing on for a majority of the duel. “I need to leave immediately; we can settle this some other time.” 

Yuya and everyone else stood in shocked silence, they could not believe that the chairman would just throw a winning position away so easily. “H-hey wait atleast tell me your full name before you leave.” Yuya tried to question the young man who was already headed for the exit. 

He turned back around matching Yuya’s goggled gaze. “Akaba Reiji.” He soon left the room and with no regard to the other students of LDS or Yusho he left the school. 

“What the hell?” Gongenzaka asked rightly confused. 

------------ 

Himaka was undoubtedly confused, she did not know the specifics of why her son left in the way he did but she did see enough to conclude that wasting anymore time here was unnecessary. Reiji had already found a way to synthesize pendulum cards and as such she did not need Yuya or Yuzu’s decks. 

She simply decided that it would be worthwhile to keep an eye on both of them to see where they stood overall. Turning around to her students she spoke in her usual authoritative tone. “We’ll be leaving now, I thank you students for your participation.” 

She then turned around and looked up to the control room with Shuzo. “Consider your debt paid, we don’t need anything from here anymore.” 

Shuzo looked her dead in the eyes. ‘She really was just here for the pendulum cards then huh?’ His eyes remained steadfast. “Please see yourselves out.” 

The LDS students all looked to each other with nervousness about what the reason for their ‘surrender’ was, but they quickly put on a serious expression as they were leaving. 

The Yusho students could only burn holes in the back of their heads as they saw them walk into the hallway out of sight, their footsteps proof that they were leaving the premises. 

Everyone else turned around to look at each other and breathed a sigh of relief. Sora finally could relax and just enjoy his lollipop without having to worry about anymore suprises for today. 

“That was really scary... Luckily big bro Yuya held on! He gave me shivers!” Futoshi said scratching his head happy that the worst was over. “Yea! He did great, it was awesome!” Ayu cheered also trying to lighten the tense mood that covered the viewing room. 

The sound of humming died down as the action field disassembled. Shuzo could be heard making his way down the stairs before appearing to everyone. “Yikes. That was a close one! That woman sure is scary huh?” Shuzo said ruffling his hair trying to take his and the other nerves down even further. 

Yuya walked out of the room with his head down. “Yuya, best buddy you couldn't have done better!” Gogenzaka said looking down wanting to give his shorter friend a hug. (He would have too if he also wasn’t covered in injuries.) 

Yuya attempted to look up to everyone but almost immediately collapsed to his hands and knees panting heavily. “Yuya!!!” Everyone shouted Yuzu kneeled down and tried to check for any discernible injuries. She found heavy bruising on his arms and a small bit of purple on his chest from the hit by Alexander. 

But more than that as Yuya kneeled down he let out a shout of despair. “I... I couldn’t do anything!” This shocked everyone in the room, it was the first time that they had seen Yuya this frustrated. 

“H-hey c’mon now you did better than me...” Yuzu said trying to console her friend. Yuya gripped his hands so tightly that a speck of red could be seen coming from them. “He had pendulum summoning... I was so sure I held some sort of advantage over him... something to help tip the scales even a tiny bit back toward me... but even he beat me in that.” Yuya got up off his knees. 

Yuzu couldn’t meet her friends' eyes as he stood back up. Here she was trying to console him when it was her fault that he went through that because she failed in her duel against Masumi. 

The younger kids looked at each other with timid eyes; they didn’t have the experience necessary to comfort their friend. Thankfully there was someone in the room that did. 

The orange haired coach walked over to Yuya and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Yuya, if your father had seen that duel, I think it might have been the proudest he would have been in his entire life, and I mean that with all of my heart.” 

Yuya broke away from staring at the earth to looking up, his goggles still glued to his eyes, but not quite as strongly. Shuzo continued to speak. 

“And I also understand how you feel about our school having a ‘special advantage’ over other schools and how it could help us. But the truth is someone will always come along and find ways to adapt to what someone else has made. I mean it’s what happened to your father!” 

Yuya this time raised his head to eye level, that last line definitely caught his attention. 

“During Action Duel’s infancy, your father was the first entertainment duelist. Someone who focused on making sure everyone had a good time in action duels, even his opponent! It was revolutionary! It was surprising. And soon others followed in his footsteps. But despite that it doesn't change the fact that it was his footsteps. Everyone will develop entertainment dueling in their own way. Even us. Just like how eventually everyone may be able to pendulum summon. So, all you have to do is keep on improving and striving to adapt to how you want to grow.” 

The spirit in the room was starting to brighten at the principal’s words, despite his occasional obnoxiousness, he was a damn good leader. Yuya was trying hard to not break out into a gentle smile. 

“Today, you faced a pro level duelist- no. Someone stronger than nearly all pro level duelists and managed to hold your own! And you did so while entertaining the crowd! That’s what we’re all about so just keep going and keep trying to find out what it means to entertain like Yuya Sakaki.”  

Shuzo finished his speech. Everyone in the room had some amount of hope returned to them about the future. Yuya’s face broke out into a smile at the words. Taking off his goggles he looked around to his friends. 

“Yea, your right principal. Thanks for the words, I- I just never thought that things would get that intense. And you're also right about pendulum summoning. It won’t remain ours forever, so we need to find a way to make it even better! Right guys?” He said trying to rally the smaller kids who all looked up in admiration. Even Sora looked pumped up. Yuzu smiled to herself. ‘He looks so much better when he has a smile on his face...’ 

The group immediately picked themselves up and got back into the dueling room to start trying to find a way to train themselves. 

------------------------ 

In an abandoned parking lot, covered in scars from a battle, the sun had begun to set. It had officially been a day since the purple-haired girl had made her voyage to a brand-new world. 

She was currently leaning against a wall, several empty plastic bags drifted in the wind by her, creating a small rustling sound. This sound covered the footsteps of another, larger person. 

With dark-cyan hair, an eyepatch and a large scar. He walked over to the girl and stood with her against the wall. Not making eye contact he started to speak. 

“I see you weren’t very subtle. As always.” He criticised. 

The girl with the orange headband let out a ‘hmph’ in response. She very clearly didn’t want to be lectured about ‘Making too much noise’ during a mission that required some level of combat. 

Barrett sighed. “Did you get your target?” The girl reached into her pocket and pulled out a card. Emblazoned on it was a defeated and partially bloodied man. “He wasn’t it. He was way too weak, I thought he might have been masquerading as an officer but nope.” She said roughly, clearly frustrated with herself for not choosing the correct target. 

Barrett glanced a singular eye before looking back to the empty roads. “Well, that’s too bad. We’ll keep searching the city then, just always keep your life energy sensor on.” 

Serena sighed. “Y’know... I know that it’s not right to talk about this sort of thing with an officer but... never mind.” Serena looked down annoyed at herself for even getting so unprofessional with her commander. Barrett looked up at the clouds with an orange tint floating through the sky, the shape of the moon could be seen just in the distance starting its rise. 

“N-no. Psyche evaluations can be good during expeditions in a battlefield. Tell me what's on your mind.” The larger man said awkwardly, it was his duty to make sure Serena was both safe and as content as she could be. 

“It’s just that... it sucks that Yuri isn’t here. He would have been great at this sort of thing. Better than me at least.” She said kicking a nearby can causing a rattle to echo out through the quiet parking lot. 

Barrett avoided meeting her face, he couldn’t let her see the guilty look in his eye as he spoke. “Serena... it’s best to let it go. It happened a while ago, soldiers, even young ones, can fall in battle all the time. It’s just lucky that you weren’t in the crossfire at the time.” The man said gritting his teeth hoping that the girl wouldn’t press the matter further now that he knew what she wanted to talk about was about him . 

Serena grunted, the memory of that day flashed in her mind. She then quickly got up from her leaning and started walking away. “Yeah, yeah. I get it. Sorry for bringing it up again.” 

Barett breathed a sigh of relief under his breath, he wasn’t the most capable liar. 

She could never know. 

---------------- 

Chapter Text

Yuya was currently sitting in class, the teacher was on some boring tirade about the circumference of a sphere. Much like the other days that marked the beginning of Summer it was intensely humid. The entertainment duelist was not paying attention to the lecture of his teacher at the moment. He was too busy, lost in thought about the previous weekend. 

‘Are you able to do it?’  

‘Ah so you haven’t figured it out yet, I wasn’t expecting that. I expected that after your duel with Ishijima that you would know, especially after your friend managed it.’  

Yuya’s brow furrowed, what was Reiji Akaba talking about? He was acting way too cryptic dammit! Was he talking about Yuzu who also weirdly got pendulum cards? At first Yuya was willing to brush it off due to coincidence, but now he was fully speculative of how exactly the esoteric cards managed to find their way into his deck. 

And on top of that a similar event happened to Gongenzaka too with him miraculously Synchro summoning cards he didn’t have before... 

The tomato-haired boy put his head down, trying to alleviate the headache he was forming. Somehow forgetting that he was currently in a class. Something his teacher was more than keen on making up for. 

---------------- 

As the bell rang for lunch Yuya made his way to the courtyard, the cacophony of students roaring through the halls and into the courtyard. Yuya made his way to a stone seat in the school grounds as he took out his lunch. 

“Ah! A bento box! Man, mom’s the best...” as he started to chow down on his food, a familiar friendly face came to greet him. Yuzu looked over, she had an expression that was hard to read for Yuya as he looked to his side still eating his fried rice. 

She turned to him with a small, cheeky smile. “Yuya, I heard that you were chewed out by the math teacher earlier. How many times have I warned you about that?” Her voice was a bit uncertain, like she was trying to break the ice over something. 

Yuya paused for a moment, taking in the sassy remark and swallowed his food. Noticing the awkwardness between them, he looked over confusedly to his blue-eyed best friend. “Heh yeah... say Yuzu, is there something wrong? You seem a bit off.” He asked innocently, trying to coax his friend into confessing. 

Yuzu rested her head on her hand as she started to think about her response; she spoke a few moments later. “Yea I'm fine it’s just... I'm so annoyed!” Yuzu complained to her friend in a grumpy tone as she clenched her fist. “Ever since that duel with Masumi I'm all in my head.” She rolled her head back as she looked up to the clear blue sky before turning her eyes to gauge her best friend's reaction. 

Yuya remained quiet, just chewing on his food as he listened to his friend waiting to see if there was anything else. The pink-haired girl sighed as she shook her head. “Yea I guess that’s it.” She finished her confession; she reached into her bag to pull out her own lunch. 

Yuya nodded before continuing to scarf down his meal. the girl looked at him with a bit of annoyance. “Thanks' for listening to me but couldn’t you at least eat a little less messy?” Yuya almost choked on his food, trying to quickly respond to the accusation. But before he could, a familiar figure appeared in front. 

The flashy-dart-duelist stretched his hand down offering a handkerchief to a pink-haired ‘rival’ of his. The duo looked up to be greeted with the face of one Shingo Sawatari. He was expectantly waiting for his offer to be accepted, however both the Yusho duel students gazed at him with less than pleasant expressions. 

Sawatari clicked his tongue as he retracted his offer. He looked over to Yuya who was still chewing with a disapproving glance. “Figures. Your manners and eating are just as sloppy as your dueling.” He jeered, annoyed that he was not given the respect which he ‘thought’ he deserved. 

Yuya finished chewing “I can understand my eating but I’m pretty sure I beat you.” putting down his chopsticks to fully interact with the person in front of him. 

“Yea, you’re talking a lot of smack for someone who lost despite stealing another person’s cards.” She said venom dripping from her voice as she glared at the blond-haired boy. Sawatari recoiled at the less than warm welcome and insults. 

“Hmph, well I'm sure you had your fun assaulting someone one weekend.” Sawatari retorted with a turn of his head. “That wasn’t Yuya! Also, what are you talking about ‘again’ as well?!” Yuzu queried. 

Sawatari simply turned his head to the two. “An LDS teacher was attacked last Saturday by an Xyz user.” 

The duo was shocked at the information given in an unusually somber tone from the dart-duelist. 

“I was only messing with you when I said that he did it before. I know you weren’t the one who assaulted me because there’s no way you would have been able to beat him even with your unfair summoning method. He was a professional duelist at the highest rank of LDS.” The blond continued, with hints of disdain and jealousy in his eyes. 

Yuya clinched his teeth at the remark. “Hey, what about it is unfair?” Yuzu spoke up for Yuya with her brow wearing a hard expression. “It’s unfair that only you two have access to pendulum summoning.” 

Both of the pendulum users continued to sit with slightly annoyed looks on their faces mainly due to some of the hypocrisy of the LDS students' words. Despite not being exactly ‘exclusive’ to LDS the knowledge on how to obtain fusion, synchro or xyz cards was closely safeguarded, with LDS having the lion's share of users all around the world. 

Sawatari ignored this as he dramatically pointed his finger at Yuya. “I heard a rumor that LEO is currently working on making pendulum cards. And when they do release them, I’ll make sure to use them to defeat you at the junior youth championship.” The blond-haired student promptly walked away. 

“Junior youth championship?” The boy’s voice rang out with confusion before panic set into his eyes. “OH CRAP!!!” 

----------------- 

Yuya dragged his feet across the pavement, gaunt in the face and eyes filled with disappointment. Yuzu walked just behind him and patted him on the back trying to cheer him up to no avail. 

At the gate 3 smaller figures could be made out amongst the crowd of teenagers. “Big-bro Yuya! Big-sis Yuzu!” Ayu happily waved over to her upperclassmen. 

Walking away from the school, Yuya was still hopelessly depressed at the situation which lay before him. The younger 3 students asked their blue-eyed friend to explain why Yuya was in such a sour mood. 

“He forgot that the junior youth championship was coming up in the next week.” Yuzu said in a gentle tone, trying not to say it too loudly to set off  her friend. 

“I haven’t qualified yet...” Yuya clarified. 

Tatsuya continued to walk as he thought about Yuya’s situation. “Alright but didn’t you beat Ishijima? Aren’t you classified as a pro either way?” He asked innocently. “Yea you should be able to just enter right away!” Futoshi agreed. 

Yuya sighed woefully “It wasn’t a match for his title so even though I beat him I’m not considered a pro yet...” 

Ayu took a pained breath at the words and made a concerned face as Tatsuya furthered his questioning. “Ok so what do you need to qualify?” 

“I need 50 official junior youth championship matches with a 60 percent winrate. I have 46 matches and 26 wins.” 

Tatsuya quickly did some mental math to calculate where his friend was standing. “Hmm thats a 52.5 percent win rate... that’s not good enough.” 

“You’re pretty good at math, Tatsuya.” Futoshi commented. 

Yuya continued his death march down the hill from school, the beautiful early summer day not making his mood any better. “Well, if you win 4 more matches than you’ll have exactly 50 matches with a 60 percent win rate.” 

Yuzu chimed in to answer the fed up Yuya. “Well, we tried that but...” The bright girl went on to describe the rejections of the day. Each spouted something about him ‘having a free pass’ or ‘already being a pro’. 

Yuya suddenly burst into a fit of frustration. “Gah! I want to be a pro! But I can’t qualify to be a pro because everyone already thinks that I'm a pro!” Letting out a long sigh once more, he lifted his head up. “Ugh I'll just have to find some more people to duel me who also haven’t made the cut yet.”  

“Why don’t you ask Gongenzaka for help? He’s the main reason why you’re even close to entering thanks to him letting you duel all of the students from the dojo.” Yuzu said, trying to bring in another idea. 

“If you ever need help in trying to find duels don’t feel ashamed in asking me, our dojo has plenty of duelists that still need to make the cut and would be looking for a duel.”  

The boy adjusted his goggles and shook his head. “Nah, he’s already done so much for me. I can’t keep relying on the same thing over and over again.”  

Ayu looked up confused at her tomato-haired friend confused. “Seems weird to me.” 

The blue-eyed girl turned her gaze from Yuya who was looking down the road back to the ocean by the bank from the hill. ‘Not relying on the same thing... oh yea! I needed to go ask him.’ Yuzu quickly turned to her friends. 

“Well look I have to head off somewhere!” Yuzu waved goodbye as she started to run down the winding hill into the glittering ocean. “What is she in such a hurry for?” Futoshi asked curiously. “I dunno.” Yuya responded equally confused. 

----------------- 

Yuzu was walking quickly through the bustling streets of the city; several students were crowding the streets moving towards their favorite shops to break free from the shadow of the past school day that loomed over them. 

Walking past the hustle of the town center the songstress duelist looked around the concrete playground looking for a specific someone. After about 30 minutes of fruitless searching, the girl sighed as more people filled the streets. Taking a moment to rest she looked up into the endless sky above her only to find the view blocked of the domineering corporate building of LDS. The glass pane’s reflecting the light down below it due to the deep, sea blue color that they possessed.  

‘Oh, he better not be...’ the girl thought as she started to make her way toward the building decently sure that the shorter boy whom she was looking for was in fact there. 

Reaching the base of the building, at the plaza there were many adults wearing dark blue uniforms accented with bits of maroon-red. Turning her head back and forth like a telescope, she finally locked onto her target. Licking his signature lollipop, he let out a sigh and muttered words. ‘Oh, he was thinking about running of to LEO after those duels! I’m so going to chew him out- wait. Yuzu that can be saved for later, you need him to help you.’ 

Stomping over to the boy, the girl raised her voice. “There you are! I’ve been looking all over for you! And also, you’re really running off to LDS already?” She accused the boy of tapping her foot in anticipation of an answer. 

Sora looked down in shame like a 5-year-old who had been caught with his hand in cookie jar. “Well, I'm sorry teach... It’s just that Reiji Akaba was so cool! Going from fusion to synchro to xyz to pendulum as well!” Sora looked over to the entrance to the school. Several guards were posted along the perimeter checking the ID of anybody who went into the monolithic building. 

“I wanted to go and see if I could see him again myself but they’re real tight on security...” The boy looked up returning his expression to its usual happy-go-lucky expression. “So, what’s up?”  

Yuzu grabbed the arm of his jacket and started to drag him away. “C’mon I want to talk to you somewhere a bit more private!” The pink-haired girl let go and started to speedily walk into the concrete jungle. 

“Yuzu waits up!” Sora said quickly, trying to keep up with the girl, knowing he would be viscously chewed up when he showed up at the school. 

------------------ 

In a flash of bright pink light, a purple and black-haired boy vanished. Surprised and disoriented, he opened his eyes again to try and meet with the person who he had been searching for.  

“Ruri?!” He said looking at the empty space that had once been occupied by the girl with his partner's face. But as he took in the emptiness of the space he looked around to find not the dull and dirty space of the abandoned warehouses. He was standing on the side of a road, it was long and wide, a highway. There were a couple of cars driving down the dusk-lit road, their headlights eyes in the dark.  

“What the hell? Where am I?” Yuto questioned out loud. Looking around, he saw off in the far distance, towers of concrete and glass. The city which he had once stood in was now far away from him, at least 5-6 kilometers away.  

Sighing, the boy pulled up his cloak as he began to walk towards the unfamiliar city. ‘What the hell happened back there? Why is Ruri in Standard? Why am I all the way out here from the city? Was there a glitch in the travel program?’  

Yuto continued along the path as the sun in the distance fully set casting the road into complete darkness. Him being forced to use the lights of the cars that only occasionally passed by as a guide along his long, long path.  

‘I need to see her again; I need to ask her why she’s here! She was wearing different clothes, had different hair and different colored eyes but it was her! I have to find out what’s going on and tell Shun-’  

Yuto paused as that thought crossed his mind. He ceased his endless march to ponder it for a moment. He had never considered withholding information from his comrade but maybe he could make an exception this one time. After all, despite the fact that it was Ruri’s face, there were many inconsistencies.  

Perhaps conducting his own investigation would be better before jumping to conclusions. Ever since Ruri went missing his raven-haired friend had been... unstable.  

Yuto nodded his head as he continued his walk, the sound of cars blurring past his ears as he made his way into the looming city. The moon was making its nightly adventure across the starlit sky. Yuto dragged his feet through the dreary lights of the town, every step he took he felt a weight drag him down.  

He was very, very tired.  

Pushing past crowds of people out on the town, late at night, rowdy kids and drunks. So unaware of any of the other troubles of the world. Yuto approximately 6 hours after the bright flash of light appeared in the same location from which he was spirited away from.  

Sluggishly working towards the abandoned warehouse near the end of the compound, he pushed open the large, rusted steel door and to the beams in which he and his ally had previously placed their items. ‘Shun’s not here... he’s probably still out looking for information on LDS.’ Yuto noted.  

Getting onto his bed roll which somewhat dangled over the metallic beam, the purple-haired fighter, at 4 AM in the morning, rested his head down.  

He fell asleep almost instantly.  

----------------- 

Yuto awoke to a loud slamming noise coming from a nearby warehouse. It rang like an echo through the empty storage area. Yuto groggily sat up perfectly still. ‘Damn, are these things still in use? Maybe it’s just those guys from before, the smart move would be to verify it though.’ The boy groaned as he sat up, his back cracking with a slight groan escaping from his lips. 

The boy jumped down with a roll from the beams, placing his signature mask on his face, he felt a sense of safety wash over himself as it covered his identity. Yuto looked outside, ‘Damn! It's already so late!? I slept far too long!’ 

Ignoring this grievous error, the teenager in old clothes that were torn and tattered jumped up several storage crates to a window of the large unit. As quiet as a mouse, the masked fighter slipped in the open window landing just behind a large cardboard box.  

“You want me to teach you fusion summoning?!” A voice asked innocently. A girl’s voice responded, one that made Yuto’s eyes open wider than they were before, shaking off his grogginess. A short inhalation of air could be heard from Yuto at the realization of who’s it was ‘What!?!? Fusion!?!? Ruri would never... there has to be something going on here. I’ll have to be silent and see what’s going on.’ 

“W-well yea! Against Masumi... I lost really badly. I can’t let that happen again! If I rely solely on pendulum... I won’t make it that far, I'm not like Yuya. So please Sora! Teach me!”  

Yuto had to take a second to process what had just been said, deciding he needed to take another look to gauge if his suspicions were well-founded. He made sure to be as quiet as possible, but despite this the shorter, blue-haired teenager turned his head up to face Yuto’s direction. The eyes of the mask and the green eyes met. ‘Shit!’ Yuto cussed inside his head, a thought that would be doubled as the sweets lover immediately activated his duel disk. The blade glowing with an almost sickening neon blue. 

Yuto immediately jumped back as Sora rushed at the boxes with a large jump in the same instant. “Wait what’s going on!?” Yuzu asked worriedly as she looked up, she saw the figure in a worn cloak. A familiar figure, the same one who had dueled Sawatari. And the same one with the exact face of her best friend. 

Yuto jumped backwards with the agility of a professional boxer, using constant movements to jump up and evade Sora who was attempting to chase him down. Jumping up on the arch down, the boy shifted his body and activated his own duel disk, a purple glow illuminating the dark. Sora turned around and clashed his blade with Yuto’s creating sparks before the boy moved back. 

“This guy again!?” Yuzu shouted out loud. Sora glanced back at her with a relaxed smile on his face. “Oh, you know this guy, Yuzu?” Sora asked cheekily staring down at his opponent. “Y-yea he was the guy that dueled Sawatari. W-why do you look like Yuya?” Yuzu said a bit scared at the current showing of intensity between the two boys in front of her. 

The man in the mask looked to the girl, he stood with his duel disk ready. “Ah... so it really wasn’t her after all. I apologize for bothering you the other day.” The voice replied muffled from the mask and seemingly ignoring the pink-haired girl’s question, but it had an intense feeling of disappointment behind it.  

The Frightfur duelist scoffed as he looked up and down at the stance of the mysterious man. “You aren’t from around here, are ya?” he said almost mockingly. 

“I could say the same thing to you, right?”  

Yuzu couldn’t help but notice a twitch in Sora’s eye at that remark. The girl’s blue eyes darted in between the doppelganger of her friend and her (hopefully) new teacher. Sensing the tension she slowly reached for her own duel disk but Sora put out a hand to stop her. 

“Don’t worry about this Yuzu, I'll take this one. You wanted to learn fusion summoning, right? I’ll be glad to give you a front row seat~!” Sora consoled his friend as he turned his attention back to the man.  

Yuto didn’t back down reading his duel disk more; he prepared himself for a duel. “I don’t want to fight here, but I’m not going to back down from you.” Sora maintained his happy-go-lucky smile while Yuzu’s face turned to a grimmace. 

“W-wait we can talk-” before she could continue her train of thought, Yuzu looked down to another light which started to fill the room. Her bracelet. “Why is this happening again?” Yuzu said her words filled with desperation as she looked up only to find a flash of bright light to meet her eyes. ‘Oh, not again!!!’ Yuto cursed as he felt the familiar feeling of painless evaporation overtake his body. 

“Gah!” Both the blue and pink-haired Yusho students covered their eyes as a flash of pink lit up the dull warehouse casting the shadows of storage crates over the walls. “What the hell was that?!” Sora said rubbing his eyes clearly in awe at the strange event that had just occurred. When the duo looked up, they found the duelist in front of them had disappeared. Almost as if he never existed in the first place. 

A large creaking of the door illuminated the entire room with natural light, causing the two to cover their eyes. They were met with the visage of a confused looking Yuya. He had bits of sweat on his brow and was breathing deeply as if recovering from a run. “Oh, hey there guys! I’ve been looking all over for you, what's up?” 

Yuzu looked toward her silver bracelet and back up to the boy incredulously, walking over to him with caution almost like he was a ghost. “Yuya, why are you here?” she said plainly. Trying to piece together any semblance of information that might come from this question. 

The tomato-haired boy scratched his head happily “I just wanted to let you know I managed to fix 4 matches for myself! Nico Smiley, Ishijima’s former manager,” Yuya clarified for Sora. “made a deal with me to set up a couple of matches for the junior youth league!” He finished punching a fist into the air. 

Yuzu was still in a hurricane of confusion and doubt. “And that’s it? Nothing else?” The girl said patiently, trying not to lose what remained of her mental fortitude. The taller teenager looked down, noting the desire for an answer in his best-friends' eyes. “Uhh, I mean yea that’s it I just wanted to find you to ask if you wanted to start training with me some time soon, y’know since we both use pendulum summoning and all that...” Yuya concluded unsure on if his answer was what she was looking for. 

Unfortunately for him, it was not. With a pained expression Yuzu nodded before snapping out of it. “Yea. I wouldn’t mind training with you, it’s just umm...” 

“She wanted me to teach her how to fusion summon Yuya.” Sora said de-activating his duel disk. Yuya’s eyes widened “Oh Yuzu you were training with Sora?” He asked innocently, but there was a hint of surprise at the revelation. 

The girl looked down at her feet, kicking a small chip of wood on the floor. “Well yea. Ever since I lost to Masumi, I can’t help but feel like I need to catch up to you somehow. I don’t have as many pendulum cards as you do so I figured... why not branch out more?” 

The entertainment duelist adjusted his goggles before looking up with a grin. “Well, that’s great then! I won’t bother you with something that you’re not passionate about.”  

Yuzu looked toward him with a guilty look before wiping it away to match his smile. ‘He really is too kind.’ This moment of solidarity was interrupted by the shorter of the Yusho students. “Hey, you mentioned the junior youth something-or-other right?” He asked innocently puppy dog eyes already forming in order to try and coax an answer out of the two. 

“Oh uhm yea, it’s a championship where students around our age can enter. But I don’t think you have enough official duels to participate...” Yuya said rubbing his neck awkwardly averting his eyes from the pools of innocence that were Sora’s. 

The blue-haired boy pouted with a disappointed look on his face. “Aw man... I really wanted to join something like that.” Thankfully for the boy his friend (and now new student) had something to amend this. “Actually Sora, I think there’s a clause that says if you win 6 matches in a row you can automatically participate.”  

Suddenly the look of pure disappointment was wiped off Sora’s face as hope filled his huge eyes. “Oh great! I’ll just win all of those! Say Yuya can you ask that Smiley guy to set me up with some marches?” Once again Sora’s pleading eyes had returned to meet Yuya’s. 

Yuya simply sighed before nodding. “Yea, yea I’ll see what I can do.” 

“Awesome thanks Yuya!” 

Yuya looked to the duo before giving his signature cheeky smile along with a peace sign before starting to walk away, leaving a small little cluster of confusion in the pink-haired girl's chest. Completely unaware of the situation he had just walked into. 

The two remaining in the old dusty warehouse returned to each other. “So aside from whatever the heck that guy was doing here, would you like to get started?” 

Yuzu looked down at her feet, so much was racing through her head. Questions she had no clue about how to get answers to. Her blue eyes glanced over her wrist at the polished silver bracelet. “Um, how about tomorrow? I need to... check something.”  

Sora shrugged simply before crossing his arms over his head as he walked out. “Sure, sounds good then. We’ll meet back up here tomorrow, got it?” He said, winking at his friend," he said. Yuzu nodded assuredly. Walking their separate ways, the pink-haired student looked back to the warehouse. ‘What the hell is going on?!’ 

--------------------- 

The sun began to set over the horizon; an orange glow loomed over the town signaling the time for people to return to their homes. Yuzu walked along the sidewalk, the scratch of her runners could be heard as she walked. Eventually she managed to reach her destination, her house, just as the sun fully set, casting everything in a darker shade. 

Knocking on the door, her eyes were blurred, lost in her own thoughts. ‘I need to ask him now... I need to know!’ The door was opened, and Yuzu was met with a warm smile. Shuzo, with his warm hair and smile, immediately welcomed her in with a hug. “Oh, Yuzu, you’re back! It’s not good to be out so late!” His tone was laced with a bit of relief. 

Yuzu accepted his hug but as she broke apart and walked into the living room she couldn’t match his smile. Looking up with a slightly pained expression, Shuzo became worried. “Yuzu dear is everything all right?”  

The loud man’s daughter looked her father in the eye.  

“Where did my bracelet come from?” 

“W-what?” Shuzo said confused at the sudden question. 

Yuzu grit her teeth before deciding she would let it all out. “I need to know where it came from dad!” Her voice was shaky but demanding and desperate. 

Shuzo took a step back before putting his hand to his chin. “Well from what I remember you’ve had it ever since you were born...” 

Yuzu started to shout “THAT DOESN’T MAKE ANY SENSE! HOW CAN A BABY JUST HAVE A BRACELET!?!?” tears beginning to form in the corners of her eyes. 

The room was quiet after that. Shuzo had a distressed look on his face due to his daughter's outburst. “H-honey please, I don’t know what's going on right now but...” 

He couldn’t find the right words to finish his sentence. Yuzu looked down at her bracelet again before rushing out of the living room to her bedroom. Shuzo’s attempt to stop his daughter was stopped by his better judgement, he figured it would be better to wait until the morning to see if Yuzu would be in a better mood to talk. 

The songstress duelist closed her door with a sharp click. Leaving her in silence, the only sound being the shifting of her socks against the floor and her rackety breathing. Taking off the cold silver bracelet, she looked at intently. ‘What even is this thing!? Why can’t I remember a time where I didn’t have it!?’ As she felt the metal object in her hand, she saw the pink gemstone glisten inside. 

Picking it up over her head and ready to throw the circular piece of jewelry something in the back of Yuzu’s head stopped her from smacking it across the dark wood floor. Letting out a small whimper, she tiredly shambled over and collapsed onto her bed. ‘Why can’t I bring myself to throw it away? Why does it glow whenever that guy shows up?? What’s going on with me???’ 

Yuzu not even bothering to put on her pajamas, was lulled to sleep by the soft, fluffy blanket on her bed. Closing her eyes all she could hope for was the future starting making a little more sense. 

--------------------- 

A sense of excitement ran through the air. Yuzu found herself a viewer in her body once again, only able to merely look out at the scenario which was playing out in front of her. Riding on the back of a monster, angelic wings and a set of armor were prevalent. She was ducking and weaving through pillars of fire that were being made by another monster.  

Not taking into account the situation Yuzu saw her hand reach for a card that was placed near a pillar in a coliseum like field. Grabbing it and activating the card caused the attack to cease.  

She heard a muffled voice; it had a bit of annoyance but was ultimately playful. It wasn’t long before she felt her own mouth begin to move. However, unlike other times Yuzu could start to make out the majority of words.  

“C’mon! You have to try harder than that ****!” She chuckled happily. With her fingers moving over her deck, she drew a card before commanding her monster to attack. Only getting a glimpse of its stature did she see a humanoid-like figure charging towards a draconic-like one. With one decisive slash, Yuzu saw her monster destroy the enemy’s monster as well. Unfortunately, this also resulted in the monsters owner, a shadowy figure in the distance to get thrown back.  

As the field disassembled into an empty room, it was filled with weights and other training equipment. Yuzu watched as her body jogged its way over to the dark figures. As she got close Yuzu could see more of the figure's clothes. Brown rugged leather gloves and boots, uniformed fit jeans, a simple green shirt with a beige overcoat all creating a simple but effective outfit.  

The girl felt a flutter in her chest as she looked down at the figure of a man sitting up to rub the back of his head. “Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn’t mean to go that hard during training! Are you ok ****? Here let me help”. This girl watched as her arm extended; for some reason it was longer than she had remembered.  

The figure’s shadowed face looked up to the hand, and despite his face being cloaked in darkness.Yuzu could feel a mischievous grin as he quickly grabbed the outstretched hand and pulled the girl down.  

A sense of annoyance but also sheer joy was felt in her chest. Yuzu heard the heavenly ringing of giggles from both her and the figure and started to feel a warm sensation spread throughout her body. Her cheeks flushed as she watched her face start to close in on the man’s who’s features she just couldn’t make out before. It was just then that her sense of reality started to shake as she felt herself being pulled away from her body, now a spirit. And then, she woke up.  

--------------------- 

The next day at 12:00 both Sora and Yuzu returned to the old warehouse area. Sora began to go over the fundamental concepts of fusion summoning for about 1 hour to Yuzu making sure she knew everything. 

“So, with fusion summoning the key thing to remember is that the sum of something should in some way be greater than its parts. Fusion summoning tends to be best used when certain criteria are met in the duel, probably because it’s the most recourse intensive style of summoning out of the thr- four summoning styles.” Sora lectured quickly correcting himself at his neglect of Yuzu main style. 

Both Yusho students were currently standing near the pier overlooking the ocean, waves crashed against the concrete seemingly punctuating Sora’s words. “So sometimes it’s not worth using fusion right away? But Masumi managed to do it twice in one turn.” Yuzu said trying to further gleam any knowledge on this new style, trying to push the thoughts of what she had just seen out of her mind. 

“Well firstly she was using a special kind of card, don’t get me wrong, she’s only mediocre but her style was different than most fusion summons. Her ‘Gem-Knight Fusion’ allowed her to constantly fuse because of the ability to recycle itself over and over. Besides sometimes it is better to just go all out from the start depending on whatever type of fusion monster you have, however like most things it’s good to have a back-up plan.” 

Sora continued, his eyes sparkled as he opened up a green lollipop, glistening from the shining of the sun. He had a look that Yuzu hadn’t seen before, one of complete contentment almost as he was divulging this information with a sense of pride on his face. 

“Ok, so she has a special card that allows her to fusion summon more. But I don’t think I have anything like that. So where should I start?” Yuzu questioned further wanting to get to the points she wanted to know as soon as possible. 

Sora chuckled at her hastiness, still happy that she was so interested. “Well, it’s gonna be tough for you if you don’t have any fusion cards. Learning a new summoning method can be kind of tricky if you’re not naturally lucky or gifted. If you haven’t found any fusion cards just from booster packs yet I wouldn’t count on finding any in the future just by that.” Sora continued as Yuzu listened intently. Ships could be seen sailing across the blue painting of the ocean. 

“But I have a way around that, it may sound weird but just trust me on this, ok?” Sora said, standing up and walking over to a more spacious spot on the pier. 

Yuzu also got up with a bit of a grunt as she followed him to his spot. Sora dug around in his cardholder. Pulling out a card, he presented it out to Yuzu inviting the pink-haired girl to take it. “This is the spell Polymerization, it’s the main card you’ll use to fusion summon. Take it.” 

The songstress-duelist was shocked at the bluntness of his actions. “A-are you sure? I mean this is one of your cards, right? Is it really fine for me to, have it?” A flurry of questions invaded the sweet-lover's ears.  

Simply shrugging he responded “Don’t get your hopes up just yet sis, you’ll need a fusion monster to y’know use this. But that’s where the next part comes in.” 

Yuzu nodded eagerly, desiring the knowledge to be able to protect her friends more effectively than before. 

“You’re going to put that card in your deck and shuffle it well, then I want you to draw like you would in a duel and have that card be there in your hand for five times in a row.” 

The girl blinked slowly. “What.” She uttered simply. 

Sora chuckled again as he took out his finished lollipop with a flick of his fingers causing it to rattle onto the ground. “Look I know it sounds ridiculous to you but like I said sis, you just have to trust me here. Ok~?” He said sweetly, turning on his large puppy dog eyes. 

Wanting to speak against this strange training method but ultimately deciding to go along with her teacher's advice, Yuzu hesitantly placed the card in her deck before equipping her duel disk to her arm. As she placed her deck into it, she shuffled it tightly. 

“All-right then here goes nothing...” Yuzu drew her first 5 cards with power as she was taught to. Dramatic draws were always taught to the Yusho students as they were a good way to get the crowd riled up for a turn. As the teen's dark blue-eyes briefly looked over her hands, a look of disappointment was plastered along her face as she slumped her arms down. 

“No dice huh? Well, it’s fine, just keep at it. Though do keep in mind that I have my first match to enter the Junior Youth Championship coming up in...” The Frightfur duelists pulled out his duel disk and tapped on the screen to read the time. “2 and a half hours.” 

Yuzu groaned as she realized that maybe choosing Sora as her teacher for this was not the best idea. But oh well, it’s not like she had a lot of choices in the matter anyway. If this was a path that Sora said worked, she would just have to believe him! 

As Yuzu placed her cards back into her deck and shuffled it again, her mind couldn’t help but think about Yuya. He was having his first match to qualify for the tournament as well today...  

Her thoughts drifted to the dream of the woman and the man last night before running it out of her mind. 

-------------------------- 

The purple-haired fighter was enveloped in a bright pink light. ‘Oh, not again!’ He thought before the light died down. The first thing he noticed was the smell. It was one of salt and fish. Next was the feeling of waves rocking him back and forth beneath a metal floor. Then his ears listened to the sounds of waves crashing and roaring against a boat. And finally, sight, as his vision adjusted, he looked to see a painting of blue and white. The sea and the sky merging together on a partially cloudy day. 

Slowly turning around, he looked over the railings that he was placed in front of, the city about 6 miles away, just barely visible thanks to the domineering skyscrapers.  

A small groan could be heard escaping from the boy’s lips as several families noted his sudden arrival on a large tourist ship.