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Trading Game

23rd Pack

Fusion Conflict

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While Yuuna kept running under the guise of Red Hat in order to search for Sister Claire and Serena who were running away from the Obelisk Force, Yuri was left behind back in the dorms together with Mei.

And just like the violet haired girl in the room, the boy was left in a state of confusion. After all, the truth that he had just learnt from Yuuna had shaken many of his beliefs, beliefs that had been unshakable ever since he had been taken in by the Professor to the Academia.

Yuri was an orphan, it was the reason why he had no last name like Yuuna, Mei and Serena, and just like the violet haired girl, he was taken in by the Professor to the Academia under a scholarship.

Ever since he was born, the one belief that Yuri had held that was unshakable even now, was his love for the card game that was Duel Monsters, the most famous game in this world with Dungeon Dice Monsters coming in second.

He doesn’t quite know where exactly his love for the game came from, but he could make an educated guess that it stemmed from the deck that he has had with him ever since he could form a conscious thought.

He always had felt that he had a special connection with his cards, more so to his signature Fusion Monster, Starving Venom Fusion Dragon, more than any other cards that he had in his deck.

Playing the game gave him a sense of satisfaction and happiness that no other activity gave him, dueling against a strong opponent, struggling as he fought against them with his all, it gave him a sense of satisfaction like no other.

But there stood one problem during his childhood while he was in the orphanage, one that connected with the one activity that he loved.

He was strong. Too strong in fact.

He was such a strong duelist that no one else from their orphanage, no one in the whole city that he had lived in, be they children his age or even adults, could best him in dueling.

 And it was at that point that something grew inside him, something that was… sinister.

He had always wondered where exactly that the love that he held for the game, for his cards and dueling in general, had come from, and one day, in one random day where he had dueled extremely roughly and injured his opponent that something awoke within him that let him see a glimpse of… a glimpse of something that he doesn’t quite understand himself even to this day.

That night, he saw… something. He saw a scene that he had never seen before, heard words and cheers that he had never heard of. He saw a scene that he had seen before, heard words and cheers that he had heard of. 

He heard the shouts of the audience, the cheers of people whose ages ranged from children to adults, their cries for violence, their wish for blood.

He felt an obligation, a duty to fulfil their expectations, to give the crowd what they want. To spread violence, to hurt others, to destroy.To BeCoMe One, BeCoMe One BecOmEoNe BeCoMeZaRc.

Ever since he had that dream, his dueling became rougher, more violent, his crave for violence had been unearthed, and he soon craved for it as he dueled. And then, he essentially became alone. No one wanted to duel against him, no one wanted to go close to him, no one wanted to deal with him. 

He was alone, he always was alone, it was why he dueled for the crowd. For recognition from other. And they wanted violence. VioleCeVioLencEViOleNCeViOlEnCePaiNpAinPAiN-

He was then alone, and when the Professor came for him, a person who felt strangely familiar to him, as if he had known him, seen him, interacted with him long ago, hope began to bloom in his heart.

He craved for duels, for dueling, to duel against a strong adversary. And so he started to hope as the man that he knew was the principal of the most prestigious dueling school in the world invited him personally to come to said school.

And his hope was answered, not only had he found duelists as strong as himself to duel against, he had even found someone who was stronger than him, someone who had beaten him in the game that he believed he was the best at.

He met Yuuna, he met Mei, he met Serena (another person who felt strangely familiar to him), he met Fubuki, Ryo, Edo, the twins and Mamoru. He was thankful to the Professor for the opportunity to have met them.

He was grateful to have been given far more freedom when compared to the other students, even when compared to some of the staff members, and it was through that that he had also learnt of the purpose of this man made island.

The invasion of the XYZ and Synchro Dimension, the grand goal of unifying the four dimensions, merging them into a singular whole. He had seen how the man’s eyes had been so vibrant, so full of life as he gave out his speech on the underground training facility. 

He had spoken of their respective dimensions, how there exists no Fusions there, told him of the different kinds of summoning mechanic in passing, most hammering the notion of how those dimensions held duelists who used unknown tactics and strategies, decks that he could only dream of.

He had told him how he needed a vanguard, someone to spearhead the invasion, to become the leader of his army, the leader of the Obelisk Force, how he needed HIM specifically. Allowing him to fulfil his destructive urges, his impulse to inflict pain and suffering. 

So he obliged, he always does. He lived to please others, to seek their acceptance. And Akaba Leo was a special person who he held dear in his heart. He was like the father that he had never had. A loving father to both himself and R-

So he studied, learnt how to become an even better duelist than he already was. He easily absorbed the teachings of the teachers, of the private tutors (who was sent to spy on him, monitor him, he pLaNs To PrEvEnT hIs ReBiR-), and most of all, studied under Yuuna.

It had astounded him, of how much he apparently didn’t know of the game even with all his knowledge.

She taught him strategies that he had never heard of, a way to play his cards to form and chain together combos which allows him to easily summon what she had called his ‘Boss Monsters’, and gave him cards that works well together with his deck in a way that he never thought could ever be achieved.

She was strong. Stronger than even himself. He could count by one hand the number of times that she had lost a match, and most of those are because she was unfamiliar with whatever deck she was playing or a simple mistake in how she plays her cards, but even then most of them are still close games.

And after her first appearance on the spotlight, after her very first duel in a tournament where she was shown on television all over the world, she had changed the whole game.

While she hasn’t been using those ‘floodgates’ as she had called them recently, he knew that she was the first one to have popularized it. And ever since then he would see people play Summon Limit, the card that she had played to essentially win her very first tournament, be played everywhere.

And so he now was at an impasse, the same one that unknowingly, Yuuna herself had been just mere minutes ago, on whose side does he choose?

He owes the Professor a debt, one that no doubt Serena too shared with him, they were both orphans who he had hand picked by him to go to this prestigious academy after all.

“Yuri… Yuri!” He felt someone pull his shirt, and he looked down to see the small figure of Mei grabbing the edges of his shirt, her eyes were red, her hair was a mess, and tear staines marking her face.

But what he wasn’t expecting to see from the girl was the fire that burned in her eyes. Determination clearly shown in those amber orbs of hers. “I-” She stuttered out, still slightly sobbing, “I’m going out to help Yuuna!”

And for the second time that day, he couldn’t help but be surprised to the point that he let his mouth agape. “Wha-! But-!”

“I know!” She shouted back before he could even complete his sentence. Her grip on his clothes tightened, her head hung down so that he couldn’t see the emotions that ran through her face as she said so.

“I know. The Professor-he, he was my hero. He was a person that gave every child in Academy Island hope.” She began. “He gave us orphans all a chance to become a pro duelist, to do something with our lives, even an unwanted child like me can…”

She clamped up, her mouth betraying her as only sobs managed to come out. He tried to calm her down once again, patting the smaller girl in the back as she continued sobbing. It was… incredibly awkward, he wasn’t quite a people person, most could already tell by how he usually acted to avoid crowds, and was a habit that was kept as he was kept from socializing with how oscratized he was.

Thankfully, much to his relief, Mei eventually almed herself down, she was still breathing heavily, but not as much as she was before. 

“I… want to help Yuuna.” She said slowly, craning her neck up to look towards him. “She… more than the Professor, more than anyone else, she’s helped me so much. Claire nee-san, and Serena too.”

“...so you’re going.” He whispered out lowly, knowing already that the small girl had already made her decision.

“Un.” She nodded her head and rubbed her eyes, standing up straight suddenly from the bed, starling him just a tiny bit. She then turned towards him, looking at him straight in the eyes with her amber eyes.

“And… are you going to stop me?” She said, her body all stiff as if she was bracing herself for a confrontation, a hand placed over her duel disk, one where she would be fighting against him.

He closed his eyes, thinking. 

Because in truth, he didn’t know whose side he wanted to choose. Who does he follow? 

If he wanted to be realistic, if he wanted the fame, fortune, opportunity to duel those duelists from the XYZ and Synchro Dimensions, to fill that urge deep down inside of him to desTroYDestROydEsTroy- then there was no doubt that the choice was to follow the Professor.

But-

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“We need to talk for a bit.”

That was what she had said before essentially pulling him to her room moments after the celebration for them having won the preliminary tournament, throwing him onto the chair and locking the room. She then pulled another wooden chair, one that paired with the one that he was sitting on, and sat herself on it, leaving them staring straight at one another.

For a full minute, they simply sat there in silence, with Yuuna having her eyes closed and a hand on her head, sometimes massaging her forehead now and again. Eventually she let out a sigh. A long, loud, huge sigh that lasted for several seconds.

“Haaaaaaah~...alright. I think I’m calm enough now.” She said aloud, opening her eyes and staring directly into him. “Right. So. Do you have any idea why I pulled you in to have a talk with you?”

 

He didn’t quite know, no, that was a lie, he had an inkling on why she had done what she did and pulled him for a private talk. The last moment during the match, when their eyes locked with one another, the feeling of glee that ran through him as he saw Ryo and Fubuki’s body fall, hard, onto the marble floor-

“I’ll take that as a yes.” He flinched, looking away from the inquisitive look that the slightly older girl gave him. “Yeah, thought so. You at least know what’s wrong with… that right?”

“...” He kept silent, looking away from the girl in front of him. “Is it… really that wrong?” He asked aloud, not turning to look at the girl to see what kind of expression she held as the words left his mouth, but even so, he could somehow tell that the girl was frowning.

She let out a sigh again, scratching the back of her head as she did so. “That’s… I didn’t think that these kinds of things develop to children this young.” The comment that she had whispered completely went over his head, though she changed the subject soon enough as she coughed into her hands.

“Alright, I’ll ask again then. Why do you like… seeing people get hurt?” The red haired girl had shot her question, and he turned to her and opened his mouth to give her an answer.

Only for no words to come out, shocking himself at how he couldn’t quite answer her question. Wasn’t it easy for him to answer it? What reason was there for him not to want to see the faces of people in pain, the face of people suffering, the cries and tears of the people who had ForcEd Him To dO What He DoesN’T WaNt, FORcE HiM To HuRt OthErs, MakInG Him AloNe, ForCe HiS DraGonS, HiS ParTnErs, HiS FaMiL-

He wished for destruction. He wishes to destroy all. Because then, when everything is gone, when everyone is gone, then there will be no more expectations pushed on to him. To his monsters. To his Dragons. To Re-

He couldn’t quite explain it to her. This strange feeling, this wish to destroy anything and everything that was inside of him. After all, how do you even explain something that they themself don't even understand?

But Yuuna was perceptive, one does not work in HR without being able to read someone from their expressions, and she closed her eyes. “I see.” She said, taking his silence as him not even understanding the reason as to why exactly was he what he was.

The problem was, that Yuuna was not a person who had known the plot of this series, does not know the truth of the existence that was Yuri and the other Yu-Boys that was spread in the four dimensions, how they were fragments of the duelists that was once known as Zarc, the one who had prompted the world to be fragmented into four in the first place.

She had simply thought that the boy’s sadistic tendencies was one that came from his upbringing, he had talked shortly of his past to her once, and had thought that his inclination to inflict pain to others was his cry for attention.

And to her, it was understandable why a boy like him, why a child like him, still doesn’t understand his own feelings. He was, after all, still a child. And thus to her, it was quite understandable that he was still confused about himself and his feelings.

And as an adult, it was her job to guide children like him, who would have undoubtedly gone to a bad path in life, and correct it. 

It was a turning point, for the whole world as they would all know it. To bond with and attempt to rehabilitate Yuri, someone who was arguably the most connected to Zarc and his destructive impulse, his will to destroy all, out of the Yu-Boys, the one person who would arguably be one of the main antagonists of the story of ARC-V.

But for her, for Yuuna, who had never seen the story, who does not have the need and wants to stick to what is ‘canon’ and keep the continuity in check, she merely sees it as her helping her friend.

“Yuri, you like dueling don’t you?” She started once more, asking a question that certainly captured his attention. He turned to look at the red haired girl, and saw the serious look that she held.

He turned away, and nodded, wordlessly answering her question, and that was enough for her. “Do you find it fun, playing the game that is?” He nodded again. “You enjoy it right? Playing together. Dueling against others. Being challenged, testing your skills and all.”

Her last question was said in a softer tone, and in curiosity, he peeked to take a look at what expression she had. And he saw that she was smiling, a gentle smile, one that was aimed towards him. “I see.” She said wistfully as she closed her eyes.

“You really love this game don’t you.” She said it, not as a question, but had phrased it as a fact. Her expression then turned serious in a second, her eyebrows furrowed and her gaze hardened.

“Then if it’s like that, if you really do love this game, then it would be best if you don’t use it as a means of violence.” She said with a low tone of voice. “If you keep going like that, then it’ll only be a matter of time before you won’t be able to enjoy it anymore.”

“Wha-what do you-”

“If you continue on like that, if you continue to hurt others when they duel against you.” She cut him off, “First and foremost, this is a game. There’s many around the world who take it incredibly seriously like pro duelists, that is why dueling schools like this are built after all.”

She gestured towards the room, the many pieces of furniture and electronics around it. “These kinds of things are extremely expensive, along with the three daily meals that they gave us, disregarding the fact that most of them are just eggwiches. Though you should already know about that.”

And he indeed knew of that, it was a reason as to why he was indebted to the Professor who took him in. the food, while almost all of them are simply egg sandwiches that they dubbed eggwiches, that along with the fact that he gets his own room was far better than his treatment at the orphanage.

“But it's exactly because this is a game, that it's supposed to be something that both players enjoy.” She said, her stern voice smoothing to a more calm and gentle tone. “And such brings the second point, hurting your opponent with those solid holograms intentionally, is most certainly not something that most people would enjoy.”

He kept silent as he watched her keep going on with her explanation. “Though that one is just basic courtesy, that would basically mean that you would be using the game for a means of violence after all.” She said, shrugging her shoulders.

“Though, this third point might actually be one that is the most important.” She started, twiddling her thumbs as the tension started to fill the room. “If you kee dueling like that…”

She then stared straight into his eyes, her own grey-purple eyes meeting his own. “Then you’ll be alone again.” She said under her breath, loud enough for him to hear it, and he could feel his heart being struck with fear.

He could see it again. The sights of him being alone. Of him standing over nothing but rubble in a desolate land. In a place where everything was destroyed, where everyone was gone. WhEreHeHadDeStrOyEdEveRyThiNG.

“And when it comes to that, there wouldn’t be anyone who would ever duel with you again.” She said a matter of factly, completely believing every single word that she said. She had drawn a comparison to that of people who play un-fun decks that would completely lock your opponent on turn one, decks that are incredibly boring and unintuitive to play against, creating boards that are unoutable unless you open handtraps or are playing a specialized going second deck.

Herald Drytron, Bird Up, Pole Position, any kinds of FTK decks under the sun, toxic players. There are many decks out there that would make those who play against them not want to play the game, even to the point where they would willingly quit. 

Yuri’s case was the same, albeit in a more extreme sense. While his deck isn’t as disgusting and degenerate as some of the decks that she mentioned above, his whole shtick of inflicting pain to those that he duel against is most certainly a toxic behavior, one that needs to be nipped at the bud before it goes and grows into something worse than it already is.

And although it was quite evil of her to use the boy’s weakness, his fear, much as it disgusts her to do so. By simply linking the two points of ‘dueling with violence’ and ‘ending up alone’, it should at the very least implant the thought of how he wouldn’t want such an outcome, and thus would stop being so overly violent in his duels to prevent so.

But then again, she was quite sure that this was the tactic that many parents, teachers, and general adults do to teach their children to not do anything bad, simply by linking those ‘bad acts’ to a ‘bad end’ so to say. 

“...” He kept silent with his head hung low. 

Silence engulfed the room once more, with him being deep in thought and with Yuuna simply waiting for his answer.

“Just think about it okay?”

-

“Alright.” He said, opening his eyes and looking straight directly to Mei. He has made his decision, as much as the Professor has given him, as much as the promises that he gave him of the duels, the DeStRucTiON that he could bring, despite all that.

He would help the one who had reached out to her second, the one who had understood him, the one who shared his love of the game, the one who had trusted him and given him a chance to forgo a path of destruction (A pAtH hE wAs DesTiNed TO WalK, A pAtH FillEd WiTh OnLy RegReTReGrEtRegRe-), the one person whom he genuinely admired.

Between the Professor and Yuuna. Between the man who promised him the world and his friend. He would choose to help his friend.

“I’ll help.”

And the fate of the world turned.

-

“Ah! I remember! It’s over there!”

She made a sharp turn, going as fast as she could while carrying two children in her hand. She was slowly but surely getting winded, especially after she had used her all after avoiding the Obelisk Force.

She kept following the directions that the boy, Reiji she thinks, gave out to her from his memory, along with following the faint and vague memories that she herself had of this part of the school.

Only a few minutes has passed since she parted ways with Mei and Yuuna, and only a few minutes also since her confrontation with the Professor. And now she was looking for what in her mind, was the one and only possible exit that would be the easiest to which they could all use to escape, the interdimensional transporter that the boy had come from.

But in truth, it was a faint hope. She had acted rashly, done mostly out of instinct and not coherent thought, she had seen Serena and Reiji being apprehended by the Obelisk Force, and her mind went blank, only to be filled with memories that she had wanted to bury deep down in the back of her mind.

Memories of being forced to duel one another, with the loser’s fate being turned into mere piece of cardboard.

She had survived. She had been the best at what she had done. And as soon as she had reached the top, only then did she realize the mistakes that she had made, how wrong was what she had been doing.

So she tried to flee, but even with her best efforts to escape, she was still tied down to the Academia, only managing to inch further and make her home in one of the orphanages in Academy Island, she had merely traded one prison for another.

She tried to close her eyes of the dealings that the school does, ignored the screams of her heart as she saw them take away the young children from the orphanage to indoctrinate them, to brainwash them, to turn them into willing soldiers of war.

She tried to hamper them, in a not so obvious manner as the Professor’s eyes are everywhere, dissuading the children of the life of dueling, showing them other paths that they could lead in life instead.

Some heeded her advice, others did not. She thought that she would slowly wither away with her small and futile resistance as the Professor kept amassing his army of duelists, as his plans kept growing closer and closer to fruition.

And then Yuuna came.

She was an unassuming baby that came to the orphanage on a rainy day, left at the front of the door with no one in sight. And as she grew to be an intelligent child, one with a temperament of an adult with how she treats the other children as, well, children. 

But where she truly shined, was in dueling, and that feared her.

She feared of what would happen to this child. The young genius of a girl who could possibly excel in everything she does, the kind young girl who would help the other children.

She had despaired when she confessed to her how she and Mei would be attending the yearly festival, all in order to gain scholarships to enter the Academia. She wanted to dissuade them, to talk them out of entering the tournament, but seeing the flames of determination burning in their eyes made her stop.

So instead, she challenged them, giving her utmost to stop them from even entering the tournament.

And she was handily defeated by two young girls who weren’t even half her age.

So she gave them her blessing, and though her heart ached, she let the two of them attend the school. 

But before the day of their departure, the red haired girl told them of her own reason to attend the Academia, a reason that shook her to her core.

‘There’s something that I have to tell you.’ She told them, and though she raised an eyebrow in question as to what exactly was it that the girl needed to tell the two of them in secret, she let her continue.

‘It’s about the Academia, it’s-how do I say this…’ She fidgeted while frowning, thinking of the exact words that she needed to find to craft her sentence. ‘It’s doing something bad, I think, and I want to stop them.’

Her heart stopped at the girl’s declaration, her eyes went wide and her mouth hung open, lost for words. ‘Wha-what do you mean?’ She asked weakly at the time, attempting to calm down her oh so erratically beating heart.

‘It’s doing something bad, the people there intend to… invade? Invade some place far away, and I have to stop them.’ She said, and elaborated further before she could even say anything in response.

‘It’s… a mission, given to me by… God I guess.’ She said, which only gave her more questions instead of clarity from her answers. She then extended her hand, and a card appeared on her hand.

Both she and Mei jolted, looking at the card that yuuna had crafted out of thin air with shock. ‘He was the same that gave me this power. The ability to craft cards.’ She said, twiddling with the card in her hand. ‘It’s how I managed to get all of the cards that I have, the cards that I gave away for the other children to sell. Though those are mostly cards that I don’t find uses currently.’

‘Umm…’ Mei sounded out, getting Yuuna’s attention at the time. ‘I don’t really get it, but there’s someone bad at Academia and you want to stop them right?’ She asked with a tilt of her head.

Yuuna responded with a wry smile, and patted the smaller girl, all the while ruffling her hair. ‘Well. I guess that is the gist of it, yes.’ She said while giggling, all the while she was kept silent, her mind still catching up with what exactly the girl had just dropped on her.

She shelved the girl’s declaration of the fact that God was real, that was something that she had faced on her lonesome after the girls went off to the Academia, and instead despaired at the reality of the situation.

God, fate, whatever or whoever had given the girl the power to create cards, (and wasn’t that a strange ability to give the girl?) and along with it came the mission, the burden, to stop a mad man from invading other dimensions.

That lit a fire inside her, a fire that was snuffled to almost die by the same man that the little girl was fated to rebel against.

With her will to fight strengthened and renewed, her sabotages became bolder, less hidden, she made contacts with those duelists around the world that opposed what the Professor and the Academia stood for and gathered them all together, creating a combined force of duelists that could fight on par with the Obelisk Force.

But she guessed now they would have to do without her, what with her already being exposed as she was and was currently attempting to jump dimensions to run away.

She saw the room that the boy pointed to, and though it wasn’t littered to the brim with those pesky Obelisk Force, there was a group of them inside, as if they had been waiting for them to come here.

And leading them was a man that she knew. Or rather someone whom she had heard in passing.

The teal haired man, Barret, she remembered him when she was but a student in the Academia, one with a promising future and a nice dueling sense. To think that he would become someone of a high enough ranking to lead both a full squad of his own personal men, and a general force of Obelisk Force.

“So you did come here. Just as the Professor had predicted.” He said with a calm and collected look, standing straight in front of his row of Duel Soldiers who mingled with masked Obelisk Forces, all dressed in the same manner as he is, a green jacket and grey pants all uniform.

“He had predicted that you all would make your way here.” The man said, eyeing the group of three, or more correctly, the indigo haired girl that she carried. She glanced back to where they came, only to see that the men and women that made up their little ambush squad had guarded the room’s entrance.

They were trapped, and there’s only one way that she could see them getting out of here.

She dropped the two of them, both immediately being on alert as they eyed the room and the people around them warrily. She activated her duel disk, and the two behind her then followed suit, activating their own.

She noted how Reiji’s duel disk looked different from the standard Academia ones, but considering the many different duel disks out there, she ignored it.

“Give up. You’re surrounded. Return Serena-sama and the boy.” He said sternly, reaching out towards the indigo haired girl who took a step back in response to his approach. He frowned, though such a thing wasn’t as noticeable with how stern and emotionless the mask that he usually uses was.

She stepped closer towards the girl, glancing towards her and giving her an encouraging nod as their gazes locked to one another. 

“We’re not giving up without a fight.” She said with grim determination, knowing full well that she would even hold up against all of them at once if she had to just to give the two children behind her a chance to escape.

But knowing Serena’s personality, she was quite sure that that girl would be the one to show the most resistance to being captured by the Professor’s goons before them, even if she is quite troubled at the given moment.

“Hmph.” He scoffed, brandishing his own duel disk, followed suit by the many men behind them, following the Academia, or rather the Obelisk Forces doctrine to defeat their enemies in a duel to prove their superiority over them. “Then so be it.”

And the one that he chose to fight was her, someone who formerly held a position higher than he had when she was in the force. It was, in his own way, his way of showing his way that he would surpass her, to show his own superiority over her.

““DUEL!!””

Barret: 4000LP

Sister Claire: 4000LP

“The one who makes the first move shall be the victor. I’ll take the first turn!” The buff man declared, taking the first turn of their match. He took out a card from his hand, and placed it onto his duel disk. “I’ll activate the continuous spell, Beastborg Fusioner!”

And as he had said, the holographic projection of the card that he had just played appeared on the field, and as he started to explain the card’s effect, it shone. “Once per turn, I can Fusion Summon one ‘Beastborg’ Monster from my Extra Deck using monsters from my hand or my side of the field as fusion materials!”

The blond nun’s glare intensified as she saw the card that he had played. Memories of dueling against this very deck being replayed in her head as she saw her opponent activate the card. “So it’s like that…” She muttered aloud.

“I will fuse Panther Warrior and Dark Sentinel from my hand!” He took out the two cards that were the fusion materials he declared, and raised it, the two silhouettes of the monsters appearing as they entered the vortex of blue and orange.

“O wild black panther become one with the sentinel of darkness! And show your new roar!” The two monsters then became one, and the teal haired man’s glare intensified. “Fusion Summon! Appear! Beastborg Panther Predator!”

The Fusion Monster appeared onto the field, it’s form being the same as that of Panther Warrior, though unlike the Beast-Warrior that was one of its fusion materials, the monster’s entire left side was filled entirely with mechanical parts of the other fusion material that was used.

Beastborg Panther Predator - Dark/Machine/Fusion/Level 6/Effect: 1600/2000

“And now, I will activate the effect of Panther Predator!” The man declared out, activating his newly summoned Fusion Monster’s trigger effect. “Once per turn, I can inflict damage to my opponent equal to half this card’s attack!”

The monster then raised its sabre with both of its hands, the red orb that was located in the middle of its chest starting to glow, before it roared and brought down both hands, shooting a red beam of energy from its core.

SIster Claire raised her duel disk, positioning her duel disk’s holographic sword projection in front of the beam’s trajectory, managing to deflect most of the beam with it, though some of it still clipped her and dealt damage.

Sister Claire: 3200LP

“I will then set two cards!” He said as he placed two cards face-down on his spell and trap zone. “And I’ll end my turn.” So he said as he ended his turn, with a Fusion Monster summoned by the continuous spell, and two set cards as his backrow and no more cards in his hand.

The nun frowned as she faced her opponent, turning her head slightly for a moment to glance behind, seeing the indigo haired girl fighting against the other members of the Obelisk Force that was sent their way, holding most of them all back single handedly,  while the boy, Reiji, handled the others.

“My turn.” She said as her turn started, placing her hand over her deck. “I’ll draw.” And drew her card for the turn, and soon moved off from the Draw Phase towards the Standby Phase, and onto the first Main Phase of her turn.

“I’ll start with activating Pot of Extravagance!” She declared aloud, activating the spell as her first play of the game. “At the start of my Main Phase 1, I can banish 3 or 6 random face-down cards from my Extra Deck face-down, and draw one card for every 3 cards banished. But I cannot draw any cards by card effect for the rest of this turn.”

“You would banish your own Extra Deck!?” The teal haired man that she was fighting shouted aloud with wide eyes, seemingly surprised at her decision to even activate the card, the holographic projection of the two sided giant pot appearing next to her as she banished six cards from her Extra Deck and drew two in return.

And she would have agreed with him, had it been before she had met with Yuuna that is. The girl’s knowledge of how the game works, and more importantly how to put oneself in a more advantageous position in a duel, was astounding, and she was quite doubtful that anyone would have thought like her, her point of view was too different from how normal duelists, and even pro duelists, think.

The girl had gotten quite excited and went through a long explanation as to how getting card advantage was important for a deck, especially a slow control deck like hers, one that was quite slow at getting the ball rolling or so she says. 

That, and while her deck does have monsters that she could summon from the Extra Deck, her deck was still fully capable of working even without using them. She checked the 9 cards that remained in her Extra Deck, and saw that some of the cards that she indeed could use still had some copies remaining.

“Now I’ll summon Witchcrafter Schmietta!” She shouted aloud as she summoned her first monster of the duel. And as she placed the card onto her duel disk, the red haired Spellcaster appeared onto her side of her field, carrying with her her large dark red staff that was a head taller than herself with ease.

Witchcrafter Shmietta - Fire/Spellcaster/Level 4/Effect: 1800/600

“Now Schimetta’s effect! During the Main Phase, as a Quick Effect, I can tribute this card, then discard one spell, to special summon one ‘Witchcrafter’ monster from my deck, except another Schmietta!” She declared as she activated her monster’s effect.

She then started by paying the cost, tributing the one monster she had, and showed the card that she would discard for the cost. “I will discard the spell, Witchcrafter Holiday, and special summon Witchcrafter Haine in attack position!”

The red haired Witchcrafter gave a toothy grin as she swung her staff singlehandedly, creating a magical circle that shot out a pillar of flame that consumed her. And from that pillar of flames came out another monster, one dressed in a tight black dress, her right eye covered by her long grey hair, and the cap that she wore. She carried with her a magica; golden staff, one that top floated with two glowing orbs, one bright green and the other orange, with magical bits floating around her.

Witchcrafter Haine - Dark/Spellcaster/Level 7/Effect: 2400/1000

She didn’t quite remember what those monsters of his does, it has been ages since she had even seen the man’s deck, but she vaguely remembers that it was able to summon monsters when it is destroyed, though is it by battle or card effects she didn’t know.

But if anything, it is better for her to be safe than sorry. “I’ll activate the effect of Haine!” She declared aloud. “I can discard one spell, then target one face-up card that my opponent controls, and destroy it!”

She then took out another card from her hand to pitch to pay for the cost of the monster’s effect activation. “I’ll discard the spell, Witchcrafter unveiling, and destroy your Beastborg Panther Predator!”

The general of the Obelisk Force had his eyes as wide as dinner plates as he saw her monster raise her staff, and the flying magical bits that flew around her were then sent towards his own Fusion Monster, destroying it upon contact.

“Gh!” He grunted as he recoiled from the explosion that his monster created upon being destroyed, but as she saw that he activated no effects upon its destruction, she concluded that its floating effect was only activated when it was destroyed by battle.

Which means that she could possibly end this whole game this turn. Provided that those set cards of his doesn’t stop her that is. “I’ll activate the spell, Witchcrafter Collaboration!” She shouted aloud, activating another spell that she had had in her hand.

“This card allows me to target one ‘Witchcrafter’ monster I control, and make it so that it can make a second attack this turn! And if it attacks, you cannot activate spells or trap cards until the end of the Damage Step! I’ll target Haine and give her the effect!”

He clicked his tongue and narrowed his eyes at seeing her activate the spell card, no doubt knowing that she could most definitely defeat him this turn since he no longer has any monsters on the field.

“Then I’ll activate the continuous trap, Call of the Haunted!” He shouted aloud, activating one of the two set cards that he had placed on his turn. “I can activate this card by targeting one monster in my graveyard, and special summon that target in attack position!”

Declaring so, he chose the target for its effect, that being none other than the one Fusion Monster that was in his graveyard. “I’ll target Beastborg Panther Predator and special summon it!”

The chain of effect resolves, and the cybernetically enhanced monster reappears onto the field, roaring and swinging its blade as it makes its way back onto the field in attack position. 

Beastborg Panther Predator - Dark/Machine/Fusion/Level 6/Effect: 1600/2000

This time, she was the one who clicked her tongue. Knowing that she could not simply end the game now with that monster back on the field, and since it could summon the other monsters back if it is destroyed by battle, he would get monsters on the field regardless.

But she could at least deal some damage, and since Haine has the effect of Collaboration, he couldn’t activate his other set card in response to her attack. “Battle!” She declared as she went to the Battle Phase.

“Now I’ll activate the continuous trap, Fusion Trench!” He declared aloud, flipping his second face-down card face-up, and revealed a card that was quite familiar to her, it was after all, a card that she had used once before.

“While this card is face-up, Monsters cannot attack, except Fusion Monsters.” He explained before pointing towards her one monster. “Which means that your monster cannot attack!”

She clicked her tongue, knowing that this floodgate would essentially prevent her from ending the game unless she pops the card with Haine, or Fusion Summon herself. And though the latter was something that she could do, it was still quite annoying that he had activated such a card.

“I’ll end the Battle Phase.” She said slowly as she glared at her opponent. “And I’ll activate the effect of Shmietta in my graveyard!” She declared aloud, activating the graveyard effect of the only monster that was in her graveyard. “I can banish this card from my graveyard, and send one ‘Witchcrafter’ card from my deck to the graveyard, except another copy of Schmietta!”

She took out a card from her deck, revealing it to her opponent. “I will send the continuous spell, Witchcrafter Bystreet from my deck to the graveyard!” She said as she milled the card with her monster effect after banishing her.

“And with that, I will end my turn.”

“Hmph. As expected of the previous leader of the Obelisk Force, you are indeed quite teh formidable opponent.” He started saying, though noted how she only has a single card in hand and smirked. “But now it’s my turn! I-”

“On the End Phase, I’ll activate the effect of Witchcrafter Holiday, Witchcrafter Unveiling, and Witchcrafter Bystreet in my graveyard.” She said with closed eyes as she took out the three cards from her graveyard much to her opponent’s surprise. 

“During my End Phase, if I control a ‘Witchcrafter’ monster while this card is in my graveyard, I can add this card to my hand, or in Bystreet’s case, place it face-up it onto the field in my spell and trap zone.” She explained what was essentially the gimmick for all of the Witchcrafter spells and traps, adding them all to her hand.

The turn truly did pass then. With her ending her turn with a single monster on her side of the field, two set cards and one face-up continuous spell on her spell and trap zone, and three cards in her hand, with two being spells that she had added during her End Phase.

“So they have those kinds of effects!?” Barret exclaimed aloud, shocked at how she had managed to recover to have three cards in her hand instantly. He then shook his head, focusing himself back. “No-it does not matter how many cards you have in your hand. Under the order of the Professor, I will defeat you and take back Serena-sama!”

He placed his hand over his duel disk’s deck holder, and began his turn. “It is my turn! I draw!” Drawing his card for the turn, the field general of the Obelisk Force began his second turn with a single card in his hand.

“I will activate the effect of Beastborg Panther Predator! I will deal another 800 points of damage!” He declared so once more, activating the effect of his Fusion Monster of choice to burn her Life Points.

“Then I’ll chain the effect of Haine!” She declared loudly. “Since its effect is a Quick Effect, I can activate it during either players’ turn! I will send the Witchcrafter Bystreet that is on the field to fulfill the cost with its effect, to target and destroy your Beastborg Panther Predator!” Once more, she activated Haine’s effect to destroy a face-up card on the field at instant speed.

Her opponent’s eyes widened, shocked at the fact that her monster’s effect could be activated during their turn. It was quite the dirty move of course, to hide what your cards can duel and omitting their effects, but this wasn’t a normal match, this was a duel that would decide lives.

And she was going to pull every trick in the book that would get her advantage to win the duel, everything other than blatantly cheating that is.

The chain resolves, and for the second time of the game, the grey haired Witchcrafter destroys the Fusion Monster with its effect, but she still receives the damage from the monster’s effect.

“Che!” She clicked her tongue as she winced, having lost another one fifth of her total Life Points.

Sister Claire: 2400LP

Frankly, even after losing quite a bit of Life Points, she was both amazed and rightfully scared at how strong the only monster on her field was, being capable of destroying any face-up card that her opponent controls even during their turn, with only a cost of discarding a spell.

Combined with the fact that such a cost was easily circumvented with the fact that every single Witchcrafter spell card returns to her hand during her End Phase, provided they hadn’t had their other effects activated considering they can only use one effect per turn and only once that turn. and not even mentioning the fact that she was incredibly accessible with the amount of ways that she could summon her, that being any low Level Witchcrafter and a spell.

And that wasn’t mentioning what Yuuna had dubbed to be the deck’s titular Boss Monster, and also their own Fusion Monster.

His field was now cleared, and although she couldn’t attack with the continuous trap that was on his field, she could still remove it on her turn with Haine’s effect, showing truly how strong the monster was in a simplified board state like this one was. 

Her opponent growled as he glared at her. “Don’t get too ahead of yourself!” He roared aloud, taking the one card that he had remaining in his hand and showed it to her. “I will activate the spell, Overload Fusion!”

He slammed the card onto his duel disk, and the spell’s projection appeared onto the field. “This card allows me to Fusion Summon one Dark Machine Fusion Monster from my Extra Deck by banishing fusion materials listed on it from my field or graveyard!”

Her eyes went wide as she was the one who was surprised at what her opponent had drawn, and he then took out two cards from his graveyard, both being none other than the two fusion materials that he had used for the Fusion Summon of the monster that had just been destroyed previously.

“I will banish both Panther Warrior and Dark Sentinel from my graveyard, to Fusion Summon!” He said as he banished the two materials, and the two monsters appeared on teh field, fusing with one another and creating a large explosion that created a cloud of dust and mechanical parts.

“Appear once more! Beastborg Panther Predator!” A second copy of the Fusion Monster was summoned onto the field, roaring as it swung its sword threateningly, growling as its mechanical eye shone maliciously.

Beastborg Panther Predator - Dark/Machine/Fusion/Level 6/Effect: 1600/2000

“And now, I will activate the effect of Beastborg Panther Predator!” He shouted again, activating the monster’s effect once more. “Once per turn, I can inflict damage to my opponent equal to half of this card’s attack!” 

“Wha-!” She had her eyes wide as she heard his declaration. “How are you-” And as she heard that and almost asked how exactly was he activating the monster’s effect after he had already used it this turn, she remembered a lecture that Yuuna had held to educate the orphanage’s children that she had overheard.

Soft once per turn, or card effects whose effects can only be used once per turn, but only for that copy of the card. The effect of the monster that she faced, Beastborg Panther Predator, was one that lists that once per turn clause, but not one that declared that he could only use said effect of ‘Beastborg Panther Predator’ once per turn.

And thus, he was able to activate the effects of Beastborg Panther Predator twice this turn, as they were both different copies of said monster, unlike her own Haine who does has the clause of ‘you can only use this effect of ‘Witchcrafter Haine’ once per turn’ meaning that she could only use the effect once, even if she has multiple copies of Haine.

Which meant that she would receive another 800 points of damage, reducing her Life Points by over half, and with the effect of Fusion Trench allowing him to attack directly with the Fusion Monster as he hadn’t normal summoned this turn, she would lose all of her remaining Life Points.

And she could already see what that fate would lead her, and the children, to.

“I’ll activate the trap card, Karma Cut!” She declared in response to the monster’s effect activation, flipping one of her two face-down cards face-up. “By discarding one card, I can target one face-up monster that my opponent controls, to banish that target!”

She took out another card from her hand, showing what she will be discarding with its effect. “I’ll discard Witchcrafter Unveiling from my hand, to banish your Beastborg Panther Predator! And then I can banish all cards with the same name as that monster from my opponent’s graveyard!”

But she didn’t end there, she still had another set card after all. “And I’ll activate my other set card, the continuous trap, Witchcrafter Patronus!” She shouted, flipping the trap card face-up and it shone.

“This card allows me to target one of my Spellcaster Monsters that is banished or in my graveyard, and shuffle it into the deck, and if I do, I can add one ‘Witchcrafter’ spell from my deck to my hand!” She explained the card’s on field effect to her opponent as she activated the card’s effect.

“I will shuffle back Witchcrafter Schmietta that is banished, and add Witchcrafter Confusion to my hand!” She said, declaring her targets for the continuous trap’s effect.

With no other card in his hand, or any other card in the field to chain their effect to, the chain resolves. She shuffled back the Spellcaster Monster to her deck, and added her archetypal fusion spell.

A dark purple portal appeared and swallowed the newly summoned Fusion Monster, banishing not only it, but also the first copy of the card that was in the graveyard. But once again, she still received the damage that it inflicted to her, reducing her Life Points by another 800 points.

“Gah!” She outright yelped as the electricity ran through her duel disk as she received the damage. Reducing her Life Points even further than before.

Sister Claire: 1600LP

But even though her Life Points was burnt to the point where a mere direct attack could easily defeat her, her opponent’s field was barren, no monsters remaining on the field, nor any other cards in hand. 

And thus, with no other play that he could do, the teal haired man growled as he ended his turn. “I’ll end my turn.” So he said as he ended his turn and passed back to her, with no cards in hand nor monsters on field, only the continuous trap that prevents her from attacking and the continuous spell that lets him Fusion Summon Beastborg Fusion Monsters every turn.

“My turn then, I’ll draw!” She drew her card for the turn, starting off with her turn with four cards in hand, two of them being the Witchcrafter Holiday and the Witchcrafter Confusion that she had just added last turn.

And the card that she would start with would be the card that she had just drawn for her turn. “I’ll activate the spell card, Witchcrafter Creation! Which allows me to add one ‘Witchcrafter’ Monster from my deck to my hand!”

She took out a card from her deck, revealing it to her opponent to show the card that she would be adding. “I will add ‘Witchcrafter Genni’ to my hand!” She declared so, and added the Spellcaster to her hand.

And now, with the materials that she needed on hand, she activated the next card. “And now, I’ll activate Witchcrafter Confusion!” She placed the card on her duel disk, and the holographic projection of the card’s comical artwork appeared, shining on the field as it does,

“This card lets me Fusion Summon one Fusion Monster from my Extra Deck, using monsters from my hand or field as fusion materials, including at least one ‘Witchcrafter’ monster!” She explained the fusion spell’s effect, and exclaimed the two materials thats he would be using.

She, of course, points towards the one monster that she controlled and one revealed the monster that was in her hand. “I will fuse Witchcrafter Haine on my field and Witchcrafter Genni in my hand!” She said, raising both of her hands up.

The monster in her hand then appeared onto her field, her blonde locks flowing as the crystal on her staff glowed and floated alongside the grey haired Spellcaster on her field. Both then raised their staffs and crossed them together, creating a bright light that made her opponent hide his eyes by raising an arm.

She then clasped both of her hands together, and brought them down to complete the chant that was oh so familiar to her. “Fusion Summon! Appear! Witchcrafter VIce-Master!” The Fusion Monster then appeared as the bright light receded, taking the form of none other than Haine herself, wearing a white overcoat and forgoing her black cap. She twirled her new staff, one coloured both gold and white, and the large orb on the tip glowed with power as she pointed it towards her opponent.

Witchcrafter VIce-Master - Dark/Spellcaster/Fusion/Level 8/Effect: 2700/2800

Her opponent looked warily at her newly summoned Fusion Monster, knowing how now that she has the monster on field, she could now attack directly under Fusion Trench. ‘But she still cannot defeat me’ he thought. ‘With the amount of Life Points that I have, and her monster’s attack, she would need-’

“Now I will activate the spell, Witchcrafter Holiday!” She shouted, garnering back his attention and snapping him from his thoughts. “This spell allows me to target one ‘Witchcrafter’ Monster in my graveyard, and special summon it! I will target Witchcrafter Haine!”

As she activated the spell, she then pointed towards her Fusion Monster, intending to activate it in sequence. “And I will also activate the effect of Witchcrafter Vice-Master!” She shouted aloud.

“When a non-Fusion Spellcaster Monster’s effect or a spell card or effect is activated, I can activate one of the three effects that she has!” The VIce-Master of the Witchcrafters twirled her staff, power gathering on the orb on it as it glowed brighter.

“Three effects!?” Barret shouted aloud with wide eyes, shocked at the amount of effects that her Fusion Monster could even activate, not even knowing what each and every one of those effects entail. 

“I will choose to activate her first effect to destroy one card on the field! And I will destroy your Fusion Trench!” Declaring to activate the Fusion Monster’s non targeting destruction effect, the Fusion Monster gripped her staff together, and swung.

She destroyed the floodgate that had prevented her from attacking previously, destroying it by shooting an energy ball made of magic towards it. The chain then continued to resolve, and the previous form of the grey haired Witchcrafter appeared beside her Fusion counterpart.

Witchcrafter Haine - Dark/Spellcaster/Level 7/Effect: 2400/1000

And with this, she has more than enough attack to go and end the game. “Battle!” She declared, and her two monsters readied themselves. “I will attack you with my monsters! Go! Vice-Master! Haine!” 

And the two monsters did, both swung their staffs and shot their respective magics. Haine shot out her magical bits, and Vice-Master shot out a powerful blast of dark energy, both aimed to attack her opponent directly.

And they hit, with her opponent not being able to respond to her monsters’ attack nor could he negate them. “GUAAAAAH!” His screams filled the entire laboratory, making multiple heads snap towards them to see the man being thrown down to the ground from the impact of the attacks.

Barret: 0LP

She heaved a breath as she finished dealing with her one opponent, and turned around to see the other two to see how they were-

“I’ll attack you directly with D/D/D Flame King Genghis! Fire Stroke!”

“And I’ll attack your monster with Lunalight Leo Dancer!”

She heard the two declare their attacks, finishing their games respectively as both of them landed the attacks that defeated the lasts of their opponents. The two of them breathed heavily, having used a lot of stamina and were out of breath as they dueled multiple people at once.

“It-it’s useless to resist.” They heard a voice say, and they all turned to the fallen form of Barret, raising his head from the ground below to glare at them. “I have already requested support to this area the very moment you have all stepped into this laboratory.”

Their eyes all widened at his blatant declaration, if another squad, or perhaps the Obelisk Force as a whole was headed this way-

“There’s no need to worry about that.”

They all snapped their heads to the source of the voice, finding two familiar figures standing on the laboratory’s door. It was none other than both Yuri and Mei, both having their duel disks activated, and from the looks of it, they had dueled their way here.

“I got a bit rough at dueling some of them earlier, but I think that it’s fine, for this situation.” The purple haired boy said, his eyes scouring through the whole room, checking to look for any other threats.

His purple eyes then locked with Barret’s own crimson orbs, looking at him with a look of disdain. “Well, as I said, there’s no need to worry about those reinforcements.”

“Did you-did you two defeat them all already?” Serena asked aloud with wide eyes, clearly shocked by the fact that the young boy had basically told them to not worry of the entirety of  the Obelisk Force.

He gave a small smile, one that was shared by his smaller companion, but then shook his head. “Well, we did defeat some on our way here.” He started out.

“But it’s more correct to say that someone else has handled most of them.”

-

“Go. Mirrorjade.”

“GUAAAAG!” With the declaration, another attack was sent, and another member of the Obelisk Force was then promptly defeated, letting out a scream as they were downed from the solid hologram’s attack.

The ugly feeling in her gut still resided, though the longer she went on with finding her friends and the Professor, it turned more towards resentment for the latter for what he had done to these children and at how he had butchered the game and turned it into a method of violence.

But she shelved such thoughts for later, she’ll hone that emotion and hold it for the eventual confrontation with the man himself.

And so, she kept running. Deeper and deeper into the depths of the Academia that she has never been too. Not knowing who or what she would meet in this journey of her’s.