An:sorry for the late chapter got busy with work and this chapter is 400 words shorter than normal but the next one will be longer and go to the scibblehub version of the story to vote on what deck he should use next chapter.
When my consciousness returned, I was inside the eyes of something colossal. The creature's gaze was cold and precise; its limbs ended in massive metallic black claws. The most unusual aspect was not the creature's size but rather that I could see through three pairs of eyes simultaneously.
The bottom pair mapped the physical world with a violet tint; the electromagnetic spectrum was made visible. The middle pair traced spiritual currents and threads of energy that were braided with gravitational wells.
The top pair showed me rivers of light and fate, one endless main current with countless tiny streams branching and rejoining, and smaller, self-contained rivers drifting beside it. Every few seconds a tiny tributary winked out as if it had never been. The sight had the slow cruelty of erasure.
A tiny white speck broke free of the main river, darting through the current and dipping in and out as if testing reality. A red speck flashed close behind, chasing and finally forcing the white back into the flow; the red lingered at a bend before returning to its source. The movement felt familiar and old, like a memory mirrored from a film I had seen once, too pointed to be meaningless.
Beneath the rivers hung orbs of afterlives, each its own sealed world. One gleamed like a stereotypical heaven; another resembled Pharaoh's palace from Dark Side of Dimensions. Others were alien—cold, heaped with ruins, or burning with strange suns.
The body I was bound to moved on instinct; I had almost no control, only the faintest tug on its vision. Wings unfurled, and the beast launched into space. Under its passage, planets crumbled to dust and stars blurred into streaks. In moments or hundreds of light-years, the dragon arrived at a battlefield where Synchro monsters clashed with Xyz monsters.
Among the Synchros, I recognized Chaos Angel, Chaos Archfiend, Chaos Ruler, and the Chaotic Magical Dragon as beings of old destinies. Around them swirled other spirits: sentinels of order, howling things of discord. The Xyz side held Adreus, Keeper of Armageddon; Artifact Durendal; Disaster, Dragon Ruler of All Apocalypses; and towering above them, Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS - Sky Thunder. Lightning erased whole ranks. Steel and spirit answered in kind.
A stray blow from the Dragon Ruler of All Apocalypses struck a nearby planet and extinguished life instantly. The dragon I inhabited flared with rage. It unleashed a beam of black light that swallowed Apocalypse and birthed a small black hole, one that ate the monster and collapsed, erasing many lesser spirits in the shock.
The dragon opened a vortex and began dragging Xyz monsters toward a raw, gaping void. They resisted, but with a gesture the dragon hurled them into the abyss and sealed it. I see that a part of the river in the future started to transition from white to gray before turning black.
The realization came slow and cold: the Xyz had not been destroyed. They had been exiled, bound into the stream, waiting. When that branch of the river turned fully black, those monsters would be freed again. It was not an end; it was an inevitability. A new era would be born from that darkness.
While the dragon watched the Synchros rumble and mark the currents, a smaller, more fragile thing happened: the fallen spirits did not simply disappear. Their remnants broke apart into shards, some bright and hot with grief and fury. The Synchros, weary but unbroken, turned their gaze downward toward a blue and green world spinning far below. Earth. Their eyes carried intent and a slow resolve. They would not stay in the currents forever; the day would come when they would descend, seeking mortal champions to bear their strength and to stand against what the black river would release.
The dragon gave a low, rumbling warning, then folded its wings and drifted into the maw of a supermassive black hole to slumber. My connection snapped. I was thrown back into my body like a ragged memory.
Waking up again in my room, I see the sun just starting to rise. Getting up, gray dust falls out of my hands; the remnants of the meteor fall to the ground, but knowing what I saw in that vision, I know that the synchro monsters are out there watching earth and will be here in a few years. Later on, the XYZ monsters will return, and I estimate that this will happen a few years after Yusei enters the black hole following his duel with Zone. I hear some rustling at the foot of my bed and see that Ash is waking up.
After getting ready for the day, I made my way to class while Ash flew around, exploring everything she could along the way. She usually zipped between the trees before rushing over to some flowers to investigate what had caught her eye. As the day went on, nothing too important happened. Until the last class of the day, I walked in to find Jaden asleep at his spot, with Winged Karibo floating above his shoulder, while Ash flew over and began trying to befriend him. I had a small smile as i walked to my spot.
As class went on, Ash and Karibo were getting along well. Towards the end of class, the noise from Ash and Karibo finally woke Jaden up. "Wow, what's going on, buddy?" he said, looking at Kuribo talking with Ash. "kuri kuri," kuribo said as he bounced around energetically. "Oh, you made a new friend! That's excellent, buddy," he said to Kuribo with a large smile. "hi im jaden "It's nice to meet you," he said, looking at Ash. "Hehe," she responded with a small chortle. "So where did you come from?" he asked. She then pointed to me before flying back.
After class ended, Jaden came walking over to me. "Hey, Jason, how is it going? Did you know you have a duel spirit?" He asked a little nervously, as if I didn't know what it was. "Yep, I have a few; it seems that Ash and Kuribo have become good friends, so I guess we will have to hang out some so they can have fun together," I said with a small smile. "Yeah, we should! Why don't you swing by the Slifer dorm tomorrow so we can hang out?" he said with a large smile. "that sounds like a wonderful idea. I also wanted to speak with Professor Baner, so that gives me a chance to do that as well, but how about we have a duel tomorrow?" I asked.
"I'm down for a duel; I'll see you tomorrow," he said before he headed towards where Cyrus was waiting for him. After making my way back to my room i pulled out three canvases and set up the paint easel and started making the cards as i did cosmo queen and witch made them selves known "How was your day?" queen asked as she handed Ash a small flower that she had found. "It was alright. I am going to duel the reincarnation of the Supram King and host of the Gentle Darkness tomorrow, so I need to think about which deck I will use." I said this as I finished the first frame and instructed Ash to jump in it. As she did, the card finished, and she jumped right back out.
As I started the second one, she continued, "The first name is one I have not heard of, but to be the host of the gentle darkness is a more impressive title, one I will have to keep an eye on," she said, walking to the canvas as i finished and imprinting her spirit on it. "Once you finish the card for her, you should make one for your spirit, so I know where to start teaching you," she said, summoning multiple books.
After finishing, I pull out one more canvas, close my eyes, and allow my spirit to take over and start painting. I could feel that I would need to pull out my last two canvases because I feel my spirit needs them. Once I finish the first canvas, a small part of my spirit leaves and imprints on it, creating the first card without my conscious awareness. "Ash, could you please put the next canvas on the easel for me?" I asked Ash to put it up, and after she did, I started the second canvas, feeling even more of my spirit leave; the final one left even faster.
After finishing the third one, I opened my eyes and looked at the cards that were made. The first was Dark Hole Core—Dark Singularity. The second one was the Primordial Dark Hole Dragon—Dark Singularity, and the last was the original Dark Hole Dragon. I recognize that one, but the other two were brand new to me, and it appears the one I was inhabiting earlier this morning was the Fusion Monster.
"It looks like i will have to first teach you how to utilize the gravity manipulation abilities that your spirit grants you now that you have awakened it and then you will learn to fuse with your spirit to strengthen your body," queen said, looking over the cards. For the rest of the day, she started going over the basics of using the magic belonging to a person's own spirit and the basics of gravity manipulation before allowing me to practice on my bag. For the last three hours before I went to bed, I reviewed my three decks, contemplating which one to use tomorrow.