Disclaimer: Minor spelling, grammar, and other mistakes may be present.
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[Standard Arc Opening Theme (Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V Opening 1: BELIEVE X BELIEVE)]
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Scale 07: The Path to Surpassing One's Limits (II)
A few days later…
Maiami City Airport.
Under instructions from Akaba Reiji, Nakajima awaited the arrival of the sole person who held just as much authority at LDS next to a luxurious, white limousine.
After waiting several minutes, Nakajima heard the sounds of a jet engine as a private jet slowly descended onto the landing pad before coming to a complete stop. The side door of the jet opened, as a woman with magenta, heart-shaped hair, and blue eyes stepped out of it. She wore a tailored dark pink blouse and skirt, with a set of golden earrings in each of her ears.
Nakajima bowed his head as he went to greet her.
"Chairwoman Akaba, it's been a while."
This woman was Akaba Himika, Akaba Reiji's mother and the Chairwoman of the Leo Corporation.
"It has," She smiled at the greeting. "The negotiations took a lot longer than I was expecting."
"I'm guessing from your good mood that the negotiations were a success?"
"That's correct. With this successful negotiation, LDS is now one step closer to its goal of extending its influence worldwide," Himika answered. "Reiji-san and I will now have a much easier time scouting the most powerful duelists around the world to prepare for 'that' day."
"Speaking of 'that' day, there are a few incidents that happened here in Maiami City over the past week while you were busy," Nakajima informed. "I didn't want to bring them up since you were busy, but now that you're back, I feel that you should be made aware of them."
"Incidents?" Himika was surprised. "Just how much could happen in the week that I was away?"
"I'm not informed about all the details for most of the incidents," Nakajima explained. "But, the one I felt would be the most relevant to tell you about right now is the appearance of a completely new summoning method."
Himika was shocked.
"A new summoning method? How could that be possible?"
"I'm not too sure myself," Nakajima said. "For more details, you should speak to Reiji-dono."
"Then what are waiting here for?" Himika asked as she began walking to the limo. Nakajima opened the door to let her inside, before taking his post in the driver's seat, and driving out from the airport.
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Upon arriving at LDS Tower, Akaba Himika quickly made her way to the top floor with Nakajima following behind, not stopping to greet the other personnel around her. Once they reached the top floor, she barged into Reiji's office without knocking. Reiji sat in his seat with a calm expression on his face, not seeming to be phased by the sudden intrusion of his mother.
Himika was surprised to see two other people in the room. A young man with pink hair who was currently taking a nap on a random couch, and a young woman with long scarlet hair that was tied into a ponytail sitting beside him—typing away on her computer.
"Welcome home, Mother," Reiji greeted her. "You seem to be in a hurry."
"Reiji-san, is it true?" Himika decided to ignore the two youths for not, addressing Reiji with the main question on her mind. "That a new summoning method apart from Ritual, Fusion, Synchro, or Xyz has appeared?"
Reiji adjusted his glasses and nodded.
"That is correct, Mother," Reiji answered. "It first appeared around a week ago."
"A new summoning method?" Yuga perked up upon hearing that.
"I've seen it a lot on the web," Shizuka answered. "Apparently, you can summon a lot of high-leveled monsters using it, without the need to Advance Summon them."
Reiji then pressed a button on his remote, which turned on a large screen in his office that showed a playback of Sakaki Yuya's Duel with Strong Ishijima, where Yuya used Pendulum Summoning to make a dramatic comeback.
"From what our systems have gathered, this new summoning method is called Pendulum."
"Pendulum?"
"By placing two special Monster Cards called Pendulum Cards on opposite ends of your duel disk, you can Special Summon multiple high-level Monsters whose Levels are within the Pendulum Scale without being any higher or lower," Reiji explained. "It's something that had never been seen until now."
"Never before seen until now…" Himika muttered. "Could he be related to it?"
"Possibly, but unlikely." Reiji stated. "If it was a weapon that he created, he wouldn't be flaunting it around for everyone to see. That would be counterintuitive."
"That's true," Himika nodded. "Well then, Reiji-san. Do we have any leads on the potential origins of this form of summoning?"
"None have been found so far. We're still working on that," Reiji answered. "However, thanks to all the data we've collected and several tests, we've pretty much grasped the mechanics of the summoning method. Furthermore, we've even managed to create the first prototype Pendulum cards."
"As expected from you, Reiji-san. A quick worker as always." Himika complimented with a smile. "You truly fulfill the mantle of the title President."
"Thank you for your graces, Mother. However, our more pressing concern currently are the duelists who utilize this Pendulum Summoning."
"Duelists?" Himika was surprised. "There's more than one?"
"That's right," Reiji nodded as he pressed another button on his remote, bringing up Yuya's profile on the screen. "The first Pendulum user we found is named Sakaki Yuya. He's a sixteen-year-old boy in the Junior Youth class. He attends the You Show Duel School, a small Duel School which mainly focuses on Entertainment Dueling."
"It says here that his win rate is a poultry fifty percent." Himika commented. "How was such an average duelist belonging to Junior Youth able to bring forth a brand-new summoning mechanic."
"That important thing about this boy is that he is the son of Sakaki Yusho." Reiji stated with a serious tone.
"Sakaki Yusho…" Himika's expression turned serious. "That boy is the son of the famous Duelist who vanished three years ago and could have possibly joined the enemy?"
"It's too soon to rush to conclusions. We don't know if Sakaki Yusho has actually joined forces with our enemy, or if Sakaki Yuya would be involved in such plans," Reiji commented. "Now for the other duelist."
Reiji pressed another button, with Yuuji's profile now appearing on the screen.
"The second Pendulum user we found is a boy named Haruki Yuuji. He's sixteen-years-old just like Yuya and thus is also classed at Junior Youth." Reiji stated. "He originates from the Outpost and arrived here in Maiami City around two weeks ago. From recent scoutings, it seems that Haruki Yuuji has also ended up joining the You Show Duel School."
"This kid has an even lower win rate than Sakaki Yuya," Himika was shocked.
"That's the first thing you noticed?" Shizuka scoffed from the side, annoying Himika. "There are more glaring issues with this guy other than his horrible win rate."
"You…" Himika seethed with anger. "Reiji-san, I was willing to overlook these people before, but now I must know. What are they doing here in your office? As the Chairwoman, I shouldn't be treated this disrespectfully!"
"They're guests that'll help us in our battle. And she's right, Mother," Reiji stated. "Take a look at the boy's face closely."
"That boy's face?" Himika turned back to the screen, looking at Yuuji's face. Her eyes widened in shock when she realized. "I-Impossible. They…have the same face?"
"That's right. One might write it off as a coincidence, or think that the two of them are twins, but…" Reiji glanced at Yuga, who was a little startled by the sudden gaze. "...it's unlikely that this many coincidences could occur all at once. Multiple boys with the same face, two of them unlocking a new, never before seen summoning method at the same time. This can't be a coincidence."
"So, what's your plan?" Himika wondered. "How can we be sure that these boys could be our allies or not?"
"We'll just need to keep an eye on them. Whether they're ally or foe, that'll be revealed with time." Reiji replied. "However, there's one other issue that we need to address, one that may pique your interest."
"Another issue? What do you mean?"
"A mysterious duelist assaulted Sawatari Shingo along with the students present with him yesterday," Reiji informed her. "Furthermore, the attacker was an Xyz user whose summoning energy was also abnormally high."
Himika had a thinking expression, "Did the students assaulted say anything about this mysterious duelist?"
"Now here's the interesting part," Reiji commented. "Sawatari Shingo and the other students present insist that the perpetrator was none other than Sakaki Yuya."
"Sakaki Yuya…you say? That is interesting…" Himika said with a sly smile on her face.
Reiji knew exactly what this face meant. His mother only ever had this expression when she had her sights on a potential business opportunity.
"...I know that expression, Mother. What are you planning?" Reiji inquired.
"Reiji-san, while it is horrible that some of our precious students were attacked so brutally, this has just granted us a golden opportunity here." Himika stated. "And I know just the way to capitalize on it. I'll be leaving now Reiji-san."
With that, Himika exited Reiji's office almost as quickly as she came.
Reiji sighed, "That mother of mine, once she has her greedy eyes set on something, nothing stands in her way."
"She sounds like a handful," Shizuka commented.
"True that," Reiji agreed. "Though it's thanks to that greediness of hers that LDS has grown to what it is today."
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In Maiami City…
Yuuji is currently shifting through a card shop, looking for any new cards to add to his deck. He was currently here with Yuya, who also wanted to see if he could find any new cards to power up his deck.
I did say that I wanted to try and go for that weird phenomenon again. But this is also a good way to upgrade my deck a little.
The question is are there any "Antique" Monsters here? Or maybe other monsters that fit into his deck.
"Hey, Yuya!" Yuuji called out to Yuya. "I'm going to go check out the Extra Deck Monsters."
"Alright!" Yuya replied.
Yuuji moved out of the Main Deck Monster area and made his way to the Extra Deck Monsters. There were plenty of good options for him to choose. All that he had to look for were ones that synergized with his deck.
"Hmm…" Yuuji thought heavily. "Maybe I can try monsters from the summoning methods I haven't used yet?"
Yuuji stopped scanning when his eyes met a specific card.
"No way…" Yuuji's eyes widened. "It's an 'Antique' Monster!?"
Antique Golden Kaiju, a Level 8 Fusion Monster with 0 ATK and DEF, but pretty neat effects.
"This is just what I was looking for." Yuuji smiled.
Yuuji picked out the card and put it in a bag where he placed the rest of the cards he was going to purchase. An extra bonus for him getting an 'Antique' Monster is the fact that they aren't worth much of anything, since the archetype is in low demand due to how weak the monsters are.
A problem that is fixed due to Yuuji's Pendulum Cards and a whole other Archetype that supports these 'Antique' Monsters that only he has (at least as far as he knew).
Alright, let's keep it pushing and find some more.
Yuuji kept looking, this time moving to the Xyz and Ritual Section. He tried to see if there was another lucky find in either of these sections, but in the end found nothing like what he had found before.
I mean, it doesn't hurt to get some more Extra Deck Monsters. Even if they're not Antique Monsters.
Something more generic would do for now. Like…
"This." Yuuji picked out an Xyz Monster.
Accel Hacking Spider, a Rank 5 Generic Xyz Monster with a simple yet unique effect that could get him out of a pinch.
This would definitely help with my deck diversity a bit for sure.
Yuuji thought.
Okay, now let's try and get a Ritual Monster.
Yuuji managed to snag another Antique Monster, a Level 6 Ritual Monster. He also made sure to pick up a copy of Polymerization along with an Antique Ritual Spell Card as well.
After he was done, Yuuji soon met back up with Yuya at the counter.
"Hey, Yuuji. What did you get?" Yuya asked.
"Just some Extra Deck Monsters along with some other cards to support them. What about you?"
"I just bought some Spell and Trap Cards as well as a few monster cards." Yuya replied.
"You didn't get any Extra Deck cards?"
"No. I don't know how to use those summoning mechanics like you, so I didn't see the point."
"I've never Fusion or Ritual Summoned before, yet I still grabbed some cards." Yuuji said. "I could teach you how to Synchro and Xyz Summon if you really need somebody to teach you."
"Thanks, but I want to try and figure this out on my own." Yuya said. "To find my own answer."
"..." Yuuji was silent for a moment before smiling. "Well, good luck with that. I'm sure it won't take you that long to find that answer. But before that, let's go pay."
"Right." Yuya nodded.
The two pay for their items and put their new cards in their decks before leaving the card shop. They begin making their way to You Show, exchanging dueling ideas and potential strategies with each other to pass the time.
Eventually the two arrive back at You Show, entering the school and making their way to where the rest were gathered, which was the classroom.
"Ah, Yuya. Yuuji. Glad you guys could join us." Shuzo greeted them. "You're just in time for today's lesson."
"Nice," Yuya smiled. "We made it just in time."
"I was kind of hoping we didn't…" Yuuji muttered. "I hate classes."
"What was that?" Shuzo asked.
"Nothing, Principal." Yuuji innocently smiled. "I'm just so ready for class right now."
"That's the spirit!" Shuzo smiled.
Yuya finds a seat right in front of Yuzu, while Yuuji takes a seat in between Sora and Tatsuya. Shortly after, Shuzo began his lesson.
"Alright, class," Shuzo addressed his students, "Today we'll be going over the different summoning methods."
Shuzo began explaining the basics about Normal, Special, and Advanced Summoning to his students, all things that Yuuji already knew, so he sort of tuned out what he was saying. His attention was drawn to the nearby Yuzu, who seemed to be acting sort of weird today.
Yuzu and Yuuji accidently made eye contact, with Yuzu making a face of discomfort for a moment before looking away from him.
Huh? Did something happen while I wasn't looking? Yuuji wondered. Is it something about my face? It's like she had seen a ghost.
He had never seen her act that way before. Granted, he had only known her for two weeks now, but that's long enough to get a basic idea on how someone normally acts.
"If I fuse this donut together with my ice cream…" Sora began fusing different sweets together. Once he took a bite of what he had just concocted, his face melted in bliss. "Mhm! This is so good."
At least Sora's acting normal, even if he is disturbing the class.
"Sora! What did I tell you about eating in class!" Shuzo reprimanded the youth.
"You're lecturing about things that I already know, so I'm bored," Sora replied before taking another bite of his snack. "Maybe if you taught something interesting, I wouldn't be so bored."
"Hey! I'm trying my best here!" Shuzo yelled. "It's not my fault I can't teach you the summoning methods I don't know about."
It kind of is…Yuuji and Sora both thought at the same time.
Shuzo returned to his lecture, finishing up a few last points. While Yuuji, Sora, and Yuzu were all off in their own world, the rest of the students made sure to take good notes (in the case of Tatsuya), or listened intently to what Shuzo had to say.
"...and that's all. Any questions?"
Nobody raised their hands. Just when Shuzo was about to change the subject, Yuzu suddenly stood up and raised her hand.
"Dad, what about Xyz?" Yuzu asked.
Xyz? That's a weird thing to suddenly bring up? Yuuji thought. She didn't seem that interested in it before.
"Xyz? Yuzu, you know we don't teach Xyz here at this school." Shuzo answered.
"Oh, right…" Yuzu was about to sit back down when Yuuji raised his hand.
"I can explain Xyz Summoning for her, Principal," Yuuji volunteered.
"That would be great, Yuuji," Shuzo approved.
Yuuji stood up and made his way to the front of the class. All of their eyes locked onto him, which sort of made him nervous for a moment, but he calmed his nerves and began speaking.
"Okay, you've all seen me Xyz Summon a few times so I'm sure you know the basic principle of how it works," Yuuji began. "You need to use at least two monsters with the same Level as materials in order to perform an Xyz Summon."
Everyone nodded.
"In order to Xyz Summon using your materials, you must first overlay them. To overlay, you must put your Xyz Materials underneath the Xyz Monster you are trying to summon like so…" Yuuji took out Revolution Commander from his deck along with three other monster cards and stacked them on top of each other. "When the monster is Xyz Summoned, these stacked monsters are treated as Overlay Units, and are the keys that allow Xyz Monsters to use one of their effects."
He pulled out one of the cards from the stack.
"Detached Overlay Units are always sent to the graveyard. Even Pendulum Monsters."
"Pendulum Monsters as well?" Yuya was surprised.
"Yup, their effects don't apply here since they aren't being destroyed." Yuuji explained. "This doesn't apply for when they are used for Fusion, Synchro, or Ritual Summoning however. This is a unique interaction for Xyz Summoning only."
Yuuji then picked up the cards from the table.
"When an Xyz Monster is destroyed, its unused materials are still sent to the graveyard as well."
Yuuji then put away the other monster cards he pulled out, only leaving Revolution Commander out.
"Now there's one last thing that you need to know about Xyz Monsters, and its Ranks."
"Ranks?" Ayu wondered. "What are those?"
"They're an Xyz's Monster's equivalent of Levels," Tatsuya explained.
"That's partially correct. The two concepts are similar but are not the same thing," Yuuji corrected. "Effects that only work on monsters with Levels won't work on monsters with Ranks, and vice versa. For example, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon's effect doubles the battle damage from battles involving Level 5 or higher monsters. If Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon attacks a Rank 5 monster, the battle damage won't be boosted by its effect since the Rank 5 monster doesn't have a Level."
"Wait, so it's not Level 0?" Yuzu asked.
"Nope, like I said before, Xyz Monsters have no Level," Yuuji stated.
Yuuji then put Revolution Commander away.
"There are more complicated facts that surround Xyz Monsters, but those are the basics I've been able to figure out so far," Yuuji concluded. "Any questions?"
Yuuji waited for a moment to see if anybody would raise their hands. For a while, nobody did. Just as he was about to finish up and return to his seat, Sora raised his hand.
"I have a question," Sora said. "How do you know so much about Xyz Summoning?"
"I just did some research," Yuuji simply answered.
"Oh…" Sora seemed a little disappointed, as if he hadn't just got the answer he wanted.
Weird…
"I have a question," Tatsuya raised his hand next. "Could you teach us about Synchro Summoning next?"
"I can do that," Yuuji nodded. "In order to Synchro Summon, you…"
However, just before he could begin his next lecture…
"There's no way Yuya would do such a thing!" Gongenzaka's voice suddenly rang from outside the school.
"Gongenzaka!?" Yuya shot up and quickly made his way outside, with the rest following shortly behind.
When they arrived outside, they immediately noticed Gongenzaka, who was standing in front of three male youths.
"What's all the fuss about?" Shuzo asked Gongenzaka.
"I was just going on my daily stroll when I noticed these three hanging around the Duel School," Gongenzaka explained, "I decided to confront them, and they said that Yuya had ambushed them yesterday night! It's complete blasphemy!"
"Ambushed!?" "I did!?" Shuzo and Yuya respectively shouted.
"That's right," One of the three male youths said, "I hope you didn't forget!"
"We saw it with our own eyes after all!" Another youth continued.
"There are four…no, five witnesses!" The final youth announced. "Sawatari-san, us..." The youth pointed at Yuzu. "...and that girl over there!"
Everyone turned to see where he was pointing, locking eyes with Yuzu.
"Isn't that right, Hirragi Yuzu-chan!" The three said in unison.
"Uh, I…" Yuzu had an unsure expression on her face after being put on the spot.
"Is that why you were acting so weird today?" Yuuji asked with a concerned expression. "Did you really see Yuya?"
There's no way, right? Yuya isn't that type of guy. That guy wouldn't even hurt a fly if he had to. Yuuji thought.
Shuzo was absolutely horrified, "This can't be, there has to be some kind of mistake!"
"There's no mistake," One of the males said, "Sawatari-san, the son of the soon-to-be Mayor, was assaulted by none other than Sakaki Yuya!"
"Stop lying!" Futoshi cried out.
"Yeah, there's no way Yuya-oniichan would do that!" Ayu protested.
"There isn't any other possibility," Another male said. "It has to be Sakaki Yuya."
"It's not me though!" Yuya cried out. "There has to be some kind of mistake."
"I agree," Yuuji nodded, "Maybe it's a lookalike of Yuya." Yuuji then pointed at himself as he continued. "If it's happened once, who is to say it can't happen again?"
Like Yuto, he looks just like Yuya and me. Yuuji thought before realizing. Wait, it has to be him, right? If Yuzu was there at the scene and she suddenly asked about Xyz Summoning, the only Yuya lookalike aside from me that could possibly fit the description would be Yuto, right?
He couldn't just come to conclusions now, but it's much more plausible then Yuya being the culprit.
"Such a thing isn't possible, it's either Sakaki Yuya or…" The third male pointed directly at Yuuji, "...it's you! Those are the only two possibilities!"
"Huh?!" Yuuji's eyebrows shot up, his mouth slightly agape in disbelief. "Don't pin the blame on me now!?"
Of course they would immediately jump to conclusions.
"You're the most suspicious out of the two options, we've never seen you around!" The third male continued. "A mysterious duelist suddenly appeared with Yuya's face, only you could fit that description."
"I don't even know who this Sawatari guy is," Yuuji rebuked. "I couldn't have attacked him."
"Likely story, that's just what a suspicious person would say!" The third male declared.
Or maybe a person who doesn't want to be accused for absolutely no reason. Yuuji thought with veins forming on his face.
"I feel so sorry for poor Sawatari-san," The first youth said with a mournful look. "All four of us were attacked, but he got the worst of it. He was so severely injured that he was even hospitalized! We even heard that his life may be at risk!"
"We can't even be sure if Sawatari was really injured," Yuuji stated. "How can we be sure that you are telling the truth? If he was as injured as you say, the cops would be here talking to us instead of you."
"Yeah, that's right!" Yuya agreed. "You would have nothing to gain by confronting us yourself. Knowing Sawatari, he's probably having the time of his life right now enjoying himself."
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Meanwhile, at the Maiami City Hospital…
Sawatari Shingo sat in a hospital bed, his cast beside him as he happily chowed down on a bowl of pineapples.
"A–Achoo!"
He suddenly sneezed.
"Is somebody talking about me?" Sawatari wondered with a cocky expression on his face. "Hah! What am I saying? Is that even a question? Of course they are. What else could one be spending their time doing?"
He stabbed his toothpick in another pineapple and ate it, his face melting from how good it was.
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Yuuji stepped forward, towering over the three youths just enough to cause them to sweat.
"So, if you bastards are done wasting our time with these stupid accusations, move along and scram."
The three youths tried to retort, claiming that Yuuji wasn't even there, and that they have witnesses who could prove that Sawatari was assaulted, however Yuuji managed to tear down these arguments with nothing but facts and logic, along with some words from Yuzu, who was convinced that neither Yuya or Yuuji could've assaulted Sawatari. Soon enough a white limo pulled up right in front of the school. Stepping out of the limo were Akaba Himika and Nakajima.
"It seems we have come to a standstill," Akaba Himika said.
"You're…from LDS," Shuzo immediately recognized the woman.
"That's correct." Himika confirmed. "I'm Akaba Himika, the Chairwoman of LDS. May we take this inside?"
It's not like we have much leverage in this situation to say no.
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Shuzo takes the group inside You Show, moving their conversation to the commonplace room. Himika took a seat on her own chair, while Shuzo sat on one opposite from her, the rest of the You Show students behind him with a variety of expressions. Some were serious, while others held a little unease.
The two sides were completely silent.
"Please feel at ease," Himika spoke up first. "I only want to talk."
"What brings a woman of your stature all the way here to our little school?" Shuzo immediately asked the important question that was on all of their minds.
"Straight to the point, just how I like handling things," Himika smiled. "I've come here to resolve an issue revolving around your student, Sakaki Yuya. One of our valuable students was recently hospitalized in a confrontation involving him."
"It wasn't Yuya, you have no proof of it," Yuuji stated with a ticked-off expression. "Just because a bunch of your students say that they saw him doesn't mean that they did."
"That's right!" Yuya agreed. "Just like Yuuji said, I didn't assault Sawatari!"
"And you expect us to believe your word over our students who were at the scene?" Himika inquired.
"I, the man Gongenzaka, believe in my friend Yuya," Gongenzaka declared with conviction. "The same goes for everyone else here."
"That's right!"
"Yuya would never hurt somebody."
"I'm with Yuya-oniichan!"
The three younger You Show students all agreed.
"..." Yuzu was hesitant to answer, which prompted Gongenzaka to ask her.
"What about you, Yuzu?"
"Me? Umm…."
Yuzu had an unsure expression plastered on her face, something that slightly pissed Yuuji off, though he didn't show it. Yuzu eventually mustered up the courage to turn to Yuya and ask him something.
"Yuya…is it true that it truly wasn't you back there?" Yuzu asked. "That the person I saw really wasn't you?"
"Huh?" Yuya was surprised for a moment before answering resolutely. "I'm not sure what you experienced on that day, but I know for sure that I wasn't the one who attacked Sawatari."
Seeing Yuya's honest declaration, Yuzu nodded and smiled.
"Then I'll believe you, Yuya."
—Clap. Clap. Clap.
Himika began applauding them with a smile.
"My, what a beautiful showing of friendship. You must have formed very strong bonds with each other." Himika commented. Yuuji's face twitched a little upon hearing her sarcasm. "It's a shame that you can't hand over Sakaki Yuya to us without a fuss."
Her expression soon turned serious.
"However, we cannot back down here. If word got out that the students from LDS were defeated by duelists from some unknown school, our reputation would receive a major blow."
"But we've told you already that Yuya didn't—!" Shuzo tried to speak before being interrupted again.
"That's not what this is about anymore!" Himika declared with a furious expression. "LDS's prestige has been dragged through the mud due to this! As such, the only possible way for us to clear this disgrace on our name is through a showdown between our schools!"
"A…showdown?" Shuzo asked aloud in disbelief.
"If your school manages to win, we will ignore this case and clear Sakaki Yuya from suspicion." Himika stated. "However, if we win this, then this school of yours will become a part of our LDS."
"..."
Everybody present was absolutely appalled by this announcement.
"So, this is your plan," Yuuji frowned. "You wanted to stage an incident in order to force us to submit, allowing you to eventually take Pendulum Summoning for yourself once you do. Since we're just a tiny school, you know that we would have no other choice but to fall in your greedy hands."
Himika was stunned by Yuuji's words for a moment. She didn't expect some kid to nearly perfectly grasp her intentions like that.
"...It seems that there's more to you than I thought, Haruki Yuuji," Himika admitted, albeit reluctantly.
"If what Yuuji said was correct, then…" Shuzo began thinking. "...does that mean that you orchestrated the attack on Sawatari on purpose!?"
"Don't jump to conclusions! That's not the case at all!" Himika strongly denied the accusation. "While it's true that I took advantage of what had happened to further my goals of obtaining Pendulum Summoning for LDS, I would never stoop so low to hurt my students."
I doubt that. Yuuji rolled his eyes.
"With the addition of Pendulum, LDS's curriculum will have four pillars supporting it. Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, and Pendulum." Himika explained. "The number of applicants at our school would end up soaring exponentially as a result due to all of the aspiring duelist who would want to make use of Pendulum."
"But it's impossible," Tatsuya stated. "You can't Pendulum Summon unless you have Yuya-oniichan and Yuuji-senpai's Pendulum Cards."
"LDS has the power to easily resolve that thanks to the technology of the Leo Corporation," Himika stated. "All that is necessary is our unionization. Our two schools will duel, and when you eventually lose, LDS will acquire its final piece."
"She's getting on my nerves…" Yuuji grit his teeth, his anger bubbling up. "To just waltz in here and threaten to take over this school just to further her own corporate greed."
It made him sick to his stomach.
Just before he could say something that he may very well regret, Yuya beat him to it.
"Dueling isn't a tool for fighting!" Yuya declared as he began grasping on his pendulum. "But…I don't want the You Show Duel School and Pendulum Summoning to be taken by somebody else! This school was created by my father to teach and spread the idea that duels are to be enjoyed and how to bring smiles to people's faces through dueling. There's no way I'll ever give it to someone like you, who thinks they can put their greedy hands on anything they want just because they have a lot of money and power!"
While he didn't exactly agree with the sentiment of duels are only made to bring smiles, the rest of Yuya's speech resonated with Yuuji heavily.
"I will fight as well!" Yuuji declared. "While this school may be small, the ideas this school brings are ones that deserve to be spread. And as a student of this school, I refuse to let somebody waltz in on her and strip this school of its freedom to spread its positive message!"
Gongenzaka patted the two on the back, "Well said, Yuya, Yuuji! I, the man Gongenzaka, wholeheartedly agree! I'll also fight alongside you all to defend You Show!"
"But aren't you an outsider?" Sora pointed out, speaking up for the first time. Gongenzaka turned white and froze with his jaw hanging open. "This challenge is being directed to You Show, so it's only Yuya, Yuzu, Yuuji and I who should fight as its students, right?"
"To exclude a man such as I, the man Gongenzaka!" Gongenzaka was heartbroken. "T-That's absolutely unforgivable!"
"You heard everyone's piece, Chairwoman," Shuzo said with a determined look. "Our feelings all align here. The You Show Duel School—!"
[We won't hand it over!] They all declared in unison.
"Haha…ahahahahaha," Himika let out a small laugh from this declaration. "Well then, shall we begin this battle?"
<><><><><><><><><><><><>
Following Himika's words, everyone made their way to the Real Solid Vision Arena. There, they were introduced to the LDS Students who would end up being their opponents. Shijima Hokuto, a tall boy with purple hair and a student of the Xyz Course. Kotsu Masumi, a girl with a darker skin tone, long black hair that reached her shoulders, and red eyes. She was a student of the Fusion Course. Todo Yaiba, a short teen with long spiky brown hair and is a student of the Synchro Course. All three of them were students at the top of their classes in their respective course which made each of them a formidable threat.
"So, who's going first?" Yuuji asked the group.
"I want to go first!" Sora immediately volunteered.
However, Yuya stepped forward in front of Sora.
"I'll go first," Yuya stated with a determined look on his face.
Yuuji was a bit surprised by how serious Yuya was, but it made sense. The fate of the You Show Duel School was on the line after all.
"Hey, no fair! But I wanted to duel these guys!" Sora whined. "They all look so strong."
"Think about how I feel…" Gongenzaka muttered while sulking on the ground, still upset by what Sora said earlier.
"Hey, it's okay big guy, you can duel another time," Yuuji patted Gongenzaka on the head. "I'm always up for a duel with you if you want."
"But I want to duel now!" Sora shouted. "Now, now, now—!"
Yuzu suddenly grabbed Sora by the hand and began dragging him away.
"Just let Yuya have this one, Sora," Yuzu told him. "He's serious about this."
"Hmph, fine," Sora reluctantly said as he let Yuzu drag him away.
"Good luck, Yuya!" Yuzu waved to Yuya.
"Thanks, Yuzu!" Yuya happily waved back, completely losing his serious demeanor for a moment.
And he says that he doesn't like her. Yuuji sweatdropped before he began to leave too.
"Good luck, Yuya," Yuuji wished him luck as he walked off, dragging the disappointed Gongenzaka with him. He joined the rest of the group in the observation room, waiting for the duel to begin. Yuya's opponent was determined to be Hokuto, LDS's Xyz Duelist.
The duel soon began off on the wrong foot as Shuzo ended up using an Action Field that only ended up benefiting the opponent. Yuya tries his best to do what he could under these circumstances, which he does succeed in doing at the start after he successfully performed a Pendulum Summon. However, things took a turn for the worse when Hokuto used his Xyz Monster's effects to prevent Yuya from making any plays. Yuuji was disgusted by how Hokuto would wait for Yuya to be in a vulnerable position before activating his monster's effect, putting Yuya's life at risk.
However, in the end, using a combination of the fact that Xyz Monsters do not have Levels (a fact he learned through Yuuji's lesson earlier) and a combination of Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, Stargazer Magician, Performapal Trampolynx and Magical Star Illusion, Yuya eventually managed to win the first match for You Show.
[He did it!] The three younger You Show students cheered.
"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Yuuji pumped his fist. "Yuya has really upped his game!"
"My blood is boiling!" Shuzo exclaimed from his spot in the operation room.
Yuya eventually returned to the observation booth, being immediately trampled by the young You Show Students who all surround him and congratulate him. Gongenzaka approaches shortly after and tightly hugs Yuya with tears in his eyes, almost crushing Yuya in his grip.
"Yuya, that was amazing," Yuuji commented with a smile.
"It was?" Yuya was surprised by Yuuji's praise.
"Yup." Yuuji nodded. "I knew you would find a way to win against that guy, but I didn't expect you to take advantage of the fact that Xyz Monsters don't have Levels to win. That Magical Star Illusion play was incredible."
"Well, I only have you to thank for that victory," Yuya admitted. "Those pointers you gave about Xyz Monsters really helped me formulate that plan in the end."
"I had nothing to do with that victory," Yuuji stated. "You're the one who figured out a way to take advantage of the basic information that I provided about Xyz Monsters. I barely had a part in that. That was your total victory."
"I guess you're right," Yuya said with a smile. "Though it sucks that I couldn't find an answer to going beyond Pendulum in that duel."
"That's fine. The security of You Show is more important than that right now anyway," Yuuji stated.
The group continued celebrating their victory for a while longer before the time of the next round soon arrived. Akaba Himika had already sent Kotsu Masumi onto the arena, so all that was left was deciding who You Show would send to go face her.
"Who's up next?" Yuuji asked the group. "I don't really want to duel another Fusion User so soon."
"Me neither," Sora said. "Facing another Fusion User sounds boring."
"I'll go next, then," Yuzu declared with determination, though to the keen eye, one could notice a bit of hesitation in her eyes. "I'll make sure to win this one and secure our victory."
"Go for it, Yuzu," Yuya encouraged. "I know you have what it takes to take it home."
She does have the skill, but her mind seems a little distracted. Yuuji thought. Dueling while your mind is distracted never ends well.
As much as he didn't want to be, he was right. The duel began with Yuzu being pushed into a corner early on by Masumi. It was clear that she wasn't in her right mind throughout the duel. The duel eventually ended in Yuzu's defeat when she failed to grab an Action Card due to not seeing that the one she was going for was nothing but a reflection.
Yuya was the first one to rush to her side after her defeat. Yuzu immediately buried her face into his chest, tears falling down her face as she apologized for failing You Show with her loss.
"You two are giving us quite the show," Masumi commented.
"Mhm," Yuuji nodded in agreement.
"Oh, ah!" Yuzu quickly broke off from Yuzu, her face beat red in embarrassment.
—BAM!
—THUD!
She pushed Yuya away from her, which caused him to tumble onto the ground.
"Ow!" Yuya yelped before standing back up, rubbing his pained back. "What was that for?"
"Sorry!" Yuzu apologized.
"Instead of apologizing, don't push me like that in the first place."
Yuzu's frown grew deeper as she was lost in her thoughts again.
"It was an important duel, but I…lost."
"Don't worry about it," Yuya put his hand on her shoulder. "We just have to win the next one."
"He's right," Yuuji joined in the conversation. "It won't be easy though." Yuuji took a glance at their final opponent, Todo Yaiba. "Just like the other two, that guy is at the top of his class. He won't be an easy opponent to defeat."
"Glad you know your place," Yaiba smirked. "Which of you guys will be my opponent?"
Yuuji turned to Sora who shook his head.
"I don't feel like dueling right now," Sora said as he put a new lollipop in his mouth. He then turned to Gongenzaka. "What about you, do you still want to duel? You can take my place."
"I, the man Gongenzaka, will happily take your place," Gongenzaka perked up, full of fighting spirit. "I, the man Gongenzaka, will get revenge for Yuzu!"
"You can take my place too," Yuuji said. "You sound like you want to duel way more than me."
Once that was decided, everyone except Gongenzaka and Yaiba cleared out of the arena. After Shuzo chose the wrong Action Field for the third time in a row, the duel soon began. The duel looked grim at first, with Yaiba swarming his field full of 'X-Saber' Monsters and Gongenzaka refusing to go for Action Cards, but Gongenzaka managed to hold his own relatively well with his Steadfast Dueling. In one last climactic showdown, with the two of them going back and forth, the duel eventually concluded in a draw thanks to a key effect from one of Gongenzaka's monsters.
One win, one loss, and one draw. Yuuji thought. It's a tie game.
Doesn't that mean that You Show Wins? LDS would only take over if they won the clash between schools, not if they drew.
Shuzo seemed to have the same idea as she soon addressed Akaba Himika.
"In the end, the results of the battle are one win, one loss, and one draw a piece," Shuzo stated. "The end result of our battle was a draw, which means that LDS can't take over You Show. It's your loss."
"You seriously think I'll just stop right here?" Himika replied with disdain. "Like I told you before, LDS's reputation is on the line here. As such, this battle cannot end in a draw!"
"Then what do you suggest we do then?" Shuzo inquired.
"We will have a tiebreaker match," Himika suggested. "The duelists from each school who had won their matches will duel each other to settle this!"
That would mean Yuya would have to face Kotsu Masumi, the Fusion Duelist. Yuuji thought. Guess I won't be getting a duel after all.
Oh well, he did forfeit his position to Gongenzaka and Sora, so it is what it is.
"I'm ready when you are, Sakaki Yuya," Masumi said with a smirk.
"I'm ready too," Yuya said resolutely. "Let's do this."
Just before they could decide to follow through the the match—
"Wait."
—a new voice rang through, drawing this attention. A tall grey-haired young man with a commanding presence stepped forward. Most of his figure was obscured by his hoodie, so they couldn't quite make out his features. However, once the man removed his hoodie, the three LDS students and Yuuji gasp in surprise.
"That's…Akaba Reiji!?" Masumi said in surprise.
"What? Is he famous?" Yuya asked.
"Is he famous? Have you been living under a rock, Yuya?" Yuuji was appalled by Yuya's lack of knowledge. "This man is Akaba Reiji, the current President of the Leo Corporation and the youngest duelist to ever obtain the qualifications of a pro. He's a man who stands at the pinnacle of dueling in this world. There's no way you haven't heard of him before."
Everyone was stunned by this sudden revelation aside from Sora, who eyed Akaba Reiji with keen interest in his eyes.
"That saves me the trouble of introducing myself," Reiji smirked before turning to his mother. "Mother, I would appreciate it if you let me handle the rest."
"Reiji-san…" Himika was surprised by her son's sudden request. "Very well, I'll let you take things from here."
After receiving the approval from his mother, Reiji then turned to the rest.
"It seems our two schools have come to an impasse regarding this battle," Reiji started. "However, with everything that you all have shown me today, I am inclined to back down and forget about this whole Sawatari business."
They're backing down? Yuuji was surprised.
"That's…awfully generous of you, President," Shuzo commented.
"Of course, there is a catch to me turning a blind eye to this," Reiji stated as he turned to Yuuji. "I request a duel between me and Haruki Yuuji here. If he manages to win, I promise that LDS will retreat without a fuss."
"A duel…with me?" Yuuji was surprised to be put on the spot like this. He knew this probably had something to do with his Pendulum Cards, though this only raised more questions in his mind. "Why me specifically? Yuya seems like a better option to duel. It's not like there's much to me that would put me apart as a duelist."
"I've already seen the capabilities of Sakaki Yuya's Pendulum Summoning," Reiji stated. "You on the other hand, I have little to no information on. And that fact intrigues me." Reiji then fixed his glasses before extending his hand. "Now what do you say? Are you up for the challenge?"
Not like I have much of a choice. Yuuji thought. Winning this will guarantee that You Show won't be taken over by LDS.
Yuuji accepted Reiji's hand with confidence, "Let's do this. However, don't be surprised when you eventually end up losing."
"Quite the confidence you have there, Haruki Yuuji," Reiji smirked. "Let's see if you have what it takes to back that claim up."
Once the final duel was decided, the two of them make their way to the arena where they'll eventually duel for the fate of You Show. Everyone present watched from the observation room with bated breath.
"You got this, Yuuji!" Yuya cheered for his friend. "Do your best!"
"We'll be here cheering for you!" Ayu chimed in. "Win this is all of us!"
"I, the man Gongenzaka, know that you have what it takes to win!" Gongenzaka commented.
"How naive," Hokuto scoffed from the sidelines. "Cheering for your friend when he has literally no chance of winning."
"What was that?" Tatsuya frowned. "I don't want to hear that from someone who lost after boasting about how good he is."
"Gah!" Hokuto turned to stone and collapsed onto the ground.
"They got you there," Masumi commented. Yaiba shook his head disapprovingly in the background at Hokuto's antics.
Meanwhile, in the arena…
Yuuji silently walked up to his spot on the opposite end of the arena, his hand over his chest. He could feel his heartbeat slowly getting faster as the anticipation of the upcoming duel washed over him.
What the hell? Why do I feel so…nervous? Yuuji wondered. I've never felt like this before a duel. I didn't even feel like this right before my duel against Black Death.
Could it be because he actually has people counting on him this time? Prior to this, he had never had to worry about other people's fate when he dueled; only his own. Now all of a sudden everybody's hopes, and the fate of this school rested on this duel.
"Okay, deep breaths…" Yuuji calmed himself down. "Nothing good will come from me being nervous like this."
He needed to focus. This is the moment that he had been waiting for. A high-stakes duel that could potentially bring about the phenomena that he had been looking into recently. The catalyst for him to truly find a way to surpass his limits.
Yeah, that's what this was. That's the mindset he needed to keep his nerve at bay.
Once Shuzo saw that both duelists were ready, he decided to choose an Action Field for the two to duel in.
"How about this!" Shuzo enthusiastically pressed a button on the machine, causing the Real Solid Vision Machine to turn on and change the arena. "Action Field, on!"
Their surroundings transform into that of a dark void. Floating in the middle of this dark void were glowing, floating islands which illuminated the otherwise pitch-black dual field. The two duelists found themselves on their own floating island, which were connected to other islands by paths of floating islands.
"Field Spell, Different Dimension Dark Void!" Shuzo declared. "These floating islands are difficult to traverse around, the perfect arena for a You Show Student to shine!"
Suddenly, Himika laughed out loud.
"You people seriously aren't trying to win here. If you had done your research, you would figure out that Different Dimension Dark Void is one of Reiji-san's favorite Action Fields. In his many duels on this field, he has never lost!"
"WHAT!?" Shuzo cried out in shock. "This can't be!"
Yuuji facepalmed, "I can't believe he went 4-for-4 on bad Action Field choices. It's like he's doing this on purpose."
"I'm not!" Shuzo yelled from his spot. "I just got unlucky, that's all!"
"One could only be so unlucky…" Sora sweatdropped from the side.
"Whatever, sulking about a bad Action Field won't do me any good. Let's get this start," Yuuji began the Action Duel chant. "Duelists locked in battle!"
"Kicking the earth and dancing in the air alongside their monsters!" Yuya continued.
"They storm through this field!" Gongenzaka chanted.
"Behold!" Sora announced. "This is the newest and greatest evolution of Dueling!"
[Action—!] The three younger You Show declare in unison.
Yuuji and Reiji both activate their duel disks.
[Duel!] They shout in unison.