Trading Game (Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V SI)

"I'll attack you directly with Starving Venom Fusion Dragon!"

"GUAAAH!" And with the direct attack sent, the opposing masked Obelisk Force was sent flying out of the room, hitting the ground and falling unconscious as he had lost the match against the purple haired boy.

Yuri huffed, his breathing slightly uneven as beads of sweat poured down his features. "That should be the last of them. For now at least." Clearly, dueling an unknown number of the masked men was slowly but surely getting to him.

But the same could be said to the others, both Serena, the indigo haired girl, and Mei, the smaller purple haired girl, were also getting tired after dueling wave after wave of these so named Obelisk Force.

But still, he was amazed. It was a sight to see children who appear to be a year or two younger than himself to be able to duel so well to the point that they could defeat even those well coordinated teenagers singlehandedly, multiple at a time.

It was honestly amazing, even while he was praised for being a genius at dueling, he never was as good at the game as these three were. They were on a whole other level.

But still, even with the four of them fighting off the brigade of non ending Obelisk Force while he kept himself busy trying to reopen the gate that his father-no, that that man had locked and sealed, they knew that their time was limited.

And that time limit was slowly but surely coming to an end.

They couldn't keep this for much longer, that he knew, and it only frustrated him as he still couldn't undo whatever it was that that man had done to the gate. He knew that it was logical, that man had more experience dealing with this kind of machinery, and it was only a fluke that he made it here in the first place.

And it infuriated him, the fact that he couldn't figure out how exactly he could lead them all to this one and only escape route that they have, all the while unknown stakes hung atop of his shoulders.

Though now, with the current batch of Obelisk Force all dispatched and defeated, they relaxed themselves slightly, but there still existed the lingering sense of danger even after they had defeated the newest group of their enemy.

A pit formed in his stomach as he saw the exhausted look that some of them sported. He didn't know how long they could keep this up, the endless congoline of duelists were slowly but surely draining them of all of their stamina… 

And the moment they show even the slightest hint of exhaustion, the moment that they would do a single wrong move or a misplay, then surely their opponents would pounce at the given opportunity.

And should even a single one of them were to be captured then…

"Hey!" His thoughts were put into a halt as he felt someone shake him, and he turned and looked down slightly to find the purple haired newcomer, Yuri if he remembered his name correctly, glaring at him.

"Your hands stopped working. Have you found a way to turn that machine one yet?" He asked, his eyes repeatedly glancing back and forth between him and the one and only entrance to the room that they inhabit.

He bit his lips, keeping most of his frustrations to himself. He knew that whatever answer he could provide would stress the younger boy more than he already was, and the fact that he had to be protected as he was the one with a modicum of knowledge in the machine that they were relying on escaping infuriated him even more.

He knew that it was the logical decision, none of them has had any experience in tinkering with this machine, and he was the one who had seemingly been able to activate the one back in his dimension to even travel here in the first place.

But still, he wasn't someone who couldn't protect himself, he could duel against these Obelisk Forces just fine on his own! The fact that he had to be protected, and by those who were seemingly younger than him made him feel… inadequate.

And such feeling was further bolstered by the fact that he was not making a single advancement in turning on and opening this darned dimensional gate! The whole workings was different from the one that his fath-that man had left back in his dimension, and nothing that he had done seemed to have made any improvement towards activating it.

It was as if the feat he had done of opening the dimensional gate back was but a mere fluke, but that couldn't be it could it? He was surely missing something. A crucial information that that man knew of dimensional travel that he doesn't.

Yuri's frown went deeper as he saw the grey haired boy silent scowl as he ignored his questions, deciding to further his focus on the machinery in front of him instead.

It irked him of course, but given the situation that they were in he could keep that to himself for now, there were more urgent matters to attend to and all that.

Given that the boy was unresponsive to his questions and prodding as he threw himself to open their escape route, he turned towards the only adult in the room, walking while never leaving the one and only entrance out of his sight.

"Claire…-san was it? Are you sure that this is the only escape route that we have?" He asked as he called out to her, making the nun clad woman to turn towards him.

She narrowed her eyes at him, looking up and down at his profile before speaking. "Yuri. Right. Given the circumstances, it might as well be." She said, heaving a sigh as she rested on the wall next to her, biting her thumb as she continued. 

"It was my fault. I should have prepared one or two escape routes that could have gotten us all out of the Academia. I hadn't thought that something like this would have happened this fast so I've only prepared ways out from Academy Island to evacuate the orphanage's  childrens first." She said, frustration clear on her scrunched features.

"And I moved impulsively! If only I had been more subtle with trying to get Serena and that boy, Reiji, out, then maybe we wouldn't have been in this mess." The nun said, looking down as she regretted the actions that she had made in the heat of the moment.

"But… even if I did regret that, I would do it again in a heartbeat." She said with a small smile on her face, shaking her head as she lifted her head to stare directly at him.

Her eyes then narrowed slightly, gaining a serious glint to them as she glared at the empty door that led to the one hallway where their enemies could enter through. "There's still so many things that I need to do. And I'm sure everyone else does too. So I'll make sure that we all get out of here safe and sound."

He stood there for a few seconds, silently looking up towards the blonde nun. He silently gawked as he saw the resemblance between the woman before him and Yuuna, seeing the same glint of determination in their eyes.

He chuckled, finding the similarity between the sister and the girl that she cared for quite amusing. It managed to lighten his mood slightly, even in the quite honestly bleak situation that they were in now.

Everyone's focus then turned as they went alert, hearing the sounds of footsteps slowly but surely coming from the hallway that was littered with the unconscious bodies of the defeated Obelisk Force, or at least those who had lost and had no more energy left to duel.

And not long after, those bodies then disappeared after a blinding light came from the nun, Sister Claire's duel disk, and he couldn't help but feel his stomach churn as he saw her turn the losing duelists into mere cards.

It also doesn't help that he had heard their screams as they were turned to cards, and a peek at the newly carded duelists showed them to be screaming in agony on their artwork.

"It's what they would have done to us." The nun had said as her excuse, looking disgusted and refusing to make eye contact. "It's the only way to make sure that they won't come after us again."

There was now a good stack of human turned cards that the nun held, he tried not to think of whether or not the process was reversible as he continued to work on the machine before him.

They all immediately took positions, with himself and Sister Claire being in the forefront of the group, and Mei and Serena guarding the grey haired boy as he continued to tinker with the machines surrounding them, all having their duel disk activated and raised at the ready to duel.

He could hear the sounds of his own heartbeat drum in his ears, the adrenaline and anticipation of dueling against strong opponents, even if they were the Obelisk Force who were under the direct orders of the Professor.

The sounds of footsteps grew louder and louder, and the five of them grew more and more tense as their enemies came closer and closer.

He heard a loud gasp of a vaguely familiar voice come from the corridor, and he saw a blue figure appear in front of the now opened door and prepared himself to fight against another horde of quite frankly middling duelists-

Only for them to suddenly stop as they all stared at the new arrival, and for said new arrival, the flamboyantly dressed duelling instructor who had vanished a few days prior, to stare back at them.

Sister Claire was the first one to snap out of her shock. "You're… Cronos?!" She said with caution and confusion in her tone, putting her guard up once again at the face of the blonde dueling instructor, and her action made everyone along with her to tense up.

And the five of them came face to face with the defamed dueling instructor of the Obelisk Blue.

—

Soon enough she managed to make her way into what was arguably the largest double doors that she had ever seen, be it in this life or her previous one.

She had beaten more and more Obelisk Force's masked duelists as she made her way here, even finding some regular Obelisk Blue duelists attempting to get in her way as she came closer and closer to the Professor's quarters.

But she had made it, the one that was essentially the source of her problems was within her reach, she simply needed to open the door in front of her and confront the man who was the grand villain of the whole series that was now her reality.

She looked down slightly, finding that her hands were shaking, though if it was from fear of what is to come or anticipation, she couldn't tell. She took a deep breath, calming herself down as she held her duel disk near her chest.

Unseen, she pressed a button on her duel disk, making a red light to light into existence ever so shortly, before dimming as her duel disk's touch screen.

"Let's get this over with." She muttered aloud as she pushed the double doors open.

And a grand room was revealed to her, a large open space with concrete pillars supporting the absurdly high ceiling that the room boasted. And of course, on the other side of the door, at the far end along the wall, was a gold trimmed purple throne, placed on an elevated platform.

immediately, her eyes scanned over the room as a whole, looking to see and find if there were anyone hiding behind those pillars, though she dared not to move away from her position so as to not trigger any possible hidden traps or the like.

Her eyes focused back to the one seated on said platform, that being a middle aged tan skinned man wearing a purple colored militaristic outfit with several black buttons, with his backside covered by a purple cape with black trims along with a pair of grey boots. The man also wears a black belt with a red line which both end in a button on the front and a pair of black gloves on his hands. 

Of course, the seated man's most noticeable feature would be the strange armoured mechanical plate that was at his scalp, covering almost the entirety of the left side of his head, along with some prominent blood vessels on top of his head.

Seated on the grand throne was none other than the Professor, a man whose true name was unknown to all, be it his closest aides, the teachers working under him, nor even the massive army of duelists under his command.

He was a man that she had never met in person, only having seen him through a screen once or twice before, vaguely remembering seeing the tan bald man during orientation, and seeing the man's face plastered in multiple posters as advertisements for the school.

And of course, her first ever physical meeting with the man just has to be in the situation where she had absolutely loathed him and his work.

The man was fiddling with what seemed to be a red watch in his hands, and as soon as she had entered the grand room, the man's eyes instantly focused on her, placing said watch on his coat's pockets.

"I've been waiting for you, Red Hat." The man said, slowly standing up from his throne as his grey eyes met her own, before narrowing. "Or should I say, Yuuna." He said, his hands poised behind his back as he looked down on her.

She jolted ever so slightly, but eventually simply sighed at having her identity revealed. It was soon bound to be known anyway, it wasn't like she was hiding it that well anyway. "So you've already known then." She muttered aloud, not even masking her voice as she narrowed her eyes at the bald man.

It made her wonder if he had sent Edo to her on purpose.

"Hmph. Not surprised then." The Professor said dryly, his expression never changing as he continued to stare at her, she would lie if his unchanging gaze didn't unnerve her. "No matter, though your presence itself does make me wonder…" He trailed off.

The Academia's principal's eyes hardened, a glint of curiosity made its way onto those grey orbs as he started to dissect her with merely his eyes. "You are quite the duelists, not only have you managed to place first in the Junior League Tournament, but also in the Special Class' own tournament where you pair alongside… Yuri." He spat out Yuri's name with venom, having a thousand yard stare as he said so.

He took a moment to huff, shaking his head as if to clear his thoughts, returning his gaze back to her. "However, the reason as to why someone like you would do something like this has made me curious. Thus I shall ask you the question, why?"

The Professor asked her, though she could tell from the blatant look of disinterest that the man had as he asked the question, that her answers didn't even matter to him. It was as if he was simply doing so out of courtesy.

But she kept silent, instead raising her duel disk and activating it, letting the deep red blade materialise itself. She didn't come here to talk to the Professor of her ideals, of how she viewed that his method was wrong, she came here for a simple confrontation. 

As far as she knew with whatever dregs of knowledge that she still remembered after many years, and with some of the things that she had heard along her way here, the goal that the Professor had from amassing this army of mind controlled and brain washed duelists was to 'unite the four dimensions'.

And for all she knew, that could be a good thing. The unification of all four dimensions might lead into the creation of a peaceful world, and it would certainly lead to a more interesting world in terms of dueling as the other summoning methods would be available for all.

Though said goal of uniting the four dimensions could all simply be a simple lie. For all she knows it could be the truth. But she cared not for that, as her reason to even oppose what was basically a whole regime was arguably his methods.

His use of dueling, of solid vision, was something that she opposed, and that was just that.

It doesn't matter if he had some justification for what was basically actions of genocide, she didn't care if his actions of child endangerment, of brainwashing and mind control are for the sake of the greater good.

She simply didn't like his methods, and there wasn't even a need for her to explain that to him.

The bald man huffed, though was still non pulsed at her reaction, or lack thereof. "So you will not answer then." He said aloud, still not moving from his position as he kept staring down at her from his elevated position. 

"Hide your motives all you want. Nonetheless, I applaud you for having come this far. No duelists, especially as young as yourself, would have been able to make their journey here with the ease that you had." The man said, blatantly admitting that he had been watching her this whole time.

And that made her alert, as that meant that the man probably had seen her duels, he would know what her cards are, what her deck does, and more importantly, how to counter her strategies.

But what would he even use as a counter strategy to her deck? Even a card that would specifically deal with Fusion Monsters like Non-Fusion Area wouldn't quite work as she has Eldlich in main deck, though considering he was the leader of the Fusion Dimension, it would be jarring for him of all people to run an anti fusion strategy.

No, perhaps he was running a card like Necrovalley to specifically counter her deck. Considering how graveyard heavy both Eldlich and Shaddolls are, that and the need to banish cards from the graveyard, even if the Field Spell would probably be in its sixth erratum.

But then again, considering the strange Master Rule that she was playing in where there can only be one Field Spell stay in the field, she could easily out the Necrovalley if she simply drew either Terraforming or Magical Meltdown.

But the problem was, she doesn't know exactly what kind of deck the man even played. It was a complete toss up whether or not he would even think of playing the cards that she had just thought of to counter her current deck. 

"To have single handedly defeat the Obelisk Force, even managing to match against Cronos, and even young Edo as well, Yuuna, you truly are an astounding duelist." The bald man said, genuinely complimenting her skills.

He went silent for a few seconds as he closed his eyes. "Though with all that said." He started, opening his eyes once more to glare at her. "Your actions will have consequences. The slight that you have done against the Obelisk Force, against the Academia, is not something that I can overlook."

"I was planning on that." She muttered to herself, knowing that she had gone on that spree against the Obelisk Force was all to meet and confront the man in front of her.

And in return, the man raised an eyebrow at that, managing to hear her bold declaration. "Oh? So all that you had done, was all simply a ploy to get my attention then?" He asked aloud.

"I'm simply here to stop you." She said, raising her duel disk and positioning it in front of her. "Plain and simple."

"And you think that I would just accept the duel?" He scoffed.

"You have no other choice." She countered back. "You said it yourself, my actions had brought me your attention. And you can't exactly do nothing against someone that has single handedly bested everyone under your command now can you?" 

"So it would seem." He said lowly with narrowed eyes, loud enough for his voice to reverberate throughout the room . "But even if you do duel me, what then? Whatever the outcome of the duel will be, it would do nothing to stop my ambition."

She grit her teeth at his declaration, or at least looked to be doing so. She knew that of course, this wasn't some children's show where ideological and moral differences could be solved by card games, even if some duelists can certainly understand one another through such actions, something that she still doesn't understand to this day quite honestly. 

This was a real world, one with real people and a working system of rules behind them. She knew that the Professor would surely have the backing of many professional duelists who graduated from the Academia, those who now probably hold a spot in the entertainment industry.

And from a glance, she could tell that the man was a methodical and logical man, and considering how Cronos of all people, who was quite well known to care for his students, albeit biassed towards his Obelisk Blues, opposed him to no avail, possibly meant that he the man was a strong duelists or has legal backing to mask behind the curtain of blatantly brainwashing his students.

And given the fact that Sister Claire had to make what she assumed was backdoor dealings to guarantee the escape of the orphanage's childrens to escape from Academy Island, whose security was manned by Academia's own Obelisk Force, such a thing wouldn't be far fetched.

It was the question that she had agonized over the entire journey that it took her to get here, how would she actually attempt to try and defame the Professor, that or reveal whatever machinations he hid, even if whatever she revealed would be branded as slander by those who has connection or power over the media.

But still, she realistically had no other choice but to try and expose the man and his plans. "Ambition?!" She spat out. "You're saying that your petty ambition is fair enough for you to brainwash countless children?! To use dueling as a means for violence?! As a tool of war?!" 

The Professor narrowed his eyes, clicking his tongue as he glanced away. "I see. Your paths did cross briefly with Cronos." The man said, a hint of bitterness in his tone as he refused to lock eyes with her.

"The actions of the Doctor are… something that I do not fully condone." The man conceded to her, admitting that he himself held a dislike to the blatantly inhumane acts that the Doctor was conducting.

And that was a point that she pounced on. "And yet you're enabling him. Giving him funding that would give the man resources to what is basically research on mind control technology. Another inhumane use of solid vision technology." 

The man's gaze returned to her, "...I will give you a choice." The man said, extending his hand outward towards her, wholly ignoring and not answering her point. "Your talent as a duelist is extraordinary, I can forgive this… crusade that you have conducted, along with allowing safe passage towards the children of the orphanage and Claire, and assuring you and your friend, Mei's, future as pro duelists."

He took a slightly contemplative look as he glanced at her. "Of course, the choice shall be given to you should you swear your allegiance to the Academia." 

And wasn't that an interesting offer. Even if he were to give her a pardon for her actions, and 'ensuring' her and Mei's future as pro duelists in the Fusion Dimension, there was no doubt that bad blood would still linger within the Academia's own Obelisk Force and Obelisk Blue.

But of course, there was no way that she would accept the man's offer out of principle. "And if I were to refuse?" She asked him. 

The man then lowered his arm, looking disappointed at her answer. "Then… I would have to force the Doctor to make you comply." He said brandishing his left arm, revealing the purple and gold duel disk and activating it, and she felt a shiver run down her spine at his declaration.

_

Emergency Grand Mission!

[Dimension Mastermind Confrontation]

Confront the Professor, Prevent the Professor's plans, and defeat him in a duel.

Rewards: 1500000DP, Fusions Pendulum Pack Unlocked, Reputation Up (Sister Claire), Reputation Up (???), Reputation Up (???), Reputation (Academia) Reset to Zero 

Failure: Fusion Parasite Brainwash

____

"Then so be it." She growled out, repositioning her duel disk in front of her as they finally began their duel.

""DUEL!!""

Red Hat: 4000LP

The Professor: 4000LP

"I shall allow you to go first." The bald man declared, taking second and getting to draw the extra card, letting her set up her board first. That, of course, made her frown, the implication of why he would want to go second was of course not lost to her.

The fact that he is letting her go first means that he's playing a go second strategy, but which go second target was the man playing was still a question to her. There are hundreds upon hundreds of strategies that would benefit from going second after all, though that could also mean that he wasn't playing specific floodgates to counter her deck.

But even still, there wasn't much that she could do even after knowing that the man played a going second deck other than setting up her board as best as she can, hoping that the interactions that she put up would be enough to disrupt or perhaps stop whatever plays that he would do in his turn.

She checked the cards in her hand, thinking of the moves and plays that she could do with them. Inwardly, she clicked her tongue, having drawn a brick in the form of Albaz, but otherwise the cards that were in her hand were quite good.

"I will start by normal summoning Aleister the Invoker." She said, starting her turn by performing a normal summon of Aleister, and the grimoire wielding Spellcaster then appeared on her field, swinging his staff 

Aleister the Invoker - Dark/Spellcaster/Level 4/Effect: 1000/1000

"And his effect activates." She said, waving her hand as she began the usual combo line that would resolve. "If this card is normal or flipped face-up, I can add one 'Invocation' from my deck to my hand."

And she does, taking out the titular spell card to her hand. "And now, I'll activate it." She said, placing the spell card onto the field, and Aleister raising his staff high, and a giant blue magical circle appeared behind him.

The Professor narrowed his eyes at the cards that she had played, frowning slightly as she played them. He vaguely remembered seeing them, they were cards that he had seen from the before, before the incident.

He braced himself, knowing first hand at how terrifyingly strong the deck that he would be facing, especially at the hand of a duelist like the one who stood before him. He had been observing her throughout her journey, watching her as she continued to mow easily through wave upon wave of his elite Obelisk Force.

There were even cards that he had never ever seen before, and it was baffling at how incredibly strong they were.

And he was further baffled by the cards that she had played, Tuner Monsters, while uncommon to see in this dimension, and while she does not use them to perform Synchro Summons, she instead uses ones that could be used to interrupt her opponent's moves and plays.

It was… quite frankly, seeing such a child perform duels over and over again without even breaking a sweat, without even losing her concentration even once throughout her many ordeals, planted a seed of doubt and fear in him.

For even in the past, in a time where the world had been fragmented to four because of HIS actions and HER sacrifice, he had never seen a duelist as methodical and as effective as the girl who stood in front of him.

But deep down, in the corner of his heart that he had though he had shut off years ago as he started his grand plan to fulfill his ambition, a spark of hope was lit.

Because if it was this girl, if it was the duelist in front of him, should she be given proper guidance and time to grow then perhaps she could defea-

His frown deeped ever so slightly, and he removed those thoughts from his head, squashing whatever feeling that had come up and crushing them before they could grow.

His ambitions would not simply be stopped by a mere girl, even if she was admittedly a strong duelist.  Even though his opponent had brought an incredibly strong deck which could summon incredibly strong Fusion Monsters-

-he still believed in his victory, for no matter what kind of deck it was that his opponent, he knew that his deck would be as strong, if not, more powerful in certain aspects.

"This card allows me to Fusion Summon one Fusion Monster from my Extra Deck using monsters from my hand as fusion material, however, if summoning an 'Invoked' Fusion Monster this way, I can also banish monsters from my field or either player's graveyard!" She explained, still going to use the card even though they possessed no cards in their respective graveyards.

"I will fuse Aleister the Invoker on my field, and Eldlich the Golden Lord in my hand!" She said, naming the two fusion materials that she would use for the Fusion Summon as she revealed one of the cards in her hand.

The golden lord of the cursed Eldland then appeared briefly next to the hooded Spellcaster, both being engulfed by the giant blue magical circle, fusing and becoming a singular Fusion Monster.

"Fusion Summon." She chanted, tipping her red hat as she glared at the man before her under her cap. "Appear! Invoked Mechaba!" And the chariot riding mechanical monster appeared, raising both its sword and shield as they made their way onto the field.

Invoked Mechaba - Light/Machine/Fusion/Level 9/Effect: 2500/2100

"I will activate the effect of Invocation in the graveyard." She continued on, "if this card is in my graveyard, I can target one of my banished 'Aleister the Invoker', shuffle this card into the deck, and if I do, add that monster to my hand."

And here was the normal Aleister loop, one of the reasons as to why the monster was a fearsome card splashable in almost every single deck, contending for any kind of normal summon.

An easily accessible normal summon, technically having seven copies of the card should you run Magical Meltdown, a field spell that turn every Fusion Summon into Spell Speed 4, along with it being a recourse loop that would allow you to summon strong monsters like Mechaba and Augoeides depending on the graveyard set up, the former could be insulated by simply playing handtraps such as Ghost Ogre or Effect Veiler.

Not to mention Aleister's own in hand effect to boost up a Fusion Monster's attack and defence by 1000 points, being both an offensive and defensive in hand battle trap that could be used in corner cases.

And she had successfully performed the loop as there was no interruption of any kind from her opponent, shuffling back the copy of Invocation in her graveyard to re-add back the Aleister that she had banished.

"I will set a card face-down, and activate the effect of Eldlich the Golden Lord in the graveyard." She said, "If this card is in my graveyard, I can send one spell or trap card that I control to add this card to my hand."

And she did just that, sending the card that she had just set, that being Huaquero of the Golden Land, and added back the Eldlich that she had used as fusion material for Mechaba back to her hand.

"Then, I can special summon one Zombie Monster from my hand. And if I do, until the end of my opponent's turn, it gains 1000 attack and defence, and cannot be destroyed by card effects." She continued, further explaining the effect that the card had.

"I will special summon the Eldlich the Golden Lord that I had added to my hand in defence position!" Placing the card that she had just added from her graveyard to her duel disk,  the magnificent ruler of the Cursed Eldland appeared onto the field, his hands spread wide in a defensive stance.

Eldlich the Golden Lord - Light/Zombie/Level 10/Effect: 2500/2800

A golden glow then shone from the special summoned Zombie's form, and he let out an inhuman scream as his attack and defence was enhanced thanks to his effects, giving him an extra 1000 points in both attack and defence along with immunity to effect destruction until the end of the next turn.

Eldlich the Golden Lord - Light/Zombie/Level 10/Effect: 3500/3800

"I will set another card face-down." She said, setting down another card into her spell and trap zone, placing it on the column next to Eldlich. "And I will end my turn. In which I activate the effect of Huaquero of the Golden Land in my graveyard."

She then began explaining the card's effect. "During the End Phase, I can banish this card from my graveyard to set one 'Eldlixir' spell or trap directly from my deck." And she revealed the card that she would set from her deck to her opponent.

"I will set the trap, Eldlixir of Scarlet Sanguine." She said, showing the card to the man before her, and setting it on the adjacent column of her unknown set card. And thus, her turn truly had ended, managing to end with a board of Mechaba and Eldlich, an unknown set and Scarlet Sanguine, an Aleister in hand and a Fallen of Albaz in hand.

Essentially, she only has monster negates to respond with whatever her opponent would do during his turn. Her board would realistically be cleared should he have any equalizers be it Raigeki or Dark Hole, cards that she knew he would probably be running as he was playing a go second deck.

But she was sure that she could manage whatever the man threw at her, that and more.

"Then it's my turn." The turn player changed, and the Professor placed a hand over his deck to draw his card for turn. "I draw." And now with six whole cards in his hand, the man began his turn.

"I will start by normal summoning Spirit Crystal - Salamander Core!" The bald leader of the Academia placed the card onto his duel disk, and a small round orb with an imagery of a salamander at its core appeared on the field.

Spirit Crystal - Salamander Core - Fire/Machine/S3/Level 2/Effect: 0/0

It was a monster that she had never seen before, but before she could she could open her System's Shop to search for the card and read what its effects were, her opponents explained for her.

"Now Spirit Crystal - Salamander Core's effect! Once per turn, during my Main Phase, I can target one monster on the field and destroy it! And if you do, I can inflict 800 damage to its controller!" The man said, explaining the monster's effect as it was on the field.

The man then pointed towards the monster that he would target with its effect, that being none other than her Fusion Monster. "I will target Invoked Mechaba!" He shouted loudly, the small monster in his field started to glow brightly, licks of fire coming out from the mechanical orb's body.

She clicked her tongue, annoyed that she would have to trigger her one monster negate early. "I'll activate the effect of Mechaba." She said in response. "Once per turn, when a spell, trap, or monster effect if activated, as a Quick Effect, I can send the same type of card from my hand to the graveyard to negate the activation, and banish that card."

She debated for a second which card she would pitch for Mechaba's effect, "I will discard the monster card, Fallen of Albaz, to negate the effect of Spirit Crystal - Salamander Core, and banish it."

The mechanical Fusion Monster raised its blade, and said blade then started to glow, to which then the monster swung it down and pointed it towards her opponent's only monster, shooting it with the beam of light, negating its effect and banishing it from play.

The Professor kept his face stoic even as she had negated what was basically his normal summon for the turn, briefly glancing at the cards that were in his hand as he decided what further play he would do. "I will use two copies of the Scale 1 Spirit Reactor, and place them in the Pendulum Scale!"

"Wha-?!" Her eyes widened as she heard the man's declaration, watching as he placed the cards on the foremost edges of his duel disk's sword projection, and the two reactor-like monsters then floated upwards, being contained in a translucent glowing blue pillars that showed a large 1 on each of them, marking their Pendulum Scales.

Spirit Reactor - RS (1)

Spirit Reactor - LS (1)

These were Pendulums, a subset of cards which was created by the one whom he will forever never forget nor forgive, cards which he spent night and day to create as soon as he regained his memories and chose his goal, a deck designed to specifically counter the strategies of Z-ARC.

He silently enjoyed the shocked reaction that his opponent had, knowing that she was surprised, shocked, and confused at the mechanic that he had used.

"Pendulums?!" She accidentally said aloud, shocked at the reveal of what deck that the man who was leading the Fusion Dimension had, never thinking that he of all people would play a Pendulum archetype that she had never even heard of.

Then was the monster that he had just normal summoned also a Pendulum Monster? Not that it would matter since it was now banished and won't return to the Extra Deck since she negated its effects with Mechaba.

She grit her teeth and raised her level of caution. She wasn't facing a going second deck, she was facing a going second deck which she virtually has no information on, her strongest weapon of card and meta game knowledge had been nullified.

But this was something that she should have expected, the man playing a deck that she had never heard of and for him to play Pendulums in the show where the summoning mechanic was released. 

She noted how both of the scales that he had set were both ones, having drawn the exact same card, and thus couldn't special summon anything, but that simply brought up her caution even more.

That was most certainly a mechanic of whatever archetype that he was playing. Just like how Metalfoes destroy their own cards to search, or how Igknights pop their own scales to search for any Fire Warrior.

"Now I will activate the quick-play spell, Pendulum Shift!" The man then played his next card, revealing it to be a quick-play spell card of all things. "This card allows me to target one card in either player's Pendulum Zone, and declare a Pendulum Scale of 1 to 10, this turn that card becomes that Pendulum Scale!"

And since she has no Pendulum Scales whatsoever, it meant that the Professor would be manipulating his own scales. The spell managed to resolve successfully, as she had no spell cards in her hand to pitch for Mechaba to negate it.

Not that she would negate such a low impact card, even if it would most possibly start his play as it would allow him to Pendulum Summon.

"I will target the Spirit Reactor on my right, and change its scale to 10!" He said so with a raised hand, and the number that was shown on the blue pillar on his right then ticked up from one to ten.

Spirit Reactor - RS (10)

"Now, with this I can special summon monsters from Level 2 to 9 simultaneously!" He shouted out. "O spirit of heaven! Cleanse these dirtied hands of mine and create a new world!"

The man chanted as he raised his hands high, the two glowing light blue pillars glowing brightly as a giant hole appeared between them.

"Pendulum Summon!" He shouted out. "Appear! Spirit Tech Force - Pendulum Governor! Spirit Crystal - Salamander Core!" And two strange monsters then appeared onto his side of the field, a large machinery with wings with what looks like a mechanical depiction of an angel, along with a second copy of the small round orb with an imagery of a salamander at its core.

Spirit Tech Force - Pendulum Governor - Light/Machine/S4/Level 7/Effect: 2800/2500

Spirit Crystal - Salamander Core - Fire/Machine/S3/Level 2/Effect: 0/0

And as the man summoned another copy of the monster that could destroy her own monsters once per turn as its on board effect, she managed to pull out a screen detailing the monster and its effects, finding out that not only was it indeed a Pendulum Monster, but also that its effect was a soft once per turn.

And though she didn't quite know what the other monster could do, nor does she know whether or not it had protection, she decided to stop whatever plays that her opponent would do in his tracks.

"I will activate the trap card!" She declared loudly, flipping the unknown set card that she had face-up, revealing the trap card's artwork depicting that of Fleurdelis and Titaniklad. "Dogmatika Punishment!" She called out the trap's name, the card shining in the field.

"This card allows me to target one face-up monster my opponent controls, and send one monster with an equal or higher attack from my Extra Deck to the graveyard! And if I do, that monster is then destroyed!" She said, explaining the trap card's main effect to her opponent.

"However, until the end of my next turn after this card resolves, I cannot special summon monsters from the Extra Deck." She added on the card's demerit of locking her from the Extra Deck, and took out a card from her Extra Deck that she would send to the graveyard.

"I will target Spirit Crystal - Salamander Core!" She declared her target, and with no card left in his hand nor any card effects that he could chain to the trap card that she activated on the Pendulum Summon, the effect continued to resolve.

"I will send Elder Entity N'tss to the graveyard." She said, sending the Fusion Monster from her Extra Deck to the graveyard, destroying the small Machine Pendulum monster and sending it face-up to the Extra Deck as is the Pendulum Monsters mechanic.

But of course, she wasn't quite done with the interaction. "And now Elder Entity N'tss' effect! If this card is sent to the graveyard, I can target one card on the field and destroy it!" She could destroy the scales, prevent him from Pendulum Summoning next turn and all, but as the other monster that he has on the field has a higher attack than Mechaba, she'd clear that one first.

She can possibly have a Conquistador set up on the crack back after all, what with having an Eldlixir of Scarlet Sanguine set and all. "I will target and destroy Spirit Tech Force - Pendulum Governor!"

Declaring her target, a spectral figure of the Elder Entity briefly appeared onto her field, raising her spear and threw it at the flying Machine Pendulum Monster that resided on the Professor's field.

And the monster was then destroyed, with it having next to no protection whatsoever, it was destroyed with the graveyard effect of N'tss, and was sent to lay face-up in the Professor's Extra Deck just like his other Pendulum Monster.

And now, with no cards in his hand whatsoever, and without any monsters left in his field, the Professor's facial features tightened. Sweat started to bead down his face as he was faced with the reality that he would most certainly lose.

He hadn't thought that his opponent's face-down card would be Dogmatika Punishment of all things, and all throughout their trek here, he had never seen them send Elder Entity N'tss to use any of their cards.

That was mostly due to the fact that there were other spot removals which were more accessible, Conquistador of the Golden Land being one of them, searchable by any Eldlixir cards with their graveyard effect, and she was more inclined to pitch set up cards like Titaniklad or El Shaddoll Apkallone for their graveyard effects.

His plan had been to bait out the negation of Mechaba with his normal summon of Salamander Core, a move that he had indeed done with his opponent discarding that Fallen of Albaz as cost to activate its effect instead of the known Aleister that was added with the effect of Invocation.

And while he could not have destroyed the Eldlich the Golden Lord as it was summoned with its effect, thus granting it destruction protection until the end of his turn, he knew that the girl does not possess a way of outing Pendulum Governor through battle, having to rely on spot removal like the likes of Conquistador of the Golden Land.

But he hadn't though that she would have Dogmatika Punishment set, let alone having a monster like Elder Entity N'tss to send to destroy both of his monsters.

But that move, that single play had shown him what she was capable of. No, what she knew.

"You." He growled lowly, eyes glaring at the girl who still hid her features with that annoying red hat of hers, the banner which those orphaned children of Academy Island had rallied under. "You know, the existence of the other dimensions." 

The fact that she has a card like Elder Entity N'tss, a Fusion Monster that requires both a Synchro Monster and an XYZ Monster showed him that this girl was no mere girl, she wasn't a mere rebel like Cronos or Claire.

She was someone with the knowledge of the other dimensions. Knowledge which only he and his inner circle, along with those of his brainwashed Obelisk Force to only know of.

The girl seemed to tense at his accusation, all but confirming what he had just said. He grit his teeth and wracked his mind to think of exactly how she found out and why she would even oppose him and his grand plan.

No, the latter part was already answered by the girl herself. He was endangering the ones that she cared for, Serena (Ray), Yuri (ZARC), the girl who was her tag along, Claire, along with the other students whom she had befriended.

He had wanted to brainwash them, use them as pawns for his grand scheme, something that she doesn't stand for, along with his methods of using duel monsters and solid vision for his own personal gain.

But how come she knew of the other dimensions? How could she have obtained cards like N'tss or those Eldlich and Dogmatika cards? Cards of which even he who had been a researcher in the world before had never heard of?

"End your turn already. Should you go longer the game will instantly forfeit you." His opponent said with a bland tone, snapping him off of his focus, pulling him back to his current situation that he was in and the innate timer that all duel disks had which started counting wherever a player goes inactive. 

He clicked his tongue, clearing his head of these pesky thoughts. He had to think of a way to escape the situation first, he needed to find a way to somehow stop this duel and escape. He could figure out the 'how' in another time.

"I will activate the effect of the left Spirit Reactor!" He declared, activating a card effect which he knew would be useless in the coming turn, simply going through his deck's motions simply to but him more time to think of a way to escape this situation.

"If this card is in the Pendulum Zone, I can target one Pendulum Card on the field, and this card's Pendulum Scale becomes the same as that target!" He said, explaining the card's Pendulum effect.

He then pointed to the one other Pendulum Scale that resided in the field. "I will target my right Spirit Reactor! And change my left Spirit Reactor's Scale to permanently become 10!" And just like the one before, the number on the glowing blue pillar next to him changed, slowly rising from one to ten.

Spirit Reactor - LS (10)

"I end my turn." He said lowly, calming himself as he ended his turn with no cards in hand and but two errant scales left on his field, no method of protection himself from the coming onslaught that was to come.

"On declaration of End Phase, I will activate the trap, Eldlixir of Scarlet Sanguine." His opponent declared, flipping up her other set card which was set directly onto her field with the graveyard effect of Haquero.

"With it, I can special summon one Zombie Monster from my deck or graveyard, but if I control no 'Eldlich' Monsters, I can only special summon 'Eldlich' Monsters with this effect." She started explaining.

She then took out a card from her deck, and revealed the monster that she would summon. "I will special summon a second Eldlich the Golden Lord in attack position." She said, placing the card onto her duel disk, and another copy of the large golden conqueror appeared onto her side of the field.

Eldlich the Golden Lord - Light/Zombie/Level 10/Effect: 2500/2800

"And for the rest of this turn, after this card resolves, I cannot special summon monsters except Zombie Monsters. Not that it matters." She said the last part lowly to herself, merely doing so for the formality.

And the effect of Pendulum Shift then ended along with his turn, turning his right Spirit Reactor's Scale back to a one, and the effect that was granted to the first copy of Eldlich too vanished, leaving it vulnerable to card effect destruction and returning its attack and defence to what it once was. 

Spirit Reactor - RS (1)

Eldlich the Golden Lord - Light/Zombie/Level 10/Effect: 2500/2800

"Now it's my turn." She said with a low serious tone, placing her hand over her duel disk's deck holder. "I'll draw!" And drew her card for turn with gusto, drawing back up to two cards, though whatever she drew would not matter, as she has over 4000 points of damage already on board.

He needed to figure out a way out of this duel. And fast.

-

"You're… signora Claire? Why are you-" The blonde dueling instructor drawled out, only to be cut off as loud sounds of footsteps echoed through the hallway once more. The man's head snapped to look back towards the source of the sound, an indiscernible look on his face.

"There he is! Capture him!" They heard someone shout, and the blonde man's eyes widened before he started to run away, or at least attempted to before being pulled inside of the room by none other than Sister Claire herself.

All of them were shocked and confused at the action that the nun had took, especially the man that she was holding. Cronos tried to escape the nun's grip, only for her to explain herself. "There's no use running from the Obelisk Force!" She hissed out.

She knew Cronos' character, she had briefly been his colleague back when she was still the head of the Obelisk Force, blind to the Professor's machinations, swayed by his words of betterment for the dimensions.  

"The whole school's on lockdown, and they're guarding all the exits! There's probably not even a single boat available to leave the island!" She quickly explained to the dueling professor the consequence that was her actions of taking both Serena and Reiji from the Professor's grasp right under him.

She then motioned to the large machinery around them, or more specifically the large pod-like dimensional gate that was currently offline. "That thing is the only way off of the island, even if it will take us into a whole other dimension, it's better than whatever fate we would meet when we eventually get caught."

The way that she worded her words seemed to have an impact on everyone in the room, with most of them frowning or gritting their teeth at the statement. Because it was true, it wasn't a matter of whether or not they would get caught, but a matter of 'when' they would get caught.

They were wholefully disadvantaged from the start, being in enemy territory with only a single form of an escape plan, one which relied on Reiji's barebones knowledge on dimensional travel that what was most possibly a fluke, with hoards upon hoards of Obeliks Force no doubt going to swarm them eventually. 

It was not a pessimistic outlook that she had, no, it was a realistic one. They only have this one chance at escaping, and having Cronos possibly aid them in keeping the Obelisk Blues at bay would help them, just like how the appearance of both Yuri and Mei had.

She still questioned why someone like Cronos of all people would be chased by the Obelisk Force, not knowing of the rumours going around the school of his sudden disappearance, but she could tell that it was possibly an ideological clash between him and the Professor.

She released the blond's hand, walking forward to near the lab's entrance with her duel disk at the ready. "To cut it short, we're running away from the Academia because of the Professor, so it's either you help us and fight off the Obelisk Force, or you get captured and get carded."

She stopped for a second, turning her head slightly to glare at the man from the corner of her vision. "Or if you are with them, then I'll card you myself." She said her threats, as the group of Obelisk Force came into view.

"He's here! Along with the other targets, they're working together!" One called out, "Capture them! Focus on the indigo haired girl and the grey haired boy! What happens to the others is not important to the Professor!"

"I'm glad that we're all being treated fairly." Yuri said dryly with a strained smile, his own duel disk poised in front of him and ready to duel against any and all who dare to stand against him. 

He briefly glanced back at Reiji, looking at him as he continued to tinker with the machinery. "You better work on that gate quickly. We don't know how much longer we'll last." He said grimly, knowing that all of them are exhausted at this point. 

The glasses-wearing boy bit his lips as he continued with his work. "I know." He simply said, and that was enough of a response for him. Soon enough, with Cronos joining in to help, they all were pulled in to duel against one or two Obelisk Force duelists. 

They were so occupied with their own duels, that none of them noticed the white haired man that had sneaked past their line of defence.

-

She wasted no time, having enough of a recording that was already being streamed as they speak of the Professor confessing the Doctor of his inhumane experiments, along with what was basically his confession of him funding and supporting him already on the net.

It might go unnoticed, it might not, the Dueling Network was filled with hundreds of duels being streamed live and having over several thousands of recordings. It was a mainstream site to watch recorded duels, and it was the one way that she had thought of to try and attempt to expose the Professor for his wrong doings.

But whether or not people do watch the stream, whether or not they truly do take what they had talked at the start of it seriously, the stream would most likely be a PR nightmare for the Academia, and just in case the stream's archive would be taken down, she had already rigged it so that the recording would be uploaded to multiple sites.

She was using the Professor's fame against him, no one has truly seen him duel, only knowing that the man was the principal of the Academia and he held a strong rule of the dueling school, and now the whole Fusion Dimension would know that he holds a whole new summoning mechanic.

But now, she needed to focus on the game, or more correctly, focus on ending it.

She already have lethal on board, in the form of her second Eldlich and Mechaba, and with the card that she had drawn for turn being a spell, Branded Fusion of all things, she didn't need to worry of those scales of his having any effects during the Battle Phase, she could simply negate them with Mechaba if needed be.

"Battle!" She immediately went, moving on to the Battle Phase without any further delay, and the Professor grew more and more worried as he thought of a way to escape his current situation.

It didn't quite matter if he were to win or lose here, after all he already had the bulk of his Obelisk Force regrouped and were on standby in front of the entrance to the room that they were in, she would not be able to escape no matter the outcome.

But still, while he was not the best duelist out there, (that title would go to him much to his chagrin, the only one able to even stand their ground against him was her.) he still has his pride as a duelist. And being beaten by a mere child not even half his age would bruise it.

But there was virtually no way to stop a duel once it has begun. The only time he has ever seen a match ever been forcefully stopped was when the opponents loses unconscious, or when the system was overloaded like when Yusho used the-

His train of thought halted, mind instantly focusing on the first line that had went through his head. A match between duelists are tricky things, with solid vision being what it was, duelists could get injured should they not be careful, and thus a safety mechanism was placed on each and every duel disks.

He had removed said safety mechanism as he produced his own Academia branded duel disk, all to prepare his duelists for what was to come when they began their invasion to the other Dimensions.

But he remembered that, just like how targeting effects could fizzle should they lose their targets, should a duel disk somehow loses track of their opponent, then the duel would forcefully be ended.

And it just so happened that he has a tool that would remove his opponent from his sight.

"I'll attack you directly with Eldlich the Golden Lord! Adelantado de Veiga!" She shouted out as her first form of attack, and the golden lord of the Eldland complied to her wishes, pulling back his hand and striking at her opponent.

The Professor braced himself for the hit, all while twiddling with the dimensional travel tool in his pocket that was meant to send Reiji back to the STandard Dimension unbeknownst to Yuuna.

Only for the hit to never come, as the golden monster did not hit him directly, but instead hit the large moveable wall that was behind him, shattering most of it into bits of concrete. He covered himself with his arms as he was hit with some small chunk of the debris, but he cared not for the reduction of his Life Points as his eyes went wide at the implication of what she had just done.

The Professor: 1500LP

"No!" He shouted as he saw bits of the wall behind his throne were destroyed, revealing what lay behind his throne room. It was his greatest creation yet, an integral part of his Arc Area project, or more correctly the Revival Zero, the device with four pods, connected directly to the Arc Reactor.

It was the machine that was needed for him to revive her, and the girl before him had the gall to try and destroy it.

Yuuna herself was confused at the actions that the solid hologram of the golden lord had done, not expecting that the attack would miss the Professand instead reveal whatever sort of machinery hid behind his throne.

But now that she could see it, she could tell that whatever it was, it was bad news. Machines that were hidden were bad enough, but to hide it in the throne room where he, the leader of the entire Academia, was made it a whole lot more important.

Which meant that that device, whatever it is, is important to his plans. And not a single drop of doubt was in her mind that if she broke or destroyed it, it would most definitely set back his plan, or perhaps even stop it entirely.

And she immediately took action. Waving her arm forward, she gave out her orders to hopefully stop whatever plans the Professor had and end the match. "Go! Finish it, Mechaba!"

The monster obeyed her commands, the mechanical steed giving neighing as it pulled the chariot forward, its mechanical rider raising his sword, ready to swing his sword down, not to strike the Professor, but to destroy the machinery behind him.

The Professor instantly recognized what her goal exactly was, fury and fear filling him. "Red Hat!" He roared, raising his right hand, the one time dimensional travel tool that he had tweaked in hand.

And he threw it.

-

They were in the middle of their duels, matches that could as well decide their future, that they heard a gasp. Snapping their heads to the source of the sound, their eyes went wide at what they saw.

Behind a struggling Serena, was a lanky white haired man, seemingly all skin and bones, holding what looks like a handkerchief over her nose. "Serena!" Claire shouted almost sprinting towards the girl who was held by the Doctor-

Only to snap her left hand instinctively over her head, where she wore her duel disk, protecting her from being hit by the metal cuff that was thrown at her. Said cuff then locked onto her duel disk, the metal chain turning and becoming coated by a line of energy.

Her head snapped to see none other than Edo Phoenix, with Mamoru behind him, that same red line of energy coming from his duel disk. They brought with them another wave of Obelisk Force, all heeding their orders.

"Edo…" Yuri said the grey haired boy's name, his wide eyes slowly but surely turning into a glare, and a scowl forming on his face. "So you're with the Professor. I see, that time when you were called by the teachers…"

"Ah, yes. The time during that tournament your class held was when young Edo was introduced as the youngest leader of the Obelisk Force." Answered the white haired Doctor who held Serena hostage.

His eyes then lingered on towards Cronos, who was glaring and seething at the sight of the man. "Why, I didn't expect to find you working together with them. But I must thank you, you have given me enough time so capture our target." He said with a deranged disgusting smile, one that sent shivers down his spine.

"You-!" Cronos growled, all but launching himself at the pale man, only to be blocked by the numerous Obelisk Force guarding him, and now Serena who was his hostage. And soon enough, they had circled around Reiji, cornering him as the boy tried to escape.

"Kukuku, surrender!" The Doctor laughed deranged, holding a still struggling Serena in hand. "You wouldn't want anything bad to happen to her now would you?"

"N-no-!" Serena screamed aloud, repeatedly trashing as she tried to free herself from the grip of the Doctor who held her, only managing to do so weakly, whatever it was that the man had laced the handkerchief over her mouth with was making her lose her strength.

The man turned his head to look at the Obelisk Force who were surrounding Edo. "Hurry and capture the boy. The Professor wants to meet him personally after all." And too preoccupied with their own group of Obelisk Force swarming them, all under the lead of Edo, they could do nothing to stop the man's orders to be done.

And as Serena continued to struggle, the gem on her silver bracelet slowly but surely shone. Becoming brighter and brighter, and soon enough its light blinded most of the occupants of the room.

"Wha-!" The Doctor shouted in shock, putting up a hand to protect his eyes from the blinding light that the bracelet gave off, the same was done by the Obelisk Force around them.

Reiji looked at the happening with shock and confusion, only being put out of his shock as he heard the sound of whirring machinery coming to life, his head snapping to the pod-like gate that had led him to this whole fiasco. 

And finding the thing somehow on, releasing a humm of power as the gate that connected the two dimensions being open.

He didn't think twice when he ran and tackled the skinny man that had released Serena, pushing him from his blind spot and making him release the girl that he had held hostage. And Yuri, having easily finished off his opponents with a quick one turn kill, rushed in and scooped the girl in his arms. 

""Go!"" Both Sister Claire and Cronos shouted, holding the brunt of the Obelisk Force under the lead of Edo back, having seen the gate being turned on, their one chance at escape in hand. 

Mei met Sister Claire's gaze, her worries being sent with but a single moment and the nun gave her a reassuring grin. "Don't worry. We'll be right behind you all."

"Indeed." Cronos backed her up. "It would hurt my pride if I do not stand up against the blatant tyranny that the Professor has. Fret not Signora Mei, Signora Claire and I shall join you all soon enough."

"Mei!" Yuri called her, carrying Serena in hand as they watched Reiji disappear into motes of light as he entered the strange pod-like capsule, briefly flicking as the machine continued to humm. "We need to go!"

Said purple haired boy traded glances with the blonde nun, who mouthed something in silence that made the boy stood up straighter, a gleam of determination burning in his eyes as he nodded and went through the portal along with the unconscious Serena.

Mei spared a glance back at Sister Claire, the woman who had all but raised her and Yuuna, and the Obelisk Blue dueling professor who while she doesn't know quite well, had still assisted them in their predicament.

"You better come quickly." She said in a low whisper, going through the portal without looking back, not even knowing where it will lead her too.

And soon enough, only the two adults were left to fend off against the hoard of Obelisk Force, along with Edo and a fuming Doctor. "No! nononoNO! How could this be!" The white haired man shouted, pulling his hair in frustration.

"After them! Go after them and capture them! Hurry up and defeat these two and go!" The mad Doctor barked out his orders to the men under him, and they compiled with gusto.

"Tch, I don't take orders from you." Edo growled out, the distaste at taking orders from the man clearly seen on his face, as he turned and faced against the two duelists who were no doubt at the level of a pro. 

"For what it's worth." Claire said, turning towards the man who stood beside her with a smile, already resigned to the fate that awaited her, but accepted it for she knew that the two girls under her care were safe, out of the reach of the Professor and the Doctor, and knowing that Yuuna was more than capable of protecting herself no matter where she was.

She had never seen the girl lose when she was serious after all, and she held onto that slight slither of hope that she of all people could defeat someone like the Professor.

"It was a surprise to see you again in this situation, but it's been quite the honour to duel alongside you." 

She received a warm smile from her former colleague, "Likewise Signora Claire, the feeling is mutual. The intricacies in the whole matter to me not. As long as I could help even a single student, then it is enough for me."

She snorted at the answer that he gave her. "Looks like teaching has gotten you soft. If it was the Cronos that I knew then you would have most certainly pushed down a student or two to secure your position."

"Wha-that was from a long time ago! I am a changed man!"

"Aren't you now? Hmm, I do admit, now that I look at you clearly, the air around you certainly has changed."

The banter brought smiles to their faces, even as they faced certain doom, their hearts felt light knowing that the future of their charges, the future of their students, are in safe hands.

And though they were already resigned to their fates, they didn't expect to feel a hand on their backs. "You've all done quite well, you can leave the rest to me." They heard someone say, a mature voice that they had never heard before, and before they could even turn to see the source of the sound, they were pulled and pushed into the dimensional portal.

The last image that they see is the man's figure and his eye catching top hat.

—

"Go! Finish it, Mechaba!" Was the order that she had given, and she watched as her monster followed her command, brandishing its sword, readying to swing it down to fell her one and only enemy.

And this was it, this was the moment that she would defeat the Professor, and though it might not matter much in the grand scheme of things, as even if she does manage to defeat him, he still has the entirety of the Academia, and the Fusion Dimension's own entertainment industry, and by proxy any and all information spread through the media, this would still be a huge step.

Surely, there are some duelists that are against the actions of the Professor just like Sister Claire, and hopefully as this fight comes to an end, and along with it the video that she was streaming, she could hopefully rally those under her banner to oppose the Professor and the Academia.

"Red Hat!" She heard the Professor roar out her name, and he raised his arm and threw something towards her.

The world went in slow motion as she focused solely on the thrown item, the movements of Mechaba became as slow as did everything else in the room as her eyes were pulled by the red watch-like thing that the Professor had thrown at her.

She was stock frozen, having been so assured of her victory against the Professor that her brain had essentially short circuited at the act that the man had done, confused at what even was the point of what he was even doing. 

After all, the game was already over, she had over lethal damage on board, was currently, dealing the final blow of the game, and the man had no Battle Fader-like cards that he could activate, and she certainly wasn't giving him a chance to Pendulum Summon back his monsters on his next turn.

But he had thrown something at her, and though she didn't know what it was that he had thrown, the blatant act of cheating and the man's own unacceptance of his defeat left her… flabbergasted to the point that she froze.

And as soon as the red watch-like item was merely a meter away from her, it flashed, creating a blinding light that engulfed her whole vision.

She gasped as she pulled her hand up to protect her eyes from the blinding light, and felt her body spinspinspin- nausea was what she felt as her whole vision was filled with a prism of colours.

She felt weightless, her feet was off of the ground, her body was spinning, it was as if she was flying, a novel experience to be sure, if her stomach wasn't trying to kill her from the inside out.

And before she knew it, she felt something solid hit her side. A ground, solid concrete was under her she found out as her vision was filled with nothing but a blur, her eyes unable to immediately adjust from whatever had just occurred.

She closed her eyes, placing a hand on her head to deal with the nausea as she slowly tried to stand up, propping herself on what felt like a cold wall wherever she had ended up in.

And she opened her eyes to see… buildings, tall, large buildings, most of them shaped like domes or tubes, an architectural style that was wholly different from the Academy Island's own style that was more reminiscent of the Europeans of her old world.

It was a place that she had never seen before, an unfamiliar scenery which she was sure could not be found anywhere near Academy Island, let alone in the Academia proper.

Her ears then registered the sounds around her, of traffic, of music, of cheers, the former of the two were things that you wouldn't find anywhere in Academia or Academy Island considering the only form of travel there was by boat and the atmosphere was relatively calm with the exception of events.

"WWWWWEEEELLLCCCOOOOMEEE! TO HEARTLAAAAAAND CITY!" A loud voice bursts throughout the city, and she looked up to the source to see a flying blimp of all things, projecting the face of a man wearing what has got to be the most gaudy outfit that she has seen to date.

"In only a few weeks, I, Mr. Heartland, will be hosting this year's only World Duel Carnival!"

But it was a vaguely familiar figure, it was as if she had seen the man somewhere before, and the words that he had said triggered some bells in her head, but in her current state, she couldn't quite think straight.

But her attention was pulled by something appearing on the corner of her vision, a notification of some sort from her System, and she idly pressed it. 

-

Dimensional Missions

[Dimensional Traveler (XYZ)]

Travel to the XYZ Dimension.

Rewards: XYZ Summoning (Unlocked), Fusion Summoning (Locked)

-

And she stopped.

Her brain rebooted, restarted, whatever you want to call it, her hands moved quickly as she opened her 'Missions' tab, scrolling to find the one mission that she had just gone through, the mission that led her to fight the Professor.

And find it greyed out.

-

Emergency Grand Mission!

[Dimension Mastermind Confrontation]

Confront the Professor, Prevent the Professor's plans, and defeat him in a duel.

Rewards: 1500000DP, Fusions Pendulum Pack Unlocked, Reputation Up (Sister Claire), Reputation Up (???), Reputation Up (???), Reputation (Academia) Reset to Zero 

Failure: Fusion Parasite Brainwash

Error: Condition not met, cannot progress mission.

____

And she promptly fell to her knees.