13. Chapter 12 plus 1 - Order Up! (1/2)

an:

hoi

random reader:

maybe one day someone will reveal the answer to that question (wink wink, nudge nudge)

well, i don't even know everything that's going to happen yet, so this is gonna be a tough ride

and thank you

diabolictracer:

mems

and…..yeah, i totally agree. it was stupid, and i'm stupid, and you're stupid, and this story is stupid and vrains is stupid and arc-v's ending was stupid and zexal's first season was stupid and corn dogs are stupid. i could be here all day. but honestly, i couldn't think of anything else to use that wouldn't either just be stupid and retcon the plot (i.e., a fusion, xyz or synchro monster) or…just an mst?

i'm not sure if you're hating on shuzou or me. probably both, as they're both reasonable points

anyway you guys better enjoy

yuko pov:

"it's gun!" i muttered, mocking my sister under my

eath "gun beats everything!"

i was down by the pier, still looking for yuzu. normally that was something i'd be willing do no problem…except she was with mr. candy devil sora. something about him just gave me the creeps. maybe it was all the evil glares and death threats

for what felt that the millionth time, i tried to call yuzu on her duel disk. it rang once…twice….three times….quattro times….and then went to voicemail

"hi" the prerecorded message began again "it's me…yuzu. if you're hearing this, then i'm busy! or maybe my duel disk's

oken. one of the two. anyway, leave a message at the beep and i'll-"

i sighed as i hung up before the recording began to take my message. i was pretty sure they were down by the pier. just earlier this morning, sora had asked me about where someone could go to practice and be by themselves, and i (hesitantly) told him about the empty warehouses down by the docks.

just as i was about to give up and look somewhere else, i saw a

ight pink flash from one of the warehouses. a familiar pink flash

i tried to recall where exactly i had seen it before as i walked over to the warehouse. through the open doors, i saw masumi arguing with yuzu and sora.

"yuzu!" i said, poking my head through the door frame.

yuzu jumped a little before speaking

"hey yuko"

"your dad sent me to get you," i said, "and you haven't been answering your phone"

"oh, i-" yuzu started to say before being cut off by masumi

"you!" she shouted, pointing at me

"did i miss something?" i asked sora curiously. as far i knew, i hadn't had too much interaction with masumi, so why did she seem so upset?

"there was this masked guy," sora said "he's been going around dueling lds members, and then they just disappear"

"and?" i asked, taking a few steps away from the crazy fusion girl.

"when i got in a fight with him, his mask came off," sora said, "and he looked just like you!"

"huh" i muttered,

without any other warning, masumi charged straight at me. i tried to sidestep her, but she just reached out and nabbed my shirt and yanked me by my collar.

"where is professor marco?" she demanded, shaking me a little bit

"i don't know what you're talking about!" i said, trying and failing to pry her hands off my shirt

"liar!" masumi screamed, shaking me again like a rag doll

yuzu finally stepped in and managed to push us apart. i hastily grabbed my duel disk in case masumi decided to challenge me to a duel randomly, while masumi just glared at me

"calm down everyone!" yuzu said, ignoring the fact that masumi was the only insane one in the room.

masumi glared at me before leaving. as she reached the door, she turned around and shouted at me

"this isn't over!"

with that, she stormed off across the pier back to the main city. i groaned. i did not need more rivals.

"so how's the training going?" i asked sora curiously

"it's…ok" he said "she knows how to fusion summon…"

"but…" i prompted him

"i don't have any fusion monsters" yuzu said, groaning as she put her head into her hands. "how did you even get one?"

i bit my lip. i'd help her if i could figure out how, but all i could remember what just being in a dire situation, and then the monster suddenly appearing in my extra deck. i severely doubted that would work for yuzu, so she had to find a different option.

"hey yuzu, lds created your cards, right?" i asked. yuzu glanced up curiously and nodded

"most cards are created by lds." she said, "why?"

"then we need an inside source, " i said grinning

"what do you mean inside…oh" yuzu said, coming to the same realization

"hey, masumi!" i shouted to her retreating figure, "i'll help you figure this out, but i need a favor!"

for a second i thought it wasn't going to work. then masumi stopped dead in her tracks and turned.

"i'm listening"

[play yu-gi-oh arc-v opening 1, believexbelieve]

biribu x biribu biri-biri-biri badizu!

(believe, believe, we're electric buddies!)

several flashes of different colors came across the screen, showing both yema and yuko in several different poses, before a red jacket swiped across the screen, and it zoomed out, showing yuko holding his jacket over his shoulder, with yema absentmindedly playing on her duel disk as an action card

iefly appeared behind him before flipping over, creating four cards of different colors all showing silhouettes of the two twins standing together, before scattering to show the logo, as two pendulums swung behind it, with the background switching between different

ight colors as pictures of yuzu, gongenzaka, shuzou, yoko, ayu, futoshi, tatsuya and sora appeared.

yu-gi-oh arc-v

the twin pendulums

yu! kachi make janai saikyo no kādo

(just forget about winning or losing your best card)

yuko's duel disk was shown, before scrolling down, past his red and black goggles which gleamed in the light, to the show the duelist swinging his duel disk around his body

yu! supido zenkai harahara on za gēmu

(feel the excitement and your heart pounding on the game)

the blade of yuko's duel disk was shown right before he placed down time stallion, and mounted it when it appeared

dan-dan-dan-dan dan! dan! dan! dan!

(done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done)

several monsters were shown from both twin's decks, including time golem, star swordsman and aquarius the star bearer

dan-dan-dan-dan dan! dan! dan! dan!

(done, done, done, done, done, done, done, done!)

more monsters from their decks were shown like time wizard, star

eaker magician and star sorceress, who used her staff to create a blinding light that enveloped the screen

yureru ma ma ma maindo

(swinging within my m-mind)

the glow faded to show yuko and yema standing back to back both pendants glowing, before they both raised theirs arms to the sky

tamashi no pendyuramu kyukyo ku no konfyujon

(the pendulum of the soul, it causes much confusion)

up above the twins, stargazer and timegazer were in the pendulum zones floating in the sky, with both pendants swinging between the magicians before a portal opened and three glowing monsters flew out

shodo ga gotto itto gotto itto

(the urge i've got it, got it)

shingo was shown smirking while holding rocket dart striker, power dart striker and ultimate dart striker

shobu wa gachi gachi

(these battles are the truth)

reiji was shown, his glasses reflecting the light as he pushed them up his nose, showing his eyes, while in the background, his savant kepler and galilei were placed into the pendulum zones while the three d/d/d doom king armageddons hovered between them

honki reboryushon

(it's a revolution!)

time golem, star swordsman and time stallion were shown all being summoned at the same time

(jasuto burēkin' za woru... x2)

(just

eakin' the wall…x2)

a green glow appeared on screen, before zooming out to show time warp pendulum dragon roaring

raido on nau!

(ride on now!)

yema was shown mounting onto star strike pendulum dragon before showing both twins clutching their pendants

biribu x biribu

(believe! believe!)

time warp pendulum dragon was shown running along for a

ief moment before zooming out

eburibadi goin' kabe wo tsukiyabure!

(everybody's goin', gather your power to

eak through the wall!)

the zoomed out perspective showed yuko riding on time warp pendulum dragon while yema clung onto his back to keep from falling, before yuko thrust out his hand and activated kuriboh calling, from which twinkle kuriboh and ancient kuriboh both emerged

yua gona bito itto bito!

(you're gonna beat it beat!)

the two summoned kuribohs danced around each other happily

mugendai no fyuchā mayoi wa buttobase!

(to those infinite futures, throw away your hesitation)

yema nervously waved at the little monsters, who both looked happy and flew back to land on their owner's shoulders before yuko grabbed his deck and drew a card, which created a

ight red glow from the trail

meiku itto meiku itto yuki dashite (bureiku itto nau)

(make it, make it, be courageous (

eak it now))

yuzu and gonenzaka, both smiled and held out their arms happily

steppu aheddo! fumidase yo (du itto nau)

(step ahead, and step it up! (do it now))

sora, ayu, futoshi and tatsuya all jumped into the air happily

otanoshimi wa kore kara da! so daremo ga biribā!

(the fun has just begun! so you should come along! everyone can be a believer!)

the twins were shown riding on time warp pendulum dragon's back, before they both extended their arms and several monsters from their deck burst from behind and zoomed forwards. star strike pendulum dragon flew in next to time warp pendulum dragon, before it shot up into the sky and glowing trail of sparkles appearing behind it.

biribu x biribu biri-biri-biri badizu!

(believe, believe, we're electric buddies!)

multiple flashes appeared, showing yuzu, gongenzaka, shuzou, ayu, futoshi, tatsuya and sora, before cutting out to show everyone standing in front of the you show duel school, with both twins in the middle of an argument, with the others all standing around them amused.

yuko pov:

"wake up!"

i darted awake and slammed my head against my backboard. i cautiously opened my eyes and found yema standing next to my bed with her arms crossed.

"too early" i muttered, pulling the covers back over me as i tried to fall back asleep. after all, it was saturday, so i didn't need to get up early

"oh?" she said, "just don't blame me when you're late for your first qualifying duel!"

as yema shut the door behind her, what she said sunk in. i glanced at my clock. 7:56. my first duel was at 8.

7:56….

8…

7:56….

8….

7:57….

"shoot!" i screamed, diving out of bed. i scrambled around my room, grabbing my duel disk, my deck, changing clothes and putting on my shoes. i tore out of my room and flew straight down the fire pole onto the first floor, where yema was waiting by the front door.

"why didn't you wake me up!" i shouted

yema just sighed and rubbed her temples

"you're hopeless" she declared

"let's go!" i shouted, sprinting out the door, with yema hastily following me after saying bye to mom, who was making

eakfast still

"i'm hungry" i groaned, rubbing my aching tummy.

"well maybe you should start waking up earlier!" yema snapped,

i was about to snap back when i smelled the air. something smelled…great

"do you smell that?" i asked yema, sniffing the air like a dog.

"smell…what?" yema asked, sniffing the air experimentally.

"food!" i said, before bolting off into the direction the smell was coming from

"hey, wait!" my sister said, hurrying after me "don't we have to get to your duel? we're already late!"

i ignored her as i walked down the street until i found the source, "german fauder's flavor factory". i gazed up at the sign, my mouth watering as it begged me to eat something, anythng

"can we get something?" i begged yema "we're already late, another hour won't matter that much!"

"no" yema snapped, although she looked like she was having trouble resisting the urge to go in and eat "we have to go-"

"there you are!" a familiar voice rang out

walking up the street across from us was the one and only circus hitler…i mean…nico smiley.

"i was worried you weren't going to make it" he said, grabbing my wrist and tugging me towards the restaurant, with yema scurrying after us

"are you sure this is the right place?" yema asked nico, glancing around. fair question, considering that there seemed to be more cooking than dueling going on.

"yes, yes" nico said, leading me over to another guy, about my age, with orange hair and a little bit of pinkish red on the front, pale sin and freckles.

"this is your opponent!" nico said, both to me and the other boy. i studied my opponent. he was wearing a white shirt, with a pink shirt over that with its sleeves rolled up. then over that he wore a dark blue waistcoat and a red tie. his pants were pretty weird too, with them mostly being cream colored, but they had a weird yellow pattern going around that made it look like noodles. his

own shoes clicked on the ground as he looked up from what he was doing…which was cooking

"so you're yuko sakaki?" the boy asked me. i nodded and extended my hand. the boy took it and shook my hand firmly

"i'm michio mokota" he said, smiling eagerly "pleasure to meet you"

"this is very unnecessary!" a woman with black hair and glasses said to nico "my son has already qualified for the miami championship!"

"it's fine mother" michio assured her, "this duel is just for fun! after all, it's not every day i get to duel the one who beat strong ishijima!"

"i suppose you're right" the woman said, who i was pretty sure was michio's mother "you shouldn't have too much trouble dealing with him."

"i'll meet you on the action field" michio said to me, before walking off with his mother, presumably to the action field.

"hey yuko!" ayu said, walking up along with futoshi and tatsuya

"hey guys" i said, affectionately patting ayu on the head and giving high-fives tatsuya and futoshi "came to see my duel?"

"of course!" futoshi said, "this is your first step to becoming a pro!"

"let's head over to the field" yema said,

"hello ladies and gentlemen!" nico said over the microphone to the crowd entirely composed of screaming women, three fruit colored kids and my sister. "today we're having an exciting action duel between the cooking king michio mokata…."

michio walked out onto the field, with all the women in the audience screaming. i think i even heard one scream "marry me"

"…and the pioneer of pendulum summoning yuko sakaki!" nico said, pointing to me.

"hi" i said waving to the audience, who was entirely silent except for my friends

"yeah yuko!" tatsuya shouted

"you got this!" ayu cheered

"give him the shivers!" futoshi added

"don't…lose" yema said

"anyway, we have the most appropriate action field for this day" nico continued "action field on! chaos kitchen!"

the arc-system turned on as a gigantic kitchen formed around us, with floating plates and giant kitchen appliances

"really?" i muttered

"duelists locked in battle!" nico said, "kicking the earth and dancing in the air alongside their monsters!"

"they storm through this field!" another man next to him continued "behold! this is the newest and greatest evolution of dueling!"

"action.." the entire audience began in suspense

"duel!" michio and i declared at the same time as the action cards flew across the field

michio: 4000 lp, hand 5

yuko: 4000 lp, hand 5

"i normal summon 'cookpal cluckwheat!" michio said, a small chick inside a bag of wheat appearing beside him on the field

cookpal cluckwheat lv2/earth/fairy/effect/atk100/def400

michio hopped onto the back of the monster, which flew up to what looked like a giant rice cooker and pressed the button down, causing an action card to fly out

"i know the locations of all the action cards on this field" michio

agged "there's no way you'll beat me on my home court!"

"geez, what is it with these people?" i muttered "get a life!"

"i activate the action spell i just got!" michio said, "monster microwave!"

just like in the picture, a red microwave appeared, and michio dismounted as cluckwheat entered the microwave.

"i can return cookpal cluckwheat to my hand in order to special summon a different level 4 or below monster from my hand" michio explained "i choose my cookpal eggnog!"

the monster microwave activated, as cluckwheat vanished from inside. the device beeped, and the door opened, revealing a cracked eggshell with pink duck feet and a yellow ring around its body

cookpal eggnog lv1/earth/fairy/effect/atk0/def300

"i also activate the effect of cluckwheat!" michio said, "since it was returned to my hand, i can special summon it back!"

beside eggnog, cluckwheat reappeared, dancing happily as it joined its friend. the two jumped happily as they joined michio.

"additionally, as i control 2 or more "cookpal" monsters, i can special summon cookpal pumapotato from my hand!" michio said, summoning a new monster, which resembled a potato with red eyes.

cookpal pumapotato lv3/earth/fairy/effect/atk600/def300

michio quickly hopped onto eggnog with flew him over to a giant kettle, which blew steam out, sending an action card flying upwards. moving swiftly, michio grabbed the action card and landed beside the kettle. i bit my lip. even though memorizing the locations of the action card proved he had no life outside dueling, it was still a huge advantage that he had over me.

"that's it for now!" michio said, "i''ll set two cards and pass it onto you, yuko!"

i grinned and placed my hand onto my duel disk. michio may have had the advantage with his knowledge of the field, but that didn't mean i still couldn't win.

"i draw!" i said, adding a new card to my hand

yuko: 4000 lp, hand 6

michio: 4000 lp, hand 0

"first things first i'll-" i started before my stomach growled again. i cleared my throat and started again

"as i was saying, first i'll normal summon my time rush serpent!" i said, the small blue dragon appearing beside me

time rush serpent lv4/light/dragon/pendulum/p.s. 4/effect/atk1400/def1200

"battle!" i declared "time rush serpent will attack your eggnog! and when he declares an attack, he gains 500 atk for each "time" monster i've got! with just himself on the field, time rush serpent gains 500 atk!"

time rush serpent atk 1400 - atk 1900

time rush serpent darted forwards, blasting blue flames at the little egg, who panicked and began running away. eagerly chasing after it, time rush serpent took another deep

eath in to gather more fire to blast

"not so fast!" michio said "i use the action spell freeze freezer to freeze your serpent right in its tracks!"

just as time rush serpent cornered eggnog, the freezing beam of energy shot out of the action card, which entered time rush serpent's open mouth and froze it solid. the dragon's wings stopped flapping as it froze, and it toppled towards the ground below.

"i've got bad news for you mitchie!" i said, "because time rush serpent can make a second attack every battle phase!"

steam began to rise from the frozen statue of time rush serpent as his body was engulfed by flames, melting away the ice holding him in place. the dragon roared as it swooped at the cracked egg, its atk increasing again

time rush serpent atk 1900 - atk 2400

"take out his eggnog!" i shouted "quickflame rush!"

true to its name, time rush serpent rushed forwards, still surrounded by flames at it crashed straight through eggnog, destroying the egg.

michio: 4000 lp - 1600 lp

"not bad yuko" michio admitted

"thank you" i said, my dragon's atk returning to normal as it returned to my side

"i activate eggnog's ability!" michio said, "since you destroyed it, i can special summon another cookpal eggnog from my deck!"

beside michio, a second eggnog appeared, this one in defense position. the egg glared at time rush serpent, as if knowing that the dragon had destroyed its

other.

cookpal eggnog lv1/earth/fairy/effect/atk0/def300

"hm" i muttered "i'll set a card and end my turn"

"during your end phase i activate my face down card!" michio said, "food cemetery! this places all the destroyed cookpal monsters under itself, then for each one placed there, i can add another cookpal from my deck to my hand"

a strange contraption rose up, with the destroyed eggnog sitting snuggly inside. the machine glowed as it shot out a card from it which flew into michio's hand.

"now i draw!" michio said, drawing a new card

michio: 1600 lp, hand 2

yuko: 4000 lp, hand 4

"i activate a spell card!" michio said, "failed recipe!"

a spell displaying a man in a chef's outfit throwing away a dish of food appeared next to michio's food cemetery. i raised my eye

ow as i looked at the strange spell

"once per turn, this allows me to destroy any number of cookpals i control, and then placed them under my food cemetery" michio explained as his eggnog, cluckwheat and pumapotato all were destroyed before reappearing in the food cemetery. "then i draw a card for each one"

michio drew three cards from his deck while the effect of eggnog special summoned his third one from his deck. the final egg looked a bit scared that it too would be sacrificed, and seemed relieved to realize it was safe for now

cookpal eggnog lv1/earth/fairy/effect/atk0/def300

michio smiled as he looked at one of the drawn cards. he grabbed the card and placed it onto his duel disk in a dramatic flourish.

"i now activate another spell!" michio said, "regal recipes!"

beside his food cemetery and failed recipe, a third spell appeared, this one showing a glowing crimson red book with a bookmark inserted. the cover had golden designs of cooking utensils printed on it and gold markings around the edge.

"this lets me special summon royal cookpals from my hand, up to the number of cookpals beneath food cemetery" michio explained to me as the crimson red book flew open. "since i have four beneath my cemetery, i can summon four! lucky for you, i only have three of them though"

the book's pages glowed as it flipped through recipes before stopping on a page showing spaghetti. the pages began glowing

ighter as a giant dish of spaghetti

andishing a fork like a weapon flew from the book

royal cookpal knight pasta lv8/earth/fairy/effect/atk300/def1100

the pages kept flipping past the spaghetti page before stopping again, this time on pudding. again, the pages glowed

ight as a glass bowl of pudding wielding a gold spoon flew out and joined the pasta.

royal cookpal princess pudding lv6/earth/fairy/effect/atk300/def100

finally, the pages flipped back a little ways before settling on curry. emerging from the book, a bowl of curry holding a

onze spoon like a sword stood proudly between the other two

royal cookpal prince curry lv7/earth/fairy/effect/atk300/def1000

"that's it?" i asked michio in suprise. when he said "royal cookpals", i was expecting some kind of giant monster with a ton of atk and a really strong effect. not…these.

"don't underestimate them" michio warned. "first, the effect of regal recipes inflicts 300 damage to you for each one summoned!"

the three food warriors, placed their utensils together and generated an energy blast that pushed me back

yuko: 4000 lp - 3100 lp

"okay," i said, "but now you have three monsters with 300 atk. none of them can even come close to my serpent's 1400

"maybe after this they will" michio said, "i use the effect of knight pasta! by not allowing it to attack this turn, it doubles prince curry's attack!"

knight pasta raised its fork, which glowed as curry's atk increased. with its job done, the dish of pasta fell to the floor, exhausted

royal cookpal prince curry atk 300 - atk 600

"and princess pudding has the same effect" michio continued as the pudding cup raised its spoon with also glowed

ightly to increase prince curry's atk further. like knight pasta, princess pudding then collapsed onto the floor in a tired pose.

royal cookpal prince curry atk 600 - atk 1200

"sorry michio" i said, "but even after that, prince curry is just too weak"

"is he?" michio said, "i activate another action spell! spicy spice increases prince curry's atk by 1000 until the end phase!"

royal cookpal prince curry atk 1200 - atk 2200

"ah shoot" i muttered

"now prince curry!" michio said, "take out his time rush serpent!"

i winced as the cure bowl smashed steaming hot curry all over my dragon, destroying it. then my stomach grumbled again and i felt bad about that too.

yuko: 3100 lp - 2300 lp

"you done?" michio asked

"not by a long shot!" i shouted, leaping back to my feet

"good" michio said "i end my turn"

as michio's turn ended, prince curry stopped glowing as its atk dropped to normal, while the other royal cookpals stood back up, their energy renewed. meanwhile, michio's eggnog sat off to the side, while his food cemetery, failed recipe and regal recipe all stood in the center behind his monsters

royal cookpal prince curry atk 2200 - atk 300

"i draw!" i said, hoping for a good draw

yuko: 2300 lp, hand 5

michio: 1600 lp, hand 0

"alright!" i shouted, pumping my fist "get ready for a taste of my pendulum monsters!"

"oh, is it coming?" michio said in suprise

"i set the pendulum scales using my scale 2 time

eaker magician, and scale 8 timegazer magician!" i said, my two faithful magicians rising on either side of me

time

eaker magician lv3/dark/spellcaster/pendulum/effect/p.s. 2/atk1400/def0

timegazer magician lv3/dark/spellcaster/pendulum/effect/p.s. 8/atk1200/def600

"swing, pendulum of souls!" i chanted "draw an arc of light across the ether! pendulum summon! appear now! my monsters!"

as i chanted, the pendulum swung between my magicians, glowing

ightly as it formed a portal, which launched three glowing beams of light from it. i thrust out my hand as my monsters took form

"return from my extra deck! time rush serpent!" i shouted "and from my hand! level 4! action star! and with the chronic powers that control time! level 7! time-warp pendulum dragon!"

my three monsters appeared together onto my field. time-warp pendulum dragon roared proudly, with action star perched on its back while time rush serpent hovered beside them.

time rush serpent lv4/light/dragon/pendulum/p.s. 4/effect/atk1400/def1200

action star lv4/dark/spellcaster/pendulum/effect/p.s. 7/atk1400/def1700

time-warp pendulum dragon lv7/dark/dragon/pendulum/effect/p.s. 4/atk2500/def200

"very impressive" michio admitted "however, my deck is made to defeat special summoning techniques! so i activate the abilities of all three of my royal cookpals!"

the three royal cookpals all flew over to my side and began feeding my monsters like crazy. knight pasta shoved pasta down time rush serpent's throat, causing the dragon to become heavy and fall down to the ground. princess pudding shoved spoonful after spoonful of pudding into action star's mouth, who because so oversight he couldn't move at all. and poor time-warp pendulum dragon got curry and rice dropped into its mouth until it ballooned up into a ball.