15. Chapter 15 - Head in the Clouds (1/2)

an:

hey there

diabolic tracer: no! please don't stop reading! don't leave me forever alone!

what exactly do you mean the beginning floated nicely with the duel? and…it was pretty forced. but i had to have yuko get into detention, and then i decided "hey, maybe they should be talking about aliens!" the reason is mostly because, in arc-v, the beginning of each episode sort of foretold who yuya's opponent was (yuya was hungry = michio, yuya was watching a quiz show = quiz kid, yuya had bad luck = mieru, yuya was looking for his friends = gongenzaka)

well….i decided to do it like that so it seemed like he sucked…and then he started to dominate. and it wasn't exactly "zarc mode", but spoilers

astro assault's atk is actually a reference to astrograph. see if you can figure out how. i feel like this one is justified too, considering you need 1000 or less lp to summon it.

action trapsssssss. there will be more

random reader: has happened way to many time to me to count. i can get super close but then i lose in the end

probably, also yema only needed four more duels, while yuko who needs to do six duels.

technically they were in three duels, the duel with sawatari, the duel with kyando the quiz kid and the duel with mieru, then they were never seen again.

that's cause they were dumb!

actually, they were a cool idea that would have added more risk to grabbing an action card and thus had people complain less.

….they were dumb!

ugh..… idiots. anyways, please enjoy!

yuko pov:

i pounded on yema's door again

"

eakfast's ready!" i said, trying my best to be cheerful

"i don't want anything," yema's muffled voice said from behind her firmly locked door.

"you can't just stay in your room forever!" i said, "you're going to starve if you don't come out!"

"that's fine with me…." yema said, sounding dejected.

i sighed as i squeezed my temples

"look," i said, trying to sound supportive "i know how you're feeling and-"

before i could finish my sentence the door whirled open, and a very pissed off yema stood in her room. there were dark circles under her eyes, clearly showing she still hadn't slept. she hadn't even bothered to tie her hair back, just letting it fall around her shoulders, while she was still wearing the same outfit from three days ago.

"you!" she snapped, jabbing her finger into my chest "do not know how i'm feeling! i almost killed him!"

"they said he's going to be fine," i said, attempting to assure yema "he's not terribly injured. it's just his nose and right arm that are

oken-"

at my final statement yema slammed the door to her room shut again. i pounded on the slab of wood a few more times in vain before slumping back down to the ground against the wall. i pressed my face into my hands and groaned.

if things were bad before, this was terrible.

[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 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:

"hey yuko" ayu greeted me by the door. as the only one not physically there for the "incident" (as we decided to call it), ayu was the most optimistic one about the whole event and gave some much-needed happiness to the air of you show.

"hey there, ya little strawberry, " i said, rubbing ayu on the head.

"yuko, we have confirmation for your next duel" shuzou announced "you, ayu and yuzu are going to sonic wing duel school. futoshi and tatsuya are dueling here today"

"good luck yuko!" futoshi said, "give your opponent the shivers!"

"you can do it!" tatsuya adde, "they won't know what hit em!"

"thanks, guys!" i said, feeling much more encouraged.

futoshi and tatsuya nodded before heading onto the duel field as shuzou activated the child safety option on the solid vision.

"shall we?" i asked yuzu and ayu, who both nodded. i grinned as we headed to sonic wing duel school

sonic wing duel school's front entrance had a picture of (appropriately enough) the monster sonic shooter

"so…this is it, huh?" i asked yuzu

"yep," yuzu said, nodding "the duelists from sonic wing duel school specialize in monsters themed around the sky.

"wonder what my opponent's gonna use" i wondered aloud

"maybe they'll use adorable fairies!" ayu said excitedly

"you never know" i admitted, before knocking on the door.

we waited a few seconds, and then the door was opened by….a cloud?

"hello?"

a talking cloud?

"hi," ayu said, cheerfully waving

oh. my bad. it was a kid. he was a lot shorter than me, only reaching just above my waist. his hair was white, his hair was white, and he was wearing clothes that were all white. all in all, he looked very much like a cloud, so you could probably excuse my mistake.

"are you from you show?" he asked ayu a bit nervously

"yeah!" ayu said, "we're from you show"

the boy extended his hand

"i'm kumo," he said, smiling

"ayu" ayu said, shaking his hand

"so ayu" kumo said, gesturing to us "are these your parents?"

…

as the realization of what exactly kumo said sunk in, yuzu's face turned

ighter pink than her hair.

"him!?" yuzu shouted in shock, her cheeks flushed

ight pink "why would i ever-"

"no" i answered as smoothly as i could, although i could feel my face heat up slightly as well.

"oh," kumo said, "well come on in"

we followed the cloud boy into the duel school…and what we saw was pretty awesome. appropriately enough, there was a lot of open space, especially vertically. as we walked though, i noticed kumo glancing over at ayu every now and then and smiling. i grinned. looked like someone had a little crush

"hey, i

ought the duelist from you show!" kumo called to another white haired man, who scurried across the room to us. bending down to ayu, he smiled and shook her hand

"hello young lady," he said, before looking at me and yuzu. "and i assume these are your parents?"

"do we really look that old?" i wondered, while yuzu frantically denied it, blushing furiously.

"well, then, come along," the man said to ayu, who glanced at me in confusion. i just shrugged, equally confused. the man stepped onto the action field along with kumo and suddenly everything clicked

"um, excuse me, sir?" i said as politely as i could "i'm actually the one dueling. ayu just came to watch"

ayu nodded in embarrassment and headed back to join yuzu in the stands.

"oh, very sorry for the confusion," the man said, clearly embarrassed about making such a bad mistake. "your opponent is kumo here."

i glanced skeptically at the white haired boy

"are you sure?" i asked "he looks like he should be in the youth division"

"oh yes he is," the man said "but you see, kumo is the best duelist at our school, even if he's only 10"

"okay…" i thought to myself as i sized up my opponent. it didn't seem like he was exactly fit for action duels, especially the ones that i typically dueled on

"of course, since kumo is under the age of 13, we must use safe action field," the man said apologetically "i know you're used to other fields, but rules are rules"

"it's fine," i said. honestly, i didn't have a preference.

"action field on!" the man said "sky sanctuary"

around us, the solid vision activated, creating a large spacious area made from clouds, with a floating temple at the center that was pulled straight from the artwork of sanctuary in the sky.

"duelists locked in battle!" i declared

"kicking the earth and dancing in the air alongside their monsters!" kumo continued

"they storm through this field!" yuzu said, "behold!"

"this is the newest and greatest evolution of dueling!" ayu finished

"action…." they both began to say

"duel!" kumo and i finished at the same time, cueing the action cards to disperse

yuko: 4000 lp, hand 5

kumo: 4000 lp, hand 5

"i'll make the first move," kumo said, "and i'll start with this guy! cloudian - poison cloud!"

in front of him, a red fog monster that looked very muscular appeared and flexed its muscles

cloudian - poison cloud lv3/water/fiend/effect/atk0/def1000

"but why didn't you put him into defense position?" i wondered aloud.

"i set a card face down," kumo said, smirking a little bit "it's your turn"

"it's gotta be that facedown card," i thought, glancing at the card "otherwise why would he put a 0 atk monster in attack position?"

"i draw!" i said,

inging my hand up to six

yuko: 4000 lp, hand 6

kumo: 4000 lp, hand 3

"alright!" i cheered "let's do this!"

i quickly plucked two monsters from my hand and held them out

"i set the pendulum scales with my scale 2 time guardian and scale 8 timegazer magician!" i declared, performing the familiar motion as i spread out the two cards on my blade. "with these, i can pendulum summon any monsters from levels 3 through 7 at the same time!"

timegazer rose up into one of the columns, while in the other, a human-like monster with pointed ears wearing dark blue armor and clutching a steel sword appeared.

time guardian lv4/earth/warrior/pendulum/effect/p.s. 2/atk1400/def1200

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!"

from the portal formed, two spirals of light descended down onto the field

"level 7! time doubler!" i said as the small goblin appeared "and with the chronic powers that control time! level 7! time-warp pendulum dragon!"

beside the goblin, my ace monster roared proudly.

time doubler lv7/dark/fiend/pendulum/effect/p.s. 4/atk0/def0

time-warp pendulum dragon lv7/dark/dragon/pendulum/effect/p.s. 4/atk2500/def2000

"time doubler's ability!" i said, "it can double time-warp pendulum dragon's atk until the end phase! gift of gold!"

true to the effect name, time doubler swung its goodie bag, sprinkling gold all over the dragon, who roared again as its atk rose

time-warp pendulum dragon atk 2500 - atk 5000

"let's finish this in one quick strike!" i said, "time-warp pendulum dragon! attack poison cloud! spiral vortex strike!"

"i active evasion to negate the attack!" kumo said, activating the card he grabbed earlier.

"i use my dragon's effect!" i countered "by tributing time doubler, i can negate that effect and destroy it!" crono force!"

my dragon roared as the action card was negated then destroyed, before it leaped forwards and blasted a glowing laser straight through poison cloud which destroyed the creature instantly, before sending the laser at kumo.

"take that!" i cheered…except i then realized kumo was still perfectly untouched "what the heck!?"

"i activated my trap card spirit barrier!" sumo said, "it makes it so as long as i control a monster, i take no battle damage!"

the barrier around kumo cleared as he was perfectly untouched

"and now i activate the effect of poison cloud!" kumo said, "since it was face-up at the beginning of the damage step, i can destroy your dragon and inflict 800 damage to you!"

"what!?" i said in shock. sure enough, the poison from poison cloud's body seeped out of the ground (or cloud in this case) and surrounded my dragon, who collapsed and was destroyed. i coughed as the poison drained my lp

yuko: 4000 lp - 3200 lp

"when pendulum monsters are destroyed, they go to the extra deck" i explained as i slipped time-warp pendulum dragon into my extra deck slot. "then i'll set a card facedown to end my turn"

"i draw!" kumo declared

kumo: 4000 lp, hand 4

yuko: 3200 lp, hand 1

"first i banish poison cloud from my graveyard to special summon cloudian - storm dragon from my hand!" kumo said as poison cloud was exiled from the grave. in front of him, a dragon that was made of storm clouds appeared roaring

cloudian - storm dragon lv4/water/fairy/effect/atk1000/def0

"next i normal summon cloudian - cirrostratus" kumo said, summoning a pink cloud creature with cat ears.

cloudian cirrostratus lv4/water/fairy/effect/atk900/def0

"when cirrostratus is normal summoned, i can place a fog counter onto it for every cloudian on the field," kumo said "and i control two, so it gains two fog counters"

as he spoke, two little cloud-like objects with eyes appeared and circled cirrostratus

"now storm dragon will attack directly!" kumo said as the dragon hit me with a puff of cloud

eath

yuko: 3200 lp - 2200 lp

"and then cirrostratus will attack directly!" kumo continued as the little pink puff threw a piece of cloud at me

yuko: 2200 lp - 1300 lp

"and then i'll set this card and end my turn," kumo said as his facedown card appeared

"ugh, " i muttered, standing back up "first i got beat up by food, and now clouds?"

i shook my dizziness off and drew a card

yuko: 1300 lp, hand 2

kumo: 4000 lp, hand 1

"first things first, i'll pendulum summon again!" i said, "return from my extra deck! time doubler! and time-warp pendulum dragon!"

the dragon reappeared and looked eager for vengeance, while time doubler was crouched into defense position. that meant i couldn't use his effect, but as long as he had that spirit barrier out, time doubler's double atk effect was useless anyways.

"battle!" i declared "time-warp pendulum dragon will take out cirrostratus!"

i wasn't sure what it was with these fog counters, but i couldn't let it use them

"you may not take any damage, but i can still get rid of it!" i said, "go, spiral vortex strike!"

my dragon roared as it launched a glowing laser, which hit cirrostratus dead on while kumo was protected…except cirrostratus was fine.

"what!?" i shouted in shock

"you see," kumo explaine, "cirrostratus cannot be destroyed by battle while in attack position, and spirit barrier prevents all damage!"

"that means your life points are untouchable!" i realized.

"exactly!" kumo said nodding "the weakness of cloudians is that i still take the damage, but with my spirit barrier, i can prevent that weakness!"

"i'll end my turn" i muttered.

"i draw!" kumo said, pulling a new card into his hand

kumo: 4000 lp, hand 2

yuko: 1300 lp, hand 2

"i now activate the effect of cirrostratus," kumo said, "by removing two fog counters from it, i can destroy a monster on the field! i choose time-warp pendulum dragon!"

cirrostratus absorbed two of the floating counters before shooting a stream of fog at time-warp pendulum dragon.

"like i'd let you!" i countered "i use time guardian's pendulum ability! i can choose a "time" monster i control, and that monster can't be destroyed by card effects till the end phase!"

time guardian unsheathed his sword, which glowed as it created a shimmering force-field surrounding time-warp pendulum dragon, causing the fog energy to harmlessly go around it.

"then i'll do this instead" kumo continued "i normal summon cloudian - acid cloud!"

besides kumo's other cloudian monsters, a green cloud with a wispy tail and a bowl shaped head appeared

cloudian - acid cloud lv4/water/fairy/effect/atk500/def0

"and when i summon him, he gains fog counters equal to the number of cloudians i have," kumo said as three of the little clouds appeared around the monster "and by removing 2 of them, i can destroy a spell or trap you control. i choose your time guardian!"

two of the small clouds were absorbed into acid cloud's funnel before it shot out streams of fog at time guardian

"not today!" i countered "i use time-warp pendulum dragon's ability to tribute time doubler to negate and destroy acid cloud! crono force!"

time-warp pendulum dragon roared loudly as time doubler vanished into nothingness, before swiftly blasting acid cloud back with a shockwave of energy that destroyed the monster

"normally time-warp pendulum dragon would gain atk equal to the monster i tributed, but time doubler's atk was 0" i explained, time-warp pendulum dragon acting dramatically depressed for a second as it received no boost. i grinned. it looked like i countered all of kumo's plays and….he was smiling?

"now that all that's out of the way, i can do this!" kumo said, still smiling "i'll now overlay my level 4 cirrostratus and storm dragon! with these two monsters, i build the overlay network!"

"you can xyz summon!?" i said in surprise as the two monsters turning into balls of energy that swirled into a portal.

"swirling dragon of carnage!" kumo chanted "bare your fangs and whisk my opponent away! xyz summon! rank 4! cloudian - hurricane dragon!"

appearing beside kumo looked like a larger version of storm dragon, with sharp fangs and wild tornados swirling around it.

cloudian - hurricane dragon rnk4/water/dragon/xyz/effect/atk2500/def0

"when hurricane dragon is xyz summoned, i place fog counters onto it equal to the number of "cloudian" cards i control," kumo said "since i only have one, hurricane dragon just gets one fog counter"

a small little cloud appeared and began to circle hurricane dragon like another overlay unit.

"but here's why that's important," kumo said, "by using one its overlay units, hurricane dragon can destroy cards you control equal to the number of fog counters it has! so say goodbye to your time guardian!"