# Bus
A local bus was going through road, in middle of the city.
A boy with tanned skin and shining, side combed black hair was excited. "Gah! This is Maiami, where the new championship is gonna held!" He looked outside from window seat. "So this a city! It's as fascinating and so migic like. Just like those old gooners told us, right!?" He was wearing a simple orange shirt and brown pants. He turned his head to the seet beside him.
"Yeah." His friend said in not very excited voice. "You've been on this since we left village. Shut your mouth for few minutes so at least I can take sleep. And act like a teenager, shouting like a kid by window seat... Why am I even trying to explain you...?" He sighed.
"You just try to take fun while you can." A bright smile appeared, almost a kid like. "Enjoy shaved ice before it melts."
"Wouldn't drinking the sweet syrup of ice would also be good?"
"Damn you! At least let me be the smart one for one time!" He grumbled.
"Excuse me."
A voice came, a woman with a kid came. She looked like around 40 and the kid was definitely just 6.
"My son wants to sit on the window seat. Will you let him?"
She asked the tanned skin boy.
"No." He looked around. Seeing no seat was free. He simply said what was truth. "Your bad luck for not getting a seat or window seat doesn't matter to my enjoyment. Make your son learn to live without convenience and make him mature mentally. Better luck next time."
"Momma! This onii-san is mean!" The boy started crying.
Along with mother, all passangers started to see that boy with dangerous and disgusting stares.
"Tsk. Asking for good thing while giving nothing worth is not worth it." He checked teeths. "On top of that they are all seeing me like I am wrong."
"Razz," his friend beside him said. "Don't always be childish."
"You aren't enjoying then don't lecture me. You are just being like those old gooners in our village. If we are here to participate in championship than at least let me enjoy the time if you aren't gonna."
As times passed, they got at Maiami bus station.
From there, he spot something.
# Storage House
The damp air of the docks clung to the shipping containers inside the massive warehouse. Sawatari stood with his arms crossed, a smug grin plastered across his face. "You stepped into the wrong territory, masked freak! Behold the absolute perfection of my ultimate Monarch deck!"
The stranger didn't speak. He simply ignited his Duel Disk, the dark energy blade casting a heavy ray over his military goggles.
Yuzu ran forward, stepping between them. "Wait! You don't have to do this! I will duel Sawatari. You have nothing to do with this!" She turned to the stranger, lowering her voice. "Look, I don't know who you are, but you're picking a fight with an LDS student. Don't make things worse for yourself."
The stranger gave a slight glance at her before turning ahead. "Your jacket carries the seal of the Leo Corporation," his voice scraped through his metal mask, pointing directly at Sawatari. "You are an enemy, and you have to tell me everything after the duel."
High above them, crouched silently on a network of rusted iron support beams near the ceiling, Ryo Akaba watched the entire scene. His crimson eyes scanned the parameters of the room.
"The second one," Ryo thought, his mind instantly cataloging the stranger's stance and the dark energy radiating from his device. He completely ignored Yuzu. His focus is entirely locked onto the duel. "He isn't here for a tournament—he's hunting. Plus, it seems he is worried about Yuzu."
"Enemy? I'm your worst nightmare, trash-bin Romeo!" Sawatari mocked, his three lackeys bursting into raucous laughter behind him.
"What are you wearing, dude? Did you rob a dumpster?" One lackey said.
"And what's with the way you talk?" The second lackey jeered, pointing a finger. "'You are an enemy'—are you reading from a bad script or something?"
"Even your cloths are a joke." Third added.
"Enough talk!" Sawatari barked, drawing his opening hand. "I'll go first! I activate the Continuous Spell, March of the Monarchs! While I control a Tribute Summoned monster, it cannot be targeted or destroyed by card effects. Next, I summon Eidos the Underworld Squire!"
[DARK / Spellcaster / Level 2 / ATK: 800 / DEF: 1000]
The pale squire materialized, chanting softly.
"Eidos grants me an additional Tribute Summon this turn! I tribute Eidos to summon the lord of the storm! Come forth! Raiza the Storm Monarch!"
[WIND / Winged Beast / Level 6 / ATK: 2400 / DEF: 1000]
A towering, emerald-armored giant crashed onto the field, generating a localized gale. "I set one card face-down and end my turn. Let's see you try to touch a masterpiece!"
The masked stranger pulled a card from his deck. "My turn. Draw. I summon The Phantom Knights of Ancient Cloak!"
[DARK / Warrior / Level 3 / ATK: 800 / DEF: 1000]
"Since I control a 'Phantom Knights' monster, I can Special Summon The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots in defense mode!"
[DARK / Warrior / Level 3 / ATK: 200 / DEF: 1200]
Two tattered, blue-flamed spirits wearing fragmented armor and cloth materialized on the dark concrete.
"What did I say?!" Sawatari laughed maniacally. "Look at those monsters! Literal garbage! A broken cloak and some old boots? Are you trying to duel me or open a secondhand thrift shop?!"
"They look completely broken..." Yuzu whispered nervously from the sidelines. "Can he really fight with those?"
High above, Ryo's sharp eyes didn't leave the tattered spirits. "They look like junk, but the energy signature is dense. He isn't aiming for high raw stats on the board. He's building a graveyard engine."
"I activate the Spell card, Phantom Knights' Shroud," the stranger countered calmly. "It increases the levels of all 'Phantom Knights' monsters on my field by one until the end of this turn, in exchange for sending one card from my hand to the graveyard!"
[Ancient Cloak: Level 3 → 4 / Silent Boots: Level 3 → 4]
"I overlay my two Level 4 monsters," the stranger commanded, his voice rising with intense gravity. "Form a vortex of requiem! Xyz Summon! Descend, Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon!"
[DARK / Dragon / Xyz / Rank 4 / OU: 2 / ATK: 2500 / DEF: 2000]
The pitch-black dragon erupted from the overlay network, its sharp chin-blade gleaming under the warehouse lights.
"Xyz summon?! That's not possible to do without the Xyz course!" one lackey was dazed. "Who is that guy? Is he literally a phantom?"
Ryo thought, "It's not about mastering or taking a course for Xyz. You can do it if you just have Xyz monsters and proper cards. People are making too much of a fuss because the summoning of each method is complex on its own... But as I thought, this guy is also an Xyz user. Is he also gonna use the Rank-Up-Magic?"
Sawatari was in shock before turning normal. "Summoning a great, standing, big lizard was a good show. An Xyz monster was a bit of a surprise, but whatever! Hah! Only 2500 attack?" Sawatari scoffed. "My march of the Monarchs protects Raiza from any effects you try to target him with!"
"There are always blind spots in a perfect system," the stranger said flatly. "I activate Dark Rebellion's effect. By detaching one Overlay Unit, it makes decrease half the attack of a selected monster on opponent's field, then adds that attack to its own. It does not target your Monarch; it targets the calculation sum. At the end phase, the attacks of both monsters will return to normal. If the monster is still on the field, that is."
One of the glowing purple spheres surrounding the dragon shattered as it was absorbed by dragon's orbs on wings. Dark lightning erupted from its metal wings, piercing the wind around Raiza.
"Treason Discharge!"
[OU: 2 → 1 / Raiza ATK: 2400 → 1200 / Dark Rebellion ATK: 2500 → 3700]
"I activate it again! Treason Discharge!" The stranger detached the final unit, shattering the second sphere.
[OU: 1 → 0 / Raiza ATK: 1200 → 600 / Dark Rebellion ATK: 3700 → 4300]
"Four thousand three hundred?!" Sawatari trembled, his arrogance instantly turning to panic.
"Brilliant," Ryo thought from the ceiling beams, a smile forming on his face. "He doesn't interact with the monster's physical presence. He rewrites the parameters of the combat grid itself to manipulate the damage calculation. The immunity means nothing if the underlying numbers are changed."
"Battle!" The stranger ordered calmly but with power. "Dark Rebellion, attack Raiza the Storm Monarch. Lightning Mandible Charge!"
The dragon lunged, its massive blade in its jaw slicing straight through the emerald giant. The shockwave knocked Sawatari off his feet, his life points flattening.
Sawatari: 300 LP
"Do you know anything about Reiji Akaba?" the stranger asked.
"Huh? Reiji Akaba, you mean the one who is at the top of youth in the world? Who wouldn't know anything about him." Sawatari said.
With this response, the masked man understood he wasn't going to get what he wanted. "The battle is over. At the end phase, our monsters' attack values return to normal," the stranger said, turning to leave. "You should go to safe place as well. You shouldn't get yourself involved with delinquents." He said to Yuzu.
She gasped, blush all over her face.
"Not yet! Who are you calling outlaw!? You second-rate hero!" Sawatari screamed from the floor, a manic grin breaking through his fear as he slammed his hand onto his disk. "You think you won?! I activate my face-down card! Trap card: Escalation of the Monarchs! This card lets me Tribute Summon during your turn, before you end your turn! I banish Eidos from my graveyard to Special Summon Idea the Heavenly Squire and immediately tribute her! Descend, Erebus the Underworld Monarch!"
[DARK / Zombie / Level 8 / ATK: 2800 / DEF: 1000]
A massive, skeletal king in dark robes rose from the ground. "When Erebus is summoned, his effect returns one card from your field to the deck without targeting it! Say goodbye to your precious dragon!"
"I already told you. Your predictability is your downfall. You are a sword with no sharpness, a flying bullet with no force." The stranger said, not even turning around.
"I've had enough of your heroic and poetic whatever talking! It's my win in the end!" Sawatari exclaimed.
"From my graveyard, I activate the Quick-Play Spell, Phantom Trigger, sent there earlier. When an opponent activates an effect that would affect my monster, I can banish this card to negate it, and force my Xyz monster to attack once more!"
The dark aura from Erebus suddenly bent, absorbing into the warehouse floor. Dark Rebellion roared, its wings striking lightning as it charged directly toward Sawatari.
"A effect from graveyard?!" Everyone were surprised.
Sawatari made dramatic shocking face before it turned to a absolute grin. "I expected that too, you masked freak!" Sawatari shrieked, pulling a card from his remaining hand. "I activate the Quick-Play Spell from my hand: Monarch's Eruption! When I am having a direct attack, I can use this from my hand! It inflicts damage to both players equal to your dragon's attack! That's 4300 damage! We both go down, but since my life points hit zero at the same time as yours, it's a draw! I won't let a dumpster-diver beat me!"
A fiery blast erupted from the ground, racing directly toward the stranger.
"No!" Yuzu screamed, covering her eyes. "Why is everything real?! This is not Real Solid Vision!" She thought.
The stranger remained completely still. "From my hand, I activate the effect of The Phantom Knights of Wraith Kuriboh!"
[DARK / Warrior / Level 1 / ATK: 300 / DEF: 200]
"By discarding it, and due to its condition to send a Phantom Knights' card from my deck or hand to graveyard, I negate the card effect and the damage entirely, and that card will be destroyed!"
A small, tattered, blue-flamed fur ball monster with skeletal claws and short legs with gray and blue eyes of serious and fierce gaze materialized in front of him, absorbing the entire explosion before fading into the dust. As the card Sawatari activated was also destroyed by blue flames, which were phantom flames as well.
"What?! A Kuriboh?!" Sawatari shrieked.
"And because the effect was negated," the stranger concluded coldly, "Dark Rebellion's direct attack continues. Now, understand the pain and sadness of battlefield. Lightning Disobey of Rebellion!"
The pitch-black dragon with purple shined skin unleashed a final blast of dark lightning that blew the remaining cards from Sawatari's hand, knocking him on ground, with very low force.
Sawatari: 0 LP
The field fizzled out. Sawatari's lackeys ran to their boss, screaming in panic. Yuzu stood frozen, looking at the empty space where the dragon had been, completely stunned.
"There is no stadium! Then why is everything so real like Real Solid Vision is on?! No, its more than real!" Sawatari exclaimed.
Up on the ceiling beams, Ryo quietly backed into the shadows. "The Phantom Knights of Wraith Kuriboh... a hand card that feeds, expands, the graveyard while stopping an absolute loss condition. His deck is flawless for a war of attrition by pushed into corners." Ryo turned away, slipping out through a broken window into the night. "Enjoy your victory for now, phantom. Next time, it's my turn to test your grid." He was ready to go, but something stopped him.
"This isn't the end!" Sawatari shouted, standing up from ground. "I am gonna get a new deck and defeat you next time!"
The stranger pulled away his hood down, milatary goggles and metal mask, stepping into the foggy shadows of the warehouse as they dift away. He probably put them down because they were suffocating source, or maybe he wanted a clear view, or perhaps they were too tight.
He shot his glance at the exact place, upward, where Ryo was shadowed.
Seeing the glare of masked man's gray eyes, as if it was a call for challenge, Ryo's mouth curled up into intense one.
"Sakaki Yuya!?" Everyone was confused. At least not Ryo.
"Yuya!?" Yuzu was at a loss of words.
"Yuzu!" Yuya came by accompanying by Ayu.
A sudden, blinding, pink flash came from Yuzu's bracelet. The masked person disappeared without a trac, like a ghost.
Watching from the darkness outside, Ryo let out a small, slow, sharp breath, a dangerous smile appearing to his face. "Phantom Knights... Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon... Next time, I will finish."
He wondered in his mind. "Reiji Akaba, huh? Those two were there for him on that day as well." He concluded. "It was probably to save his time that he didn't asked about me. And confirmed everything by Reiji. Yuzu finding my full name would be bad cause for my future at Youshow School for now. Guess this one is more smart."
The door of storage house once again bursted with power.
"Oi!" A tanned boy came. "I heard a beautiful—I mean a girl has been being tortured! Who is doing such a inauthentic and unprofessional work!?" He slammed his fists on door.
"Oi, Razz," another boy who was accompanied by him said. "You are using wrong words."
"Not now! It's my time to shine! This is the protagonist's entry, as I will defeat the villain! I will make my debut as protagonist and make heroine fall for me. This is how a story starts! The story of a shonen!"
Everyone looked at him with confusing stare.