Morning in Maiami City did not arrive with sunshine. It crept in as a pale, damp haze rolling off the harbor, muffling the roar of early-morning traffic and coating the glass towers of LDS Headquarters in a slick sheen of condensation.
High on the floor, Reiji Akaba stood behind his desk. He hadn't slept. On the wall opposite him, a massive tactical map rendered Maiami City as a glowing, wireframe matrix of blue and amber.
"System integrity at ninety-eight percent," Nakajima's voice crackled through the intercom. "The municipal barriers have been lowered. Public transit into the central sector is running at maximum capacity. President... the crowds are already exceeding our estimates."
"That was the design," Reiji said flatly. His fingers rested lightly against the polished glass of his desk. "A localized event creates defensive perimeters. A city-wide event creates camouflage."
"And the broadcast feeds?"
"Priority routing," Reiji replied. "Every monitor of all stadiums will display the Battle Royal. If a dimensional spike happen in any sector, that sector's visual feed switches instantly to a static delay. The citizens will see a technical glitch. We will see a battlefield."
He cut the comms.
Behind him, sitting in one of the heavy leather chairs, Ryo adjusted his Duel Disk on his forearm. The metallic mechanism clicked shut with a sharp, cold snap.
"You're giving them an arena filled with target practice," Ryo said, his voice quiet in the vast room. "If Academia drops a hundred soldiers into the commercial district, no amount of camera tricks will stop people from seeing their friends turn into card."
"Which is why the candidates must move," Reiji said, turning his head slightly. His glasses caught the stark blue light of the map. He moved his head again. "Also the reason that we have gathered all of our strongest Youth Class students."
In the center, there were around 15 teenagers were standing.
"We will help and save Maiami from the attackers." The boy in middle, Yu Sakuragi said. Acting like a leader.
A snort came from near the door. "You all can only bark not bite."
"You!" On always being calm and patiance, Yu's face came anger.
"Those who don't know hardship never should bark about saving those who have. Just don't get in my way." He went and exited the room.
Reiji continued, ignoring the heavy becoming air from Youth Class.
"Static targets are easily contained. Duelists moving dynamically across a 30-kilometer grid forces an invading force to break formation."
"Then we learn who among our duelists can survive a war," Reiji said, without a trace of hesitation or regret in his voice. "We do not need survivors, Ryo. We need Lancers."
Ryo stared at Reiji's back for a long moment, his eyes cold, before he stood up and pulled his jacket straight. "I'll be stationed near Sector 3. If the perimeter fails, I'm not waiting for your command to step in."
"I wouldn't expect you to," Reiji murmured as the heavy executive doors slid shut, leaving him alone with the glowing grid of the doomed city.
At the glass wall, standing with expression of worry, Himika only looked at the stadium.
The kitchen of Youshow Duel School smelled of rice and miso, but the usual rowdy chatter was absent.
Yuya sat at the table, his movements were slow, precise, deliberate. Beside him, his deck lay stacked neatly on the wood. Nestled in it, Odd-eyes Pendulum Dragon and in extra deck, Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon.
It still felt cold. It still felt like a piece of dead foil. But he hadn't removed it.
"You're going to late for match if you eat this slow." Yuzu said softly, stepping into the kitchen. She carried her own Duel Disk, the pink frame polished until it shone.
Yuya paused, his thumb smoothing over. "Yeah. I am just kind of nervous."
Yuzu sat down across from him. "Yuya... about what you said last night. About Sora."
"I meant it," Yuya said, finally looking up. "I don't know what kind of fight Sora was dragged into. I don't know why Kurosaki looks at everyone like we're wrong or getting in his way. But I know what Sora looked like when he was eating pancakes here. That wasn't a lie, Yuzu. It couldn't have been."
"And if he doesn't want to come back?" Yuzu asked quietly, her voice trembling slightly. "What if the Sora we knew... was just a mask?"
"Then I'll break the mask," Yuya said. He stood up, sliding his deck into his belt holster with a crisp, practiced motion. A smile naturally came on his face. "That's what an Entertainment Duelist does, right? We show people the truth when they're too scared to look."
In the doorway, Shuzo watched them in silence, his arms crossed over his chest, a rare, solemn expression hardening his usually goofy face. He didn't offer a loud pep talk. He just stepped aside as Yuya and Yuzu walked past him into the morning haze.
"Make 'em all smile, Yuya." Shuzo muttered to the empty hallway after the door clicked shut.
# Stadium
By nine in the morning, Central Plaza had ceased to be a public square and had become a human ocean.
Tens of thousands of spectators packed the multi-tiered grandstands that had been hastily constructed around the perimeter. Huge floating camera drones hummed overhead, casting massive shadows across the cobblestones. Above the main stage, a colossal holographic screen displayed the glowing faces of the qualifiers.
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! DUEL FANS OF ALL AGES!" Nico Smiley's voice exploded from the wall of speakers, amplified to a deafening roar that vibrated through the asphalt. "WELCOME TO THE THIRD ROUND OF THE MAIAMI CITY CHAMPIONSHIP!"
The crowd erupted into a deafening wall of sound. Confetti cannons fired from the rooftops, showering the plaza in streams of gold and silver foil.
Down on the main staging floor, the qualified duelists stood.
Razz stood near the front of the LDS invited, his arms spread wide, soaking in the cheers as if they were entirely for him.
Hikage and Tsukikage also stood in the line.
Gongenzaka stood like an iron pillar beside Yuya and Yuzu, his wooden sandals rooted firmly to the floor. "The air is heavy today."
"Keep your guard up," Yuya murmured, his eyes sweeping the perimeter.
Far near the shadow of the support pillar, standing entirely alone, was Shun Kurosaki. He wore his long dark coat tightly buttoned, his goldish-yellow eyes locked on the sky above the arena. He didn't look at the crowd. He didn't look at Nico Smiley. Not at anyone. He stood like a soldier waiting for the artillery barrage to start.
And high up in the quiet, shadowed upper tiers of the public bleachers—completely unnoticed by the security guards—sat Celina.
She wore a dark, oversized hood pulled low over her indigo hair, her arms crossed tight against her chest. Her bright green eyes narrowed as she watched qualifiers from afar.
"There has to be an Xyz remanant," she whispered to herself, her raw, bruised knuckle hidden. "He walks like a target. Let's see if he fights like one."
High above on the central podium, Nico Smiley raised his arms, his theatrical voice reaching a fever pitch.
"TODAY, THE RULES HAVE CHANGED! NO ARENAS! NO BOUNDARIES! THE ENTIRETY OF MAIAMI CITY IS YOUR STADIUM! WHOLE CITY WILL BE USED BY REAL SOLID VISON FIELDS! IT WILL BE SPLIT INTO FOUR DIFFRENT ENVIRONMENTS! SEEK OUT THE HIDDEN PENDULUM CARDS SCATTERED ACROSS THE CITY! DUEL YOUR OPPONENTS! YOU CAN EVEN CLAIM THEIR PENDULUM CARDS! ONLY THOSE WHO SURVIVE WILL ADVANCE!"
Everyone were shocked. But the surprise vanished as excitement grew with anticipation.
"Collecting Pendulum cards, huh?" Yuya murmured.
"So we all will have our own Pendulum cards? So exciting!" A boy with wide lips saud, wearing a fisherman hat.
Nico pointed his microphone high into the sky as a massive countdown timer materialized over the city, ticking down in giant glowing red numbers.
Everyone said and counted it with their voices, excitement in them.
"10... 9... 8..."
Yuya pulled his Duel Disk up.
"7... 6... 5..."
In an alleyway blocks away, Vance opened his eyes, resting his hand on his hidden comms unit. Beside him, the mysterious boy adjusted his hair, his face pale.
"4... 3... 2..."
Deep in the subterranean transit tunnels, three high-energy dimensional gates flared with a faint, violet light, completely invisible to the LDS civilian sensors.
"1...!"
"BATTLE ROYAL..." Nico screamed, his voice swallowed by the roaring crowd. "...BEGIN!"
Suddenly, four distinct areas of city changed, one part became of an Ancient Ruins, one became an Scorching Volcanic area, one became Frozen Arctic with glaciers, one became a Deep Jungle.
The crowd's roar became a physical wave of sound as the duelists scattered from Central Plaza, fanning out into the surrounding avenues like water bursting through a dam.
Yuya ran down Commercial Avenue, his sneakers slapping rhythmically. Beside him, Yuzu and Gongenzaka kept pace, their eyes scanning for the glowing markers that indicated hidden Pendulum cards.
"We split up here!" Gongenzaka barked as they reached a major four-way intersection. "If we move in a pack, we become an easy target for opponents! We secure cards individually and rendezvous at our planned place!"
"Got it!" Yuzu nodded, turning sharply toward one area. "Be careful, both of you!"
"Yuya!" Gongenzaka paused, grabbing Yuya by the shoulder with a heavy hand. "Remember what you carry. Do not let your mind wander when the duel begins!"
"I won't, Gongenzaka!" Yuya called out, breaking into a sprint down, turning at a different area.
For fifteen minutes, the Battle Royal unfolded as a spectacle. On the big screens scattered throughout Maiami City, camera drones captured high-speed chases, dramatic confrontations, and brilliant bursts of Real Solid Vision holograms as independent duelists clashed with other duelists over cards.
Yuya paused at the entrance to a quiet, scorching lava ground. He wiped beads of sweat from his forehead, his breath coming.
"So far, nothing," Yuya muttered, looking around.
A sound of footsteps came, Yuya looked up on the big red rock, two duelists from Ryozanpaku School came to duel Yuya.
He has hard time, but a LDS exchange student named Dennis came to help Yuya later. And they both won.
# Deel Jungle
Celina was walking calmly, her Duel Disk was on, showing her blue duel blade that looked like sword.
A booming voice came from one of the screens in Jungle.
She looked at the screen, on the ongoing duel.
A duelist in dark coat had defeated three duelists that had wearing knight armour, in one attack.
More than that, the dark coat duelist's monster had two dark orbs hovering around it. He spoke soms words in low voice. Not audible enough, but if they were, they would have been, "No one here is good enough to be in Lancers."
She scanned the area and looked closely. And started to walk again. Ignoring all the Pendulum cards around her.
# LDS Main Monitoring Room
"A dimensional energy has been founded!" An analyst said.
"Reiji-san..." Himika muttered under her breath, looking at Reiji. "It seems it has already begun."
"It may have, but I won't let anyone be harmed." He looked at the main monitor. "Casualties are inevitable, but I will make sure they are as low as possible."
Ryo wasn't present in that room.