Interlude: Consequences

He managed to open his eyes with a groan, his stomach was queasy, and his vision had spots all over. He pushed himself up, placing a hand on his head as he tried to balance himself, his eyes swept around to see where exactly he has ended up in.

It was a laboratory filled with machinery, somewhat reminiscent of the ones that surrounded them in the laboratory where the dimensional gate that they had just gone through was.

Which, now that his thoughts were coherent enough to think straightly, makes sense. Especially considering that this place was supposedly the lab with another Dimensional Gate that the boy Reiji had used to even get to their dimension.

Or something like that, he didn't quite get the full story considering the situation that they were all in, merely the gist of it.

And speaking of the glasses wearing boy, he saw the boy groan as he did the same as him and tried to pull himself up. He continues to look around now that he had found the grey haired boy, searching for the others that had come with them through the dimensional gate.

Only to find none of them, not even Serena whom he had carried as he went through and entered the gate.

And he jolted. Immediately standing up as his head went and spun to see the whole room once more, and finding none of them together with him except for Reiji. And he snapped to the boy.

"Oi! Reiji!" He shouted, rushing towards the boy and lifting him up by his collar, earning a gasp from the boy. "Where are they!? Where are the others!" He shouted at his face, shaking him repeatedly, as if it would make him cough up the answer faster.

"W-wha-" The boy let out, glasses crooked and eyes unfocused.

"The others!" He shouted again, gesturing to the whole room around them, devoid of the others that had supposedly come with them through the dimensional gate. "Where's Serena?! Where's Mei?! Sister Claire and Cronos too! Where are they?!"

"I-I-" The boy stuttered, placing a hand on his hand that was still on his collar, prompting him to let go of the taller boy, though he kept scowling all the while the grey haired boy regained his bearings. 

The glasses wearing boy looked around just as he gestured, fixing his crooked glasses as his eyes slowly but surely became wider, panic started to seep into his features.

"Wha-how could-where-" He sounded out, heads repeatedly moving back and forth looking around the room, devoid of people other than themselves. "But-didn't they-"

"That's what I'm asking you!" He shouted to snap Reiji's focus back to him. "How come the others aren't with us! We went through the same gate! And Serena was even with me when I went through!"

"I-" Reiji started, shaking his head as f to clear his thoughts, placing a hand under his chin as he quickly thought of what possibly could be the reason only the two of them could even come from the gate that he originated from.

"T-there's the possibility." He started, gaining Yuri's attention. "That the others that went through… was sent to some other dimension. Possibly ones also with dimensional gates like this one." He said, turning and placing a hand on the pod-like gate that they had gone through, though the machine itself was now off.

"Knowing my fa-from what I know of the Professor, I wouldn't put it past him if he has multiple laboratories across the… dimensions, all set up with these kinds of dimensional gates." He continued his answer.

And though Yuri scowled all throughout his, he could see the possibility of what the grey haired boy said to be quite true, especially since he himself also knew what the Professor was like.

Especially since he also has the knowledge that the Professor has already set up some outposts on the other dimensions. 

He clicked his tongue, worried of how his friends would fare should they end up in one of those outposts. He certainly hoped that Serena hadn't ended up alone in one of those outposts, especially with her current state of unconsciousness.

"How did Serena not even end up with you?" Reiji asked, looking back at him. "Weren't you carrying her? Did something happen during the transfer?" He froze at his question, looking down at his hands.

"I-" He trailed off, remembering back what exactly happened during their travel here through the dimensional gate.

 The feeling of how he had been spinning through the air, having lost his footing and balance, as he tumbled through what was basically a rainbow spiral of colours.

How through said event, he felt his grip over Serena loosen, how she had all but fall out of his grasp.

He shook his head, turning his head to look at Reiji dead in his eyes. "So what you're saying is that they're-"

-

"-in another dimension?! My! That's-" 

"Not that outrageous, especially considering what happened to you." Sister Claire informed them in a whisper, peeking through the corner of a hallway, immediately hiding as soon as she heard the sounds of clattering of boots, a small group of Obelisk Force walking through the hallway as soon as she hid.

"To think that the Professor would have the technology to do such a thing… so he had not been merely jesting on turning… turning an entire dimension into cards for his nefarious goal." Cronos said lowly, not as a question, but confirming the information that he had beforehand.

"And he has set up these outposts to prepare for that invasion." Sister Claire said, glancing back and motioning the blonde man to follow, slowly but surely sneaking out through the halfway. 

"Then, what dimension are we in? What are the differences in these dimensions in the first place?" Cronos asked her a genuinely good question for the current situation at hand.

And one that sadly she couldn't answer, at least not as detailed as she wanted to. "If I remember correctly, all the dimensions have different forms of summoning, which means that in this dimension, only us, and the Obelisk Force on these outposts and those who are undercover outside, know the existence of Fusion Summoning and are capable of using them."

"Mio Dio! A whole different form of summoning?!" Exclaimed Cronos in a whisper with wide eyes. Only for him to narrow his eyes, a thoughtful look falling on his face. "But if the existence of our Fusion Summoning doesn't exist, then if we wish to hide ourselves then we should forgo Fusion Summoning then?"

She gave him a brief glance back, and nodded her head to his question. "I guess… that is correct. Thankfully my deck can be played even without its Fusion Monster, yours on the other hand…"

"Fret not, Signore Claire." The blonde man gave her a small smile. "Even without its Fusion Monster, I can still duel quite well with my Ancient Gear deck." He assured her.

"But even so, if possible we should try to sabotage this whole operation." She said to him as she gave him a nod. "We should break the dimensional gate that we went through, now that we know that it's being used by the Obelisk Force, we shouldn't leave it be."

And the coat wearing former dueling instructor nodded with a determined grin. "Why of course. We can't let such an operation go without opposition after all."

-

"So what we're going to need right now is DP. Lots of them. Especially considering how broke we are."

Serena, now conscious and fully recovered, crossed her arms with a frown. "That's understandable. Especially considering that we've wasted a good amount of our budget on renting this room." She said, looking around the room in the dome-like home that they've managed to rent.

Mei nodded, biting her thumb as she continued to think aloud. "We can only make so much if we duel others for DP, and it wouldn't be something that we can do daily, at least not for a long term I think."

"I guess." Serena said as she looked away to the window, looking out towards the strange city in this new dimension that they were in, giving it a good look now that she was given the chance as they weren't running anymore.

Both of them had managed to gain a hideout after managing to lose the Obelisk Force that worked undercover in this new dimension, and even finding an old landlady who looked at Serena's condition and took them in.

Mei of course, couldn't let the good will go unpaid, and went and discussed to the old woman on how they needed a place to stay, and managed to get a deal of renting the empty loft in her humble abode.

And much to Serena's chagrin, the girl had used quite the sum of their collective DP to pay for said rent.

Mei stopped for a second to see what the indigo haired girl was looking at, and found her looking at the extremely filled streets of Heartland City. she too went and absorbed the sight, both of them looking towards the city.

"It's… different isn't it?" She said after a good length of silence, the sights that she sees are completely contrasting to the sights of both the Academia and the Academy Island that they originated from. 

"Yeah… it most certainly is." Serena said lowly, placing a hand on the window frame as she looked outwards. "I wonder… is this what the world outside of the Academia of the Academy Island looks like?"

"I… don't know. I've never been outside of Academy Island." She answered back, not giving a confirmation. She's never been out of the Academy Island, the only person that she does know having left was… her mother who left her.

And that wasn't a memory that she would like to delve into.

"It's… festive. I don't think I've seen this many people on the streets before, even when Academy Islands hosts tournaments, or even Academia itself, the people aren't usually this… happy." She said aloud, looking at the crowd outside with a strange look on her face.

"Huh… Neither have I." Mei said, only to shake her head and glare at the other girl in the room. "No focus! We managed to somehow rent a room thanks to the matron's kindness, but we don't have enough DP to buy meals for a full week! We can probably last by buying only junk food or instant foods, but we don't even know how long we're going to stay here. And that's not even mentioning the rent…"

Silence befell them once again as the smaller girl mumbled by herself, brainstorming on ways that they can gather enough DP other than dueling to pay not only for rent but also for their daily needs.

And Serena gave her a suggestion. "We can always do bets." The indigo haired said aloud, turning to look at the purple haired girl who raised an eyebrow at her idea.

"That… could work." Mei said, nodding her head at the girl's suggestion, only to stop for a second and shake her head. "But we can't guarantee that we'll win. Especially with how we have to play without our Fusion Monsters."

That received a frown from the girl. "Why would we not use our Fusions?" She asked as she crossed her hands. 

"We don't want to attract that much attention, remember." Mei informed her. "Or at least, attention on us coming from the Academia, especially with how there's Obelisk Forces hiding."

And Mei continued as she took out a deck of cards from her jacket. "I at least have a deck that doesn't rely on Fusion monsters, but yours is…"

"My Lunalights can't do much if I can't Fusion Summon with them." She said with a scowl, reluctantly agreeing with the point that Mei gave. "And since we can't play our best, we aren't guaranteed to win."

"Not like we're guaranteed any winds in the first place." The smaller girl chided. "But yeah. Since we don't want to be found out by the Obelisk Force, nor do we want to pull that much attention to us in the first place, that and when the Academia does invade this place eventually…"

"They're going to give Fusion Summoning a bad name." Serena growled out, her scowl deepening as she said her piece. 

"I guess… we can probably help with the land lady's chores. Hopefully that can get us some good will. I've helped Sister Claire with chores back in the orphanage before so I can probably do it." Mei said, trying to lighten the girl's mood.

"A-and we can search for a part time job too! Preferably in a card shop of some sorts." And that suggestion earned a raise of eyebrow from Serena. 

"Why a card shop of all places?" She asked.

"Well, we probably do want to see how the people here duel right?" Mei said with a tilt of her head. "That and… if there is a chance that we can learn whatever form of summon that this dimension has then…"

And that made Serena grin. "Well. Now that is an idea that I can get behind."

And Mei smiled in kind. "Alright. Then we have a plan. We'll have to do our best while we're here." Saying so, she then turned around and started to walk out of the room, closing the door behind her as she gazed far off into the distance.

.And her face then morphed into a scowl, her glare oozing with hatred.

"We'll get stronger." She whispered to herself. "We'll get stronger. And then we'll beat them. All of them. Stronger than the Obelisk Force, stronger than Edo, stronger than the Professor." She said slowly as she muttered aloud.

"Strong enough so that no one can stand in our way. So that I can be with everyone again."

-

"My loyal Obeliks Force and Obelisk Blues, these are times of great distress that we are in." The man known as Leo Akaba, more widely renowned as the Professor and current headmaster of the Duel Academy, the Academia, started his speech, looking over his loyal followers.

"With the actions of the infamous Red Hat, who was none other than one of our own, the Academia is now in a dire state, receiving many criticisms from the other dueling schools and even from our own, with some of our ranks leaving the school." He said solemnly, and the many brainwashed followers and fanatics of his army roared in defiance.

He merely raised a hand to silence them, continuing with his speech. "But we will not be stopped but merely these actions!" He roared out, raising his right fist dramatically. "Our great ambition to return the four dimensions to one shall not be stopped! We shall power through these dark times and come out even stronger than ever before!"

And the crowd below him cheered and applause to his speech, fully supporting the mad man of his mad plan, willing to follow the man and commit their lives to his cause, for that was what they had been trained for, what they had been indoctrinated to do.

For the Obelisk Force lives and dies for the Professor, and they would do anything the mad man ordered.

And the bald man held a smile as he saw the support that his army of duelists gave him. "And in order to fulfill our goals of unifying the four dimensions, I have chosen a new, future commanders in training for our cause." The Professor declared aloud, his voice booming and resounding throughout the entire underground stadium filled with his army of Obelisk Force and Obelisk Blues.

He then raised his left arm to gesture behind him, and from behind the stage, a boy wearing the Obelisk Force garb, though unlike the common rabble he stood unmasked, his face kept neutral even as the entire stadium turned their eyes towards him.

Walking beside him, Edo kept a perpetual scowl, inwardly fuming at the information that the man had given on his speech which he had known beforehand, and all the while Mamoru made himself smaller as he hid behind the silver haired boy.

"Before you stand Haru Harule who shall be your future On-Field-Commander." The Professor declared so as he gestured to the boy without looking. "And Edo Phoenix, who shall be the your future Commander-in-Chief, and Mamoru Noro who shall become his Deputy Commander in time."

Murmuring began to ensue between the Obelisk Force, for never has before the Professor appointed these number of newly appointed commanders in succession, let alone them still being in training.

The bald man then raised a hand, and silence befell the entire stadium. "And to train these future commanders of the Duel Academy, I have appointed a new, dueling instructor, who shall personally oversee their training, alongside yours as well."

And he turned to look behind the stage behind him, and from the large curtains, came an old man, driven in a wheelchair, and pushing said wheelchair was a brown haired boy garbed in all black, and a black mask with a dark ruby that the upper half of his face.

And the Professor then began introducing them. "This is the former chairman of Duel Academy, who shall become your new dueling instructor, Kagemaru, along with his protege, Nightshroud."

"It is a pleasure to meet you all." The old man said in a jovial tone, his eyes curling as he smiled under his bushy beard that hid his facial features. And the masked young boy behind him too, smiled.

All the while the Doctor happily giggled in his laboratory, ultimately successful on his newest invention.

"From now on, not only are we preparing for the invasion to the other dimensions, but we shall also be fighting duelists of our own world who will try to foil our plans!" The Professor cut off the introduction short, continuing his speech as he captured the attention back.

"And so, under the guidance of both Sanders and Kagemaru, you all shall receive fervent education on the studies of dueling, to become even better duelists, the best force of duelists that the world-no, that the dimensions have ever seen!" The man roared aloud, his arms spread wide.

And the reaction that he gained was extremely positive. What with most, if not all of the Obelisk Force and Obelisk Blues that attended this underground having been defeated and humiliated with relative ease, having their pride as duelists wounded.

They were willing to subject themselves to whatever brutal training that the new and old dueling instructor had in mind should it make them stronger, should it give them the chance to win and heal their wounded pride.

"All the while, you shall patrol the Academy Island along with the Juvenile Officers, ensuring that no 'rats' ever manage to even set foot to the Academia, all in order to make sure that a travesty such as the one that had happened will never happen once more! For the glory of the Academia!" And the crowd continues to cheer at the new orders given, all immediately becoming alert as they give the man a salute.

""YES PROFESSOR! FOR THE GLORY OF ACADEMIA""

-

"I see… so you've really chosen to go this path, Leo…" A man murmured under his breath, sounding quite hurt as he watched the speech that the Professor had given through his duel disk, somehow having managed to gain access to the camera that the underground stadium of the Academia had.

"I-is this… is what this video showing truly the Professor himself?" He heard a quite voice sound out behind him, and Yusho Sakaki turned around to see the shocked and distraught face of one Ryo Marufuji. 

The boy's reaction was of course, understandable, having lost what he believed to be everyone in his circle of friends, along with learning that the figurehead of the school that he had worked his hardest to enter was a warmonger who intended to turn a whole dimension into cards for his nefarious goal.

He didn't quite expect something of this scale to have happened really, he had only been informed by Henrietta, Leo's wife that the man had left, that Reiji had somehow gone missing, and found out of the notes that the boy, or rather Leo himself had left on the room filled with what was apparently interdimensional travel machinery.

And to his surprise, the machine suddenly activated after he had finished skimming through the notes, and after deciphering how this was probably the reason why his good friend had disappeared, he decided to forgo the match that he had with Sledgehammer in order to find his missing friend.

Only to somehow find himself in the middle of a group of masked duelists, those of which he managed to handily defeat most of them, though the silver haired boy that supposedly led them was dragged out by what he presumed was his friend before he could challenge him.

And that was fine, though he would have liked a chance to duel the young boy if only to have a chance to give him a smile, something that his previous opponents sadly lacked even after he had done his best.

And worst of all, he didn't even manage to confront his friend about the reason for his disappearance, and instead he found him doing what he assumed was damage control, and reorganizing what was basically a whole army of duelists which he led.

It was… quite honestly unbelievable, the size and scale which his friend had managed to do in the timespan that he was gone, and it saddened him that this was what his good friend had chosen to use his intellect for, even if he still hadn't understood what his true goal was.

"It would seem so." He informed the boy sadly, and the face that he had was quite heart wrenching. "But still, are you sure that this is what you intend to do Ryo-kun? If you do decide to follow me then…"

And the boy, only a few years older than his own son, took a deep breath and looked at him in the eyes with determination. "Is something that I am going to bear." He said. 

"Yuuna… my friend, the video that she had managed to upload for the briefest of time before it was taken down had shown everyone what the Professor's true nature is. And if what you're saying is true, then she's somewhere out there in one of the other dimensions." The blue haired boy said.

"All while the whereabouts of my other friends are unknown, and I can only assume that they have a hand in the mess that happened a few days prior." And the fact that this boy who had merely seen his silhouette managed to find and track him down in a matter of a few days was telling itself.

"What the Professor is doing… what the Academia as a whole is doing now and what they are planning to do… I can't stand it." The boy said, shaking his head slightly and scowling at the thought of the Academia's purpose and goals.

"Sakaki-san, you said that you needed to go to other dimensions right?" Ryo started, seemingly reciting back the speech that he had already prepared before finding him. After all, though he wanted to meet with his friend, with how guarded he was after his supposed 'victory' against that girl, he was quite sure that he couldn't meet him face to face. 

"And to do that, you would need a way to go into the Academia." And at the boy's insinuation, he narrowed his eyes. 

"So you're saying that you're willing to perhaps find an easier way for me to enter the Academia?" He asked, and the blue haired boy nodded his head. "And that after that… you're saying that you will come with me to the other dimensions as well?"

"Yes." The boy said resolutely, and looked down as he started to raise his hand. "I've already contacted my parents… I've told them thanks to the recent… controversy… that I'm going to travel the world with my master, and I've already contacted him of this too."

And he could only close his eyes as he saw the resolute look that the boy had. He had made his decision, and whether or not he were to actually travel the dimensions to try and help the other dimensions that Leo would no doubt terrorise, the boy would still go and find his missing friends.

"So, your mind is made then?"

And to his question, Ryo resolutely nodded his head. "This is what I-no, this is what we have decided to do."

"I see." He said solemnly, closing his eyes as he lowered his head slightly. The least that he could do, was to assure that this boy doesn't go alone on his journey.

And opened his eyes to stare at the boy with the same amount of resolution. "Then, let's go." He said, looking towards the looming island that was the Academia.