y’all think about how reiji’s plan was “jump across dimensions with a bunch of teenagers and approach the nearest, highest government in this new, unexplored dimension to inform them that there is an invasion coming and they should ally with us” and then he did it? and it ended up working? absolute madman

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Akaba Ray/Zarc Characters: Zarc (Yu-Gi-Oh), Akaba Ray, Hiiragi Yuzu, Jean-Michel Roger Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Alternate Universe - Fusion, One Shot, Character Turned Into Vampire, Master & Servant, Blood and Violence, Not that explicit though, but somewhat graphic, Implied Relationships Summary:

The duty of LDS is to get rid of every supernatural threat to the citizens, and for that task what better weapon than a monster?

(For the zarcray week 2019, Day 3 “monster”)

It was incredible what adrenaline boosts made you do.

Coincidentally that was exactly what the biology class had been about; something about adrenaline makes your body shut down certain body functions in order to help you survive, it can make you faster, stronger, it makes pain go unnoticed.

But most of all, it kept fear at bay.

How else could Yuzu explain that with what she could swear was a broken leg, Yuzu had managed to run 5 floors downstairs?

Carrying a very heavy metal bat that she somehow managed to swing at the… things, that kept trying to attack her?

Thanks to adrenaline, every time she passed through a hallway full of corpses and blood, she just hurried her step and willed herself not to look to the mangled remains of her classmates or break into tears, and instead kept running.

She also forced herself to ignore that her hands and arms were getting sticky with… stains and that with every step she gave, she could hear her shoes stepping on something soft and squishy…

The entrance, if she could just manage to get to the entrance, then maybe…

“And where do you think you’re going, little girl?”

Yuzu felt her hands gripping the bat tightly, another testament of her boost, because this was not one the stumbling, rotting corpses from before.

It was him, the monster behind all of this.

His red eyes that fixed on her face were not as terrifying as the sharp, long teeth his wide grin let show, she had seen those same teeth sink into the flash of her teacher when put herself in his way and let the other scape.

The crunching noises… it was something she wouldn’t forget in her life, she forced herself to keep steady when she saw him walk over to her. He still wore the same lab coat he used to introduce himself as the new science teacher, it was unnatural that even amongst the bloodshed it still remained pristine and white.

Even the way he walked – she doubted this creature could even be called a ‘he’ – was all sorts of wrong, his gait was too fluid and quiet for someone of that size, his limbs had somehow gotten longer and almost spidery-looking, and she could almost see the shadows clinging to his form, shaping into weird angles…

Like a bad imitation of the human body.

“Oh my, aren’t you a feisty one?” He said the moment he was a couple steps from her, his eyes trailing down her body, as if he was ‘admiring’ a work of art. “The blood really suits you… turning you into a mindless servant seems almost a waste, maybe… mmm, maybe it’s time for me to get a fledgeling.” A disgusting and too long of a tongue swept over his teeth when he said this. “Mmmm, yes, the younger, the better, finding virgins is too hard nowadays.”

“Stay back!” Yuzu knew her treats fell on deaf ears, but it didn’t stop her from trying to swing her makeshift weapon at him, but he caught it with his hand, very easily

Of course he also, very easily, bend the bat without making the slightest effort.

Yuzu’s should have yelled, said anything, but she was lift by the neck of her shirt, to hold her at an eye level.

Those eyes, the eyes were staring into her being and infecting her vision with red, and filling her head with incomprehensible whispers, the shadows that she thought where a figment of her imagination her clinging to her…

It was over, when she felt her body going slack against her own volition…

‘I’m going to die…No, I don’t want to die!’ But her lips never formed the words.

“I’ve had enough of this boring spectacle.”

…

“What are you supposed to be?” The voice of a girl tapped the glass of his container, he could barely stir up, or open his eyes to even bother to see who it was.

Had the Professor sent him a warm meal this time?

No, he would never do that, why would he? She must surely be a temptation, dangling it in front of him when he was too starved, too tired and simply too weak to even break off this pitiful form and enjoy it.

“It’s not funny!” He heard her feet stomp on the metallic floor. “You said…” Was she sniffling now? Oh, the Professor really pick her specially for him didn’t he? “…You said that someone down here would protect me!”

If this body was capable of laughing, he would. Protection?! Did the Professor finally lost his mind from dealing with monsters?! The girl would be safer entering a lion’s den than being anywhere near him.

“…Dad"

A sole eye opened the slightest fraction.

To her credit, the whining didn’t turn into full-blown crying, instead he saw how she tapped on the glass again, and then her long, lithe finger – oh, what would he give for just one nibble of that finger? – passed over the symbols written in blood, adding an extra layer to his entrapment, written in his blood, an unnecessary measure all things considering, but the Professor was just that spiteful.

“Dad, what were you even doing here?” He was struck in awe at the red flowing hair when he caught sight of her, finally, red like blood, it made his insides stir with hunger; but then when her eyes, a cold and tempered lavender where posed on him, the hunger calmed down.

“It’s stupid thinking It out loud, but… I really hoped something like knight in shining armor would be waiting for me…”

No, it didn’t, it transformed into something he had long forgotten.

“You don’t mind me being here do you?” No, he didn’t, in fact if she didn’t leave at all that would be perfect, and he simply saw her slump against his prison, tiny sobs reached his ears. “Am I going to die?… I don’t want to die.”

…

“Who the hell are you?” She was dropped to the floor, all the red from her eyes vanished and she could breath and move on her own again, for a minute she watched with some interest to the man that could very well have been her savior.

But maybe the word was too generous for him, because he looked like no cop she’d ever seen, and he was completely ignoring her, his attention completely on the monsters that was now glaring daggers at him.

Even though he wasn’t too far away, he was completely covered in shadows… or hopefully he was just wearing all black, his face was partially covered with the brim of his hat.

He and her captor were talking, but she didn’t quite catch what they were saying, then, there was a sickening laughter filling the air, and then the monsters all emerged from different corners of the building and circled the man, completely going past her.

This was her chance.

But when she attempted to stand up on her own, a sharp pain had her collapsing again; yep, her leg was definitely broken. It even hurt to breath so it was likely that a something had punctured her lungs too, maybe a broken rib. She hugged her own body, praying for the rush of energy back, but with it looked like it was useless.

The shots and growls tearing through the air made her look at where the man was again.

Now with his face completely visible, Yuzu trembled at the look on his face as he kept shooting at all the zombies that throwing themselves at him with an incredible speed; he was grinning, the same maniacal grin she had seen on the fake teacher before, the same bloodlust in his eyes.

The same sharp teeth.

Her savior was…

…

“Where are you Ray? Where has the little ray of sunshine gone to?” The nausea settled in her belly when he heard his voice.

That dirty, traitorous rat!

“Come out, come out, wherever you are…”

Ray knew it was matter of time before he found this place, but she still sunk further into the floor, she had had a very tiny hope.

His men had managed to slam the door open with little effort and in no time, they were all pushing inside smashing desks and work tables in their passing.

Tearing down her dad’s last refuge.

From behind them, he emerged, he had no right to look that composed, that content and self-assured.

“Oh, there you are, Miss Akaba, or should I say President? You missed your designation ceremony!”

“Jean-Michael Roget.” She said through gritted teeth. “It must have slipped my mind.”

Especially when he had sent his men to ransack her room, looking for the combinations of the treasury and her father’s bank accounts.

“Don’t worry, little one, I will summarize the most important matters for you.” He walked towards her, not even paying attention to his surroundings, pulling a gun from under his coat. “All summarized in 14 simple bullet points, one for each of your years.”

Ray squared her shoulders and got up, if she was going to face her death, then she would do so standing tall and proud.

“You seriously think someone like you could lead LDS?!” She shouted at him, before she evn finished saying it, Roget had pulled the trigger giving Ray only a minimum of time to try and duck.

But it still grazed against her shoulder.

Even as she felt a blinding pain spreading through her entire body, she took a little satisfaction on seeing him sneer and break his façade.

“As if I would allow the power I worked so hard to earn for the past 20 years to be taken off by some spoiled princess!” His finger was on the trigger again. “Don’t you think I will let you die quickly; I will save the last one for your pretty little head… but right now…let’s go for the ear shall we?”

Ray tried to hold in the scream of pain when the bullet pierced through the shell of her ear, but failed miserably when she felt glass shards piercing her on the back.

The bullets had shattered the tempered glass.

This was bad, she could already see her blood making tiny puddles in the floor, who knew your ear could bleed so much?

That was when she heard it; a shuffling inside container…

Her eyes widened at the sight of the single hole the bullet had made, and the strange symbols bathed in her own blood, glowing and dissolving before her eyes.

But no more shocked when she saw that the weird reptile-like creature was no longer there.… in its place, still bound and struggling to reach out for the blood splattered a little too far from its reach was a man.

Or at least it seemed like a man, as he was crouched, only a wild mane of silvery hair was visible.

The slurping sounds he made when his tongue finally reached his meal was too sickening, but she couldn’t stop watching either.

…

The stranger was now stalking towards them, every time the teacher shot at him – where did he even got a gun? – he only stopped for a second before shrugging it off.

Now that he was closer, Yuzu could see his abnormal golden eyes, shining under his hat.

“Why? Why is a vampire working for humans?!” The more desperate he grew, the more bullets he shot, no matter how useless it obviously was.

“Because if I let pieces of trash like you run around free… in that scenario, the extinction of humanity would be imminent… And that’s something I won’t allow.” The stranger had an unnaturally large shadow, she realized that just now, it stretched far longer than it should and was far darker than a full moon night should allow. “Besides, you don’t deserve to be called a vampire.”

“Vampire?!” She asked out loud, more to herself than anything, but instantly regretted it as it brought their attention back to her, the newcomer chuckled.

“Well, Isn’t she a sharp one?”

Before Yuzu could even protest, she saw how in one blink the teacher was in one place, and the next he was behind her, forcing her to stand and grabbing her by the neck.

“This little girl is the only survivor! Don’t you want her to survive?” To make his point across, Yuzu felt the cold breath on her neck, and knew his teeth were really close. “I don’t ask for much, just let me go, and I’ll make sure to keep a low profile.”

“Oh?” For all his talk, it didn’t look like he cared as he still drew out his gun – bigger than Yuzu had ever seen before. – and pointed it at them, she got chills down to the tip of her toes when those golden eyes fixed on her. “Hey, school girl, are you a virgin?”

‘Wha-what?! What type of question was that? Who even-’ The thought didn’t get too far as she felt her captor trying to cover her mouth.

“Answer me!” His weapon was still ready to shot, and Yuzu knew he was most definitely not kidding. “Goddamit! Do you want to live? Yes, or no?!”

It was weird how time seemed to slow down when her teeth sank into the hand on her mouth and began to say the word, at the same time as his hand pulled the trigger and even the deafening sound of the gun didn’t register in her ears and Yuzu could swear she could see each millisecond in which the bullet got closer and closer.

Have you ever felt a pain so blinding that your body actually can’t process it and instead starts to shut down? That’s how it felt for Yuzu when the shot pierced through her chest.

Maybe this was what death was supposed to feel like.

That was her only thought when everything turned black

…

“What the fuck is that?” Roget asked when his eyes followed what she was watching, mesmerized by the sight too, at least until it lifted itself from its meal and a pair of golden eyes set on him.

“W-what are you standing around for? Shut it dead!!” She ducked and heard the rain of bullets hitting flesh, but no blood, no thump, no cries.

Nothing, when she peaked again, he looked whole and unbothered by any wound.

With a single snap she saw the restraints finally give in. Ray could see the jagged, sharp teeth, the unnaturally smooth skin, when he shifted to stand his limbs made a crunching sound, as if broken bones were realigning on its own; even after that the way he moved was completely strange…

“Sir! Our bullets don’t do a thing!” Roget’s men kept shooting at it without any results.

“… There’s nothing about this in the files!”

There was an ugly cackle coming from him, and in a single flash, when the men tried to shoot him again; he moved too quick for her or anyone to notice, and then, one of the men stood very quiet.

With half of his head missing.

She felt her stomach revolt when she saw him hold it above him and practically gorging on his blood.

‘A vampire… LDS, has a vampire?’ What type of experiments did her father run here.

Was it even experiments or outright witchcraft?

She forced her nausea down as she kept seeing him tear apart on Roget’s men as if they were made of cardboard.

Limb after limb, sometimes using nothing but his hands, but she was also witness of him using his mouth to attack someone’s neck and chewing.

The entire room became a bloodbath in the matter of seconds.

At the end Roget was reduced to a blubbering mess on the floor, holding his gun tightly, but not making a single sound, or moving in the slightest.

The man didn’t even spare him a glance when he turned his eyes to her.

And he smiled, wide and broad; he walked towards her, Ray saw the gun of one of the men lying at her feet and pointed it to him.

There was no hope, her hands kept trembling…

“Are you injured Master?” His voice surprised her, it was nothing like that awful laughter she heard before; it was deep and if she didn’t know she was dealing with a vampire, she might call it 'soft’.

None of that surprised her more than him kneeling at her feet, his long arm touching the floor and his head brought lower than her eye level.

“Who are you?”

“I couldn’t smell your blood inside that glass, but now I realize you are my master, heir to the Lancers.” He said, sounding almost apologetic. “I am your humble servant, awaiting orders…”

Ray’s mind was in a spiral trying to process his statement.

“LDS will be mine!!!” Roget yelled somehow finding some courage and firing at her.

The bullets never touched her, instead they were embedded on his arm.

“Jean-Michael Roget… I can smell the foulness of your blood from here, your rotten flesh is worthless even to me, you will never be my master.” He side eyed to Roget and then to her, it was then when Ray realized he didn’t look that old, if anything he looked like young man, maybe even a boy.

But his eyes… there was something indecipherable  old and … sad in his eyes.

“What’s your name?” She asked, forcing down the trembling voice.

“Z-ARC” he said, “That’s what your ancestors called me.”

She lifted the gun and pointed it to Roget.

…

“Remember that this was your choice.” She had heard, as she felt blackness creeping around her, it was weird…

Feeling the life of you literally leaving you.

Even in the midst of it, she was mesmerized by his golden eyes, his silvery hair…

The fangs that sank on her neck didn’t hurt, it was even weirder than before, she felt the blackness receded and instead she was assaulted by the feeling of countless of eyes observing her.

Studying her, and drinking every last bit of herself.

…

“There he comes.” She said as soon as his shadow made itself known between the fog, or maybe he had made the fog? Ray didn’t know and right didn’t particularly care, she simply gave the signal for the normal troops for cleaning up the scene.

What she cared was that Zarc was not alone, he was carrying someone.

A girl, still wearing her school uniform, and Ray cursed to herself; there weren’t supposed to be any students this late, kids meant families, and dealing with families was always difficult.

When they were finally left alone Ray noticed he had yet to let go of the girl, who was staring at her with fear in her eyes; she exhaled the smoke from her cigar before reading her question.

Zarc tended to be a bit… excited after a mission.

“Got rid of the vampire, there were no survivors left.” He said, and she didn’t miss how this time his hands tightened the slightest bit against the girl, who was still very quiet.

Her fingers snapped the still lit cigar in half before he finished the whole sentence and looked at the girl again, noticing at last that she wasn’t wrapped in a blanket but in Zarc’s black coat, her skin had gone unnaturally pale and there were faint movements in her chest that indicated breathing.

Under her scrutiny the girl smiled, and she saw them: fangs.

“Sorry… but I’m already dead.”

In her mind entered a loop in which she asked how had the mission ended, and he answering every possible alternative.

Even the worst case scenario was not as bad as this.

“You vampiric asshole! What have you done??!!”

His only answer was a long, noisy and drawn-out laughter.

…

“Your only job was to eliminate the target, that was all of it!  What are we supposed to do with her?!”

They had been arguing for about an hour now, and Yuzu was at loss of what to do, she had tried to apologize repeatedly to the woman until she was out of breath.

“That sorry excuse of a vampire was thinking about to turn her in any case, I’d said I did her a favor; she was going to die in either case.”

Not literally, but right now, she tried very hard not to think about the implications of her new… state? Life?

“Are you jealous?”

“You wish; however, it looks you’re getting lonely…”

Vampire? Turning? From all the things that could have happened, that was the farthest in her mind, Yuzu didn’t even know much about vampires in the first place… she had a feeling that crosses and garlic did nothing to the creatures she has seen today.

Which she was now part of…

The door slammed open and Yuzu jumped when the cold, violet eyes of the woman fixed on her again, she looked around her mid-twenties, was wearing a dark suit, with a purple cravat, she also had long and luscious red hair that somehow reminded her of blood.

Oh god, was she going to start obsessing about blood now?

“Hi…” She felt so dumb waving at her, but what else could be said? It was hard focusing on her, because every fiber of her being was feeling a pull towards the man standing three feet behind her.

“Tell me, school girl.” Her… master – ugh, was she going to call him that even in her head? – was smirking, it didn’t look like he had just gotten out of a nagging session. “…how does it feel, being undead.”

“Drop it Zarc.” The woman said, what was her relation to Za- her master – Damn it –? “He told me how you managed to survive.” Her hands were drumming in her leg, she noticed, was she… doing small talk? “Did you know? How to fight against vampires?”

“Not really…” Yuzu could see the woman didn’t believe her completely.  “I never got into the craze… and I always preferred comedies and animated movies…” she hadn’t even finished reading Dracula when she had an assignment on Literature.

Now that she thought about it, Yuzu realized she had been nothing but lucky, not realizing what she was facing had probably emboldened her more than all the grown-ups in the building.

“Yuzu Hiragi, you do realize we can let you loose, right?” Yuzu wasn’t sure she liked the word, as if she was a wild beast.

Maybe she was now.

“I do.” It was not like she had much to go back to… “I … understand.” She saw the woman was looming now, was she gonna get her own brand of nagging now?

Then she felt her gloved hand on her hair, patting. It was… nice, sort of, or it would be if she didn’t just felt his eyes boring holes in the back of her head.

“Good.” Then she turned to Zarc. “Show her around while Reiji and I deal with your mishap and prepare her facilities.” Her hand dropped too fast and Yuzu already missed the warmth.

How could she miss it, if she didn’t even feel her own coldness? She wasn’t sure.

“…That sounds like a hassle…” The pout he gave both of them made him look like a child. “I wanted to go sleep, it has been a long day.”

“You idiot! Take responsibility for your fledgeling!!”

…What had she gotten herself into?

Arc V anniversary, Day 4: Courage

Day 1: Near to you || Day 2: When the darkness comes (Ruri) || Day 3: Better than I know myself || Day 4: It only hurts (when I breathe) @arcvanniversary​

Summary: I lost it all before the end of the day Everything’s alright with me, everything’s right with me I’ve got to face reality

Word count: 2.122 Note: my days since Wednesday had been shitty af which is why I didn't post anything. but things are finally settling down so I'm slowly getting back on track.

The En Cards destroyed his wonderful Supreme King Dragon self and his Servant dragons in a split second. He still fought with all his might against their power. But he knew, right before his very last struggle, that he was too weak, too much in love, and in denial about his true colours. Because he had been always wavering, from mad malice to pure harmony. Like a pendulum. Just like Ray said. Zarc had been running, he had been chasing. Screaming, whispering. Fearing much, loving too much. Something new was only possible with something old. For there was no shadow without light. But this didn’t mean that light was always right or shadow was always in the wrong. As there was never only good or only evil. He wanted to reach out to her, loathe her. Hold her, love her. But he couldn’t do anything if he was frozen by fear. He could only succeed if he was brave enough. He couldn’t stop. He couldn’t be stopped again by that cursed witch. Something was tearing him apart.He doesn’t want another repeat of all these events. The light of the En Cards engulfed him. He was done being a demon. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Blinding light blocks his view. He is consumed by stillness, captured in a state between conscious and subconscious. As if he is just heartbeats away from sleeping. But a quiet pop startles him. He doesn’t see the rose in front of him that is being waved from side to side at first. Dazed, he blinks in astonishment and looks around. The goofy smirk of Dennis is the first thing he recognizes. After a few heartbeats, he realizes that he is sitting in class. Since their teacher is absent, they are forced to do repetition tasks for Dueling Basics during quiet time. And Dennis has nothing better to do than to annoy him with his ‘great’ magician tricks. “Hello? Captain Magician to Plant Addict- ” “Stop this nonsense!,” the recipient hisses quietly and waves away his hand with the rose. He looks away. Dennis puts down the rose on top of his still empty notebook. “You’re so absent-minded, Yuri. What gets you so occupied?,” he wants to know. The recipient sighs annoyed. “Nothing,” he lies and starts to pick up his belongings as the class bell chimes. Dennis knows that he is lying. Yuri is surprised that he doesn’t call him out on that. But they don’t get the chance to leave the classroom just yet. Other students hold them back, chatter with them as if they would be on friendly terms for a long time, ask for their opinions for some Duel strategies and what answer they wrote for a specific task. This is reality. This isn’t reality. With a starting headache, Yuri gasps bewildered. Something inside him starts to scream. He wants to leave. Agitated, he leaves the classroom without saying a word. Dennis apologizes to the other students before he follows him. He tries to speak to him but Yuri refuses vehemently. Dennis tries to calm him down, knows about his anxiety and reassures him that the other students got the answers they wanted. Yuri was sure that this strong reaction isn’t based on his anxiety and being an introvert. Once they dispose their belongings, they walk to the canteen. Dennis greets Sora. He is, as usual, as he remembers, nibbling on sweets. He lets his gaze wander through the canteen. He can even see the 3rd graders Edo Phoenix and Tenjou Asuka, high-ranked duelists and super popular students. Supervised by a totally grumpy Roget-sensei. Peaceful chatter due to the typical teenagers’ carelessness. The war’s shadow isn’t above all of them. What war? This can’t be it. Yuri frowns. He has a feeling that something isn’t right with this picture. Something is missing. But he can’t put the finger on it. “ ...Don’t you realize something?” “Realize what?,” Dennis counters while he sits down at a free table. “To be honest? You’re kind of acting... strange since last class. What’s up with you?” “You don’t get it, Macfield,” Yuri replies. He frowns again. “Something’s... not right- ” Dennis laughs: “Are you serious? Why? What is it- ” “This... everything! It’s not real!,” Yuri declares. He turns around to his classmate but a bright light that he is all too familiar with engulfs him. The brightness fades slowly. His eyes need the time to adjust to the new light. Daylight. The sun is shining just above and paints a clear blue sky. His surrounding is nothing like the City he remembers from home. He wonders if he even is still home. The buildings look a little bit run-down. Most of them have ribbed roofs. They are not that broken and dirty as he thought they would be, though. Or how he remembers. But Roget-sensei is at Academia. He is a teacher. He has seen him. Roget-sensei is home – not here. Which means that Yuri himself isn’t in Academia anymore. He knows where he is but he still can’t believe it. Up until his declaration that kind of triggered the transportation, because he isn’t dreaming, it wasn’t simply a change of scene, he was certain that everything was just a fabrication of his mind. That he is, indeed, dreaming. But he isn’t. He could pinch himself how much he wanted but Yuri is certain that he won’t wake up in his bed. Or the canteen of Academia. Standing in the middle of the road, too, isn’t one of his better ideas which is why he steps aside. The noise of wheels can be heard in the distance. Just like Yuri thought. The doors to the houses as well as the windows are open. He hears quiet chatter and laughter. Not a single voice sounds familiar, though. The street itself, however, somehow does. He turns right after that and stops. The street is long, probably about 60 feet long. A dead end. But his memory doesn’t betray him. This is the path he has chased her down – the girl of his Synchro counterpart. Yuri doesn’t know why but he flinches at the thought of it. He slowly gets a feeling of why he is sent to the Synchro dimension. Suddenly, the sound of a motorbike gets louder. Yuri manages just barely to jump to the side. Right after that, someone shouts at him – an all too familiar and gravely annoying voice –, tires are screeching, and just a second passes before metallic trash cans are knocked down. Much swearing. Yuri turns around as people leave their homes to check. The driver calms them quickly and apologizes for the ruckus. Surprisingly, it really does the trick. The people return to their homes. But Yuri is surprised to see that their clothes are not as ragged as he remembers them to be. More swearing. Since Roget-sensei never left Academia, he didn’t end up in the Synchro dimension to install his own government. Yuri wonders if Tops and Commons are still a thing, though. Then he sees him. A boy with his face. Yuri flinches. He is aware that meeting him would have only been a matter of time, that there is someone with his face. But he can’t deny his surprise. He wonders if all of his counterparts felt like this when meeting him or the other counterparts in general for the first time. But then again, Yugo had been hellbent on killing Yuto. Because he thought that their Xyz counterparts had kidnapped his girl. When in fact, it had been his doing. Yuri had kidnapped his girl. As well as Yuto’s girl. He doesn’t know why but the urge to fix this mess keeps him moving. “Yugo!” His counterpart doesn’t react. He is still occupied with cleaning and checking on his D-Wheel. For a brief moment, he wonders if this is still his name. But if that would be the case, Yuri should have another name, too. This seems to be the same, just like the same face. He calls out to him again. And again, no reaction. He scowls. Being ignored by the person he wants attention from is just as much annoying and irritating as getting attention from people he wants to ignore. He should be eating his lunch with Dennis in the canteen of Academia, mocking other students for their futile struggles to keep up with him, studying for the next exam. Instead, he is trapped in the Synchro dimension with his Synchro counterpart. Who still has the nerve to ignore him. Yuri is done with this stupid game. “Fusion!” “It’s ‘Yugo’, not ‘Fusion’!!,” his counterpart finally screams irritated. Of course this gets him the wanted-unwanted attention. It did the first time, too. Yugo turns around. He screams a second time, much higher and much shorter. After that, he falls on his butt. A shocked expression on his face. “I know that I look just like you. And I know that this situation is very strange. But can we get to the point already?,” Yuri asks impatiently. Yugo gasps. “Y- y- you look like –why the hell do you look like me!?,” he shrieks bewildered. Yuri grimaces in annoyance. He endures his counterpart’s screeching and antics. He doesn’t know why, though. A heartbeat after his wondering, a thought crosses his mind. Maybe he isn’t allowed to tell his counterpart right away that something is wrong with their reality. Maybe Yugo has to figure it out on his own. Just like he has. “Here” Yugo is about to seize him by his collar but Yuri manages to grab his arm and pulls him into the side alley. The people from before start to leave their homes again, albeit fewer than before. “W- wait a minute- ” “You’ve caused enough ruckus by almost running me over, didn’t you?!,” Yuri hisses quietly. “You jumped in front of my D-Wheel- ” “I was standing on the sideline, idiot!” “What were you even doing in the middle of the- ” “Stop. We’re not getting anywhere with this bickering!,” Yuri gives in and sighs tiredly. Yugo is about to snap again but his Fusion counterpart points at his D-Wheel. “Let’s get this straight – who built this D-Wheel?” Yugo blinks and follows his cue. He turns back to Yuri with a big and proud smile: “I did! Isn’t it- ” “Wrong, idiot! Think again!” “What’s even up with you, having the same face as me and lecturing me like this?!,” Yugo counters frustrated. “I told you that I built it!” Yuri sighs again. His Synchro counterpart’s stubbornness annoyed him the first time just as much as it does now. But he is right, bickering won’t bring them far. He knows why he is sent to the Synchro dimension. Since he never had a strong relation to his own bracelet girl, it’s probably the reason why he noticed the falsity of this reality. Is it, really? Even if this is the wrong reality, why is he so against it? He is apparently popular, not alone anymore, doesn’t have the need to prove himself anymore. He has everything he had ever wished for. He should be happy in this reality. But he isn’t. He doesn’t accept this reality. Not any reality where she seemingly doesn’t exist. Not again. This seemingly popularity is given to him for free, although he did all these awful things. He doesn’t deserve to be this popular in Academia. He doesn’t deserve a friend like Dennis. He doesn’t deserve such an easy reality. Not with everything that did happen because of him. Sooner or later, his counterparts will suffer just as much as he did if this false reality continues to exist. They will start to realize that something – someone is missing. Someone very important to them. Someone they need. Someone they would give their life for. It will frighten them to the bone, realizing that they simply cannot find this someone even if they search everywhere. But they won’t know who they’re missing so much. And this uncertainty will drive them mad. He could feign ignorance, find a way back to Academia and continue living this false reality. Where he gets everything he had wanted before. But he doesn’t. He neither wants forgiveness or tolerance. He doesn’t want his other three counterparts to suffer like he did. He points to the D-Wheel a second time. “Who built this D-Wheel?” A quiet sob surprises him. No tears. Yet. “ ...It wasn’t... me alone” Yuri nods. His Synchro counterpart finally starts to connect the dots. Not only the strange appearance of his Fusion counterpart. Yuri doesn’t know if they will succeed but he won’t stop until they tried every possible solution. For his counterparts. And their bracelet girls.

I Was Mugged Last Night.

Lately I’m being mugged a lot. I blame myself. It’s because I want to be a writer. And, I suppose, it’s an age thing.

 Because I’ve been feeling a bit unfulfilled these days, I’ve started to try writing something. I think, somewhere in the back of my mind, there’s a belief that I was born with some bit of talent for writing. I’ve wasted this talent so far. But maybe it’s not too late to become an overnight literary sensation, thus justifying my existence and making a few quid at the same time.

 I’ve always been attracted to the life of the writer. It can give you all of the benefits of having a famous name with none of the disadvantages of having a famous face. If I were forced to choose one aspect of the writers’ lifestyle which I find unattractive it would be the actual business of sitting down and writing stuff. It can’t be healthy to spend that amount of time sitting down.

 But I’ve started to force myself to climb the stairs every evening, sit myself down at the desk in the study and try to put manners on a few words. It turns out that words are as unbiddable as an unruly puppy.

 Within minutes of my starting up the laptop last night the words began to act up. At first they gave the impression of being too individualistic to be able to co-operate with each other. They simply refused to join together into sentences which even slightly resembled what I was thinking or feeling. The simplest idea I tried to convey would get lost in the midst of a long, convoluted, ungrammatical, inelegant string of inanity which had to be read several times in order to be understood. But, even then, the reader would be left guessing their meaning rather than being any way confident they knew what I was banging on about.

 But, as time passed, the words started to band together and gang up on me. Although reluctant to co-operate with each other for expressive purposes, they were more than willing to form a temporary alliance if it meant they could beat me up.

 At first the small words were reluctant to cause any trouble. They lack the self-belief to start a revolution. It was the big, polysyllabic bastards who put their heads above the parapet first. “Belligerent”, not surprisingly, was the first to start throwing shapes, along with his friends “Malcontent” and “Apoplectic”. The three of them circled me, taunting me. “You’re no writer”, they sneered. “You’re not man enough to tame feisty thoroughbreds like us.” I suppressed the urge to gulp and tried to arrange my facial features into a vague semblance of One Who Is In Command. I don’t think I succeeded. Not only did the first three seem to become emboldened, but I noticed that some of the milder words were coming out from their hiding places and joining the circle. “Disgruntled” sneered at me and made that hand gesture people make when they’re inviting you to fight. “Irritation” began to make a really annoying whistling noise.

 I knew I had to do something, quickly, to establish my control. I needed weapons. I lunged towards the desk and picked up Roget’s Thesaurus in one hand and the Oxford Guide to English Usage in the other. I brandished them as menacingly as I could. “Come on”, I taunted. “Do your worst. You’re no match for me. There’s only five of you. It will take more than five lexical louts to withstand the might of The Lost Pensioner!”

 No sooner had I spoken than I began to realise that my numerical assessment of the situation was inaccurate. Some small words were beginning to find their courage and were bringing up the rear. I recognised “The”, “And” and “On”. I was genuinely taken aback by their joining in. They’d been good friends of mine for a long time. Since my teenage years, in fact. Between the ages of fourteen and nineteen we’d been inseparable. Back then I communicated almost exclusively in monosyllables. I couldn’t believe that these old friends would turn on me now.

 I shook my head in disappointed disbelief. “The”, I pleaded. “How could you? You’ve always been my favourite definite article. “And”, I can’t believe you’re doing this. I’ve always said that if my daughter wanted to marry a conjunction I hope it would be you. And “On”, I’m shocked at you. A nice little preposition like you hanging around with these thugs. I’ve a good mind to tell your mother”.

 The three monosyllables looked at each other with just a smidgen of guilt in their eyes. But their blood was up and they were not going to back down. “Oh we might have been friends once, when you were young,” said a barely restrained “The”. “But then you outgrew us, didn’t you? As you grew into adulthood you started hanging around with the likes of “Ambition” and “Confidence.””  “Yeah, ye bollix”, chipped in “And”, who always liked to add something. “Then, when you were middle aged, it was all about “Respectability” and “Self-satisfaction”. I could see that “On” didn’t really have anything he desperately needed to get off his chest, but he felt obliged to support his friends. “And now you’re just a longwinded auld shite”, he contributed. “With your big, long words and your big, long, boring sentences. Who are you tryin’ to impress?”

 To demonstrate his disgust, “On” turned his back to me, very slowly and dramatically. Whereupon he became “No”, my favourite word when I was two. By now I was struggling to fight back the tears.

 “This is all very touchin’”, said “Belligerent”. “But can we get on with the fight?”

 Attack, apparently, is the best form of defence. And so, I decided to engage in a bit of pre-emptive shock and awe. I let out what I hoped was a blood-curdling howl and launched myself at my attackers, using the two books to rain down what I hoped were blow after magnificent blow on them. In hindsight, I think the howl came out as more of a yelp and my attack took on the character of someone flailing ineffectually at midges.

 “Now here’s what’s going to happen”, I roared. “You’re all going to do what I tell you. You will line up in orderly sentences. You will then join together in elegant paragraphs. And when we’ve done that for a year we’ll form a novel of extraordinary breadth, scope and originality”.

 “Malcontent” was the first to titter. Gradually the others joined in. Soon more words, of varying length, became emboldened and joined the circle. The sound of scornful laughter became deafening. They were so busy holding their sides in helpless laughter that they became, momentarily, incapable of fighting. I seized my opportunity. I laid into them mercilessly. The two heavy hardbacks began to find their targets. Some of the words I managed to kill, some I injured and some I managed to beat into submission.

 The study was now a gory mess of red ink. I pointed commandingly at the blank page and bid them take their places. Reluctantly they shuffled onto the page and formed themselves into this post which now glares back at me like a sulky teenager who didn’t ask to be born.