Duel Monster Saviors

Ch. 20 – Summer Vacation!

Written by TheAmariaShadow

With Ranko’s victory over Seto Kaiba, Evaluation Week came to a sudden crawl. Student after student were subjected to their exams. Some passed, some failed, but everyone got to show off their capabilities as duelists. Once the week ended, school ended for the summer break and most of the student body left Duel Academy for their respective homes. All except for a certain band of misfits….

I groaned loudly as I walked back to the Slifer Red dorm carrying a bag of ice pops, easily fatigued from the overwhelming heat beating down on me. “Man, its so hot…..good thing I saved up my duelist points to grab a couple of these things.” I removed an ice pop from the bag I was carrying and immediately unwrapped it to take a bite of the sweet cold treat. I sighed contentedly as I exclaimed, “Ice cream in the summer is truly the best!” I entered the doors to my dorm as I immediately walked over to the elevator as I happened to spy someone else waiting at the doors of the elevator, someone with an oh-so familiar hairstyle. “Oh hey, Akio! What has you out and about today?”, I stated as I walked up to my friend. “Hm? Oh, hello Onyx. I see you have something to beat the heat today.”, Akio replied, noticing the half-eaten ice pop in my free hand. “Hm? Oh yeah. Its like I always say, ‘ice cream is best eaten in the summer.’ Here, have one. I bought plenty for everyone!”, I replied with a smile, offering the bag to Akio. He smiled as he took one of the ice pops as the elevator doors opened, the two of us stepping within it.

“So, you decided to stay here for the summer vacation, Akio? I figured you would’ve gone back home to spend time with family.”, I stated as the elevator lifted us to my floor. “I could say the same for you actually, Onyx. Wouldn’t you prefer to go home to your parents?”, Akio replied. I chuckled as I said, “Actually, me and my sister were gonna go back home, but she came up with an idea that would probably be more fun. And since most of our friends stuck around, this is the perfect opportunity to ask!” Akio raised a confused eyebrow as the doors opened onto our floor. I smiled as I said, “I do apologize, Akio. We meant to send you a message about it a few days ago, but with all the business of the Evaluation Week, we never did get an opportunity to ask. But, since you’re here with me, that just means we can ask everyone at the same time!” As I said that, the two of us walked over to the dorm room me, Crystal, and Mikey shared. Akio could hear multiple voices coming out of the room as I opened the door, surprised to see that Dash, Robin, Jessie, Ben, Miho, Ranko, and Leslie were there, alongside Crystal and Mikey as well.

“Wow, Cryssi. You even got Dash to come here as well? I’m honestly surprised he would deign to grace us with his presence.”, I said with a smug tone. “Zip it, Sairenji. The only reason I am here is because Miho asked me to come. But my patience wears thin! Why are we all here?!”, Dash exclaimed. I handed him an ice pop, watching him chomp into it impatiently, immediately getting hit with a twitch of brain freeze. Crystal giggled as she watched me hand everyone an ice pop as she said, “Well, now that everyone is here, me and Onyx can explain why we gathered you all here. So, as you may know, it’s officially summer vacation. Most of us have our own reasons to stay here on the campus, but let’s be real here: there’s really not much to do here on the island that hasn’t been done already during our time here, yes?”

Everyone nodded in agreement, Robin chimed as she said, “We’ve pretty much experienced most of the sights here on the island, so it is a little safe to say that we haven’t got much on the terms of new experiences here. But why bring that up, Crystal?” Crystal smiled as she said, “Most of the school staff here is on break, but I do know of one individual who’s still on campus that can help us with our little idea, soooo……I suggest we all go on a summer beach trip! We don’t often get to hang out together, so this would be the best time for us to goof off and have a little fun!”

“The beach?! Crystal, that sounds like a great idea! Did you have any place in mind for us to go?”, Jessie asked. I chimed in and replied, “Well, we planned for you guys to come back to our home dimension for this trip. Since Uncle Yami lives with us back on our home planet, he can easily get a Dimensional Key to get us from here to Mobius for this.” Leslie gasped in awe as he said, “Oh wow, going to a whole new planet? Talk about exciting. I’m in. What do you think, Ben?” Ben nodded as he said, “It would be nice to unwind after our first year of school. And since Onyx and Crystal are offering to treat us to this getaway, it would be rude of me to say no.” Ranko readjusted his glasses as he said, “My family sent me a message saying they would be out of town for a few weeks, so staying here on the campus was the best move for me. But, I can always send my parents a heads up on what’s going on so they won’t have to worry.” Miho smiled as she said, “You can count me in! Dash, how about you? You’ll go too, right? Think of all the fun we’ll get to have together!”

Everyone looked at Dash as a form of sweat appeared on his forehead. He scratched his head as he said, “Shacking it up with the Sairenji-Noroi twins in their home world, huh? Well, as much as I dislike the idea of being around them, I guess I can go since you asked, Miho. Plus, it’d give me an opportunity to duel that mother of theirs too.” I chuckled slightly as Dash said that and looked at Akio and asked, “So, what about you, new guy? You in too?” Akio crossed his arms as he closed his eyes in thought. ‘I’m still in the dark about why I was reincarnated back in this world. Considering this world has close ties to the Aelitatrix Bearer, I can only guess the cause of my return has to do with him. I also get the strong feeling that Onyx and Crystal are somehow tied to this. I’m not going to get to the bottom of this on my own, so as a start, I’d best stick close to these two. And maybe a breath of fresh air from all the mundane school work would do me so good..’

Akio smiled as he said, “Sure. I’d be glad to go.” I grinned as I said, “Alright! The whole gang is in! Well then, we should go see Yami right now before he slips off to who knows where. Crystal and I will take care of getting our lift there. You guys should go get packed and ready. This is going to be a great trip!” Crystal nodded in agreement as everyone left our room, the two of us immediately to the Grand Mansion.

As the two of us made our way to the Grand Mansion, Crystal messaged our mother and father of our plans to see what they had thought. Naturally, they were completely fine with the idea, but we still had to get permission from Uncle Yami first….

As we walked past the gates of the Grand Mansion, a sense of unease washed over me. It is said that if a student ever walked within the bounds of this building, they are almost guaranteed to be in some form of trouble. However, for the first time since we’ve arrived on Academy Island, I feel that maybe that silly rumor is just a silly rumor. Especially after seeing the sight I’m seeing now: why are Yugi and Kaiba lounging together in a pool?! Crystal’s face flushed beet red at the sight of Kaiba, which only got me very annoyed. Wait, am I jealous? OVER SETO KAIBA?! I definitely do not like this.

“Uhhh, Chancellors! Hello there!”, Crystal exclaimed. Kaiba looked our way and said, “Well, this is a first. Two students boldly walking onto the grounds of the Grand Mansion. Aren’t you worried of getting in trouble?” I smirked and said, “Us? Worried? Over that silly superstition? Ha! And ha, again! Still, we have business here. We’re looking for Prof. Nomura. Is he still on the island?” Kaiba climbed out of the pool and dried himself with a towel as he said, “Prof. Nomura, huh? I do believe he’s still on the island. Yugi, where was the last place we saw him?” Yugi chuckled as he laid his arms on the side of the pool and looked at us as he said, “Why, he’s right there behind you. Been there for a while, actually.” My eyes widened as I looked immediately behind me to see Yami staring back at me with a smile. What caught me off-guard was that he wasn’t wearing his usual attire, but instead was wearing a straw hat, a t-back t-shirt that bore the Sacred Seal on it, a pair of swimming trunks and a pair of sandals. “Well, hi there, you two!”, he exclaimed. We both jumped in shock over his sudden appearance, then immediately yelled at him in unison, “YOU HAVE REALLY GOT TO STOP SNEAKING UP ON PEOPLE, YAMI!”

Yami chuckled as he said, “Sorry, force of habit. So, you two were looking for me?” I cleared my throat as I reorganized myself as I asked, “Yes, we were. We were wondering if you could take us and a few of our friends back home to Mobius for a beach getaway?” Yami’s eyes widened as he readjusted his glasses and said, “Well, that’s a coincidence. I was actually heading back to Mobius myself to spend time with my own family. So, I will gladly take you and your friends with me. Just meet up with me back here when you are all ready to go.” I smiled as I said, “Of course! We’ll be back quicker than you can say Sonic the Hedgehog!”

With those words, we left Yami behind as we returned to our dorm room to pack our things. As time passed, the ten of us reconvened back at the Grand Mansion….

Yami counted each of us that was there and said, “And ten. Looks like all of you are here! So, you all ready to go?” I spoke up and said, “We’re ready, Yami. Let’s get the show on the road!” Yami smiled as he removed a gold key from around his neck and said, “This key shall be our ticket off Academy Island to Planet Mobius! Now, everyone follow me and try not to stray off the path.” We all nodded in unison as Yami turned away from us and lifted the key up high into the sky as he said, “With this Celestial Key, I summon the Dimensional Gate!”

And as if by magic, a large pillar of light appeared in front of us. The pillar widened as an large ornate door appeared, the Sacred Seal extending across the door proudly before us. Yami walked up to a section of the door and a keyhole appeared before him. With a loud audible click, Yami unlocked the doors as they opened wide to show a vortex of pulsating blue spatial energy – the Dimensional Rift in all its majesty. Our group immediately stepped into the passage before us, the doors closing immediately behind us before it vanished once more. Next stop: home….

“Wow, to think we’re actually inside the Dimensional Rift! It’s almost kind of intimidating. All this raw power surrounding us….it’s truly incredible.”, Mikey exclaimed as he looked around in awe of the environment. I chuckled as I looked at my friend and said, “Is this your first time entering the Rift, Mikey?” Mikey nodded as he said, “My home is actually Yugi’s home universe, the Millennium Dimension as people call it. So getting to Duel Academy is a lot faster from there than traveling through the Dimensional Rift.” Robin nodded in agreement as she said, “He’s right, Onyx. However, the Amaria Branch is hidden within a pocket universe in his timeline. I too originate from the Millennium Dimension, but I’m from Yusei’s time, which is 30 years in Yugi’s future. So I had to come through the Dimensional Rift to get there.” Ranko chimed in and stated, “The Amaria Branch is the only Duel Academy in existence that accepts students from all reaches of the multiverse! No matter if you’re a human or an animal, or from the past or future. If you have a love for dueling and intend to go pro, they will accept you with open arms!”

“Exactly right, Mr. Hibiki! The superintendent of our school wanted nothing but a place where all with a love for Duel Monsters could come and perfect their craft. In any case, we’ve arrived!”, Yami exclaimed. I looked around as we were surrounded by mountains upon mountains of Power Rings. Yami lifted one up and said, “I always wondered where all of Sonic’s Rings go after collecting so many. Guess I know now. Anyhoo, that gate there is our entrance to the Chaos Dimension!” I smiled as another gate came into view, but instead of the Sacred Seal being marked on it, this one was marked with etchings of the seven Chaos Emeralds. Seeing this gate was nostalgic for my sister and I.

“We haven’t seen this gate since we left for Duel Academy during our first week away. To think that half a year has gone by, huh Onii-chan?”, Crystal stated. I smiled as I replied, “Yeah, pretty crazy to think about. But its summer vacation, and our house is right on the beach! So, its time to soak up some rays and have some fun!” I felt a hand touch my shoulder as I turned to see Akio standing next to me. “I can’t wait to see your world, Onyx and Crystal. Traveling to a whole new universe is a first for me, so I’m kinda excited.” Yami chuckled as he took the same key from before and unlocked the gate ahead of us, the doors opening wide as the smell of saltwater greeted. Everyone was in awe as we stepped through the doors to be greeted by the ocean.

“Oh wow! It’s the beach!”, everyone exclaimed at once. “Home sweet home! Smell that Mobius air! Gosh, I missed this place!”, Crystal exclaimed as she dropped her bags and stretched her arms wide. I smiled as a voice rang out behind us and said,  “Hello, Duel Academy kids! Glad you guys made it all safe and sound!” I smiled even wider as I turned to the voice and gave the recipient a big hug, I immediately looked up to be greeted by my mother’s smiling face. “Hi, Mom! Long time no see!”, I exclaimed. Yuki giggled as she said, “Welcome home, Onyx!” She grunted slightly as Crystal ran over and hugged her too, Crystal saying, “Mom! Its so good to see you again!” Yuki giggled as she hugged her two kids gently and said, “My goodness, you two have gotten so big since I last saw you. So, how’s school treating you two?”

I was about to reply before Yami chimed in and said, “Aside from being a couple of troublemakers, these two are the rising stars of Slifer Red. The entire campus can’t keep their eyes off of them.” I frowned as I said, “Uncle Yami, we are not troublemakers!” Yami smirked as he said, “Oh please. Almost every week, you two misfits find something new to cause mischief. Then again, what else do I expect from Sairenji’s two kids?” Yuki released the two of us as she walked over to Yami and said, “Hello, bratty cat. Still causing my kids some grief?” Yami grinned as he said, “I’m their teacher. Its my job to cause stress for them, Sairenji.” Both Crystal and I immediately reacted as we saw sparks fly between our mother and Yami, Mikey chiming in as he said, “Those two seem pretty intense. Is there bad blood between them?”

Crystal scratched her head and laughed with an embarrassed tone as she said, “Not really, no. Those two have a bit of a sibling rivalry to each other. See, our family actually lives in Yami’s house.” Dash raised an eyebrow as he said, “You live TOGETHER?! I don’t even pity you guys. You have to deal with Prof. Nomura 24/7!” We both sighed as we said in unison, “Tell me about it.” Another voice laughed as it said, “Now now, you two. You know Yami means well. As your teacher, he’s going to make you two become great duelists!”

“Dad!”, I exclaimed as Raksha wrapped his arms around me and Crystal, giving the two of us a big hug. “Welcome home, my little imps! Hope you two haven’t missed us too much.” Crystal smiled as she said, Every day, Daddy. Every day.” Raksha chuckled as Yami looked at him and said, “Looks like you’re heading fishing.” Raksha nodded as he held his fishing pole and and net and said, “Yes I am. When Yuki told me you were bringing guests, I said I’d treat everyone to a fish fry tonight! I was just bringing my extra pole and net for Jiro who decided to help me out today.” I groaned as I said, “Oh boy. Jiro’s home too? I was hoping to spend these few weeks alone with my wife. Guess I’m not that lucky. Speaking of…”

Yuki pointed in the opposite direction and said, “Here she comes now. Looks like Jiro’s with her. Oiiii! Sanjiel! Jiro! Guess who’s home?!” Me and the other kids looked in the direction Mom was pointing, only for Yami to immediately be tackled to the ground by a gray furball. “Welcome home, kitten! I’ve missed you!”, one voice rang out, which was male in tone which belonged to what appeared to be a red-haired wolf. “Hi Jiro, good to see you too. I thought you were going to be busy during the summer.”, I exclaimed. Another voice spoke out as each of us looked to see another red-haired wolf, female in stature as she said, “He was. But after he heard that you were coming home from Duel Academy, he took the day off from work to see you. Welcome home, sweetie.” Yami smiled as he stood to his feet and walked over to the female wolf and kissed her gently and said, “Hi, Sanjiel. It’s good to be home.” Jessie rang out as she said, “Prof. Nomura! Aren’t you going to introduce us to these two?” Yami looked back at Jessie and said, “Of course. This here is Sanjiel Nomura-Noroi, my lovely wife. And this is Jiro – my husband.” Ben’s eyes widened as he said, “Husband AND Wife? You’re married to both of them?” Yami nodded as he said, “Yeah. They are…..quite the special duo. I’m quite happy with these two in my life.”

“Awww! That’s so adorable!”, Miho said with a bright blush, Yuki immediately chiming in as she said, “Now now, that’s enough introductions. Kids, our house is just up on the ridge there. Onyx and Crystal can lead you all there to drop off your things, so you can all enjoy the beach to your fullest!”

“Thank you, Ms. Noroi!”, the kids stated as Crystal and I lead them to our home.

Everyone was in awe over the place. See, our home was the only one in the nearby vicinity and all the land plus the beachfront all belonged to Yami and his family, so we had the entire place to ourselves! How cool is that? What’s more: the house was big enough to house us all quite comfortably. But, what surprised us that Mom and Dad had something special for us….

“Huh? Hey, check it out! There’s another house here!”, I exclaimed, seeing a slightly smaller house on the grounds of our home. We saw a sign saying Duel Academy Kids pointing towards it, which struck us as interesting. “Did they prepare a place for us to sleep? That’s very thoughtful of your parents!”, Akio stated as I opened the door, noticing a small kitchen, a living room with a gaming set up, and two doors labeled Boys Room and Girls Room. “No way!”, Mikey exclaimed, running into the Boys bedroom. “There’s beds for each one of us in here! Looks like we’re all going to be roommates!” Dash clicked his teeth as he joined Mikey in the room and placed his bags onto one of the beds. “Well, it’s not the Obelisk Blue dorms, but it’ll do.” I smiled as I said, “Alright guys! We should all get ourselves settled in, and then we should all hit the beach! Sound like a good idea?”

“Oooh, I’m definitely in! I even brought my swimsuit for this! This is going to be so much fun!”, Miho exclaimed. As if lightning surged through the air, most of the boys reacted on instinct to those words. ‘Did she just say swimsuit?!’, was the universal thought each of us thought. Jessie immediately replied and said, “You’ve got a swimsuit too, Miho? I can’t wait to see it! Alright, everyone! Lets get ready!”

As that was said, we all went our separate ways. As time passed, the boys got changed and made their way back down to the beach….

“Hey, where’s Leslie?”, I asked Ben who was applying some sunblock to himself. “He’s still changing. He should be joining us soon.” He passed around the bottle to everyone as Crystal said, “Alright, guys! We’re here!” We all turned around and we were all starstruck. Leading the charge was Crystal, wearing a two piece swimsuit with a built on skirt. Her figure was definitely on of the best developed out of the girls, and her attire definitely showed it off well. Jessie was wearing a multicolored bikini, which definitely fit her flamboyant personality to a perfect detail. She also wore a decent sized sunhat that was adorned with flowers. Robin was next, and she wore a flame-print bikini with a matching pair of swimming trunks. Seems like hers definitely fit with her tomboy personality well. Miho, on the other hand was wearing a red and white one-piece swimsuit, but she was…..definitely not hiding anything to imagination. What stood out the most was definitely Leslie, who was wearing a sports bra and shorts. Why is this guy so cute?! I’ll never understand it!

“I’m going to build the biggest sandcastle this planet has ever seen!”, Miho exclaimed as she ran past us, Jessie following in unison as she said, “No way! I’ll be the one who makes the biggest castle, Miho!” Leslie walked over to Ben and said, “Shall we go swimming, Ben?” Ben blushed brightly as he nodded, Leslie taking him by the hand to the water. Robin walked over to a nearby lounge chair and said, “Time to soak up some rays!” Crystal walked over to us and said, “Looks like everyone has their own plans for fun. Onyx, what do you intend on doing?” I smiled as I walked over to a surfboard on the ground and picked it up. “Isn’t it obvious, Cryssi? I’m gonna catch some waves! Gangway!”, I exclaimed as I ran to the water. Crystal giggled as she looked to her left and saw her mother also wearing a bikini with a kimono and said, “Looks like everyone is having fun.” Mikey’s eyes widened at the absolute sight of Yuki and said, “Wow, you’re beautiful!” He immediately clapped his hand to his mouth in embarrassment and said, “Did I just say that? That was embarrassing.” Yuki giggled as she winked at Mikey and said, “Thank you, young man. You’re not that bad looking yourself. Although, I’m certain that Kiriyama girl you like will get jealous if you’re caught staring at an older woman.” Mikey’s face flushed bright red as he yelled, “Onyx, wait for me! I’m coming too!” Yuki and Crystal laughed as Mikey ran away embarrassed, Dash looking at Yuki intensely as he immediately bowed and said, “Ms. Noroi, may I ask you something?!”

Yuki’s eyes widened as she said, “Oh, you’re that Dash boy Onyx and Crystal talk so much about. What is it, young man?” Dash looked up at Yuki and said, “I’d like to duel you, ma’am! I’ve heard you’re a great duelist, so I want to test my skills against a true pro!” Yuki smiled as she motioned towards a nearby dueling table and said, “Of course. I never say no to a challenge. I do hope you don’t an old-fashioned tabletop duel. My Duel Disk is being repaired by my twin brother at KaibaCorp at the moment.” Dash grinned confidently as he said, “That’s fine by me! Prepare for that win streak to be destroyed!”

Crystal watched as Dash and Yuki walked away, leaving her alone with Akio and Ranko. “So, what are you two going to do?” Ranko smiled as he pulled out a handheld metal detector. “I’m going to seek out buried treasure! See ya!”, Ranko exclaimed as he immediately started searching the beach for lost loot. Akio turned to Crystal and said, “Looks like its just us. Care to join me for a swim, Crystal?” Crystal smiled as she said, “Sounds like a lovely idea, Akio.”

And so, everyone was off doing their own thing. As time passed, a lot of goals were achieved: Dash learned quite quickly why Mom was undefeated in Duel Monsters, and was rather impressed that her skill rubbed off on her twins. Jessie and Miho came to a realization that their competition could be put to the side and they could easily create the greatest sand creation in existence, and they pooled their talents and made an exact replica of Amaria Island for all to see. Yami and Sanjiel were off by a nearby firepit grilling up all the fish that Dad and Jiro were catching for our dinner. Ranko had struck payday and found an actual gold doubloon! With his knowledge in appraising artifacts, he realized the doubloon was worth 500k, talk about a rare find! Akio and Crystal found some pretty nice seashells for each of us to keep as mementos during our time here. Leslie and Ben got to finally have a first date with each other. Those two are just too adorable together. Robin was able to get a pretty nice tan. She definitely been working on it for a while. As for me and Mikey, well, I kinda wiped out while I was surfing, so Mikey had to drag my body back to the beach to recuperate. Finally, night fell….

“Alright, guys! Raksha and Jiro caught plenty to eat, so there’s more than enough to go around. And Sanjiel was able to get us all plenty of drinks, so don’t hold back! Dig in!”, Yami exclaimed.

“Time to eat!”, everyone exclaimed as each of us indulged in the seafood feast. “Wow! This is really good! Prof. Nomura, I didn’t know you were such a good cook!”, Mikey exclaimed as he ate away at his food. Yami laughed confidently as he said, “Yes, praise me more!” Yuki smirked as she said, “Don’t be fooled. His cooking talents only go so far as fish, being a cat and all.” Yami growled in annoyance as he exclaimed, “Haaaaah?! I dare you to repeat that, Sairenji! Keep it up and you won’t get any of the fish!” Everyone laughed as Raksha sipped away at his drink and said, “What a perfect way to end a day: a meal with family and friends under a starlit sky next to a warm fire. Its absolutely perfect.” I nodded as I nudged Dash in his arm and said, “I heard you dueled Mom. Wanna talk about it, Dash?” A vein of anger popped onto Dash’s forehead as he said, “Zip it, Sairenji!” I laughed as I replied, “That sounds like the result was obvious! But that’s to be expected. Even Crystal and I have never beaten Mom in a duel!”

Sanjiel walked up to Yami as she leaned over and whispered something in his ear. Yami grew a serious look on his face and said, “Are you sure?” She nodded as Yami said, “Excuse me, everyone. I have to have a quick discussion with my wife.”

As the two of them walked away, I didn’t think too much about it. However, unbeknownst to my knowledge, these two were going to talk about something that would be very interesting for all of us….

“Amaria has sent word to us about the new timeline in the Millennium Dimension. They want you and those kids to travel there in a week’s time to connect the Rift to that world.”, Sanjiel stated. Yami looked out to the water and said, “So they’ve finally made up their minds, huh? Anything we need to know before we go there, Sanji?” She shook her head and said, “Just a word of caution. They have reason to believe that The Amaria Shadow could be lurking in that timeline. Be extra careful.” Yami nodded as he said, “But of course, Headmaster Noroi.”

As our night went on, none of us were aware of the conversation those two were having. However, things would definitely get much more exciting in the upcoming days. For now, we shall enjoy our vacation to the absolute fullest!

To be continued…..