Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V: The Fifth Factor(slow updates)

Chapter 11 - Predator and Prey

"Are you truly certain about what you told us before?"

Yuya asked Yukio with an anxious look while the two of them alongside Gongenzaka were running through the Ancient Ruins Area.

"I'm almost ninety-nine percent sure my theory is correct, Yuya." Yukio responded. "Since Academia captured Ruri and Rin, and is also after Serena, it stands to reason that Yuzu is their target as well."

After joining with Yuya and Gongenzaka, and being introduced to Dennis Macfield, Yukio had informed them of his assumption that Academia sought to capture Yuzu alongside Serena, sending Yuya into a tailspin briefly. After he finally calmed down, the four youths agreed to split up and look for the two girls since none of them appeared to be in the Iceberg Area. While Yukio, Yuya and Gongenzaka headed for the Ancient Ruins Area, Dennis volunteered to go back to the Jungle Area and enlist Teppei and Michio's help in locating the girls. Whether they found them or not in any of these two Areas, the two groups would reconvene in the Volcano Area in order to plan out their next move.

"I still think we shouldn't have let Dennis set out for the Jungle Area on his own." Gongenzaka frowned. "It is way too dangerous for any Duelist to be moving around alone when we don't know how many members of the Obelisk Force still remain."

"I know, but he insisted he would be fine and would make sure to avoid any confrontations until he joined with Teppei-kun and Michio-kun." Yukio pointed out. "Since the Obelisk Force seems more focused on accomplishing their mission than taking us native Duelists out, he should be fine as long as he doesn't get in their way."

"More importantly, where could Yuzu be?" Yuya had an anguished expression on his face. "Right now, she could be captured, or worse, carded. Damn, I knew it was a bad idea to go through with her plan of everyone splitting up during the tournament..."

In any other circumstances, Yukio would have poked fun at how Yuya's concern for Yuzu's safety seemed to go beyond that of a mere friend, but now was hardly the time for that. After Yuya's grisly account of how the two participants from the Knight of Duels got turned into cards before his eyes, Yukio's desire for levity had swiftly vanished. His own experience with the Obelisk Force wasn't particularly amusing, mostly because of the fact that he barely recalled the Duel due to the influence of the mysterious darkness. However, he was certain they had turned five of the Senior Lancers into cards before Yugo intervened and saved the other three from sharing the same fate as their comrades.

In any case, after running for several minutes, the three of them reached an ancient temple where, according to Gongenzaka's words, Kurosaki appeared to be Dueling against someone earlier. However, he wasn't able to see much more than that at the time since he was busy restraining Yuya, who had inexplicably gone berserk. Yukio was quite disturbed upon finding out that Yuya's 'episode' coincided with his. However, there would be time to delve more deeply into this matter later, since locating Serena and Yuzu was of the utmost importance right now.

"No-one's here." Yuya remarked after the three boys entered the now empty temple. "Either Kurosaki was victorious and moved to another area...or he lost and got turned into a card. Regardless, it doesn't change the fact that we're still out of leads regarding the girls' whereabouts."

"We've checked most of the Ancient Ruins Area on our way here." Gongenzaka said. "I, the man Gongenzaka, think it's safe to assume that neither Yuzu nor Serena are here at the moment."

"In that case, we had best move to the Volcano Area and keep looking." Yukio suggested. "Who knows, perhaps Dennis and the rest have already discovered the girls and are waiting for us there."

"Sounds like a plan." Yuya nodded. "Let's hurry. For some reason, I have a really bad feeling about all this."

Without another word, the three of them began running once more, ignoring the soreness of their feet and the pain in their joints. After several minutes, they arrived at the Volcano Area, slowing their pace down into a fast walk as they kept their eyes peeled for any sight of the girls they sought.