Author's Note: Going into this story, I can't shake the feeling that a lot of the people who read it aren't going to like it because of the story's main romantic pairing. But this is a story that I've been wanting to tell for quite a long time now. This story is also one of the reasons why I abandoned my original ZEXAL Alternative idea, because it seemed like this story was too big to confine to my original idea. I don't know exactly how many times I've reinvented this story. I had to make some really major changes after I finally decided to abandon ZEXAL Alternative and just do Vampire Papillon. But I think the time has finally come for me to get this story off the ground.

So a few small things before getting into this tale. First of all, it takes place two years after the events of the anime. And as i mentioned in the summary, the events of this story take place during roughly the same time as the other story I just did, Vampire Papillon. Another thing I should mention is that the rating of this story may go up. It kind of depends on how far I want to take things. All that said, on with the show.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL.

Chapter 1: From the Past

It was almost noon as sixteen-year-old Rio Kamishiro sat looking out the window of the plane she was on. In the distance she could her plane's destination, a small city of mostly black and dark-grey buildings by the ocean known as Obsidian City. Rio was not alone on her trip to the city below. Her young green-haired doppelganger, Iris was sitting in the seat next to her with her nose buried in a magazine. In the seat next to Iris was a beaded man wearing an outfit similar to the kind an archeologist from an action movie might wear. This of course was the girls' chaperone on the trip, Kazuma Tsukumo.

The trip that Rio was on was more of a vacation than anything else. Over a week ago, someone had requested Kazuma's help in investigating some old ruins on an island across the water from Obsidian City. One of the teachers at Heartland Academy had gotten wind of this trip, and with Kazuma's agreement decided to reward the student with the highest score on the most recent exam with the chance to go with on the expedition. Rio had managed to get the top and had decided to go, as it seemed like it might be an interesting trip. She had also managed to arrange things so that Iris could go on the trip as well. Rio felt that the trip would be a good experience for the younger girl.

Within a few minutes, the plane finally touched down at the small airport of Obsidian City. The small bump of the landing gear hitting the tarmac caused Kazuma to awaken from the nap he was taking.

"Looks like we're here." Iris observed.

"We're supposed to meet Dr. Faker and Mr. Arclight at the airport, right?" Rio recalled.

"That's the plan." Kazuma replied. "They were supposed to have gotten here three days ago."

In moments, the plane had finished landing and allowed the passengers to disembark. As Rio and her companions made their way through the airport terminal, they found a somewhat odd-looking and very familiar duo waiting for them. One was an older man with bright orange hair wearing mostly black. The other was a person who appeared to be a boy with long very light-blonde hair tied in a braided ponytail that was slung over his left shoulder. The boy was dressed in blue and wore a strange iron mask. This duo of course was Kazuma's two friends, Dr. Faker and Byron Arclight.

"There you two are!" Kazuma greeted as he and the girls approached. "I hope you haven't been waiting for too long."

"Not at all." Byron replied. "Faker and I have only been here for a few minutes."

"I still don't see why you dragged me along on this trip." Faker grumpily told the blonde man-child. "I have work that I could be doing back in Heartland."

"Come now, Faker. You're long overdue for a vacation." Byron pointed out. "Besides, Kaito and Christopher are more than capable of handling things in our absence."

"He's right, Faker. Loosen up." Kazuma told the former mad scientist as he gave him a hard pat on the back. "It's not like your son's going to open a portal that unleashes a hoard of blood-sucking monsters from another dimension while we're here."

"Speaking of your sons, aren't Thomas and Michael supposed to be here too?" Rio asked.

"Yo!" a familiar voice spoke in answer to Rio's question.

Rio turned to see a young man with reddish-brown and yellow hair with a vertical scare under one of his eyes wearing a brown leather jacket with a yellow shirt and long white pants. This was Byron's second-oldest son, Thomas Arclight.

"Guess that answers that question." Rio responded.

"You guys have an okay flight?" Thomas asked.

"More or less." Rio answered. She then noticed that someone was still absent from the group. "Where's Michael?"

"He's been taking part on a local duel tournament that's been happening all over the city." Byron explained. "He's actually supposed to be in the final match in about an hour from now."

"Hey dad, don't you think we should get going now?" Thomas asked. "We don't want to miss Michael's duel."

"Patience, son. We still have to meet with the one who asked Kazuma to come here in the first place." Byron reminded him.

"Excuse me." A voice interrupted. "Would one of you happen to be Kazuma Tsukumo?"

The group looked, and standing before them was a young man who looked to be about seventeen or eighteen wearing a black suit with a grey shirt and red tie. He had pale skin and long very dark-brown hair that obscured his left eye. His right eye, on the other hand was a very striking emerald green.

"I'm Kazuma Tsukumo." The adventurer answered.

"A pleasure to finally meet you in person, sir." The young man greeted. "I'm Dante Fairbanks, the one who requested your assistance."

"I wasn't expecting you to be so young." Kazuma admitted as he shook Dante's hand.

"Yes, I'm afraid I get that a lot." Dante replied. "I assume the people with you are friends of yours."

"That's right." Kazuma confirmed. "This trip is sort of a vacation for us. I'm just sorry that my wife and kids couldn't be here too."

"Oh. So then I take it this lovely young woman with you isn't a relation of yours?" Dante asked upon turning to Rio. "Might I ask who you are?"

"I'm Rio." The bluenette replied. "Rio Kamishiro."

"Well Rio, I am truly privileged to meet an angel such as yourself." Dante responded before kissing Rio on the hand. He then looked and noticed Iris standing next to her. "Am I to assume the girl with you is your sister?"

"Uh, yeah, something like that." Rio replied. She and her brother had been claiming that Iris was their younger sister to avoid trying to explain Iris' uncanny resemblance to her, which they really didn't have an explanation for. "This is Iris."

"Well Iris, I'm happy to make your acquaintance as well." Dante told her.

"Hey dad, we really should get going now it we want to see Michael's duel." Thomas told Byron.

"Am I to take it that one of your party is taking part in the final duel of the Stone Royale Tournament here in the city?" Dante asked.

"That's right." Byron confirmed. "And Thomas is right, we really should be going now if we want to see it."

"Well then, allow me to provide you all with transportation." Dante offered. "My limo can get us all to the arena where the duel will held in no time."

The group gladly accepted Dante's offer, and a quick drive through the city later they made it to a packed stadium filled with people eager to see the last duel of the city's biggest tournament. Rio and the others had managed to get some seats in the front row to get a good view of the action that was about to take place.

"Welcome one and all to the final duel of the thirty-first annual Stone Royale Tournament!" a male voice announced over the stadium PA system. "We've seen some fiery duels all over the streets of our fair city yesterday. Now comes the final match to decide this year's champion. Our first contestant comes all the way from Heartland City. Please give a warm Obsidian City welcome to Michael Archlight!"

The youngest of the three Arclight Brothers walked up onto the stage in the middle of the stadium. When Michael glanced back, he noticed Rio and the others sitting in the stands and waved at them.

"And now, coming all the way from Neo Domino City is Michael's opponent." The announcer continued. "Please welcome Cleo Atlas!"

Rio's pinkish eyes widened upon hearing the name of Michal's opponent. Meanwhile walking onto the opposite side of the stage was a young woman who looked to be about eighteen. She was tall with fair skin and violet eyes, and long black hair that went half way down her back. Her face had very regal-looking features that could make one think she was a member of royalty. The young woman's outfit consisted of a black leather jacket with a red t-shirt, tight grey jeans and black boots. Hanging from her neck by a thin silver string was a small snowflake-shaped pendant encrusted with blue gems.

"It's nice to meet you." Michael greeted to Cleo. "I hope you and I can have a fun duel."

Cleo said nothing to Michael. Instead she simply put on her D-Gazer and waited for the signal to start.

"By decision of the coin toss, Cleo shall have the first turn." The announcer continued. "Let the duel begin!"

With that, Cleo and Michael activated their duel disks as everyone in the audience activated their own D-Gazers. The color of the surrounding area in the stadium changed slightly, signaling that the duel was ready to start.

Cleo drew her first card. "First I shall set three cards on the field. Then I summon Archfiend Heiress in Defense Mode!"

Appearing on Cleo's side of the battlefield in a kneeling position was a girl with purple skin and a head of hair made of transparent purple tentacles. On her back was a tattered black cape, and a demonic-looking skull with large curved horns covered the top half of her face.

"I end my turn." Cleo announced.

Michal scowled a bit as he drew his first card. He took a moment to look at his hand before making his first move. "I set one card on the field. Then I summon Chronomaly Colossal Head in Defense Mode!"

Appearing on Michael's side of the field was a large black stone carved in the shape of a head. The face of the head had yellow eyes, and on the top of the head was a thick red stripe.

"Looks like Michal's playing defense for this first turn." Thomas observed. "I guess I would too if my opponent had three face-down cards out."

"On the other hand, it seems your brother has prepared an excellent counterattack." Dante spoke. "From where I'm sitting I can see the cards in his hand. The card he set on the field was the Trap, Xyz Backlash. If his opponent summons an Xyz Monster, Michael's Trap will destroy it and deal 1000 points of damage for each of its overlay units."

"Cleo won't use an Xyz Monster." Rio told them.

"How do you know that?" Thomas asked.

"Trust me. I know." Rio told them.

"I end my turn." Michael announced.

"That's it?" Cleo asked. "I was hoping that since this was the final duel of this tournament, I'd finally be facing someone who'd be more of a challenge. But it looks like you're just another weakling, just like all the other worms I've faced in this tournament. I hardly know why I even bothered to take part."

"Are you going to make a move or not?" Michael asked.

"Oh don't worry. I'm going to make your demise a quick one." Cleo assured him as she drew her next card. "I summon Phantom King Hydride in Attack Mode!"

Materializing on the battlefield was a knight on the back of a black horse with a blonde tail and mane. The knight was clad in silver armor and long blonde hair peeked out from beneath his helmet.

"And now I activate my Trap, Shapesister!" Cleo announced.

Suddenly appearing next to Cleo's other monsters was a blob of silver liquid metal. The metal began to change shape and formed into the top half of a female figure with red eyes. Growing from the back of her head in place of hair were long thick silver tendrils that each ended with a sharp point.

"A Trap Monster?" a surprised Michael observed.

"Not just a Trap Monster, a Tuner." Cleo observed with a smirk. "Hydride is a Tuner as well. But I can use him as a non-Tuner if needed. So I now tune the level two Shapesister into the level three Archfiend Heiress and level three Phantom King Hydride for a level eight Synchro Summon!"

Shapesister's body flashed orange before changing into two rings of green light. The rings encircled Cleo's other two monsters and changed them into six white stars.

"The ruler's heartbeats will now file through here! Take witness to its creation-shaking power!" Cleo chanted. "Synchro Summon! My very soul, Red Dragon Archfiend!"

The stars flashed and became a massive pillar of white light. The light faded after a moment to reveal a muscular black and red dragon with three tan horns on its head. The two horns on the sides of its head curved forward, while the third horn went straight back. Michael and most of the audience members were completely shocked upon seeing the dragon. The only one who wasn't shocked was Rio.

"No way…" Michael spoke. "Red Dragon Archfiend? Then… you must be…"

"So you finally figured it out." Cleo spoke. "I am Cleopatra Elizabeth Atlas, daughter of Jack Atlas! Prepare to be crushed!"

"Jack Atlas's daughter?" Thomas exclaimed. "How'd Michael end up with an opponent like her?"

"I attack Colossal Head with Red Dragon Archfiend!" Cleo announced. "And at this moment I activate my second Trap, Strike Slash! This card not only raises my dragon's ATK to 3700, it allows it to inflict damage even when destroying a monster in Defense Mode!"

The dragon struck the stone head with a punch covered in a massive ball of red flames. The large stone carving shattered apart, and Michael's life points dropped to 1900.

"Now I activate my final Trap, Lineage of Destruction!" Cleo announced. "Since I just destroyed a monster in Defense Mode, this card allows Red Dragon Archfiend to make a second attack!"

"What?" Michael exclaimed.

"Red Dragon Archfiend, attack this weakling directly!" Cleo commanded. "Absolute Power Force!"

Another large ball of red flames covered the dragon's fist as he moved in to strike Michael. The blow knocked the redheaded duelist onto his back and dropped his life points to zero. The force of the attack also caused the Trap Michel had set in his duel disk to fall out. With the duel at an end, Red Dragon Archfiend vanished and the color of the surrounding area returned to normal. The audience was completely silent.

"A one-turn-kill." Dr. Faker observed. "This girl seems to be as ruthless as her legendary father."

"None of the Trap cards that Cleo used were cards that could block attacks." Kazuma noted. "If Michael had attacked, this duel might've gone differently."

At this point, Thomas left his seat to go down to the stadium floor. Rio followed after with Iris and Dante. Meanwhile, Cleo walked up to Michael and picked up the card that had fallen from his duel disk.

Upon looking at the card, Cleo threw it back in Michael's face. "An anti-Xyz Monster card? That was your defense? Pathetic! A duelist needs to prepare countermeasures for any kind of monster, not just a single kind. I would've had more of a challenge facing a five-year-old. Duelists like you sicken me to no end."

"Hey!" Thomas protested as he stormed up onto the stage.

"And who are you supposed to be?" Cleo asked.

"Never mind who I am!" Thomas shot back. "Where the hell do you get off talking to my brother like that?"

"This worm I just crushed is your brother?" Cleo indifferently replied. "If you think that will earn my sympathy, you're sadly mistaken."

"It's okay, Thomas." Michael told him as he finally got back to his feet. He then turned his attention to Cleo. "You really are good, but do you really need to be so harsh with your opponents?"

"Let me make one thing clear to you both." Cleo responded. "In a duel, the important thing is to crush your opponents and see them driven before you! Anything else is unacceptable."

"Looks like you haven't changed a bit since the last time I saw you." Rio spoke as she walked onto the stage.

Cleo's eyes went wide upon seeing the blunette. "Rio? …Is… is that really you?"

"It's been a long time, hasn't it?" Rio replied.

"Uh, yes… yes it has." Cleo agreed. "You look well."

"Thanks." Rio replied. "Now do you mind laying off my friends?"

"These two are friends of yours?" Cleo realized. "I see…. In that case I apologize for some of the things I just said."

"That was truly a magnificent performance, Ms. Atlas." Dante declared as he walked onto the stage with Iris. "You are a credit to your father's legacy."

"Are you another one of Rio's friends?" Cleo asked.

"Actually, I only just met Rio this afternoon." Dante admitted. "But I would like you to know that I am a huge fan of your father's."

"Thanks." Cleo replied. "Now if you'll excuse me, I should probably be going now. It was really nice to see you again, Rio."

With that, Cleo began to walk down the steps of the stage. Half way down, she tripped and fell the rest of the way. The dark-haired girl grumbled to herself as she got to her feet and dusted herself off. When she was done, Cleo silently walked away from the stage.

"What a bitch!" Thomas declared.

"She's really not that bad." Rio told them. "Cleo's sort of… an acquired taste."

With the tournament over, people left the stadium in droves. Dante took Rio and the others back to the hotel where they were going to be staying for the duration of the trip. Rio and Iris had ended up sharing a room with twin beds. It wasn't the biggest room the hotel had, but it was fairly large and quite clean. After each of the girls picked which bed they were going to use, Rio began to unpack her bags.

"Pretty big day so far, huh?" Rio remarked.

"Yeah." Iris agreed as she sat on the side of her bed. "So how do you know that girl, Cleo? Is she a friend of yours?"

Iris's question caused Rio to pause in her unpacking. She knew that Iris or one of the others was going to ask that question at some point, yet at the same time hoped that nobody would. Cleo was kind of a hard subject for her to talk about.

"…I met Cleo a long time ago in Heartland." Rio revealed. "And yes, we were friends."

"Hard to believe that you could be friends with someone so mean." Iris remarked.

"Cleo may seem rough on the outside, but in reality she's a very kind person." Rio told her. "We ended up becoming very good friends during the time she was in Heartland."

"When did the two of you meet?" Iris asked.

"It was the winter before that little accident that put me in the hospital for a long time." Rio answered. "Cleo and her parents were staying in the city at the time. They ended up having to leave soon after I was put in the hospital."

"That accident you're talking about, is that the duel you had with Thomas back when he was calling himself IV?" Iris asked.

"That's the one." Rio confirmed as a look of sadness came to her face. "Cleo and I had a pretty big fight about me going to see Thomas almost right before it happened. I never saw her again after that. At least not until today."

"So you never patched things up?" Iris asked.

"She didn't even come to see me after I wound up in the hospital." Rio answered.

"Well, maybe this is the chance for you and her to patch things up." Iris suggested. "You still like her, right? Why not take this time for you and her to talk things out?"

Rio had to admit that her younger twin had a point. Fate had brought her and Cleo together again, and perhaps there was a reason for that. If Rio had any regrets, one of the biggest was how she and Cleo had left things. She was very hesitant though. While it did seem like there was a chance for her and Cleo to patch things up, there was also a very real possibility that all she and Cleo would end up doing was open up old wounds.

Author's Note: Sorry if this story is kind of starting off slow. I had actually thought about waiting until I get the second chapter done before putting this story up, but I'm not really sure when I'm going to have the second chapter done. I haven't really had a lot of time on my hands lately. The Trap card that Michael didn't use in this first duel is a card that I had made up for this story. In my own way, I was kind of trying to make a point about how everything was all about Xyz Monsters in ZEXAL.

Pleas review and let me know what you think.