Words: 1,500/5,000||Chapters: 3/10


"Which branch do you come from?" Rio asked as she and Asuka made their way through the ruined streets. Her steps were light and quick as they did so, and she kept an endless watch ahead and around them.

Asuka already had that part of her backstory covered. "Star School." She shook her head, eyes downcast for a heartbeat. "I don't think there's anyone left." There wasn't. Obelisk Force had completely cleaned the place out and they'd even checked the school records to be certain no strays would turn up.

Rio nodded before ducking into the wreckage of a building, dragging Asuka with her.

"Soldiers," she murmured, lips pressed up against Asuka's ear. Both of them remained deadly silent, letting the trio of Academia fighters march by. Their laughter echoed on the cold wind, cruel and mocking, fading away as they drew out of sight.

Rio cast a glance after them, eyes narrowed and full of hate. She said nothing else before turning to check out where they were, some of the rage fading a bit as she moved forward.

"I'm mostly on a supply run. We need as much food, blankets, and clothes as we can get." An expression that might have been a smile touched on her lips. It didn't look all that happy. "Duel discs and cards, too. Real cards." Her chilly gaze flicked towards Asuka. "For those who don't have their own decks."

"I used to have one," Asuka murmured, following Rio as she began to search around. "But I lost it and my deck a while ago."

"What do you run?" Rio asked, opening a door and pulling out blankets.

"Nothing consistent. I hadn't really found one that I liked well enough for that." And the idea of using anything but Fusion rather revolted her. She'd spent so much time learning how to do it and she wasn't going to stop now. She would have to XYZ summon if she dueled here, of course…

Rio piled blankets into her arms and prowled throughout the rest of the place, checking for anything else she deemed useful. "We'll get you a good deck, then."

Asuka nodded, trying her best to look enthused by this. She knew Selena would keep her real deck safe until she could come back for it.

As soon as I find Kurosaki Ruri and can take her back home. Or somewhere. She knew her mission; she wouldn't fail in her mission. But she would decide what success actually meant. The thought of what the Professor really wanted worried her. Not all of this quite made sense…

At the very basis, did they have enough people to literally take over three other worlds? These worlds had millions of people in them, maybe even billions. How many did their army have? What about the opposing armies of this world, the ones that didn't use cards?

Something wasn't right about all of this and Asuka long since determined that she would find out what it was.


To Be Continued

Notes: Asuka will cross paths with Ruri in due time. I want to get the seeds of her eventual change of heart planted and if she met Ruri too soon it wouldn't happen like that.