Who honestly expected Sherry to kiss Akiza? That's what one calls a plot twist.
Yusei lied soundly and quietly in his bed, unaware that his mind was now the deepest place Sherry had reached. She could've waked him up and persuaded Yusei right then and there to choose her over Akiza. But she didn't. Sherry wanted Yusei to come to that decision by himself, with a little subliminal help. That could've been in his next dream.
In this realm Yusei controlled (to some extent), he was in a second Turbo Duel with Sherry. His field had Turbo Warrior ready to attack. Sherry's field only had Centaurmina and one facedown card.
"Ready?" he called out. "Turbo Warrior's coming after your Centaurmina!" The car-like mechanic warrior speared the beast-warrior into an explosion of pixels. The force from the attack reverberated too close to home for Sherry and she fell off of her runner onto the duel lane. Going from duelist to everyday Samaritan, Yusei stopped his own runner, got off, and tended to Sherry for any injuries.
"Is everything okay?" the lead Signer questioned with concern in his voice as he cradled Sherry in his arms. "No broken bones, bruises, or anything like that?" All the French woman did was nod no.
"That's just like you, Yusei," Sherry said calmly. "You always take it upon yourself to make sure everyone is okay around you." She brushed the back of her right hand across Yusei's marked cheek, creating goose bumps on it. He blushed lightly at this.
"It's just in my nature," Yusei chuckled slightly. "I could care less about the match right now. It does no good if you can't play." He slowly stood up on his feet, carrying Sherry up with him, so she could get back to riding.
"Looks like I'm all right," the French woman concluded. "But don't leave me yet, Yusei. There's only one way to thank you properly." He walked up to Sherry, and she leaned in close to him, cupping his face in the process, and laid her lips over his. The lip lock only lasted two seconds. When Sherry pulled away from him, still holding his face in her hands, they stared at each other in silence. Yusei nodded and Sherry did the same, and sure enough, their lips were joined again. This time, the lock lasted for what seemed like forever. It was not to be seen, as the fabric of the dream slowly became awash in white light.
Yusei's eyes shot open quick enough to be stung by the early morning sun. He wiped the crust of the corners of his eyes and sat up to contemplate what he just dreamed of.
"Either my mind's playing tricks on me or Sherry knows how to make a case for herself," he thought to himself. "Let's just hope it won't go too extreme." Yusei rolled to his feet and went about his morning ritual to prepare for the day ahead, where he hoped to think about this situation by himself.
Meanwhile, Sherry, up bright and early, was walking to Akiza's residence. She figured she may as well relay her recent efforts to "persuade" Yusei to the former Black Rose. She strolled up to the front door, rang the doorbell, and patiently waited for someone to answer. Not long after the bell echoed through the house, the sound of locks turning and the knob rotating gave fair notice that someone was home.
"Who is it?" Akiza said in a tired voice as she opened the door to see Sherry standing before her. "Oh. It's you. What do you want?"
"Not even a 'good morning'?" the French woman asked sarcastically. "No matter. I'm here to tell you that I've gotten Yusei to consider me in a way you can only hope to reach." Akiza felt the steam rush out of her nose (metaphorically) and slapped Sherry without thinking twice.
"Hitting, Akiza? Aren't we both above that?" Sherry calmly questioned her female counterpart while feeling her face for any stings.
"Shut it," the psychic duelist commanded the French woman with spite. "You are not, I repeat, not, going to steal Yusei from me. He and I have a longer history together."
"All right, I'll grant you that," Sherry surrendered in that capacity. "You two have known each other longer. But will it really matter?"
"It most certainly will," Akiza spat while pushing Sherry back with one hand. "Yusei and I have forged a connection with each other in our adventures and battles. And let's not forget: it was my psychic abilities paired with his Stardust Dragon that saved all three of us from being crushed by that truck."
"Very well," the French woman seemed to agree. "Then why don't we settle this with a duel?"
"What?" Akiza asked suddenly.
"You heard me," Sherry reiterated. "Rather than each of us trying to one-up the other, we'll duel to decide who truly is worthy of Yusei's heart."
"Deal," Akiza said with confidence.
With neither woman wanting to go in a Turbo Duel in the hours following pre-dawn, they settled on a traditional ground match. The field itself was Akiza's backyard.
"You know you can still surrender to prevent humiliation," Sherry teased from afar.
"You talk the talk, bitch," Akiza countered. "But can you walk the walk?" Their duel disks were activated and they were off to the races.
"I'll go first since we're in my backyard," the psychic duelist stated with anger as she drew her sixth card. "I'll kick things off with an Evil Thorn." A life-size Venus flytrap sprouted from the ground in response to the summoning.
"And with its special effect, I can sacrifice it to slam you with three hundred points of damage," she continued as the flytrap launched a barrage of thorns at Sherry, reducing her score to 3,700.
"Not only that, from one thorn comes two," she added as two more flytraps, identical to the first, sprouted to her left. "I'll end with one facedown card." The back of a duel card materialized behind one of the flytraps.
"Is that all?" Sherry quizzed her opponent as she drew her sixth card. "I would've expected more." She placed a card on the field and a dark hole hid her from Akiza.
"With Polymerization, I can combine Sacred Knight's Spearholder with Horse of the Floral Knights to create a new monster," she explained as a horse in armor and a knight grasping were swallowed in the dark hole. "Meet Centaurmina!" From out of the sky galloped a female form of the fabled Centaur.
"Attack that Evil Thorn!" Sherry commanded her monster as it raised its sword, ready for combat.
"You set off my Wall of Thorns trap," Akiza countered as her facedown card flipped up. "By attacking my Evil Thorn, Centaurmina will have to make an early exit."
"That's what you think," Sherry interrupted while Akiza's trap was set facedown again. "With Centaurmina, I can negate one trap card each turn and reset it." With the coast all clear, the female Centaur rocketed in and sliced that thorn to bits, severely damaging Akiza's overall score to 1,900.
"Who's walking the walk now?" Sherry boasted.
That's right folks: Sherry and Akiza are dueling for Yusei now. As for Akiza hitting Sherry a few times, I felt it added drama. Review on what you like or didn't like. Be watching for the next part.
