I own nothing. Warning, may contain Out of Character moments.

After such a statement, the others could only give the entertainer a shocked and confused stare. Even Yuri began questioning what was going through his Standard counterpart's mind, silently wondering if he was simply joking. But the look on Yuya's face says it all, he was serious. Before anyone else could say anything else, Yugo blurted out the first thing that came to his mind.

"That's bullshit!"

"You're right, he doesn't look like the kind of guy that would turn over a new leaf." Ruri agreed, glaring at the Fusion Vassal. Yuri only glared back, refusing to buckle under the pressure.

"Why not? Serena changed sides when Yuzu told her about the invasion of the Xyz dimension. Yuri may have had some life changing revelation that made him reconsider everything he did." Yuya argued. Yuri shuffled slightly to the Standard Vassal's statement, though it went unnoticed by everyone else. He wore a cautious expression, one that focused on monitoring what words would come next.

"Sure, I changed sides… But that's because I didn't know anything about the war. That bastard already knew everything, inside and out, and fought with a twisted smile on his face. He kidnapped Yuzu and the others, remember?" Serena replied, arms folded.

"I know and I still hate him for what he did to you, me, and everyone else… But I can't ignore this and pretend it's nothing. Yuri is changing, I have a feeling he is."

"A feeling? You're asking us to trust you over a feeling?" Yuto asked. The entertainer could tell that he wasn't convinced, nor was anyone else. Yuya sighed, knowing that it was going to be an uphill battle, one that he was still fighting. Yuya didn't know why he considered Yuri, the man who personally kidnapped Yuzu and carded his Father, someone worth redeeming… But he did, which is why he's going against everyone else.

"It's not just a feeling, has he showed any sign of his old self? The wicked and bloodthirsty smile? The sadistic boasting? Being a narcissist? No, he hasn't. And I don't think he's hiding it either." Yuya said. The entertainer was firm in his tone, Yuzu felt that and found it slightly harder to argue against him. Yuto felt similarly and began to think back on their interactions with Yuri when they all met again. While he was generally eerie, the Xyz Vassal soon found that the Fusion Vassal wasn't overtly antagonistic to anyone of them. There was no mocking or manic laughter, just moderately disagreeable statements and sarcastic remarks. That still didn't sit well with Yuto, but he could see why Yuya was making his case.

"For fuck's sake! Just look at him! And tell me that you don't see EVIL written all over him!?" Yugo shouted. They looked at the Fusion Vassal, appearing calm, neutral, and only showed the bare minimum of emotion.

Ruri chose to look into the eyes of the Fusion Vassal for any answers. She gave the Vassal a good long suspicious stare… And in those amethyst colored irises, was something contemplative and penitent, though she could also tell that Yuri was trying to hide it. Ruri looked away when the Fusion Vassal's gaze turned to her, not wanting to give him the wrong idea.

Serena observed his body, paying attention to any signs that would give her information. She didn't know a lot about Yuri, the reason being that she never met him at all. But based on what Yuzu and Ruri said, he acted a lot like her when she was on Academia's side, confident and took shit from no one. However, she could see that the Fusion Vassal was anything but relaxed, standing tense and subtly making uncomfortable movements.

Rin didn't know what to look for. Her gut told her that Yuri was a bad man and agreed with Yugo on the matter… But she also felt that she could trust Yuya's words. This conflict confused her to no end and hoped that someone would say something that would help her.

Yuzu carefully made note of Yuri, comparing what she sees and feels to what she saw and felt in the past. And she had to hesitantly admit, the Fusion Vassal in front of her was a far cry from what he was four years ago. She also trusted her best friend to know what he's doing, being that he had a unique perspective on the world and people around him.

Though it was still rather disconcerting that the entertainer was willing to defend someone that has inflicted so much pain and suffering to both him and everyone present. Yuzu can't help but wonder if the Fusion Vassal had done something to Yuya that would FORCE him to take his side. Like using one of those creepy parasites to control him…

She turned to her best friend at that thought and began taking notes on him. She wanted to believe that he chose to defend his counterpart on his own free will… But after raising the possibility to herself, Yuzu can't help but feel worried that the entertainer has been influenced by unsavory forces. Unfortunately, there are no ways to identify a parasite host without the help of technology… So as much as she didn't want to, Yuzu will have to play by HIS rules for now.

Hoping for the best that her troubling thoughts are just that, troubling thoughts.

"I'm not seeing anything." Yuzu lied.

"I'm not seeing anything either…" Ruri agreed, sounding defeated.

"This is too good to be true…" Serena commented, denial dwelling in her voice.

"Oh come on! Rin! What do you think!?" Yugo shouted before facing the girl in question.

"Why me!? I don't know what to think! I just met him!"

"What does your gut say!?"

"Okay... After what everyone else said and what I put together… He doesn't seem that bad even though I still have a bad feeling about him." Rin answered. The Synchro Vassal did his best to not shout directly at her, seeing that she's already been through enough problems. So he first turned to his Fusion counterpart and THEN he let out his frustration, screaming at the top of his lungs.

"God damn it! He's EVIL! Just look at his…!"

The Synchro Vassal began to search for any bit of evidence that could be used against his counterpart. But the more he looked, the more he couldn't find. Yuri was still neutral and also waited for what his counterpart's answer, eyes curious and interested. But that wasn't what Yugo was looking for, he was looking for anything that would convict the man of evilness. Like before though, there was absolutely nothing Yugo could see that would indicate Yuri's wickedness.

"… Forget it. But you still can't be serious about all this?" Yugo asked, giving up on his search.

"I am. I haven't forgotten what he did and I'll probably never will… But that doesn't mean he shouldn't get a chance to redeem himself, get a chance to be more than what we think he is." Yuya answered, tone firm and without hesitation.

"More than what other's think…" Yuri mumbled, low enough for no one to hear.

"You're not going to back down from this, are you?" Yuzu asked, sternly staring into her best friend's eyes. The Standard Vassal simply nodded, meeting the gaze with one of equal intensity. Not another word was said as the two from Standard continued their silent standoff. But Yuzu broke away first with a sigh as she began thinking…

"Yuri, please come over here." She said after a moment. Yuri raised an eyebrow to the request, not knowing what her intention was. But he wasn't someone who went against orders, being molded into Academia's finest prevented that. So with a stiff step forward, he approached Yuzu and halted when he was in front of her. Yuzu simply had a small smile on her face and before anyone could realize, she grabbed the Vassal and threw him into the closest wall.

"Yuzu!" Yuya shouted, darting to the girl. Why did she do that? Did his words fall on deaf ears? Before any of those thoughts were answered, he was stopped by Serena, who was more than enough to hold him in place.

"I'm really sorry, but it's important that he understands a few rules." Serena said calmly, pushing back the entertainer. Yuya could only clench his fists and grit his teeth at the sight of Yuzu gripping Yuri by his collar, pinning the Fusion Vassal to the wall. He wanted to shout, but Yuzu began talking before the entertainer could.

"I don't know why Yuya decided to give someone like you a second chance, but I want you to listen to me very carefully… If I find out that you're up to your old tricks, or that you did something to Yuya to make him give you a chance… I'm going to RUIN you, just like how you ruined us. So I dare you to step out of line… Give me a reason to hurt you… Because that'll be the last mistake you'll ever make…"

The entertainer felt saddened by his best friend's words, feeling the sting of her threat even though it wasn't directed at him. While he knew the war wore down on her kindness and that she held a special kind of hatred for Yuri… Yuya wished she didn't have to resort to this sort of violence.

Yuri only nodded to the girl's threat, not wanting to say anything that could further provoke the girl. He could feel the strength and rage in the knuckles digging into his chest… Yuzu released the Vassal and stepped away, causing Yuri to simply slump against the wall. She looked to the girls and gave them a nod, causing them to walk towards their respective rooms.

"Where are you going?" Yuto asked.

"We're changing. If we're going out into the world, we're going to need something a little more practical." Ruri answered.

"Then I guess we'll wait right here." Yugo replied.

"Yeah, go do that." Serena said. Yuzu knew that Yuya wanted to say something about what she just did. But given how he was still silent, she understood why and simply moved along. She betrayed his ideals and no amount of explaining would fix the damage she caused to their relationship.

When she placed Yuri so close to the edge… Yuzu found herself standing there with him.

And that was Chapter 9 of Act 1! Not much humor here since it's a fairly serious subject, what with Yuri being judged. Still, what do you think about this chapter? Was it good? Did you feel any feelings? What were you doing while reading this chapter?

"What does that last one have to do with this story?"

I just wanted to throw out a random question. Now shush, I'm tired and I want to get this over with.

"Oh, forceful. If only you're like that more often."

If that's what you want, then so be it. Anyway, you know the entire song and dance I usually write here, so I'll just end it now.

Until next time. T1.