A/N: Hi, everyone! Just wanted to take a second to apologize for my prolonged absence; to everyone who was disappointed by the lack of updates for so long, I'm very sorry. In any case, while I haven't been actively working on Infinitas lately, I still have a handful of chapters for Infinitas that are ready to post (I never posted them for some reason?) so here we are. ;D

Chapter 21: Viper Tournament Day 1

Skylar got a very severe talking to from Miruna when she returned, not so much for the running off without telling anyone, but for the running off and coming back beaten up and bruised.

"Skylar," Miruna said in worried exasperation as she helped her friend squirm out of her sweater so that she could examine the injuries on her back, "what were you thinking, going off alone like that? What if that letter had been sent by a psychopathic serial killer or something? I could be staring down at your corpse right now!"

"But you're not," Skylar felt obligated to point out, trying to roll her shoulders forward and wincing when the slightest bit of movement had her muscles seizing up in complaint. "Because the letter wasn't sent by a psychopathic serial killer."

"No," Miruna said dryly, "just by some mysterious guy who handed you your ass in a duel. With Normal Monsters, no less."

"I got distracted," Skylar replied defensively. "Okay? It could have happened to anyone. Besides," she added almost reluctantly, "he was damn good. Read me like a book, knew just what to do to throw me off my game. The only thing that seemed to surprise him was how stubborn I was and how I refused to just surrender."

"Well," Miruna said with a sigh as she gently pressed against different points along Skylar's spine, "that's doesn't surprise me. You've always been pretty mule-headed."

Skylar scowled at the description, then gave a sharp yelp as Miruna's fingers hit a tender spot. "Okay, ouch, stop!"

Miruna obeyed, moving her assessment up to Skylar's shoulder blades. "What did you say you slammed into again?"

"A wrought iron fence," Skylar grumbled, flexing her arms in front of her to double-check her mobility; she had to duel in the first round of the tournament tomorrow, and as such needed to at least be able to function on some basic level without collapsing in pain. "Hurt like a bitch."

"Watch your language," Miruna said absently, her response automatic.

Skylar rolled her eyes at the order. "You do realize that I'm older than you," she pointed out.

"So be a good role-model and stop swearing," Miruna shot back, then finally lowered her hands and came around to face Skylar. "The good news is that there doesn't seem to be any really serious damage; a few spots that will be extremely tense or sensitive for a few days, but there was no serious injury done to your spinal cord, which is what I was the most worried about. Your shoulders and neck are going to be incredibly stiff and painful for a couple days, but there are a few creams that you can massage into your muscles to help with that; I'd recommend using some tonight before you go to sleep and again in the morning when you wake up, so that you'll have a full range of motion for your duel tomorrow. Assuming, of course, that you still intend to duel?"

"Of course I do!" Skyler said immediately. "I'm not going to drop out of the running for Yugo's D-wheel just because I lost one duel to some random-ass dude in a cloak."

Miruna shook her head. "I figured you'd say that," she admitted. "I just..."

"What?" Skylar said, frowning at her friend in concern. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know," Miruna said in a low voice. "I just have a really bad feeling about this tournament, Skylar. Like something more is going on here."

Skylar arched an eyebrow. "Well, we've got an interdimensional war going on around us that we know nothing about, these Avatars of Distortion of yours and the anomalies that no one seems to understand the cause of, the ongoing threat of Academia and whatever lunatics they send after us next, and now this latest development of some bizarre albino guy blathering on about Nexus Knights and legacies. Honestly?" she said, shaking her head. "I'd be very surprised is something more isn't going on with this tournament."

Miruan made an annoyed sound. "You know what I mean," she scolded. "Be careful, okay? Watch your back."

Skylar stood up and carefully shrugged back into her clothes. "Ha-ha. Watch my back; very funny."

Miruna made a strangling motion. "Also not what I meant," she growled.

Skylar smiled and made a calm-down gesture. "I know, I know, relax. I'll be careful, okay? Or as careful as I ever am, anyway. You keep an eye out, too," she added more seriously. "You'll be participating in the tournament, too, remember? So if something weird is going on, you're going to be in the line of fire, too, like the rest of us. Don't let your guard down."

Miruna nodded. "I won't," she promised.

"Good." Skylar stretched her arms up above her head slowly to test her current range of motion, then headed for the door. "Now let's go see what the line-up for the first round of the tournament is, shall we?"

"Why don't they show us the entire list of competitors?" Yuya asked the next day with a frown, scowling at the slip of paper he'd been handed upon their arrival at the Goliath Stadium where the duel tournament was taking place; previously a sports arena, it had since been taken over the the Syndicate and re-purposed for their illegal duel tournaments.

"They're trying to reduce the chances of illicit fights before the tournaments starts," Yukito explained, his gaze hyper-alert as their group navigated through the bustling crowd that had gathered; for all that they were illegal and quite frankly a prime target for a massive Academia attack, the Syndicate's duel tournaments had been obscenely popular in the recent months, drawing out the otherwise reclusive population of Summerland City. "The last few competitions had some problems," he went on, noticing the confused looks on the faces of the Lancers; or at least, on Kurosaki and Yuya's faces, since Reiji and Reira had stayed behind at Fristad. "Say, for example, that I knew in advance that I was going to duel that guy over there." He gestured vaguely at some nondescript bystander. "Now, if I were an unscrupulous asshole with no sense of honor, I could theoretically track him down and take him out before the competition even started, thereby rendering myself the victor of the match by default, since he wouldn't be around to compete."

"And hiding the identities of the competitors prevents that," Kurosaki summed up. "No one can attack their opponent unfairly in advance if they don't know who their opponent actually is."

"Exactly," Yukito said. "It's usually a non-issue after the first round finishes up since once the second round rolls around, there will be only eight of us left so there's not as much pressure to eliminate competition in whatever way possible. Also," he tacked on, "by the time the second round starts everyone watching in the stands has already seen who's competing and telling the remaining duelists who's who wouldn't be too hard."

"So they hide our identities until the first round is over," Yuya summarized, "and then we'll get to see the tournament bracket?"

"Yep," Skylar said, leading the way to their assigned waiting room. "For now, we've all been assigned a number; we report to the appropriate duel section when our numbers are called. I'm number one," she said, glancing down at her entry ticket. "What about you guys?"

"I think we're numbers one through six," Miruna offered, looking at her own ticket, "since we signed up right away or whatever. I'm number three."

"Four," Yukito pitched in.

"Two," Irina added flashing two fingers in a victory salute.

"Five," Kurosaki said.

"And I'm six," Yuya remarked. "So it looks like you're right, Miruna."

Miruna smiled faintly, then glanced up at a nearby television screen that showed the logo of the Syndicate, a bright orange snake surrounded by a circle of flames; the connection wasn't the best, with periodic bursts of static across the screen, but once the tournament began it would display alternating shots of the various duels along with the tournament bracket itself once all the duelists had been revealed. "How much longer until it starts, do you think?"

"Who knows," Yukito said with a shrug.

"Who cares," Irina replied, crossing her arms. "It'll start when it starts, and as soon as it does, we'll knock out the rest of these losers and bring Yugo back his stupid motorcycle machine."

"D-Wheel," Yuya and Kurosaki corrected in unison, slanting each other vaguely annoyed looks as their voices overlapped.

"Whatever," was Irina's response, complete with an eye-roll. Then she stiffened as the PA system crackled to life.

"Duelists 2 and 10 report to the Ghrian Duel Arena; Duelists 6 and 16 report to the Måne Duel Arena; and Duelists 8 and 14 report to the Lögner Duel Arena. I repeat, will duelists 2, 10, 6, 16, 8, and 14 please report to your assigned arenas. If you do not arrive to your assigned arena within the next twenty minutes, you will be automatically disqualified from the tournament."

"That's us, right?" Yuya said questioningly, glancing over at Irina.

She nodded brusquely, all business. "Yeah," she said. "Your arena's going to be on the north side of the stadium," she informed him. "Once you leave this room, go straight down the hall on your left, and then take the first right you come to. After that, just head straight as far as you can go until you hit a staircase leading down to the main field; there should be a series of signs pointing the way, just in case you get lost."

Yuya flashed her a grateful smile. "Thanks," he said, and then darted out the door.

"Good luck," Skylar said to Irina as her purple-haired friend followed after Yuya, her expression determined. "And have fun."

Irina slanted her a faintly amused look. "I honestly can't remember the last time any of us dueled for fun," she admitted, "but thanks anyway." She traced an infinity symbol in the air. "See you after, yeah?"

Skylar nodded. "Yeah. Absolutely."

Irina nodded, and then she too stepped outside of their waiting room and headed for her duel.

Skylar watched two of her friends leave, let out a slight sigh, and then settled back into her seat to wait for her turn.