A/N: This chapter, and the one(s) following will be less comedic than usual. I choreographed a whole duel, and that will be the thing I'll focus on. I know it's weird to have comedy take a back seat in a comedic story, but I also wanted to flesh out the stories and characters outside of humor.

With that all said, I hope you can still enjoy the Sawatari arc. And let me know which character you'd like to see get their own chapter sometime.

Yuya and Yuzu stood before the Leo Duel School, looking up to the enormous tower that loomed over them. Yuya's right hand held Yuzu's left: a subconscious move by their part. Together, they knew they could find what they were seeking.

Gongenzaka was also there.

Shingo Sawatari had been away from school for nearly a month. But only recently did they learn that left Maiami City Second. They didn't know where he lived, and they were unable to get ahold of Sawatari's father, nor Reiji. Sawatari's after-school duel school was the only lead they had.

The three stood around, watching as students entered and left the building. The three were instead waiting for someone important to meet them outside.

"How long will it take for her to get here?" Yuzu asked her friends.

"I hope she doesn't take too long," Yuya confessed. "I want to get this over with before Yuri finds out I'm not busy."

"Why?" Gongenzaka asked. He crossed his arms defensively. "What's he going to do?"

"He found out about this dimension's history and wants to share his fanfiction with us. He's working on it now."

"... I... What?" Yuzu asked.

"He's writing a story about him going back in time and taking over Germany during the second World War. He said it's about... Anne Frank and shipping her with the Doktor from Academia?"

"... I'm not sure how to respond to this," Gongenzaka said. "So I'm not going to."

" Yuto and Yugo have no way out of this one. So you can see why I want to stay out of my own head for a while."

"Yep."

"Yep," Yuzu agreed.

The doors to the building slowly slid open. Coming out backwards was Himika Akaba, wheeling a burgundy pram with her. Once fully outside, she turned herself around and walked the pram over to the kids.

"Thank you for letting us meet outside," Himika told them. "Reira loves being out in the fresh air."

"No problem, Miss Akaba," Yuya replied warmly. "Thank you for meeting with us."

"I'm sorry Reiji couldn't me here, either," Himika added. "He's been walled up in his lab, doing research."

"Research into what, exactly?" Yuzu asked.

"So you kids wanted to ask me about Sawatari?"

"Oh, yes!" Yuya said, nodding. "We haven't been able to get into contact Sawatari lately, and we wanted to know if he's still unrolled at LDS."

Himika paused. She turned to look down at her pram, to see her daughter's egao-ing face. She gently ran a hand through Reira's hair.

"Sawatari..." she said slowly. "Shingo's..."

The kids watched her curiously, waiting for her words.

"Shingo hasn't been in the best of spirits lately. He prefers to be alone, to be away from people."

The kids all frowned, and their eyes filled with surprise. Gongenzaka's jaw even dropped slightly.

"That doesn't sound like Sawatari at all," Yuzu said.

"Something's wrong, then," Yuya told her. "Miss Akaba, is Sawatari here now?"

Himika shook her head. "He still comes to school for classes, but he rarely stays when class ends. I can talk to him another day, but I think it should be up to him when he sees you."

"Miss Akaba, please," Yuya pleaded. "We're his friends, and we need to make sure he's okay."

"Shingo is okay, don't worry," Himika said sternly. "I'm watching over him. If he needs anyone else, he'll-"

"But that's wrong!" Yuya yelled.

"I know more about Shingo Sawatar's situation, Yuya. And if you respect Shingo's decisions, you will stay out of it for now."

"Of course we respect him!" Yuzu responded. "That's why we're here!"

"With all due respect, Miss Akaba," Gongenzaka added. "We're his friends, we fought in a war together. We risked our lives for each other."

"Right!" Yuya said. "We didn't get to spend that much time together, but we've built up a bond with him. We know him, and I think we can help."

Himika moved her hand from her daughter, then turned her attention back to the trio. She looked at them in silence for a moment as she silently contemplated on their words. The kids watched and waited for her response, even though each passing second made them more and more anxious for answers.

"If anyone can cheer him up, it's you, Yuya," Himika said finally. "You have a strange ability to make people happy."

Yuya egao'd widely. "You mean it? We can see him?"

"She's right, Yuya," Gongenzaka added. "You can make anyone egao."

Yuzu squeezed Yuya's hand tightly. "You've made everyone here egao, haven't you?"

Yuya blushed, then scratched the back of his head. He wasn't expecting all this attention now, though it was nice having it. "I-it's nothing, guys! We should be talking about Sawatari instead, hahaha..."

"Yes, Shingo could benefit from having you," Himika interjected. "He asked for privacy, and I wanted to grant him that. But if you really want to see him and help, I'll bring you to him."

"Thank you, Miss Akaba!" Yuzu and Yuya said simultaneously. And no, neither of them planned to talk in unison.

"But I can't guarantee he'll be willing to talk," Himika added. "You can probably help him, but it's up to him if he wants to talk about his secrets. I won't be revealing them for him."

Himika lifted a sharp finger towards the large, blue stadium across from the tower. It was the campus's own duel stadium. From the very top of the stadium, one could see the inkling of fireworks.

"Luckily for you, today he is one of the times he stays back to duel," Himika told them. "You'll find him at the stadium. But you'll have to hurtty and catch him before he leaves."

"Let's hurry up and find him," Yuya muttered to Yuzu. "If I stay quiet enough, I can hear Yuri read the others a sex scene."

Sawatari stood on one end of the field, his Duel Disk activated and held outwards. On either side of him were two large pillars of blue light, each holding a monster. The right held Abyss Actor - Funky Comedian, while the right held Abyss Actor - Evil Heel.

Abyss Actor - Superstar stood on his side of the field, stoic and staring at the opponent - another boy on the other side of the field, who had nothing on his field.

"Superstar!" Sawatari ordered. "Attack directly!"

It was right at this time that Yuya, Yuzu and Gongenzaka entered the stadium. They watched as Superstar glided across the field and struck the opponent's Disk with its hand. (LP: 1300 → 0) The force of the attack pushed him to the ground.

The duel was over. And with that, the Solid Vision holograms started to dissolve into sparkles, and the Duel Disks started to turn off.

"You can go now," Sawatari said to the boy.

The boy quickly slid the cards in his hand back to his deck. Then he rose from the ground and dashed towards the exit. He passed Yuya and his friends, but didn't acknowledge their presence as ran.

Sawatari's eyes followed the duelist as he left. Unlike him, his eyes caught the new arrivals as they walked into the stadium. He made his way towards them.

Sawatari looked a bit different from his usual look. He no longer wore the Maiami Second jacket, and his dress shirt's sleeves were rolled up past his elbow. Black sunglasses obscured his eyes.

"Sakaki, Hiragii, Gongen... Noboru, I guess," he said accusingly. "Why are you guys (and one girl) here?"

"You left school, and we couldn't reach you," Yuzu said, speaking in a gentle tone. "We didn't know if you were alright or not."

"Sawatari, don't cut us out like that!" Yuya yelled.

"Why are you yelling?" Sawatari yelled back. "And I told Akaba that I didn't want to be bothered."

"But why?" Yuya asked. "Aren't we friends? We fought together; we saved the dimensions together."

Sawatari paused, then looked away from Yuya's gaze. He didn't want to bother responding to the boy's pleas.

"Sawatari, why won't you let us help you?" Yuzu asked.

"I don't need help!" Sawatari snapped. "Just leave me alone. I don't need help. I'm doing amazing right now, thank you."

"You're such a liar."

"You're such a bi-"

"You're a coward, Sawatari," Gongenzaka said simply.

A silence fell over the group. They all turned to look up at the man, Gongenzaka. He merely crossed his arms and looked back down on them.

"Something's wrong, and you're too scared to face it. So you hide from others, because you know we'll make you face your problems and overcome them."

Sawatari turned away from the group again. This time, he even started to walk away from them, towards the battlefield.

"Maybe you're right, Gong," he told them. "I know I'm weak."

"Why are you here, dueling?" Yuzu asked. "If you want to be alone, then why are you meeting with people and dueling."

"If you must know, I'm a duelist at heart" he told them. "Even if I want to be alone, the call to battle still yearns in my heart. When I can, I must sate that yearning."

Yuya nodded. "I understand that. So let's duel."

"... What?"

"Your heart wants to duel, so I'll duel you!" Yuya told him.

"I-I-I-I don't want to duel right now, that's all!"

"So you're backing away from a challenge? That doesn't sound like the Sawatari I know."

Sawatari stopped walking. He didn't turn around to face them, but he stood and waited for Yuya to keep talking.

"So you'll accept, right?" Yuya asked. "How about you pick the field we fight on?"

"An Action Duel?" Sawatari mused. "I haven't had an an Action Duel in a while... Because I don't duel to entertain others."

"You're an entertainer at heart, we both are. If you want us both to do our best, it's only right that we have the means to do it."

Sawatari rubbed his chin. "Yes, I suppose you're right. My biggest strength has been my unerring charisma, after all."

Sawatari started walking towards the field once more. "You will see the fruits of my training. You will have to use all of your strength to fight me. You will have to try and overcome the Black Fallen Lord, Sawatari."

Yuya let go of Yuzu's hands. He and Sawatari both made their way to the battlefield, while Yuzu and Gongenzaka made their way to the sidelines.

Both Sawatari and Yuya stood in the middle of the field, facing each other. Their Duel Disks were turned on, and the Disks' blades were extended.

Sawatari's Duel Disk spoke: "FIELD SPELL: VAMPIRE KINGDOM, ACTIVATE."

Wth a snap of Sawatari's fingers, the field started to sparkle and slow. Large, gray buildings of various sizes rose from the ground around them. Brick roads, started to form from underneath the boys' feet, extending outwards throughout the town. Surrounding the town were enormous, metal walls with spikes, held together by chains.

A tree-covered hill seemed to rise from the distance, and a road slowly slithered up to form a path. A white, cathedral-like castle started to sparkle into existence at the end of the road. It cast an oppressive shadow over the city.

A roof appeared on the ground, and Sawatari ran forward. He jumped onto the roof, and a large building started to form from under it. Sawatari rode the roof up into the air. Soon, he was on top of a three story house and looking down at Yuya.

Finally, the sky went dark. The field had generated an artificial night sky, complete with heavy clouds and blood-red moon. And an orb, filled with floating cards hung over the field.

"Duelists locked in battle!" Yuya announced.

"Kicking the earth and dancing in the air alongside their monsters," Sawatari added, albeit with much less unthusiasm.

"They storm through this fiel- Yuri, shut up with the fanfic and let me do this!"

"Behold. This is the newest and greatest evolution of Dueling."

"Action!" Yuzu and Gongenzaka cried out.

"DUEL!"

Once the orb of cards shattered, cards went flying across the field.

"I'll go first," Yuya said to his opponent.

Yuya looked over his hand: Performapal Monkeyboard, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, Performapal Odd-Eyes Unicorn, Performapal Silver Claw, and Harmonizing Magician. Immediately, his mind worked on forming a strategy with his hand.

Oh, Yuya? Yuri's voice called out to him. You're having fun instead of listening to my story?

Enough with the fanfiction for now, Yuri responded. I need to concentrate on this duel. And I'll be calling our dragon.

Eh? Good. Starving Venom craves battle. I'll be watching to make sure he has fun.

Time to focus back on the duel. Yuya raised Monkeyboard and Unicorn up for Sawatari to see.

"With my Scale 1 Performapal Monkeyboard, and my Scale 8 Performapal Odd-Eyes Unicorn, I set the Pendulum Scales."

Yuya placed the cards on his Pendulum Zones. The columns of blue light appeared on either side of him, along with either monster. Monkeyboard appeared to Yuya's right, with a number 1 underneath it. Unicorn appeared to Yuya's left, with the number 8 beneath it.

"With this, I can Summon monsters with Levels 2 through 7," Yuya announced. "And thanks to Monkeyboard's Pendulum Effect, if it was activated this turn: You can add 1 Level 4 or lower Performapal monster from my deck to my hand."

Yuya placed a hand beside his deck. A card slid out from the stack of cards, which Yuya grabbed and put into his hand. The Duel Disk then automatically shuffled the deck.

"Swing, pendulum of souls! Draw an arc of light across the ether! Pendulum Summon! Let's go, my monster friends!"

A swirling pendulum swayed circles in the sky. From within the center of that circle, four lights fell to the ground. They took the forms of Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, Performapal Silver Claw, Performapal U Go Golem, and Harmonizing Magician, all in attack mode.

"When Harmonizing Magician is Pendulum Summoned from my hand, I can special summon a Magician Pendulum monster from my deck. However, the monster is banished when it leaves the field."

An empty spot on Yuya's field, right next to Harmonizing Magician, started to glow. Timebeaker rose from the ground, his sword hoisted over his right shoulder.

"A field full of weak monsters?" Sawatari called. "I want to win, but don't you dare go easy on me, Sakaki!"

Yuri, together now.

Yuya pointed to his Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, a wild grin appearing on both of their faces.

"When Performapal U Go Golem is Pendulum Summoned, I can Fusion Summon a Fusion monster, using it and a Dragon-type monster I control."

Odd-Eyes and U Go Golem both leapt into the air. Their bodies contorted and swirled together, and the swirling colors of Fusion appeared around them.

"Dragon with dual colored eyes! Become one with the giant born from soil and give birth to a new ally! Fusion Summon!"

From the swirling vortex came the fearsome dragon. Starving Venom clawed out of the swirls, and the mouths over its body ripped at the vortex until it was shredded into pieces.

"Come Forth!" Yuya announced. "Level 8, Starving Venom Fusion Dragon!"

The dragon landed on the field and gave out a fearsome, mighty roar to all those who opposed it.

Sawatari bit his lip. He glanced over the five cards in his hand, desperately trying to form a strategy with what he had on him. So far, he couldn't see anything in his hand that would be able to fight off this beast.

"I'm not done," Yuya added. "I tune my Level 3 Timebreaker Magician with my Level 4 Harmonizing Magician!"

Harmonizing Magician floated above the field. Her body dissolved into four green circles, floating and spinning before each other. Timebreaker leapt into the circles, and his body broke into three orbs of light.

"Spread those wondrous and beautiful wings, and strike down your enemies at the speed of light! Synchro Summon! Appear now! Clear Wing Synchro Dragon!"

The rings and orbs joined together, taking the shape of a new form. Descending to the field was a white dragon, Clear Wing Synchro Dragon.

Sawtari looked down at Yuya's field: Starving Venom Fusion Dragon, Clear Wing Synchro Dragon, and Performapal Silver Claw.

"What's the matter?" he sneered. "Couldn't bring out your final dragon? After all that, you couldn't keep up the thrills?"

"We'll see about that," Yuya said with a egao.

Yuya leaped forward, jumping onto the back of Clear Wing. He stood on its tail and clung to the dragon's back, on a spot between its wings.

And with that, Clear Wing took off into the sky with Yuya, flying above the houses of the kingdom, above Sawatari and the other monsters.

Yuya looked down at his opponent. "I know this field, too. And I know there's an Action Card this field generates; it can help me."

Clear Wing dashed across the town. Both it and its master scanned the roofs and streets for any signs of the card, while Silver Claw ran down the narrow streets to aid them. Starving Venom, meanwhile, dug its claws into Sawatari's building and started to climb up.

At least, Yuya spotted a card, nestled at the edge of a sloped roof. He leaped down from Clear Wing's back and landed on the roof, then slid down the side to grab the card.

"I got it!" he cried out. "Action Card - Vampiric Thralls activate!"

Yuya slid off the roof, and Clear Wing dove down to meet him. Yuya slapped the Action Card onto his Disk and fell into the dragon's waiting arms.

A dark cloud appeared beside the duo. The mist poured itself into the mold of a large vampire bat. Its body started to split and form two bats, and those two went on to split further.

Yuya and Clear Wing floated back up to the sky, the bats in tow.

"When Vampire Thralls is activated, it becomes a monster. Its Attack, Defense and Level are determined by how many Life Points I give up. 100 Life Points is one level, and 400 Life Points is four Levels."

(Yuya: 4000 → 3600)

"I overlay my Level for Vampire Thralls and Performapal Silver Claw!"

The four bats flew down towards the ground, towards Silver Claw. Silver Claw in turn stopped running and lunged towards them. And once all their bodies collided, they transformed into wisps of light.

Sawatari looked on at the distance in horror. Yuya was about five houses away, but he could see the swirling black hole form behind him. The wisps of his monsters traveled into the black hole.

"Formed from pitch-black darkness, to fight those foolish enough to oppose it with its treacherous fangs!" Yuya cried. "Now, descend! Xyz Summon! Appear! Rank 4! Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon!"

The vortex broke apart, and a black dragon floated into the air. Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon took is place beside Yuya and Clear Wing.

"I end my turn," Yuya said finally. "Sawatari, prove that you can beat this field. I believe in you."

Yuya's hand was empty, and his Life Points were at 3600. His field consisted of his two Pendulum Scales, Starving Venom, Clear Wing, and Dark Rebellion.

You're holding back on him, aren't you? Yuto's voice called out. Why would you call out Dark Rebellion now? It would make more sense to wait until he brngs out a monster, so we could use Dark Rebellion's effect.

Sawatari said something, Yuya thought. Earlier, he said that he 'knew he was weak.' I need to take things slow and get him comfortbale enough to let loose.

If you use our full power, we would end the duel before we can fully understand him. This way, Yuya, you're luring him out.

I don't think he would have fun if we defeated him quickly. He's a showman, and he'll try to meet our show and make himself shine if we let him. We need to get him in the mood to do that.

So you're making a show of having a big field, but it's not as dangerous as Sawatari thinks. Yuto appeared beside him, giving Yuya a small nod. That's good thinking, Yuya. I'll be here to support you and Dark Rebellion. Now go and help Sawatari.

"I decided: I'm going to find why you've closed your heart," Yuya said. "Sawatari, one way or another, I will bring your egao back."

A/N: You might notice that some cards will have their OCG/TCG effects, even though this is an anime-based fanfic. This isn't an oversight on my part. I decided that, in this fanfic, a lot of cards were altered after the worlds were rebooted after Zarc's defeat. The Pendulum Dimension, having changed the most, had the most cards changed. I did this because I felt that it would be less confusing for those who follow (or want to follow) the actual card game, and the reboot allowed their usage to be feasible.

Cards that had their effects used after the retcon can be fudged a bit if this doesn't contradict canon. For example: Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon doesn't need to attack monsters that are Level 5+ to gain its effect in the OCG/TCG. Post-Zarc, he has this effect, even if it hadn't been used on a monster below level 5 since Zarc.

"But what if Yuya specifically stated that Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon's effect involves a level 5 or higher monster, post-Zarc?" you ask. Well, don't ask. Just ignore that. Maybe Yuya was so used to reading the card's old effect, that he didn't notice it at the time. I don't know. Use your imagination or whatever.

And despite me using Japanese names instead of dub names for the characters, I'll be using English names for the cards. Again, this is to make following duels easier for those familiar with the card game. Plus they can be more easily looked up. In-universe, they have their original Japanese names. This is just for your convenience and mine.