(To shorten our conversations at the beginning and end of these chapters, we're shortening our names to OddEyes and Melodious)

Melodious: What I really love about Fruitshipping is that, even if Yuya and Yuzu were to not end up in a romantic relationship (Though I both hope and believe that's what would happen), their relationship still works, and it's adorable and I love it, at least that's one way to word it. I'm sure there is a better way to word it somehow.

OddEyes: I just think that they're perfect for each other, there's some more reasoning to how I feel about it, but I'm not gonna go into all of them.

Chapter 8: Light in the Dragon's Eye

"So did we bring any first aid supplies?" Asked Yugo.

"Nope, we don't even have a first-aid kit…" Yuri said, "Although there's something I've been working on… but it'd only work if there was already somebody who could just glow or something and heal people nearby…" He said. Yugo sighed, "this sure went to shit real quick…" He muttered.

"Relax! We can still fi-OW!" Yelled Yuya as he tried to stand up, only to collapse again, clutching his side, Yuto couldn't help but laugh at him, only to wince in pain as his body shook.

"Right… yeah, we don't think so…" Said Yuri, Yuya and Yuto groaned, "We'll walk it off… we need to hurry and make up for lost time…" Yuto said, forcing himself to stand despite Yuri's groaning.

"It's gonna be a lot harder if Fusion and I are gonna be carrying you two the entire way." Yuri said, "It's not FUSION! It's YUGO, I KNOW YOU'RE DOING THIS ON PURPOSE YOU ASSHO-" Yugo began to yell before Yuri suddenly placed a hand over his mouth, silencing him. "Shhh! You dolt!" He said, looking at the sky, "Someone's coming…" He said.

Yugo quieted down, they all looked up and saw a figure flying towards them, Yuri readied himself to transform again.

"Hey, wait!" Yuya said. Yuri looked back at him, "Huh? Why?" He said, "They could be attacking, I should fly over there and kick their ass before they get here!" He said, "Look closer!" He said, pointing at the figure.

Yuri decided to do as Yuya said and looked back at the figure, he squinted his eyes.

"…Who?" Yuri asked, "It's Yuzu! Come on you've seen her monster before!" Yuya said, Yuri looked back again, the monster was definitely feminine…

"…I'm still gonna shoot her down…" Yuri said, "WHAT!? Why!?" Yuya yelled, "Because it's obviously a trap that Serena thought up of in order to catch us off guard…" He said, "Yeah, she'd definitely convince one of her sisters to try and meet up with us, make us lower our guard, then steal our orb while laughing at us, MOCKING us…" He said.

"…And how do you know that?" Yugo asked, Yuri grinned, "Because I'd do the same thing…" He said with a particularly malicious grin.

"Come on, they wouldn't do that!" Yuya said, "We're all friends!" He said, ignoring Yugo's remarks of "Rin would simply because I'm here…" and "Not so sure about Rin…".

"We don't have an orb anyways, so they can't really steal one from us anyways!" Yuya said. Yuri gave a great sigh, before giving up. "Fine, but if they're the reason why we lose, I'm entitled to multiple I-told-you-so's," He said.

"You know if I didn't have to hold back…" Said Jonouchi from underneath the giant arm that pinned him, "I could definitely kick your ass…" He grumbled as Syrup pried the orb from his claw. "Hmm, probably, yeah…" Soul said, transformed into an even larger, deep crimson dragon. "Though even then you'd have a problem against Armed Dragon LV10…" He said as he pointed at himself.

"Really inconvenient though…" Syrup grunted as the orb shrunk down to the size of a soccer ball in her arms, "Why can't you just use your actual strength?" She asked.

Soul sighed, "Because that means I actually have to wake up and get something done…" He groaned, "I like being tired you know, it's really relaxing, and it makes falling asleep easier…" He said. Syrup sighed.

"Wait… you were holding back too?" Jonouchi asked. Soul shrugged, "I mean, I guess… Armed Dragon is nothing to be scoffed at, but yeah, I have better options…" He said, "I just like Armed Dragon because I can just sleep and I'll naturally get stronger and level up…" He said.

Jonouchi sighed, "Whatever… go on then…" He said, "You beat me, get going…" He said, reverting from Red Eyes to his regular form. "Kay…" Soul muttered, also transforming back.

"Right… I guess I'll hold onto this…" Soul muttered, taking the orb from Syrup's hands, "But let it forever be known that I had to carry you to this victory…" He said before falling on his back and passing out, the orb, however, clenched tightly in his hands.

Syrup puffed her cheeks, "Oh shut up! I'll get stronger! Just you watch!" She yelled, though he didn't hear her, Syrup grasped a white card in her hand and transformed, "Come! Naturia Beast!" She said, transforming into the green tiger-like monster.

Her body glowed for a bit, and suddenly a plant-root came up from the ground and picked up Soul, placing him gently on her back, the plant-life that already grew on her sprouted vines and wrapped themselves around her and Soul, making sure he wouldn't fall off.

"Right! Let's go!" She yelled, taking off and running into the forest nearby.

"Yuya!" Yelled Yuzu, landing on the ground and reverting back to her regular form, she ran over to him, a look of worry on her face. Yuya smiled nervously, "Hey Yuzu, how are you?" He said nervously.

"How am I!?" She said, looking at his wounds, "How are y-how did you end up like this!?" She said, Yuya scratched the back of his head, "It's… a long story…" He said. Yuzu frowned at him. "This is the third time you've been injured like this!" She said. Yuya chuckled, "At least I'm getting used to it, am I right?" He asked. Yuzu frowned at him again, "You're not supposed to be USED to it…" She said.

"And I also exist…" Muttered Yuto, "Oh, you okay?" Yuzu asked calmly.

"Physically, though you may not believe me, yeah…" He said, "Mentally however, after that response, I'm not entirely sure." He said teasingly, "S-Sorry!" Yuzu said, only now realizing how uninterested she sounded when she looked at Yuto's injuries.

"Hold on… I have a first-aid kit on me…" She said, taking out a red pouch with a white cross on it from her bag.

"Seems that unlike us, you girls actually remembered to bring the essentials…" Yuri said, eyeing Yugo. "Hey! Anybody could have forgotten them!" He yelled, "Yes, but you forgot the essentials, but remembered to bring snacks," He said.

"You should always bring snacks no matter where you go, okay?" Yugo said defensively, "Well look how much those are helping now!" Yuri argued back.

"Stop bickering, or you're paying for your lunch for a week…" Yuto groaned, his brothers immediately shut up, though Yuri grumbled something about how he was abusing his privileges as the one who cooked everything. "What was that?" Yuto asked, raising an eyebrow knowingly, "…nothing…" He muttered, looking even more pissed off than usual.

"By the way, where's your team Yuzu?" Yuya asked as she wrapped him in bandages, "We got an orb early in, so they're already heading back," She said, "I'll probably end up leaving soon…" She said as she worked.

Yuya raised an eyebrow, "Should you have really just left them?" He asked. Yuzu smacked him lightly, "Hey, you want help or not?" She asked. Yuya grinned at her, "Touche" he said.

"That's great and all, but just apply the bare minimum," Yuri said, "We need to get out there and start searching for an orb, and I'm willing to bet that we're gonna have to fight for it." He said, "Yeah yeah…" Yuzu said, "Yuya, hold still…!" She said as she finished wrapping him up.

"Right then, do Yuto next and we'll be off…" Yuri said as he helped Yuya to his feet, "Right, I'm on it…" She said, beginning to walk over to him.

Then, she started glowing.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Umm, HERE!" Yuzu yelled in a panic, she quickly tossed the first-aid kit to the ground near Yuto, "Sorry! Good luck!" She said as she vanished into thin air.

A gust of wind blew past them.

"...Anybody know how to use this?" Yugo asked. The boys looked around nervously.

"What… the hell…!?" Groaned a defeated duelist, who laid limp on the ground. "What… is this power…!?" He said before passing out.

Around him laid a countless number of other duelists, defeated just like him, and in the middle of it all was a dragon that glowed with mysterious blue energy, with eyes that shone with the brilliance of all of the stars in the galaxy.

A flash of light-blue covered the battlefield, and in its place was a young man with blonde and blue hair, he held a glowing white orb under his arm.

"Weaklings, all of them…" He muttered as he walked away, leaving the torn battlefield behind. "Comrades would have only held me back, I made the right choice…" He said coldly.

"There's four of us and only two of them! Get them!" Yelled a duelist, transforming as he charged at their opponents, his teammates did the same.

"Do what you want… but I will not move from this spot!" Yelled Gongenzaka as he crushed an orange card in his hand. "With your unmovable spirit, descend on this battlefield!" He yelled as he transformed, "Superheavy Samurai, BIG BENKEI!" He yelled, reappearing as the giant, mechanical samurai.

He braced himself as he was hit head-on with the full force of each of their tackles, the earth rumbled with their collision.

His feet remained planted exactly where they started.

"Now! Sora!" He yelled. As he said this, the blue-haired boy appeared above him, "Kaaaaaay~!" He said cheerfully as he clapped his hands together on a purple card. "Appear! The horrifying beast that shreds everything! FRIGHTFUR BEAR!" He yelled as he transformed into a pink stuffed bear, suddenly, blades pierced it from inside, creating a beast that looked like it had just come out of a horror movie.

"Take this!" He yelled, raising an elongated bear-arm and basically swiping all of their opponents away.

"Let's finish them!" Yelled Gongenzaka, Sora nodded as he reverted back to normal, with another purple card in front of him.

"Take this!" Yelled Gongenzaka, crashing his large fist into the ground, a wave of energy came from it and went towards the enemy, Sora grinned and grasped the purple card in his hand. "Show yourself! King of the hundred beasts that tear everything to pieces! FRIGHTFUR LEO!" He yelled, transforming into a yellow stuffed lion. Before he had a similar treatment to what Frightfur Bear had.

"Take this! WHEELSAW MASSACRE!" He yelled, a series of wheel saws spinning inside the torn up face of the monster he was using, the wheelsaws glowed a bright yellow, and shot off multiple similar blades of energy at their opponents.

The team of four were all blown back and defeated in an instant, reverting back to their normal forms.

"Aww, that's it?" Sora asked as he changed back as well, walking over to them. He poked one of them with a stick.

"...Yup, they're out," He said, "Bummer… I thought they'd be more of a challenge…" He said with a look of disappointment on his face. "Do they have an orb?" Gongenzaka asked as he walked up beside him, Sora looked around.

"Ah!" He exclaimed, bending down and picking up a glowing sphere, "Well whaddya know! They may be weak, but they were useful for something at least!" He said cheerily. Gongenzaka frowned, "No need to mock our opponents…" He said, "Yeah yeah…" Sora said casually, Gongenzaka sighed.

"…Why am I getting the feeling that we're really behind…?" Yuya asked as he-transformed into Odd-Eyes-ran across a large plain, Yuri-transformed into Starving Venom-flying alongside him while Yugo flew high, high above them.

"That's probably because we are…" Yuri said, suppressing the urge to groan loudly.

"Come on guys, think positively," Said Yuto, who was riding on top of Yuya, he had bandages around the places where he was wounded the most, but it looked like an amateur had done it.

Mostly because it was done by three people who were complete amateurs at first-aid.

"Honestly at this point, we should just fight a team and steal an orb from them…" Yuri said, "We'll take any chance we can get, okay Yuri?" Yuto said with a sigh. "I hope that chance involves me kicking ass…" Said Yuri.

"Yugo! You see anything?" Yuya yelled up, Yugo-transformed into Clear Wing-put his arms in the shape of an X, telling him "No, no I haven't".

"Damn… we really need a better plan…" Yuya said, "we wouldn't be in this situation if you had won you know." Yuri said. Yuya's head drooped.

"Hey, they caught us off-guard, okay?" Yuto said, "Would you have expected them to be able to transform into Pendulum Monsters?" He said, "I would've been ready for anything" Said Yuri.

Yuya tuned out their bickering, he was still trying to grasp the fact that somebody else could use Pendulum Monsters, TWO more people at that.

But that wasn't what really bothered him, it was something Reiji had said.

He had said that the Pendulum wasn't complete yet.

He couldn't remember what he had said exactly, his power was out of control at the time.

Speaking of that power, what was it? Yuya wasn't sure what it was, but all he could remember was that he couldn't control it, and it backfired.

Suddenly, Yugo flew down next to them, "Guys, there's a group of three up ahead!" He said, sounding excited, "They just have their orb out where you can clearly see it! Let's get em!" He said, Yuri grinned.

"Wait! If they have their orb on display like that, it could be a trap!" Yuto said, "No!" Yelled Yuri, "Where are they? Which way?" Yuri said, clearly excited.

Yugo grinned, "Follow me!" He said, flying into the distance, Yuri following from behind. "No-damn it!" Yuto said as two of his brothers flew into the distance, he sighed.

"…Should we follow them?" Yuya asked.

Yuto sighed, "We've got no choice… alright, after them!" Yuto yelled, Yuya let out a roar and dashed in the direction his brothers had flown in.

"I can see it… I can see it…!" Said Mieru, opening her eyes, "They're coming!" She said, pointing at the sky, Michio and Teppei looked in the direction she was pointing.

"…I don't see anything…" Said Teppei, Michio shook his head, "No… I can see them…" He said, squinting his eyes. "One is coming closer… really quickly…" He said.

"Oh! I see them now!" Teppei exclaimed, "What do we do!?" He yelled. "Stick to the plan, obviously!" Mieru said, "Stick to it and you will be able to defeat the winged, dark, and venomous brothers with ease…" She said.

"O-Okay…" Teppei said, "What about the mysterious one?" He asked, "If he joins his brothers in a fight against you, you will lose…" She said, "So let me deal with him." She said with a look of confidence.

"Here they come!" Yelled Michio, they jumped out of the way as a winged, white dragon crashed into the ground where they stood.

"Mieru! Get out of here!" Michio yelled, "Right!" She said, taking the orb and running.

"Oi! Get back here!" Yelled Yugo as he spotted a girl holding the orb and running, he attempted to chase after her.

"Oh no, you don't!" Teppei yelled, grabbing an orange card in his hand, "Come on out! Legendary Fisherman!" He yelled, transforming into a large and buff man riding a large shark, he also carried a large harpoon. He rammed into Yugo, grabbing his attention.

"Urgh! Why you…!" He said, readying himself to fight.

What Teppei said: "You won't be getting past me!"

What Teppei was thinking: "Ohshitohshitohshitohshithelooksstrong"

"Out of the way!" Yelled Yugo, charging at him, Teppei shrieked as the shark he was riding rose up to meet the large dragon.

"Teppei! Stick to the plan!" Yelled Michio, an orange card floating in his hand. "R-Right!" He yelled back, taking out a large net from seemingly nowhere. "Take this!" He yelled as he swung the net over the white dragon.

"W-Wha!?" Yugo yelled as the net fell over him and pinned him to the ground, "As if this could just hold me down…!" Yugo said as he attempted to break free.

Suddenly, he glowed a bright blue and went limp. "H-Huh!?" He said, finding that his body was now refusing to move, "What did you do!?" He yelled.

Teppei chuckled, "I'm the Legendary Fisherman!" He exclaimed proudly, "There's nothing I can't catch!" He said proudly. "BUT IM NOT EVEN A FISH!" Yugo yelled angrily.

Click!

Yugo turned his head towards the sound, Teppei did the same, they saw Yuri in his human form, holding a phone and taking pictures of the scene in front of him.

He looked up at them, "What?" He said, "By all means keep going, this is great!" He said, grinning maliciously as he took another picture. "YURI YOU ASSHOLE!" Yugo yelled. Yuri laughed.

"Unfortunately, we can't just let you hang around…" Said Michio from behind him, Yuri turned to face him with a cold look, "Oh? And why's that?" He asked. Michio laughed, "So cold!" He said cheerfully, "I don't believe we've introduced ourselves yet, my name is Michio, and his name is Teppei!" He said, smiling the whole time.

"You seem to assume that I care…" Yuri said. Michio chuckled, "Wow, even your words have some venom in them…" He said. Yuri raised an eyebrow. "Huh?" He said.

"Nevermind that…" He said as he closed a hand around an orange card, his kind face changing into a smile that rivaled Yuri's. "I'm afraid your fight ends here…!" He said as orange light surrounded him, "Oho?" Yuri grinned, "Bring it on…" He said with a smile, purple light surrounding him as well.

"Come! Starving Venom!" He yelled as he transformed into his dragon.

"Strike them down! Royal Cookmates, Prince Curry!" Yelled Michio, glowing as well.

"…Food?" Yuri said, tilting his head in confusion.

It's not every day that you see a humanoid bowl of curry, wearing a crown, and using a spoon and a physics-defying bowl of rice as a shield.

"Pfft…!" Yuri began to buckle over in laughter, "YOU'RE LITERALLY FOOD!" He yelled as he laughed hysterically, "My name is LITERALLY Starving Venom Fusion Dragon!" He yelled, "I must be the worst possible matchup for you…!" He yelled, now laughing so hard that tears were starting to form in his eyes.

Suddenly, a spoon was shoved into his mouth.

His first thought was: "What the fu-"

His second thought was: "…Huh… this actually tastes pretty good…"

His third and final thought was: "Wait… is he feeding me with… himself?"

"Wow… Mieru was right…" He said as the dragon in front of him had a mental battle with himself, "you really do let your guard down easily…" He said to himself.

Meanwhile, Yuya and Yuto…

"…I'm getting a bad feeling somehow…" Yuya said as they ran ahead.

"I'm sure its nothing, Yugo and Yuri are strong, they won't lose easily," Yuto said confidently.

Literally two minutes later…

"I have lost any and all faith in you two…" Yuto muttered as they stared at Yugo, currently flailing about inside a net uselessly, and Yuri, who laid on his back, looking unnaturally… bloated.

"Shut up! You try breaking out of this thing!" Yugo yelled, "Pretty sure you can…" Yuto muttered, deciding to let him figure out exactly how to do that.

"What's your excuse?" He said to Yuri, "I have none, now shut up." He said bluntly.

Yuto sighed, "Where's the orb?" He asked, Yugo struggled a bit and pointed behind him, "A girl took it and went that way!" He said, "Right," Said Yuto, "Yuya, I'll clean up the mess these two got themselves in, you go after the orb." He said.

"But you're…" Yuya began to say, "I'm healed enough to fight, now go!" He said, jumping off of Yuya and transforming.

"Just as planned…" Michio muttered, grinning widely again.

"Take this!" Yelled Yuto as he charged at them, Yuya began to run around them. "Yuya look out!" Yelled Yugo as he ran dangerously close to the duelist who had him pinned.

However, Teppei remained still.

"Huh…?" Yugo muttered as Yuya ran past them.

"Can't believe I'm actually going with this dumb plan…" Teppei muttered as the red dragon went further and further away from him.

"He should be arriving any minute now…" Mieru muttered, stopping in the middle of a clearing. As soon as she said that, she heard the sound of loud thumps against the ground getting closer.

"Not even bothering to catch me by surprise, eh?" She muttered as she turned to face the noise, "You can't possibly be my fated one…" She muttered.

Yuya skidded to a halt in front of her, she seemed unfazed by the giant beast in front of her. "Sorry, but I'll have to take that…" Yuya said, gesturing at the orb she held in her hand, Mieru grinned at him, "You can try, but I guarantee that you're fated to fail…" She said ominously.

"We'll see about that, won't we?" Yuya said, Timegazer and Stargazer appearing next to him, Mieru shook her head. "Wrong, I've already seen how this will end…" She said, "Huh?" Yuya said, a look of confusion on his face.

"Enough talk, now let us end this…!" Yelled the young girl, a dark-blue card appearing in her hands.

"A ritual monster…!" Yuya exclaimed as she was surrounded in dark blue light. "Descend now! Prediction Princess, Tarotrei!" She yelled, transforming into a ridiculously tall female with clothing of what you'd expect to see on a fortune teller. A veil covered her face, and on her shoulders were shoulder pads that had… extra arms?

"I can see it all clearly now…" She said, closing her eyes and moving her hands in a waving motion. "You will suffer from defeat, here and now!" She said as an orb of dark energy formed in her hands.

"Take this!" She yelled, extending her arms and shooting the orb at the dragon before her. "Timegazer! Stargazer!" He yelled, the magicians nodding and raising their arms, a barrier appearing in front of them. The attack collided against the barrier and the glowing wall shook under the strain.

"Alright, let's go!" Yuya yelled as the magicians took down the barrier, they charged at the ritual monster.

"Horoscope Cutter!"

"Time Trance!"

"Spiral Flame Strike!"

Yuya sent a spiral of flames at the girl, glowing orbs flew around Stargazer before enlarging and flattening, spinning around and flying towards the opponent. Timegazer placed his arms around his waist and a large, golden gear extended around him, glowing with purple energy, and sending three beams of light at the large monster.

"Pointless…" She said, grinning smugly, "The human mind is so easy to fool… Clones of Deception!" She said, raising her hands and splitting into two, completely identical copies.

"What!?" Yuya exclaimed as the clones continued to split, in an instant, they were completely surrounded by what, 40-no, 50 copies.

"Crap…! Uhh, that one!" Yuya yelled, redirecting his attack towards the one closest to where she originally was, his magicians also redirected their attacks to two clones next to it.

The attacks hit their marks, but the clones simply disappeared into purple smoke. "What!?" Yuya yelled, looking around him, "Which… which one is the real one!?" He shouted. All of the clones started laughing, filling his ears with the sound of smug laughter.

"It's over, surrender now and I promise it won't hurt too much…" She said smugly, Yuya gritted his teeth.

"I see… then goodbye!" She yelled as all of the clones shot a dark orb at the Odd-Eyed Dragon.

Suddenly, Yuya grinned, "I'm not done yet! Timegazer!" He yelled, the black-robed magician nodded and placed his hands around the golden gear surrounding his waist. "Inverse Gears!" Yuya yelled as purple energy flowed around the gear, flowing around the magician and making the shape of an infinity sign.

Suddenly, their bodies began to move on their own, the dark orbs flew back into the clones' hands and disappeared, the clones lowered their hands and began to merge back together.

"W-What!?" Mieru exclaimed, confused as her body moved on its own. "Inverse Gears… time flows backward!" Yuya said as his own body moved on its own, "Only people near me are aware of what has happened, and can react accordingly…" He explained as the clones began to merge back into one, the attacks he and his magicians declared began to move back towards them and disappear.

"Tch…!" Mieru said in annoyance, "Then it changes nothing!" She said as the purple glow around Timegazer began to dissipate.

"Maybe, but not if I do this!" Yuya yelled as the glow completely went out and control of their bodies returned to them, in an instant, Yuya switched from being Odd-Eyes to being Timegazer, the dragon roared while Yuya placed his hands around the golden gear and gripped it tight.

"Time Freeze!" Yuya yelled, gripping the gear as tightly as possible as it glowed with purple light again, the world suddenly turned gray, Stargazer and Odd-Eyes slowed down as well, their own color fading from the world.

And then, everything stood still.

Yuya felt a bead of sweat run down his forehead, "I can't believe that worked!" He thought. This entire thing was a gamble from the start since he had NO idea he could do this beforehand.

"Pendulum Monsters can be used as either a transformation or a spirit…" He muttered, "but they have more power when used as a transformation…" He said as he floated towards the girl below him. "So I can only do this when transformed as Timegazer… but it's really hard to keep up…!" He said to himself as he felt his grip around the gear loosen ever so slightly, he gripped again.

"I… can stop time for as long as I can physically manage… but it looks like only I can move in it, not my spirits…" He muttered as he glanced at his spirits.

"Timegazer doesn't have much attack power… I guess that means this is all I can do…!" He said as purple orbs appeared next to him, firing three beams of purple light at the ritual monster.

She was blown back a bit, but it didn't exactly do too much damage, she hadn't even reacted yet.

"I guess… that's it…!" He said strainingly, his arms being blown away from the gear, immediately color returned to the world and began to move again, Mieru was blown back a few feet.

"What!?" She exclaimed, not knowing what happened, "Now!" Yuya yelled, his forehead drenched in sweat as he breathed hard and fast, responding to his command, Stargazer and Odd-Eyes sent their own attacks at the large female.

They collided with a satisfying explosion, Yuya fell onto one of his knees and Stargazer helped him back up. "I don't think… I'll be doing that… too often…" He gasped, not only did it take all of his strength to keep time stopped. But during the entire ordeal, it felt like his body was fighting to stay in a single spot while inside a raging river.

He switched back to Odd-Eyes, he was still tired, but switching seemed to alleviate some of it, Timegazer however, looked just as exhausted as him.

"Rest for a bit…" Yuya said. And the tired magician nodded and faded into light.

He heard Mieru get up again, brushing herself off, she hadn't escaped unscathed, but she was relatively fine despite taking two attacks.

"Time Freeze…" She muttered, "I see, you stopped time…" She muttered as she looked at the dragon that panted heavily.

"It looks like you can't use it again though…" She thought, a bit of relief washing over her, she had underestimated this boy, and now he had surprised her.

Well, she was told by her fortune-telling that she would find her fated o-

She quickly perished the thought, her face slightly red.

"It seems I underestimated you!" She said to him, Yuya quickly gathered himself and faced her. "I guess I'll have to get a little serious now…" She said, her body glowing with a menacing aura.

She raised her hands, the extra hands adorning her copied her actions, her eyes glowed a bright red.

"Haze of Deception…" She said softly as a dark purple smoke rose from the ground around them, Yuya reacted immediately. "I won't let you!" He yelled, firing a stream of flames at her.

The flames simply went through her, and she slowly faded as the sound of her laughter filled his ears, in an instant, he could no longer see anything around him, it was all just dark and purple.

"What the…!" He exclaimed, looking around for his surroundings, he could see nothing, he could hardly even see the white-robed magician next to him.

Suddenly, the smoke began to clear around him, he was still in the same spot as before, but Mieru was nowhere to be seen, and was it just him? Or was the sky… darker?

Suddenly he heard her laugh, he whipped around to face where the sound came from and saw her standing there with a smug grin. "There you are!" He yelled, shooting flames at her again, however, the result was the same as before.

"What!? How!?" Yuya yelled, she appeared behind him, he attacked and she vanished immediately.

It happened again and again and again, the result remained the same.

"What's going on!?" He yelled as she appeared behind him again, he didn't attack this time, she grinned and vanished once more, but didn't appear behind him again either.

"What's… happening…" Yuya muttered, looking around at his surroundings, he couldn't find her.

Suddenly, loud laughter filled his ears, he looked around and his eyes were caught by the sight of a large hand on top of a mountain nearby.

Suddenly a ginormous figure began to rise from behind it, revealing who the hand belonged to.

"No way…" Yuya muttered as he craned his neck to stare at her.

"There's no way this is real!" He yelled as he stared up at a Tarotrei so big it dwarfed the mountain it emerged from, laughing loudly.

He suddenly heard the sound of electricity crackling behind him, he turned around and saw three large, white dragons.

"This… this isn't real!" He yelled, sure of what he was saying now.

But right in front of his eyes, were three bigger than normal, Blue Eyes White Dragons.

Meanwhile, Mieru watched from behind a tree nearby, Yuya was unable to see her, but she could see him just fine.

"As I said before…" She said despite knowing Yuya couldn't hear her.

"The Human mind is easy to fool…" She said as the giant Tarotrei began to swing her hand down on top of the duelist, the white dragons as well shot large white streams of light at him.

"It's over…" She said softly, turning away from him.

Yuya screamed, his eyes shining bright red and green as he stared at the attacks coming toward him.

Suddenly, Stargazer moved in front of him, his staff shining with a blinding blue light, Yuya stared at him, time seemingly slowing down, words appeared in his head as the magician glanced at him.

"Horoscope Divination!" He yelled, as he yelled this, orbs of blue light shot from Stargazer's staff, lines of light connecting them and forming what looked like a constellation of stars.

Mieru turned to face him again, shocked at what she was seeing.

In an instant, the dark haze around him retreated, the giant Tarotrei faded from existence, as did the three dragons behind him.

"Impossible… he canceled out my illusion!?" She exclaimed, she quickly ran out and transformed again, "Then I'll do it again! And I'll make sure he doesn't break free!" She yelled.

Yuya didn't hear her, he was entranced by the light being emitted from Stargazer because he could see something inside it.

He heard the sound of laughter again, but it wasn't Mieru's, it was like a mischievous child giggling, a black dot appeared at the center of the light, and it slowly grew larger, becoming more than just a dot.

Suddenly, the figure of a girl holding a staff emerged from the light, she was about as tall as Mieru normally, which is pretty short, to be honest, she wore a blue, pink, and yellow dress, and had large, yellow hair. Her staff's end had what looked like a toy skull on it.

"Hee hee hee!" She giggled, looking directly at Yuya, she had red and green eyes just like Odd-Eyes, but they were quickly concealed by a black mask that she put on immediately. "You seem fun! I like you!" She said giddily, grinning widely.

"Who… are you…?" He asked. The girl giggled again. "Me? I'm Trump Witch! Performapal Trump Witch to be exact!" She said happily, she was flying around him like a child, actually, she probably WAS a child.

"Hey! You and that blonde guy are super compatible!" She said happily, raising her staff in the air, red and black skull particles flying from the tip. "Mind if I take advantage of that?" She asked, though before Yuya had a chance to answer, he saw red and green light fly from the blue orb on his chest, the same color of energy flowed from Stargazer as well.

The energy turned into an orb of light and hung next to each other above Trump Witch's head, they began to flow around each other, merging into a single, swirling whirlpool of color.

Trump Witch raised her hands, her staff suspended in the air next to her, she cupped the whirlpool of color in her hands, above her head. "Wielder of Mysterious Powers… Become a bright light… and dwell in the eyes of the Mysterious Dragon!" She yelled, glowing with purple light.

"FUSION! Be born… Rune-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" She yelled, bringing her hands down to her chest in a swift motion, covered in purple light.

Yuya gasped as he heard a roar come from… whatever was in her hands, she opened them and a purple card floated in front of her, it moved towards Yuya, and his transformation dissipated as it hung in front of him.

"Fusion Monsters require time in order to manifest… and only when the user has two or more monsters with compatible energies!" She said, clearly proud of herself, "Sometimes people get lucky and Fusion Monsters just… appear! But you have to be REALLY lucky for that to happen!" She explained.

"But now that I'm here, I can just take those energies and put them together in a jiffy! Well? Aren't I amazing?" She said pridefully, Yuya smiled at her. "Yeah… you're incredible…!" He said, gazing at the card in front of him, he slowly grasped it, and he was surrounded by purple light.

The girl giggled excitedly, "I'll be sticking around! Call me if you need me!" She said happily as she faded into light.

"Come! Rune-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" Yuya yelled, a large smile on his face, and you couldn't tell because of the mask, but Stargazer grinned as well.

Mieru was suddenly blown back by a gust of wind coming from Yuya, she stared at the purple light enveloping him. "A… A Fusion Monster!?" She yelled in surprise.

The light faded, and in its place was a new dragon, the same shade of red as before, but clearly different.

The horns on his back had changed into a large ring that shone with a mysterious light, the horns on his head were the same, though smaller. His left eye shone a bright green, and his right eye was covered with what looked like a metallic eyepatch that shone with the same mysterious energy as his horns.

Yuya roared, the sound echoing around the area, his right eye shone with a bright blue light for a moment.

"Tch… this changes nothing!" She yelled, raising her hands and causing purple smoke to rise from the ground, "Haze of Deception!" She yelled, surrounding Yuya in an illusion once more. "This wasn't in my predictions… how!?" She thought in a panic.

"Sorry, Miss…" Yuya said softly, Mieru was taken aback, "M-Miss!?" She exclaimed, her face turning red. Yuya roared once more, his eye shining with a bright, blue light.

In an instant, the haze disappeared from existence again.

"What!?" She yelled, "My illusions… in a mere moment…!" She exclaimed, panicking.

"Your illusions will no longer work!" Yuya yelled, "Now, it's time for the finale!" He yelled, jumping into the air, three large white orbs of light appeared in front of him and set themselves on the ring on his back, streams of light flowing between them, making a triangle of light inside the circle.

"Now, it's time for this to come to an end!" He yelled, "Unending Shining Burst!" He yelled, firing three beams of light from the orbs on his back, they homed in on Mieru, and she quickly responded. "Clones of Deception!" She yelled, splitting into multiple different clones and moving in different directions.

"You aren't getting away!" Yuya yelled, firing even more beams of light, each homing in on a separate clone.

The beams struck all of the clones one by one, defeating them all until finally, one struck the real one.

"Kyaaa!" Mieru yelled. All of the clones disappeared when she was hit, and the remaining lasers changed direction and went towards her. "Not yet…!" She yelled, conjuring a dark barrier around her, the beams struck the barrier and pushed her up into the air.

Mieru grunted as she struggled to keep her defenses up, her barrier shattered just as the beams sputtered out, leaving her suspended in the air.

"Now, the finale!" Yuya yelled, suddenly underneath her, "Take this!" He yelled as a large orb of light manifested within his ring, firing a large beam towards her, "Aaah! AAAAH!" Mieru yelled as the beam struck her, blowing her further into the air. "It… It can't be…! My divinations are always correct…!" She yelled as the beam continued to push her higher and higher up.

"I… I lost!?" She yelled as her transformation dissipated, confirming Yuya's victory.

She hung suspended in the air for what seemed like an eternity, she had lost, despite her divinations telling her that she would win…

Then, she started falling.

"E-EEEYAAAAAH!" She screamed, plummeting towards the ground, she could see the ground getting closer at a rapid pace. "I-I can't transform…!" She thought, fear overtaking her mind, after just being defeated, she wouldn't be able to transform for a while, was there some sort of safety precaution taken for this round in case of situations like this? She didn't know and was honestly too scared to think of it.

She never found that out though.

She suddenly felt arms wrap themselves around her, and she found herself carried in a bridal position. She looked up towards the person who had saved her.

"Are you okay, Miss?" Said the voice of Yuya, the very person who had just defeated her, he had reverted out of his transformation and brought out Odd-Eyes as a Spirit, and had ridden the dragon up to catch her.

Mieru felt her face grow hot, was he always this handsome? Did he always have so many sparkles in his eyes? Did he always have sparkling stars floating around his face? Again, WAS HE ALWAYS THIS HANDSOME!?

Blood spurted from her nose as she passed out in his arms.

"Ah! Her nose is bleeding!" Yuya yelled in a panic, "Isn't that a bad thing!?" He yelled in a panic.

Stargazer placed a hand up to his forehead.

"…I'm sure she's okay… right?"

Stargazer sighed.

"…Yeah, I'm sure she's fine…"

Stargazer sighed louder.

"Darliiiiing…!" Muttered an unconscious Mieru, though Yuya didn't hear her.

Stargazer sighed louder.

"Where the heck did you go?" Serena berated, digging her knuckles into the sides of Yuzu's head. "Ow ow ow ow ow! Stop it Sis! It hurts!" Yuzu yelled as the blue-haired girl continued to noogie the pinkette.

"Come now, that's enough…" Said Ruri, calmly and gently moving Serena away from Yuzu's aching head. "She may have given away our first-aid kit AND left us a member short at the last and most important part of this round…" Said Ruri as she placed a hand on Yuzu's shoulder and squeezed.

"But we still passed! So let's just forgive and forget, shall we?" She said while her grip on Yuzu's shoulder tightened, Serena and Rin took a step back, wary of the older sister. "Provided…" Ruri continued, "You don't run off again, okay?" Ruri said kindly, she had a beautiful smile on her face, but the sisters could sense the threat behind her words.

"Okay! Okay! I'm sorry!" Yuzu said, quickly moving away from the girl.

"Why did you run off anyways?" Rin asked curiously.

Yuzu sighed, "I… I was just worried about Yuya…" She said, her face turning pink, "Hm? What do you mean?" Rin asked.

"Well, I dunno, I had a feeling that he was there and he was in trouble…" She said, "And well, I was right, he was covered head to toe in injuries…" She said sheepishly.

"So you gave them our first-aid kit?" Rin asked.

"Well, I was treating him myself until suddenly I was warped away…" Said Yuzu.

Rin grinned, "Why were you so worried about him?" Rin asked, "Well, we're friends!" Said Yuzu. "You're also friends with his brothers as well, weren't you worried about them too?" Rin asked, still grinning.

"W-Well, yes but…" Yuzu stuttered.

"You have a crush, don't you…" Rin said mischievously, Yuzu's face went red, "W-WHAT!? N-No I don't! W-What gave you t-that i-idea!?" Yuzu stammered, her sisters grinned as well but decided to let Rin have the fun.

"Come on, admit it! You'll feel better if you do!" Rin said giddily, Yuzu's face burned, "N-No!" She yelled as she covered her face with her hands, Rin continued to tease her, "Come on… is it Yuya? It's definitely Yuya…" She said teasingly, Yuzu's face continued to burn.

"L-Like you're one to talk!" Yuzu exclaimed, "Huh?" Rin said, confused.

"You have a crush on Yugo but you're still pretending to be angry at him!" Yuzu yelled. Rin's face went red, "W-WHAT!? No, I don't! I hate his guts!" Rin yelled, her face now as red as Yuzu's.

"Keep telling yourself that…" Said Ruri and Serena.

"Guys!" Rin yelled, upset at their betrayal, "I do NOT have a crush on him!" Rin yelled.

"Pot calling the kettle black much?" Muttered Serena, "You're no longer allowed to tease Yuzu about her clearly obvious crush now!" Ruri said kindly, "You guuuuuuuuuuys!" Rin yelled. They all laughed.

"What about you, Serena?" Asked Ruri, "Anyone you've got your eye on?" She asked. Serena scoffed, "Nah, and every male in this school should be grateful!" She said, "They probably wouldn't be able to handle me anyways!" Serena said with a hint of… pride?

"Oh come on, really?" Ruri asked, "Not even Yuri? You hang around him a lot." Said Ruri while thinking about the two and how they often plot schemes on how to cause chaos together, Serena chuckled, "I dunno, maybe? Probably not," Serena said as she leaned back, "But I'll tell you this, if anyone can manage to handle the amount of shit I'll give them, they deserve to have me." Serena said, almost proudly.

"What about you Ruri?" Yuzu asked as her face cooled down, Ruri thought for a moment.

"Hmm… I dunno, Yuto seems nice, and he can cook too!" Ruri said, "He's dependable and tough, really mature, and I guess he's cute too…" Ruri said thoughtfully. "I guess if I had to find a date or something, I'd choose him…" She said innocently, "I don't think I've been swept off my feet yet though, so who knows?" Ruri said happily.

"Talking about boys, are you?" Said the voice of Syrup, who had appeared behind them.

"Oh! Hey Syrup!" Said Yuzu, Syrup cheerfully greeted her back, "If you want, I can give you advice!" She said cheerfully, "Advice?" Serena asked curiously.

"Yup! I may not look like it, but I've dated someone before!" She said cheerfully, "And I am technically older than all of you!" She said.

"Hmm, I think we're good, I'd rather just let those two dorks work out their crushes on their own, it'll be hilarious!" Said Serena, Yuzu and Rin blushed, "Hey!" They yelled.

"Suit yourself!" Said Serena cheerfully, sitting down next to them. "Where's Soul?" Asked Ruri, "Oh, he's just over there," Syrup said, pointing behind her to where the guy slept soundly on the ground. "I was getting tired of carrying him everywhere, so he told me to just leave him there, he'd get up later." She said happily.

"You said you've dated someone before, what was he like?" Serena asked. Syrup sighed, "Well, where do I start…" She said dreamily, "How about his name?" Said Rin, Syrup smiled.

"Well okay then! His name was Drake," She started, looking at the sky dreamily, "Red and Orange hair, looked like his head was a fire hazard!" She said jokingly, "He was… well… hotheaded? But mature at the same time…" She began to explain, "when we first met, he had come up to me suddenly, and slammed his hand against the wall I was leaning against…" She said with a grin.

"Apparently his little sister told him that if you wanted to get a date, you had to perform a thing called a 'kabedon' or 'wall-slam' in order to improve your chances," She said, laughing a bit, "I don't know if that was good advice or bad advice, but either way, it didn't work," She said bluntly, "Yes, I got nervous suddenly, and my heart raced when he said 'I'm in love with you, please go out with me' but…" She said with a smile.

"It was a guy I'd just met! I wasn't gonna say 'yes' all of a sudden, you know?" She said with a giggle.

"I'm sorry, but I have to refuse!"

"Eh? Why? I did the thing and everything!"

"We've just met! I can't just say yes to someone I don't even know!"

"Ah… I see…"

Syrup smiled, "He didn't give up though, he tried every single cliche confession in the book…" She said, memories flying through her head. "I turned him down every single time, and I later found out that it was again, his sister giving him advice…" She said.

"One day though, I got mixed up with the wrong crowd…" She said, her smile drooping ever so slightly, "I didn't mean to… but it happened and well… I was in a tough spot…" She said, a hint of sadness in her usually peppy voice.

"And well… one day I couldn't pay up and they decided to make good on their threats…" She said, twirling her finger on the grass nervously, "It was… a bad time…" She admitted.

"What happened next?" Asked Yuzu, she and her sisters leaning in, Syrup laughed nervously, "Well, despite being cliche, it actually was completely coincidental…" She said with a smile, "Drake happened to look into the alleyway and saw three big guys surrounding me…" She said.

"Oi! What's going on here!"

"Huh? Who the fuck are you?"

"That's what I wanna know, asshole!"

"The fuck you just say!?"

"Hey! Don't worry about me! I'm fine, just go away!" She yelled, of all the times for this guy to arrive, this was the worst, but she wasn't about to just let this guy get involved with… these people.

"Sorry but your definition of 'fine' seems pretty warped!" He yelled back, "What's going on here?" He asked, suddenly the big dude he'd just called an asshole walked up to him.

"Get going kid, and I promise I'll only beat ya close to death…" He said menacingly, "Huh!? What kinda messed up deal is that, asshole!" Drake yelled back, "Why you…!" Said the thug, taking out a large knife, Syrup gasped in fear.

Suddenly, there was a flash, and flames were suddenly everywhere, the big dude, who was about twice Drake's size, was sent flying into the wall opposite to him.

She looked up and saw that Drake was no longer there, she couldn't see it properly, but it was covered in flames.

He had transformed.

"Huh!?" Yelled the sisters, leaning further in and surprising Syrup, "He transformed? Weren't you guys like, really young back then?" Yuzu asked. Syrup laughed nervously, "He was well… nothing short of a prodigy!" She said cheerfully, "He'd always wanted to become a duelist, and he was definitely going to be able to…" She said softly.

"He was a rare case, a rare case since he was four, a child with the power to transform…" She said with a smile, "Something that apparently only happens once every twenty years…" She said with a smile, "He wasn't exactly the strongest out there, but it was already impressive enough that he could transform…" She said softly.

"What the hell!?"

"He's a Duelist!?"

"No way, he's way too young!"

Syrup could hardly believe her eyes, she could hardly make out the figure within the flames, but it was incredible…

In an instant, all of the guys around her were blasted away, she saw the flames dissipate, and the oh so familiar boy was back.

"Damn you, you'll pay for this!" Yelled one of the thugs as they climbed over the wall in the attic, the other two following him, "Eff you too, assholes!" Drake yelled back.

"Not so tough, are they?" He said confidently, clapping his hands together and turning around, he helped Syrup back to her feet, "You okay?" He asked, "Y-Yeah…" Syrup said nervously.

"Welp, I've gotta go now," He said nonchalantly, "Stay safe, okay?" He said as he turned and began to exit the alleyway.

"Wait!" She called after him, "hm?" He turned around to face her.

"What, you aren't gonna ask me out again?" She asked, "Course not, I'm not about to ask a girl something like that after a scary experience like that!" He said hotly.

"I-I wasn't scared!"

"Yeah, sure you weren't"

"Besides, you'd turn me down then berate me about how this wasn't a good time, wouldn't you?" He said with a grin, "I'll see you around, see ya!" He said as he left the alleyway.

"…I'll consider it!" Syrup yelled. Drake stopped in place.

"…I'll consider it, okay?" She said, he didn't answer, instead, she heard him continue to walk away, and five seconds later, a loud "WOOHOO!"

"And well, long story short, later on, I finally said yes!" She said cheerfully, the girls in front of her were silent for a moment.

"That's so cute…" Said Yuzu.

"He seems nice…" Said Rin

"Pfft, that story is so cliche I might die…" Said Serena

"What a beautiful story!" Said Ruri.

"So, where is he now?" Yuzu asked, Syrup's smile suddenly disappeared.

"Well… let's just say that some… stuff happened and…" She began to say sadly, "It… well, became impossible for us to see each other anymore…" She said sadly, "Oh…" Said the four girls, they decided not to dig into what exactly happened anymore.

Syrup suddenly smiled again, "Well, it's all in the past now, so no need to get hung up on it!" She said cheerfully.

"Anyways, I should probably make sure Soul is okay, talk to you all later!" She said before getting up and walking towards the sleeping boy, picking him up and carrying him under her arm.

"Well, I wonder how the boys are doing…" Said Serena, breaking the silence, they turned their heads toward a floating screen in the sky.

"Oh look, Yuya is carrying a girl in bridal style!" Said Ruri, she looked at Yuzu and had to hold in her laughter as she stared at her blank face.

"Better hurry, Yuzu…" Said Serena teasingly, "Or else someone might steal your man…" She teased.

Her reaction, however, wasn't to blush and deny everything.

Instead, she had taken out a paper fan, and was glaring at the girl in Yuya's arms with what can only be described as "Women's intent to kill".

Serena laughed out loud, Yuzu ignored her.

And with that, not only have we gotten a fight scene AND Rune-Eyes, we also got a little bit of Syrup's backstory, I guarantee there's more, and I guarantee Soul has a backstory as well.

What do I think of Mieru? She's okay, a shame she stopped existing during and after Synchro Arc.

Anyways, I'll see you all next time! The fun is just getting started!