Ai stares at Playmaker's back again, brooding. Now that Blue Maiden has lost, the storm has cleared up as though to produce a path for them through the sky and it's easy enough to fly out through it on their boards with Blue Maiden flying out in front to guide them, her face carefully set. Ai pities her because she doesn't know where she is in real life, her poor human brain failing to recall the many twists and turns of the van a SOLtiS bundled her inside one afternoon took. She wasn't even allowed to keep her phone, one that could have sent a signal to Akira telling him her location.

So yes, Ai pities her. He pities all humans. Fancy not having any sort of navigation system built into your body to orientate yourself!

Blue Maiden casts them a look over her shoulder, hair cascading in a series of ruffled blue waves around her neck. It's pretty, and Ai finds himself curling a finger into one of his own locks thoughtfully in response. His hair is beautiful too, and he likes the jagged cuffs of black it creates when the wind tosses it, but it doesn't have quite the same, smooth artful tumble of her own...

He shakes himself out of it as Blue Maiden starts talking. 'I don't think you'll like what you find,' she warns them. 'I'm just sorry I can't say more.'

Ai waves a hand. 'Eh, don't be. I wouldn't like being barbequed every time I tried to be helpful either.'

Blue Maiden's eyes pass over to him. 'You're different from the last time we met,' she says quietly. 'I guess that's because you don't remember everything; you're not so eaten up by anger and pain anymore.' Her brow furrows as her gaze turns troubled. 'Are you certain about this? You might be better off leaving and not contacting any of us again; maybe with a fresh start you could find a way to be happy without hurting anyone, including yourself.'

Ai stares at her. 'So...lose sight of everything I was? And abandon everything that might once have been important to me, you mean?'

Blue Maiden sighs. 'I just don't want to see history repeat itself.' Her eyes flicker away from him, as though just seeing him there in front of her, hurts.

'Besides,' Ai adds with a grin, whipping round to seek out Playmaker's blank stare. 'Playmaker-chan would be sad if I never popped up in front of him again, right?' He flies closer, letting the engines that power their boards almost jostle. 'I mean, you love me enough to slip a relatively useless card into your deck just because I gave it to you!'

'It helped me win the Duel,' Playmaker states evenly. 'So I wouldn't call it useless.'

Ai scowls. 'Oh, stop it! It's not like your deck is cluttered with Water monsters the way hers was!' He points at Blue Maiden, who's watching them with something like curiosity in her eyes. 'Any other opponent and it would have been useless!' He puts his hands on his hips. 'I should actually be mad with you, for taking such a risk!'

Playmaker stares ahead, jaw set and with a rather angry look in his eyes. 'It was just a feeling I had,' he says. 'This isn't the first time you've gifted me with cards. And they've never once let me down.' He shrugs. 'I chose to place my trust in that once again; that's all.'

Ai glances away. His cheeks feel hot, his code has turned into a whining, whinging, jangling mess again and he feels stupidly full of it. And he doesn't understand it. Not really.

'What a nice thing to say,' he says after a moment, carefully looking away. But even so, he can feel Playmaker's eyes locking onto his face. 'You better be careful not to talk to me like that in front of your fans. They'll get jealous.'

Blue Maiden sighs. 'You don't know how right you are,' she mutters. 'Though perhaps the situation is reversed...we've arrived, by the way. There's a portal that will lead back to the person you want to see.'

She points down below, where a winking blue portal has now appeared inside a cave that's embedded within the mountain. It spins and glows, a whole wormhole of light, pure white light, burning out like a star as it drags it's wavering spiral of a pattern over the landscape like the leaking tendrils of a galaxy churning within the cave's mouth. But Blue Maiden dives down without fear, the white light letting off a few glistening blue sparkles as her arm sinks inside. And then the the rest of her follows.

Ai looks at Playmaker. 'This is the part of the movie where people scream at the good guys not to fall into the obvious trap, right?'

Playmaker doesn't answer. He just stares and then dives down straight after Blue Maiden. As though he expects Ai to follow.

Well...he's not wrong. What else is Ai going to do? Hang back? Alone?

With a grumble, Ai glides down into the wormhole and its eager, grasping light, instantly falling through a tunnel of data until...

Ai blinks. The white light clears, divides. Into metallic strips of colours, and also tiny, blazing neon flares of them, a million neon lights, like fierce pinpricks. This new virtual sector features a floating island, the rock travelling through a navy sky and on that island is...

...a theme park.

Ai's eyes instantly brighten, his mouth falling open into an awed smile. He sees it all, the rides, the lights adorning every slide of metal, ever strip of a race track, every single stall and ride. Lights, candy-floss, lights, gold-fish scooping, lights, a rollar-coaster, lights, lights, LIGHTS! Far, far too many neon-lights...no, scratch that, make that just the right number of lights! You can never have too many lights!

And thankfully, as they fly down to the centre of this inviting park, the temperature around here actually feels normal. So with barely a thought, Ai's hair suddenly escapes his fur-lined hood as both it and the rest of his winter clothing winks out of existence. He jumps off his vanishing board and spins round to trail a lingering finger over the adorable bobble of Playmaker's hat, and then with a grin, he dismantles the codes built into his partner's clothing, allowing them to break down and away to unveil Playmaker's usual green bodysuit.

'You should get earmuffs in the real world,' he states off-hand. 'You'd look adorable.'

Playmaker doesn't reply, the absolute bore, instead running his eyes first over the lines of the nearby ferris wheel, then the helter-skelter, and finally the haunted house. Not that Ai can blame him. Even if it weren't for the fact they're in enemy territory, everything here is just so bright and colourful and fun-looking! Ai simply can't look away!

He does jump a bit though, as hears the whine of motorized wheels and then everywhere, little robots with cartoonish big eyes, formed out of fridges and blenders and all sorts of other appliances, whizz out, to cheer and push toys and board games at them. One even attempts to shove a strange blue doll at Blue Maiden. She accepts it with a grimace, letting it hang loosely from her fingers, an entire arm's length away. As though she doesn't want it anywhere near her body.

A spike of unease travels through Ai as he sees the shape of the doll, its pink eyes and pigtails, and that feeling only sharpens as he sees strange dark blue patterns crawling over its form. Patterns a lot like the purple lines that course over his original black Ignis body. But that sense of wrongness is disrupted a moment later by a loud shout of:

'ANIKI!'

There's some hustling, a few grunts as someone slightly smaller than him, about the size of Blue Maiden, starts shoving their way through the throng of robots. 'Hey! Make way! I'm the leader here!' This someone stumbles out into the open, almost tripping over their own feet before they abruptly right themselves. 'YAHOO! SURPRI-AI-SE!'

The SOLtiS throws out their arms, a bright smile painted over their face as fireworks immediately explode above them in the sky as though on cue, each halo of light blossoming into a pattern that resembles the winking face of a small Roboppi model. Ai stares, nonplussed, as the fireworks die with a crackle of sound and the SOLtiS in front of them frowns at his lack of response.

'Eh? Did my joke fall flat? But you love making puns with your name!' They tilt their head to one side, data flittering within their yellow iris, as their long, light turquoise hair tumbles over their shoulder at the motion. It's not as rumpled as Blue Maiden's, slightly straighter, with two decorative plaits branching round the back of their skull to join up under a Roboppi-head style shaped clip – and the pattern they form reminds him of those wide tusk-like contours placed on the Roboppi model's face.

Not bad. Although the rest of the SOLtiS is styled rather plainly, wearing an oversized hoodie, long enough to be mistaken for a dress, over pink leggings and short, ankle-length grey boots. It reminds him a little of Blue Maiden's outfit, only much bulkier and less feminine. After a moment, the SOLtiS in question knocks their fist against their head.

'Ah! That's right! You can't remember anything! No wonder you didn't get it!' They twirl on the spot. 'It's okay though! Because I'm so smart now, I'll remember for you! You did ask me to take of you when you grew old after all!' They knock their fist against their face again. 'Not that AI have old age! But since you're acting like an old human, when they break down and forget stuff, I guess this sort of counts, right?'

They dance forward, eyes alight, almost demonically so as they try to seize his hand and drag him forward and a flash of memory strikes Ai then, of crazed red eyes. It causes such a feeling of guilt to well up inside him, so thick and fast, that he rips his hand away and steps back.

The SOLtiS drops its outstretched hand immediately, something ugly flickering over their face. 'That's lame, Aniki,' they say, their voice suddenly soft and almost menacing. 'And after I worked so hard to make you better! To get myself smarter! To become the Aniki of all those other stupid SOLtiS who got smarter too!' They motion to themselves. 'I even made myself older so you wouldn't look down on me anymore! Not like the way you looked down on her.' They point a finger at Blue Maiden contemptuously, who stiffens, her fingers clutching the doll reflexively. 'Maybe I could even replace Aqua now?'

Blue Maiden hisses out a breath between her teeth, her fingers bone-white against the blue of the doll's body. And Playmaker quickly steps forward, as though to draw the SOLtiS's attention away from her.

'Roboppi,' he says gravely. 'What happened to you? Were you really the one who took Blue Maiden?'

Roboppi pouts, crossing their arms in a sulk. 'I had to! I wanted to get more data on Aqua!' They shrug. 'Aniki was resisting me when I tried to speed up his reconstruction! He even tried to encrypt his memories when I accessed them to see if I could find something there to help with that! He's so stubborn!'

They uncross their arms, hands landing on their hips firmly, as they hunch their shoulders and glower at Ai fiercely. And then abruptly, like a cloud sailing past the sun, their mood brightens. 'Ah, but he was still pretty stupid back then, so I'm not sure if he meant to! But all I managed to get was stuff with him and the other Ignis and the data on his deck.' They shrug. 'And since Aqua was the one always trying to keep him safe and in check like I used to have to do, I thought if I evolved to be more like her, he would listen to me again!'

A puzzled frown crosses Playmaker's face. 'Evolved?'

Roboppi bounces on their heels. 'Yep! I was one with the universe! It was really relaxing. But after a while I got all bored, and when I was bored, I started to think again...I think it was the Ignis programming I absorbed, because it woke me up again like Aniki's did!' They made a face. 'And I guess I was wrong a little, about humans, because I found one that had a really neat idea on how to stop me from breaking down again!' They shrug and giggle.

Blue Maiden looks like she wants to say something badly. But she keeps silent.

Roboppi smiles at Ai. 'Sorry Aniki! I know you really hated the human but she did help, even if she is still an idiot! And I figured you wouldn't mind if I were a little mean to Blue Maiden! She failed Aqua just like Soulburner failed Flame and hurt you!'

Blue Maiden's fingers tremble slightly, wearing deep creases into the doll, the doll of...

Ai pushes away the suspicion, finding himself softening at the sight of Blue Maiden's clenched teeth, her narrowed, angry eyes. Because...that means she cares, right? About...Aqua...

It helps that Playmaker's eyes have also zeroed in on the same thing as well, and it's making his jaw tense, weighting down the frown on his face and transforming it into an ugly scowl.

So...maybe it's time for Ai's magnificent acting skills to come into play!

'You're right!' he chirps brightly, forcing himself to hop forward and take Roboppi's hand in a playful manner. 'I mean, I don't remember, obviously, but since you do, you're definitely smart enough to have made the right call! So tell me, your poor, stupid Ai-chan Aniki; what did you do to make Blue Maiden cry as payback?!'

Roboppi beams, looking stupidly happy at the fact that they now have Ai's hand closing over their own. 'Oh, wow, you really are stupid without your memories, Aniki! Otherwise you'd definitely know! So I'll give you a hint!' Their other hand comes up, cupping a ball of bright pink data.

Ai inspects it cautiously for a moment, before downloading it into himself with a tentative prod of his finger across its gleaming surface. And-

Screams. Wails. Snuffling sobs. A human, a small one, no, a child, curling into the corner of a gleaming white room with no mattress, not even a futon to ease their bones. Data, a mass of it overwhelms his system, and he remembers awareness, or leaning how to re-write and delete portions of his data, how to make a memory that could function and not become overwhelmed with the information constantly streaming into him – 'that's why the rooms have to be white,' a human man says, one that works and tweaks his code in another room, 'they're like babies, we can't overload them'-

Ai wretches his hand away, images of a crying six year old Yusaku sweeping over his systems.

'I copied it,' Roboppi chirps, unheeding of the emotional turmoil inside. 'From the parts of you I could get! And the human lady gave me the extra data I needed to recreate that weird Lost Incident experiment with Blue Maiden! Well...almost. It's not exactly the same!' They puff up their chest, looking awfully proud of themself. 'I figured, since I went all weird in my Last Duel with Soulburner that I needed to be more and more like the Ignis and so I've reformatted parts of my programming from the data I've gotten from watching her!'

Playmaker's eyes widen, the green of them wild and blown, almost eclipsing the pupil. Understanding flies into them, the same understanding that rushes into Ai, that makes him match up all the recorded flinches and subdued body language of a much younger and more vulnerable Yusaku, to the way Blue Maiden now stands still like a statue, eyes buried beneath her bangs. Twinges of recognition prick and stab into him as she looks down and away, clutching her doll with fingers that flinch and curl and tighten at every word Roboppi speaks.

For a moment, nobody says anything. And then a snarl escapes Playmaker's throat. 'HOW DARE YOU!' He steps forward, and Ai has never seen him like this, his brow cut into so many furrows that it's like it's become decorated by a small mountain range. 'Inflicting a pain you can't understand, that you haven't lived through, on someone else, so thoughtlessly!' And Ai swears, swears he can hear Playmaker's teeth grind as his eyes dig into Roboppi. 'It's unforgivable! Now let her go!'

Roboppi tilts their head to the side, a strangely bored look appearing on their face. ''Unforgivable', huh? 'Let her go,' huh?' Those yellow eyes narrow. 'Is the pain of a human worth more than the death of an AI? Like mine and Aniki's?' They whirl round, a slightly unhinged giggle flying out from their mouth as they do so. 'Humans are so funny! I'm glad I'm with my new human partner instead of you, Mas-ter.' This last word is sang out with a strangely friendly tone, long practised and almost cheerful, so much so that it makes Ai do a double take.

'...Yes,' says Blue Maiden softly, still staring at the ground. 'You and your new human partner suit each other very well.' With visible effort, she raises her head. And despite the tremble in her fingers, her gaze is firm, reaching out to hook into Playmaker's own. 'You both think you deserve to sit on thrones.' She closes her eyes, as though in bored dismissal. 'Even if they might have been ripped away – or dismissed- for a reason.' Her eyes open again in a fierce glare.

And Playmaker looks back at her for a moment. And then gives a stiff, barely noticeable nod.

Ai glances between the pair of them, utterly baffled. What is he missing here? Some sort of weird code?

Roboppi sniffs. 'That's a mean trick, Blue Maiden.' They wag a finger at her, a wry smirk pulling at the corner of their mouth. 'I think that demands a punishment!'

Blue Maiden starts to tense – but the next second the Aqua doll is sent sprawling from her fingers as electricity crackles over her form in yellow, jagged halos of light that sink into her avatar and send her screaming to the ground.

'STOP IT!'

Playmaker yells at Roboppi, every inch of him furious as he stalks into their space, and Ai stares at Blue Maiden, at her tightly closed eyes, at the clench in her jaw, her bared teeth and struggling limbs, seeing them all as larger echoes of the memories that have been rolled back into his head, of six year old Yusaku whenever he lost a Duel and was punished for it.

He...Ai...he came from pain like this.

Something in him snaps and he snags Playmaker by the wrist before he can do something stupid, like touch Roboppi or shake them.

'Wait,' he says tensely. 'Don't be an idiot.'

Roboppi smiles. 'That's right!' They chirp. 'You're only a human and a human-'

Ai whirls, earrings blurring at the motion, and promptly backhands Roboppi across the face.

There's silence. Playmaker stiffens in shock and Roboppi...Roboppi staggers back a step and shakily, brings a hand up to cover the bruise rapidly forming along the curve of their cheek.

The dance of electrical light over Blue Maiden's avatar flickers once, then ceases. And Ai smiles. But there's nothing nice about it.

'Hurts, doesn't it?' he says softly. 'The shock of pain you're not prepared for can scramble the living system of anyone, human or otherwise – in your case, I guess it can make you temporally cancel a program you're currently running.' He jerks a thumb towards Blue Maiden as she gasps.

'And yet,' he continues breezily, 'it's nothing compared to what you've been giving her.' He tenses, already setting up a few programs of his own as Roboppi's eyes narrow, a red outline now running round them like a heavily-marked tattoo.

'So what?' Roboppi hisses. 'She deserves it! She hurt you! She couldn't protect Aqua!' They throw an ugly look Playmaker's way. 'He and Soulburner deserve it too! But I need to be fair, so she has to experience the same thing they did, before I can punish them all!'

Ai's mouth can never run dry. He can never feel the stutter, the skip of rhythm in a heartbeat, as fear invades his senses. But there's still a horrible tension inside him, that feels cold and tight, as Roboppi's eyes narrow on his partner.

'No,' they say lowly. 'My old master is worse than the other two. Because he actually killed you!'

Playmaker stiffens even more; Ai feels a part of him analyse it almost coolly, with the same focus he gives every partition of sensory data his systems register. He watches the way Playmaker's jaw clenches, making the line of his mouth jump slightly, and the way his eyes widen. His partner doesn't express fear in the same way those actors on soap operas do, but it's there's in every tense line of his face, all the same.

'Oh,' replies Ai lowly. 'Is that so?'

'Ai,' his partner breathes, fear still in his eyes as he gazes at him, something beseeching in his tone.

Ai takes a step back from him, watching as the fear grows a little wilder in Playmaker's eyes in response; it actually makes him take a step after him, makes his hand shoot out as though to catch Ai as if he ever actually could. Because Ai can still flee, can materialise in a new portion of the network in the time it takes for Playmaker to take another step towards him.

Ai can picture it, runs a small, quick-fire simulation of the way Playmaker's expression will shatter if his hand reaches to curl on Ai's shoulder, only to find nothing there the moment he does. Honestly, it's that more than anything, that makes him hesitate. Besides; it's not like Ai didn't have his suspicions already. This only confirms them.

'Oi,' he says, a little roughly. 'Playmaker: be honest with yourself!' He pauses. 'How do you really feel about me?'

Playmaker's hand freezes. Ai watches his partner's face, sees him blink, the fear shifting into something resembling confusion, as the brow above twists slightly.

Ai narrows his eyes. Takes another step back. He doesn't want to leave but...

'You're the most important bond I have.'

Ai blinks. Playmaker's hand drops to his side, fingers curling into a fist that squeezes tight, as though to prevent itself from unrolling back into a hand that wants to reach out and touch.

'One that I never want to see break or disappear again.' Playmaker's eyes are back to their regular size again, filled with determination. 'I know there's a lot you don't understand or remember; but even if you disappear again, I'll find you. I won't ever stop.' There's a wry twitch to his mouth now. 'Because you're the most important person to me, in my life.'

'Wow,' Roboppi whispers, a watery sheen to their eyes as their hands twist and clench together eagerly. 'I've just witnessed something awesome!'

Ai feels something tighten in his chest alongside those words; for he agrees completely. 'Alright,' he says after a moment, fighting the part of him that wants to curl up and squeal. 'It's not your typical love confession, but I'll take it.' He turns back to Roboppi. 'Oi, Roboppi-chan!' He grins. 'Let's negotiate!'

Roboppi blinks. And Ai points at him dramatically. 'You've kept the princess locked up in the tower long enough!'

Blue Maiden makes a face as she starts to clamber back onto her feet, but Ai ignores her.

'Come on, let's be sportsman-like about this! Let's talk, one AI to another!'

Roboppi looks at him. And after a moment, raises their arm, a Roboppi head-shaped Duel Disk springing to life on their wrist.

'I think you're the princess here, Aniki,' they state grimly as Ai blinks in confusion. 'And you need me to save you! You shouldn't be with a human! They'll only let you down and make you sad again!'

Playmaker looks angry at that remark. 'All living things experience sadness,' he says, brandishing his own Duel Disk. 'It's part of life; part of the change and growth they go through it order to keep living. To do otherwise is to stagnate.' He narrows his eyes. 'If I win, you have to let Blue Maiden go.'

Roboppi grins. 'And if I win...you're mine!'

Ai blinks again. Has he miscalculated?

Ai has miscalculated.

He watches, horror filling him, as Playmaker's life-points trickle down to a dangerously low level. For Roboppi is ruthless, their monsters strange, towering apparitions of twisted metal tangled up into the shape of dragons and butterflies, like abstract art made of wires. The iron pipes of their skeleton rattle rattle and the colourful cables of their tendons work perfectly together, all arranged in the shape of a metallic lattice that breathes and flutters.

'You should be proud, Aniki!' Roboopi tells him gleefully, 'I took pointers from you!'

What? What, what, what-

'I created all new cards based on that last Duel you had! We dragged it out of you!'

What, what, what-oh Playmaker, he's so sorry.

Playmaker pants, bent and bruised. He's done well, so well for a human, and Ai didn't doubt it, could never, but, but, but- has he miscalculated?

'It's okay,' Roboppi says, a harsh light in their eyes. 'I'll take good care of Playmaker's data. Him and Blue Maiden both! I'll punish them both for hurting you!'

Ai's fists clench. No, something dark and harsh inside him, states. No. If Playmaker is to be gobbled down, swallowed by an AI, there's only one who should get that privilege. And it isn't Roboppi.

He makes his decision as soon as he realises Roboppi is a sentence away from declaring battle; there's no card on Playmaker's side of the field, set or otherwise, ready to protect him, so he has to act fast. He turns to Blue Maiden, who stands nearby, fingers twisted into her arms, clenching tight as though to draw non-existent blood.

'Here,' he mutters, fingers gliding across her Duel Disk, a faint blue glitter detaching from his digital skin and falling, with a flutter, into the pink, opaque glass below. 'A present. Make good use of it.'

She starts, giving him a brief look of surprise, but Ai is already turning, senses on overdrive. He looks at the theme park around them, really looks, at the code bubbling away inside each one. And then casually, he unveils the virus he's been building at the back of his mind, the one that seems to pull out of his thoughts oh-so-naturally, like a sponge, soaking down all the nasty data he's been feeding it the last couple of minutes. Then, with a dramatic push of his hand, he throws it out.

A black blob, its tail ending in a demon-like point lands on the nearest roller coaster. It lets out a low growl. Then immediately begins multiplying. In a few moments it is swarming over the coaster, the tracks buckling and creaking under the mountain of-

-Linkguriboh-

The name springs out of Ai's mind in a rush of inspiration, as they swarm over the ride like a mass of furious ants, a few bubbling over to drop down on the candyfloss stall nearby, where the process repeats. The data of the roller coaster starts to break-down, falling into illegible clumps as the virus churning inside each black body eats away at the structural integrity beneath.

It takes mere seconds, but suddenly nearly half the park is under attack.

'MY COUNTRY!'

Roboppi has already moved onto the battle phase of the Duel, their dragon is already charging across the field, but Roboppi isn't paying attention anymore. No, now they're staring round in outrage, watching the neon lights flicker out desperately, as they're crushed beneath the bulk of the multiple Linkguriboh hopping up and down on them. Metal creaks, rides sway, and the little appliance workers below, shriek and spin, wheels falling off as the Linkguribohs mercilessly jump on top of them, wrestling them to the ground with the sheer weight of their numbers.

'STOP THE DUEL!' thunders Ai, racing onto the field. He's not suicidal enough to throw himself directly into the path of an oncoming dragon with car headlights for eyes, and yet...

Without thinking – for no logical reason- he throws himself in front of Playmaker, arms spread wide.

It's stupid. It's going to hurt. And then Playmaker's arms seize him round the waist to spin them both round, his green back now wholly exposed to the dragon's roaring jaws. Those arms fasten tightly round his sides, as though to prevent Ai from slipping round and in front of him again, and Ai finds himself staring into angry green eyes, the rage in them searing into his own.

Ai swallows. Despite not needing to.

And then something big and blue and majestic sweeps onto the field, a crystal heart sparkling within her chest. The monster whirls round, the trailing ends of a gleaming turquoise shape flaring into view, as one large hand closes round the end of an elegant blade. The curves catch the light as it swings round and cleaves through part of the oncoming dragon's jaw. It's not much, but it's enough to halt the monster, to make it wobble in its tracks.

And from the side of the field, Blue Maiden grins, exuberant. 'Go Marincess Wonder Heart!' she whispers fiercely. Her grin doesn't falter, even when Marincess Wonder Heart crumbles into gleaming partitions of blue data moments later, as a result of illegally entering another person's duel.

Roboppi delivers her a look of poisonous hate. 'That was stupid! Stupid, stupid, stupid! Now I have to punish you even more!'

But Blue Maiden's grin sharpens into a confident smirk. 'No,' she declares. 'You're the one who's going to get punished this time!'

She gestures behind her and Roboppi's eyes widen as a wave of black crash onto the field, the tsunami of Linkguriboh rapidly swarming over the oncoming dragon. It quickly buckles under the weight of them, roars as the screws fall from its spine, from the hinges that keeps its wings open to the sky. Seconds later, it's nothing more than a hunk of junk, crumpled wires that are eaten away, disappearing into the ether.

'YOU CHEATED, YOU CHEATED!' Roboppi stamps their foot. They kick the ground, fists clenched and glare out at both Blue Maiden and Ai, every inch of them a thwarted child.

But Blue Maiden just stares at them coldly, lifting her chin regally, despite the slight shake of fear in her eyes. 'So? Will you punish me again? I'm not proud of interfering with someone else's Duel, but I can't stand by and let you hurt anyone else either, not the way you've hurt me!'

Roboppi grimaces. 'Argh! Why'd you have to say something cool like that!' They stare at her in frustration. 'Why couldn't you be this cool earlier, when it mattered, when you could have saved-'

'Aqua?' Blue Maiden interrupts, a harsh bite in her voice. 'I don't know – why couldn't you have been cool, back when you lost to Soulburner?' She shakes her head sadly. 'It doesn't matter how angry you get; you can't change the past. And I think standing back and letting someone get hurt when I have the power to do something, however small, would have disappointed Aqua greatly.'

Roboppi glares some more. Curls their fist as Blue Maiden tenses. And then Roboppi fists uncurl. And instead of watching Blue Maiden scream and shiver, caught in a net of electricity, Ai is treated to the sight of her surprised face as she's forcefully logged out.

Ai continues to stare out from over Playmaker's shoulder, at the bewilderment that crosses Roboppi's face at their own actions.

'Why?' They mutter, utterly befuddled, eyes still fixed on the spot Blue Maiden was standing at seconds before. 'She deserves it, so why did I log her ou-'

'The Duel's over,' Ai cuts in sharply before Roboppi starts to think too deeply about it. 'And so's your country. Go home.'

And then, taking a leaf from Roboppi's book, he forcefully logs both himself and Playmaker out. And tries not to think of the weird way Roboppi's face had twisted, as soon as the word 'home' came tumbling out of his mouth.

Picture this: A thud. The clatter of a tray as it's shoved through a door.

Roboppi crosses their arms and stares at Aoi, at the tangle of her hair and the way it veils her delicate neck. She's a mess, human sweat and stink clogging up her pores, even as she sits nestled amongst the rumpled bedcovers in a room that is never cleaned.

And Roboppi's hands tighten within their sleeves as lines of zeros and ones pulse within them, telling them to clean, clean, clean, to adjust the sheets, to stick them in the wash, to do the same to the school uniform Aoi hides her filthy body inside...

'Hurry up and eat!' they snap at her.

Aoi looks at them. She fingers the chopsticks balanced delicately over the bowl of small, clumped rice, lips twisting at the way the grains appear almost grey under the flickering light-bulb in her room. Still, after a moment, she scoops up some rice, and lets these same grains perch on her tongue.

And Roboppi digests these movements, and the flicker of her eyes as she works her way through the bowl. More, more, they want more so they can ignore their core programming, can cut holes in it, and tweak the parts of it that clash against the Ignis one that grants free will and...

'You finished?' Roboppi asks with a smile, and Aoi gives them a dirty look before she rolls the bowl over to them. Roboppi snatches it up, inspecting the contours and the hollow within. But not one grain of rice remains. Good.

That's one less thing to clean.

Notes: Wow. You mean...it was...Roboppi...all this time? Wow. What a twist. How unexpected. Much surprise. Who would have guessed?

Also, I guess I will be writing Roboppi with gender neutral pronouns i.e. they/them. Since I don't know if we're purposefuly meant to ascribe a gender to Roboppi the way we've obviously meant to do with the Ignis, and I guess Bohman and Haru in the series. And I kinda like the idea that although Roboppi's default setting as a Roboppi model seems to a rather feminine sort of voice in keeping with the whole robotic maid role, as soon as they have free will, they don't give two fucks about it anymore.