Hi! As a note, I changed the way that duels were presented in this chapter, and I'm planning on updating the formatting in the other chapters. That's why things look different. :) Ruri's card names are different here as compared to Chapter 5, since I'm planning on changing those when my format updating gets to that chapter. As of now I have updated Chapters 1 and 2? Hopefully I'll get to Chapter 4 or 5 over the week, but that remains to be seen. Enjoy this chapter, which I like to call "ARC-V but with one-liners every 2 seconds")

"I would like to say," Yuri groused, "that I have no clue why I am here, or why you decided that I apparently needed to be."

"I mean, what else would you be doing?" Sora quipped. "Talk the talk, walk the walk."

"I could be taking care of my plants," Yuri said, and remembering that Yuri ran a deck of insectivorous plants, everyone conclusively decided not to ask any more about that, lest Yuri decided that they looked like a lovely snack for whatever plants he was growing. (Yuto quietly suppressed a sigh. Yuri grew flowers. Yuri did not grow terrifying plants. He was terrifying enough without them.)

(Also, they cost too much for people who were living alone.)

"But you encouraged Kurosaki to take part in it," Sawatari said dramatically. "You're friends, aren't you? You have to support her!"

Yuri raised an eyebrow. It made Sawatari back down immediately. Meanwhile, Yuto shook his head.

"For once," he said, "you dug your own grave. Be buried in it."

"I could just walk now," Yuri said, but he did not move. "I suppose I should see how Rin and Serena are going to do." He smirked menacingly. "For the same of friendship, am I right?"

Everyone wisely did not respond.

The Miss Duel Academy contest started off with nominations and shortlisting, before an assessment of the student's dueling skill and conduct to see if they could be a good role model for other students in the academy. It was a lot of stuff, but basically, all four Kurosaki sisters had made it through to the dueling segment, where there were eight contestants remaining.

It was not exactly surprising, though. Skill and personality were two things that the Kurosakis had in boatloads. Regardless...

"Alright!"

The announcer came on stage.

"Oh, they invited Nico Smiley?" Sora whistled. "How much money would that have cost? That guy's not cheap."

"If you have to ask," Sawatari said smugly, "you can't afford it."

It was kind of a funny thing for him to be proud of, but everyone except Yuri valiantly held in their snickers. Yuya sighed, smiling brightly. The man in the fashion disaster of a yellow and black suit appeared, grinning widely. "Welcome to the one and only Miss Duel Academy contest! I'm Nico Smiley, five-time winner of the Maiami News Best Smile Award!"

"Either he's grown far less good-looking, or the award managers were tripping acid," Yugo quipped, in what was quickly becoming a competition of who could deliver the best one-liners.

"Huh. That was actually good. Not bad, No-go."

"Thanks—hey, wait—Yuri!"

"Shut up, clone brigade," Sora said, delivering the line with smug gusto.

Sawatari whistled at the silence that came after that. "Cold. Obliterated."

Nico seemed to have been talking while that was going on, and now he was holding out his hand. "Now, these duels will have special rules applied to each of the duelists, to encourage them to think creatively and to put on a good show! Encourage them to do their best!" This was met with cheers from the crowd, with Yuya, Yugo and Sora adding to the noise with loud shouts of names and in Sora's case, elbow fart noises. "Now, the first match shall be between..." he dramatically spun the wheel in front of him. The eight names spun around. "First off, Ruri Kurosaki!"

"Ruri!" Their group cheered as the girl walked in. She was wearing a surprisingly pretty silver dress, with patterns of feathers all over it, and oh, Yuto was definitely absolutely smitten with her, if he wasn't so before. She waved with her usual sweet smile, before stepping to one side of the field.

"And next... Hinote Kushina!"

A girl with dark purple hair walked out, a smile on her face. Her dress resembled fire, with wavy, layered fabric. Not that Yuto knew enough about fabric to claim that he knew what was fashionable. (Except for Nico Smiley's suit, because he was still not over how much of a fashion disaster that suit was. Why was that man wearing that suit? Did all his suits just end up ruined at the dry cleaner's every time he had to direct a match? Was he just insane? Did he actually think it looked good? Nico Smiley's awful suit was one of the great mysteries of the world, right behind sock disappearances and how Yuri bought new plants when they were constantly keeping an eye on him. Oh, but he was getting off track now.)

"And now, for the rules..." Nico reached into a jar filled with papers nearby, pulling out one with a flourish. "Hinote Kushina's Special Summoned monsters all lose 500 attack points!"

Alright, depending on the kind of deck her opponent ran, this could be good or bad for Ruri. How would this turn out?

Nico grabbed another paper from inside the box, and he whistled, eyebrows raised dramatically for effect. "Oh, now this is interesting! Ruri Kurosaki is not allowed to Special Summon monsters from her hand!"

"What?" Yugo shouted, for the benefit of the rest of the hall that had not gone deaf yet from Nico's voice, apparently. Yuri raised an eyebrow.

"Hmm..." Yuto shrugged. "She can do it."

"Hello!" Ruri gave a bow. "Let's have a good duel."

"Same," Hinote said, with the same demure smile. "Careful that I don't burn you!"

Ruri Kurosaki: 4000LP

Hinote Kushina: 4000LP

Special Rules:

Ruri Kurosaki cannot Special Summon monsters from her hand.

Hinote Kushina's Special Summoned monsters lose 500ATK.

"I'll begin, if that's alright," Ruri said, voice sweet.

"Of course!" Hinote winked. "Give me your best shot!"

"I'll first start off with One for One!" Ruri declared, placing the card on her field with a flourish, a ring appearing in front of her. "By discarding a monster from my hand, I Special Summon a monster from my deck! I will Special Summon Lyrical Luscinia - Sapphire Swallow (1*/100/0/WIND/Winged-Beast/Effect) from my deck!" The winged girl appeared, blue feathers spreading out as she sat down on the field in Defence Position. "Then, I'll Normal Summon the bewitching cat of folklore, Kinka-byo!" (1*/400/200/DARK/Beast/Spirit/Effect) A dark cat appeared on her field, prowling next to the bird with a sinister hiss. "And when Kinka-byo is Normal Summoned, I'll activate its effect!" She placed a hand over her graveyard. "I'll be Special Summoning a Level 1 monster from my graveyard, but it is banished when Kinka-byo leaves the field! I'll Special Summon Lyrical Luscinia - Cobalt Sparrow (1*/0/100/WIND/Winged-Beast/Effect) from my graveyard!" A brown girl appeared, fluffing her feathers. "And Cobalt Sparrow is really helpful, because when she is Special Summoned, I can add a Level 1 Winged Beast monster from my deck to my hand!"

Yuri exhaled. "Not bad," he said. "Guess she can adapt quite well to this kind of situation, huh?"

"As expected of Ruri," Yuya said with a bright smile.

"I'll now overlay my Level 1 Lyrical Luscinia - Cobalt Sparrow and Lyrical Luscinia - Sapphire Swallow!" The two cards flew above Ruri, turning into a light similar to that of a twinkling star above her. "Bird of stars that sings in the glowing sunset. Appear before us! Xyz Summon! Rank 1! Lyrical Luscinia - Recite Starling!" (R1/0/0/WIND/Winged-Beast/Xyz/Effect/OU:2)

The beautiful dark-feathered winged woman appeared, patterns of stars surrounding the wings and most of her body as she danced in the air.

"That's the one that forced us into a tie!" Yugo clenched his fist. "Yosh, go, Ruri!"

Ruri gave them a confident smile. "I'll activate Recite Starling's effect! I'll give a monster on the field 300 attack and defence points for each of its Overlay Units! I'll give those points to itself! Gift of the Stars!" (Lyrical Luscinia Recite Starling: 0 + 300 x 2 = 600ATK/DEF) The monster glowed, two stars flying above it and lighting up its feathers, turning them from jet black to midnight blue. "Activating Recite Starling's other effect! By detaching an Overlay Unit, I can add a Level 1 Winged Beast monster to my hand!" She smiled. "Nest Calling!" She slid a card out from her deck. (Lyrical Luscinia Recite Starling: OU:2 - 1 = OU:1)

"Nice," Hinote said. "Guess that didn't hold you back too much, huh?"

No, this is perhaps the hardest rule that I've ever had to follow.

Sapphire Swallow and Turquoise Warbler's effects both depend heavily on the hand. But hopefully this is enough to hold her off for now?

Ruri smiled, not letting any of her inner doubt show through. "I'll set a card and end my turn! And since Kinka-byo is a Spirit Monster, it now returns to my hand!" She added the cat back to her hand with a shake of her head. "Over to you, Kushina-san! Show me what you can do!"

Hinote grinned. "Oh, believe me, I intend to!" She flicked out her hand. "Draw! You're a proper Yamato Nadeshiko, Ruri Kurosaki, but do you know how people can tell that someone is a true lady?"

Ruri smiled, letting the question pass. "Enlighten me, Kushina-san."

"Well, you know that someone is a lady when they have knights, and in this case, I have plenty! I will set the Scale 2 Igknight Cavalier (5*/S2/2400/1200/FIRE/Warrior/Pendulum) and the Scale 2 Igknight Gallant (6*/S2/2100/2200/FIRE/Warrior/Pendulum) in the Pendulum Scales!" The two monsters rise around her, knights surrounded by energy and fire.

"Oh, you're a Pendulum user?"

"Yup!"

Ruri then frowned. "Sorry if I'm wrong... but you can't bring out anything with a Scale like that, right?"

"You're not wrong," Hinote said. "But I put them there for their effect. Gallant's effect. I destroy them both and add an "Igknight" monster from my deck to my hand." The two scales exploded, and embers fell all around her, bathing her in light. She swiped a card from the top of her deck.

"Ah," Yuri says. "That deck of hers must have been made with the newest Master Rule in mind then."

"Newest Master Rule?"

"I suppose it was too much to expect that you'd know. The newest Master Rule went back on the Extra Monster Zone only rule. Instead, that zone sort of acts as the Link Monster Zone now. Link Monsters are restricted, but all other Extra Deck Summoning Methods can be used to bring monsters to the Main Monster Zones."

Yugo frowned, before brightening up. "So that means Yuya can play however he wants to again!"

Yuya smiled but said nothing.

"Also means that Ruri's at a huge disadvantage though," Yuto said, shaking his head.

"Worried about your girlfriend?"

"She is not my girlfriend."

"Remind me, who do you think you're fooling again?"

"Why are you four having more banter than the ones that are actually dueling on stage?" Sora said in exasperation. All four of them turned to him, before they looked back at the duel. (Yuri silently vowed to win against Sora with a one-liner by the end of the contest, because this was getting horrendously embarrassing.)

"I will now set the Scale 7 Igknight Templar (4*/S7/1700/1300/FIRE/Warrior/Pendulum) and the Scale 7 Igknight Veteran (6*/S7/1300/2700/FIRE/Warrior/Pendulum) in the Pendulum Scales!" The two pillars rose again. "And my "Igknight" Pendulum Monsters all share the same effect, so I will use Templar's effect to destroy Veteran and Templar!" She added yet another card to her hand.

So she essentially lost nothing and just gained a lot of advantage, huh?

"For the final time this turn, I will set the Pendulum Scale! I'm setting the Scale 2 Igknight Paladin (4*/S2/1400/1900/FIRE/Warrior/Pendulum) and the Scale 7 Igknight Veteran in the Pendulum Scales! And now, Pendulum Summon! Return from the Extra Deck!" Four bursts of light emerged and fell onto her field. "Igknight Veteran! Igknight Cavalier! Igknight Templar! Igknight Gallant!"

Four warriors appeared in front of her in different colours. Veteran was crouched in Defence Position on the field, while the others were standing tall.

"I'm not sure what you were pulling by leaving such a weak monster in Attack Position, but I guess I'll find out now! Battle! Igknight Templar attacks!"

"Activating the Trap, Negate Attack!" She declared, a barrier emerging and pushing the monsters backwards.

"Well, that was expected," Hinote quipped. "Wouldn't be fun if I ended it this quickly! Pass, over to you."

"Draw!" Ruri glanced at the new card. Ok, so she still had Recite Starling on the field, but for now... "I'll activate Lyrical Luscinia - Recite Starling's effect! By detaching its other Overlay Unit, (Lyrical Luscinia Recite Starling: OU:1 - 0 = OU:0) I will add a Level 1 Winged Beast to my hand again! Nest Calling!" She added the card to her hand, making for a hand of six. "I'll Normal Summon Kinka-byo from my hand again to bring back Lyrical Luscinia - Cobalt Sparrow!" The two monsters emerged on her field and she took a deep breath. "I'll overlay my Level 1 Kinka-byo and my Level 1 Lyrical Luscinia - Cobalt Sparrow! Under the light of the moon, dancing birds take flight! You infused with that light, come to this field! Xyz Summon! Rank 1! Lyrical Luscinia - Selenite Sittella!" (R1/S0/?/?/WIND/Winged-Beast/Xyz/Pendulum/Effect)

A winged-woman appeared, feathers silvery as they covered her entire body, gleaming brightly. Over some of the silvery feathers, thicker and larger black feathers could be seen, glowing dimly as well. A crown lay on the woman's head, and some of her feathers shot out, embedding themselves in the ground.

"I'm going to set a card," she said. "Selenite Sittella gains 300 attack and defence points for every Overlay Unit that is attached to an Xyz Monster on the field. So two, for herself. (Lyrical Luscinia - Selenite Sittella: ? - 600ATK/DEF) And I'll activate Selenite Sittella's first effect. Once per turn, I can give a monster on the field 1000 attack points, but all damage it deals is halved for the rest of the turn! I will choose Selenite Sittella itself! Song of Strength!" A bright glow surrounded her as well, as she stood side by side with Recite Starling. (Lyrical Luscinia - Selenite Sittella: 600 + 1000 = 1600ATK)

"Hmm, why does that matter though?"

Ruri smiled politely. "I suppose you forgot your own rule? All your Special Summoned monsters lose 500 attack points!" (Igknight Templar: 1700 - 500 = 1200ATK) (Igknight Veteran: 1300 - 500 = 800ATK) (Igknight Cavalier: 2400 - 500 = 1900ATK) (Igknight Gallant: 2100 - 500 = 1600ATK)

Hinote's eyes widened. "Oh no!"

"Lyrical Luscinia - Selenite Sittella will attack Igknight Templar! Song of the Predator!" The winged woman shoots forward, striking the warrior down with a loud cry.

Hinote Kushina: 4000 - 400 / 2 = 3800LP

"I'll end my turn," Ruri said. (Lyrical Luscinia - Selenite Sittella: 1600 - 1000 = 600ATK)

"Hmm, then I'll go! Draw!" Hinote grinned at the card that she drew. "I knew you'd come! By destroying three "Igknight" monsters on my field, I can Special Summon this card! Come on out! Igknight Champion!" (8*/2800/2300/FIRE/Warrior/Effect) A large yellow warrior appeared, towering over Ruri as she watched it with some apprehension. "And now, I'll Pendulum Summon again! Come! Igknight Templar! Igknight Cavalier! Igknight Gallant! Igknight Veteran!" The entire field is filled up with the four knights. Pink, green, blue, orange. Yellow.

Ruri quietly nodded.

"I'll activate Champion's effect! By returning an "Igknight" monster on the field to my hand, I can place a monster you control on the bottom of the deck!" She snapped her fingers. "So I'll return Templar to return Sittella!"

"Sorry, no. I'll activate Selenite Sittella's effect. Once per turn, by detaching an Overlay Unit, I can negate an effect that would target a card on the field, and you can't activate effects of that type until the End Phase! So I'll negate this and you can't activate monster effects until the End Phase! Song of Absolute Silence!" A gust of wind blew the warrior backwards, and at the same time, the glow around the Xyz-Pendulum monster became weaker. (Lyrical Luscinia - Selenite Sittella: 600 - 300 = 300ATK; OU:2 - 1 = OU:1)

"What?" Hinote whistles. "Man, your birdies pack a punch, don't they?"

Ruri shrugged. "I'd call it a strike, personally. Birds don't have fists."

Surprisingly, Hinote laughed at that joke, before she managed to recover after a few seconds. "Nice! So they claw their way to victory then?"

"I guess you could say that," Ruri said plainly. She let there be a moment of silence, before she, too, spoke up. "I prefer to consider it as not winging it."

Hinote laughed again.

Backstage, Serena groaned. "This is getting more and more painful to listen to by the moment."

"Puns are the lowest form of humour," Rin said with a sigh, leaning back with a hand on her hip.

"Aww, that's ice-cold, Rin!" Yuzu said, before she let out a light giggle as the other two gave her deadpan looks. "Hey, let everyone have their fun! You can't have a good duel to watch without some cheesy lines."

"I think you mean cringy," Rin said.

"This is the greatest form of betrayal, Yuzu."

"Hey, hey, don't get all catty because I didn't agree with you!" There was a pause. "Wait, wait, Serena, you're gonna mess up your make-up! Nooooo! Rin, help me!"

Unknowingly, Rin ended up echoing what Yuto had said earlier, the green-haired girl folding her arms with some amusement. "You dug your own grave, Yuzu," she said, before flicking out a hand. "Lie down and be buried in it."

Serena stopped, turning over. "Now that is ice-cold."

"I'm killing both of you," Rin said bluntly.

"Hey, uh, could you all avoid messing up the place for now? We kind of need you girls to be on standby..." The brown-haired teacher raised his hands as the trio of girls looked back at him. Uh oh, they look like Asuka in a mood. Alright, guess that I should not step in there. "On second thought, please do whatever you want. I'll be in the corner over there."

"Ok, Yuki-sensei," Rin said politely, before turning back to her sisters. "Prepare yourself, turncoats."

"Noooo—"

"Does anyone else hear screaming?" Sawatari said. "I hear screaming."

Most of the others shrugged. Yuri had a pleased grin on his face. "I knew recruiting her was a great idea," he said.

"Um, Yuri? You hear anything?"

"Not a thing," Yuri said. "In fact, I think that we should focus on the duel and not on any unnecessary sounds, right, Sawatari?"

The stresses that he put on the words caused Sawatari to hurriedly nod and turn back to the duel.

"I'll have Igknight Champion burn down that monster then!"

"I'll activate the effect of Lyrical Luscinia - Citrine Asity (1*/100/100/WIND/Winged-Beast/Effect) in my hand. By discarding her, I reduce all damage to zero this turn and monsters cannot be destroyed by battle!" A green girl appeared, faintly translucent, taking the hit and creating a green glow across the ground.

"Essentially making my Battle Phase useless," Hinote acknowledged. "Alright then, carry on."

"No set cards?"

"Admittedly," Hinote said, "most people don't have as many defensive options as you." She winked. "I do play with fire, you know! And that means crushing everything as quickly as possible even if it leaves me open! That's how Hinote Kushina duels!"

Ruri gave a genuine smile. "That sounds wonderful!" She said.

"So, how do you duel then?"

Ruri paused. "I think our dueling styles are very different," she said. "But... that's fine too, you know? Draw!"

Alright.

She had her way to victory, right in front of her.

One monster (Recite Starling) in the Extra Monster Zone. Selenite Sittella taking up one Main Monster Zone. Four more Main Monster Zones to use.

"I drew into another Kinka-byo," she said. "So I'll bring that card out. And with my cat's effect, I can bring back a Level 1 monster, so I'll bring back Lyrical Luscinia - Citrine Asity!" The green bird appeared, flying around before landing on the field with a flourish. "And once per turn, when Lyrical Luscinia - Citrine Asity is Special Summoned, I can Special Summon a "Lyrical Luscinia" monster that is banished or in the graveyard. I will Special Summon Lyrical Luscinia - Cobalt Sparrow!" The brown bird reappeared. "And I'll now activate Double Summon! This spell is really self-explanatory, so I'll go ahead and Normal Summon Lyrical Luscinia - Sapphire Swallow!" The blue bird appeared, extremely fluffy. "I'll now overlay my Level 1 Lyrical Luscinia - Citrine Asity, Lyrical Luscinia - Cobalt Sparrow, Lyrical Luscinia - Sapphire Swallow and Kinka-byo!" The four monsters flew above her for what was her third Xyz Summon of the duel, and also the one that would end this duel for her. Her ace, her favourite monster.

"Ooh, four monsters!" Hinote grinned. "Bring it and give me your best shot!"

"Birds with beautiful wings! Gather on the battlefield and take brilliant flight! Xyz Summon! Dance in the sky! Rank 1! Lyrical Luscinia - Assembly Nightingale!" (R1/0/0/WIND/Winged-Beast/Xyz/Effect/OU:4)

The colourful bird descends, letting out a melodious call.

"Sapphire Swallow gives Assembly Nightingale the effect to attach another "Lyrical Luscinia" monster from the graveyard to itself as material!" The bird glows. "And Assembly Nightingale gains 200 attack points for each of its Overlay Units!" (Lyrical Luscinia - Assembly Nightingale: 0 + 200 x 5 = 1000ATK; OU:4 + 1 = OU:5) (Lyrical Luscinia - Selenite Sittella: 300 + 300 x 5 = 1800ATK/DEF)

This duel is over.

"I will have Lyrical Luscinia - Assembly Nightingale attack you directly! And she can attack once for each Overlay Unit she has!"

Hinote's eyes widened. "Wait, what the frick?"

"Mood," Sora commented.

"Yugo reacted with much the same expression when he found out," Yuri said with a smirk. "Ruri Kurosaki is nice, but she's pretty damn strong too, even with restrictions like these."

"So I'm going to fly right over your wall! You have no set cards, so I'll just declare them at once. Assembly Nightingale—Quintet Avian Gale!"

Assembly Nightingale listened, and shot out five tornadoes that cleared the rest of Hinote's life points immediately.

Hinote Kushina: 3800 - 1000 x 5 = 0LP

Ruri gave a quick bow. "Good match," she said politely.

Hinote winked. "Let's have a rematch some time!"

"Yeah!"

They parted, and Ruri moved backstage to see the six remaining contestants there, with Hinote coming out of the other backstage door and taking a seat. She may have been out of the contest, but she could still be there. There was a screen backstage, displaying the happenings on stage.

"Wasn't that amazing?" Nico Smiley declared.

"I still can't decide if it would be cringier if his surname was actually Smiley or if it would be even worse if he chose that name himself," Rin commented, as she had been doing the entire day.

"Does it matter?" Yuzu said, frowning. "I mean, he adds energy to a crowd."

"The energy of cringing," one of the second-years said. "But sure."

Serena snorted and reached over to high five the girl.

"Now, we'll be having... Serena Kurosaki against Homura Kushina!"

Serena raised an eyebrow at the other girl with purple hair in the room. "Let's go."

"Yup," Homura said with a grin. "Looking forward to it."

They walked out to the sounds of the crowd, while Ruri leaned back in her chair, content.

This should be interesting, at least.

"So, the rule for Homura Kushina is that she takes 100 damage for each card in her graveyard during her End Phase!"

Serena nodded. So she could just hit with Cat Dancer and hopefully her opponent would just burn to death with her own penalty. This should be simple, no matter what kind of rule she was given. Nico reached out for the jar again, taking out and unfolding a slip of paper dramatically. "The rule for Serena Kurosaki is that..." Nico makes an 'oh' sound, before he clicks his tongue. "This is interesting. Kurosaki cannot Special Summon monsters from the Extra Deck during this duel!"

What.

Fuck.

She was so glad that she didn't say that aloud, but Yugo said it from the crowd for her, so that was nice.

Ok, what should she do now?

"Fuck!" Yugo said, before Yuto smacked the back of his head.

"Oh, I did not see this coming," Yuri said, whistling. "Well, she's going to have a hard time of it."

"Think on the bright side," Yuya said, glancing at the field. "At least Ruri didn't get that rule. It would have been really hard for her to fight without it. Serena, at least, has monsters with high attack points, so it may not be as hard for her as it would be for Ruri." Yuto nodded, accepting that logic, while Yuri also nodded, though he looked kind of reassured, which was nice. Yugo was simply still horrified.

For all that Yuya was saying, he was kind of horrified too?

But he also believed in Serena.

Serena grimaced.

Oh well. She'd work it out.

"Come on!" Homura raised her duel disk. "Let's throw down!"

"Yeah," Serena said. "Let's go!"

Serena Kurosaki: 4000LP

Homura Kushina: 4000LP

Special Rules:

Serena Kurosaki cannot Special Summon monsters from the Extra Deck.

Homura Kushina takes 100 damage during the End Phase

"I'll start," Serena said after a moment. She glanced at the cards in her hand. "I'll Normal Summon Lunalight Emerald Bird (4*/1200/1000/DARK/Beast-Warrior/Effect) from my hand!" She declared. The woman with pale green skin and a long green cape that swept around her appeared, the cape resembling long wings on both sides of her body. It smirked through a half-mask. "I'll activate her effect. By discarding a "Lunalight" monster, I can draw a card!" She swiped a card from the top of her deck. "I'll set two cards and end my turn!"

"Draw!" Hinote smiled. "Activating Evo-Diversity!" She took a card from her deck. "I'll add an "Evoltile" or "Evolsaur" monster from my deck to my hand. I will add Evoltile Najasho (2*/100/2000/FIRE/Reptile/Effect) to my hand! And now, I will go ahead and Normal Summon it!" A grey snake-like creature appeared, sliding across the ground. "I'm going to activate the Spell Evo-Force to tribute an "Evoltile" monster I control and Special Summon an "Evolsaur" monster from my deck. I will tribute Najasho and Special Summon the one and only Evolsaur Diplo!" (4*/1600/800/FIRE/Dinosaur/Effect) A purple dinosaur appeared on the field, letting out a quiet roar and stomping its foot on the ground. Serena's left set card exploded.

"Huh?" She said.

"Oh, when Diplo is Special Summoned by an "Evoltile" effect, which Evo-Force is treated as, I can destroy a Spell or Trap card on the field!" Homura grinned. "And that's only the start, yeah?" She reached forward. "Najasho brings out an "Evolsaur" monster from my deck when tributed. So come on out, Evolsaur Cerato!" (4*/1900/1400/FIRE/Dinosaur/Effect) A large fire-breathing dinosaur appeared. "And Cerato gains 200 attack points." (Evolsaur Cerato: 1900 + 200 = 2100ATK)

Serena nodded calmly.

"Cerato attacks your monster!" The purple dinosaur ran forward, crushing Emerald Bird under its claw.

Serena Kurosaki: 4000 - 900 = 3100LP

"And now I can add an "Evoltile" monster from my deck to my hand since Cerato destroyed a monster by battle."

"I'll chain and activate my remaining set card, Lunalight Reincarnation Dance! When a monster I control is destroyed by battle, I can add a pair of "Lunalight" monsters to my hand!"

"Well, I'm having Diplo attack you directly!"

Serena Kurosaki: 3100 - 1600 = 1500LP

"I'll end my turn with a set card and take the burn damage!"

Homura Kushina: 4000 - 100 x 3 = 3700LP

"Draw!" She nodded at the card. She hadn't really used this card much, but it was probably the strongest monster that she could bring out without her Fusion Monsters. She would need to set it up first though. "I will discard Lunalight Black Sheep (2*/100/600/DARK/Beast-Warrior/Effect) from my hand to add Polymerization from my hand to my hand."

"Isn't that useless for you though?"

"Yeah," Serena said bluntly.

Homura blinked. "Then why?"

"Because now I have three DARK monsters in the graveyard," Serena said. "Exactly three. Which lets me Special Summon this card from my hand. Appear, Dark Armed Dragon!" (7*/2800/1000/DARK/Dragon/Effect)

A dark dragon appeared in front of her, letting out a ferocious roar that seemed to shake the room, shadows dancing around her.

"Oh!" Yuzu smiled. "Looks like her dragon actually came out!"

"You guys have dragons?" Grace Tyler said, baffled. "That's... what?"

"Well..."

"We do," Rin said curtly. "Though they're not cards that we bring out that often. But if Serena was forced to bring out Dark Armed Dragon because she had no chance to fuse, she's probably not going to lose."

Yuzu hummed. "Who doesn't like having a dragon somewhere?" She said impishly.

"Cool!" Homura grinned. "Bring it!"

"By banishing a DARK monster from the graveyard, I will target a card on the field and destroy it." She flung her hand forward. "I'll destroy your set card!" The card shattered. "I will have Dark Armed Dragon attack your Cerato!"

Her dragon breathed out, breaking down the dinosaur easily.

Homura Kushina: 3700 - 700 = 3000LP

"Next, I will set a monster and a card and end my turn."

Homura reached out a hand, drawing a card. "My turn then. Draw!" She seemed slightly disappointed by the card, putting it in her hand and taking another one. "I will activate Tribute to the Doomed. I'll discard a card and destroy your Dark Armed Dragon!" The card vanished as Serena nodded. "I'll now Normal Summon another Evolsaur Diplo!"

Serena frowned.

"And now, I'll overlay my two Level 4 Dinosaur monsters!"

Yup. Fantastic.

"Fire, burn it down and bring me victory! Xyz Summon! Rank 4! Evolzar Laggia!" (R4/2400/2000/FIRE/Dragon/Xyz/Effect/OU:2) A beautiful blue dragon appeared, red fire falling all over from its scales onto the ground and swirling around it in a thin spiral, letting out a roar similar to Dark Armed Dragon's roar, also shaking the room.

"So you're an Xyz user?"

"Sure am!" Homura reached her hand forward. "Attack her set monster!"

"Trap card, Magic Cylinder! I negate your attack and deal you damage equal to your monster's attack points!"

"Sorry, but I'll activate my Laggia's effect to detach two Overlay Units and negate your Trap! Evolutionary Dominance!" The trap shattered and Serena's set card flipped up.

"Meet Lunalight Blue Cat!" (4*/1600/1200/DARK/Beast-Warrior/Effect) Serena declared, the blue dancer appeared in front of her. "When destroyed by battle, I can Special Summon a "Lunalight" monster from my deck! Come, Lunalight Wolf!" (6*/S1/2000/1800/DARK/Beast-Warrior/Pendulum/Effect) The purple-skinned woman appeared, dark and covered by feathers and furs that decorated her body, looking rich and elegant, incredibly graceful.

"I'll end my turn there."

Homura Kushina: 3000 - 100 x 9 = 2100LP

"Draw," Serena declared. She placed a card on the field. "Normal Summoning Lunalight White Rabbit!" (2*/800/800/DARK/Beast-Warrior/Effect) The white-hooded warrior appeared, with her smiling slightly. White Rabbit is her favourite of her Lunalights, even over the Fusion Monsters. Versatile, seemingly weak but always an amazing card. "I will activate Lunalight White Rabbit's effect to revive a "Lunalight" monster in Defence Position. Return, Lunalight Blue Cat!" The blue warrior appeared on the field, dark and mischievous. "I'll activate Blue Cat's effect to double the attack points of a "Lunalight" monster on my field!" (Lunalight Wolf: 2000 x 2 = 4000ATK) She reached out another card in her hand. "I will discard Lunalight Purple Butterfly (3*/1000/1000/DARK/Beast-Warrior/Effect) from my hand to give a "Lunalight" monster 1000 attack points! I will choose Lunalight Wolf!" (Lunalight Wolf: 4000 + 1000 = 5000ATK)

"Why not discard it before and double that as well?"

"Blue Cat only doubles the original attack points," Serena explained. "Anyway, you lose."

"Isn't it too early to decide that?"

"White Rabbit's effect. I'll return Spells and Traps you control to your hand up to the number of "Lunalight" monsters I control. I will return your set card!"

Homura's eyes widened, before Serena slashed out her hand. "Wolf! Wolverine Slash!"

Homura Kushina: 2100 - 2600 = 0LP

Serena gave a rough curtsy, hoping that it looked at least somewhat elegant. "Thanks for the duel."

"Yeah," Homura said, equally dryly. "Good duel."

They both exit.

"As expected of Serena," Yuri said with a sigh.

"Aren't you relieved that your girlfriend won?" Yuto poked back.

"She's not my girlfriend," Yuri said, before he paused. "Though," he said, "if I had to date one of them, I'd definitely date Rin. Serena's just a very good friend."

"Sure," Sora drawled. "Whatever you say, Yuri."

"If only you could apply that attitude to everything else," he shot back. "Anyway, either Rin or Yuzu will be up next, or we'll be seeing them go up against each other in a match. Either one's fine with me."

Sora stared, open-mouthed.

"Let's watch the next one then!" Yuya said cheerfully.

A/N: Hi, everyone! So I think you can tell, but I switched up how I displayed and wrote some things for this duel. I'm planning on going back and editing some of the earlier chapters to fit this similar style, because I do think that capitalisation and bolding can help to make the duel a bit easier to follow. What do you guys think? Anyway, Ruri and Serena showed why they're no slouches even if they lost to the guys earlier on in the story! I do think that it was a bit of a waste to not develop Ruri and Rin more, and I also think that Yuzu and Serena should have been used more... so yup! You'll be seeing them do a lot more stuff here than in canon :p (Though honestly, that's not a high bar to reach for.)

So, Ruri used her Xyz-Pendulum monster in this duel! Admittedly, Selenite Sittella was designed with assisting Assembly Nightingale in mind, so hope you guys enjoyed it! Stats below for the OC Cards used: (Which is also something I plan to do regularly now.)

Lyrical Luscinia - Selenite Sittella (R1/S0/?/?/WIND/Winged-Beast/Xyz/Pendulum/Effect)

Pendulum Effect: All Level 1 and/or Rank 1 monsters on your field gain 200ATK when declaring a direct attack. If your opponent controls a Special Summoned monster: Special Summon this card from your Pendulum Scale, and if you do, your opponent chooses 1 Special Summoned monster they control to send to the GY.

2 Level 1 monsters, including a "Lyrical Luscinia" monster

(Quick Effect) You may target 1 monster on the field: It gains 1000ATK; but all damage it deals through battle is halved for the rest of this turn. This card's ATK/DEF is equal to the number of Xyz Materials attached to Xyz Monsters on the field x 300. If you can Pendulum Summon Level 1, you can Pendulum Summon this face-up card in the Extra Deck. If this card is destroyed by battle or by card effect: You may place this card in your Pendulum Scale. If your opponent activates an effect that would target a card on your field: You may detach 1 Xyz Material from this card; Negate the activation, and your opponent cannot activate effects of that card type (Monster, Spell, Trap) until the End Phase. You may only activate each effect of "Lyrical Luscinia - Selenite Sittella" once per turn.

Lyrical Luscinia - Citrine Asity (1*/100/100/WIND/Winged-Beast/Effect)

You may discard this card from your hand: Until the End Phase, neither player takes any damage, and monsters cannot be destroyed by battle. If this card is Special Summoned: You may target 1 "Lyrical Luscinia" monster that is banished or in your GY; Special Summon it. You may only activate this effect of "Lyrical Luscinia - Citrine Asity" once per turn.

And that's that. Now, the previews will be below, as shown in the previous chapter. No new previews this time, since... well, there's tons of them already :)

Chapter Preview: Chapter 13—Wild Pride

For the other set of prelimnaries, Yuzu and Rin may have gotten far luckier with the rules they were given, but that doesn't mean that things will be easy for them! Facing off against the famous Amazoness sisters, second-year Obelisks, they will have to find out a way to fight without fighting head-on! Luckily, that's something that they've figured out a long time ago...

Chapter Preview: Chapter 14—Dress to Kill

The finals turn out to be a free-for-all, with whoever puts up the best performance being crowned Miss Duel Academy! As the quartet of Kurosaki sisters begin their duel, the school watches with bated breath...

Chapter Preview: Chapter 15—Burden of the Older Sibling

After the Miss Duel Academy contest, Yuto decides that he needs to talk to Rin about their mutual experiences. What starts as a comfortable and normal talk later leads to a full-on clash between them and certain other older siblings in the school, and they start to understand each other's philosophy better.

Chapter Preview: Chapter 16—Wind and Steel

Rin doesn't particularly like it when people insult the way her sisters duel. Sawatari is prone to putting his foot in his mouth. And Yuto and Gongenzaka are just here to watch with popcorn.

Chapter Preview: Chapter 17–Will of the Brother

After spotting them hanging out with Rin and Yuzu, the Kaiser challenges Yuto to a duel. What occurs next horrifies the entire crowd as the two overprotective brothers face off, and Xyz Monsters flood the sky!

Also, considering that I'm trying to balance the characters a bit, I estimate that the point that we're at in this story is similar to GX Season 1 for now. I'll admit that not all the AU lore that I've been putting into this story will get developed in this... "season", I suppose, but what I'm trying to say is that the tone is a lot lighter for now, and the Numbers aren't going to be fully coming into play until after the Duel Monster Spirit Day Arc, which I am still plotting out for now. It should come a few chapters after Will of the Brother. (In response to Destiny Hero Darkside's review, I'm looking forward to getting to that interaction too XD)

Alright, I'll be ending here for now and going back to edit the first few chapters with the edited duel style. Hope you enjoyed!

- Blaise