Hello, everyone! Welcome to another chapter! Thank you all for being patient and taking the time to give this a read, you are all VERY appreciated! I don't own rights to YuGiOh! 5Ds! Let's get started!

A Wicked Smile

I couldn't believe the skill the duo had. Were they pros who had dropped off the grid? No, I would recognize their decks; one was made of psychic related cards while the other consisted of fire attributes. It was easy to see that they had been the top ranked for so long. My eyes occasionally drifted from my opponents to the crowd around us. Where were the others? I activated my Scrap Iron Scarecrow as they attacked, ending the one with red lines' attack and drew a card. "My turn."

A scream came from somewhere in the crowd, quickly joined by multiple shouts as hands pointed upwards. The three of us jumped backward as rubble dropped from the ceiling. One of them, the one with black lines, drew their companion back as they moved to investigate the rubble that had formed but was shoved back. It was as they were reaching for the rubble when a familiar figure sprung from it. Right before my very eyes, Rōzu appeared and tore the mask from their face. It was as if the world was turned upside down as the two Rōzus glared at one another. "I knew you would be here." The one who had been wearing a mask sent me a wink as I asked what was going on. "We're all friends here, but I would love to get to know you more."

"Don't listen to anything she says," the Rōzu dressed as Yura warned me as I skeptically glanced between the two. She eyes flashed with anger as her look-alike grasped her by the wrist and pulled her into an embrace. "you're nothing but an empty shell."

"And yet I'm much stronger than you in every sense of the word," the other whispered, her black matte covered lips lifting into a smirk. Her attention shifted to me as she separated herself. "Why don't we go somewhere more private?" With a snap of her fingers, the scenery blurred and became an empty room with no furnishings or other entries except for the lone door that rested behind the cloaked Rōzu. The only light that came in was from the door's single 2x2 window, bathing the room in a subtle light that was ever shifting in colors. We must still be in the warehouse! I was snapped from my thoughts as the cloak fell away to reveal a skin-tight leather suite covered in buckles and cat-like gloves covering her hands as she fixed the cat ear adorned headband in her long pitch black hair. "You always wanted to try this costume, but you were always so shy and timid. It looks better on me anyway." One of her hands rested on the right side of her chest while the other rested on her left thigh, striking a pose. The Rōzu dressed as Yura turned away, her face pale despite the tinge of pink in her cheeks. I sent the Catwoman dressed Rōzu a warning look as she approached. "Let me guess, she's told you about her minimalistic abilities, right? Did she ever mention how much she despised them?" My gaze shot to the other as they flinched.

"I didn't want them!" The room resounded with her cry as tears began to trickle down her face. Her teary eyes met my own and I was taken aback by the desperation they held. "They caused the people that I cared for most to treat me as I was a monster! My mother and father, even my brother! It was an accident, but they didn't believe me when I said that the car moved on its own nor did they believe me when I said the china cabinet had fallen on its own. That's why I went with the man with the mask who came after father had fallen asleep. I believed his promise of taking away my powers so I could be what society calls 'normal'. I wanted nothing more than for the powers to be gone, I didn't want to hurt anyone!"

My mind felt as if it were drowning, but I held fast. "You said a man dressed in black took you away." They both nodded. "Who was he?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" the catwoman Rōzu purred, turning her full attention to the girl across from her. "Come back to me, I can protect you from what's to come. I'm stronger than I once was and I promise I won't lose control like I did that time."

Alarm filled me at her words. "What are you talking about?"

"We were better when we were one, so why are you fighting it so much? You must have noticed that your powers are slowly returning so why not go back to the way we were? He isn't angry at you for running away, he's just worried about your safety." Her lips brushed the other's forehead, coaxing them to look at her instead of me. My eyes widened as she spoke of them becoming one again. The catwoman Rōzu glanced my way. "You're correct. We were once the same person."

"Is anything she is saying true?" I asked, looking to the other as she shook her head. "You told me that you were taken from your home, that Akiza helped you escape from wherever they were holding you."

"Everything I told you was the truth." her eyes met mine, revealing honesty. "He gave me a choice, the one in black: lifelong torture at the hands of the ones who were supposed to love me or going with someone who promised that they could make me normal, the choice was obvious! Akiza and I were kept in the same room for a short while before she helped me escape. By that time though, the split had already occurred. They promised that I would be released once it was complete, but they lied and kept me in captivity for all that time. When I had gotten out of there, I went back to the family I had, hoping that in all the time that I had been gone had caused them to change. They were the same though!"

"You should have seen their expressions when they saw me." The Catwoman Rōzu slipped behind her, one hand grasping at the other's hip while the other grasped their chin and forced her head to tilt to the left as her black lips nibbled the shell of the ear. "They had locked her up in the basement for over a week with only a loaf of bread and a bucket to punish her for running away." My gut twisted at the nearly predatory look that crossed their face. "Do you know what they did to her before she left?"

"Everyone has their own story," I pointed out. "Akiza must have told you all about how she struggled with her powers but not once did she take it out on those around her."

"Night after night, father would sneak into her bed and have his way with her then disappear before morning. He acted as though nothing was wrong when they all sat at the kitchen table for breakfast. Mother knew, of course, and would punish her in the most inhumane ways. Her older brother wanted in on the action and soon joined her father and mother. There were some nights when he would decide to use her as his personal slave."

I couldn't help the horror that filled me as realization hit me in the gut. "You killed your own family."

"It was them or us." The catwoman Rōzu tsked her tongue as the other began to cry. Her lips lifted into a blissful smile as she tightened her hold on the other. "First it was the bitch. She didn't even see it coming, since she was so concerned about the house being a mess when members of her book club were coming later that afternoon. So focused was she that she didn't even hear me come up behind her while she was vacuuming the parlor and it wasn't until my power had her pinned to the ground that she began to fight back. By that time though, the vacuum's cable was already wrapped around her scrawny throat. The look on her face as she struggled was…" I suppressed a shiver of horror as a blissful expression crossed their face. "but it was nothing compared to her father's. Imagine his surprise when I welcomed him home from work by taking him upstairs! He was greatly enjoying the attention I was giving him, but I had other plans in mind. While he was so set on finishing, he didn't even notice the steak knife that appeared from between the headboard and bed. His face was so twisted in agony as it was shoved it up his rectum. The screams that came from his lips would have caught unwanted attention so I sliced off his sack and shoved them down his throat."

Rōzu cried, her arms rising to wrap around herself. "I heard everything from the basement and wanted nothing more than to make the hurt them stop! I just wanted the pain to stop!"

"And then it was dear big brother's turn." Catwoman Rōzu turned the other so that they were face to face, resting her cheek against the other's as one arm wrapped around their waist and the other began to stroke their hair. "I moved her so called parents into her bed and covered them up with blankets. Brother came home from school and barged into her room, ready for some fun. It wasn't until he had finished twice that he began to notice there were more in the bed that usual. I flipped the lights on and revealed that he had been pleasing himself using her father's behind while making out with her mother. He was so horrified and angry that he vowed to make me pay. However, he never got the chance. I had laced mother's mouth with rat poison and he had gotten a heavy dose of it." A sick twisted smile lifted her lips as I took a step back. "And sweet little Omocha here, never had to lift a finger. I, her powers, did all the work for her!"

"I went into hiding and created a whole new identity for myself after she freed me from the basement, refusing her offer of joining the one who had split us. My real name is Omocha and as my name suggests, my existence meant nothing to the family I was born to." The tears that had been spilling down her cheeks ceased, leaving trails of mascara. "It wasn't until I met you that I began to feel like a real human being again and I suddenly found myself wanting to help you in any way I could. I had to repay Akiza for her help, and this is the only way I can." In one smooth motion, she fully faced her other self and embraced her fully, her blood red lips meeting black ones.

Shock filled me as their outlines began to blur, their figures growing translucent then solid as they merged into one. I rushed forward as she fell to her knees, her hands holding her head. "Rōzu!" Her face was filled with pain and her eyes were wide and glazed as they darted about the room. "Snap out of it!"

With a start, her eyes cleared and she clung to my clothing. "I know where she is! She's at-" The world froze as the glass window in the door shattered. Panic rose in my being as blood seeped from between her lips, my eyes immediately finding the bullet hole embedded in her shoulder. "You have…to save her…"

"Rōzu, stay with me!" I moved to collect her in my arms, to move her to somewhere else, but fell backward as an invisible force pushed me away. The force was so strong that the wall I collided with caved, collapsing it and causing me to fly into the other room as her lips moved. The last thing I saw before the darkness closed in was the appearance of another bullet hole…this time, in her forehead.

When I regained consciousness, it felt as if something was trying to choke me. "I know you're awake," a distorted voice whispered in my ear as what I thought were fingers tighten their hold around my neck. "Listen to me well, if you wish to save your friend. Stop coming to this place, you won't find her here. You must look in the place that she would never return to if she had a choice. There, in that place, you will find a clue." All breath left me as the hands clenched, causing me to blackout once more but not before I caught site of a smile. It held no joy…all it held was wickedness.