Hello everyone! Nothing much to say other than going back to the very beginning (the Synopsis) and adding one important detail I completely forgot about, the disclaimer! (Yeah, I'm kinda kicking myself right now for forgetting something that simple!) For those that have already read up to this point, I may as well put the disclaimer here as well so you won't have to jump back to the synopsis read it.

Disclaimer - Cardfight! Vanguard is owned by Bushiroad and TMS Entertainment and Selector Infected/Spread Wixoss is owned by Takara Tomy and J.C. Staff. Neither franchises belong to me and are the sole properties of their respective owners.

Other than that, hope you enjoy this next chapter.


Selector Battlefield

(Selector Infected Wixoss OST: Battle More)

"Draw and Ener Charge."

Ruko stared across the battlefield over towards Kai, still curious on his intent of accepting to battle her to try and bring her back to her friends and family. She glanced over towards Tama on the table and could only frown. She had hoped that Hitoe and Yuzuki would have known better to abandon all trust to her after the LRIG refused to go through with the vow to become an Eternal Girl, believing that one method was the only true way to save everyone who was trapped in these battles, both Selectors and LRIGs alike. But now that they were still willing to trust her even after what happened, she felt the only way to put everything right was to make them turn back whilst being careful to not fall to Iona's own desires of being the strongest. Netherless, the only thing on her mind now was defeating Kai and making him see that he shouldn't have been involved in the first place.

"Iona, grow!" she called. Nothing much changed from Iona's current appearance aside from the disappearance of the red aura that was swirling around her arms and the appearance of what appeared to be feathered wings on her back.

"Summon!" A SIGNI with blonde hair and green eyes appeared to the right of Iona. She had rock formations covering over the top of her head, the lower halves of her arms and legs along with her fists, feet and toes.

"With Triumph's ability, I down her, discard a card and add any Black SIGNI of Level 2 or less to my hand." After searching through her deck, Ruko revealed Dark Revenger, Mac Lir before concealing it among the remaining cards in her hand and shuffling the deck. Kai stared on closely at her field. So far, her deck seemed to consist of a mix of both White SIGNI along with several Shadow Paladin units and she seemed to be replenishing her hand early on.

There must be more to her strategy than just searching for more cards he thought I can still feel a strong presence from both her and Iona so there must be some reason why she chose for a mix of both Black and White in her deck.

"Next I summon Darkness Revenger, Rugos and attack!" No sooner than the Shadow Paladin unit had entered the field to the center of Iona had he already began rushing towards Iron Tail Dragon. With a slash of the larger of the two swords he carried, the knight had already eliminated the dragon from the battle. The card then moved over to Kai's Ener Zone. A dark aura suddenly surrounded Rugos and Triumph, increasing their power.

Code Maze Triumph: 1000 - 2000

Darkness Revenger, Rugos: 7000 - 8000

"Next, Iona!" Ruko called.

"About time," the LRIG replied "Observe Kai Toshiki, Tama, this is only the beginning of the extent of my power!" Using her right hand, Iona charged up a purple energy ball before crushing it and unleashing all the power into a single attack directed at Bahr. The beam struck the demon head on knocking it backwards. Kai's first Life Cloth revealed Kannya, Phantom Dragon, but no Life Burst was present on the card.

"Turn end."

(End Music)

Kai vs Ruko

End of Turn 3

Hand - 5 : 5

Life Cloths - 6 : 6

Current LRIGs - Embodiment of Armor, Bahr : Iona, Half/Maiden

SIGNI : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY : EMPTY - Darkness Revenger, Rugos - Code Maze Triumph

Ener - 3 : 1

As Kai drew his cards, he looked down at Tama who seemed to be saddened by all that was going on. He had been told everything that had happened on that fateful night from the LRIG's perspective along with Hitoe and Yuzuki's view on the subject when he had first met them, however, he felt as though everything he had heard wasn't the full picture he was getting. Before he could ask Tama for any more information, Iona spoke out.

"You're battling on Tama's behalf and yet, you're not using her," she said "If you ask me, I think you're being dishonest yourself just as she was dishonest to Ruko's wish."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"She refused to complete the oath for her own reasons and yet despite agreeing to help her, you've never used her in battle," Iona replied "After all, Tama's greatest desire is to battle forever, much like mine. Am I wrong?" Before Kai could even ask Tama about this, she had already decided to answer for him.

"Tama at first wanted to battle forever," she said "Tama enjoyed the thrill of battling, no matter what happened. But after seeing Ru upset, Tama decided that battling wasn't going to make Ru any happier."

Kai didn't know what to think over the scenario anymore. From one side, the person that he was seeking under Tama's request as well as Hitoe and Yuzuki, she had viewed the entire event on that night as a form of betrayal and she didn't know who to turn to in order to sort out the scenario and as such, had decided to follow a path of solitude all on her own in order to try and free Selectors and LRIGs alike a different way. But just what did Iona mean about him being dishonest to her in comparison to the event from before. Either way, he had come this far already and he had no intention of backing out of perhaps the opportunity he had to get more answers. He turned his attention back to Ruko and Iona in order to continue on with the battle.

"Ener Charge and Grow!" he declared "Dragon Knight, Nehalem!"

(Cardfight! Vanguard Unreleased Soundtrack: The Thunder Dragon Descends)*

In a flurry of flames, Bahr vanished from the LRIG space as the knight and the dragon that he stood atop entered the battlefield, hovering just a few feet above the table.

"Using Conroe's ability, I search my deck for Wyvern Guard, Barri and add it to my hand." After revealing the card, Kai concealed it in his hand and shuffled his deck before turning his attention back to his current situation.

"Summon!" Berserk Dragon and Demonic Dragon Mage, Kimnara appeared both in front of and to the left of the Dragon Knight, poised and ready to strike at any given moment.

"Using Berserk Dragon's ability, I banish Rugos!" The two headed dragon launched a pair of fireballs at the dark knight, incinerating him in an instant. Ruko only frowned a little from the loss of the Shadow Paladin unit before turning her attention back to Kai.

"So you knew that Triumph's ability would force you to play the first SIGNI from your hand to be directly in front of it. That's why you summoned Kimnara in front it."

"Indeed," replied Kai "It seems your friends weren't lying when they said that you were a strong Selector. But there's something I still don't get. What exactly do you mean by the fact that I shouldn't be involved?"

"Like I said before our battle begun," she said "I don't know why a boy like you got involved in this whole mess, but I can't let you interfere with my goal of freeing everyone from the Selector Battles, no matter what. If you're willing to trust Tama, then I can't let you go any further." Kai stared on for a few more moments before turning his attention to his SIGNI.

"Berserk Dragon attacks Iona!" The two headed dragon let out a deafening roar before launching a pair of fireballs from both mouths which struck the LRIG head on. Despite the impact of the blast, Iona seemed unfazed, much like on the previous attack she took from Iron Tail Dragon during Kai's previous turn. The crushed Life Cloth revealed another copy of Rugos which landed in Ruko's Ener Zone.

"Next!" Kimnara raised its staff which summoned a bolt of lightning that struck Code Maze Triumph, also sending it to Ruko's Ener Zone.

"Nehalem!"

As the Dragon Knight raised its lance, Ruko slapped a card down in front of the center LRIG space.

"Mac Lir!" she called. The Shadow Paladin unit appeared for a brief moment in front of Iona, shielding her from Nehalem's attack before vanishing from the battlefield.

"Turn end."

Kai vs Ruko

End of Turn 4

Hand - 5 : 4

Life Cloths - 6 : 5

Current LRIGs - Dragon Knight, Nehalem : Iona, Half/Maiden

SIGNI : Demonic Dragon Mage, Kimnara - Berserk Dragon - EMPTY : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY

Ener - 0 : 4

Over from the tower that they were watching the battle from, Hitoe and Yuzuki could only watch and wait to see how things would play from here on out. They both felt tense from everything that had happened so far and couldn't help but wonder about the two combatants that were fighting it out below. Hitoe was the first to speak out her view on the subject.

"I don't get it..." she murmured "I want Kai to bring back our friend, but..."

"I know," Yuzuki replied "I want to cheer for Ruko as well. But with the way things are, I can't bring myself to do it." She then looked down at Iona on Ruko's table and could only grimace at the predicament that their friend was now in. It wasn't just Tama's refusal to accept Ruko's wish that had put her in this spot, but Iona's own wish to become the Selector's new LRIG that made things the way they were. She then glanced back over to Kai and Tama who was still watching on his table.

You can do it Kai! she thought You just need to defeat Iona and we'll have our friend back home safely.

(End Music)


Unknown Space

Still shackled to the stone slab, Takuto could only stare into the dark wall of the lonely room that Mayu had imprisoned him in earlier after his 'brief' conversation with Leon. Whilst he was thankful that the mastermind of the Selector Battles had not yet discovered that he still had some access to PSY Qualia, he knew it was only a matter of time before his hostess found out about his link back to his allies on his own Earth. As his forehead mark and gold yellow eyes suddenly glowed brightly, he could suddenly see what appeared to be an astral like version of Leon standing before him.

"Tatsunagi!" Leon spoke.

"Soryu Leon," Takuto replied "Have you managed to find a way to that world yet?"

"I have, but I need your help," the Aqua Force user replied "Can you keep our PSY Qualia synchronized for a while?"

"I'll try..." he groaned "I've groan weaker since our last conversation, but I'll do what I can." The glows in Takuto's and Leon's eyes intensified as their PSY Qualia began to synchronize with one another, hopefully forging the path that Leon's group would need to travel to the other world.


Kai's World: Mall Basement

Back in the mall basement, a sudden breeze stirred up from where Leon was standing on the center of the teleporter pad. He looked over back towards Aichi, Ren and Naoki who were waiting for his word to see if they needed to take action or not.

"Sendou, Suzugamori, now!" he called. Aichi and Ren nodded in agreement before stepping onto the teleporter pad to join the Aqua Force user in their efforts for this one shot plan to work. Aichi looked at Ren, seemingly confused on what they should be doing.

"So how do we synchronize our PSY Qualia with Leon's?" he asked.

"Who knows," Ren replied "I'm not an expert in supernatural powers, but we should be asking him." Aichi could only sweatdrop a little from the Shadow Paladin user's response, but looked over to Leon regardless.

"Focus your PSY Qualia onto my own," he answered before groaning for a brief moment, clearly showing that he was struggling to keep his link to Takuto up for much longer. "Then use a free arm from each of you to channel it to the square we're standing on. Once I'm sure it's working, Ishida can turn the switch to hopefully send us to that world."

"I got it," Aichi replied before turning over to Naoki.

"You can count on me!" he called "Good luck!" The Royal Paladin user nodded in reply and turned back to face Ren who nodded in agreement with him. The two closed their eyes for a brief moment before opening them back up, each with a rainbow hue glow present in them. They turned their attention to Leon and focused all the energy from their power onto him in the hope they could eventually synchronize it back to the teleporter pad so their journey into the unknown, would eventually begin. Naoki watched on anxiously, hoping that the three of them could make this happen or else, Kai would be well and truely stranded in that world with possibly no way back home.


Wixoss World: Outside of the building...

"What do you mean there's something big going on up there Eldora?"

"I'm not sure, but I can sense something going on at the top of that building."

Chiyori looked over at her LRIG, not quite getting at what she was saying before turning her attention back to the building that stood before her where unbeknowst to them, for the moment that is, Kai and Ruko were battling it out. She stared up at the top, wondering at what Eldora meant before turning her attention back to her LRIG.

"Should we go and check it out?" she asked.

"I don't see why not," Eldora replied. Chiyori nodded in agreement with a smile and ran into the building. It took her a long while, having gone up several series of stairs and ascending up several elevators, but she eventually reached the door leading out to the roof. She panted for a short while, having needed to catch her breath from dashing up the long way there. To Chiyori's surprise, the door was already open, but the answer to her curiosity had already shown itself. She could see Kai, Hitoe and Ruko standing up in a sleep like state, which confirmed to both her and Eldora that their battle was already well and truely underway. She pulled out Eldora's card and looked down at her.

(Cardfight! Vanguard Unreleased Soundtrack: Contention)

"We've found Kai in a Selector Battle, so cool!" she called before her mood then dropped in disappointment "But we can't even see what's going on in there!"

"Of course we can," Eldora replied "Just hold my card towards them and declare Open like you did when you challenged Yuzuki."

"Ah right!" said Chiyori before holding the card out towards the group standing before them. "Open!"


Selector Battlefield

Over from the tower where Hitoe and Yuzuki were observing, they could see that things were beginning to heat up in the battle going on from beneath where they were viewing. Kai was currently in the lead by at least 1 Life Cloth but Ruko's turn had already begun and she had already managed to wipe out his offence with both Iona's ability banishing Kimnara whilst Drei=Capsule had easily taken out Berserk Dragon at the cost of being downed. Things were beginning to look grim for the moment with Ruko's attacks having not even started yet, but before they could think any further over the current scenario, a sudden bright glow appeared beside them for a brief moment before fading out to reveal that Chiyori and Eldora had joined them on the sidelines. The young Selector looked over to Yuzuki and Hitoe and waved hello.

"And so, we meet again!" she called.

"Chiyori," murmured Hitoe.

"Look, as much as we appreciate your enthusiasm," Yuzuki replied "This really isn't the time for it."

"So how's Kai holding up?" asked Eldora.

"He was in the lead for a moment," Hitoe answered "But Ruko's managed to clear his field and she hasn't even attacked yet."

"Attack!"

Ruko's declaration suddenly caught the attention of the two Selectors and LRIGs who were watching from the tower. Code Maze Skyju and Code Maze Pyramid from both the left and right sides of Iona charged forward towards Nehalem and struck the dragon the knight was stood atop with two bright beams of light. The knight almost stumbled from the impact that the dragon had taken from the attacks. Kai's next Life Cloths, Iron Tail Dragon and Seal Dragon, Artpique, the second card revealing a Life Burst. Kai drew 1 card from the effect going off.

"Iona!" The LRIG now had not only more wings than her previous form, but also ones that were larger, including an additional wing from the part of her outfit covering the right part of her chest. She clutched a black spear of some sort that had materialized from growing into this form before charging towards Nehalem.

"Barri will guard!" called Kai. Iona's attack did nothing more than hit the green circle that was generated in front of the Wyvern Guard before she retreated back to the LRIG space, gritting her teeth in a little annoyance.

(End Music)

Kai vs Ruko

End of Turn 5

Hand - 4 : 3

Life Cloths - 4 : 5

Current LRIGs - Dragon Knight, Nehalem : Iona, Pale/Maiden

SIGNI : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY : Code Maze Skyju - Drei=Capsule - Code Maze Pyramid

Ener - 4 : 3

"Up and draw." After Kai drew his cards before placing Dragon Monk, Genjo in his Ener Zone, he glanced across towards Ruko and Iona with a fierce glint now present in his eyes. Tama looked up at his expression, knowing what was about to come next. Normally, she felt like cheering on in excitement, but the fact that Ruko was feeling this way had downcast her spirits, especially when she felt she was to blame for all of the mess her former Selector was now in. Nonetheless, she knew she had to have faith in Kai in the hopes they would be able to sort things out once he won.

"Grow the Vanguard!" he called "The apocalyptic flames that reduce everything in this world to ash!"

(Cardfight! Vanguard Unreleased Soundtrack: Fury of the Overlord)*

As a raging column of fire consumed Nehalem, removing him from the battlefield, a unit that was now all too familiar to almost everyone present emerged from the scorching hot flames.

"Dragonic Overlord!"

The dragon roared loudly after the flames had died down before taking a stance on the LRIG space, awaiting the first sign of an attack to be declared. It glanced over towards Iona with a fierce glint in its yellow eyes. Iona herself looked back at Overlord with great intrigue running through her thoughts.

"So you're Overlord," she spoke "We finally meet each other on the battlefield, face to face."

Ruko looked up the dragon, having now seen it in person herself for the first time. So this is Dragonic Overlord. This is Kai's true LRIG. I'm not sure how he managed to get something like that into battle, but even so, I won't lose. She then suddenly paused in her thoughts. Keep it together, you're only doing this to make Kai turn back, not collect a victory streak. Iona briefly turned around, having sensed Ruko's moment of discomfort from her thoughts.

"Keep it together," she spoke. Ruko nodded and turned her attention back to Kai who continued with his turn.

"Summon!" Two Eigana, Phantom Dragons appeared to both the left and right of Overlord whilst Dual Axe Archdragon appeared in the center SIGNI zone.

"Then I pay 2 to activate Expelling Flames of the Dragon Phoenix!" After Kai revealed the spell he activated, he pointed towards Drei who was instantly incinerated by a whirlwind of flames. Before the card moved to Ruko's Ener Zone, a copy of Rugos that was there earlier flew straight into her trash pile.

"Let's go!" Kai declared "Attack!" The two Eigana made quick work of Ruko's Skyju and Pyramid whilst Dual Axe Archdragon charged in towards Iona. Ruko having noticed this quickly reached for one of the cards in her hand.

"I won't let you!" she called "Hellrage Revenger, Quesal!" As another card moved from her Ener Zone to her trash, an Elf covered in black armor appeared right in front of Iona, ready to block the attack.

"Quintet Wall!" Five cards suddenly flew out from the top of Ruko's deck and passed through the green circle generated by Quesal. The SIGNI revealed among those cards, Code Maze Tajmaha, Skull Witch Nemain, Healing Revenger and Code Maze Triumph who appeared alongside Quesal to intercept the attack. The barrier was strong enough to deflect Dual Axe's strike as the dragon retreated back to the SIGNI Zone. The SIGNI that were revealed moved to Ruko's Ener Zone whilst the only Spell, Jetting Knowledge, moved to her trash along with Quesal's card.

"What?!" gasped Yuzuki "Since when did she get something that could block SIGNI attacks?!"

"She's not the only one though," Chiyori replied before pulling out Icefall Dragon's card from her pocket to show her exactly what she meant.

"That's a Quintet Wall?" murmured Hitoe.

"That's right," Eldora answered "But it's mostly a gamble depending on what your deck is structured more around."

"I see," said Yuzuki, now brought up to speed on the whole mechanic. She glanced back at the battle to see how it would play out.

"Overlord attacks!" Kai called. The dragon roared in response to his command before taking flight towards Iona. The LRIG charged towards the oncoming dragon with everything that she had at the moment. When they eventually came close to one another, they began striking at one another with all the power they had at their disposal. Flames clashed with dark energy from their attacks at one another before Iona's spear and Overlord's sword began repelling one another with each swing they attempted at each other to overpower the opponent before a stalemate was present for the moment.

"So this is your power," Iona spoke before flashing a brief smirk "Truely a wasteful effort."

"And yet, I sense this is not the full extent of your own," Overlord replied "You should not underestimate me." After it spoke, its sword knocked back Iona before a whoosh of its signature attack, Eternal Flame consumed her in an instant. When the flames had died down, Iona emerged with several scorch marks present on her wings and outfit, but she seemed somewhat unfazed from the result of the clash. Code Anti Vimana entered Ruko's Ener Zone glowing, indicating that Kai's attack had triggered a Life Burst.

"With the effect," she spoke "I drain Eingana's power by 10000, thereby banishing it." The Eingana on Kai's right was suddenly egulfed by a dark cloud before several sparks raged through it. Once the smoke had cleared, the SIGNI was no more, the card now in his Ener Zone.

"Turn end."

(End Music)

Kai vs Ruko

End of Turn 5

Hand - 1 : 2

Life Cloths - 4 : 4

Current LRIGs - Dragonic Overlord : Iona, Pale/Maiden

SIGNI : Eingana, Phantom Dragon - Dual Axe Archdragon - EMPTY : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY

Ener - 1 : 6

"So you only managed to tie it up," said Iona "How disappointing." Ruko looked on over Kai and Tama who had still been watching the battle over from his side of the table.

"I want to know one thing Kai," she spoke.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Aside from following Tama's 'request'," Ruko said "Why is it are you involving yourself in these battles?"

"I want answers," Kai replied "I want to know the truth and meaning behind the Selector Battles and their purpose."

"I see..." Ruko took a deep breath for a moment before looking back at him. "But even so, I can't let you be involved any further, for any Selector or LRIG's sake. Some things are beyond your doing and trying to find the meaning behind all of this is one of them. Allow me to teach you that." After placing one of the cards that she drew in her Ener Zone, she turned her attention towards Iona.

"Iona, grow!" In a brief flash of lights, Iona's appearance didn't exactly change by much apart from the bandages wrapped around her arms and head seemingly getting longer and the wings littered across her body only grew larger. Tama could only grow increasingly worried as to where this battle could end up being headed before looking up at Kai, noticing the determination in his expression.

Kai, please bring Ru back. Tama just wants to say Tama's sorry. Tama didn't want this to happen.

"Kai Toshiki," Iona spoke "Prepare yourself for the full spectrum of my power."

Kai could only glance back across to Ruko to brace himself for what was to come over this next turn.

Very well then Ruko. If the only way we'll know of what's really going on is to defeat you, then so be it.


And there we go! As the battle between Kai and Ruko rages closer towards the climax, Aichi, Ren and Leon struggle to stay synchronized with their PSY Qualia to get the teleporter to send them to the other world. Can Kai defeat Ruko and find out the real reason as to why she chose to go along the path of solitude and can Aichi get to the world to even find him? Only time will tell next chapter. Don't forget to leave a favourite, follow and/or review. Until then!

*This soundtrack plays when Kai's using Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion/Eradicator, Dragonic Descendant.

*This soundtrack plays in Episode 158 when Kai rides Dragonic Overlord (Break Ride).