Hello everyone and welcome to the beginning of the third arc to Stand Up, the LRIG! I hope you enjoy the start of what is to come!


Ruko's Apartment

(Selector Infected Wixoss OST: Sleeping Tama)

A rather eventful evening had passed over since the 'incident' on the top of the incomplete Daikachi Apartments, where Mayu had been dangerously close to entering the outside world through means of the Reverse and the body of the 'strongest' Selector through her manipulation of a certain girl of black. One that had a certain Selector thankful in the end for both Hitoe and Yuzuki along with their new friends for their aid in that predicament and for restoring her trust in an LRIG she had once considered a traitor prior to those events. That same Selector at this moment yawned loudly as she woke up from her sleep and rubbed her eyes before gazing across her room, just to assure herself that she was indeed home safe and sound.

Ruko rose up from out of her bed and walked over to the desk to see that Tama and Kuro were still asleep at this very moment and given everything that the three of them had been through lately, no one could blame them for the way they were now. Shortly after she looked down at the two LRIGs however, they begun to stir as the girl of black was first from amongst them to reawaken. Rubbing her eyes for a brief moment, she could see from her card that her Selector was looking down at her with a hint of concern present in her expression. Recalling the events of the previous battle, Kuro was somewhat confused as to why Ruko was feeling this way towards her, even after everything that had happened between the two of them during and prior to those events.

"Ruko..." she breathed.

"Are you alright, Kuro?" the Selector asked.

"I'm... a little disoriented, but I'm fine," the girl of black answered, briefly looking down with a bit of guilt to her tone "Mayu's... no longer posessing you?"

Ruko nodded in reply to confirm the LRIG's suspicions, to which she then closed her eyes and let out a quiet, but noticable sigh of relief from underneath her breath. At this moment, they heard a yawn from the other card that had contained Tama to find that the girl of white had now been stirring up from her sleep, once again making a cat like noise as she stretched out her arms wide and slowly woke up. Ruko couldn't help but smile a little at this as Tama's sight eventually landed upon her Selector once again. The LRIG briefly rubbed her eyes for a moment, wanting to be absolutely sure that she wasn't dreaming at this moment.

"Tama's with Ru!" she cheered, albeit rather loudly for both Ruko and Kuro's tastes as the girl of black briefly shielded her ears in response. "Kai did it!"

"Mhm," Ruko replied "You, Kai and Aichi. For the first time since Kuro and I come out of this mess... I want to thank you, Tama."

Tama simply scratched the back of her head whilst holding a somewhat sheepish smile, knowing that it was thanks to the efforts of both Aichi and Kai, along with Blaster Blade that she was able to free Ruko and Kuro from both Reverse and Mayu's control over them. She then looked over to Kuro, noticing her somewhat disdained expression, though she could tell that it wasn't directed towards her and from the way that the battle had played out along with the events that transpired, the girl of white couldn't blame her 'counterpart' for feeling this way.

"Kuro..." she murmured.

"Shiro... no, Tama," the girl of black began "I too am humbly grateful for your efforts in our last battle. I didn't think things would go that far."

"It's all over now," said Ruko, trying her best to reassure Kuro "But we need some answers as to what's going on and I think Kai and Hitoe would want to hear about this as well."

"I'll do my best to give you as much as I can," Kuro replied "Not even I or Tama even with her full memories know everything that Mayu has planned for this world, the Planet Cray and possibly the entire universe."

The Selector nodded in agreement, having expected that might have been the case. Looking to her bedroom door for a brief moment, she knew that her grandmother or Ayumu could be waiting outside in the living space for her at this moment, given the time of morning that it currently was.

"I'll be back here as soon as I can," she spoke in almost a hushed tone "But with onii-chan and grandmother keeping watch until they are sure it is safe for me to head outside on my own again, talking with Hitoe, Kai and Aichi about this may be impossible right now."

"I understand," said Kuro "Be careful."

Ruko let out a gentle smile in response and left for the living space out through her bedroom door, leaving both of the LRIGs to themselves in complete silence as their cards remained on the desk. Eventually, after a few short moments had passed by, Kuro turned her attention back over to Tama who couldn't help but wonder what would happen between the Selector and her family, now that Aichi and Kai had returned her home after a five day absence due to her time being trapped in the clutches of Reverse.

(End Music)

"Tama," she spoke. The girl of white turned her attention back towards the LRIG. "Do you still remember everything?"

"Tama remembers a lot from our battle..." Tama replied "But... Tama still can't remember everything."

"I see..." the girl of black murmured "That 'incident' must have caused a more severe case of amnesia than I anticipated."

"Amnesia?" she pondered.

"It means 'loss of memory'," Kuro answered "Your original memories are slowly returning, but not enough to remember your whole past."

Now that she had brought up the subject, Tama looked down at the space inside her card and began to ponder about the memories that had already returned to her. It was true that she did not remember everything that had happened in her past, whilst she still went by the name Shiro back then, but now with the recent visions she had been getting of confronting both Kuro and Chaos Breaker Dragon at a certain day, before coming into the possession of Ruko, she was starting to wonder about what she had originally been doing as the girl of white prior to those confrontations that had led to her amnesia. Either way, she knew for a fact that as long as her Selector was kept under close watch for the time being, the time for answers would have to wait.


Kai's Apartment

(Cardfight! Vanguard OST: BGM 3)

Meanwhile, Aichi and the other cardfighters had already woken up for the morning with the Royal Paladin user himself having been seated at the table and reconstructing his deck with all of the cards laid out on the table for the moment. All the while as this was going on, Naoki was seated beside him to observe what was going on and had noticed that Umr's card was just outside of the laid out deck. He assumed that Aichi was currently also waiting for the strange LRIG to awaken after she had over into his possesion whilst unaware of the circumstances that had gone for this to happen and he wasn't the only one that was curious about her.

From the door leading to his bedroom, Kai along with Ren and Leon stood and observed everything that was happening in front of them. The three of them eyed Umr closely from where they were standing, they too being curious as to what would happen when the strange LRIG and one of the two byproducts of 'Project: Locked Soul' would eventually wake up from her long slumber since her arrival into this world.

"Are you still curious about 'her'?" Ren pondered. Kai nodded in response to his question.

"Whilst it is true Umr has aided Aichi before and we learned a little more about her in our last battle with Mayu," he spoke "Right now, I'm more curious as to how she possessed him in his last battle with Ulith and how she came here last night."

Before Leon could voice his opinion on the subject, they could hear a small and quiet groan coming over from one of the cards that was laid out on the table. As the three cardfighters walked over to join both Naoki and Aichi, the Royal Paladin user looked at the card that was in front of him, just in time to see that Umr was slowly regaining consciousness. The LRIG slowly opened up her bright blue eyes as her vision at first seemed rather blurry from the way she was. All around her from within her card, she could see only a window like view that was above her amongst the dark black and grey atmosphere that surrounded her. When her vision was finally much more clearer, she could finally see through that same window like view that Aichi from a larger perspective was looking down at her with wonder.

"A... Aichi..." she murmured.

"Umr..." he breathed "It's really you..."

Umr stood up onto her feet and attempted to reach out towards the open world that was in front of her, but the window like view that was in front of her prevented her hand or any part of her for that matter from exiting the card, indicating that Takuto's earlier words to her happened to be true. She had indeed made it to Aichi, as an LRIG, now trapped inside the card that he had recently recieved as a result of her travel to the outside world from where she was previously imprisoned. Noticing her curiosity from trying to reach outside of the card, the Royal Paladin user brought up his right index finger to the spot from where her hand was and as gently as he could, he lightly placed it on the card from where her hand currently was.

Suprisingly, whilst it did nothing to remove the 'barrier' that stood between them, both of them could still feel as if they had managed to make some sort of physical contact to a degree. After Aichi had removed his finger, Kai walked beside him and bent over to get a better look at the LRIG himself, as did everyone else with the exception of Naoki who was already seated beside the Royal Paladin user. Umr gazed up at Aichi's companions, taking note of their curious expressions as she studied each of them closely.

"So you're Umr," said Leon.

"That's right..." Umr answered "I can only assume that you are more of Aichi's companions."

"Of course we are!" Naoki interjected "You didn't think Aichi would have come this far if it hadn't been for us, right?!"

"Now then," Ren interrupted, placing a hand over the Narukami user's shoulder to calm him down "Aside from his Royal Paladins, Umr doesn't know anything else about Aichi. Am I right?" Umr merely nodded in reply to his question without uttering a word.

"Then what brings you to Aichi once more?" asked Kai, keeping a serious gaze amongst the LRIG.

"The boy named Tatsunagi Takuto," she replied in almost a blank like monotone.

Aichi gasped upon discovering that it was Takuto that had sent Umr over to him and the others, having known previously from Leon that he was trapped within Mayu's White Room with the mastermind having used a portion of his own power to possess Ruko in his and Kai's previous battle against the Selector.

"Then... is Takuto-kun alright?!" he asked.

"I do not know the answer to that..." the LRIG replied "He sent me out of a window from the White Room and I lost consciousness in my journey to you. Do you happen to have possession of girl named Tawil?"

The Royal Paladin user pondered on what Umr had asked of him, having known for a fact that he had no knowledge of the other half of 'Project: Locked Soul' herself let alone seen the LRIG on his own occasion. Looking to the others in the hope that they might have offhandedly seen her, they shook their heads to confirm his suspicions as he turned his attention back to the LRIG that he now had.

"I'm sorry Umr," he said with a hint of disappointment "I don't know anything about this Tawil."

"I see..." she murmured "She must not have made it."

(End Music)

"Regardless though, please share how Takuto got you to us," Leon spoke in request.

Umr nodded in reply and proceeded to tell the group of cardfighters about everything that had happened within the dimension of where both Mayu's White Room and Photon's laboratory lay, giving them some insight as to what was going on within the darkest corners of the Selector System. She explained how Takuto had told both her and Tawil everything he knew about the outside world and what Mayu and the Void had planned for it in addition to temporarily summoning Ezel from Cray to try and hold off Photon's forces whilst he made their escape in the midst of being pursued by the mastermind. Eventually, she came around to the portion of where she had been sent flying through the window to Aichi the previous night and that something must have happened to account for both Tawil and Takuto's absence, not knowing about what Mayu had planned for the both of them.

Everyone in the room was lost in their own thoughts from everything that Umr had brought them up to speed with in regards to what was essentially her life's story thus far. Whilst Aichi had been somewhat amazed by everything she had told them about, Kai however was seemingly disturbed by the fact that the surviving Star-vaders had formed an alliance with Mayu to account for her partnership with the Void. Knowing that was now the case, he couldn't begin to imagine what Photon had been doing to any of the 'less cooperative' LRIGs in the Selector Battles and knowing that he was commander of the faction he once allied himself with in his desire to get stronger as well as Kourin's 'Avatar of Sin' throughout the last ordeal they were involved with, he knew that things were much more dire than he originally anticipated when he first entered this world.

The other cardfighters in the room silently shared a somewhat equal opinion with the Kagero user in regards to everything that they had just learned about, though they could all agree that one thing was now certain at this point. They needed to find a way to the White Room as soon as they could, without having to play along the way that Mayu would want them to if they wished to save everyone, both Selector and LRIG alike from the fates that were to befall them and their home world if nothing was done to stop it. They had saved Ruko from the clutches of both the mastermind and the power of Reverse, but even so, they knew it would only be a matter of time before the Star-vaders would eventually make their move. But the questions that remained was when and how they would accomplish this.

"Anyway..." Aichi spoke to counteract the silence that had fallen in the apartment "Maybe we should go and see how Ruko-san's holding up. I know she's being kept under watch for the moment, but we should see if everything's okay with her."

"Ruko-san...?" Umr murmured in confusion.

"Oh right," he said "We haven't introduced you to our other friends yet. I'll take you with us so we can meet Ruko-san together."

And with that, the Royal Paladin user picked up the LRIG's card along with his reassembled deck up from the table and led the way to Ruko's apartment.


Ruko's Apartment

(Selector Spread Wixoss OST: Hesitation)

Ruko was looking out of the window across the view of the city that lay out in front of her. She seemed somewhat troubled at the moment despite being relieved to be living a somewhat normal life again after Kai and Aichi had brought her home safely but something however had her mood feeling somewhat down for the moment. Hatsu who had been sitting at the small table earlier looked on at her granddaughter and couldn't help but worry for her, having previously had suspicions form in her mind as to what could have happened without even knowing what really happened in the first place and what was happening now since she had come home safe and sound, thanks to the group of boys that had visited her two days ago. She stood up from the seat and walked over to join Ruko at the apartment balcony from where she was standing.

"You know that I believe you and what your new friends said last night, Ru-chan," she spoke gently.

"I know grandmother..." Ruko murmured as she turned to face Hatsu "It's just... I wish that I didn't have to make you and onii-chan worry so much... to the point where he's already left to 'blow off some steam as he's put it'."

Despite keeping her mouth shut above her involvement in the Selector Battles as well as Tama and Kuro's existence, there was some truth to the Selector's words just now. She had been concerned about how both Ayumu and her grandmother were feeling during her time in the grip of Reverse which resulted in her absence from home and couldn't bear to think about the thought of leaving them without a trace, for their own good no less.

"Ru-chan, I know for a fact that whatever happened over these last six days could not have been your fault," said Hatsu "But I must ask, is there anything you would like to tell me?"

At this point, Ruko's heart wrenched in the way that she never wanted it to. The Selector to a degree wanted to tell her grandmother about everything that had been going on since the start of her involvement with the Selector Battles, but she knew that even she could not see the LRIGs meaning that telling her everything would be rather moot and even if she did believe her, who was to say that Ayumu would not take drastic action in response to this revelation.

"Anything at all?" her grandmother asked in a gentle tone.

"Actually... there is one thing I want to ask..." said Ruko.

"Go on..."

"Grandmother... am I scary?"

Hatsu's expression became rather grim at this point. She knew for an iron clad fact that her granddaughter was referring back to the day that her mother had transferred care of her and Ayumu over to her and left them there just like, all because she claimed that she couldn't understand Ruko and she was 'scary' because of it. Whilst it was true that Ruko had become somewhat more open since the start of her involvement with the Selector Battles, unbeknowst to Hatsu, she never saw any qualities that would make her consider the Selector to be scary in any shape or form and that there was something off about her mother's claim, as she had originally suspected herself.

(End Music)

Their trail of thought was interrupted as a knock was heard at the front door, bringing their attention towards it. Ruko walked over to the door and opened it up to reveal Aichi along with Hitoe and the other cardfighters standing outside in the hallway.

"Are you holding up alright... Ruko?" asked Hitoe.

"Y... Yeah," she answered.

"Thank goodness..." breathed Aichi.

Ruko smiled warmly in response, acknowledging the concern from her friends and reassuring them at everything had been working out for her just fine, so far that was. She looked behind her to her grandmother who simply nodded with a gentle smile.

"I'm glad you could come by and visit again," she said "Given your reliability in keeping your earlier promise, if Ru-chan wishes to go out for the day, could you keep an eye on her and make sure nothing happens to her? I am once again putting my full trust in you for this until I am certain it is safe for her to go out on her own again."

"You don't need to tell us that, if Ruko wishes to do so," Kai replied.

The Selector looked back at the group before looking back at Hatsu, now realizing she had been given the opportunity to talk things out with both Kuro and Tama without the risk of raising any suspicion to her grandmother or Ayumu, provided they did not run into him during their conversation during the whole day.

"I don't mind at all," she said "Just give me a minute to grab something from my room."

And with that, Ruko went back into her bedroom to gather up any possessions she wished to take outside with her for the day, including Tama and Kuro's LRIG cards so that they could have that conversation that she had mentioned in their previous discussion. Whilst she was doing that, Hatsu motioned for the group to enter the premises of the apartment and walked over to them, with a hint of concern within her expression.

"You seem troubled Hatsu," murmured Leon.

"I need to ask a request of all of you," she spoke.

"What is it?" asked Aichi.

"Please keep an eye on Ayumu if you see him," Hatsu requested "Ever since you brought Ru-chan back home, he's been acting rather strange. Last night, I noticed him directing hidden scowls in your direction and he went outside shortly after you left, albeit for a rather long time."

(Cardfight! Vanguard OST: Chikara ni Obareru mono tachi)

"Seriously?!" Naoki growled quietly under his breath "We all went through the trouble of finding her to get her home safely and the first thing we get from him is some hidden backlash?!"

"Either way, this does sound most troubling," Ren interjected "We better not take anything too lightly around him for the moment if what you're saying is true."

Kai said nothing in response, having suspected that something like this could have happened beforehand when they were not noticing. Whilst he had indeed met Ayumu for the first time the previous night when the rest of the group had already met him beforehand, there was something about him that seemed rather off to him when he was being 'grateful' to them for finding and bringing Ruko home safely, despite keeping their lips sealed about any details of the battle he and Aichi had gone through to save her or any of her previous exploits in the Selector Battles. Now that Hatsu had addressed such a suspicion, he knew this wasn't the time to be complacent around him due to recent events. By then, Ruko had exited her bedroom dressed in the black coat that she had worn during her seclusion in the Reverse and walked over to Hatsu.

"I promise we'll be back home soon," she said "Hitoe can call you if there's any problems."

"I understand. I'll let Ayumu know that you're still under watch with your friends when he returns," her grandmother said gently "I just hope that he is alright."

"I see..." she murmured before shaking her head clear of the piling doubts "I'll see you later, grandmother."

"Take care, Ru-chan."

And with that, the two Selectors along with the cardfighters exited the apartment and headed out into the city, where they would find a place to host their conversation to get as much information as they could from Kuro.

(End Music)


Outside of Apartment Blocks...

(Selector Spread Wixoss OST: Frustration and Fear)

As Ruko, Hitoe, Aichi, Kai, Naoki, Leon and Ren exited the building from where their apartment complexes were housed, they began to walk out into the city streets to find a space where they would be sure that no one would listen in on their conversation in regards to the Selector Battles and everything within them. However, unbeknowst to the seven of them and their LRIGs, their every move was being watched. By whom, the answer would be one that they would least expect at this moment. Ayumu gazed from around a corner and observed the group's movements from where he was currently standing, a somewhat bafeful glare sent in their directions at this very moment.

He turned around and walked a few steps forward to come face to face with the black coated woman that he had met from last night, when he was mentally venting his frustrations on both Kai and Aichi for their involvement in the situation that had been ongoing for the duration of Ruko's absence. The same woman that he had simply called 'mother', no doubt referring to the same mother that he and Ruko once lived under, before she transferred care of them to Hatsu.

"You know what you must do," she spoke, an icy cold tone to her somewhat bitter voice.

"Kai Toshiki and the others will lead me to the truth behind everything," said Ayumu "As for Ruko, I won't forgive her for everything that has happened. Her involvement and for what happened all those years ago."

"If you wish to be called my son once more and have a chance of purging Ruko of being 'scary'," 'mother' continued "You must retrieve these 'LRIGs' and 'Units' that they hold for me. That way, she may be 'freed' from this acursed game and you'll know the full truth."

"Then I shall take them from Ruko and the others by force!" he declared.

"Do not underestimate them Ayumu," she interjected "As far as what you have told me last night, you still hold inexperience in the Wixoss card game alone and although I have given you the means to forcefully enter the Selector Battles themselves, I can sense that both her and her friends' skills will overpower your determination alone."

"Then I will observe as you have said, then defeat them, starting from their weakest link," he spoke.

"Do what you will," 'mother' replied "But do not fail me and Hatsu must know nothing about this."

And with that, she walked down the street and turned around a corner, disappearing from sight once more as Ayumu turned around and began to follow Ruko and friends from close behind, slowly so he would not be caught in the act.

(End Music)


Photon's Lab

Meanwhile inside of the repaired laboratory, Photon stood high above the working Cyberoids on the gantry near the edge of the room. He had been oversighting the repairs done to the lab as a result of Ulith's fight with Ezel during Takuto's desperate attempt to escape to the outside world with both Tawil and Umr in tow. Mayu had recaptured one of the two LRIGs and the Cray being due to the untimely aid of a Neon, this time sucking him completely dry of all of his remaining power and keeping him imprisoned in the darkest and deepest pit of her White Room, where those who had dared to defy her in the past had either been tossed into or suffered a fate far worse than they could possibly imagine. As he eyed the repaired canister, which now housed the motionless Tawil in a deep sleep, he heard the doors open behind him.

"You have finally arrived, Futase," he spoke "You're late."

"Photon, I want to talk with you."

And indeed, the Selector who had seemingly been addressed by the first portion of her pen name for her Wixoss novels, stepped through the corridor onto the gantry that led out towards the center of the lab. Her expression seemed uninterested by the events going on around her at first, but a closer gaze would allow one to tell that her only visible eye showed otherwise as she stopped in front of the Cyberoid who turned around to face her.

"Why did your soldiers have to involve Anne in all of this?!" she demanded "It's me and the true Fumio that Mayu wishes to sort out!"

"Because you weren't the first to gaze too deep into the true mechanisms of the Selector Battles," he calmly answered "You should already have figured out by now why Mayu had partnered you with Anne."

(Cardfight! Vanguard Neon Messiah OST: Ibuki Kouji)

"Because I wasn't the first...?" she murmured.

"The Selector Battles will play out exactly to her cause," Photon continued "And any being that refuses to allow that to happen, will have to follow along more... persuasive methods. Anne is merely a partner in your role whilst your actions when the time comes will decide the true Fumio's fate."

"And that's why your soldiers 'operated' on her eye?"

Futase growled as she flipped up the portion of her hair that covered her left eye... or what was left of it in some regards and overall context. Whatever skin that had remained there had shown indicators of a scar to show that either Futase or the real Fumio had been involved in some kind of incident that was responsible for said scar whist the eyeball had remained mostly intact with several blood red lines running across, albeit not crossing over the iris. Covering the rest of that portion however was shiny white and silver metal along with a small red lens that had covered over the view of said eyeball.

"It's true Fumio had suffered from this scar a long time ago and I had the unfortunate viewing of witnessing it being dealt firsthand," she muttered "But... this is something even she wouldn't approve of."

"That is merely a trifle."

Fumio turned around just in time to see Ulith enter the lab with her trademarked sinister sneer which easily unnerved the Selector that had stormed in to confront Photon about the terms of their agreement and how Anne was involved in her scenario.

"Ulith..." she breathed "But that's impossible...! How is it that you..."

"Roam the hallways of the White Room freely without any trouble?" the cruel demanored Selector interrupted as walked into the lab. "Mayu has indeed been most generous towards my end of the bargain I have made with her, despite my intial setback with Shiro and Sendou Aichi, for the right price of an eternal servitude." She then gazed at Futase with her grin having not left her lips. "What was yours, Futase?"

The Selector, knowing what she had been talking about could feel all of her pent up anger and frustration from earlier become replaced by complete and utter guilt at this point as she looked down at the ground with shame present within her expression.

"What was your price for selling out your Selector? Your urge to learn the whole truth about the Selector Battles for a novel series that's now on hiatus? Disgusting, scum," Ulith remarked as she turned to Photon. "I trust work on Tawil has begun again?"

"Indeed," the Cyberoid replied nonchantly.

"Excellent," she spoke as she looked back to Futase "As for you, I reccommend not backing away from or worse angering your assigned 'commander'. He's had quite the reputation in ensnaring the three heroes of Cray for the Void before. So for now, I bid you and Anne adieu, to either your fate or pitiful demise."

And with that, she turned around and walked back through the doors that originally led into the lab, laughing maniacally as she did so whilst Futase begrudingly remained depressed from what the cruel demanored Selector had addressed earlier. Reluctantly, she gazed back at Photon whose expression had not changed within the midst of their conversation.

"Just get it over with," she muttered under her breath.

The Cyberoid simply said nothing as he pressed a button at the console that was housed at the far end of the gantry, causing one of the screens to change to pitch black with only two singular red eyes displayed amongst the darkness that had been displayed before him.

(End Music)

"Schwarzschild, you may begin," he spoke.

"As you may wish," the omnious voice replied.

There was no doubt that was indeed same voice that Futase had also previously addressed as Schwarzschild before, evidenced by the deepness and familiarity of the tone from before, when she conversed with him after Leon had fallen asleep at Fumio's apartment.


City Park

Unaware that Ayumu was monitoring their movements, the group of Selectors and cardfighters eventually arrived at the park where they could see that thankfully for them, it was seemingly completely deserted. On the way over, each of the cardfighters and Hitoe had reccounted each of their own adventures within this world for the duration of Ruko's absence, including their first arrivals and their interactions with the people they met, the battles that all of them had taken part in prior to the previous day, including both Hitoe's battle with Akira to win back Kai's stolen Kagero deck and Aichi's confrontation with Ulith, the full explanation of which had only served to horrify the Selector when she had heard the full details of what had happened during that battle along with the chain reaction of events that led up to it.

Heading over to the bench, the two Selectors sat down whilst the boys had remained standing on either side of that same bench, partially to make sure that this conversation was not to be interrupted once it would have begun unless it was absolutely necessary. Hitoe brought out Yuzuki's card whilst Ruko brought out both of the cards containing Kuro and Tama respectively. Before they could begin their search for answers from the girl of black, Aichi looked towards Ruko.

"Um... Ruko-san, there's someone that I think you'll want to meet," he said "She helped me to save Tama from Ulith when we last battled."

"Who is 'she'?" she asked.

Reaching into his other empty pocket, the Royal Paladin user pulled out and revealed Umr's card to the group and in the case of the Selector in front of him, this was the first time that she had met or even seen Umr. Even so, her appearance was enough for her to recognize the LRIG, with Yuzuki having described her to the Selector and Hitoe before. Speaking of whom, Yuzuki could only gasp when she saw Umr once again.

"You found Umr?!" she exclaimed.

"Umr!" Tama called out loud.

"To be honest... it's more like she found me, thanks to Takuto-kun," he answered.

"So... the prototype girl of black has come into your possession, Sendou Aichi," murmured Kuro.

"He already knows, Kuro..." Umr spoke "Tatsunagi Takuto told me everything about my creation and... my original purpose given to me by Mayu. That was to merge with Tawil and become the being that she dubs Ut'ulls... so she could unleash devastation upon this outside world."

Ruko remained silent in response to this revelation, having not known that Umr had actually existed as an LRIG, let alone as the 'prototype girl of black' as Kuro had apparently known her as. Looking down to the 'real' girl of black, she had suddenly realized that their conversation was yet to start and although they learned a few new things about Aichi's LRIG, it hardly helped in progression to the answers that they sought.

"I see..." she murmured "Anyway... Kuro, you were going to give us an explanation about Mayu and the Selector Battles?"

"I'll do the best I can," the LRIG replied "I can't guarantee that I know all of the details myself, but I'll tell you everything that I know."

"Then begin if you may," Kai spoke. Kuro nodded in response and closed her eyes as she began to recall everything that she intended to tell the group at this very moment.


And there we go! As Kuro begins to recount as much as she can into the origin of Mayu, the Selector Battles and herself and Tama, Ayumu stalks the group for unknown intent, under the orders of both his and Ruko's former mother. Meanwhile, Futase confronts Photon in regards to Anne's role in the part the Selector has to play in Mayu's scheme and the Cyberoid begins to put it into effect, by contacting the mastermind that sealed the Three Heroes of Cray once before, Schwarzschild Dragon. What will happen from here? Join us next time for part 2 of the introductory segment to Arc 3 of Stand Up, the LRIG! Please leave any feedback or critiques that you have for the story and I'll see you all next time! Until then!

AN (Author's Note): With Ut'ulls' name being dropped in the end of Arc 2 along with some story elements from destructed Wixoss coming into play later, I have once again upped the card count for the Wixoss card game to include the Movie Decks, any Promo Cards that are released prior to and on the theatrical release of the movie and WX09-Reacted Selector (skipping over the booster sets between that and Fortune Select and excluding all Cross and Resona support) with a certain movie LRIG's cards being unveiled later in the story.

EDIT 28/08/2016: Made a mistake in the card count. I was meant to say WX09-Reacted Selector as that had Ut'ulls' card in it.