Hi everyone and welcome back! Hope you enjoy the chapter!

EDIT 7/9/2017: Added in extra bits with Midoriko after accidentally forgetting about her presence with Hitoe to correct continuity errors within here and the previous chapter.


...

This is...

Everything was completely pitch black for Ruko as she pondered on where exactly she was at this moment. The last thing she could recall was being struck down by the copied Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion's 'extra' attack and falling unconscious from being hit with a huge amount of voltage. From what the Selector could gather, she was now lost within her own subconsciousness, unable to wake up and return back to the battle where Yuki needed her the most. Leaving it however was proving to be a task more difficult that she was initially expecting, having hoped that her senses would kick in and allow her to regain consciousness there and then.

This also wasn't helped by the fact that although she could feel where her arms, legs and head was in this sense of where she was, she could not see a thing, let alone tell from foresight if her entire body was intact. Moving her right hand up until she could feel the right side of her head, much to her inner relief as she palmed over her face.

So I can't see a thing... but I'm still in one piece, I think.

Suddenly, the darkness around her began to fade away to display an image of some sort in front of her. Ruko squinted with her eyes the best she could, but whatever was being shown was still blurry somehow. Then, as the picture in front of her began to clear up, she suddenly clenched the back of her head, falling to her knees as she did so.

"My head...!" she cried "Why does it hurt...?!"

Eventually, the clear image displayed the scene of a dark and somewhat dreary atmosphere around her as she looked around to see that she was standing on a hillside of some kind. Looking out in front of her, she could see the all too familiar city of Tokyo, or at least the version that was in her own world just a little beneath the horizon. Then hearing a familiar cry of pain from behind her... her own cry to be exact as she immediately recognized the tone, she turned around whilst keeping one hand to her head as her eyes came across two figures at the very top of the hill. One of them looked exactly like the Selector herself, only much younger as evidenced by both her stature and the pitch of her voice.

The other figure however was much taller and upon seeing the dark coat that she wore, one that she recalled seeing from an earlier 'flashback' she had before her previous Selector Battle with both Aichi and Kai. Only this time, the figure's face and brown hair was fully visible to her.

"That's me...!" Ruko gasped upon recognizing her younger self "And mother...!"

Sparks surged across the younger Ruko's body as her eyes were completely obscured by an almost blinding white glow, though the question that remained was what was happening to her at this point in time and why the present Selector could not remember all of the details. The one thing that was most striking to her however was the metallic hand of Miyako with the gemstone flashing a bright pink as a familiar voice echoed out from it.

"Are you still certain about using your own flesh? We still have not completely determined the cause of past failures."

The mother of Ruko in this image simply hissed quietly as the Selector could only ponder on who she was talking to at this instance. If her head was hurting this much from just the image becoming clear, there was only one conclusion she could make at this point.

"I am aware of our previous setbacks Photon," the woman replied harshly "My daughter will be the earthworldly vessel for Ut'ulls and she will lead our forces throughout the Selector Battles for the next few years to gather the Wixoss factors necessary to fully open the dimensional gateway from Mayu's domain and bring about the end of this accursed world!"

As she clenched her metallic hand to emphasize her point, she gazed down at her daughter in front of her.

"This time, I shall reign triumphant. Begin the transfer!"

And with that, even more sparks surged through the younger Ruko's body, some of which even came from out of the bright white lights that covered over her eyes as she screamed in pain. The present day Selector couldn't help but feel somewhat mortified as she watched the somewhat gruesome sight, wondering how it was that she was even still standing with her friends and battling her own brother at the current instance since the moment she had so clearly forgotten. Before any more of the lost memory could play onwards, a white flash from out of nowhere immediately blinded her as she shielded her eyes with her arms.


Selector Battlefield

(Cardfight! Vanguard OST: Hontou no Kokoro wo Torimodosou tame)

Immediately opening her eyes back up, Ruko groaned as she struggled to push herself off of the surface of the table in front of her and lean back into the chair that she was seated at. She rubbed her head with her right hand to try and soothe away some of the pain from both the copied Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion's 'sneak' attack and the pain she felt at the back of her head when she experienced the image she saw in her subconscious. There were now even more questions than she had answers for, given that what she saw had to have only been a portion of her memories, presumably on the day of the 'incident' that had supposedly taken place six years ago, before she and Ayumu had their care transferred over to Hatsu.

"Mother was talking with Photon... and she mentioned Ut'ulls..." she mumbled, trying to make sense of the situation.

"Ru!"

Upon hearing Tama call out to her, Ruko looked down at the girl of white who whilst relieved to see that her Selector had recovered, still was greatly concerned as she pointed over towards the LRIG space on her table. She looked over to Yuki and gasped when she saw the girl of black was in pain as a dark black aura swirled around her. The LRIG coughed as she struggled to stave off the dark power that she had infected herself with years ago and had been plaguing her for some time now, even in her worst nightmares.

"Yuki!" Ruko cried "Are you alright?!"

"R... Ruko...!" she groaned "I... I can't hold it back...!"

"You can do it!" the Selector called in encouragement "You're stronger than whatever it is that's trying to control you!"

Gritting her teeth, Yuki radiated in a dark purplish coloured aura as the darkness around her soon faded away, much to her sudden relief as she regained her footing and stood back up, ready to face both the clone LRIG and Ayumu once more. The older brother didn't seem disappointed by the fact that his sister had managed to recover much sooner than he initially anticipated.

"So you actually withstood my little 'extra' attack there," he muttered "You're more harder to break than I thought. No matter though, for my..."

"Doronjo's skill!" Ruko interrupted "When she is banished by any means, a SIGNI like that Egghelm Dracokid loses 2000 power!"

Upon realizing what the Selector had managed to do in his moment of 'glory', before he could utter a single word in response, a transparent figure resembling the Code Anti Doronjo that Vermillion had banished emerged beside Egghelm Dracokid and tapped the eggshell. This caused several cracks to run across it as the small Thunder Dragon screeched loudly before being banished from the battlefield in a large explosion, forcing Ayumu to shield his face from the impact of the blast. He hissed for a moment as he glared back towards Ruko who had managed to regain her composure after being previously struck down for a short while.

"You...!" he growled "You let Vermillion hit her on purpose, didn't you?!"

"I've seen this move before," she replied as she closed her eyes for a moment. Thank you, grandmother and Ishida.

Then before Ayumu could say anything more, the eyes of Rising Phoenix and Garuda turned red as they began to take flight towards Ruko's side of the field. Drei=Capsule hurled one of the many capsules she held at the Phoenix, exploding on contact and forcing it to retreat back to his table whilst Yuki braced herself for another attack by the last unit. It primed its cannons and unleashed two streams of lightning at the girl of black, shocking for as Tama and Ruko watched on in concern. The next Life Cloth revealed itself as another copy of Darkness Revenger, Rugos with no Life Burst available to help her out.

"Garuda's skill!" Ayumu called "Placing 1 card into my Ener Zone, I end my turn!"

End of Turn 6

Ruko vs Ayumu

Hand - 3 : 2

Life Cloths - 2 : 5

Current LRIGS - Iona, Pale/Maiden : Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion

SIGNI : EMPTY - EMPTY - Drei=Capsule : Rising Phoenix - EMPTY - Demonic Dragon Berserker, Garuda

Ener - 6 : 4

"That was a close one..." Yuzuki sighed whilst wiping her forehead in relief.

"Thank goodness..." Hitoe breathed.

The two of them along with Aichi looked down back towards their friend, relieved that she had managed to recover from Ayumu's underhanded 'extra' attack and reduce the damage to Yuki down to losing a single Life Cloth. But they knew she was far from danger yet, with not just the battle's outcome on the line or the chance to learn about the truth to her past on the line, but the concerning fact that a similar aura compared to the one that enveloped Yuki when Mayu had hijacked the Selector's body was showing up around her again.

(End Music)

"Still, what the heck was with Yuki just now?" pondered Midoriko, having not known about what had happened before "It looked like she was pain."

"It's a long story..." Yuzuki muttered as she scratched her head "Short version, after disagreeing with Mayu on destroying our world, she kinda got turned into a dragon for a while because of that aura. And it looks like it's trying to make some kind of comeback."

"Whoa... I thought I had weirder with strange dreams of being stuck in a talk show with Piruluk of all LRIGs*," the green LRIG replied, feeling unsure of how to properly assess the situation "Still, that's gotta be rough for her."

"So it appears even units that can attack multiple targets have their simple weaknesses," Umr murmured as she gazed up to Kai "Then again, Ruko has seen this skill used before."

"She took advantage of Doronjo's skill by letting Vermillion Thunderbolt hit her on purpose," he replied "This way, she reduced the damage to Yuki and opened up a space to attack the clone LRIG on her next turn at no cost."

(Selector Spread Wixoss OST: Battle ~ Limit)

As the atmosphere around the battlefield fell silent once again, Ruko immediately started her next turn by drawing her next two cards. Looking to her hand and the six cards she had in her Ener Zone, she looked across the field towards the copied Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion, contemplating the actions to take for her next move. Eventually, she had made a decision to go through with after moving a card from her hand to her Ener Zone.

"With Drei's skill, I Down her and banish Garuda!" she declared.

Drei=Capsule then turned her attention towards Demonic Dragon Berserker, Garuda and hurled several more of the capsules she wielded at the Narukami unit, causing it to be banished from its lack of power in a matter of small explosions. As the card landed in Ayumu's Ener Zone, he gazed back towards his sister, his glare being more intensified than before.

She's stopping at Level 3, just like the last time we battled...! he muttered in his thoughts What is that 'evil' little bitch scheming now?!

As Code Maze Skyju and Revenger Fortress, Fatalita both entered the battlefield onto the Selector's table, Tama looked up to Ruko herself, wondering if she was alright after previously losing consciousness.

"Tama... Yuki..." she spoke, getting the attention of both LRIGs "I think I'm getting close to figuring things out."

"What does Ru mean?" the girl of white pondered.

"Whilst I was unconscious... I saw an image," the Selector answered "No. I'm certain it's a memory I've somehow forgotten. From six years ago."

"Can you make a clear picture of the entire event from what you've seen?" asked Yuki.

"Even if I can't connect the dots just yet, there's a few things cleared up now, I know a few things about me and mother then," she replied "I was meant to be a vessel for Ut'ulls, the person that Photon was trying to combine Umr and Tawil into, just like how Mayu tried to hijack my body to get into the world outside of her White Room. If they've been working together for this long..."

As the sudden thought about this came to fruition, she silently gasped as everything began to fall into place. Ayumu's previous accusation of her prior involvement in the Selector Battles, long before she had even met Tama or known about Wixoss for that manner from her current state of mind, was starting to make sense. Umr was Aichi's current LRIG who was intended to be a portion of a being known as Ut'ulls and from what she could make of the image she saw minutes ago, she had some connection to her mother's plans within the Selector Battles themselves, proving that they had been existence long before she had supposedly known about them. The only question that remained was why. Why was she supposed to be the 'earthworldy' vessel for Ut'ulls and why did she still have her free will if that was indeed the case?

Looking back ahead to the other side of the battlefield, she could see more sparks flying across her brother, making her even more concerned for his current state of health and how far he was willing to go just to fulfill their mother's 'love' for him. It was clear to her now that he had been told some of the story that she still had incomplete knowledge about, but it appeared to her now that something was indeed off.

"Onii-chan, listen to me!" she called "You're being used by the people and units behind all of this! Mother's been involved with the Selector Battles long before whatever happened six years ago and I was meant to be a part of her plans back then!"

Ayumu raised an eyebrow in response to her statement, but remained silent as he kept his gaze upon her, nerving her a little. As he did so, he remained motionless as Fatalita charged across the battlefield towards the copied Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion which remained still on the LRIG space of his table. With a mighty swing of its giant fist, it punched the form hard enough to disable it and reveal the clone LRIG itself, just in time for Skyju to leap off the top of the Demon World Castle's right turret and land hard kick on her opponent. After both unit and SIGNI retreated back to Ruko's own table, the next two Life Cloths revealed themselves as both Servant D and Wyvern Guard, Guld, both of their Life Bursts moving Toshu and Rising Phoenix from the top of Ayumu's deck to his Ener Zone.

"Let's go Yuki!" Ruko declared.

Once again, the girl of black flapped her wings and took flight into the air before manifesting a dark purple aura in her hands. Aiming it towards the exposed clone LRIG on the far end of the battlefield, Yuki unleashed all of the energy she had gathered up into a single beam that rocketed towards its target. In a bright flash, a third Wyvern Guard, Guld appeared in front of the clone LRIG and deflected the attack with both of the yellow circles beside it before vanishing into a series of sparks.

"He protected himself again..." the LRIG muttered as she landed back on the LRIG space.

"Just a little more!" Tama called "Ru's managed to close the gap!"

Ruko however didn't respond to the girl of white's words of encouragement, instead feeling more concerned about the state of her brother as she watched sparks fly from the clone LRIG's exposed form. High from above the battlefield within the tower, everyone else also gazed closely at Ayumu, wondering if something had happened to him after the turn of events just now.

"What could have happened back then for him to suddenly hate Ruko-san now?" Aichi pondered in worry.

"There's clearly information that he knows that he's not willing to share," Kai interjected before narrowing his gaze "Or rather..."

"Wait... you're not suggesting that..." Hitoe murmured.

"Yeah...!" Yuzuki muttered "If there's something he's not telling us about and if what Kai heard about Ruko's mom was true... then there's gotta be something she's not wanting him to tell us!"

Umr said nothing having no opinion of her own to add to the matter, but much like the remainder of the group around her in the tower, also had her suspicions in regards to Miyako and the 'truth' behind six years ago that she gave to Ayumu. The older brother of Ruko then started to chuckle to himself, much to everyone's discomfort as sparks flew across.

"You think this is over...?" he spoke, his tone sounding much more crazed compared to earlier "You think you've won criminal?!"

"Onii-chan...!" Ruko breathed in worry "Snap out of it! Mother's not the person you...!"

"SHUT UP!" he roared "I... I won't let you insult her any further! Even now, she is watching our very battle, waiting for me to put you in your place once and for all! I won't let her down after my last two setbacks!"

This only caused the Selector and her two LRIGs to tense up a little, realizing that her mother was watching everything that was unfolding and if their earlier suspicions were correct, she had to be either within one of the other towers in the background of the battlefield or even observing the battle itself from the White Room alongside Mayu. At this point, Ayumu finally had enough with just yelling his declarations and decided that it was time for him to end things between himself and his sister once and for all.

"FINAL TURN!" he bellowed.

Everyone else up in the tower tensed up as they realized that he was done messing around and was planning to finish both Ruko and Yuki off by any means he had available to him. As Yuki gritted her teeth, she and Ruko watched as he drew his next two cards in one large swipe before glancing at them and laughing to himself as he brought them up to the remaining two cards he held in his hand.

"They're here!" he cackled "The two cards that contribute to sending you and Yuki to the depths of hell itself!"

He then yelled out aloud as even more red sparks flew across him and the clone LRIG as it was enveloped in a bright dark red glow, obscuring it from sight once again as it began to change forms. A single card from the LRIG deck flew up into Ayumu's right hand as he beared through the pain and held it up high into the air.

"Cross Grow the Vanguard! A heavenly sword on sliver white wings! Grant me the power of your strongest incarnation and lay waste to those in front of me!"

After throwing down the card towards the LRIG space, Rising Phoenix vanished from the battlefield as the silhouette of the clone LRIG began to change once more, bearing similar shapes to a unit that it had previously copied. First the white wings with electricity crackling across them emerged, then the legs before the rest of the glow then vanished to reveal what Ayumu was copying this time. It looked exactly like Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion, only there were several differences between this one and the one from two turns earlier. There were three blue orbs emitting electricity from its shoulders and chest armour, a large yellow curved arc behind its back and wielded two large blades in both of its claws.

"Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion "THE BLOOD"!"

The copied Vermillion then unleashed a loud roar in tandem with a shrill mechanical shriek from the clone LRIG itself as several bolts of lightning flashed around it to signal the coming of the end.

"So this is Vermillion's final form...!" Yuki muttered.

"Tama's worried...!" Tama cried.

Ruko gritted her teeth as she looked upon the new form of Vermillion that took flight into the air just above the table on the other side of the battlefield. Sparks crackled across both of its blades and wings, making her feel even more uneasy than she was before.

"You're telling me your old Narukami unit had a Cross Grow form as well?!" Yuzuki exclaimed as she looked up to Kai.

"That's right," he answered as he gazed upon the form of "THE BLOOD" before looking back to Ruko. Be careful Ruko. If that unit's abilities in this realm are as I believe and that Servant D is for a different intention...

(End Music)

Back down on the field, Ayumu looked to the three cards he held in his hand and gazed back across towards his opponent, his eyes having shrunken a little from the cost of using his willpower to power the clone LRIG to this point. He immediately threw all of them into the empty SIGNI spaces, revealing them to be a second copy of Dragonic Deathscythe and two humanoid like demons, each different from the other.

"Ayumu summoned his entire hand?" Tama murmured in confusion.

"He must be determined to end it with everything he has left," Ruko spoke "And if that Vermillion is stronger than the last one..."

"Dragon Monk, Ginkaku!" Ayumu announced "Move 1 Life Cloth to my Ener Zone! Kinkaku has the same skill as well!"

As two cards from his Ener Zone moved to his Trash Pile, two of his remaining three Life Cloths moved to his Ener Zone and flipped face up to reveal themselves as both Djinn of the Lightning Flash and a second copy of Demonic Dragon Nymph, Seiobo. After this happened, a bright red aura began to envelop the copied form of Vermillion as everyone began to stare at the clone LRIG's current state, wondering nervously about what was about to happen next.

"He sacrificed his own Life Cloths, but his Ener is the same as before..." Ruko pondered as she looked at his remaining Life Cloths, suddenly gasping as she realized what the condition was that he had met.

(Cardfight! Vanguard G NEXT Unreleased Soundtrack: Dumjid's Wrath)

Then without any warning, even more red sparks than before enveloped Ayumu as he screamed out loudly in pain before bearing through it once again and holding out one arm towards the top of the battlefield.

"Ultimate Break!" he declared.

A giant turquoise coloured Vanguard circle flashed brightly above the copied Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion as it roared loudly once again and materialized several large thunderclouds at the midpoint of the battlefield between the two tables. Three of the seven remaining cards in Ayumu's Ener Zone moved to his Trash Pile as the sparks around him intensified even further, though it appeared he was managing to bear through the pain.

"Switching my Attack Phases' order... then giving Vermillion Double Crush and the ability to battle all of your SIGNI and Yuki at the same time!" he called before snatching a card from his LRIG deck "Furthermore, Arc Destruct! At the end of its first battle, Vermillion will Up itself!"

"He has Arc Destruct too?!" Hitoe gasped.

"Then even if Ruko defends her SIGNI and Yuki, Vermillion can attack them at the same time again!" Aichi exclaimed.

As Umr remained silent on the matter, having not much of an opinion to offer at the moment, Yuzuki could only clench her teeth in worry as she watched Ruko closely from where she was standing.

"Is there even anything she can do now?!" she cried "Even if she defends Yuki on both attacks, she'll be wide open to Ayumu's SIGNI!"

"There may be a way for her to escape," Kai murmured as he kept a close eye on her table, noting the cards currently present there. She knows everything about this attack from watching Ishida. Now it's up to her to make the use of this situation.

"This is the end!" Ayumu announced as he briefly cringed under the effects of the sparks around him "Any last words before I reap in my... no, my mother's absolute victory!"

"I'm not giving up yet!" Ruko replied as she pulled out two cards from her LRIG deck before revealing one of them "Death Beam! I banish Ginkaku!"

As four of the cards in her Ener Zone vanished in a dark black aura, a series of black embers were then immediately absorbed into Yuki's gloves as she began to charge up the aura within her hands. With a mighty yell, she unleashed the energy she gathered into a single beam that struck Ginkaku head on. The Dragon Mage fell lifelessly to its knees before vanishing in a series of yellow sparks. As the banished SIGNI entered their respective Ayumu's Ener Zone, Ruko immediately revealed the second ARTS she had at the ready.

"Furthermore, Dark Matter!" she declared "I send Skyju to my Trash and you do the same for a SIGNI of your choice!"

"No matter! Dragonic Deathscythe, begone!" Ayumu replied, not concerned with the choice he had to make.

Both Dragonic Deathscythe and Skyju vanished from the battlefield in a series of dark purplish clouds with sparks raging across them, both of their respective cards moving to both Ruko and Ayumu's Trash Piles.

"Yes! Ru knocked Ayumu down to 1 SIGNI!" Tama cheered "Ru is safe!"

"No...!" Yuki muttered, much to the LRIG's confusion as she looked back to the field "Kinkaku is still present and it isn't in front of Fatalita or Drei!"

Ruko could only silently agree in frustration that the one Narukami unit that Ayumu had not gotten rid of through her second ARTS was one that wasn't in front of Drei or Fatalita who were not in the same column as it. As sparks began to crackle around the copied Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion, she knew she had to brace herself for impact of the coming attacks and hope for the best out of the dangerous situation she and Yuki found themselves in. It roared loudly to signal that it was now about to attack and lay waste to whatever final hope the two of them had in this moment.

"I must admit, sacrificing your SIGNI to reduce my ranks and targets for Vermillion's attacks was a clever strategy," he mused as sparks continued to crackle across him. "But this is the end! Even if you were to fully endure one wave... it's USELESS, USELESS, USELESS, USELESS, USELESS, USELESS! Vermillion Catastrophe!"

Tensing up for a moment and looking down to her Life Cloths for a moment, the Selector made a decision as she revealed Servant D2 from her hand.

"I guard for Fatalita!" she called.

The Guard SIGNI then materialized in front of the Demon World Castle, projecting a barrier to protect it from the coming onslaught of 'Vermillion's' first attack of the turn. Ayumu upon seeing this cackled in madness as his eyes shrunk even more, presumably from enduring all of the pain from the sparks around him.

"You guarded for a weakling instead of Yuki...?!" he bellowed "Then it's your funeral!"

The copied Vermillion then roared loudly as the arch behind its back generated a bolt of electricity that shot up into the much larger thundercloud at the midpoint of the battlefield. It flashed and rumbled for several moments before three large bolts of lightning crashed straight into the barrier created by Servant D2, Drei banishing her from the table and Yuki herself, submitting the girl of black to the attack itself. She screamed loudly as she fell to her knees, worrying both Tama and Ruko greatly as they looked back to the rumbling storm clouds, just in time to hear Ayumu yell loudly as even more sparks surrounded him before spreading out to said storm clouds, creating a fourth bolt of lightning that came rocketing straight towards her.

Now seeing what was coming, the Selector immediately threw herself to the right off of her chair just in time to dodge the attack as it struck the backrest of the seat and sent fragments of it flying everywhere. Standing back up, she reached for her two Life Cloths and flipped them face up, one at a time. Her first card revealed itself as Code Maze Skyju, no Life Burst being there to help her at this instance. The second card however was a second copy of Code Anti Doronjo, having something to help her at least.

"With the Life Burst, I draw!" she called as she pulled off the top card of her deck and added it to whatever she held in her hand.

Ayumu hissed for a moment as he realized that not only did his sister dodge his sneak attack, but the fact she had possibly benefited from having Yuki take the attack head on instead.

"You little...!"

He then suddenly clutched his chest as his vision began to go hazy from all of the sparks that were raging across him. He coughed for an instant, as he clenched his teeth in frustration.

Impossible...! I'm at my limit already...?! he ranted in his thoughts Doesn't matter! I can still finish it now!

The only two cards that were beneath the card representing Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion "THE BLOOD" then slid out and moved to his LRIG Trash as he struggled to hold out his hand.

"Arc Destruct's effect...!" he declared "Vermillion stands!"

Vermillion then roared once again and took flight towards Ruko's table as Yuki and Tama could only watch on helplessly, wondering if their Selector was able to have enough defences on hand to outlast this second wave of the copied Thunder Dragon's attack.

"This time... this time, this will put you all down for good!" Ayumu yelled "VERMILLION CATASTROPHE!"

"Guard for Fatalita!" Ruko called "Also, Quintet Wall!"

This time, both Mac Lir and Quesal stepped in to defend for both Yuki and Fatalita as both of them deployed barriers in front of them to shield their targets from the clone LRIG's wrath. Quesal generated five circles in front of her which summoned Healing Revenger, Code Maze Triumph, Servant D2, Code Anti Vimana and another copy of Mac Lir. The copied Vermillion with lightning crackling across both of its blades swung its left one into the Hellrage Revenger and all of her 'backup', banishing them from the field before setting its sights on the seemingly defenceless girl of black. Mac Lir swung both of its shields into the right blade of 'Vermillion', deflecting it with ease much to Ayumu's frustration as he clenched his chest in pain from the sparks still flying across him.

"Attack!" he declared as Kinkaku ran across the battlefield towards Ruko's table.

As the Narukami demon was more than halfway across the length of the battlefield, Ayumu smirked in triumph before suddenly noticing that Fatalita was no longer present in the SIGNI space after surviving both of 'Vermillion's' attacks and coming out unscathed. As his smile faded, the Demon World Castle suddenly landed onto the ground with a loud thud, knocking back Kinkaku onto its back as it now faced the towering Golem that stood before. Ruko's voice then immediately brought her last ditch effort of a move to light.

(End Music)

"Fatalita intercepts!" she declared.

"Intercept...?!" Ayumu breathed in disbelief.

"When my LRIG is attacked, by paying the cost and trashing Fatalita whilst it is not being attacked as well, your attack is sealed!" the Selector called.

"Impossible...!" he muttered whilst sparks continued to fly over him "I wiped her board clean... yet I only dealt two damage?!"

Tama smiled in relief as Yuki got back up onto her feet and panted to regain her composure, now that the reassurance of Ayumu no longer being able to attack was in effect. Even the girl of black couldn't help but wipe a small portion of sweat from her forehead, despite normally being composed and much calmer than she currently was otherwise. Ayumu clutched his chest as he hissed under his breath, frustrated that his final turn had come to nothing in the long run.

"At the end of the turn, the skills that moved Life Cloths to my Ener Zone return them to my deck..." he coughed "Then I recover two Life Cloths and end my turn."

End of Turn 8

Ruko vs Ayumu

Hand - 1 : 0

Life Cloths - 0 : 3

Current LRIGS - Iona, Pale/Maiden : Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion "THE BLOOD"

SIGNI : EMPTY - EMPTY - EMPTY : EMPTY - Dragon Monk, Kinkaku - EMPTY

Ener - 6 : 0

"They survived it...!" Yuzuki cheered.

"Thank goodness!" Hitoe sighed in relief.

"But she's not out of danger yet..." Umr murmured "Ayumu is back to three Life Cloths. If Ruko doesn't finish him this turn, she'll only contribute to triggering the Ultimate Break again."

"That's true Umr..." Aichi breathed "But... there's something different about her compared to before."

Kai nodded in agreement, having noted the Selector's newfound determination to find out the truth behind her past and how it was helping her and Yuki to endure against what he considered to be the most powerful he would have seen one of his own units at with the level of play Ayumu had displayed. Yet despite the fierce opposition, the Selector persevered throughout it all and now, she had one final chance to end the battle once and for all, so she and everyone else could finally learn the truth behind six years ago and what Miyako had planned at the time.

Back down on battlefield as Ruko drew her next two cards, she suddenly felt unnerved as she heard Ayumu chuckle softly to himself. This caught everyone's attention as they stared on at him.

"Do you really think you have won this...!" he coughed, still in pain from the sparks flying across him "You'll still be destroyed utterly!"

"No way!" Tama replied "Ru has this won! Vermillion can't stop Ru and Yuki now!"

"Idiotic girl of white...!" he snickered, much to her confusion "Who said I would destroy her now... when her own LRIG could do the honours for me!"

Before anyone could question by what exactly he meant, the copied Vermillion gazed upon Yuki with the lifeless red eyes of the clone LRIG staring directly at her. Then after they flashed for a brief instance, Yuki suddenly fell to her knees as once again, the aura from before enveloped her once again, causing her to scream and clutch her head in agony.

"Yuki!" cried Ruko.

"Ruko...!" she coughed "It's... happening again...!"

"What are you...?"

"Did you think I wasn't aware your LRIG had turned herself into an uncontrollable dragon, twice, because of her own greed and pride?" Ayumu interrupted "Well now... how about we take a closer look at what that form is capable of. That is, she doesn't destroy you first in her rage."

(Selector Spread Wixoss OST: Yuki)

Ruko and Tama gasped in worry and shock, as did everyone else in the tower as all attention was focused on Yuki as she tried desperately in vain to restrain the power she thought she had lost previously. She coughed loudly as the dark aura ripped apart her gloves and revealed that her fingernails were on the verge of becoming sharper points.

"Yuki!" the Selector called.

"It's no good..." the girl of black coughed as she felt her free will and consciousness slipping away "There's no other option...!"

"What are you saying...?" she asked.

"Throw the battle...!" she cried "Run away...! Before I...!"

She didn't manage to complete her sentence as she looked over to her right to see Tama walking slowly towards her, being as brave as she could as she approached the darkness that was enveloping her by the second.

"Stay back Tama...!" Yuki demanded "I've hurt you like 'that' before...!"

The girl of white didn't say anything in response as she only came closer towards the befuddled LRIG, as if she was wanting to talk to her.

"Tama remembered everything from then!" she called "Tama used all her power to turn Yuki back to normal and disappeared! That's why Tama didn't remember anything at first!"

"Then... that's why you vanished at that time and I thought you were dead then..." Yuki coughed "But still...!"

"You can do it Yuki!" Ruko called in encouragement "There may be things any of us aren't proud of and a lot of things we come to regret later... but that doesn't matter now!"

"What are you saying...?"

The Selector took a deep breath as she thought carefully about her choice of words to say to the girl of black next, hoping they would be enough to prevent her from being fully overtaken by the power she had been corrupted with before.

"Yuki, you said you had a nightmare before we started the battle," she spoke "Did that nightmare have something to do with that dragon you turned into?"

"That's correct..." the girl of black answered, holding down her head in partial shame for keeping her lips sealed about the topic.

"That's got me thinking..." the Selector continued "If we can't stop that power from coming out of you... then..."

"Tama says Yuki should try and control it herself!" Tama concluded.

Yuki's eyes widened in shock at both her Selector's and the girl of white's suggestions, believing them to be ones of complete madness at this point. She had despised being overtaken by the power she had been corrupted with, regardless of whether she was chained up by the power of Reverse through Mayu or rampaging like a mindless beast against the LRIG she had been jealous of up to a few days ago. A low growl sounded out once again, this time heard by not just the girl of black, but almost everyone that was present on the battlefield, be they observer or participant.

Controlling that power... can I really do that? she muttered in her thoughts as she closed her eyes.


...

Yuki was all alone in a pitch dark space within her own thoughts and subconsciousness, still struggling to resist being controlled by the dark aura that currently surrounded her in reality. Floating around in what could otherwise be described as a maelstrom of dark colours raging all around her, she opened her eyes to witness the erupting calamity all around her, the calamity that was raging on inside of her heart.

"Can it really be done...?" she murmured to herself "Can I really control it... and not hurt anyone like before?"

Then without warning, a familiar bone chilling growl sounded throughout the dark space that made up her heart as a familiar shadow came into view. It slowly hovered forwards towards the LRIG herself who tensed up and took up a defensive stance the best she could with the apparent lack of gravity present. Slowly, the darkness masked away from the shadow to reveal itself as the unchained and unrestrained form of Berserk Draconis, now in front of her once again.

Yuki knew deep down, as much as she didn't want to admit it out aloud to anyone before her, she was truly afraid of the creature that was now in front of her. The creature she had been forcefully transformed into on separate occasions with the second one being part of the reason that she was able to see what her Selector and her friends perceived as right or wrong. Since that day, she had put aside her hunger for power and being the strongest LRIG aside to defending the world she originally wanted Ruko to conquer as her own.

But now, it seemed those very things had come back to haunt her and the presence of Berserk Draconis in front of her was no exception to that iron clad fact, much like a phantom that refused to leave her alone no matter how much she wished to run away from it. Thinking along those lines, Yuki soon realized the very issue to the problem before her and how she failed to realize immediately that her Selector had been going through a similar approach to her problem all this time. Looking up to the head of the dark dragon before her, she nervously floated towards it, determined to confront the issue at the source or fall victim trying at the least.

"I know you still rampage in the depths of my heart since that day," she spoke, putting one hand on top of the head "I greedily sought the power that originally came from an Abyss Dragon in an effort to surpass Tama, but ended up being controlled by it instead."

A low growl sounded from under the dragon's breath briefly startling the girl of black, but she immediately regained her composure, knowing that she had to press on with this dilemma.

"But right now... I need that power to save Ruko and Tama!" she declared "If you really have become a part of me, then let me unite our strength! No being has one form of dominion over the other and both of our powers can be used."

At first, all remained silent within the dark space as Berserk Draconis closed its eyes and began to fade into a dark black aura whilst Yuki radiated in a bright white glow in contrast. Then, the dragon's shadow and essence began to seep into the LRIG as she clenched her teeth for a brief instance before suddenly feeling more relaxed as the feeling she had felt back in reality at the present moment did not seem to be there at all.

"Tama's light..." she breathed "When she saved me long ago and used the Blaster Blade to repress that form... It's helping me to keep that power under control."

The dark black and grey streams of energy that were once swirling violently within the heart of the girl of black had suddenly calmed down all of a sudden, as if what was happening now was having a profound effect on them too. As the last of the aura of Berserk Draconis entered Yuki, she let out a small breath before glowing in a mixture of black and white colours.


Selector Battlefield

Back in reality, now that she had accomplished what she had needed to do, Yuki could feel that she was no longer in intense pain as she was earlier and the aura around her was making no effort to try and control her unlike the previous occasions in which it had showed up. Slowly as said aura was being absorbed back into her after being calmed down significantly, she stood back up onto her feet as she breathed in and out slowly in an attempt to reassure herself now that she had everything under control and so Ruko could continue the battle without hesitation. As both the Selector and Tama looked to her nervously, she immediately turned around to face them and gave a nod of approval, much to their sudden relief.

"Impossible...!" Ayumu gasped in disbelief "Mother said she couldn't control the transformation at all...!"

As he coughed once more from the sparks flowing across him, he gazed across his table to access the dire situation that he now found himself within.

I have nothing in my hand... only a single SIGNI for defence and three Life Cloths! he muttered in his thoughts before a crazed smile appeared on his lips That's right...! My Life Bursts have all but been guaranteed!

Ruko looked back to the cards she held in her hand, pondering about what to do with her next move before noticing a faint dark purple glow emitting from her LRIG deck, much to her's and Tama's initial confusion. As she picked it out and looked down it, she soon realized what this card was supposedly meant to represent as she looked down to Yuki herself.

"Do it, Ruko," she spoke "I trust you."

"Okay then," the Selector replied as she stared down at the currently blank glowing card she held.

(End Music)

As Tama gave the two an encouraging thumbs up of approval for them to go through with what they planned to do next, she looked ahead to Ayumu who was staving off the pain from the sparks enveloping him.

"Onii-chan, I may not know everything that's going on yet!" she called "But right now, you're only putting yourself in pain! This time... I'll save you!"

"'Save me'?!" he muttered in a venomous tone "Then go ahead and try!"

(Selector Infected Wixoss OST: Battle ~ Why Not Eliminate the World?)

Ruko knew she had to have expected words like that from the way that her brother was behaving at the moment, no doubt heavily influenced by what her mother was telling and making him do. What purpose that was for and why was something she knew she could only find out if she defeated him at this very moment. Holding up her new card high into the air, a pitch black column enveloped Yuki as three of the cards in her Ener Zone moved to her Trash Pile.

"Girl of black who walked down a solitude path," she spoke "Awaken to a new compromise and aid me in my need now! Cross Grow!"

As she threw down the card onto the table, sliding beneath the dark aura that was currently enveloping Yuki, both it and said aura suddenly radiated in a dark purple glow, much to everyone else's shock as they could only wonder on what was about to emerge before them, especially given what the clone LRIG had almost tried to do to her earlier. First, a pair of wings flapped out from the darkness and revealed themselves not as feathered from earlier, but ones that seemed to be flesh based and almost familiar to an extent. Then emerged the legs which seemed to be the same as before, only the boots had been changed drastically to reveal that so too had the LRIG's feet based on appearance alone.

The aura slowly dispersed upwards to reveal that Yuki's one piece outfit had changed into a suit of light grey coloured armour with an overall similar shape, but made up of several plates and a red gemstone embedded in a spot just between her neck and the top of her chest. The lower half of the arms had become covered with scales and the LRIG's hands seemed to resemble claws now, each with a small ember or two briefly erupting within them. Finally, the last of it dispersed to reveal that Yuki's head had more or less remained nearly identical to before, but that wasn't to say it had not gone through changes of her own. Whilst her overall face and hair were otherwise as they were, her ears as a result of the transformation had become pointed and several sharp and thin horns shaped like blades had grown from out of the top of her head. Opening her eyes, she took flight on her wings as Ruko decided to announce the name of the new form her LRIG managed to acquire.

"The eclipsed maiden... Dragmiko Yuki!"

"What the...?!" Ayumu gasped in shock.

"Dragmiko...?" Yuzuki pondered "This is Yuki's new form?"

"So she can control that power from before...?" Aichi breathed "Amazing."

"It appears that is the case," Umr interjected "If what you told me was true, I'm intrigued to see how she comes to wield it."

Kai remained silent for the moment, only gazing down at Yuki in her new form as she flapped her wings and hovered in the air above the table, presumably as a brief precaution to check if she was really in control. From what he could gather though, it appeared that it was becoming the case.

"Summon!" Ruko called as Code Maze Triumph, Vimana and Skyju appeared onto the battlefield in her empty spaces "Then, Limit Break!"

As Yuki held her right claw high into the air, a dark purple Vanguard circle flashed above the entire table as all but Servant D moved from the Selector's Ener Zone to her Trash Pile before four cards floated out from there.

"By returning Quesal, Fatalita, Drei and Servant Q2 back to my deck, I banish Kinkaku!"

The girl of black then manifesting a sphere of energy in front of her two claws before a large beam erupted from it and came roaring down towards the defenceless Dragon Mage. The front of the beam suddenly changed shape to resemble the head of Berserk Draconis as it opened its jaw wide before snapping down on the Demon it impacted on, banishing it from the field. Ayumu hissed as he realized his final defence was gone and he was going have to have to rely on a Life Burst to escape this situation.

"Yuki's amazing!" Tama cheered as the changed girl of black looked down to her.

"To think I needed your help again..." she muttered to herself before smiling for a moment "Honestly Tama, even as Shiro, you haven't changed in the slightest."

She then looked back to Ruko who nodded in agreement with her on what they now had to do next.

"Since the cards I returned had no Life Bursts, I can add another skill to Yuki!" she declared "And by using Servant D2, I use One Rule, Two Birds on Yuki!"

"Damn you...!" snarled Ayumu Even if I get Guld, that ARTS seals it! I need to heal on the third hit or get a Quintet Wall!

"Ru's got this!" called Tama "Battle!"

Then in just mere moments, the three SIGNI that Ruko had available to her command all charged towards the defenceless copied Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion who remained motionless as they all came up close to it. Triumph landed a hard punch with her right whilst Vimana struck the clone LRIG with a dark beam of its own, disabling the form and sending it falling back down to Ayumu's table. Finally Skyju unleashed her own beam, this time coloured a bright yellowish white as it crashed into the clone LRIG itself, bringing up a small explosion on the table itself.

"Not yet...!" he growled "Damage Check!"

Flipping his first Life Cloth, he hissed to find it to be Demonic Dragon Nymph Seiobo, the Life Burst being useless thanks to him still having Life Cloths at this timing. Clutching his chest with one hand as he cringed in pain from the sparks around him, he moved the card to his Ener Zone with his other hand. Then flipping up the next card, it revealed itself as Old Dragon Mage. After drawing his single card, he revealed the last card to be another copy of Old Dragon Mage, allowing him to draw yet another card to the one he now held. After the card was placed into his Ener Zone, he now looked back to his hand and immediately regained his composure, laughing crazily to himself.

"Useless...!" he coughed "Your efforts were a waste! On the next turn, the Ultimate Break of Vermillion will definitely put you all down for good!"

Afterwards, he immediately roared out in more pain as more sparks flew across him, allowing the clone LRIG to regain her previously lost form of Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion "THE BLOOD" which roared fiercely upon re-materializing. This time however, neither Tama, Yuki nor Ruko were worried at all from the opposition before them. They knew they had one final chance to end this madness whilst they still could and hopefully talk some sense to the Selector's brother about Miyako before whatever she planned could come to fruition.

"Onii-chan, I just have one last question before we end this," she spoke.

"And what would that be?" he hissed.

"I just need to ask you something about six years ago..." Ruko continued as she took a deep breath "Whatever it was that happened then... does the name Ut'ulls mean anything to you?"

Ayumu started to open his mouth, but then suddenly froze up as a harsh and familiar voice entered his head. It was a voice only he could hear at this moment, but the tone was enough to completely startle him.

"That information is classified! FINISH HER NOW!"

"... I don't have to tell you!" he snarled upon regaining his composure, albeit only slightly "You should already know yourself!"

As everyone else on the battlefield gasped to his sudden response to Ruko's question, Kai immediately narrowed his eyes as he felt a strange, yet familiar presence in the air for only a brief instance. He wasn't the only individual besides Umr to receive such a suspicion at this very moment however. Yuki glanced towards him, noting his brief panic before his sudden response to Ruko's question.

"It's just as I thought..." she muttered.

"Mother must not be wanting him to tell us something!" Ruko replied before looking down to the LRIG "It's all up to you now!"

The girl of black nodded as she then flapped her wings and soared through the air towards the far end of the battlefield in preparation for her final attack. The copied Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion roared loudly and charged back towards her in response, lightning crackling across both of the blades it wielded in preparation for its final stand against Yuki.

"USELESS!" Ayumu roared "I...!"

"At this moment, I use the skill Dragmiko Yuki gained from the Limit Break!" Ruko interrupted "By sending both Triumph and Skyju to my Trash, you cannot use Quintet Walls and Level 2 or greater SIGNI with the Guard ability against this attack!"

Yuki then opened up the palms of her two claws as both of the Labyrinth SIGNI vanished into two seperate dark purple auras that were then absorbed into the draconic wings that she had. Radiating in that same colour, she let out a fierce cry mixed with what sounded like a less heavier sounding version of Berserk Draconis' signature roar as she caught the blades that the copied Vermillion swung down towards her before eventually managing to crush them to pieces with a little more effort. As Ayumu stared on helplessly at the sight, he gazed back to Ruko who still retained her determined glint within her eyes to fulfil her conviction to find the truth the missing events on that day.

As he continued to look at her though, suddenly without warning, his vision of the Selector changed to one of Miyako, who glared fiercely and harshly right at him, as if she was very displeased with the failure that he now had.

"No...!" he gasped in horror "I...!"

Before he could say anything more, he suddenly clutched his head in pain as several images briefly flashed off in his mind, all depicting Miyako past and present glaring down at him with nothing but anger and discontent for him or anyone that upset her.

"I don't want that from her again...!"

As he came back to the reality around him, tears began to stream down his cheeks in panic as he soon realized one thing had now been confirmed. He had failed his mother and now, she would be coming for him with all of her fury within her. As this was happening, Yuki slashed down the front of the copied Vermillion, disabling the clone LRIG's form as it hovered backwards in mid-tumble as the attack had also slashed away part of the front armour, revealing wiring and circuits inside of it.

"As I thought... it's just like the other Star-vaders!" she muttered "But you won't affect Ruko's brother anymore!"

With one final charge, she dived down and slashed through the clone LRIG's mechanical body completely, causing it to split apart and spark in the gaps that had been created.

(End Music)

"All LRIG data... successfully copied..." it emitted in a mechanical tone, before exploding into several pieces of flaming debris.

As this happened, the sparks around Ayumu finally stopped as he fell down face first onto the table in front of him, losing consciousness immediately as he did so. Ruko and Tama gasped out in horror, wondering if the destruction of the clone LRIG at this very instance had done something bad to him as a side effect on doing so. Yuki gazed back to the flaming remains of the clone LRIG, still wondering on its exact purpose in this most befuddling of mysteries until a series of white coloured sparkles came from out of it and manifested themselves into a single bright white aura. Using whatever power she had left, the girl of black forced the aura to come over towards her as she caught it within a single sphere shaped veil. Closing her eyes for a few moments to sense what was there, she suddenly reopened them in shock and fumbled in mid-flight for a moment.

"Yuki, are you alright?!" cried Ruko.

"The clone LRIG..." she murmured "It hasn't just been using his willpower and life force to copy units... it's been stealing his memories the whole time!"

At this point, everyone else except for the unconscious Ayumu gasped in shock upon this new revelation in the conspiracy between both him and Miyako at this point.

"What?!" exclaimed Hitoe.

"Miyako must have been lying about whatever Ruko's past was to him whilst that clone LRIG was doing all the work!" Yuzuki growled.

"Then Ayumu wasn't doing everything now of his own will...?" Midoriko murmured.

Kai could only silently share his opinion in agreement as everyone could tell by his tensed expression before he looked down to Ayumu, now taking into account the new piece of information that Yuki had now brought to light. He knew Miyako wasn't a person he or anyone could take lightly, especially after encountering her briefly when she briefly punished Ruko's brother and Kaen revealed that she was the general of Mayu's forces in the Selector Battles.

I had my suspicions that some deception was involved... he muttered in his thoughts But to think she made it possible to erase his memories of whatever happened then whilst deceiving him at the same time.

"No way..." Ruko breathed as she looked over to her brother, who remained unconscious on the table.

Seeing what it was she had to do now, Yuki flew down to Ayumu and unleashed all the lost memories that the clone LRIG had taken from him back to his own mind. She had no idea on whether it would have changed his opinion on the current stance, especially after the long period he had been in this state, but she knew that this was the only way they could possibly learn the truth behind what really happened six years ago. As the last of the aura went back inside of him, the battlefield then went pitch black.


And there we go! In a bid to desperately end the battle to please Miyako, Ayumu copies the strongest form of Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion and attacks Yuki relentlessly, but Ruko perseveres and manages to defend against the onslaught. When that fails, he then tries to use the clone LRIG's power to forcefully awaken the aura that attempted to consume the girl of black before in an attempt to transform her and have her attack Ruko, but it backfires and allows her to accept the darkness inside of her and become Dragmiko Yuki. Pushing on further, she and Ruko then destroy the clone LRIG, discovering that it had also stolen memories from Ayumu and that Miyako may have decieved him about what really happened six years ago! What will happen next? Join us next time on Stand Up, the LRIG! as the incident from six years ago is finally brought to light! Please share your criticisms and thoughts in the reviews and I'll see you guys next time!

*Midoriko makes a brief reference to the (non-canon) 'Midoriko-san and Piruluk-tan' OVA Shorts on the Japanese Selector Infected Wixoss Blu-ray boxsets.

*If you're wondering, the hillside that Ruko's brief memory displays is also the same hillside where Kai first woke up in the world of Wixoss to begin his adventure.


Cards of the Chapter:

Dragmiko Yuki, Eclipse/Maiden

Level 4

Colour: Black

Grow Cost: 3 Black

Limit: 11

LRIG Type: Iona

Effect:

[Action] Limit Break (This ability is active if you have 3 or fewer Life Cloths) - Pay 2 Black and/or White and Exceed 2: Choose 4 SIGNI with different Levels in your Trash Pile other than the cards used to pay the cost. Return them to the bottom of your deck in any order and if you do, banish 1 SIGNI your opponent controls. Then if all the SIGNI returned by this effect had no Life Bursts, this LRIG gets "[Use Timing - Attack Phase] Choose 2 of your Black and/or White SIGNI and send them to your Trash Pile: When this LRIG attacks, you may pay the cost. If you do, your opponent cannot use [Quintet Wall] or Level 2 or greater SIGNI with the [Guard] ability until the end of that battle." until end of turn. Cards with Multi-Ener cannot be used to pay the cost. You cannot use this ability for the rest of this turn.

[Constant] If you have a Level 3 or greater "Iona", "Kuro" or "Yuki" LRIG card with other than a card of the same name beneath this LRIG, all of your Black and White SIGNI gain +2000 power.

[Constant] You may also treat White Labyrinth SIGNI cards in your Ener Zone as Black cards for the Grow Cost of this LRIG.

Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion "THE BLOOD"

Level 4

Colour: Yellow

Grow Cost: 3 Yellow

Limit: 11

LRIG Type: Narukami

[Action] Ultimate Break (This ability is active if you have 1 or fewer Life Cloths) - Pay 3 Yellow SIGNI Cards: Switch the order of this turn's SIGNI and LRIG attack steps. Then during this turn, this LRIG gains Double Crush and can attack your opponent's LRIG and all SIGNI they control.

[Constant] If you have a card named "Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion" beneath this LRIG, all of your Yellow SIGNI gain +2000 power.

[Constant] Lord