Hello again everyone! Apologies for the long overdue wait, but the next chapter of Stand Up, the LRIG! is finally here! And with that, the final results to the poll on my profile have been locked in. The deck that Kiyoi will use... you'll find out in this chapter. Enjoy!
Wixoss World: ?
Hanayo stirred for a moment as she struggled to open up her eyes once again. Just like before when she had staggered around on her feet in Yuzuki's body leading up to her eventual discovery of the ominous black ring now hovering above her home world, that sensation had happened to her again, only this time, the result was not as she had hoped for. Not only did the Judgement she was forced to inflict upon Akira after her cardfight with Mitsusada drain her more, but it had done so to the point of causing her to black out from having to forcefully commit to that command multiple times throughout the day against her will. Now she was sitting in a hospital room, feeling even more guilty about what had happened and couldn't help but worry for the real Yuzuki.
"Yuzuki!"
Looking to her right, she could see that seated beside the bed she was resting in was both Kazuki and Aichi who were relieved to see that she had finally awoken from her long slumber. Although Hanayo was relieved to see the Royal Paladin user, inwardly, she knew that she would have to now keep up the deception that was Yuzuki's wish in order to avoid causing any more trouble for herself than she was already in.
"Kazuki-kun..." she groaned as she moved towards him, cringing a little as she did so.
"Take it easy Yuzuki!" cried Kazuki "Aichi and I found you unconscious on the streets just a little while ago and brought you here."
"What happened out there?" asked Aichi.
Clutching her head, Hanayo tried to recall everything she had been experiencing and thinking of a way to translate it over to Kazuki, without mentioning any details of the Selector Battles in turn.
"I was walking across the street earlier today..." she said "Then I started experiencing some very painful headaches. I thought I was dehydrated, but the day wasn't even hot and I had definitely drunk enough water this morning... After it happened a few times, I blacked out."
"Did you see anything strange before then?" asked Kazuki, worried for his sister.
"I... I thought I saw a black ring in the sky before I lost consciousness," she replied, biting her tongue a little and briefly noticing Aichi's concern in response to her statement "I might have just been hallucinating it though."
The older brother of Yuzuki simply sighed a little, unable to comprehend how such a thing could happen to the person he believed was his sister during this moment. He rose up from his seat and began to head towards the door.
"I'm going to see if I can get some medicine for these headaches you're now having," he said "Aichi, can you keep an eye on her until I come back with the doctors?"
"I will," the Royal Paladin user replied.
And with that, Kazuki got up from his small chair and departed from the hospital room, leaving Aichi and Hanayo on their own for the time being. Now seeing that she had an opportunity to speak about it more with him, she looked over to him.
"You've seen it too, right?" she asked.
"I did," he answered "The black rings have always been a symbol of the Star-vaders' presence and with one appearing only to Selectors and our group, I'm even more worried. If one has appeared in this world now though..."
"Then Mayu's plans must be closer to completion," the LRIG interjected.
Aichi grimly nodded in agreement, having come to the same conclusion that Hanayo had managed to work out on her own intuition. Neither of them knew what that sign could possibly mean for this world, but they knew that nothing good could be coming from it. His thoughts then turned to Kai, Ruko, Kiyoi and Kamui, still concerned for their safety and anxious in regards to their whereabouts, which he still knew nothing about. One thing was certainly clear in his mind as he pondered deeply on the matters at hand, as Umr could tell from her card. Things were not going to get any easier for them in their quest to stop Mayu and Chaos Breaker, and what happened to Hanayo was seemingly a sign that things could at any moment could go from bad to worse.
Vanguard World: SIT Premises
(Cardfight! Vanguard Unreleased Soundtrack: Unsettling)
Soon, Christopher had gathered his things that he would require for the long repairs on the teleporter back in Japan and had rejoined the others in the lobby area of the institute. When he finally sat down alongside Ali and Lee, the latter of whom who no longer seemed to be in as much of a state as he was earlier in the day, they and Mitsusada turned their attention towards Kai, Kamui, Kiyoi and Ruko, along with the latter's two LRIGs so they could finally get an understanding of everything that had been happening in that world. Before beginning, the Nova Grappler user was quick to interrupt, wanting to help clear up the identity confusion between Kiyoi and Remember quickly before they started their tale.
Having been involved for the longest time in the Selector Battles themselves before the cardfighters' respective arrivals, the former blue LRIG and Ruko first gave their own stories on how they came to be involved within the battles themselves, what little they knew about Mayu from their own personal experiences and encounters with her and the struggles each of them and their companions had to go through before finding themselves at the point they were now. Even though Kai and Kamui had not even begun to share their ventures yet, what the others were hearing so far was enough to leave them shocked.
"So now Akira's motives make sense," Mitsusada said, recalling the times throughout the fight where Akira had declared her vengeance on the Kagero user and anyone from this world "Kai tainted her wish and after re-entering these Selector Battles, those further losses have now created a vendetta against all of us."
"But still..." Ruko murmured "Mayu said she was aiming to destroy both of our worlds. Akira may be self-centred, but she doesn't seem like the kind person who would support those kind of views..."
"Unless Ulith is intentionally keeping her in the dark about it," Yuki answered "Or at least only making her aware of this world's planned destruction."
The Selector could only ponder in concern, if only for the fact that Akira had seemignly no idea that she was playing along with not just the destruction of this world, but her own too if Chaos Breaker and Mayu's plans came into fruition. All three members of Team SIT Genius and Mitsusada looked at one another, each feeling just as baffled or surprised as the other before looking back to Ruko and Kiyoi.
"Sounds like you two have had it rough," said Christopher "It's one thing to know that this has been going on for a while in your world... but a whole few years?"
"I can't imagine what all those girls must be going through," Ali commented "Then again... the idea of having a girl of your dreams within a card does sound..."
He was immediately silenced as he saw a glare by Yuki and Kiyoi, who could easily tell that this was his way of trying to show off his interest in trying to hook himself up with a girl or two by his terrible attempt to make a joke out of the situation. Lee, having mostly recovered from the torment Ulith had put him through, coughed a little to get the conversation back on track.
"After everything Ulith put me through... showing me horrifying images of being shunned by my family for failing to stop her or even failing to win the Asia Circuit..." he shivered "I can't imagine what kind of image she could have shown Aichi like she told me."
Kai's expression could only grow grim, knowing that Ulith had intentionally shown Aichi such an image during their battle in an attempt to completely destroy his beliefs and force him to question the morality of any and all decisions he made. The fact that she had not even shown a hint of disappointment despite losing to him back then had only reinforced his concerns further, especially with their encounter a few hours earlier. She was bound to be concocting another vile scheme for the Royal Paladin user when she returned back to her own world, but he didn't know what.
"Tama thinks it will be alright!"
Everyone looked over to the girl of white, who was trying to lift everyone's spirits up from the depression that all of them were feeling after exchanging information with one another about the Selector Battles and how they affected both of their worlds now.
"If Kai could beat Mayu once before, Kai and Ru can definitely do it again!" she called.
"Your enthusiasm is appreciated..." Yuki muttered "But Mayu was limited to her use over me and Ruko's deck at that time. If we face her again, it will be against her full power this time."
"Yuki..." Ruko breathed, seemingly worried over the girl of black's viewpoint.
As Kai and Kamui continued to roll the conversation along with their own personal experiences of their time within her world to the other cardfighters, she couldn't help but fall into a bit of a slump as she sighed depressingly. Kiyoi noticed this and turned to her, knowing that the thought of Mayu's threat looming over the horizon along with whatever fiendish schemes that Chaos Breaker had in mind were not the only matters that were affecting her at this point.
"I'm worried Kiyoi..." she murmured "It was one thing to find out this whole mess has been going on for years without us knowing. But to find out that my own mother was involved as well and now be stranded in Kai's world..."
"You're homesick."
The Selector blinked for a brief moment as she gazed at the former blue LRIG, wondering how it was that she had managed to deduce something like that.
"How did you...?" she began to ask.
"From what I learned of your entire situation when we told our respective stories to Jillian and Sharlene, this hasn't been the first time you've been away from family against your wishes," Kiyoi explained "The fact we cannot contact them in any way for the moment is adding to your anxiety now."
"Yeah," Ruko murmured sadly "I just feel horrible about all of this. Being away from grandmother and onii-chan with no way to let them know I'm alright and finding out my mother was part of a decades-long conspiracy..."
Sharlene then sat down next to the Selector, wanting to find a way to help cheer her up in the face of their current circumstances.
"Look on the bright side!" she said enthusiastically "You got around the changes to your decks, there are no consequences for your cardfights... well, except the ones by those nasty people from earlier."
"And Ru can battle as much as she likes!" Tama interjected "Tama remembers Jillian saying about strong people in this world's Japan!"
(End Music)
Though it had done little to change the overall mood she was experiencing, Ruko was able to smile in response, feeling as if a large weight had just been lifted from her shoulders without even realizing it. If she was indeed here in this world, accustomed to her changed decks and finding out that all of the cardfights not engaged by Mayu's troupe had seemingly no catches at all to them for neither the winners or losers, perhaps trying to make the best of the situation by having as much fun as she could would help her get through the ordeal much easier. After seeing that the conversation about recent events was now being exchanged between Kamui and Team SIT Genius, she looked over to Mitsusada.
"Um... Mitsusada-san," she said, bringing his attention to her "I just wanted to say that your units looked amazing back there. I just wish that... my first introduction to Dimension Police wasn't through that clone LRIG mother was controlling my brother with."
"Thank you," he replied kindly "I do hope Chris is able to help you and Kiyoi get you back home. Maybe I might get a chance to introduce you to Yuri and Gai when I return to Japan in a few days before you have to go back."
"Oh yeah... Kai told me you led a team in this world," the Selector pondered, having heard of the entirety of Team Caesar from Kai after they had explained everything about the Selector Battles to Hatsu "I guess there's a lot of new faces to meet around this world."
As both she and the Dimension Police user, along with Tama in tow, continued chatting with one another, Kai having finished giving his recap of what he had been through for the duration of this adventure up to the return to his own world, looked on at her. Jillian and Kamui noticed this and turned their attention back towards him, wanting to know what was making him feel the way he was now.
"Something wrong Kai?" she asked.
"You are aware of how dangerous Miyako is," he replied, his tone being rather stern but not quite loud enough to distract Ruko from her current conversation "We may have been fortunate that she did not appear on the island, but I'm certain that she still has something to carry out for Mayu. And I have a feeling that it still involves Ruko and her LRIGs."
He then went deep into thought, thinking about the story that Ruko's former mother had given in regards to Mayu's death and how her spirit had seemingly not passed on, allowing her and Chaos Breaker to work together to create the Selector Battles that existed within the Selector's world. Most of the origin had been given out now by what little Miyako and Yuki had said respectively about the Battles' mastermind which had now cleared up some of the mystery, but there were still some gaps in the jigsaw that prevented him and the others from understanding the full picture. And that was only serving to make him feel more uneasy about the whole scenario.
The very next morning, the group had already bid farewell to Mitsusada, Ali and Lee before setting off on Leon's yacht onto the open sea once more to resume their path to Japan to reunite with Kai's remaining companions. With no telling how much time was off the essence from the completion of Mayu's plans, they intended to not just bring all of Kai's remaining companions up to speed about her and the Selector System, but pray that Christopher could repair the teleporter very soon. After a few long hours had passed by, they soon arrived into the port of Koto as Jillian eventually brought in the yacht to dock there. Kamui was the first to immediately jump off the yacht and onto solid ground, much to the older twin's slight annoyance as she finished towing the boat in and safely guided the others off onto dry land.
(Selector Infected Wixoss OST: Daily Life ~ Missing Parts)
"Ah, it's good to finally be back home," he sighed with happiness as he stretched his arms and legs.
"It certainly has been a while for most of us, I'll say," Christopher remarked as he pulled up his bag onto his back.
Everyone then started walking over to the edge of the port, knowing that they still had a short journey to make before they could reach Card Capital to bring everyone in their circle up to speed on what was happening. Needless to say, some of the enlightenment they would recieve would be a little earlier than expected.
"Yo there!"
The group then looked over to the street in front of them as they saw Miwa waving happily towards them. His smile was noticably brighter than usual, presumably from finally being able to see Kai in person for the first time in a long while.
"Miwa," the Kagero user murmured as they came over to one of his closest friends.
"It's good to finally see you in the flesh again, you gave me quite a scare when you vanished," he said as briefly put a hand on Kai's shoulder in greeting before looking over to the others. That was when he had remembered something. "Ah Kamui, I managed to keep your Raizer deck safe after you vanished with... Remember, was it?"
"Yeah," Kamui replied as he was handed the deck "Thanks for holding onto it for me!"
Miwa then looked over to Kiyoi who looked blankly back at him. He was now aware, much like the rest of Kai's companions of the fact that it was Remember who had masqueraded as the former blue LRIG through her own body during the period of time they saw her as Kiyoi until the Kagero user's return to this world. The whole debacle of the body switch however was still something that was confusing to him, having not heard any details about the Selector Battles as of yet.
"It's nice to meet you Miwa," said Ruko.
"Ah, you must be Ruko then," he greeted as he turned to the Selector "Kai told me a little bit about you and those... LRIGs you had. Then again, it's not every day he finds new friends that often, let alone ones from other worlds or something like that."
As she simply smiled, feeling much better compared to the previous day's mood, Kai simply let out a small quiet huff in response to Miwa's comment.
It's not like I have been 'anti-social' as I used to be he thought to himself.
"Tama says hello Miwa!"
Before anyone could comment on the girl of white's sudden and rather loud 'Hello' of sorts to Miwa, the group immediately saw that her loud cry had also gained the attention of other nearby people in the port, which only resulted in Ruko feeling rather flustered as she noticed their stares were directed at her.
So just about anyone in this world can hear Tama?! she gasped in her thoughts This is rather embarrassing!
"Um... sorry about that, just got overexcited!" Sharlene called back, trying her hardest to mimic the LRIG's voice "Nothing to see here, carry on!"
Shrugging to themselves, the people that had been staring at the Selector just carried on with whatever it was that they were doing, leaving the group to themselves.
"That was too close..." Ruko sighed in relief as she then pulled out Tama's card.
The LRIG simply looked downcast, wondering if she had upset her Selector somehow from her sudden outburst of excitement. Miwa however smiled back in response, understanding the situation and how they felt about it immediately.
"It's alright Tama," said Ruko "Just try not to be so loud when we're in crowded areas."
"Tama understands..." the girl of white replied quietly.
"It's not that big of a deal," Miwa interjected "I guess that Ruko just doesn't want the wrong kind of attention towards you, seeing as you're alive inside a card anyway."
"Just think of it like my time at school," the Selector continued "I'm sure it won't be long before we find a place to talk with Kai's friends."
As soon as the group had left the port behind them, they took the remainder of the journey to their destination by train before continuing on foot for the rest of the way. Eventually, they had finally arrived at the shop Card Capital by the time the mid afternoon had begun to roll around, standing just a little in front of the door that led right into the store itself.
"So this is the store you guys go to?" Ruko asked as she looked up at the sign.
"That's right," Miwa replied "We pretty much meet up here almost every day, so you're always bound to find at least most of us here."
"In any case, it is best we start our discussion with Tokura after the store closes," Kai spoke "There's much for the rest of our comrades to take in."
Leading the way, the Kagero user and his closest friend approached the entrance as the door slid open to one side allowing the group passage to enter the store. Ruko could not help but stare in wonder at the interior of Card Capital, seeing all of the different people that were there talking with one another and in the midst of heated cardfights with each other. She had known Card Luck back in her world could be quite busy whenever lots of people would appear for whatever reasons they had in regards to the Wixoss card game, but she had never know the atmosphere within the shop here to not quite be what she had expected. She had been so busy being lost in her thoughts however that she didn't notice that she had walked ahead of the group until she saw the 'Assistant Manager' cat at the end of the counter yawning for a brief instance.
(End Music)
"Welcome."
Blinking for a moment, the Selector looked back over the counter to see Misaki look over towards her, having finished reading a few pages from a book that she was holding.
"Hello," she spoke "My name is Ruko. A... Are you one of Kai's friends?"
"That is correct," the Genesis user replied "Tokura Misaki. It is nice to meet you."
"We're finally back!" Kamui announced.
(Cardfight! Vanguard OST: BGM 6)
Almost everyone else in the store, or at least everyone else that was familiar to them turned to one side to face the group, a few began murmuring amongst themselves, mentioning Kai and Kamui's names in their little conversations as they did so. That was when Reiji and Eiji who had finally seen that their friend was safe and back home, immediately got up from the nearest table and ran towards him.
"Kamui-san!" they called.
By the time Kamui had heard them call out to him, the two of them had unintentionally tackled him to the ground in the midst of trying to hug him at the same time. Despite that though, he was nonetheless happy to see them again after being in Ruko's world for several days.
"Reiji! Eiji! It's great to see you guys too!" he replied as they eventually got off the floor "You okay?"
"We're much better now that you're back!" Reiji replied, wiping away his happy tears "We've been really worried about where you'd gone and Nagisa's really gotten cranky ever since you disappeared!"
"MBN, yo!" Eiji interjected.
"Welcome back, Kai," Misaki greeted.
Kai simply nodded in agreement, sharing his regards in that a part of him was finally glad to be back home, even if the stay had to be temporary at best for the sake of overcoming the obstacles they now faced.
"I didn't think we'd end up stopping by here this soon before this whole mess began," Christopher commented.
"Then again, it has been a while since that shop tournament for most of our friends' graduations," Jillian murmured. Only I'm glad Ali isn't tagging along this time.
As Kiyoi stepped into the shop interior, she could not help but feel the gaze several of the people that were looking at the group glance directly towards her in particular, some of them seemingly becoming rather venomous before turning away from her in disgust. She knew that it couldn't be helped that they wouldn't know that it was Remember who had previously marked them before Kamui had defeated her former compatriot and undid all of their marks as well as returning all of the stolen units to them. Before the Nova Grappler user could comment on the scenario, Misaki had come up to the former blue LRIG.
"You must be Kiyoi then," she murmured "I don't know what exactly has gone on with you and this... imposter that Kai mentioned, but if he and Kamui are willing to trust you..."
"Note taken..." Kiyoi replied in her usual monotone "Then again, I cannot entirely blame their hostility. Some of my actions as an LRIG to get revenge on the one who masqueraded as myself may be considered questionable as well."
The Genesis user could sense that there was some truth to her words just now, despite having only met her in person for the first time. As Reiji and Eiji looked over towards them, Kamui tapped the latter on the shoulder.
"It's okay now, Kiyoi's cool with us," he said "She's just... not the most talkative person around."
"Showdown!"
Upon hearing the loud and somewhat bold voice that had pronounced his declaration quite clearly, everyone turned to a tall boy with spiked black hair that pointed upwards in two directions and brown eyes. With the exception of Ruko and Kiyoi who had no idea as to who this person was, everyone else remained quiet as they knew who it was that had done so.
"Kai Toshiki, I've been waiting for a long time since you upped and disappeared from here!" he boldy proclaimed "But now that you've come back, it's time we decided who really is the strongest player from our Cardfight Club since our graduation!"
"Oh, it's you Lose-umi," Kamui replied with a cheeky smile "Sorry to have kept you waiting."
"The name's Katsumi! Not 'Lose-umi!"
As Miwa, Misaki and Kai could only sweatdrop a little at the two of them for getting at each other once again for the first time in a long while, Ruko looked back towards them.
"Is he really good?" she asked.
"That might depend on your 'definition' of good for Morikawa..." Miwa replied as he laughed a little nervously before looking to his friend "Well Kai?"
Though the Kagero user did not answer in response, his gaze turned over to Kiyoi who had just walked past Kamui and stopped a short distance in front of Morikawa. Confused by this, he looked down upon the former blue LRIG.
"And you are?" he asked.
"Mizushima Kiyoi," she calmly answered as she brought out her deck case "You sought a fight, did you not?"
"Alright then. I suppose a warm up with the strongest deck in existence today couldn't hurt," he replied with a confident smile "Certainly, it's annoying the recent rule changes prevents me from utilizing ALL of my most powerful Grade 3s at once, but this strongest deck is still a powerhouse of its own!"*
As the two of them approached the nearest standing fight table in the center of Card Capital, Kamui had immediately dashed over to Kiyoi as she was about to take out her new deck.
"You sure you wanna bother with Lose-umi?" he asked "I mean... I could find a better opponent for you to try out that new deck of yours."
"Is there a problem...?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You'll probably find out in a minute or so..." Reiji answered, scratching the back of his head as he did so.
"YPFO yo," Eiji interjected.
Uncertain of what to make from their comments just now, the former blue LRIG simply decided that it was best that she would discover that meaning for herself, whatever that would be. After both of them had finally finished preparing for the fight to begin, Kamui and his two friends joined Kai and Miwa to observe how things were going to unfold. Needless to say, they had more or less estimated how the fight would indeed progress if nothing had changed in the Kagero user's absence from this world.
(End Music)
"How many turns do you think he'll last this time?" Christopher asked dryly.
"I'm wagering about 7 or 8, if he even gets a single Trigger to his hand," Jillain replied offhandedly.
"Do your best Kiyoi-san!" Sharlene called.
After a few long moments, both competitors then turned their attention over towards their starting Vanguards, ready to begin the fight.
"Stand up, Vanguard!" Morikawa declared as he flipped up Mecha Trainer "Mecha Trainer!"
"... Open, Vanguard..." Kiyoi spoke monotonously, revealing a Grade 0 card that displayed a white coloured Battleroid wielding a blade in its left arm and a shield on the lower portion of its right arm. "Morgenrot."
At this moment, Kamui and Ruko could not help but widen their eyes in surprise at the unit that the former blue LRIG had chosen to begin the fight with, also confirming that the clan that unit belonged to was perhaps the last clan they had in mind of her choosing. Miwa noticed this and could not help but blink in wonder as to why they had reacted this way whilst Misaki looked over to Kai, wondering if he had an explanation for why.
"This deck's playstyle isn't what you would associate with her?" she asked.
"Kiyoi, even as Piruluk, has always been associated with hand destruction and hindering her opponent's forces," he answered "Certainly, she did use Kamui's deck in their final stand against Remember, but I'm certain that's not the real reason for choosing the units she has now."
"Prepare yourself, new girl!" Morikawa declared "Now you'll experience the true terror of the true, strongest Grade 3 deck in all of Vanguard's history! Trademarked by your's truely."
...
It wasn't even seven minutes into the game however that Kiyoi had come to somewhat regret her decision in choosing to fight her opponent in Kai's stead as one could tell from her slightly deadpanned expression. Not for the case of how the fight itself was unfolding her end, but on the opposite side of the battlefield instead. As almost everyone else knew and had come to expect, Morikawa was stuck on Wonder Boy throughout the whole game up to this point and his hand after guarding her last two attacks just moments ago was filled with nothing but numerous Grade 3 Spike Brothers units.
"I did try to warn her..." Kamui muttered.
"Oh! Why must the great evil spirit mock me so?!" he wailed as he groaned at his inability to ride to the next Grade, for the umpteenth time "The strongest deck in the strongest hands shouldn't be getting stuck on the weaker Grade for this entire game!"
Sighing internally for a brief instance after having to listen to his own rants, again, Kiyoi proceeded on with her current turn as she looked down to a Grade 3 unit she had rode earlier on.
"Stern Blaukluger attacks your Vanguard," she announced in her usual monotone "Break Ride skill."
Within the image of their fight, Morgenrot along with Clay-doll Mechanic, Grosse Baer and Jupiter Blaukluger all rose back onto their feet as a golden aura enveloped each of them. As the azure coloured Battleroid that was her Vanguard raised up its cannons and the blasters that it wielded in both arms, Morikawa through the image of his Vanguard, alone on the battlefield alongside Mecha Trainer could only panic as the armaments began charging up. Eventually, Stern Blaukluger let loose of all of its power right at Wonder Boy, engulfing him in a massive explosion as the fight came right to an end. As Morikawa 'fainted' in a overly-dramatic fashion after his sixth damage came out as Treasured Black Panther, Kiyoi left the table, feeling much better now that the game had come to an end.
"It's a wonder that he even managed to score a few lucky Critical Triggers," Miwa sighed exasperately.
Kai simply uttered a quiet grunt, seeing that even in his absence from his world, some things would indeed never change. Ruko simply sweatdropped a little, wondering for a minute if Morikawa was the least bit alright. Then again, no one would really know when it came to him.
"Gotta admit... Nova Grappler was the last choice I expected her to make, let alone the Blau series," Kamui murmured to himself.
"Is he going to be alright...?" the Selector asked nervously.
"I wouldn't worry."
Turning around, the entire group could see Shin had finally returned back to the store followed by Neve and Ratie as everyone looked towards them.
"Oh, welcome back Kai," he kindly greeted "I was told by Misaki that you and Kamui had finally managed to make your way back here."
"There is much to talk about later," Kai replied "And it may concern all of us."
Before anyone else could open their mouths, other fighters in the store had turned their attention towards the former two Quatre Knights, some even letting out gasps of surprise upon seeing them enter Card Capital.
"Hey, that's Phillipe Neve, one of the strongest fighters in the Euro League!" one boy called out.
"And that's the uncrowned witch, Ratie Curti!" a girl interjected.
As small crowds of them rushed past Kiyoi and the others to meet the two fighters for themselves, Ratie was quick to greet them as she was happy to talk to the fighters that had come over to her. She brought out and opened a large box of doughnuts, to which they were all too happy to share the kind gesture that she had offered to them. Upon seeing Neve for herself for the first time, recalling that Ayumu had used a few of his own units when he still had the clone LRIG and that he was present when Miyako had defeated Gaillard, Ruko knew there was much indeed to talk about with him when she would get the chance to do so.
"You must be new here."
She then looked over to Shin who had turned his attention over to both her and Kiyoi.
"Are you by any chance the 'arrivals' that Kai told Misaki about two nights ago?" he asked.
"Y... yes," Ruko answered "My name is Ruko. This is Kiyoi."
"Pleased to make your acqaintance, sir," Kiyoi spoke in her usual monotone.
"Then I am pleased to formally welcome you to Card Capital," the manager replied as he shook hands with the Selector who smiled back in response.
It had taken some time, but the rest of the crowd had eventually left both Ratie and Neve back on their own, the two of them then approaching Kai and the rest of the group and stopping a little in front of them.
"It has certainly been a while, Kai Toshiki," the older of the two Quatre Knights spoke "I believe that you will now enlighten us on what is really going on?"
As Kai nodded in response and Reiji and Eiji went back to continuing with cardfights of their own, all of them along with Misaki exited the shop through the front doors and went into the single alleyway that ran alongside the left side of Card Capital, giving them the space they needed to begin their discussion without any further interruption. Before they could begin however, they heard a panting sound as Shingo came rushing into the alleway, stopping to catch his breath and fiddling with his glasses for a brief instance.
"Apologies for my lateness..." he panted "I needed to take care of something on my end and lost track of time in regards to Kai's return."
As the group waited for him to regain both his stamina and breath, he eventually looked over to them, ready to listen to what they had to say. Kai and Kiyoi turned to Ruko as she then cleared her throat and reached into her pocket.
"Before we start, I think I should introduce you to my LRIGs," she said before revealing her two cards to those who had not met the LRIGs before "Here is Tama and Yuki."
Seeing that she could finally talk to the people in front of her without attracting any unwanted attention as Miwa had pointed out to her earlier, the girl of white smiled brightly at the group, catching Ratie's attention as came over to the card containing her and gazed at her in wonder. Whilst Yuki observed Misaki, Shingo and Neve closely, noting their bewildered, but somewhat intrigued expressions, indeed confirming that anyone in the world they were in now could see them, the Genesis user could now confirm for herself that the Anne that was imaged on the battlefield during her confrontation with Futase was indeed the real LRIG and that there would finally be some answers to clear up any questions she had to what they were in her own world. Tama looked back at Ratie and cheered loudly.
"Tama says hello!" she called.
"You look rather cute," the former Quatre Knight replied as she lightly pressed her finger on the card, gently tickling Tama on the forehead much to her slight surprise as the LRIG giggled a little uncontrollably.
"Sometimes, I still wonder how she can still maintain such an innocent expression after all we've been through," Yuki murmured.
The girl of black then looked back to Shingo who had presumably come over to inspect her card for himself. Then again, with Wixoss only being native to Ruko's world, it was bound to have raised some kind of intrigue from him.
"How interesting..." he pondered "These cards seem to somehow house you in a reality different from our own. I wonder how that's even possible."
"I guess only Mayu really knows the answer to that," Kamui muttered.
(Selector Infected Wixoss OST: Profane Wish)
Whilst those unfamiliar with the events that had transpired in the world that the Selector Battles took place within raised a curious eyebrow at the name that the Nova Grappler user had dropped, Kai made a silent gesture to indicate that they were finally ready to tell the entire story. Deciding to start from the beginning with how Ruko came to be within the Selector Battles, the Selector herself began her tale from the moment that Ayumu had unknowingly given her the very deck that contained Tama's card to meeting the very people that would become her friends and foes in addition to learning both sides of the coin that was the victory and loss conditions for participating in the Selector Battles and what really lay in store for people that were unfortunate enough to discover for themselves.
At that point, Kiyoi briefly took over from Ruko's story to outline how losing three times within the Selector Battles would result in that Selector's wish being tainted with terrible consequences being wrought upon them as a result whilst becoming an Eternal Girl, really meant becoming an LRIG whilst the one that they wielded would now be burdened with living in their body to carry out their wish. Though what they had shared so far was only the basic logistics of what had really been going on, that was enough to leave some form of shock on the faces on those that were now understanding this for the first time.
"Just what kind of mess have we gotten ourselves into this time?" Miwa pondered.
"Well we know now that the vague descriptions in Futase's note seem to line up with what you two have been telling us," Misaki spoke "I can't help but wonder what she might have gone through before we fought."
"A Battle Royale that is only hiding a can of worms for all within them," Neve muttered "And I have the feeling from what you've told us so far has only scratched the surface."
"That is correct," Kai replied as both Ruko and Kiyoi along with the two LRIGs looked to him "Mayu has been working with a much higher power to ensure that she even has this vision of hers achieved."
Noticing the sudden change in his tone as he gave out his answer to them, even Shingo and Kamui could tell that the Kagero user was still somewhat unsettled, despite the seemingly safe environment that all of them were currently within together. Closing his eyes, he eventually gave out the further clarification as to what that higher power was.
"Mayu was able to manifest the Selector Battles within the physical world outside of her White Room... with the help of Chaos Breaker Dragon."
Neve glanced sharply at him, still feeling partially resentful towards his actions in starting the Link Joker invasion of their world in the first place. It was only through Ratie holding onto one arm in concern did the former Quatre Knight release a deep breath to calm himself down once more.
"So... that scary unit you used before is helping Mayu?" she asked.
Kai simply nodded, confirming to them that Chaos Breaker was just indeed in as much control of the Selector Battles and the system that ran around them as Mayu already was. Everyone else with the exception of those that already knew, could only feel grim knowing that the enemy that they had defeated once before was very much still operating within another world and it seemed to them that it had already been doing so long before their friend had fallen to Reverse by his own will. Deciding to continue with her story for a little longer, Ruko told them a bit more in depth of how Yuzuki and Hitoe had discovered both penalities for achieving success and failure within the Selector Battles themselves before the former had become the latter's LRIG, allowing Hitoe to re-enter the battles whilst her wish was still initially tainted.
After telling them of the Selector Tournament that Yuki had held whilst she was in possession of the body of Urazoe Iona and the battle that the two of them had, resulting in Tama's initial 'betrayal' then and the girl of black's presence at the time slowly infecting her with Reverse, she looked over to Kai, knowing that was when he had more or less appeared into her world. Resuming the tale from where Ruko had stopped, the Kagero user told them of how he had discovered Tama after Takuto had helped her to escape from Mayu at the expense of being captured himself, resulting in the ongoing situation they now faced. He told them of how he manged to find Hitoe and Yuzuki and slowly adjust himself to the rules of Wixoss before confronting their friend in an attempt to bring her back home, not knowing of what she was going through before the end of the battle.
"As it was then, had Tama not brought me back to my senses and had it not been for Aichi's arrival into this world," he spoke "... One of us would have been in the permanent grip of Reverse, regardless of the battle's outcome had the field not collapsed."
"..."
Yuki simply glanced down at the space of her card, clearly feeling uncomfortable about going back over the events that were being recapped to the remainder of the group. As Ratie looked over towards her, wondering what to say to her after what they had just heard, Tama caught her attention.
"Tama doesn't blame Yuki..." she murmured "Yuki just wanted to prove she was better than Tama... Yuki had no idea of what she was doing then."
"Really?" the former Quatre Knight asked.
Ruko nodded in response to her question, feeling sorry for Yuki having to go back over these events that she now had regrets over.
(End Music)
"When Kai battled me against, this time with Aichi fighting alongside him," she continued "We learned that not only was the real Iona somehow stranded on Cray, but that Yuki had gone behind Mayu's back in her efforts to surpass Tama as the strongest LRIG in the past. Because of what happened back then before I even met Tama, Mayu... she took over my body and turned Yuki into a horrifying dragon for the rest of the battle. Aichi and Kai eventually defeated Mayu and was able to save both of us from much worse. I understand why you might be mad at Yuki now... but if it wasn't for her, we wouldn't have known more about Mayu and I wouldn't have saved onii-chan from... my mother."
"Mother...?" Miwa murmured in confusion "So if Kominato is your last name..."
"That woman we saw then...!" Neve gasped "Are you saying that it was your mother that took Gaillard's units?!"
"... Yes..." the Selector answered, a part of her still feeling uncomfortable in admitting that her mother had her own role in the entire conspiracy.
Sensing discomfort from Ruko over this subject, Yuki glanced up to her before looking back to the remainder of the group, deciding to tell the full story about how the Selector Battles came to be and the story behind Miyako's involvement with the battles. As the sun began to set, indicating that the evening was now on the horizon, the girl of black had eventually concluded her tale, leaving those who were hearing for the first time all in a state of shock whilst Jillian, Sharlene and Christopher looked away, not having any more words to add after having heard about this before.
Poor Ruko... Misaki murmured in her thoughts I certainly understand why her mother would be angry for the neglection and death of her friend... but that's no excuse for the actions she's committed and her final goals!
"Wow... I didn't think you had it that rough," said Miwa as he looked over to Ruko who could only offer a single nod in response.
After a brief silence had gone through the alleyway to give almost everyone else the time they needed to regain their composure, Shingo fiddled with his glasses before looking up to Kai.
"I know you said that Sendou-kun didn't come through this... wormhole you said that brought you to Leon's island," he said "But I just want to know. Aside from helping you free Ruko and Yuki from this Mayu, how is he?"
"He has been holding up fine, for the moment," the Kagero user answered "He should still be in that world's version of Tokyo with Leon, Ren and Ishida. Before we saved Ruko, his composure was briefly shattered during a battle with Ulith, but he has since managed to recover from that."
"Aside from that, Aichi has also been helping Hitoe to overcome her social anxiety," Ruko interjected "I think she's really starting to come out of her shell ever since he arrived in my world."
With the reassurance that Aichi was at least doing alright, Shingo let out a sigh of relief whilst Ratie and Neve smiled warmly in compliance. That was when Miwa turned his attention to Kiyoi.
"So what's your story in all of this?" he asked "And how did we get someone running around here as you?"
"Uh..." Kamui murmured "That's..."
"It's fine, Katsuragi," Kiyoi interrupted "I am willing to tell them everything, even if those memories are painful."
(Cardfight! Vanguard OST: Nuguenu Kako)
The Nova Grappler user said nothing more, now seeing that the former blue LRIG did not have as much of a problem disclosing her entire past to the rest of the group herself. Taking a deep breath to compose herself, Kiyoi began with a brief introduction to both her life's story and Sakaguchi Ayumi, leading up to the accident that put her friend into a life-threatening coma. She told everyone of how she put her trust in Remember to save her when she became an Eternal Girl, only for the latter to twist the meaning of her wish to 'justify' the murder of her friend shortly afterwards. After noting the horrified expressions on those that stood in front of her, she continued with her time as the LRIG Piruluk, up to her first encounter with Kai and eventually coming into possession of Amika.
"So Remember came here as you and took Kamui back to your world," Misaki murmured "With those glances I saw at you in Card Capital earlier today, I'm not certain how we can prove to those fighters that it was her who took their units and not you."
"With revenge being set on my mind at the time, before I met Katsuragi," Kiyoi replied "Perhaps some of their anger and those of the girls I had served before coming to Amika would be justifiable."
She then told them of how she and Amika encountered Kamui with the latter teaching him the rules of Wixoss briefly before she had challenged him to a Selector Battle in hopes of making her wish to save her mother come true. He then told them how his efforts to stop her during their first clash ended up coming to naught and that he didn't have a likeable opinion of Kiyoi then until Hatsu reminded him that she had to have her own reasons for the way she was, even if he didn't know about her past at the time. Returning the tale's point of view back to the former blue LRIG, she spoke of how both she and Amika made a final stand against Remember and that she was only able to change the meaning of the Selector's wish before they were reversed so when the Nova Grappler user had tainted it, the result would not be an immediate death for her mother.
"But we only managed to borrow ourselves some time," he continued "Remember having been annoyed at things not going the way she wanted, decided to pull the plug on Amika's mother herself unless I beat her. One of the units she took in addition to my Raizers was one of Gouki's and she used Cocytus to pull Sakaguchi back from the dead and trap her in a defaced version of Ultimate Raizer. But Kiyoi and I managed to take care of things there and then and Remember's not gonna be ruining Amika's life anytime soon. After that, we caught up with the others and... well, you know the rest."
(End Music)
With the evening sky now setting in as the last few people within Card Capital had left the store, everyone in the alley now knew there was much to contemplate on and that aside from protecting their own units from Mayu's forces, getting back to Ruko's world was the first priority. Aichi and the others were bound to be searching for them there still, meaning that the sooner they could get there, the better chances they had of helping him could increase.
"So... how are you two going to spend the night now that you're here?" asked Christopher as he looked to Ruko and Kiyoi.
The Selector's expression then grew puzzled, upon realizing that she did not take into account where exactly she and the former blue LRIG would be sleeping as a result of them making it to Japan.
"It's not like we can just bring them to your apartment Kai," Miwa commented "You only have a single bedroom and the last thing anyone would want to think is..."
"I believe you already made the situation clear, Miwa," Kai interrupted, causing his friend to sweatdrop a little as he looked over to Misaki "If it isn't too much to ask for, would it be possible for Ruko and Kiyoi to stay with you and Shin until Chris and Tetsu can repair the gateway?"
"That won't be a problem."
Everyone turned around to see that Shin after closing up the store had overheard the last portion of their lengthy conversation and from his answer was seemingly willing to help them out.
"Misaki can be in charge of your sleeping arrangements and whatever spare clothes you need until we can get you back to your world," he said.
"Alright then," Misaki replied as she looked back to Kai "Until we can make it back to their world to help Aichi and our remaining companions, we'll be happy to look after Ruko and Kiyoi."
"T... Thank you Misaki. You too Shin," said Ruko.
The manager of Card Capital kindly smiled in response as Misaki and Ratie led both the Selector and Kiyoi up the stairs towards the upper levels of the building that acted as her home. She waved goodbye to Kai, knowing that they would meet up again very soon once a good night's rest was in order after their long journey to where they were now. The Kagero user simply waved back once as he watched the girls disappear through the door at the top of the stairs before it closed behind them.
"Tetsu said he'd be willing to lend me a room at Foo Fighter whilst we're getting this whole mess sorted," Christopher spoke "I'll meet up with you guys if I figure out anything."
"We're counting on you Chris," Kai replied "Right now, this isn't just about making it to Ruko's world."
"Got it. See you around."
As the Great Nature user left the alleyway followed shortly by Shingo who was leaving for home, Jillian and Sharlene began to leave, but not before looking back to Kai.
"We'll head down to Hong Kong first and make sure nothing bad happens there," the older twin said "We'll come back later if anything happens."
And with that, the two of them left the alleyway followed shortly by Neve, leaving Kai and Miwa all on their own as the evening continued to settle over the sky above them. Deciding that there was nothing more for them to do for this day, they decided to head back to the former's apartment and catch up with one another there. As time passed on and they got closer to the building where it lay, Miwa turned to his friend.
"Well Kai, it looks like we've gotten ourselves in another bind," he commented "Though I can't say you didn't have me worried sick after Takuto had 'accidentally' got you over to that world."
"It's not like I asked him to bring me there," the Kagero user replied "But at the same time, it has made us aware that not only is Chaos Breaker not amongst those of Link Joker that were accepted by Cray, if Mayu's plans had succeeded already, our world would be in danger again without our immediate knowledge."
(Selector Spread Wixoss OST: Ulith and Iona (Second Half))
Before Miwa could reply to him, a small but sinister giggle caught their attention to the street up ahead of them as Kai narrowed his eyes upon recognizing who it was that was standing before them. She turned to her left and glanced upon the pair, smiling deviously at them.
"Ulith...!" he muttered.
"Hello again, Kai Toshiki," she spoke "I see you finally got the worldy reunions that you desired, scum."
"So you're one of the Selectors helping Mayu in her plans then?" Miwa asked.
"You catch on quick," the cruel demanoured Selector sneered "But, I'm not here for a simple case of causing my usual streak of despair."
"What do you mean?" Kai asked, narrowing his eyes as he did so.
Ulith kept her confident smirk as she reached into her pocket and took out a single Vanguard card from her pocket, leading both of the boys to immediately assume that she was going to challenge one of them to a fight right on the spot. As the Kagero user kept a close eye on the card she held, she turned it around with a single motion within her right hand's fingers, revealing Tawil displayed on the card's image and the name "Tawil=Noll, Prolonged of Life". Upon seeing said name, Kai immediately realized that this was the other LRIG that was the byproduct of Ut'ulls and that it confirmed to him that now both the cruel demanored Selector and Aichi were in possession of both halves of that one being.
"Is something wrong, Kai?" asked Miwa.
"Oh, don't throw a fit," Ulith interrupted smugly "The Tawil I have with me isn't the real LRIG. She is still incomplete back at the White Room, so I can't use her in the Selector Battles in my world just yet. But in the meantime... shall we commence with our 'meet and greet'?"
Kai said nothing in response, bringing out his own deck to declare in his own way of saying that he would accept her challenge.
(End Music)
And there we go! As Ruko and Kiyoi are properly acquainted with the remainder of Kai's companions and catch them up on the story so far, Shin agrees to let them stay with Misaki until the teleporter in the mall basement can be repaired to send them and the group back to their world. But as the night rolls around, Kai runs into Ulith on the way back to his apartment who challenges him to a fight with Tawil's cards at her disposal! What are the cruel demanoured girl's intentions? Can Kai overcome what trickery she may have in store for him? Find out next time on Stand Up, the LRIG! Please share your thoughts and criticisms and I'll see you next chapter!
*Morikawa makes a reference to how the format during the time of Legion-Mate's airing split into Clan Fight and Extreme Fight.
