Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc V: The Six Dimensions

by BlaiseCandell

Before the invasion of the Xyz Dimension, scans done by the Fusion Dimension reveal two more dimensions. The Ritual Dimension, and the Link Dimension. Within those two dimensions, Chiaki, Yuji, Miharu and Yuno have their lives turned upside down, and are tossed into a vicious war. Also, why are there five people with the same faces as them?

10. Chapter 10: My Soul's Pendulum

Starting Notes:

Welcome back! :) Are you ready to speedrun the first *checks notes* 17 episodes of Arc-V, so that we can start to get to the plot? Great! Let's go! Ok, but I hope you remember how Sawatari and Sora were introduced, because I'm not covering those episodes in detail on screen. Don't worry, I am covering the Standard Arc after this (except for Yuya's duels with people to enter the Junior Youth Championship), but this part is pretty much the same as canon, so why waste screen space? :) On that note, while technically all characters are aged up by two years, I'm going to keep them in the same category and just assume that the categories all shifted upwards by two years, so Yuya, Shun, etc are all still in Junior Youth. Anyway, there's a lot of timeskips in this chapter, since I'm running through what I personally assume is more than two weeks of canon time. Tolerate the timeskips for a bit! :)

---

Chapter 10: My Soul's Pendulum

"Swing, my soul's pendulum! Draw an arc of light in the sky! Pendulum Summon! Appear now! My monsters!"

Yuno played back the video again, watching the boy with the same face as him pull a new summoning method out of nowhere. Had he just summoned a bunch of monsters in one turn? More importantly, in one move, as a summoning method and not through actual effects? That was interesting. Apparently, this had happened a day before.

"Go back seventeen seconds."

Yuno obliged, and Miharu peeked over his shoulder, pointing to the pink-haired girl in the crowd with the same face as her, cheering for the boy with red and green hair.

"It gets less and less surprising," Yuno said. "But I'm more interested in that guy's dragon." He gestured to the red dragon—Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. "His dragon…"

"It feels familiar," Miharu said. Yuno nodded. Specifically, seeing it had made his brain itch.

"It might be because it shares the same naming scheme as Magnetic Current, and he shares the same face as me," Yuno said. He cleared his throat. "... I want to duel him."

"... Yuno, no," Miharu said, sighing. "Reiji Akaba said to avoid dueling until some new Link Monsters get made, so there's some justification for why we have them."

"Yup, yup, I know." Yuno chuckled. "Just a little bored…"

"I'm bored too." Miharu made eye contact with him. "... you're homesick, aren't you?"

"Nothing gets by you." Yuno leaned back. "... I miss dad and Miyu." He chuckled. "I didn't tell you, right? Some of the first people to ever be genuine to me were Miyu and my dad."

"You were…" Miharu tilted her head. "A foster kid?"

"Mm. I got sent to be fostered by them a few months before I first met you." Yuno took out his phone. They had access to Maiami City's internet, but they didn't have access to the VRAINS servers here. Even so, his photos were stored within the phone, so he still had access to them. He showed a photo of him as a ten-year-old, raising a peace sign and smiling, standing with Miyu and his dad. "The foster system was… pretty bad. No one really knows where I came from. I just… I don't feel lonely, because you're here, but I still feel homesick, you know?"

"I understand," Miharu said. "I… feel the same way. I hope that we're able to go soon. Reiji Akaba says to wait… but at this point, I'm not sure what we're waiting for."

True.

What were they waiting for?

"Also," Yuno said, "I… miss being a Charisma Duelist. I don't know. There was something freeing about being able to be Boundless Sea. And having to wear this mask all the time…" He shrugged. "I guess I'm feeling a little trapped."

Miharu looked at him, tilting her head. She reached out a hand. "Can I borrow your duel disk?" She asked.

"Are you going to do what I think…"

"They already have Solid Vision here," she said. "I've been figuring it out. So, mm. I'll at least be able to give you that much."

"You're the greatest, Miharu," Yuno said honestly, and Miharu tilted her head, turning away, clearly slightly embarrassed by the praise.

---

Three days later:

"Is that Yuya Sakaki?" Yuno leaned over the railing above, looking down at the Center Court, where the red and green-haired boy that shared his face was facing off against a boy with blond and brown hair. There was a tower, with several people being trapped in it. "Who's the other one?"

"The other one," Yaiba snickered. "If he heard you say it, he'd get mad. That's Shingo Sawatari. His arrogance is only matched by his lack of skill."

The duel below was continuing on, and as the guy below—Sawatari—kept on taunting his opponent, Yuno couldn't help but be annoyed. Really? This guy had stolen Yuya Sakaki's cards, taken his friends hostage, and then added insult to injury by using his cards in a duel? That was just awful. He found himself internally cheering Yuya on.

Then, the tower began to shake, clearly unstable. There was the voice of a girl screaming from within it, and Yuno caught the sight of that face that resembled Miharu's, creased in fear, holding onto one of the kids protectively.

Yuno didn't think. He just leapt onto the railing, clicking the button on his duel disk. Despite Masumi, Yaiba and Hokuto all letting out surprised sounds, Yuno immediately leapt onto the Duel Board that materialised, flying forward. He pressed a card to the duel disk.

"If you're not in a duel, your duel disk itself only has minimal Solid Vision—you won't be able to manifest more than one monster."

"Appear, Marincess Coral Anemone!" He called, summoning Coral Anemone, who flew forward to grab the two girls. Yuno himself caught the two boys that were falling out of the tower, zooming towards the ground and safely putting them back on the ground. Coral Anemone glided down to his side, putting the two girls down as well. The girl that looked like Yuzu looked at him, and Yuno had never been more thankful for his face mask. However, she was far more emotive than Miharu—there was a perplexed, relieved look on her face, but she was clearly still feeling fear and panic from what had happened moments before.

"Yuzu!" Yuya Sakaki called, sounding relieved. "Ayu, Futoshi, Tatsuya!"

"Your friends are alright!" Yuno called back, giving Yuya a thumbs up. Yuya nodded back.

"Who the hell are you?" Sawatari called.

"I'm just another duelist," Yuno said. "And your methods are something that I don't approve of! Duels are supposed to make people smile, not endanger, mock or scare them!"

"Tsk! I got this mission directly from—" Sawatari was cut off abruptly, clearly listening to something from the earpiece that he was wearing. Hmm. Mission? So someone had asked him to do this? He wasn't just a jerk for no reason at all? "Well, whatever! We're still finishing this duel, Yuya Sakaki!"

"Of course!" Yuya called back. "And I'm starting by taking back what you stole from me!"

Yuya then managed to get his Pendulum cards back, and defeated Sawatari. While Sawatari and the goons tried to attack Yuya, they were knocked out by a guy with a lollipop.

Yuno snuck away as the blue-haired boy walked over. He probably shouldn't have talked to his doppelganger, but he couldn't help it. Seeing people terrified, seeing people treated as hostages… it didn't sit right with Yuno at all.

Judging from Miharu patting his shoulder when he got back, she agreed.

---

"Oh, but we should thank the guy that helped you—" Yuya looked around. "Wait—where'd he go?" The orange-haired boy wearing the mask over his face had vanished when they weren't looking. Yuya was very thankful to him—he wasn't sure if he would have been able to summon a monster in time to help his friends.

"He snuck off once you beat Sawatari," Yuzu said. She put her hands on her hips, frowning. "That Sawatari guy's such a jerk! The guy who helped us was fine though… but he didn't even drop a name!"

"Well, I'm sure that we'll meet him again," Yuya said, trying to placate her. He had been very worried about her, after all.

"And your methods are something that I don't approve of! Duels are supposed to make people smile, not endanger, mock or scare them!"

That orange and red-haired boy had asserted that duels were supposed to make people smile.

So he shared the same dueling philosophy as Yuya and his father…

And Yuya was really curious about that.

---

"How dare they! I'm going to tell my dad!" Sawatari sulked, even as he and the other three walked through the corridors together. "And that guy with the face mask. How dare he stand up to—"

"Shingo. Have you been bullying other students again?"

Sawatari's expression darkened, and he let out a groan. "Scram," he said to the other three, who all obligingly left. "You're back from the Highlands Campus already? How?"

The girl that had called out to him had curly auburn hair, stopping right below her ears, dyed dark green at the ends. She had two metal ear piercings on each ear, with a green gem earring on both ears as well. Her hands were stuffed in the front pockets of her blue jeans, with aesthetic tears in the fabric, leaving white patches on them. She was wearing a moss green button-up shirt, and a brown, loose leather jacket with beige fur around the collar—a mixture of formal and informal dress styles. She had a pair of orange headphones around her neck.

"I was invited back for the Maiami Championship," the girl said with a sigh. "Or did you think that our dear father's attempts to get rid of me would work?"

"Maybe I'm the one that wants to be rid of you, Mion!" Sawatari scowled. His half-sister sighed, fidgeting with the collar of her jacket, before she pulled out a keychain from her pocket, tossing it to him.

"Yes, yes. Save me this same song and dance, Shingo."

"Don't call me Shingo!" Sawatari raised the keychain in the air, before he blinked. "This is… from the final merch series of the last Dokemon anime before the reboot! Crimson and Vikachu! It sold out in a single day and I didn't get it!" He was grinning for a moment, before he remembered that Mion was the one that had given this to him.

"I got it while on campus there," Mion said with a sigh. "Not too many nerds like you there, so I managed to get it. Now, who upset you, and why?"

"Ugh, I hate when you try to play the big sister," Sawatari said with a scowl. "… Yuya Sakaki, and this one guy with orange hair and a face mask. He was probably an LDS student."

"Alright, alright." Mion shook her head. "You're a brat, Shingo, so I assume that you deserved it because you bullied them and then they fought back, but if it makes you feel better, I'll duel them and win against them, ok? Do a bit of self-reflection in the meantime. In the meantime, I need to talk to Reiji Akaba."

"It was Reiji Akaba who told me to go after Yuya Sakaki!"

Mion raised an eyebrow, tilting her head to look at him. "Oh? I'll be sure to take it up with him then, Shingo. I'm going to be in Maiami for another two months, before I go back. Do me a favour and don't tell dear old dad." She spun around, walking along the corridor, scratching at her black nail polish.

Sawatari glanced down at the keychain in his hands.

"That girl was… a mistake, before your mother and I had you," his dad said. "Your mother divorced me because of her. She is the one that took your mother from you. She's a mistake. Don't bother talking to her."

He attached it to his bag after a moment.

"Don't you think that it's his fault?" Mion asked. "I didn't ask to be born. It's not like either my mother, or our father cares about me at all. In the end, he's just an adult trying to push the blame of his own mistakes on me."

He didn't want to think about this. He was just going to go and look for a new deck. Once he got stronger cards, he wouldn't ever lose to Yuya Sakaki again!

… and if he got stronger, one day, he might be able to beat Mion.

(He hated feeling inferior to the girl that had been born into nothing, had never been able to gain any privilege, and had fought so bitterly to get to the same school as him. It made him feel like he hadn't tried hard enough.)

---

Reiji pulled out the chair for Mion, clearing his throat and gesturing for her to sit down. Mion raised an eyebrow, sitting down on the edge of his desk instead, putting her feet on the chair. Reiji adjusted his glasses awkwardly as Mion folded her arms, looking at him.

Mion cracked a smile. "Yo, Reiji," she said casually. "Heard that you got my troublemaker of a brother to stir up more trouble. Also, I asked around. You're looking for Pendulum cards, huh?" She leaned her head back. "Don't teach Shingo to steal stuff, he's already enough of a brat. It'll make it harder for him to become a better person if an authority figure tells him to do stuff like that."

Reiji cleared his throat. He adjusted his glasses again.

"Why not just ask Yuya Sakaki directly for his Pendulum cards?" Mion said, raising a hand and snapping her fingers.

"You're too optimistic. He seems to be very possessive of them." Reiji managed to regain his composure. Mion stared at him intently for a moment.

"That duel earlier today," she said. "Was it to test both my brother and Yuya Sakaki? Did you want to see how Sakaki would fight without his Pendulum cards?"

Reiji glanced away. "... it's important to test them," he said vaguely.

"... eh. You still haven't explained why." Mion tapped her fingers on the table. "Alright then. Explain why I was asked to come back to this city for a competition. Not that I mind—it's nice to have a proper excuse to come back to Maiami City again, without that father of mine throwing a fit."

"I need strong duelists around," Reiji said. "... duelists like Reira. Duelists like you. I'm inviting some people from other campuses too. But you were the strongest duelist at LDS, after Reira and I. It would have been illogical to not invite you."

Mion laughed. "You flatter me, Reiji." She glanced at the screen that he was looking at, where the Pendulum cards were flashing. "... to be honest, that looks really fun. I would love Pendulum Cards myself." She stood up. "Well, I'm suffering from jet lag. I'm going to sleep now. Call me if you need me!" She headed out, whistling.

Nakajima cleared his throat. Reiji turned to look at him.

"Would you like me to contact the research department, young master?" He asked.

"... we shall continue focusing on making a set of two cards for myself first," Reiji said. "The duel data today has helped. Let's stay on track."

---

A few days later:

Yuto blinked as he was teleported away by the girl who looked so much like Ruri. She had called him someone else… Yuya, right? Was there someone in this dimension that had the same face as him? Just like that Pawn of Fusion which took Ruri?

"Hey. I thought you were investigating the other side of the city."

"Nue!"

His older sister was leaning against a nearby wall, smirking at him. She had the same goggles over her face, and the Resistance's red fabric wrapped around her wrist. "What happened? I was just looking in this direction, and you popped out of nowhere."

"You're not going to believe what just happened," Yuto muttered. "But… LDS isn't our enemy, I think. It's just a coincidence. And I met a girl who looked like Ruri, and…"

Nue patted his head. "You look slightly shaken," she said. "Can't blame you, considering that you apparently saw someone with the same face as your girlfriend. Come on—let's go find Shun first, and let's make sure that reckless idiot you call your best friend hears you out." She glanced around. "Where is that guy, at a time like this?"

---

Of course, Mion visited the hospital room after everyone else had gone. She looked at Sawatari, looking at the cast that he was wearing.

"Why'd they let you in?" Sawatari complained.

"My name may be Mion Myojin, but I'm still legally registered as your sister," Mion said. "Your arm isn't actually injured, right?"

"... uh—"

"But it must still hurt," Mion said with a sigh. She put down a plastic bag by his chair. "I brought the melons that you like, and some snacks."

"... thanks," Sawatari said after a moment, feeling uncomfortable with saying anything else.

"Want to talk about it?"

Sawatari shrugged. He figured that it probably couldn't hurt. Since Mion was doing this out of an attempt at sibling sympathy, she probably wouldn't spread it around. "... that guy had a dragon that could create Real Solid Vision on the spot… it scared the shit out of me." He clenched his fists. "I'm exaggerating it now, and I wasn't really injured, but I was still… scared."

"Oh, Shingo." Mion rubbed her forehead. "If you would admit things like that more, instead of hiding behind all of this… you would find people far easier to get along with." She patted his shoulder. "Between you and I… was it really Yuya Sakaki?"

"It was really confusing," Sawatari admitted. "Because I saw Sakaki run in during the last moments that I was conscious too… with completely different clothes and hair. So how could that be the case?"

Mion looked at him. "... to think that you'd get yourself caught up in something like this," she said with a sigh. "Reckless kid."

---

Four days later:

"Hey! How much for this bracelet charm?"

"1000 yen."

Yuno counted out the notes from his wallet, passing them to the woman at the street stall. He picked up the cute charm—it was of a koi fish, with a lotus connected to it by a stream of blue water. It wasn't the kind of thing that Miharu would like, but it was a nice unification of both of their deck themes. He put it on his left chain link bracelet, just for the sake of it—he liked putting random charms on either bracelet, after all. Luckily, the currency for both their world and this world was the same.

He carried on walking with a sigh.

What should he do today? Miharu was hanging out with that new friend that she had made—Reira. While there was a four year age difference between them, the two of them clearly got along very well. Yuno was happy for her! But Reira was very shy, and so, after a while of hanging out with the two of them, he had let the two of them talk, going outside of LDS for a bit.

He did want Miharu to make more friends, after all.

"Um, you there!"

Hmm? Yuno turned around, and he blinked as he spotted Yuya Sakaki. Blinking, he reflexively checked to make sure that his face mask was still on, before he waved to Yuya. "Hey! You're the one that got his cards stolen, huh?"

"Um, is that how you remember me?" Yuya smiled sheepishly. "I just spotted your hair in the crowd!"

Yuno messed with his own hair. "Hmm. It is pretty bright, huh?" He chuckled. "Anyway, I heard your name when I watched your duel against Strong Ishijima. Yuya Sakaki, correct?"

"Yeah!" Yuya grinned. "I just thought that we didn't get your name, and the kids and Yuzu wanted to thank you for helping them." He shrugged. "The principal told me to go and get some snacks to cheer Yuzu up. I was just heading back. Uh, do you mind coming back with me?"

"Sure," Yuno said.

"Great! So, uh, what's your name?"

"Oh, right!" Yuno smiled, placing a hand on his chest. "Yuno Sugisaki. It's great to meet you! My goal with dueling is to make people happy. I've heard that you share the same goal?"

Yuya's smile grew, and then he nodded. "I definitely do!"

"Great! Let's talk about it when we get to your school!" Yuno winked. "I want to hear more about your ideals too."

And maybe he could learn more about this boy who shared the same face as him. Who wouldn't be curious about someone who was such a clear doppelganger of them?

It looked like he wouldn't get a chance to have that discussion with Yuya, however, because as they walked back to You Show, there was a commotion going on outside. There was a tall, black-haired boy who was rather well-built, facing off against a group of three boys, as well as a woman with pink hair, curled into the shape of a dark heart. Behind the dark-haired boy was the same bunch of kids and pink-haired girl from LDS. There was also the blue-haired boy that had suspiciously good skills with a lollipop.

"That's him! Yuya Sakaki!" One of the boys shouted.

Yuno blinked. Alright. What was happening here now? He stood there, listening into the exposition by the people that were there. Alright. Apparently, they had seen someone that looked like Yuya attack Sawatari?

"... I don't think Yuya Sakaki is the culprit," Yuno said, and a few people turned to look at him. "From what you're saying, the monsters that the other person used were Xyz Monsters, correct? A very strong Xyz Monster that can abuse Solid Vision? Are you saying that the Leo Corporation, which controls Solid Vision and summoning methods, somehow let such a strong, defective card slip into his hands?"

"... you're a surprising logical one," Himika Akaba said. "I've heard of you. You're one of the three prodigies that Reiji-kun has just recruited." At that, Yuya looked at Yuno with surprise. "Out of the three, one duels actively, one mainly stays in her room and asks about our programming, and one talks to everyone but never accepts an offer to duel. And yet, Reiji-kun thinks that you're the strongest one."

Yuno shrugged. "... I mean, Miharu would kick my ass any day of the week too." The two of them had a perfect win-loss record, actually—half wins and half losses each. "But I'm just pointing it out, you know?"

"Fine." Himika turned to the man who was clearly their teacher. "I suggest a five on five match between our schools! We will pick out five of our students." She glanced dismissively at You Show's students. "Whoever wins is right."

Yuno raised an eyebrow.

Wasn't this just an excuse to duel, and to gain some kind of advantage from it?

---

"Huh?" Yuno gawked at the You Show group. "You all… have six students?"

Yuya chuckled awkwardly. "Well, yeah?"

And three of them were kids…

When Himika came over, speaking rather condescendingly towards the poor kids, Yuno couldn't take it.

"So, Himika-san!" He called cheerfully. "Mind if I sit on this side today?"

"Huh?" Himika frowned. "You're a student of LDS. You have to follow the rules of—"

"I am only formally one of you," Yuno said. "I find that I admire this school quite a bit." With a brazen confidence that he had only gained through countless amounts of duels as a Charisma Duelist, he decided to bluff her. "Plus, even if you want to expel me for it, you know that you can't."

Himika scowled. She headed back to the other side of LDS's duel field. Yuno spotted Masumi, Yaiba and Hokuto there, though they clearly hadn't spotted him yet. Hitoda was also there, and she did wave to him. He also saw an auburn-haired girl that he didn't recognise. And—

"Yuno."

"Miharu!" Yuno smiled widely as he heard her voice, turning over to her.

"What a mess." Miharu glanced at the field. "So, this is what you're choosing?"

"Mm."

"Alright." Miharu took a seat on the chairs. At the confused looks of everyone from You Show, Yuno grinned and explained.

"This is my best friend, Miharu Kogami. Programming, hacking, dueling and mathematics genius!"

"You're embarrassing me, Yuno," Miharu said. She nodded to the rest, adjusting her face mask. "Hello. Please don't mind me."

"Heh, you two are interesting," the blue-haired boy, Sora Shiun'in said. "Well, I don't mind having more manpower! Plus, if Reiji Akaba recognised you two… then, well, that's fun!"

"I won't duel," Miharu said. "Yuno is enough. You only need three wins."

"She's very quiet compared to you," Yuya commented. Yuno laughed.

"That may be so," he said. "But we're best friends, regardless."

---

The matchups were decided soon after. Yuya went out first—despite clearly being the ace of his school, which would usually mean that he should go out last. Maybe it was to raise the school's morale? Anyway, he faced against Hokuto, and Yuno finally got to see what his Pendulum Summoning was like in person. However, when Yuya brought out that dragon, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, for a moment, Yuno's heart skipped a beat. He didn't really understand why, though. He just watched as the duel continued, and Yuya eventually pulled off a win.

However, the next round between Yuzu and Masumi ended in a loss. It was interesting to see Yuya and Yuzu's decks too—Yuya used circus animals, while Yuzu used singers and dancers. They both had rather performance-based decks.

"Eh, I guess we'll need to raise the morale of everyone here?" Sora smirked. "Let me go and give us a win!" He glanced out. "I mean, since we lost, they choose who's coming out first, right? And it looks like their strongest is coming out…"

The auburn-haired girl was walking out, standing confidently on the field.

"You think she's the strongest?" Yuno said, somewhat surprised. "I know that most people at LDS think that Kotsu-san, Todo and Shijima are the strongest of their courses, but I haven't heard of her…"

"Oh, there's no doubt about it." Sora smiled toothily. "The other three talk a lot, and the fourth one's a little more calm, but this one? This one has confidence, not arrogance. I want to see how this goes!" He charged out, marking himself as the third member of You Show to take part.

On the field, the auburn-haired girl folded her arms, looking at him. "Light blue hair, a sweet tooth," she said. "Are you the one who beat up Shingo and his three lackeys?"

"Huh?" Sora grinned. "Yup? Mad about it?"

"No." The girl shrugged. "He was probably being rude to others, right? Still though, I do have some responsibility to trash you for messing with him, even if he was the jerk first."

"Oh?" Sora shrugged. "What does that mean? Are you his lackey?"

She laughed. "As if."

"Alright, alright! There's five of you, right? So which method do you specialise in? We've seen Fusion and Xyz so far—are you a Link duelist?"

"I'm just from the general course," the girl said.

"Oh? Then if you can't Special Summon monsters from the Extra Deck, this should be a cakewalk for me," Sora said with a cocky smirk. "Let's get going! Duelists locked in battle!"

"Kicking the earth and dancing in the air alongside their monsters!" The redhead responded with some fervour.

"They storm through this field!"

"Behold! This is the newest and greatest evolution of Dueling! Action—"

"Duel!"

"Action Field—Fountain of Wisdom!" The field that was activated had a beautiful crystal tower in the middle, surrounded by a lake. Purple and blue crystals floated through the lake. Across the lake, connecting the tower to a town (though the town itself was just a background, not a Solid Vision feature) was a white bridge, looking like marble. Sora and his opponent were both standing on the bridge, with Sora having his back to the tower. The bridge had been a Solid Vision structure that had pushed them higher up, so that there was some room above and below the bridge.

[ACTION DUEL!]

Mion Myojin: 4000LP

Sora Shiun'in: 4000LP

[Turn 1: Sora] [H:5]

"I'll start!" Sora called cheerfully. "Hmm, there's so much water! Doesn't seem like there's a lot of space to move around and get Action Cards, huh? I'll Normal Summon Fluffal Leo!" A yellow lion appeared, with cute, beady black eyes. It had a rather fluffy yellow mane, and two white wings on both sides of its body.

[Fluffal Leo (4*/1600/1200/EARTH/Fairy/Effect)]

"And I'll Special Summon Fluffal Sheep from my hand, since I control a "Fluffal" monster!" A fluffy orange sheep with bright green eyes appeared, its ears forming the shape of wings—orange, red and white, resembling feathers.

[Fluffal Sheep (2*/400/800/EARTH/Fairy/Effect)]

"I'll set two cards and end my turn!" Sora concluded.

[Turn 2: Mion] [H:6]

"Draw," Mion said, placing a card onto her duel disk immediately. "I will Normal Summon Royal Magical Library." A strange, black obelisk-like monster appeared. It had a bright green glowing light at the wider top of it.

[Royal Magical Library (4*/0/2000/LIGHT/Spellcaster/Effect)]

"I will then activate the Field Spell, Magical Citadel of Endymion!" From the lake, a gigantic castle appeared, rising out of the water, with a large magical barrier around it. "And since a Spell was activated, Royal Magical Library gains a Spell Counter." The dark monster glowed, the green light intensifying.

[Royal Magical Library: Spell Counter(s): 1]

"I will then activate Spellbook of Secrets," Mion continued. "Before you ask, no, I don't run a Spellbook or Prophecy deck. I just run this as an engine. Since I activated a Spell card, Royal Magical Library and Magical Citadel of Endymion gain a Spell Counter."

[Royal Magical Library: Spell Counter(s): 2]

[Magical Citadel of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 1]

"I didn't ask, thanks," Sora snarked. Mion chuckled.

"I can add a "Spellbook" card from my deck to my hand," she continued. "I will add and activate the Spell Card, Spellbook of Knowledge! By sending a "Spellbook" card from my hand to the graveyard, I can draw two cards."

[Royal Magical Library: Spell Counter(s): 3]

[Magical Citadel of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 2]

"With the effect of Royal Magical Library, I can remove three Spell Counters from it to draw a card," Mion continued. She swiped up a card from her deck, even as Royal Magical Library lost its glow.

[Royal Magical Library: Spell Counter(s): 0]

"I will then activate the Quickplay Spell, Mythical Bestiary." Mion chuckled. "Bear with me here. I'll send two cards from the top of my deck to the graveyard, and then place up to two Spell Counters on a card on the field. I will choose Royal Magical Library. And both it and my Citadel gain another Spell Counter."

[Royal Magical Library: Spell Counter(s): 3]

[Magical Citadel of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 3]

"Royal Magical Library's effect is not once per turn," Mion said calmly. "And Magical Citadel of Endymion can substitute its own Spell Counters for another card's effect, once per turn." All the Spell Counters disappeared from the field, and she drew two cards with a flourish. Miharu nodded, seeming genuinely impressed with the card advantage that the older girl had gained.

[Royal Magical Library: Spell Counter(s): 0]

[Magical Citadel of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 0]

"Nice draw power," Sora drawled out. "But can you actually do anything about my field? Otherwise, it's a waste. Plus, you wasted your Normal Summon on that powerless monster, so you can't Tribute Summon this turn either."

"Well, I suppose you're right. That's truly unfortunate." Mion smiled. "What a mistake I've made. I suppose I had better remedy that. I'll send a Spellcaster monster from my hand to the graveyard to Special Summon Crowley, the Magistus of Grimoires from my hand!" A young man with blue-grey hair, dressed in green and white robes, appeared on her field, holding up a staff in one hand and a rather mystical-looking spellbook in the other. Around him, green squares seemed to spin around.

[Crowley, the Magistus of Grimoires (4*/1800/1000/DARK/Spellcaster/Effect)]

"I'll then activate the Spell Card, Magic Gate of Miracles," Mion declared.

[Magical Citadel of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 1]

[Royal Magical Library: Spell Counter(s): 1]

"I will take control of your monster and change it to Defense Position." She gestured to Fluffal Leo, the yellow lion being pulled over to her field. Sora scowled for a moment, clearly not liking that he had lost his monster. Mion then picked up an Action Card from the lantern that was hanging above her head. "Action Card, Mirrored Madness. I can make one monster I control the same Type as another. I will make Fluffal Leo a Spellcaster, like the other monsters on my field."

[Magical Citadel of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 2]

[Royal Magical Library: Spell Counter(s): 2]

"I'll then overlay the Level 4 Fluffal Leo, Crowley and Royal Magical Library!"

"Huh?" Sora's eyes widened. "You said you were in the general course!"

"I am," Mion said, clearly trying to suppress a smile. "Cocky, wise alchemist sitting in the underground laboratory. With your enthusiastic passion, share your wisdom and strength! Xyz Summon! Rank 4! Alchemic Magician!" A cheeky,pretty alchemist with long, curly green hair appeared. She was wearing a green blouse with white frills on both sleeves. A pair of green goggles was at the top of her forehead, and she had white fur in her hair.

[Alchemic Magician (R4/1500/1500/DARK/Spellcaster/Xyz/Effect) (OU:3)]

"Tch!" Sora folded his arms. "Three materials for a monster that can't even match up to your lion or your other Spellcaster?"

Back at the bench, Yuya blinked. "She plays a Magician monster?"

"Probably a coincidence," Yuno said cheerfully. "Her monster is pronounced 'majishan', while yours is pronounced 'majutsushi'."

Mion raised a finger. "I'd appreciate if you don't judge my monster so quickly. After all, she gains 200 attack points for every Spell in the graveyard. I have seven. So she gains 1400 attack points."

[Alchemic Magician: 1500 + 200 x 7 = 2900ATK]

"I'll have Alchemic Magician attack your Fluffal Sheep now."

Sora glanced around, and then he jumped on top of Fluffal Sheep, bouncing up and grabbing onto one of the support beams of the bridge, climbing up and grabbing an Action Card from the top. "I will activate Action Card, Damage Banish! I'll reduce battle damage to 0!"

Fluffal Sheep was destroyed, and Sora flipped up one of his set cards.

"Fluffal Crane! I'll return a "Fluffal" monster that was destroyed by battle to my hand, and draw a card! And then, since Fluffal Sheep was returned to my hand by a card, I can add "Polymerization" from my deck to my hand!"

"Oh, you're a Fusion user," Mion commented. She smiled. "You activated a Spell. My Citadel gains another Spell Counter."

[Magical Citadel of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 3]

"I'll set one card facedown and end my turn. Alchemic Magician's effect. During the End Phase, by detaching one of her Overlay Units and sending a card from my hand to the graveyard, I can directly set a Spell from my deck to my field." Another set card materialised on her field.

[Alchemic Magician: OU:3 - OU:2; 2900 + 200 = 3100ATK]

"You sent another Spell to the graveyard with that effect," Sora deduced. "But it's my turn, and I'll show you the power of my Fusion Summoning!"

[Turn 3: Sora] [H:5]

"Draw!" He declared.

"I'll activate my set card," Mion said. "Continuous Trap, Mythical Bestiamorph. Every time you activate a monster effect, it gains a Spell Counter."

"So more of that Spell Counter stuff, huh?" Sora winked. "Not bad! I'll activate the Spell Card, Fusion Conscription! I'll reveal a Fusion Monster in my Extra Deck and add one of the specifically listed Fusion Materials to my hand! I'll reveal Frightfur Leo in my Extra Deck to add another copy of Fluffal Leo to my hand."

"My Citadel gains another Spell Counter," Mion said neutrally.

[Magical Citadel of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 4]

"Suit yourself! Gather all the Spell Counters you want! I'll activate Polymerization! I'll fuse Fluffal Leo and Edge Imp Saw in my hand! Steel blades possessed by demons. Become one with the fanged beast, and show us a new form and power! Fusion Summon! Show yourself! King of the hundred beasts that tears everything to pieces! Frightfur Leo!"

A large, pale, cream-coloured stuffed lion appeared, saw blades running through its head and its dull purple-grey mane. Its eyes were bloodshot red fabric, with black dots in the middle. The lion itself was perfectly sawed in half by a saw that served as its midsection and body. Finally, it had bloody red claws on its hands and feet.

[Frightfur Leo (7*/2400/2000/DARK/Fiend/Fusion/Effect)]

[Magical Citadel of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 5]

Miharu made a personally affronted sound. Yuno couldn't help but laugh. He knew that Miharu liked plushies, after all. "His monsters aren't to your liking?"

"To each their own," Miharu said, still sounding dissatisfied.

"Frightfur Leo's effect!" Sora called. "Once per turn, I can target a monster on the field, destroy it, and inflict damage to you, equal to the attack points of your monster on the field! Increasing your monster's attack points was to your detriment! Hell Claws!" Frightfur Leo lunged forward.

Mion, however, didn't bother searching for Action Cards at all. Instead, her other set card flipped up. "I suspected that you would go to effect destruction the moment that you realised how strong this monster could get," she said calmly. "Quickplay Spell, Forbidden Chalice! Your monster gains 400 attack points, but its effects are negated!" Frightfur Leo was stopped in its tracks.

[Frightfur Leo: 2400 + 400 = 2800ATK]

"Since you activated a monster effect, Mythical Bestiamorph gains a Spell Counter," Mion continued. "And Magical Citadel of Endymion also gains a Spell Counter since I activated a Spell. Finally, since a Spell was sent to my graveyard, Alchemic Magician gains another 200 attack points."

[Mythical Bestiamorph: Spell Counter(s): 1]

[Magical Citadel of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 6]

[Alchemic Magician: 3100 + 200 = 3300ATK]

Sora gritted his teeth, before he turned around, dashing for an Action Card. As he did, Mion calmly walked to the side of the bridge and flipped over it, grabbing an Action Card from beneath. She swung across below the bridge, reaching up a hand as she reached the other side. Alchemic Magician grabbed her hand, pulling her back onto the bridge.

"Action Spell!" Sora called. "Bi-Attack! Frightfur Leo's attack points double during the Battle Phase! Attack her monster!"

[Frightfur Leo: 2800 x 2 = 5600ATK]

[Magical Citadel of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 7]

Mion sighed, flicking out a card. "Considering that my deck benefits so much from them, I prefer not to go for Action Cards. But if you're doing so, I suppose it's fair game. Action Card, Miracle. I negate battle destruction and halve the battle damage." She nodded to Alchemic Magician. "And I just sent another Spell to the graveyard!"

[Magical Citadel of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 8]

[Alchemic Magician: 3300 + 200 = 3500ATK]

She shielded herself as Frightfur Leo slashed past her and her monster, her life points falling.

Mion: 4000 - 2100 / 2 = 2950LP

"Tch. I couldn't get rid of that monster this turn," Sora muttered. "I'll end my turn. Over to you."

[Turn 4: Mion] [H:2]

"Draw," Mion said. She cracked a smile at the sight of the card. "I will remove 6 Spell Counters from my Citadel." The city beneath in the water—entirely a hologram, and certainly not solid—lost some of its glow.

[Magical Citadel of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 2]

"And by doing so, I can Special Summon Endymion the Master Magician from my hand." A rather imposing magician appeared, clad entirely in black and gold armour. He had a purple cape with gold trim flaring out around him, and he was holding onto a golden staff with a purple sphere at the top.

[Endymion the Master Magician (7*/2700/1700/DARK/Spellcaster/Effect)]

"A Level 7 monster all at once?" Sora gasped, sounding rather shocked. "That's—"

"Perfectly possible," Mion said. "I'll use the effect of the Master Magician. When Special Summoned by his own effect, I can add any Spell from my graveyard to my hand. I'll add and play Magic Gate of Miracles again!" She pressed the card to her duel disk.

[Magical Citadel of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 3]

"I thought you would!" Sora called with a smirk. Frightfur Leo tossed him up in the air at the same time, and he grabbed an Action Card that was wedged in the walls of the crystal tower. Sora glanced at the card. Clearly, it didn't work, and Frightfur Leo was dragged over to Mion's field and forced into Defense Position. "But even so, I'm not going down that easily!"

"No, I suppose not." Mion folded her arms. "But tell me, if you will—what do you see on my field?"

"An Xyz Monster and two Level 7 monsters," Sora said nonchalantly, and then he blinked. "Wait—do you mean—"

"No," Mion said with a chuckle. "I just wanted to freak you out a bit."

Sora faceplanted at that. Yuno laughed.

"Attack him directly, Alchemic Magician!"

"I won't lose to your Xyz Monster!" Sora said, playing the Action Card in his hand, even as he frantically glanced around for another. "Action Card—Quick Guard! I change Alchemic Magician to Defense Position!"

[Magical Citadel of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 4]

"Fair enough," Mion said. "Endymion attacks you directly!"

The monster hit Sora with a blast from its staff before Sora had the chance to react, and his life points fell.

Sora: 4000 - 2700 = 1300LP

"I'll change Alchemic Magician back to Attack Position," Mion concluded. "And I'll discard this card." She revealed an Action Card that she had picked up. "By discarding a Spell, Endymion can destroy a card on the field. I'll target your set card—I want to know why you didn't activate it."

[Alchemic Magician: 3500 + 200 = 3700ATK]

Sora bit his lip, and then the card was blown off the field. It was revealed to be Frightfur Defender—which would protect a "Frightfur" monster from destruction, but not from anything else.

"I see," Mion said. She shrugged. "That is unfortunate… even so, I'll proceed. I'll end my turn. Alchemic Magician's effect triggers once again." She sent a card from her hand to the graveyard, and another Spell materialised on her field.

[Alchemic Magician: 3700 + 200 = 3900ATK]

"That's an absurd number of Spells," Yuya pointed out. "It's the opposite of your deck, Gongenzaka."

The black-haired youth nodded. "It is, indeed." Gongenzaka looked back at the field. "But more surprising, perhaps, is that Sora is being suppressed so much by her, even without her using a lot of Action Cards—she's only using them when Sora does."

"It's not surprising," Miharu said curtly. "... that is Mion Myojin. From what Reir—my friend has told me, she's the top student in LDS, even though she's still a Junior Youth student."

"The top student?" Yuzu's eyes widened. "So she's stronger than Masumi?"

Miharu shrugged. "Yes."

"Oh." For a moment, Yuzu looked a little lost. However, no one seemed to notice, and as the duel continued, everyone turned to look at Sora's turn.

Everyone except one person.

"... is everything alright?"

Yuzu blinked. She turned to look at the girl sitting next to her. She didn't know this girl at all—Yuno had called her his best friend, but today was the first time that she had met Yuno too. She couldn't see the girl's expression, considering that she was wearing a face mask, but unlike Yuno, her eyes were a lot less… lively.

Miharu glanced away, not making eye contact. "... your duel earlier. You lost because you weren't focused. Are you alright?"

Are you alright?

No one had actually asked Yuzu that question yet. The main question that people had asked was why she had been so distracted, or what she was thinking about. Even Sora, whose teasing had come closest to the truth, hadn't actually asked her about how she was feeling.

"I'm a bit stressed," Yuzu replied, feeling slightly shy about admitting her feelings at all—everyone in You Show always thought that she was the determined one, after all, the one who never lost confidence. 'Strong Yuzu'. Miharu looked at her, and then she nodded. The masked girl opened up her bag, and then she took out a bottle from it, holding it out to Yuzu.

"Chamomile," Miharu said—a very short description, but one that Yuzu understood immediately. Chamomile tea, huh? Supposedly, it helped with stress and anxiety. She carefully took the flask from Miharu's hands. "... won't solve the root of your problems, though."

Yuzu took a sip of the tea. It was rather nice, and still quite warm.

Miharu didn't smile, but she did dip her head slightly in acknowledgement, before she turned back to the duel.

Yuzu turned back too. Her heart felt rather warm as well.

While this had been happening, Sora had started his turn.

[Turn 5: Sora] [H:3]

"Draw!" Sora called. He grinned at the card. "I'll activate the Spell Card, De-Fusion! I'll return Frightfur Leo to the Extra Deck, and revive its Fusion Materials from my graveyard!" Fluffal Leo and Edge Imp Saw reappeared on his field, having circumvented the effect that took control of his monster.

[Magical Citadel of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 5]

"I'll activate the Spell Card, Polymerization, and fuse Fluffal Leo and Edge Imp Saw again! Reappear again! Just as strong as before—Frightfur Leo!" The ghastly white lion reappeared on Sora's field. "And with its effect, I will destroy Alchemic Magician and inflict its attack points as damage to you!"

[Mythical Bestiamorph: Spell Counter(s): 2]

"Quickplay Spell, Magical Dimension," Mion said. "I can target a monster I control and tribute it, if I control a Spellcaster monster. I will target Alchemic Magician. So, by tributing it, I can Special Summon a Spellcaster monster from my hand." She smiled. Alchemic Magician dissolved into green sparks. "And so, I won't take any damage. Come from my hand—Night's End Sorcerer!" A white-haired boy appeared on the field, with two rabbit-like ears on the top of his head. He was dressed entirely in different shades of grey. He was holding onto a mostly translucent scythe in his hands, and around him, bats were flying around.

[Night's End Sorcerer (2*/1300/400/DARK/Spellcaster/Tuner/Effect)]

[Magical Citadel of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 6]

"Then, after I Special Summon the monster, I can destroy a card you control," Mion concluded. Frightfur Leo was once again blown off the field. "And with the effect of Night's End Sorcerer, I can banish two cards from your graveyard. I will banish Polymerization and Frightfur Leo!"

The two cards slipped out of Sora's graveyard. Sora grimaced, and then he set a card facedown, ending his turn.

[Turn 6: Mion] [H:1]

As Mion drew a card, Sora searched frantically, before he seemed to spot something below them. He leapt off the edge. "Trap Card, Call of the Haunted!" He called. "Revive, Fluffal Leo!" The fluffy lion reappeared on his field, flying down after him as Sora fell downwards, managing to catch him. Sora swiped up a card, but he flinched for a moment as his fingers brushed against a solid surface, despite seemingly being a few metres above the water.

"Did you forget?" Mion asked from above him, raising an eyebrow. "What's on the surface isn't truly what's there. We're in LDS, and what you're touching is the ground. There was no water to save you, if your monster hadn't caught you."

Sora gritted his teeth. However, he seemed to be less frustrated as he looked at the card in his hand.

"It seems that you got really invested in this duel," Mion said. "In that case, I'm sorry. The fact that I, as a person with far less investment than you, wants to win this duel, knowing what it means to your school… it's upsetting to you all, isn't it? But I won't lose on purpose either."

"I won't lose that easily," Sora said determinedly.

"Happy that you got an Action Card that will help you in battle?" Mion shrugged. "If that's what you were looking for, then I'll tell you that I never intended to win through battle this turn. After all, I still need to explain myself properly. So come on out, Mythical Beast Cerberus!" A multicoloured dog with two heads appeared, one head being slender like a jackal's, but also a simple blue, while the other looked more feral, a dog's face with a long purple mane. It was a rather chimeric beast.

[Mythical Beast Cerberus (4*/1400/1400/LIGHT/Spellcaster/Effect)]

Mion broke into a smile. "Tuning the Level 2 Night's End Sorcerer to the Level 4 Mythical Beast Cerberus," she said, to the incredulity of all the You Show students present. "Appear now, in a strong gust of wind, temperamental sorcerer! Synchro Summon! Level 6! Tempest Magician!"

A woman with grey hair appeared, wearing blue robes. She was holding onto the same translucent scythe as Night's End Sorcerer, and two of the same bats were flying around her. She had a rather determined look on her face.

[Tempest Magician (6*/2200/1400/DARK/Spellcaster/Synchro/Effect)]

"When Tempest Magician is Synchro Summoned, she gains one Spell Counter," Mion continued.

[Tempest Magician: Spell Counter(s): 1]

"Then, I can remove all Spell Counters on the field." Five spheres shot up from the Citadel, one from Tempest Magician herself, and two from Mythical Bestiamorph. "For each one, I inflict 500 damage to you! Magicalized Tempest!"

"That's eight Spell Counters," Yuya commented. "So… 4000 damage?" He sounded rather alarmed.

A tempest shot towards Sora, blasting him back across the floor, and eliminating the last of his life points.

Sora: 1300 - 500 x 8 = 0LP

Winner: Mion Myojin!

"Sora!" Both Yuya and Yuzu exclaimed, standing up from their seats.

As the holograms dissolved, the bridge sank down, letting Mion back onto the floor. She immediately walked towards Sora, and she held out a hand to him.

"You're conflicted," she said. "For all that you teased that girl earlier… your mind isn't clear either, is it?"

"How can you use both Synchro and Xyz?" Sora asked, wincing as he let her pull him up. "I thought…"

Mion laughed, though she clearly wasn't trying to mock Sora. "Haven't you figured it out yet?" She let go of Sora's hand. "I'm Mion Myojin. General course at LDS—or I guess some people call it the Integrated Course. Because I can already Synchro, Xyz and Fusion Summon—so what's the point of going into any of those courses?"

Sora looked at the girl for a moment. He was still shaking slightly from the loss, but…

Somehow, she reminds me of Shino. They couldn't be more different, and yet…

"Well, see you," Mion said. "But it's not good to wallow in conflict and refuse to see beyond the surface, you know. It only hurts yourself."

Sora looked at her in confusion.

What did she mean by that? He wasn't conflicted at all! What would he even feel conflicted about?

He walked back to the You Show bench, his fists clenched.

He hated losing.

He hated—

"Sora!" Yuzu called, standing up.

"Sorry," Sora said. "I didn't—"

"That's alright!" Yuzu reached out towards him. "Sora, it's alright. Don't feel bad about it, ok? We're all friends here—no one's going to blame you for losing."

No one… blamed him? No one here blamed him?

Back in Academia, Sora had never had friends. Everyone had just been competing with each other all the time, to be stronger than someone else, to be worth more, to be seen, to be acknowledged. If they weren't strong, they were nothing.

And yet, when the stakes were so high, when he failed, no one here blamed him at all for it?

Sora sat back down and fought not to cry, because of how overwhelmed he felt. Yuzu gently patted his shoulder, as did Yuya.

"Hey, now. No one should have to be so upset over a duel."

Sora looked up. Yuno Sugisaki was clearly smiling, even though they couldn't see his face through his mask.

"I'll get going now," he said. "If that's fine, of course!"

"No pressure," Yuya said, "but…"

"I have to win, right?" Yuno chuckled. "Don't worry about it. I perform far better under pressure." Continuing to remain as cheerful as ever, he turned to Miharu, who sighed, glancing across the field.

"We know the strengths of both," she said. "If you lose, I'll be disappointed."

Yuno pretended to gasp. "No, the worst consequence!" He then laughed. "Please, it's someone's school on the line. I may not actually attend it, but I don't agree with these methods at all." He turned back towards the rest. "I promise that I'll win."

He walked out, and Sora watched with mild confusion as he enthusiastically greeted the person on the opposite side—a person whose name then showed up on the screen above as 'Hitoda Makishima'. Both Yuno and Hitoda didn't bother with the Action Duel chant at all. The Action Field chosen was a dark forest, with mist trailing all around them and obscuring things from sight.

[ACTION DUEL!]

Hitoda Makishima: 4000LP

Yuno Sugisaki: 4000LP

[Turn 1: Hitoda] [H:5]

"I haven't faced you in about half a year, So—Hitoda!" Yuno called. "Seeing as you did decently against Bl—her, I'm expecting great things from you!"

Hitoda sighed. "You are not subtle, Yuno," she said, raising an eyebrow. "I'll start, then. I'll activate the Continuous Spell, Awakening of the Possessed."

Sora's head jerked back for a moment.

The name of that card…

Unaware of the existential crisis that Sora was currently having, Hitoda continued with her turn. "I'll get to draw a card once per turn, when I summon a Spellcaster with 1850 attack points. I'll Normal Summon Familiar-Possessed - Wynn!" A green-haired girl in yellow and white robes appeared, a dragon floating on her shoulder.

[Familiar-Possessed - Wynn (4*/1850/1500/WIND/Spellcaster/Effect)]

"I will draw a card with my Continuous Spell's effect. Next, I will Special Summon Jigabyte from my hand!" A green, lizard-like monster appeared on Hitoda's field.

[Jigabyte (4*/1500/200/WATER/Reptile/Effect)]

"Next, I'll send both Jigabyte and Wynn from my field to the graveyard," Hitoda said. "I'll Special Summon Awakening of the Possessed - Gagigobyte from my deck!" Both monsters turned into streams of water. In front of Hitoda, a larger, blue version of the monster they had just seen appeared, with white and yellow fabric wrapped around his arms, and dark blue spikes on his shoulders and wrists.

[Awakening of the Possessed - Gagigobyte (5*/2000/200/WATER/Reptile/Effect)]

"When Awakening of the Possessed - Gagigobyte is Special Summoned by its own effect, you must send a random card from your hand to the graveyard!" Hitoda gestured forward, and a card fell out of Yuno's hand. "Then, we both draw a card!" She glanced at the card. "... I will set two cards facedown! I end my turn!"

Sora gulped. This girl… it had been a while since Sora and Shino had gone to the Link Dimension, but back then, he would admit that he had been somewhat captivated by the duels that they had seen there. Duels by idol-like figures. This girl looked so different, but there was no doubt that she was Soothsayer, even Yuno had—

Even Yuno had almost called her by that name.

So that meant—

To be fair, it could be someone else. It didn't have to be that guy. Right? Right? Sora couldn't be nearly that unlucky—

[Turn 2: Yuno] [H:6]

"Draw!" Yuno called. "I will Normal Summon Marincess Pascalus!"

Internally, Sora cursed very, very loudly, several words repeated over and over again that would probably scandalise anyone that was currently near him, if he said them aloud.

A young woman with pink hair appeared, with bright orange eyes. Her pink scarf, which turned to orange fabric that resembled a fish tail, floated through the air. She carefully adjusted her pink and white skirt, demurely smiling at the crowd.

[Marincess Pascalus (4*/1200/2000/WATER/Cyberse/Effect)]

"When Normal Summoned," Yuno Sugisaki, who was the masked boy who had ended up making friends with them, who was apparently one of the most popular idols in the Link Dimension, who had dueled Sora's cousin, said. "I can Special Summon a "Marincess" monster from my hand. I will Special Summon Marincess Sea Horse!" A girl with dusty blonde hair appeared, contributing to the heart attack that Sora was currently having.

[Marincess Sea Horse (3*/1400/1000/WATER/Cyberse/Effect)]

"Then, I will open the circuit of the limitless ocean! Arrowhead confirmed! The conditions are a Level 4 or lower "Marincess" monster! I will set Marincess Sea Horse in the Link Markers! Shine, beautiful water creature that dwells in the depths! Circuit Combine! Link Summon! Link 1! Marincess Blue Slug!"

The girl with dark blue hair appeared on Yuno's field, smiling widely.

"His monsters are so cute!" Ayu said, clapping her hands together, also being a fish person.

[Marincess Blue Slug (L1/1500/WATER/Cyberse/Link/Effect/↓)]

No wonder he had so much confidence, Sora thought dizzily. This guy…

But he hadn't actually seen Sora, right? Since Sora had abandoned Shino for ice cream, and alright, that sounded a lot worse now that he was thinking back to that moment. So his cover hadn't been blown yet. But why was this guy in Standard? The Professor had been interested in him, but had he fled here? Would he be suspicious of Sora using Fusion?

"I'll use Blue Slug's effect," Yuno continued. "I can add a "Marincess" monster from my graveyard to my hand. I will add Sea Horse back to my hand!"

"He's a Link Summon specialist?" Yuya said, sounding shocked. "I thought Link Monsters usually had no effects! How is there a whole archetype of them?"

Then, if this guy was Boundless Sea, the guy with that crazy dragon that was so much like Yuri and Yuya's…

Sora tried to be subtle as he glanced towards Miharu.

Was that girl Blue Angel then? That would be improbable, right? No shot that her personality could be so different!

Even as Sora continued panicking, Yuno continued with his turn, completely oblivious.

"I will open the circuit again! Arrowhead confirmed! The conditions are one Level 4 or lower "Marincess" monster. I will set Marincess Pascalus in the Link Markers! Beautiful angel floating through the ocean, ascend now! Circuit Combine! Link Summon! Link 1! Marincess Sea Angel!"

A white-haired girl appeared, smiling widely. Her clothes were white as well, with some orange trim. She was wearing white socks and orange slippers as well. On her chest, there was a bright orange gem.

[Marincess Sea Angel (L1/1000/WATER/Cyberse/Link/Effect/←)]

"When Marincess Sea Angel is Link Summoned, I can add my Field Spell to my hand!" Yuno grinned. "Let's welcome the waves! Marincess Battle Ocean!" He activated the Field Spell, and holographic waves, ponds and streams formed all around them.

"You have a Field Spell?" Hitoda asked, raising an eyebrow. "That's new. I've never seen you use that Link Monster either."

"I guess I feel like letting loose a little more," Yuno said with a chuckle. "I will Special Summon Sea Horse from my hand to Sea Angel's open Link Marker! Now, open, circuit! Arrowhead confirmed! The conditions are three monsters with different names, including a Link Monster! I will set Marincess Sea Angel, Marincess Sea Horse and Marincess Blue Slug in the Link Markers! Cybernetic dragon that crosses into reality! Now, infuse yourself with the ocean waves that crash against the shore, and pull the world into your magnetic field! Circuit Combine! Link Summon! Link 3! Magnetic Current Link Dragon!"

Yuno's ace appeared on the field, the purple and blue dragon roaring loudly as it landed on the ground, its wings of dark metal spreading out as electricity sparked through the air.

[Magnetic Current Link Dragon (L3/2500/WATER/Dragon/Link/Effect/←, ↓, →)]

"Magnetic Current Link Dragon?" Yuya repeated, sounding surprised.

"Link Dragon," Yuzu murmured. "Pendulum Dragon, Xyz Dragon…"

Miharu sighed. She stood up, picked up her and Yuno's bags and quietly exited the room before anyone could ask her questions. Only Sora noticed her leave—everyone was transfixed by the dragon on the field.

"Once per turn, Magnetic Current Link Dragon allows me to take control of a Level 5 or higher monster you control until your next End Phase, but you gain life points equal to its original attack points!" Yuno declared. Electricity danced in the air around him. "I will choose Awakening of the Possessed - Gagigobyte! Magnetism Drive!" The electricity locked around Gagigobyte, dragging it to Yuno's side of the field. At the same time, a soft glow surrounded Hitoda.

Hitoda: 4000 + 2000 = 6000LP

"Magnetic Current Link Dragon attacks you directly! Circuit Breaker!"

"Set card, activate!" Hitoda declared. "Possessed Partnerships! I can Special Summon a Spellcaster monster with 1500 defense points from my hand or graveyard! I will Special Summon Familiar-Possessed - Wynn from my graveyard!" The green-haired girl reappeared on the field, mist floating around her. "I will draw a card with Awakening of the Possessed. And I'll activate my other set card, Unpossessed!"

"I will take the replay," Yuno said. "Unpossessed only protects "Charmer" monsters from battle, which Wynn currently does not count as!"

"Awakening of the Possessed grants my monsters 300 attack points for every different Attribute I control!" Hitoda responded, shielding herself as the attack hit.

[Familiar-Possessed - Wynn: 1850 + 300 = 2150ATK]

Wynn was blown off the field.

Hitoda: 6000 - 350 = 5650LP

"When a monster I control is destroyed by battle," Hitoda called, "I can use the effect of Unpossessed to Special Summon a Spellcaster monster with 1500 defense points from my deck in face-up Attack Position or facedown Defense Position!" She smirked. "Come—Eria the Water Charmer!" She summoned the monster in Defense Position, revealing for the briefest of moments that the monster was a girl with light blue hair, before the card flipped facedown.

[Eria the Water Charmer (3*/500/1500/WATER/Spellcaster/Flip/Effect)]

"Well, that's problematic," Yuno said with a chuckle. "Guess it can't be helped, though, not against a deck like yours." He hummed. "No matter what, you're going to use Eria's effect next turn… well, I'll let that be for now. I won't attack Eria. Instead, I will set two cards facedown. Over to you."

[Turn 3: Hitoda] [H:4]

"Draw," Hitoda declared. "I'll Flip Summon Eria the Water Charmer! I can take control of a WATER monster you control! I choose Magnetic Current Link Dragon!"

"I mean, you should expect that I already had a contingency plan," Yuno said. "I'll activate the Trap Card, Marincess Circulation. By returning a WATER Link Monster I control to the Extra Deck, I can Special Summon a "Marincess" Link Monster with the same Link Rating from my Extra Deck, but it must have a different name from the monster I return to the Extra Deck. Also, this is treated as a Link Summon!" He smirked. "I return Magnetic Current Link Dragon to the Extra Deck, so your effect misfires! Circuit Combine! Link Summon! Link 3! Lovely sea idol arriving for the finale of the performance! Marincess Marbled Rock!"

The woman with dark blue hair appeared, her urchin-like scarf standing out sharply as she smiled contentedly.

[Marincess Marbled Rock (L3/2500/WATER/Cyberse/Link/←, ↓, →)]

"It does misfire, but I'm not done," Hitoda said. "Your ace has a disadvantage against most of my cards, because Link Monsters do not have Levels!"

"True," Yuno said. "But you've never seen what my Field Spell can do." Two blue orbs formed around Marbled Rock. "I can equip up to three "Marincess" Link Monsters from my graveyard to her when she is Link Summoned, and she gains 600 attack points for each one. And she also gains 200 attack points, since my Field Spell grants all "Marincess" monsters in general a boost as well!" Marbled Rock held out her hands, gathering the two blue orbs into her arms and powering up.

[Marincess Marbled Rock: 2500 + 600 x 2 + 200 = 3900ATK]

"... then I know exactly what to do to defeat you," Hitoda said. "I will Normal Summon Familiar-Possessed - Hiita!" The red-haired girl appeared on Hitoda's field, and Yuno chuckled nervously—he already knew why that monster had been brought out.

[Familiar-Possessed - Hiita (4*/1850/1500/FIRE/Spellcaster/Effect)]

"I will draw a card with the effect of Awakening of the Possessed," Hitoda said offhandedly, "and send Eria and Hiita from my field to Special Summon Awakening of the Possessed - Greater Inari Fire from my deck!" The infamous fire fox appeared in front of her, breathing out fire onto the field.

[Awakening of the Possessed - Greater Inari Fire (5*/2000/200/FIRE/Pyro/Effect)]

"And with its effect, I will target Marbled Rock and inflict damage to you, equal to its original attack points!" Flames shot towards Yuno, bathing him in them and burning away his life points.

Yuno: 4000 - 2500 = 1500LP

"Sugisaki!" Yuya stood up, calling out to him. "Why not go for the Action Cards?"

Yuno smiled sheepishly, turning back to look at them and shrugging. "Forgot that they existed!" He responded. "And besides, if Hitoda's not doing it, I'm not doing it either."

"You know why," Hitoda responded. "This is what we're used to."

Yuno dipped his head, grinning. "You're not wrong about that."

Hitoda glanced at his field. "You've never brought out this Link 3 monster either," she said. "You've been holding out on the whole world, Yuno Sugisaki." She set two more cards facedown. "Attacking my own monster isn't something I want to do, so I'll end my turn with two set cards. Gagigobyte returns to my field." The blue lizard slunk back over to her field. "And both my monsters gain 300 attack points for each Attribute on the field!"

[Awakening of the Possessed - Gagigobyte: 2000 + 300 x 2 = 2600ATK]

[Awakening of the Possessed - Greater Inari Fire: 2000 + 300 x 2 = 2600ATK]

"Nice," Yuno said. "My turn then!"

[Turn 4: Yuno] [H:3]

"Draw," Yuno said.

"Trap Card, activate!" Hitoda called. "Spiritual Fire Art - Kurenai! I will tribute Greater Inari Fire and inflict damage to you equal to its attack points!"

Yuno chuckled. "Trap Card, Damage Diet," he said. "I'll halve all damage this turn!" More flames blasted over him, but he wasn't defeated.

Yuno: 1500 - 2000 / 2 = 500LP

"Good job," Hitoda said. "Since Greater Inari Fire was sent to the graveyard, I will add a "Possessed" Spell or Trap from my deck to my hand."

"I'll use the effect of Marincess Sea Horse in my graveyard," Yuno continued. "I'll banish her and Special Summon a WATER monster from my hand to the Link Marker of a "Marincess" Link Monster I control! Come—Marincess Crown Tail!" The dark-haired woman with red fins and a red skirt appeared, floating behind Marbled Rock.

[Marincess Crown Tail (5*/600/2300/WATER/Cyberse/Effect)]

"I'll activate the effect of Marincess Marbled Rock," Yuno said. "I can add a "Marincess" card from my graveyard to my hand." He pressed a card down. "I'll Normal Summon Marincess Springirl." A young mermaid with blue hair appeared, her hair going from dark blue to sky blue along a spectrum. She was wearing a blue dress, and there were blue fins behind her, long and flowing beautifully.

[Marincess Springirl (4*/1200/1000/WATER/Cyberse/Effect)]

"I'll open the circuit again," Yuno said. "Arrowhead confirmed! The conditions are two WATER monsters! I will set Marincess Springirl and Marincess Crown Tail in the Link Markers! Appear now, colourful idol of the reef! Circuit Combine! Link Summon! Link 2! Marincess Coral Anemone!" An orange-haired woman appeared in front of him, in the zone right behind Marbled Rock.

[Marincess Coral Anemone (L2/2000/WATER/Cyberse/Link/Effect/←, ↓)]

"Springirl's effect," Yuno continued. "Since she was used as material for a WATER monster's Link Summon, for each "Marincess" monster I control, I will send a card from the top of my deck to the graveyard." Yuno flipped over two cards from his deck. "Since they're both "Marincess" cards, I will inflict 200 damage to you for each "Marincess" card sent to the graveyard by this effect!" Water splashed forward, right onto Hitoda.

Hitoda: 5650 - 200 x 2 = 5250LP

"Coral Anemone's effect," Yuno said cheerfully. "I can revive a WATER monster with 1500 or less attack points, but I can't Special Summon monsters this turn, except WATER monsters." He laughed. "Not that it matters if I can't! I'll revive Springirl to my field. And Springirl and Coral Anemone gain 200 attack points with Battle Ocean!"

[Marincess Springirl: 1200 + 200 = 1400ATK]

[Marincess Coral Anemone: 2000 + 200 = 2200ATK]

"Attack Gagigobyte, Marbled Rock! And since you only control one Attribute, Gagigobyte's attack points have fallen!"

[Awakening of the Possessed - Gagigobyte: 2600 - 2300ATK]

Marbled Rock crushed the lizard with bubbles, and Hitoda's life points fell again.

Hitoda: 5250 - 1600 = 3650LP

"Gagigobyte adds a "Spiritual Water Art" or "Possessed" Spell or Trap from my deck to my hand. I'll use the effect of Unpossessed!" Hitoda called. "I'll Special Summon a Spellcaster monster with 1500 defense points and a different Attribute from my deck!"

"Yup," Yuno said. "But you can't Special Summon Eria with that effect, and she's the only Charmer that affects me!"

"... true. I'll Special Summon Lyna the Light Charmer in facedown Defense Position!" The white-haired girl appeared on the field, before shyly vanishing and turning into a set card.

[Lyna the Light Charmer (3*/500/1500/LIGHT/Spellcaster/Effect)]

"Coral Anemone will attack and flip her up for good measure." The orange-haired girl attacked, and while Lyna wasn't destroyed due to the effect of Unpossessed, she was still clearly rattled. "I'll set a card and end my turn," Yuno declared.

[Turn 5: Hitoda] [H:5]

"Draw." Hitoda glanced at him, and then she sighed. "Damn. If I drew a card that could burn your life points, we could end this right now."

"How unfortunate for you," Yuno teased.

"Easy on the coyness, or your not-girlfriend is going to get jealous," Hitoda said, and Yuno sputtered. "Oh, come on, you're not fooling anyone." She placed another card down. "I will Special Summon Ranryu from my hand!" A small green dragon appeared, floating on the field next to Lyna.

[Ranryu (4*/1500/200/WIND/Dragon/Effect)]

"I'll send Ranryu and Lyna to the graveyard. From the deck, come—Awakening of the Possessed - Rasenryu!"

Just like before, the evolved form of Ranryu appeared, a ferocious-looking green dragon that crashed onto the ground, serpent-like sweeping up the Solid Vision leaves all around them.

[Awakening of the Possessed - Rasenryu (5*/2000/200/WIND/Dragon/Effect)]

"When Rasenryu is Special Summoned by its own effect, I can return a card you control to the hand," Hitoda declared. "This does not target. I will choose Marincess Marbled Rock!" Marbled Rock was swept off Yuno's field, and the two equipped Link Monsters fell into the graveyard. "I'll Normal Summon Familiar-Possessed - Aussa!" The brown-haired girl appeared, nervously adjusting her glasses.

[Familiar-Possessed - Aussa (4*/1850/1500/EARTH/Spellcaster/Effect)]

"I will draw a card with the effect of Awakening of the Possessed." Hitoda snapped her fingers. "My monsters gain 300 attack points for every Attribute I control."

[Familiar-Possessed - Aussa: 1850 + 300 x 2 = 2450ATK]

[Awakening of the Possessed - Rasenryu: 2000 + 300 x 2 = 2600ATK]

"And when a "Familiar-Possessed" monster attacks while you control Unpossessed," Yuno muttered, "it gains 800 attack points."

"Correct." Hitoda pointed forward. "Link Monsters forfeit the right to defend! Attack Marincess Coral Anemone, Aussa! Wipe out his life points!"

[Familiar-Possessed - Aussa: 2450 + 800 = 3250ATK]

Aussa charged towards Coral Anemone, and Yuno flipped up his set card. "Counter Trap, Negate Attack. I will negate your attack and end the Battle Phase!"

"... sure," Hitoda said. "Let's see what you can do!"

"I know exactly what I want to do!" Yuno responded. "The road is already open for me." He swiped up the top card of his deck.

[Turn 6: Yuno] [H:2]

"... did you get it?" Hitoda asked.

Yuno smiled. "It didn't matter what I drew," he said, impishly winking. "Because I already had the key to victory in my hand! Spell Card, Marincess Dive! I will Special Summon a "Marincess" monster from my deck! —Marincess Blue Tang!" A blue-haired girl appeared, her skirt flaring out around her as she smiled.

[Marincess Blue Tang (4*/1500/1200/WATER/Cyberse/Effect)]

"I will send a "Marincess" monster from my deck to the graveyard with Blue Tang's effect. Open again, circuit," he said. "Arrowhead confirmed. The conditions are two or more WATER monsters. I'll set Marincess Coral Anemone and Marincess Blue Tang in the Link Markers. Circuit Combine! Link Summon! Link 3! Lovely sea idol arriving for the finale of the performance! Marincess Marbled Rock!"

The woman with dark blue hair appeared, her urchin-like scarf standing out sharply as she smiled contentedly.

[Marincess Marbled Rock (L3/2500/WATER/Cyberse/Link/←, ↓, →)]

"I will activate Marincess Battle Ocean's effect," Yuno continued. "I will equip Marincess Coral Anemone, Marincess Blue Slug and Marincess Sea Angel to her!"

[Marincess Marbled Rock: 2500 + 200 + 600 x 3 = 4500ATK]

"And then, Coral Anemone lets me add another "Marincess" monster from my graveyard to my hand. Blue Tang lets me excavate the top three cards of my deck and add a "Marincess" card from among them to my hand." Yuno swiped up two cards, adding them to his hand. "I will then Normal Summon Marincess Pascalus! And with Pascalus's effect, I will Special Summon Blue Tang from my hand." The blue and pink idols appeared on his field. "And I'll open the circuit of the limitless ocean! Arrowhead confirmed! The conditions are two WATER monsters! I will set Marincess Pascalus and Marincess Springirl in the Link Markers!"

"As usual, your swarming is really good," Hitoda complimented. "Mistar Boy?"

Yuno nodded, grinning.

"Starfish of the sea—Circuit Combine! Link Summon! Link 2! Mistar Boy!" The bright red starfish appeared, floating behind Marbled Rock.

[Mistar Boy (L2/1400/WATER/Aqua/Link/Effect/↙, ↘)]

"And I'll activate Springirl's effect. I control two "Marincess" monsters." Yuno tossed the top two cards of his deck into the graveyard. "Take 400 damage!"

Hitoda: 3650 - 200 x 2 = 3250LP

"All my WATER monsters gain 500 attack points," Yuno said.

[Mistar Boy: 1400 + 500 = 1900ATK]

[Marincess Marbled Rock: 4500 + 500 = 5000ATK]

[Marincess Blue Tang: 1500 + 500 + 200 = 2200ATK]

"5000 attack points," Hitoda said. She sighed. "And we said that you and… her were the ones without high attack points."

Yuno chuckled. "I will have Marbled Rock attack Aussa!" Marbled Rock charged forward, and Hitoda shielded herself as the waves washed over her.

Hitoda: 3250 - 2550 = 700LP

"But your attack points for the rest aren't high enough," Hitoda pointed out. "Even if Rasenryu's attack points fall…"

[Awakening of the Possessed - Rasenryu: 2600 - 300 = 2300ATK]

"Oh, I know." Yuno revealed the last card in his hand. "I'll activate the Trap Card, Marincess Cascade, from my hand. I can activate it from my hand since I control a Link 3 or higher "Marincess" Link Monster. I'll banish as many "Marincess" Link Monsters from my field as I want, and I'll give a monster I control 300 more attack points times the total Link Rating. I will banish Marbled Rock and grant Blue Tang 900 attack points!"

[Marincess Blue Tang: 2200 + 300 x 3 = 3100ATK]

"Oh, that figures," Hitoda said. She facepalmed for a moment, and then she smiled at him warmly. "Well done."

"Thanks," Yuno responded, smiling back. "Attack Rasenryu, Blue Tang!" The blue mermaid shot forward, eliminating the last of Hitoda's life points.

Hitoda: 700 - 800 = 0LP

[Winner: Yuno Sugisaki!]

Yuno saluted. As the Action Field faded, he turned back to You Show's side, winking at them.

He would never lose, not when fighting for something so important to someone else. Because everyone deserved to be happy.

That was what Yuno had always believed.

---

"Exceptional," Himika Akaba said. "I see what you mean now, Reiji-kun—if the third is as strong as those two, they're a fantastic investment."

"Indeed." Reiji folded his arms. "As Lancers… they are by far the most viable candidates that we currently have. The only better candidates would be those that are truly experienced with war."

---

Hiding outside the Duel Field, out of sight, was Reira Akaba, whose eyes had widened at the sight of the odd blue and purple dragon.

So this was the person that Miharu called her 'best friend'?

… why was his ace so… ominous?

The match continued, with the final student, Yaiba, going up against You Show's final representative, Gongenzaka. Reira hid her face again, before sneaking off.

The outcome of the duel didn't matter to her, after all.

---

Outside the LDS court, out of sight of most people, a tall young man with dark green hair watched the duel, looking rather sceptical. Magnetic Current Link Dragon, huh? Why was that oddly similar to his best friend's favourite card?

Enough thinking. He was looking for that teacher that used Fusion, after all. Then, he spotted a girl walking out of LDS. He carefully adjusted himself so that they wouldn't see him, and after a moment, he peeked his head out again—

Only to come face to face with the girl.

The girl was wearing a face mask that covered the bottom half of her face, and she made eye contact with him, even though he was wearing goggles.

"... I'm not from Standard either," she said.

… that was immediately a bombshell, and he was on edge. "How did you know that I was here?"

"I detected a duel disk on its own out here, with duel data that belongs to coordinates that don't exist in this world." The girl looked away. "I'm a refugee from the Link Dimension. Where are you from?"

The young man tensed up. He didn't trust her—

"Do you need help?"

He froze in place for a moment. "How do I know if you're actually telling the truth, and not just a spy?" He hissed.

The girl cleared her throat, speaking up very quietly. "... the Fusion Dimension made my own home reject me," she said. "My best friend and I fled our dimension and came here." She took out her Extra Deck, turning it around and revealing that it was full of dark blue cards with a strange format. "I don't even know what a Fusion Monster looks like. I just… want to stop them."

He stared at her. "... take off your mask," he said tensely. "Then, maybe I'll trust you."

The girl stared at him. "Take off your goggles," she responded.

"Fine."

She pulled off the face mask, and he took off the goggles, leaning his head away to untangle the goggles, before looking back—

The goggles dropped from his shaking hands.

"... Ruri?" Shun Kurosaki asked, sounding aghast.

The girl with his sister's face looked at him, and then she sighed.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I'm not who you're looking for."

---

Duel 1 Summary: Mion Myojin vs Sora Shiun'in

Duel Format: Action Duel

Turn 1: Sora Shiun'in

Sora Normal Summons Fluffal Leo. (4*/1600/1200) He Special Summons Fluffal Sheep (2*/400/800) from his hand. He sets 2 cards and ends his turn.

Turn 2: Mion Myojin

(Note: For simplicity's sake, at the end of every turn, the Spell Counters on every card will be placed there, instead of highlighting every time Spell Counters change. Otherwise, this summary will be 90% brackets.)

Mion draws. She Normal Summons Royal Magical Library (4*/0/2000) from her hand, who gains a Spell Counter when a card is activated. She activates the Magical Citadel of Endymion, which gains 1 Spell Counter when a Spell Card is activated. Mion activates Spellbook of Secrets, adding a "Spellbook" card to her hand. She adds Spellbook of Knowledge to her hand and activates it, sending a "Spellbook" card from her hand to the graveyard to draw 2 cards. She activates the effect of Royal Magical Library, removing its 3 Spell Counters to draw 1 card. She activates the Quickplay Spell, Mythical Bestiary. She sent two cards from the top of her deck to the graveyard to place 2 Spell Counters on Royal Magical Library. She then removes 3 Spell Counters from Royal Magical Library to draw 1 card. She removes 3 Spell Counters from Magical Citadel of Endymion as the cost for Royal Magical Library, to draw another card. She sends a Spellcaster monster from her hand to the graveyard to Special Summon Crowley, the Magistus of Grimoires (4*/1800/1000) from her hand. She then activates Magic Gate of Miracles, taking control of Fluffal Leo. She activates the Action Card - Mirrored Madness to have Leo become a Spellcaster monster. She overlays Leo, Royal Magical Library and Crowley to Xyz Summon Alchemic Magician. (R4/1500/1500/OU:3) Alchemic Magician gains 200ATK for every Spell in the GY. (AM: 1500 + 200 x 7 = 2900ATK) Alchemic Magician attacks Fluffal Sheep. Sora activates the Action Card, Damage Banish, reducing battle damage to 0. He then activates Fluffal Crane, returning a "Fluffal" monster that was destroyed to the hand. Mion sets a card and ends her turn. Alchemic Magician's effect lets her detach an Overlay Unit to send a card from her hand to the graveyard and set Forbidden Chalice from her Deck to the field. (AM: 2900 + 200 = 3100ATK; OU:3 - OU:2)

- Magical Citadel of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 3

Turn 3: Sora Shiun'in

Sora draws. Mion activates the set card, Mythical Bestiamorph, which gains 1 Spell Counter when the opponent activates a Trap effect. Sora activates the Spell Card, Fusion Conscription, adding Fluffal Leo to his hand. He activates Polymerization, fusing Fluffal Leo and Edge Imp Saw (3*/500/1000) in his hand, Fusion Summoning Frightfur Leo (7*/2400/2000) in Attack Position. Frightfur Leo's effect targets Alchemic Magician. Mion activates her set Forbidden Chalice, targeting and negating the effects of Frightfur Leo, while also increasing its ATK by 400. (FL: 2400 + 400 = 2800ATK) (AM: 3100 + 200 = 3300ATK) Sora activates Action Card, Bi-Attack, doubling Frightfur Leo's ATK. (FL: 2800 x 2 = 5600ATK) He has Leo attack Alchemic Magician. Mion activates Action Card, Miracle, halving damage and preventing Alchemic Magician's destruction. (AM: 3300 + 200 = 3500ATK) [MM: 4000 - 1050 = 2950LP] Sora ends his turn.

- Magical Citadel of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 8

- Mythical Bestiamorph: Spell Counter(s): 1

Turn 4: Mion Myojin

Mion draws. She removes 6 Spell Counters from Magical Citadel of Endymion to Special Summon Endymion the Master Magician (7*/2700/1700) from her hand in Attack Position. With Endymion's effect, she adds Magic Gate of Miracles back to her hand and activates it, taking control of Frightfur Leo and changing it to Defense Position. Alchemic Magician attacks Sora directly. Sora activates the Action Magic, Quick Guard, changing Alchemic Magician to Defense Position. Endymion the Master Magician attacks Sora directly. [SS: 4000 - 2700 = 1300LP] During the Main Phase 2, Mion changes Alchemic Magician to Attack Position. She discards an Action Spell to destroy Sora's set card. (AM: 3500 + 200 = 3700ATK) She ends her turn, discarding a card and detaching one of Alchemic Magician's Overlay Units to set another Spell to her field. (AM: 3700 + 200 = 3900ATK; OU:2 - OU:1)

- Magical Citadel of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 4

- Mythical Bestiamorph: Spell Counter(s): 1

Turn 5: Sora Shiun'in

Sora draws. He activates De-Fusion, sending Frightfur Leo back to his Extra Deck and reviving Fluffal Leo and Edge Imp Saw. He activates Polymerization, fusing Leo and Saw to Fusion Summon Frightfur Leo again. He activates Frightfur Leo's effect, targeting Alchemic Magician to destroy it and inflict damage to Mion equal to its original attack points. Mion activates her set Magical Dimension, tributing Alchemic Magician to Special Summon a Spellcaster from her hand, circumventing Frightfur Leo's effect. She Special Summons Night's End Sorcerer. (2*/1300/400) She then activates the second part of Magical Dimension's effect, destroying Frightfur Leo. With Night's End Sorcerer's effect, she banishes Polymerization and Frightfur Leo from Sora's GY. Sora sets 1 card and ends his turn.

- Magical Citadel of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 6

- Mythical Bestiamorph: Spell Counter(s): 2

Turn 6: Mion Myojin

Mion draws. Sora activates Call of the Haunted to revive Fluffal Leo. Mion Normal Summons Mythical Beast Cerberus. (4*/1400/1400) She tunes the Level 2 Night's End Sorcerer to the Level 4 Mythical Beast Cerberus, Synchro Summoning Tempest Magician. (6*/2200/1400) Using its effect, she removes all Spell Counters from the field to inflict 500 damage for each one. [SS: 1300 - 4000 = 0LP] Mion wins.

---

Duel 2 Summary: Hitoda Makishima vs Yuno Sugisaki

Format: Action Duel

Turn 1: Hitoda Makishima

Hitoda activates the Continuous Spell, Awakening of the Possessed. She Normal Summons Familiar-Possessed - Wynn (4*/1850/1500) in Attack Position. With the effect of Awakening of the Possessed, she draws 1 card. She then Special Summons Jigabyte (4*/1500/200) from her hand, since she controls a Spellcaster monster. Then, by sending both Wynn and Jigabyte to the GY, she Special Summons Awakening of the Possessed - Gagigobyte (5*/2000/200) from her Deck in Attack Position. With the effect of Gagigobyte, she forces Yuno to discard 1 card, and then, she and Yuno both draw 1 card. Hitoda sets 2 cards facedown and ends her turn.

Turn 2: Yuno Sugisaki

Yuno draws. Yuno Normal Summons Marincess Pascalus (4*/1200/2000) from his hand. With its effect, he Special Summons Marincess Sea Horse (3*/1400/1000) from his hand. Using Sea Horse, he Link Summons Marincess Blue Slug (L1/1500/↓) to the Extra Monster Zone. Using the effect of Blue Slug, he adds Marincess Sea Horse back to his hand. Using Pascalus, he Link Summons Marincess Sea Angel (L1/1000/←) to the Link Marker behind Blue Slug. Then, he adds the Field Spell, Marincess Battle Ocean, to his hand and activates it. He then Special Summons Marincess Sea Horse from his hand to Sea Angel's Link Marker. Using Sea Angel, Blue Slug and Sea Horse, he Link Summons Magnetic Current Link Dragon (L3/2500/←, ↓, →) to the Extra Monster Zone. With the effect of Magnetic Current Link Dragon, he takes control of Gagigobyte and grants Hitoda LP equal to its ATK. [HM: 4000 + 2000 = 6000LP] Magnetic Current attacks directly. Hitoda activates her set card, Possessed Partnerships, reviving Wynn in Attack Position. With Awakening of the Possessed's effect, she draws 1 card. And she activates her other set card, the Continuous Trap, Unpossessed. The attack continues. For every Attribute Hitoda controls, her monsters' ATK increases by 300. (FPW: 1850 + 300 = 2150ATK) Wynn is destroyed. [HM: 6000 - 350 = 5650LP] With the effect of Unpossessed, Hitoda Special Summons Eria the Water Charmer (3*/500/1500) in facedown Defense Position. Yuno sets 2 cards facedown and ends his turn.

Turn 3: Hitoda Makishima

Hitoda draws. She Flip Summons Eria the Water Charmer, using its effect to target Magnetic Current Link Dragon. Yuno activates the Trap Card, Marincess Circulation, sending Magnetic Current back to the Extra Deck, allowing it to avoid the effect. Then, he Special Summons a "Marincess" Link Monster with the same Link Rating from his Extra Deck. He Special Summons Marincess Marbled Rock (L3/2500/←, ↓, →) from his Extra Deck. Marincess Marbled Rock is equipped with Blue Slug and Coral Anemone by the effect of Marincess Battle Ocean. Her ATK increases as a result. (MMR: 2500 + 600 x 2 + 200 = 3900ATK) Hitoda Normal Summons Familiar-Possessed - Hiita (4*/1850/1500) from her hand, drawing a card with the effect of Awakening of the Possessed. Then, she sends Hiita and Eria to the GY to Special Summon Awakening of the Possessed - Greater Inari Fire (5*/2000/200) from her Deck. She uses its effect to inflict damage to Yuno, equal to Marbled Rock's original ATK. [YS: 4000 - 2500 = 1500LP] Hitoda sets two cards facedown. During the End Phase, Gagigobyte returns to her field. (AOTPG: 2000 + 300 x 2 = 2600ATK) (AOTPGIF: 2000 + 300 x 2 = 2600ATK)

Turn 4: Yuno Sugisaki

Yuno draws. Hitoda activates the Trap Card, Spiritual Fire Art - Kurenai. She tributes Greater Inari Fire to inflict its ATK as damage to Yuno. Yuno activates Damage Diet, halving all damage he takes this turn. [YS: 1500 - 1000 = 500LP] Hitoda adds a "Possessed" Spell/Trap to her hand. Yuno banishes Marincess Sea Horse from the GY to Special Summon Marincess Crown Tail (5*/600/2300) from his hand to Marbled Rock's Link Marker. He then Normal Summons Marincess Springirl. (4*/1200/1000) With Springirl and Crown Tail, he Link Summons Marincess Coral Anemone. (L2/2000/←, ↓) Using Springirl's effect, he sends 2 cards from the top of his Deck to the GY. Since they are both "Marincess" cards, he inflicts 400 damage to Hitoda. [HM: 5650 - 400 = 5250LP] Using Coral Anemone's effect, Yuno revives Springirl. With Battle Ocean, "Marincess" monsters he controls gain 200ATK. (MCA: 2000 + 200 = 2200ATK) (MS: 1200 + 200 = 1400ATK) Marbled Rock attacks and destroys Gagigobyte. [HM: 5250 - 1600 = 3650LP] Hitoda adds a "Possessed" Spell/Trap to her hand. With the effect of Unpossessed, she Special Summons Lyna the Light Charmer (3*/500/1500) in facedown Defense Position. Corla Anemone attacks it, flipping it face-up. Yuno sets 1 card and ends his turn.

Turn 5: Hitoda Makishima

Hitoda draws. She Special Summons Ranryu (4*/1500/200) from her hand. Then, she sends Ranryu and Lyna to the GY to Special Summon Awakening of the Possessed - Rasenryu (5*/2000/200) from her Deck in Attack its effect, she returns Marbled Rock to Yuno's Extra Deck. Then, she Normal Summons Familiar-Possessed - Aussa. (4*/1850/1500) With Awakening of the Possessed's effect, she draws 1 card. With Awakening of the Possessed, Rasenryu and Aussa's ATK increases. (AOTPR: 2000 + 300 x 2 = 2600ATK) (FPA: 1850 + 300 x 2 = 2450ATK) Aussa attacks. Yuno activates Negate Attack, ending the Battle Phase. Hitoda ends her turn.

Turn 6: Yuno Sugisaki

Yuno draws. He activates Marincess Dive, Special Summoning Marincess Blue Tang (4*/1500/1200) from his Deck. Using Blue Tang's effect, he sends a "Marincess" monster to the GY. Using Coral Anemone and Blue Tang, he Link Summons Marbled Rock. Using Coral Anemone's effect, he adds another "Marincess" monster from his GY to his hand. Using Marbled Rock's effect, he adds a "Marincess" card from his GY to his hand. He Normal Summons Pascalus, and uses its effect to Special Summon Blue Tang from his hand. Then, using Pascalus and Springirl, he Link Summons Mistar Boy. (L2/1400/↙, ↘) Springirl's effect sends 2 cards from the top of his Deck to the GY and inflicts 400 damage. [HM: 3650 - 400 = 3250LP] A lot of complicated math happens. (MMR: 4500 + 500 = 5000ATK) (MBT: 1500 + 500 + 200 = 2200ATK) (MB: 1400 + 500 = 1900ATK) Marbled Rock attacks and destroys Aussa. [HM: 3250 - 2550 = 700LP] Yuno activates Marincess Cascade, banishing Marbled Rock to give Blue Tang 300ATK times its Link Rating. Rasenryu's ATK decreases. (MBT: 2200 + 900 = 3100ATK) (AOTPR: 2600 - 2300ATK) Blue Tang attacks and destroys Rasenryu. [HM: 700 - 900 = 0LP] Yuno wins.

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OC Cards:

Action Card - Mirrored Madness

(Spell/Action)

Target 2 monsters you control with different Types; choose 1 of the 2 monsters, and if you do, both monsters become that Type until the End Phase.

Magnetic Current Link Dragon

(L3/2500/WATER/Dragon/Link/Effect/←, ↓, →)

3 monsters with different names, including a Link Monster

Once per turn: You can target 1 Level 5 or higher monster your opponent controls; negate its effects, then, place that opponent's monster in a Main Monster Zone this card points to and take control of it until your opponent's next End Phase, and if you do, your opponent gains LP equal to the original ATK of the targeted monster. If this card is sent to the GY: You can Set 1 Trap from your GY to your field. It can be activated this turn.

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Different Card Effects from TCG:

Pretty much all the cards Sora uses in this chapter are the anime effects, since I tried my best not to use TCG-exclusive cards for his first duel.

All the Action Cards. Bi-Attack takes its Japanese name because that's more recognisable.

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End Notes:

I do not apologise for the 'summoned a bunch of monsters in one turn' joke. :) The title probably fooled some people into thinking that Yuno was going to get Pendulum Monsters, but nope! It's a reference to Yuno meeting Yuya, who is literally his soul's Pendulum—*gets hit with tomatoes*

The fact that Yuya adding Stargazer and Timegazer to his hand allowed them to catch Yuzu and the kids was a small, odd inconsistency to me—him adding the two monsters to his hand was technically removing them from the field, so they should have vanished. So I decided to give Yuno the chance to meet Yuya here, though Yuya doesn't know that they share the same face yet. This is actually one of the reasons I wanted to make VRAINS an AR system as well, the equivalent that the Link Dimension has to Solid Vision—that way, it's more realistic that Miharu is able to link the two systems together in Standard and allow them to use their AR avatars and Duel Boards here.

I don't like Sawatari in the way that some other writers on the site do, but I am attempting to humanise him. I like the portrayal of him as having a severe inferiority complex in relation to the other Lancers that some fics do. He'll never be like a super important main character the way that the counterparts are, but I do want to give him some level of character development. Also, there's him having Mion as an older sibling who is looked upon by his father with derision, but that he knows is actually stronger than him, which is not helping his inferiority complex. Mion, however, isn't a vector for the development of Sawatari—she is entirely a character on her own.

And now that I have Mion here, I can talk about the five non-counterpart OCs. (It's actually six, but the sixth one won't be showing up for a while.) The primary reason for their existence is because I wanted there to be a somewhat gender-equal cast. So yes, female character rights. I understand concerns about bloated casts—believe me, I'm absolutely terrified of that too. *deep breath* I'll try my best. The secondary reason is plot. *whistles*

Yuno and Yuya bonding over the idea of dueling to make others smile is something that I planned from the start. Like, come on, the moment I came up with Yuno's character, I knew this had to be the case. I do like Yuya's character, and I do think that the two of them interacting with each other will help both of them to grow as characters. Hope you guys enjoyed the character interactions in the previous chapter and this one. Miharu and Yuzu didn't get as much time to interact, since in canon, Yuzu is currently losing her mind in confusion over Yuto, and Miharu is very withdrawn, but that small interaction is still something I enjoyed writing.

Also, Sora losing his shit when he realises that Yuno is Boundless Sea is one of the funniest moments I have ever written in this story. It certainly helps that Yuno is completely oblivious to it all. Also, with regards to Sora, I'm just going to use anime effects for all his cards, purely because he has too many duels that would go very differently if he had access to the insane card advantage of Fluffals. It was a difficult choice, because I've played Fluffals more than I've played Predaplants, Odd-Eyes, etc, so I keep making mistakes with writing duels. Still though, hope this worked out well!

*glances back at the chapter* To be honest, using anime effects made this duel difficult to write in so many ways, but the one way that it made it easier was that Sora losing to Mion suddenly became a far more justified outcome. I'm going to quickly explain Mion's deck. So, I know that some people don't like decks with more than one archetype. And when I first came up with Mion's character, her deck was just Spell Counters. However, I realised that there weren't a lot of Spell Counter cards that were of other summoning methods. Furthermore, I specifically gave her a Pendulum Spell Counter deck, which meant that I couldn't have her duel until a logical point in the timeline where Pendulum cards had been made. (Mion was an OC made for that same fic which I mentioned when I first introduced Nue.) However, if I just introduced a character without having them duel yet, and they got Pendulum cards immediately, it would feel a little too much like a Mary Sue, especially since she's not a main character. Plus, I had already established her as LDS's top student after Reira. So therefore, I finally settled on this for now—I gave her a few Spellcasters that can Special Summon themselves and are sufficiently generic, to speed up her deck a little before it is canonically possible to give her the deck I intended for her. *puts hands together* That's the reasoning! Sorry if you don't like it. Promise that if you don't like this deck, you won't have to see it again.

The reasoning behind a Spell Counter deck for a Standard character is because of Action Card abuse in Standard. Essentially, if her opponent keeps playing Action Cards, as shown in this chapter, Mion benefits quite a bit. :) Which is, of course, another way to force the characters in Standard to grow to rely on their own cards.

In the first draft of this duel (this is the fourth draft), Mion absolutely obliterated Sora with Tempest Magician, but ultimately, I think we all prefer duels with a greater sense of back and forth than that. I'm going to be real, she still obliterates Sora here, but it was definitely a struggle in terms of power scaling. Also, the name Mion was created before I gave her the Endymion deck, but the fact that the letters are the same makes me laugh every time I see it. I debated just waiting until a later arc to give Mion Tempest Magician, but I figured that it would be better to give it to her in Standard, since Action Cards do exist, and thus she won't just wipe out everyone. I do like Sora's interactions with Yuzu after the duel.

Anyway, I'm sure that there's nothing to worry about in the last scene.

In terms of T.V. 2000's question on how Miharu recognised that Reira was a girl—I think that Reira actually looks relatively androgynous. Reira didn't tell Miharu that she was a girl or a boy, so Miharu, due to how similar she feels that the two of them are, automatically assumed that she was a girl. She hasn't mentioned that to anyone though, not even Yuno. I'm not quite sure who you're asking about when you mention 'meeting Yuno'. Yes, Miharu and Yuno are participating in the Maiami Championship. As for the Kyorin question, considering that she's going to become a Lancer—which I don't think is a spoiler—yes, they will most certainly meet.

Thanks for reading! This is a rather long author's note, but in my defence, just look at the chapter. It's a long chapter before I've even started editing it and adding in the duel summaries, and long before I've even posted Chapter 8. I originally had some OC cards that extended the duel between Yuno and Hitoda more, but ultimately, it felt unnecessary. The duels will get longer over time, but for now, we're cruising :D