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?

16. Chapter 16: Cry of War

Starting Notes:

Welcome back! We're getting right into the Maiami Championship this chapter, so enjoy! ;) In this chapter, we do some set-up and character interactions stuff. I don't have much to say here—let's get on with it.

---

Chapter 16: Cry of War

In the Fusion Dimension:

"To conclude." The words echoed through the throne room. "There will be nine Obelisk Force students sent to the Standard Dimension to retrieve Serena, along with Honor Students Shino Gitsune and Sora Shiun'in. Honor Student Yuri and his partner will also be dispatched to the Standard Dimension, to carry out certain top-secret objectives. Ensure that you do not blow the cover of our agent, Dennis Mackfield."

"Yes, sir!" The Obelisk Force saluted, while the Honor Students simply nodded in respectful acknowledgement. The Obelisk Force members were sent off to prepare, while most of the Honor Students stayed behind.

"I can see that you all want to ask questions."

Shino raised a hand, leaning on the side of her wheelchair. "You mentioned that Sora's job was to deal with the Xyz remnants hiding in Standard earlier," she said. "Sora is certainly strong enough to handle them himself." Sora beamed, his smile widening into something that others would have found disturbing, but Shino found charming. "And obviously, the Obelisk Force are suitably prepared to face against Serena. So, am I just supervising?"

"From Sora Shiun'in's memories, the city seems to be rather packed," Leo said. "You're a useful agent, Gitsune-san. I would prefer for you to stand by and step in if there is too much resistance, to ensure that the targets are isolated. I believe that's the best way to make use of your abilities, while still not requiring high mobility."

Shino grinned. "I'll certainly do what I can then. Besides, my cousin mentioned someone that defeated him, and I really want to put them through their paces!"

"As long as you do not get distracted." Leo turned to the rest. "And for the rest of you?"

"This is supposed to be a covert operation, right?" Yuri was the one to speak up this time. "Sorry, but the Obelisk Force are not typically… stealthy."

"It is my belief that at the very least, from Barrett's report, Serena will be searching for the Xyz remnants. To eradicate them will already require losing any semblance of stealth. That is why I put the Obelisk Force and Shiun'in-kun in charge of both of those duties—they will coincide. You two will be in charge of the covert operation, along with Dennis."

The hooded boy next to Yuri scoffed. Yuri chuckled, turning over.

"Getting cold feet, Yuji-kun?"

"I'm returning to my room," the Ritual user said tensely, turning away from Yuri deliberately. "Come and call me when it's time to go." Shino saw Yuri's face fall for a moment—a flicker of irritation. Interesting! Was he actually trying to get along with his Ritual counterpart? Pigs could fly, and Yuri could try to make friends, huh? (He probably didn't view it that way, but it was still progress, and Shino was rather proud of that.)

"If there is nothing else, you're all dismissed."

The three Honor Students left the throne room. Shino moved next to Yuri, who didn't bother to slow down his walking speed for her, which Shino appreciated very much. This was a top-of-the-line wheelchair, thank you. It could go as fast as a brisk jog.

"Are my eyes deceiving me, or were you trying to make friends, Yuri?" Shino teased. Yuri let out an annoyed sound.

"If you're just here to mess with me, Shino, I'm going to kick your wheelchair." There were several gasps from students that were passing them in the corridor. Shino laughed. It was a horribly inappropriate threat, especially in the context of their history, but there was no venom to it—just Yuri being an asshole, as per normal.

"Hey, hey! Take it from your elder—your social skills are crap."

"You're literally only a year older than me." Yuri deadpanned.

"Still older than you." She reached up, patting his shoulder. "So! Before we go to Standard, allow your senior to give you some advice. It's fine to joke with someone in an attempt to make friends with them—but not if you made the worst first impression known to mankind."

Yuri bit his lip, for once breaking the smiling but annoyed facade. "I was following orders," he said. "And how do you even know…"

Well, Shino was technically blackmailing Yuji Fujita, and she had exchanged a few cursory conversations with Chiaki Katsuya when she visited the Tower for fun. She knew enough.

"Perhaps if you think someone is enough like you, to the point that you want to get along with them, you need to be honest for once," Shino continued blithely. "Then, you can go back to insincerity afterwards. I mean, you already fucked up your relationship with your best friend beyond repair, so you can't mess this up any more than you messed that up." Next to them, Sora choked on the lollipop that was in his mouth, shooting Shino an incredulous look. "Or you can choose to continue on the way that you are. No shame in that. I'll just judge you."

"... you are too much like Ryo-senpai," Yuri muttered.

"Heh. Our teacher, you mean?" Shino winked. "Well, I certainly have to be. Think about it though, Yuri." She waved, before she turned to head towards the cafeteria, while Yuri continued towards the garden, keeping an uncaring look on his face.

Sora followed Shino hurriedly. "I'll never understand how you can get along with him."

"Oh?" Shino chuckled. "You're holding old grudges, Sora. He and I share the same teacher, really… no reason to fight now."

Sora eyed her, not saying what was truly on his mind. He knew that Shino didn't view it in the same way as him, after all.

It's not old history at all, Shino.

After all…

He glanced at Shino's missing leg, still unable to stop thinking of that bloody sight back then.

He's the one who did that to you.

And that's why, no matter what, I cannot ever forgive him.

I don't understand you…

Why do you always look so… sad, when you look at him?

---

In the Standard Dimension:

As Reiji Akaba continued talking, Yuno fidgeted, standing still. He glanced at the screens that were displaying the duelists that had made it this far in the tournament. Obviously, Yuya, Yuzu and Gongenzaka were there. Kurosaki and Nue were also there, listed under LDS, along with Yuno, Miharu, Mion and Kyorin. There were also three transfer students from other branches of LDS, Dennis, Olga and Halil. There were two brothers from Fuuma Duel School, Tsukikage Fuuma and Hikage Fuuma. Lastly, there were two other contestants named Michio Mokota and Teppei Tairyobata. Yuno saw Yuya exchanging some enthusiastic conversation with Michio—clearly, the two of them knew each other, which was nice. A lot better than Yuya's previous conversations with his opponents in this tournament.

(Yuno was still upset with Isao Kachidoki, even if Yuya had won against him with Yuto's dragon.)

Oh. Reiji was saying to go, huh?

Well, he really had to pay more attention—

Miharu's hand pressed warmly against his shoulder as they walked out of the gate. It was comforting.

"Guess we're not sticking together?"

"We cover more ground," Miharu said. "We have to collect those Pendulumstatue cards to duel… and well, it's likely that they're spread out quite a bit. Sticking together will make things take longer."

"Well, it's not like you're interested in dueling."

"True." Miharu met his gaze. He could see the small smile on her face through the mask. "... but you are, aren't you?"

"You know me too well." He winked. "So we get the cards, and then we find each other?"

"... yeah. I'll always know where to find you."

"... aww, that was kind of sweet of you—"

"I didn't mean—" Miharu sighed, letting go of him and facepalming. "I have a tracking program in your duel disk, remember?"

… right.

"You're too paranoid." The initial reason why Miharu had even told him about the tracking program was because she was worried about him being abducted by fans, back when he first started being Boundless Sea. "I'll be alright. See you."

Miharu's gaze lingered on him, before she nodded. They exchanged their thirteen step secret handshake.

And then, they separated to search for cards.

---

"Pendulumstatue Red Fairy…" Yuya picked up the card, the image on it being a dark red flower-like statue. He continued searching around the Volcano Area for another Pendulum monster—he needed another one of these Pendulumstatues to duel, after all. He wasn't even sure if there would be another opponent for him to face here, but if there wasn't… well, he'd be able to find as many cards as possible here first.

Of course, there was one large reason why very few people would choose to come here. Namely, it was sweltering. The temperature here was so high—any higher and people might pass out from heatstroke if they came here. At this point, Yuya had already started to sweat buckets.

He continued searching, finding three more cards—Pendulumstatue Red Fiend, Pendulumstatue Purple Shield and Pendulumstatue Purple Sword. That meant that unless he went against some lunatic that wanted him to bet all of his cards at once, he was pretty set to go—

"Yo. Didn't expect you to be the one here—your hair blends in with the landscape."

Yuya looked up. Standing on an elevated platform to his right was the tall figure of Mion Myojin. Her auburn hair blended into their warm-coloured surroundings far more than Yuya's hair did, though Yuya didn't say that aloud. She was smiling—and well, even though she had won back when LDS had challenged them, she clearly held no ill will towards them. Yuya didn't hold any ill will towards her either.

Still though…

The top student of LDS (other than the Akaba family) hopped off the ledge, gracefully landing on the ground in front of Yuya. She put her hands in her pockets. Her ear piercings seemed to give off the same red glow as everything around them.

"Well, this does suit me though. I've been looking forward to dueling you, founder of Pendulum Summoning."

The way that she referred to him as the 'founder of Pendulum Summoning' made Yuya feel oddly proud of himself. It was a title that was entirely his own, after all.

"After all, I've benefited immensely from what you've created."

"Right, you have a deck based on Pendulums…" Yuya cleared his throat. "I think that you and I are the only ones with decks like that right now?"

"Well, my younger brother seems to have Reiji Akaba's favour, though I can't imagine why," Mion said with some amusement. "So the Leo Corporation made some Pendulum Monsters for him too."

"Your… younger brother?"

Mion looked at Yuya, seeming puzzled, before she chuckled all of a sudden, facepalming. "Sorry, sorry. I forgot. I didn't actually explain it, did I?" She smiled at him. "Shingo's my younger half-brother."

Shingo… Sawatari?!

"Hey, close your mouth, you'll catch flies." Mion's smile was slightly more exasperated and amused now. Yuya thought back to how Sora had asked this girl if she was Sawatari's lackey, and she had laughed and replied 'as if'. The fact that she called Sawatari by his first name, when no one else did, should have been a giveaway though. "Yes, Shingo and I are related."

"How?" Yuya couldn't stop the shock in his voice. This… laidback, polite and kind girl was the older sister of Shingo Sawatari?

"Not the first time that I've been asked that." Mion paused. "... ah, right. I forgot for a moment that we were televised. Hopefully the cameras didn't pick up on that part of our conversation." She snapped her fingers, pulling her hand through the air, revealing three cards that seemed to come out of nowhere. Cool magic trick, really—Yuya could do the same thing, but it was still interesting to see someone else with the same hobbies. "So? How much do you want to wager on this? I reckon that between you and me, unless someone's determined to lose, no one will step foot in this area for a while."

"Just a single card," Yuya said after a moment.

"Respectable. You want to make sure that you don't waste your early advantage." Mion activated her duel disk. "Alright. We'll put a single card up for ante then—let's see how you do."

Yuya lifted his duel disk as well.

[ACTION DUEL!]

Yuya Sakaki: 4000LP

Mion Myojin: 4000LP

[Turn 1: Mion] [H:5]

"I'll start things out simply," Mion said with a chuckle. "Wouldn't want to intimidate you so much that you can't do anything, after all. I'll set the Scale 2 Servant of Endymion in my Pendulum Scale." A blonde woman in a dark robe appeared in the pillar that rose to Mion's right. "I will activate the Field Spell, Magical Citadel of Endymion. And now, I'll activate the Spell, Spell Power Grasp." She revealed the card in her hand. "I'll place a Spell Counter on my Servant, who gains another two Spell Counters with her own effect, since I activated two Spells. And my Citadel gains a Spell Counter too."

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

[Servant of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 3]

"I can then add another copy of Spell Power Grasp from my deck to my hand."

"You're already building up your Spell Counters…"

"I'm always building them up," Mion quipped. "Plus, I do love the overcomplicated strategy. It means that opponents that don't pay attention, for lack of a better phrase, screw themselves over."

Yuya laughed.

"Exactly. Now, I'll activate the Pendulum Effect of Servant of Endymion. By removing three Spell Counters from her, I can Special Summon her from my Pendulum Scale, along with another monster with 1000 or more attack points from my deck, as long as that monster can have Spell Counters placed on it." The pillar of light burst open, and Servant of Endymion floated down, blue spheres of magic floating around her. "So, I will also Special Summon Mythical Beast Jackal King!"

In front of her, a dog with wispy, mist-like fur appeared, wearing blue armour. Black smoke billowed up from its tail, forming a serpent-like tail with beady eyes.

[Servant of Endymion (3*/S2/900/1500/WIND/Spellcaster/Pendulum/Effect)]

[Mythical Beast Jackal King (6*/S4/2400/1400/DARK/Spellcaster/Pendulum/Effect)]

"Then, I can place a Spell Counter on both of the Special Summoned monsters," Mion concluded. Servant of Endymion sat down in the air, clearly in Defense Position, while Jackal King growled aggressively.

[Servant of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 1]

[Mythical Beast Jackal King: Spell Counter(s): 1]

"I will end my turn there," Mion concluded. "Over to you."

[Turn 2: Yuya] [H:6]

"Draw!" Yuya had seen her strategy already—she benefitted from Spells, didn't she?

At the same time, it was kind of awkward. Spells were something that anyone had to use to duel, not to mention Action Cards. Even so…

"I will set the Scale 1 Stargazer Magician and the Scale 8 Timegazer Magician in the Pendulum Scales!" The two spellcasters rose up in the Pendulum Scales. Mion arched an eyebrow as both Jackal King and her Field Spell glowed.

"Servant of Endymion does not gain Spell Counters when a Spell is activated, when she is in the Monster Zone instead of the Pendulum Zone. My Citadel gains one, and Jackal King gains two, for each Spell you activate."

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

[Mythical Beast Jackal King: Spell Counter(s): 5]

"That's fine! Swing, pendulum! Cast your light across the aether! Come, my monsters! Pendulum Summon! Performapal Silver Claw!" The silver wolf appeared on Yuya's field with a loud howl. "Then, dragon with the wondrous and beautiful dichromatic eyes! Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" Yuya's favourite monster appeared in front of him, also roaring.

[Performapal Silver Claw (4*/S5/1800/700/DARK/Beast/Pendulum/Effect)]

[Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon (7*/2500/2000/DARK/Dragon/Pendulum/Effect)]

"Silver Claw will attack your Servant of Endymion! And when it attacks, it increases the attack points of all "Performapal" monsters on the field by 300 until the end of the Battle Phase! Silver Howl!"

"Oh, is that compulsory?" Mion smiled, seeming slightly amused. "Once per turn, when my opponent activates a monster effect, I can remove two Spell Counters from Jackal King to negate the effect and destroy the monster! Enmity Echo!" With a loud, intimidating roar, Jackal King caused a large explosion, a rippling blast of energy moving straight for Silver Claw. Yuya dashed to the side, grabbing an Action Card and checking it. Luckily, it seemed like something that could help him out.

"Action Card, Illumination! I can negate an effect that destroys a monster!" Jackal King lost Spell Counters for its effect, but immediately gained them back due to the Action Spell, and thus, there was no change in the number of Spell Counters that it had. Mion's Field Spell, however, glowed.

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

"Thus, the attack continues!"

[Performapal Silver Claw: 1800 + 300 = 2100ATK]

Silver Claw's attack points rose, but that didn't matter, since Servant of Endymion was in Defense Position. Thus, Mion did not take any damage from the attack.

"Since Servant of Endymion was destroyed while in a Monster Zone, I can place her in my Pendulum Scale," Mion explained, the blonde woman reappearing in a pillar of light. "And I can place the same number of Spell Counters on her that she had when she was destroyed."

[Servant of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 1]

"And now, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon will attack your Jackal King! Spiral Strike Burst!" Yuya grabbed another Action Card, placing it down. "Action Card, High Dive! Odd-Eyes gains 1000 attack points until the End Phase!"

[Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon: 2500 + 1000 = 3500ATK]

[Servant of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 2]

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

Odd-Eyes's flames consumed the other monster.

"And since he's battling a Level 5 or higher monster, you take double the damage! Reaction Force!"

The flames hit Mion as well.

Mion: 4000 - 1100 x 2 = 1800LP

"Hmm…" Mion tilted her head. "That's alright, for a hello shot."

He had carved away half her life points and that was just a 'hello shot' to her?

Yuya set a card facedown nervously, ending his turn.

[Turn 3: Mion] [H:4]

"Draw." Mion glanced at the card, before smiling. "I'll set the Scale 4 Mythical Beast Bashilisk in my Pendulum Scale."

[Servant of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 3]

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

"And now, I will activate the effect of Servant of Endymion again."

Yuya stared at her field in clear dismay, understanding what was going on here.

She… can always search out any monster that she wants from her deck.

Servant of Endymion once again stepped out of the Pendulum Zone, though this time, she was in Attack Position.

"And come from the deck, Reflection of Endymion!" A blonde woman in a white set of mage's robes appeared, looking rather graceful. She was holding onto a glimmering gold staff.

[Reflection of Endymion (7*/S2/1850/2700/LIGHT/Spellcaster/Pendulum/Effect)]

"Servant's effect puts a Spell Counter on both of them."

[Servant of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 1]

[Reflection of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 1]

"And with the effect of Reflection of Endymion, when Special Summoned, I can target a card you control, along with a card I control that has a Spell Counter on it. Then, I can return both cards from the field to the hand! Mystical Mirror!"

Yuya gasped, before a large mirror appeared below Odd-Eyes and Servant of Endymion. Both monsters fell through the mirror, turning into cards that flew back to their owner's hands.

"Then, Reflection of Endymion gains the same number of Spell Counters that were on the card I just returned to my hand."

[Reflection of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 2]

"And then you can just set it back in your Pendulum Scale?"

"Give it a moment."

Yuya bit his lip. "Then I'll take a moment too!" He flipped over his set card. "Trap Card, Odd-Eyes Curtain Call! If I have two cards in my Pendulum Scales, I can Special Summon a Dragon-Type monster from my hand, and set a "Performapal" or "Odd-Eyes" Spell or Trap Card from my Deck!" Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon returned to his field with gnashing teeth. At the same time, a set card reappeared on Yuya's field, replacing the previous one.

"Nice! Still though, I'm not letting you get the last word!" Mion gestured to the other card in her Pendulum Scales—Bashilisk. "If I have no monster in my other Pendulum Scale, Bashilisk can destroy itself. Then, I can return a face-up Spellcaster Pendulum Monster from my Extra Deck to my deck, and draw a card. I will choose Mythical Beast Jackal King." She swiped up a card from her deck. "I will then set the Scale 2 Servant of Endymion and the Scale 8 Magister of Endymion in the Pendulum Scales!"

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

[Servant of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 1]

"I will then activate the Continuous Spell, Mythical Institution." The green-bordered card appeared, with the image of a large white building surrounded by runes.

[Magical Citadel of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 9]

[Servant of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 2]

[Magister of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 1]

"I will then activate its effect. Once per turn, by removing any number of Spell Counters from the field, I can add a monster with an equal Level to the number of Spell Counters from my Deck or face-up in my Extra Deck to my hand, as long as it has "Spell Counter" in its card text." Mion grinned. "I'll remove six Spell Counters from Magical Citadel of Endymion!"

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

She swiped a card from her deck.

"With my current Pendulum Scale, I can Pendulum Summon monsters from Level 3 to Level 7. Swing, pendulum! Cast your light across the aether! Pendulum Summon—Breaker the Dark Magical Warrior!" A knight in dark armour appeared on her field, the only card that Mion had Pendulum Summoned.

[Breaker the Dark Magical Warrior (6*/1600/1000/DARK/Spellcaster/Effect)]

"Breaker gains three Spell Counters when Pendulum Summoned," Mion said. "And it gains 400 attack points for each Spell Counter that it has."

[Breaker the Dark Magical Warrior: Spell Counter(s): 3; 1600 + 400 x 3 = 2800ATK]

"It exceeded Odd-Eyes's attack points?" Yuya gasped.

"Oh, don't be so surprised," Mion said with a chuckle. "This is your Pendulum Summon. It's for swarming and high-Level monsters. If you can do it, why can't I? Spell Card, Spell Power Grasp! I'll place another Spell Counter on Breaker, and add another copy of Spell Power Grasp from my deck to my hand!"

[Breaker the Dark Magical Warrior: Spell Counter(s): 4; 2800 + 400 = 3200ATK]

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

[Servant of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 3]

[Magister of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 2]

"Breaker will attack your dragon."

Yuya leapt for an Action Card, not noticing Mion's slight smirk as he did so. When he picked up the card though, he paled. "Action Trap…" It was the Action Card, Break Shot. Now, Yuya had to choose one of his monsters and lower its attack points by 900. It was a no brainer. "I'll lower Silver Fang's attack points by 900!"

[Performapal Silver Fang: 1800 - 900 = 900ATK]

Breaker clashed against Odd-Eyes, destroying the dragon. He could still Pendulum Summon Odd-Eyes back, but even so, Yuya winced. He had been hoping to protect it.

Yuya: 4000 - 700 = 3300LP

"Reflection of Endymion attacks your Performapal Silver Claw!" A mirror emerged, exploding into shards that were each imbued with magical runes, tearing Silver Fang apart.

Yuya: 3300 - 950 = 2350LP

"I will then activate Breaker's effect. Once per turn, I can remove a Spell Counter from him to destroy a Spell or Trap on the field. I will use my Field Spell's effect to remove the Spell Counter from it instead."

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

"I will destroy Timegazer Magician." One of the monsters in his Pendulum Scales was destroyed by a lance that was thrown directly at it. "Over to you."

[Turn 4: Yuya] [H:3]

"Draw!" Yuya grabbed an Action Card from the ground. "I'll activate the Action Card, Energy Biscuits! I gain 500 life points!"

Yuya: 2350 + 500 = 2850LP

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

[Servant of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 4]

[Magister of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 3]

"Then, I'll set the Scale 8 Dragonpit Magician in my other Pendulum Scale! Pendulum Summon! Return to my field! Performapal Silver Claw!" The pale wolf reappeared on his field with a roar of its own. "And from my hand in Defense Position! Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon! Performapal Turn Toad!" A green frog in a blue top hat appeared, hopping around.

[Performapal Turn Toad (2*/S3/0/800/WATER/Aqua/Pendulum/Effect)]

Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon was in Defense Position, and Mion raised an eyebrow at that. Yuya leapt onto Odd-Eyes's back, grabbing an Action Card from a ledge.

"Action Card, Burning Draw! We both draw one card!" Both he and Mion swiped up a card from their decks.

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

[Servant of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 5]

[Magister of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 4]

"I'll then move into my Battle Phase! And with Turn Toad's effect, I'll change Odd-Eyes to Attack Position and increase its attack points by half of its current defense points!" Turn Toad croaked, and Odd-Eyes got back up, letting out a fearsome roar.

[Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon: 2500 + 2000 / 2 = 3500ATK]

"Attack Breaker! Spiral Strike Burst!"

The knight was shredded by Odd-Eyes's flames.

"And Odd-Eyes does double damage! Reaction Force!"

Mion: 1800 - 300 x 2 = 1200LP

"And Silver Claw will attack your Reflection of Endymion, taking its revenge! And both Silver Claw and Turn Toad gain 300 attack points! Silver Howl!"

[Performapal Silver Claw: 1800 + 300 = 2100ATK]

[Performapal Turn Toad: 0 + 300 = 300ATK]

Silver Claw destroyed the monster. Mion laughed.

Mion: 1200 - 250 = 950LP

"When Reflection of Endymion is destroyed by battle while it has a Spell Counter, I can add an "Endymion" card from my deck to my hand!"

"I'll end my turn," Yuya said.

[Turn 5: Mion] [H:5]

"Draw." Mion hummed. "Alright. I think that's enough."

"Huh?"

"I will remove 2 Spell Counters from Servant with Mythical Institution's effect to add a Level 2 monster that a Spell Counter can be placed on from my deck to my hand."

[Servant of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 3]

"I'll activate the effect of Servant of Endymion. By removing three Spell Counters from her, I can Special Summon her from my Pendulum Scale, and a monster that a Spell Counter can be placed on with 1000 or more attack points from my deck. Come—Magical Abductor." A black-haired woman appeared on the field, dressed in green robes, with a black staff in her hand, with a red runestone on her staff.

[Magical Abductor (4*/S3/1700/1400/EARTH/Spellcaster/Pendulum/Effect)]

"Servant of Endymion places a Spell Counter on both monsters, as per normal."

[Magical Abductor: Spell Counter(s): 1]

[Servant of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 1]

"I'll then Normal Summon Frequency Magician." A mage in a purple cloak appeared, floating in front of her.

[Frequency Magician (2*/800/400/LIGHT/Spellcaster/Tuner/Effect)]

"I'll then tune the Level 2 Frequency Magician to the Level 4 Magical Abductor!" Frequency Magician turned into two bright rings, which Magical Abductor flew through. "Appear now, in a strong gust of wind, temperamental sorcerer! Synchro Summon! Level 6! Tempest Magician!"

The grey-haired female mage with a long scythe appeared with a stern look on her face.

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

"When Tempest Magician is Synchro Summoned, she gains a Spell Counter," Mion said. Yuya frowned.

That was the monster that had taken out Sora…

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

"I will then activate the effect of Magister of Endymion. I will remove three Spell Counters from him—or at the very least, all of them, since he's being Special Summoned—and I will Special Summon him from my Pendulum Scale, along with a face-up monster from my Extra Deck that I can place a Spell Counter on. So come—Reflection of Endymion!" The pale woman appeared next to the male mage in dark armour. "And then, a Spell Counter is placed on both of them!"

[Reflection of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 1]

[Magister of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 1]

"And with Reflection of Endymion's effect, I'll return Servant of Endymion from my field and Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon from your field to the hand! Mystical Mirror!" The two cards were bounced off the field again. "And Reflection gains a Spell Counter."

[Reflection of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 2]

So this left Mion with three monsters—Reflection of Endymion, Magister of Endymion and Tempest Magician.

"And with the effect of Tempest Magician, I will remove all Spell Counters from the field and inflict 500 damage to you for each Spell Counter that was removed!" All of the Spell Counters on the field turned into mystical runes, swirling around above her. Two, one, one, five—nine?

[Reflection of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 0]

[Magister of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 0]

[Tempest Magician: Spell Counter(s): 0]

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

"Magicalized Tempest!" Winds shot forward, a swirling whirlwind. Yuya lunged for an Action Card, but his face fell when he saw what it was—it wouldn't work in this situation.

Was he really going to lose to—

"Coming right on in!" A monster suddenly appeared in front of Yuya, a purple sphere wearing a blue hat. The sphere ate up all of the wind that was flying towards Yuya. Both Yuya and Mion looked up to see a redhead leaping down, smirking widely. He looked like a rather friendly person—flamboyantly, he held out his hands, bowing. "Mind if I step in?" Just then, an electric shock hit him, and he fell flat, faceplanting the ground.

[INTRUSION PENALTY: 2000LP]

Dennis: 4000 - 2000 = 2000LP

Both Mion and Yuya stared at Dennis, baffled. All of a sudden, Dennis leapt to his feet, still with an easy smile on his face. "Greetings! I activated the effect of my Performage Flame Eater. I'll Special Summon it from my hand, and I'll reduce the effect damage to 0!" He winked. The purple monster floated back to his side.

[Performage Flame Eater (4*/1200/1600/FIRE/Spellcaster/Effect)]

"Who are you again?" Mion said with a frown.

"I'm from the Broadway Campus of LDS! I guess you could say that I'm from the Performing Arts course." Dennis posed fancily. "I'm Dennis Mackfield! You're Yusho Sakaki's son, Yuya Sakaki, right? And you're Mion Myojin, Reiji Akaba's girlfriend!"

Crickets chirped.

Mion raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, disregard that last statement." Dennis said sheepishly.

"Disregard it," Mion said, rolling her eyes. "I have no interest in dating anyone. Though, if you're joining in on his side, how is the ante going to go?"

"I have three," Dennis said cheerfully. "But uh, I wouldn't want to mess with the ante you already have!"

Mion chuckled. "Sure. In that case, you can fight on his side. If I beat both of you, I give each of you a card. If I win, I take one from both of you."

"You don't mind? That puts a lot of risk on you, and it's a bit unfair…"

Mion laughed. "I'd hardly be enough of a coward to demand much else." She smirked. "I'll activate Spell Power Grasp. It's my third copy, so I'll place a Spell Counter on Reflection of Endymion, but I don't get to add a card to my hand. And my Citadel gains a Spell Counter."

[Reflection of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 1]

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

"Magister of Endymion attacks Performapal Turn Toad." The frog was destroyed in Defense Position, so Yuya didn't take any damage. "And since he declared an attack, he gains a Spell Counter."

[Magister of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 1]

"And Reflection of Endymion attacks Silver Claw." The wolf was cut down once again—it seemed that those two monsters were just battling each other over and over.

Yuya: 2850 - 50 = 2800LP

"And Tempest Magician will attack you directly." The winds swept against Yuya, draining away most of his life points.

Yuya: 2800 - 2200 = 600LP

"And I'll set a card. That's the end of my turn," Mion said. "Let's see what you can do, circus boy." She had a wry smile as she said that, and Dennis laughed.

"Very well! Alongside the founder of Pendulum Summoning, we're going to show you our Entertainment Dueling!"

---

"The prodigy performer of our Broadway Campus," Himika said. "Are you sure about picking him for the Lancers? He seems like a bit of a pacifist."

"The reports from that campus say that he is rather strong, compared to many of the other duelists there. Specially scouted." Reiji drummed his fingers on the table. "If there is any truth to that—Mion will see it."

"Ah, yes." His mother hummed for a moment, leaning back. "The Sawatari girl. I will acknowledge her skill. She also defeated the Academia agent, Sora Shiun'in. Is she your pick for your second-in-command then?"

"She was always my first pick," Reiji said. He carefully avoided making eye contact with his mother, pushing up his glasses, slightly nervous.

Once again, any discussion about why exactly he favoured Mion Myojin was not going to happen, thank you very much.

---

[Turn 6: Dennis] [H:5]

"Draw!" Dennis declared. "I'll Normal Summon Performage Trick Clown!" A playful, jester-like monster appeared, with a staff in the shape of a question mark. It danced around, even as Flame Eater joined it, bobbing around it cutely.

[Performage Trick Clown (4*/1600/1200/LIGHT/Spellcaster/Effect)]

"And let's start this performance by inviting our main performer!" Dennis said with a wide grin. "I'll overlay the Level 4 Performage Flame Eater and the Level 4 Performage Trick Clown!" The two monsters shot up, one turning into a ball of flame and the other turning into bright light. "Show must go on! Artisan of the air, swing across the stage with grace! Xyz Summon! Appear now! Rank 4! Performage Trapeze Magician!" A magician in a pale hat and suit appeared, with a long pink and blue cape. The magician looked extremely bright in colour, and as he appeared, he picked up Dennis, and the two danced through the air. Yuya and Mion watched with amusement.

[Performage Trapeze Magician (R4/2500/2000/LIGHT/Spellcaster/Xyz/Effect) (OU:2)]

"And then, since there are two or more monsters on the field, I can Special Summon Performage Hat Tricker!" A small magician appeared, with a pink hat, wide-eyed goggles and an oversized green cape.

[Performage Hat Tricker (4*/1100/1100/EARTH/Spellcaster/Effect)]

"I'll then activate the Continuous Spell, Bubble Barrier!" Bubbles appeared all around Dennis, and Trapeze Magician swept his cape through the air, the bubbles exploding into flashes of rainbows.

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

"And then, I will detach an Overlay Unit from Trapeze Magician to give a monster on the field two attacks this turn! I will choose Performage Trapeze Magician itself! Encore Flare!"

[Performage Trapeze Magician: OU:2 - 1 = OU:1]

"Trapeze Magician will attack Magister of Endymion!" The fancy magician shot forward.

"And if you defeat Magister, I lose, since my life points are low." Mion hummed. "Continuous Trap Card, Spellbinding Circle." A circle appeared beneath Trapeze Magician, trapping it in place. "It cannot attack or change its battle position."

"W-what?" Dennis grimaced. "And if Trapeze Magician can't perform both its attacks, it's destroyed by its own effect…"

"Well, that's convenient." Mion raised a hand, snapping her fingers. "That's my magical trick then. Begone."

Dennis clearly couldn't attack with Hat Tricker, so he was forced to end his turn, his monster destroying itself with its own effect. He gave Yuya a sheepish look. "My bad! Seems that I didn't manage to take her monster out after all."

"She made use of your own monster's effect…" Yuya narrowed his eyes. "But we're still going to win!"

[Turn 7: Yuya] [H:3]

"Draw!" Yuya gestured out with a hand. "My Pendulum Scale allows me to Pendulum Summon monsters from Level 2 to Level 7! Pendulum Summon! First, from my hand, the dragon with the wondrous and beautiful dichromatic eyes! Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" Yuya's ace appeared for the third time, letting out a loud roar. "Then, from my Extra Deck, Performapal Silver Claw, Timegazer Magician and Performapal Turn Toad!" The two Performapal monsters appeared on his field, along with the dark Spellcaster.

[Timegazer Magician (3*/S8/1200/600/DARK/Spellcaster/Pendulum/Effect)]

"And also from my hand, Performapal Fireflux!" A firefly appeared, whizzing around the field.

[Performapal Fireflux (4*/S5/1200/1600/LIGHT/Insect/Pendulum/Effect)]

"I'll then overlay the Level 4 Fireflux and Silver Claw!" The two monsters turned into streaks. Yuya breathed a sigh of relief. Shun and Yuto had drilled Xyz Summoning into his brain, and luckily, he hadn't forgotten things, it would seem. "Formed from pitch-black darkness, to fight those foolish enough to oppose it with its treacherous fangs! Now, descend! Xyz Summon! Appear now! Rank 4! Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon!" Yuto's ace appeared on his field with a ferocious roar, right next to Odd-Eyes.

[Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon (R4/2500/2000/DARK/Dragon/Xyz/Effect) (OU:2)]

The black and purple dragon roared. Odd-Eyes roared back, but there was no malice between the two dragons, it seemed.

"You Xyz Summoned that monster in Defense Position to use Turn Toad's effect," Mion said. "And I'm assuming it has a pretty deadly effect. That settles it then." She revealed a card in her hand. "I will activate the effect of Mythical Beast Garuda." She revealed the card in her hand. "By removing three Spell Counters from my field—one from Magister, one from Citadel, one from Reflection—I will Special Summon Garuda from my hand in Defense Position." A two-headed bird appeared, one head being smoke-like and blue, the other being a typical white eagle.

[Mythical Beast Garuda (4*/S4/1200/1600/LIGHT/Spellcaster/Pendulum/Effect)]

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

[Magister of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 0]

[Reflection of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 0]

"I will then return your Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon to the hand," Mion said with a smirk. "Sorry."

Yuya stared, a deadpan look on his face as Dark Rebellion was swept off the field.

---

Yuto fell flat on his face at the sight. Next to him, Hitoda giggled. Neither of them were really friends, but they were very aware of who the other person was—they existed in each other's periphery. Plus, Nue, Shun, Yuno and Miharu were all in the tournament, so it wasn't like they had people from their own dimension to hang out with.

"Disappointed?"

"In him?" Yuto waved a hand through the air. "No, no. He did good bringing Dark Rebellion out. His opponent is just… a bit too much of a trickster."

Hitoda laughed again. She tilted her head towards him. "Really? Don't we all have a trickster in our friend groups though?" She looked at him. For all that she was laughing, her eyes were extremely calm, contrasting with her wide, charming smile.

Yuto shrugged, thinking about his sister for a brief moment. "Maybe," he said. "Tricksters do spice things up a little."

---

There was silence, and then Dennis broke it with a laugh. Yuya started laughing too. It was ridiculous.

Yuya sighed. Odd-Eyes would deal double damage if it battled Reflection of Endymion, which would be enough to win. So there was no need to overcomplicate things. He had been planning to use Turn Toad's effect for Dark Rebellion, so he had Pendulum Summoned Odd-Eyes in Attack Position. He had just wanted to use Dark Rebellion for the finishing blow…

That would have been nice.

However, Mion seemed to have exhausted her defences. In that case…

Mion still had no set cards.

"Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon attacks Reflection of Endymion! Spiral Strike Burst!" He gestured to Turn Toad and Timegazer to block Mion from getting an Action Card—

"I usually don't bother with this," Mion said with a sigh. "I don't like relying on cards outside of my deck." Before any of their monsters could stop her—and yes, Dennis's Hat Tricker was also flying forward to obstruct her—she was tossed up in the air by Garuda, grabbing a card from the overhang. With a surprising amount of strength, Mion grabbed onto the cliffside with her right hand, even as Garuda flew up towards her. She slammed a single card onto her duel disk. "Action Card, High Dive. I increase Reflection's attack points by 1000."

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

[Mythical Beast Garuda: Spell Counter(s): 1]

[Reflection of Endymion: 1850 + 1000 = 2850ATK]

"I'll activate the Action Card, Miracle!" Yuya called. "I'll halve the damage and negate Odd-Eyes's destruction!" A light surrounded his dragon, protecting it from counterattack.

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

[Mythical Beast Garuda: Spell Counter(s): 2]

Yuya: 600 - 350 / 2 = 425LP

Neither Turn Toad or Timegazer were in Attack Position, so Yuya could only end his turn in dismay, turning to look for Action Cards.

[Turn 8: Mion] [H:5]

"Draw!" Mion glanced at him, and Yuya stopped for a moment—suddenly feeling pitifully small in her gaze. Not that she was being condescending—she clearly wasn't trying to be.

"How come you don't go for Action Cards that much?" He asked. "Even in the duel against Sora, you only went for an Action Card once, I think."

Mion chuckled. She pulled up the sleeve of her worn leather jacket, before pulling on the edge of her left glove—

Revealing gleaming metal underneath.

Yuya froze.

"You see?" She said. "My right hand's pretty much perfect—strong enough to hold onto anything, very accurate where I want it to go. Left hand's a little clunky though." She shrugged. "It's the best prosthetic I'm going to get, and really, it's not even like I'm complaining. Some people don't even get this much. I only got this through nepotism." She winked. "So it's a bit harder for someone like me to fully compete with someone else in an Action Duel, yeah? But even if I did, I think my sense of honour would stop me from taking Action Cards. What's to stop me from building up tons of Spell Counters and Xyz Summoning Alchemic Magician with more attack points than you have life points?"

Yuya blinked. He had never thought of it that way.

"It's a very good format for me," Mion said. "But I don't want it to ever become a crutch. Thus, I choose to use the cards sparingly, and only ever in a way that is less than my opponent. Don't you feel the same way? If one day, there were no Action Cards and you were forced into a duel with actual stakes, would you still be able to fight? Would you leave yourself open?"

Yuya bit his lip.

"I want to be able to always duel in a way that is my way, no matter what's happening around me." Mion smiled. "Maybe that's naivete. Maybe that's maturity, huh? My brother calls it condescension. What do you think?"

Yuya took a moment to reflect that while Shingo Sawatari certainly wasn't a bad person, there was definitely something scummy about telling a disabled girl that she was being condescending by not getting Action Cards.

A crutch, huh?

He thought about Gongenzaka, who also didn't use Action Cards at all. It was a sense of honour for him too.

"I see what you mean," Yuya admitted.

Yuto had talked about a threat beyond simple stressful tournaments and rival schools. If a threat like that came and he could only defend himself with Action Cards, then what would that be like? How awful would that be?

"Right?" Mion smiled, completely not condescending at all. "Even if that gave you an epiphany, I won't go easy on either of you though. Especially you, circus boy."

Dennis chuckled, seeming somewhat awkward. "Um, I have no clue what I'm doing here, to be honest. I wanted to be the support for the hero to take the win, but it seems that the villain is about to win?"

Mion chuckled. "I don't mind being the villain." She tapped her own nose. "It's through losing to villains that the hero grows, right? And I love seeing people grow." She pulled her own glove back down. "Sorry. You both remind me a little of my younger brother, but I'm still going to have to school you. I will tribute Reflection of Endymion and Magister of Endymion! Come—Mythical Beast Master Cerberus!" The intimidating bipedal beast appeared again—the same one that she had used to perform a One Turn Kill during her first round in the tournament.

[Mythical Beast Master Cerberus (8*/S4/2800/2800/LIGHT/Spellcaster/Pendulum/Effect)]

"I'll then set the Scale 8 Endymion, the Mighty Master of Magic in the Pendulum Scale." A dark magician rose up in the Pendulum Scale. "Master Cerberus gains two Spell Counters when a Spell Card is activated. Garuda and my Citadel gain one."

[Mythical Beast Master Cerberus: Spell Counter(s): 2]

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

[Mythical Beast Garuda: Spell Counter(s): 3]

"I'll activate the Spell Card, Spell Power Mastery! I can add an "Endymion" card from my deck to my hand, and then, for every "Spell Power Grasp" or "Spell Power Mastery" on the field, I can place a Spell Counter on a card on the field. That's four. I will place those additional Spell Counters on Citadel. And my cards also gain more Spell Counters with their own effects."

[Mythical Beast Master Cerberus: Spell Counter(s): 4]

[Magical Citadel of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 9]

[Mythical Beast Garuda: Spell Counter(s): 4]

"I'll then set the Scale 2 Servant of Endymion in my Pendulum Scale," Mion said, and Yuya groaned.

"I hate that card," he said, and Mion laughed.

"I can imagine why."

[Mythical Beast Master Cerberus: Spell Counter(s): 6]

[Magical Citadel of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 10]

[Mythical Beast Garuda: Spell Counter(s): 5]

"I'll then remove six Spell Counters from my field—namely, three from Garuda and three from my Citadel." Six orbs shot up, floating in the air. "And then, I can Special Summon Endymion, the Mighty Master of Magic from my Pendulum Scale!" The dark magical king stepped out with loud footsteps that made the earth tremble.

[Endymion, the Mighty Master of Magic (7*/S8/2800/1700/DARK/Spellcaster/Pendulum/Effect)]

[Mythical Beast Garuda: Spell Counter(s): 2]

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

"Then, with Endymion's effect, I'll destroy cards on the field, up to the number of cards I control that a Spell Counter can be placed on."

Both Dennis and Yuya stared in shock.

"Citadel, Garuda, Servant, Master Cerberus, Tempest Magician, Mythical Institution and Endymion himself." Mion smirked. "That's seven. I will destroy Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, Performapal Turn Toad, Timegazer Magician, your set card, Dragonpit Magician in the Pendulum Scale—" She turned to look at Dennis. "Performage Hat Tricker, and Bubble Barrier! Magical Law of Destruction!"

Yuya had been running for an Action Card, but then, he came to a stop.

… was this really how he wanted to duel?

That split-second moment of hesitation caused him to be too late—both his and Dennis's fields were wiped out in an instant.

"Endymion himself gains Spell Counters, up to the number of cards destroyed by his effect."

[Endymion, the Mighty Master of Magic: Spell Counter(s): 7]

"I could use Tempest Magician's effect to try and take one of you out," Mion continued. "But I have a feeling you could stop that." She gestured to Dennis, who winked. "So let's test you out. I'll change Garuda to Attack Position. Tempest Magician attacks you directly!" The whirlwind swept up, and Dennis grinned.

"I'll activate the effect of Performage String Figure in my hand! I'll Special Summon it from my hand, and change the attack target to it! However, it can't be destroyed by that battle, and I take no battle damage!" A clown with a dopey face which seemed stretched out appeared, dressed in bright colours.

[Performage String Figure (1*/0/0/DARK/Spellcaster/Effect)]

"Hmm." Mion nodded. "You're safe for now." She turned towards Yuya, who had now finally grabbed the Action Card. "Garuda attacks you directly, Yuya."

The bird shot forward at Yuya, who grimaced. He had been hoping that Mion would attack with a stronger monster first, since he already had this Action Card. "Action Card - Evasion! I negate the attack!"

[Mythical Beast Master Cerberus: Spell Counter(s): 8]

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

[Mythical Beast Garuda: Spell Counter(s): 3]

[Servant of Endymion: Spell Counter(s): 1]

"No," Mion responded with another laugh. "You don't." She snapped her fingers, and next to her, Endymion raised his staff. "Once per turn, if my opponent activates a Spell or Trap card or effect, I can return a card with a Spell Counter from my field to my hand to negate and destroy that card. Soulless Imperial Decree!" With a wave of Endymion's staff, Mion picked up Servant of Endymion from her field, and Evasion shattered.

Yuya dashed for another Action Card, but that was the only chance that Mion was willing to give him. A second later, the attack landed, draining away the last of his life points.

Yuya: 425 - 1200 = 0LP

"And now, Endymion attacks your monster." String Figure was destroyed by the terrifying mage. "Attack, Master Cerberus."

Master Cerberus lunged forward, knocking Dennis down as well.

Dennis: 2000 - 2800 = 0LP

Winner: Mion Myojin!

"Sorry," Mion said, shrugging. "You probably wanted to have the chance to be cool, but I'm… what does Reiji call me? Ruthlessly pragmatic." She walked over, holding out a hand. She pulled Dennis to his feet, before helping Yuya up too. "And besides, I wouldn't want to give you ideas."

"Ideas?" Yuya blinked.

"Yes, ideas." Mion raised a finger. "Founder of Pendulum Summoning." Another. "You've learned how to Link Summon from Sugisaki, who can be classed as one of the two best Link Summoning specialists in this dimension right now—Makishima herself admits that she doesn't use Link Summoning as much as those two." Another, and then a fourth. "Learning Xyz Summoning from Kurosaki and Kamisoka, who are also the most skilled teachers you can find for that form of summoning. And gaining Fusion Summoning skills… somehow, but most likely through some form of 'diffusion' from the Academia spy in your school. You've had a lot of teachers who are extremely good at the summoning method they use."

Yuya nodded, but before he could reply, Mion continued talking.

"But—and I say this with no intention to offend—you still have a lot to learn. And you still have a lot of room to grow. I don't want you to end up stagnating because you think you're good enough. You're not strong enough to beat me yet. Nor are you strong enough to beat Reiji yet."

Yuya clenched his fists. "I know," he said. "I'm not that idealistic yet." He probably couldn't even beat Yuto or Yuno, even if he wasn't sure about any other counterparts he might have.

"Good!" Mion patted his head. It was an oddly sibling-like gesture. "Trust me, these things take time. Someday, you'll defeat me." She hummed. "Wouldn't that be a sight to see…"

Yuya looked at Mion. For a moment, he had a single thought that he immediately wiped away from his mind. It would be nice to have an older sister like this. He reached into his pocket, taking out Pendulumstatue Purple Sword and passing it to her. Dennis did the same with one of his Pendulum cards.

"Well, I'll leave the two of you to talk now," Mion said. Yuya frowned in confusion. "Really? You can't tell that he wants to talk to you?"

Dennis chuckled sheepishly as Yuya turned to him. "Well, I was hoping to make a good impression before I tried to talk to you! But uh, I guess I tried my best." He grinned widely. "Your father, Yusho Sakaki, is my inspiration."

Yuya's eyes widened. As the two boys talked, Mion walked away with a sigh.

Not bad.

Not bad at all.

But…

Even now, the only person that has been able to bring out my full strength is you, Reiji.

I wonder if that will change? You certainly favour Yuya Sakaki, though I don't know why. And all those mysterious duelists that showed up out of nowhere…

Maybe one of them will truly be able to duel me as an equal.

What was that girl's name again? Kamisoka?...

She glanced around at the burning landscape.

Maybe the Jungle Area would be less sweltering than this. With that thought in mind, Mion departed the area.

---

The Jungle Area, while Mion didn't know it at the time, was still extremely hot, with the sun beating down on anyone who was there. This was something that Serena, having snuck into the city, had discovered. She searched around the Jungle Area for a while, but she didn't find any signs of strong Xyz duelists. However, she did stumble across a duel, so she stood by, hiding and watching out of curiosity.

Meanwhile, unknowing of her presence, Michio Mokota and Yuno Sugisaki greeted each other with nods.

"You're one of the masked duelists that just joined LDS, correct?" Michio said with a kind smile. "You're interesting. And you and your friends are the only Link specialists that Maiami City has."

"Oh, you researched me." Yuno chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. "Uh, hi?"

Michio chuckled too. "Socially awkward?"

"No, no, I've never been socially awkward in my life."

"Fitting for a guy with a smile like yours," Michio said. "You look like a man with many friends."

Yuno winked. "Well, I wouldn't mind more! What do you say?"

Michio blinked, blushing slightly, before he raised his duel disk. "Well, I wouldn't mind being friends with you! Um, shall we duel?"

"Sure! One card for ante?"

"Sure!"

The two of them dueled. Serena watched—and her suspicions were confirmed, when the Link Monster user ended up decimating Michio's entire field easily. Once they said goodbye to each other and Michio departed in the other direction, Serena followed Yuno, wondering how she should speak up to let him know she was there. Oh, was she stalking him right now? That was not her intention at all—

"Hey, Mokota's pretty far away now." Yuno Sugisaki turned around. "You can come out now, if you want."

Serena stepped out. She looked at his face. Although he was wearing a mask, and the similarities could have easily been dismissed by those who didn't know anything about what was going on, since Serena was actively looking, she could see them.

Yuno didn't even seem surprised to see her face, instead smiling. "Well, you're a surprise! Uh, let's see, you're obviously not Rin, Ruri or Chiaki, since those three were captured, and I know what Yuzu looks like, so…" He blinked. "You're the Fusion one, aren't you?"

---

The moment that Yuno Sugisaki spotted Serena in the Jungle Area, Reiji immediately ordered for the cameras to show another part of the Jungle Area—namely, the area where Teppei Tairyobata was about to meet Michio Mokota. After all, they couldn't afford to have Serena shown on screen yet.

They still didn't know what her allegiances were. And they couldn't exactly cut off the cameras completely yet. That would be… far too suspicious.

He hoped that somehow, the duelists in the Battle Royale would be able to help Serena see what had been happening in front of her the entire time.

In the end, she was also a victim of his father's machinations.

---

"Your partner didn't tell you about me?" Serena said, slightly confused. Yuno tilted his head, equally confused.

"My partner… oh, you mean Miharu?" He chuckled. "So you're the secret she was hiding, huh?"

Serena blinked. That girl hadn't told him about her at all? Why?

"But anyway, what are you doing here?"

And suddenly, Serena was met with a mild crisis. Tell him the truth and hopefully get his help, but risk him thinking of her as an enemy, or simply running away.

He looks like Yuri. Is he like Yuri, too?

She clenched her fists.

If he's truly like Yuri, then he's a callous person. A threat.

Then why does that girl still care for him so much?

Why does she care for him the way that I used to care for Yuri?

Doesn't she know that it's a mistake?

Yuno stepped forward, and Serena instinctively stepped back. Yuno's face creased in confusion again, before his eyes widened, and he looked away for a moment. When he looked back at her, there was something gentler in his expression, as though he was trying to be careful with his words.

As though he was treating her like something fragile.

"My Fusion counterpart." Yuno said, and then he breathed out slowly. "Did he treat you poorly? That's the only reason I can think of that you would look at me like that. And I'm not going to lie, seeing Miharu's face looking at me like that makes me a little uneasy…"

Serena felt a trace of guilt in her heart—a brief moment of self-awareness.

That girl was so different from her.

Was she projecting her own feelings of betrayal on two people that had nothing to do with them?

"You're just living in your own delusional dreams."

"But I never wanted to fight!"

"Would you consider that a justified death, Serena Akaba?"

"And I will destroy everyone that stands with Academia, no matter what they look like."

They were different from her, Serena finally realised. Far too different. They had seen things different from her, and—

Serena was letting her self-righteousness cloud her views.

My belief that everything I believe is always right. That I cannot be wrong.

"There's someone I'm looking for," Serena said. "The Xyz duelist who defeated the Academia agent, Sora Shiun'in. Will you show me to them?"

Yuno looked at her, and then he smiled. "Sure," he said. "I don't know where he went, but I can give you a description of him—"

Then, he facepalmed. He tapped his duel disk screen. Serena peered over his shoulder, seeing a password bar.

"Miharu set up a tracking program, and she's an overthinker," Yuno explained. "Uh, what would the password be… capital letter required, at least six letters, symbol and number required…"

Serena stared at him. "… what are the words coming out of your mouth right now?"

"Just from that question, I'm guessing you don't live in a society where people can find out anything about you through the internet," Yuno quipped. Serena didn't understand. How could people find that much information through something digital? "Uh, I guess it'd be…" He typed in a thirty character long password, and the program unlocked, showing a map of Maiami City, with several blinking red dots on it. "Bingo… alright. Shun Kurosaki is at the border of the Volcano and Ruins Areas. It would be faster if you went through the Volcano Area."

"Kurosaki?" Serena exclaimed.

"Yes." Yuno smiled. "He's looking for his sister. She looks like you."

Ruri, huh? "… I see. Thank you."

Yuno nodded, and he turned around, ready to walk off. Before he left, Serena called out to him, though she didn't know why.

"Aren't you going to ask me why I'm looking for Kurosaki? I could easily be looking for him to card him." That had been her original intention, after all. She still wasn't sure about what her intentions were now. "Don't you want to keep an eye on me so that I don't hurt anyone?"

"… hahahaha!"

Serena's eyes widened as Yuno laughed to himself. He took off his face mask, Yuri's face looking directly at her, an earnest and honest smile on his face.

"That's the smart move," he said. "But um, I guess I'm not that smart. I just can't imagine anyone with the same face as Miharu being a bad person. And I don't think I'm wrong!"

… what a naive soul.

"Will you come with me to the Volcano Area?" Serena asked. "I would prefer if someone was there to mediate… the last time I talked to an Xyz duelist, it ended in a lot of shouting."

"Sure," Yuno said easily. "Let's go then."

Just like that?

Serena didn't understand…

She didn't understand at all.

She didn't understand, and yet they carried on walking anyway.

"So, tell me about yourself."

"Do you have a crush on me?" Serena blurted out. She hadn't exactly had a lot of friends, but in books, when a boy went above and beyond for a girl after just meeting her, it was usually because he had a crush on her. Yuno looked so shocked that it probably wasn't the case though.

"Uh." He seemed unable to speak for a moment. "No?" He chuckled. "Geez, that's a first… everyone around me normally figures out that I like Miharu the moment that they see us together. I've never had to explain that. I just wanted to get to know who you are… I guess because I've never met someone like you. I mean, I don't even know your name yet. I guess you would know mine, since you saw the duel just now?"

"Oh." Serena cleared her throat. "I'm Serena Akaba."

"Akaba?" Yuno whistled. "Interesting name there."

Yes. Serena had realised just how significant her last name was in this dimension. Before she spoke up though, Yuno had begun talking again, and she just listened.

… suddenly, I miss how Yuri used to be.

---

The air was tense in the Ruins Area. A young man stood on top of a stone pillar, looking down at a boy standing at its base.

"Yuya Sakaki."

"Shun Kurosaki."

Both of them stared at each other—and then the tension was abruptly sucked from the air as Shun smiled. Yuya smiled back.

"How has the tournament been thus far?"

"I lost my first match." Yuya sighed. "I wanted to use Yuto's dragon… failed at it though."

"No shame in trying," Shun said. While he was still an intimidating figure, through the very long lesson that Yuto and Shun had given him, Yuya had seen glimpses of the kindness that Yuto had talked about. When they had taken a break halfway through, Yuto had subtly prompted Shun to talk about himself, and what Yuya had heard had painted the image of a resolute man who simply wanted to avenge people he had lost. He was still dangerous—there was something ruthless, sometimes cruel to his duelling. However, Yuya didn't think that he was necessarily a 'bad' person.

The Xyz Dimension's 'Ace of Spades', Shun Kurosaki—

Yuya was glad that they were on good terms.

(Also, he suspected that his similar appearance to Yuto had made Shun act nicer to him than he was to most people. Pity that didn't apply for Yuto's sister, who didn't seem to like being around Yuya at all.)

"I suppose that for now, I shouldn't duel you. After all, I've already seen you duel too many times recently." Shun folded his arms. "Move on."

"I could stay here and Tag Duel with you," Yuya said.

"I fight alone," Shun said with a snort. Then, he stopped, turning right.

Yuya would reflect later that he had never seen Shun Kurosaki quite so pale.

From the border of the Ruins Area, three helmeted figures were rushing towards them, and the familiar figure of Sora Shiun'in was leading them.

---

Fifteen minutes ago:

A portal opened up in the Iceberg Area, depositing eleven people. Nine of them were wearing helmets.

"Well, we're here." Sora glanced at Shino. "Are you sure you're not coming with us, cousin? I'd feel better knowing you weren't all on your own…"

Shino giggled, reaching up and patting his head. "Silly. You haven't realised it already?"

"H-huh?"

"Yuri and Yuji-kun are here to retrieve the priority targets. Dennis is here to spy on Standard and any remaining survivors. You are here to eliminate the Xyz remnants." Shino winked. "And I'm here to be a diversion, so that your missions go successfully. Because if they spot me—I'll look like the weakest target."

"Then, in that case—"

"No, no, you should go." Shino firmly patted him on the back. "Go get your revenge on Shun Kurosaki! Besides, I'm perfectly fine. You should worry more about yourself."

Shino glanced off into the distance.

"... besides, I know exactly who needs diverting the most…"

---

Duel 1 Summary: Mion Myojin vs Yuya Sakaki & Dennis Mackfield

Duel Format: Battle Royale

Turn 1: Mion Myojin

Mion sets the Scale 2 Servant of Endymion (3*/S2/900/1500) in the Pendulum Scales. Servant gains 1 Spell Counter when a Spell is activated. She activates the Field Spell, the Magical Citadel of Endymion. The Citadel gains 1 Spell Counter when a Spell is activated. Then, she activates the Spell Card, Spell Power Grasp, placing an additional Spell Counter on Servant of Endymion. By removing 3 Spell Counters from Servant of Endymion, Mion Special Summons Servant of Endymion from the Pendulum Scale in Defense Position, and Mythical Beast Jackal King (6*/S4/2400/1400) from her Deck in Attack Position. With Servant's effect, both Servant and Jackal King gain a Spell Counter. Mion ends her turn.

- Servant of Endymion - Spell Counter(s): 1

- Mythical Beast Jackal King - Spell Counter(s): 1

- Magical Citadel of Endymion - Spell Counter(s): 1

Turn 2: Yuya Sakaki

Yuya draws. He sets the Scale 1 Stargazer Magician and the Scale 8 Timegazer Magician in the Pendulum Scales. He Pendulum Summons Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon (7*/S4/2500/2000) and Performapal Silver Claw (4*/S5/1800/700) in Attack Position. Silver Claw attacks Servant of Endymion, gaining 300 ATK. (PSC: 1800 + 300 = 2100ATK) Mion activates Jackal King's effect, removing two Spell Counters from it to negate Silver Claw's effect and destroy it. Yuya activates the Action Spell, Illumination, stopping Silver Claw's destruction. Servant of Endymion is destroyed. With its effect, Mion places Servant of Endymion in the Pendulum Scale and gives her the same number of Spell Counters she had when she was destroyed. Odd-Eyes attacks Jackal King. Yuya activates the Action Spell, High Dive. Odd-Eyes gains 1000 ATK. (OEPD: 2500 + 1000 = 3500ATK) With Odd-Eyes's effect, Mion takes double the damage. [MM: 4000 - 2200 = 1800LP] Yuya set 1 card and end his turn.

- Servant of Endymion - Spell Counter(s): 2

- Magical Citadel of Endymion - Spell Counter(s): 5

Turn 3: Mion Myojin

Mion draws. Mion sets the Scale 4 Mythical Beast Bashilisk in her other Pendulum Zone. By removing 3 Spell Counters from Servant, she Special Summons it from the Pendulum Scale, along with Reflection of Endymion (7*/S2/1850/2700) from her Deck in Attack Position. She places a Spell Counter on both Reflection and Servant with Servant's effect. With the effect of Reflection of Endymion, she returns Servant to her hand, and Odd-Eyes to Yuya's hand. Reflection gains 1 Spell Counter, since Servant had 1 Spell Counter when she was returned to the hand. Yuya activates the Trap Card, Odd-Eyes Curtain Call, Special Summoning Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon from his hand and setting Performapal Pinch Helper from his Deck to the field. With Bashilisk's effect, Mion destroys it, and returns Jackal King from the Extra Deck to the Deck to draw 1 card. She then sets the Scale 2 Servant of Endymion and the Scale 8 Magister of Endymion in the Pendulum Zones.

Mion activates the Continuous Spell, Mythical Institution. By removing six Spell Counters from Magical Citadel of Endymion with Mythical Institution's effect, Mion adds Breaker the Dark Magical Warrior (6*/1600/1000) from her Deck to her hand. She Pendulum Summons Breaker the Dark Magical Warrior from her hand. It gains 3 Spell Counters with its effect, and 400 ATK for each Spell Counter. (BTDMW: 1600 + 400 x 3 = 2800ATK) Mion activates Spell Power Grasp, placing an additional Spell Counter on Breaker, while adding a copy of Spell Power Grasp from her Deck to her hand. (BTDMW: 2800 + 400 = 3200ATK) Breaker attacks Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. Yuya picks up the Action Trap, Break Shot, forcing him to lower Silver Fang's ATK by 900. (PSF: 1800 - 900 = 900ATK) Odd-Eyes is destroyed. [YS: 4000 - 700 = 3300LP] Reflection of Endymion attacks Performapal Silver Claw. [YS: 3300 - 950 = 2350LP] Using Breaker's effect, Mion removes a Spell Counter from Magical Citadel of Endymion, which substitutes for Breaker itself, and destroys Timegazer Magician in the Pendulum Scale. (BTDMW: 3200 - 400 = 2800ATK) Mion ends her turn.

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

- Breaker the Dark Magical Warrior - Spell Counter(s): 3

- Servant of Endymion - Spell Counter(s): 3

- Magister of Endymion - Spell Counter(s): 2

- Reflection of Endymion - Spell Counter(s): 2

Turn 4: Yuya Sakaki

Yuya draws. He activates the Action Card, Energy Biscuits. [YS: 2350 + 500 = 2850LP] Yuya sets the Scale 8 Dragonpit Magician in the Pendulum Scale. He Pendulum Summons Performapal Silver Claw from his Extra Deck in Attack Position, and Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon and Performapal Turn Toad (2*/S3/0/800) from her hand in Defense Position. Yuya activates the Action Card, Burning Draw, letting both Mion and himself draw 1 card. With Turn Toad's effect, during the Battle Phase, he changes Odd-Eyes to Attack Position and increases its ATK by half of its DEF. (OEPD: 2500 + 1000 = 3500ATK) Odd-Eyes attacks Breaker, destroying it and dealing double damage. [MM: 1800 - 600 = 1200LP] Silver Claw attacks Reflection of Endymion and using its effect, increases its own ATK and Turn Toad's ATK by 300. (PSC: 1800 + 300 = 2100ATK) (PTT: 0 + 300 = 300ATK) Reflection of Endymion is destroyed. [MM: 1200 - 250 = 950LP] With Reflection's effect, Mion adds an "Endymion" card from her Deck to her hand.

- Magical Citadel of Endymion - Spell Counter(s): 5

- Servant of Endymion - Spell Counter(s): 5

- Magister of Endymion - Spell Counter(s): 4

Turn 5: Mion Myojin

Mion draws. By removing 2 Spell Counters from Servant in the Pendulum Scale, she adds Frequency Magician (2*/800/400) from his Deck to his hand. She then removes 3 Spell Counters from Servant and Special Summons it from the Pendulum Scale, along with Magical Abductor (4*/S3/1700/1400) from the Deck. Servant places a Spell Counter on both herself and Abductor. Mion Normal Summons Frequency Magician from her hand. She tunes the Level 2 Frequency Magician to the Level 4 Magical Abductor. She Synchro Summons Tempest Magician. (6*/2200/1400) Tempest Magician gains a Spell Counter with her own effect. With the effect of Magister of Endymion, Mion Special Summons him from the Pendulum Zone by removing three Spell Counters from him, and also Special Summons Reflection of Endymion from the Extra Deck, and they both gain one Spell Counter. With Reflection of Endymion's effect, she returns Servant of Endymion to the hand, and returns Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon back to the hand again. She places 1 Spell Counter on Reflection of Endymion. With Tempest Magician's effect, she removes all Spell Counters from the field to inflict 500 damage to Yuya for each.

Dennis intrudes the duel. [DM: 4000 - 2000 = 2000LP] He Special Summons Performage Flame Eater (4*/1200/1600) from his hand to reduce effect damage to 0. Mion activates Spell Power Grasp, placing a Spell Counter on Reflection of Endymion. Magister of Endymion attacks and destroys Performapal Turn Toad, gaining a Spell Counter with its own effect. Reflection of Endymion attacks and destroys Performapal Silver Claw. [YS: 2850 - 50 = 2800LP] Tempest Magician attacks Yuya directly. [YS: 2800 - 2200 = 600LP] Mion sets 1 card. She ends the turn with Magister, Reflection and Tempest Magician on her field.

- Magister of Endymion - Spell Counter(s): 1

- Reflection of Endymion - Spell Counter(s): 1

- Magical Citadel of Endymion - Spell Counter(s): 1

Turn 6: Dennis Mackfield

Dennis draws. He Normal Summons Performage Trick Clown. (4*/1600/1200) He then uses Flame Eater and Trick Clown to Xyz Summon Performage Trapeze Magician. (R4/2500/2000/OU:2) He then Special Summons Performage Hat Tricker (4*/1100/1100) from his hand. He activates the Continuous Spell, Bubble Barrier. With Trapeze Magician's own effect, he grants Trapeze Magician 2 attacks this turn. (PTM: OU:2 - 1 = OU:1) Trapeze Magician attacks Magister of Endymion. Mion activates Spellbinding Circle, stopping it from attacking. Since it didn't make two attacks, Trapeze Magician's effect destroys itself. Dennis ends his turn.

- Magister of Endymion - Spell Counter(s): 1

- Reflection of Endymion - Spell Counter(s): 1

- Magical Citadel of Endymion - Spell Counter(s): 2

Turn 7: Yuya Sakaki

Yuya draws. He Pendulum Summons Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon and Performapal Fireflux (4*/S5/1200/1600) from his hand, as well as Timegazer Magician (3*/S8/1200/600), Performapal Silver Claw and Performapal Turn Toad from his Extra Deck. Turn Toad and Timegazer are in Defense Position. He overlays the Level 4 Fireflux and the Level 4 Silver Claw to Xyz Summon Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon (R4/2500/2000/OU:2) in Defense Position. Mion activates Mythical Beast Garuda's (4*/S4/1200/1600) effect in her hand, removing 3 Spell Counters—one each from Magister, Reflection and Citadel—to Special Summon it and return Dark Rebellion to the Extra Deck. Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon attacks Reflection of Endymion. Mion activates Action Card, High Dive, granting Reflection 1000 ATK. (ROE: 1850 + 1000 = 2850ATK) Yuya activates Action Card, Miracle, negating Odd-Eyes's destruction and halving the damage. [YS: 600 - 175 = 425LP] Yuya ends his turn.

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

- Mythical Beast Garuda - Spell Counter(s): 2

Turn 8: Mion Myojin

Mion draws. She tributes Magister and Reflection to Tribute Summon Mythical Beast Master Cerberus. (8*/S4/2800/2800) She sets the Scale 8 Endymion, the Mighty Master of Magic (7*/S8/2800/1700) in the Pendulum Scale. Master Cerberus gains 2 Spell Counters, while Garuda and Citadel gain 1. Mion activates the Spell Card, Spell Power Mastery, placing 4 Spell Counters on her Citadel and adding an "Endymion" card from her Deck to her hand. She sets the Scale 2 Servant of Endymion in the Pendulum Scale. By removing 3 Spell Counters from Citadel and 3 Spell Counters from Garuda, Mion Special Summons Endymion, the Mighty Master of Magic from her Pendulum Zone. Then, since she controls 7 cards that Spell Counters can be placed on, she destroys 7 cards on the field—Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, Performapal Turn Toad, Timegazer Magician, Dragonpit Magician, Performage Hat Tricker, Bubble Barrier and Yuya's set card, Performapal Pinch Helper. She has Tempest Magician attack Dennis directly. Dennis Special Summons Performage String Figure (1*/0/0/DARK/Spellcaster/Effect) from his hand, and it cannot be destroyed by the attack. Dennis also takes no damage from the attack. Mythical Beast Garuda attacks Yuya directly. Yuya activates Action Card, Evasion, negating the attack. However, by returning Servant from the field to the hand, Mion negates Evasion using the Master of Magic's effect. [YS: 425 - 1200 = 0LP] The Master of Magic destroys String Figure, and Master Cerberus finishes Dennis off. [DM: 2000 - 2800 = 0LP] Mion wins!

---

OC Cards:

Action Card - Burning Draw

(Spell/Action)

You and your opponent both draw 1 card.

Odd-Eyes Curtain Call

(Trap)

If you have 2 cards in your Pendulum Scales: You can Special Summon 1 Dragon-Type monster from your hand in Attack Position, and if you do, you can Set 1 "Performapal" or "Odd-Eyes" Spell/Trap from your Deck to your field, except "Odd-Eyes Curtain Call". You can only activate "Odd-Eyes Curtain Call" once per Duel.

---

Different Card Effects from TCG:

Stargazer Magician - Anime effect

Timegazer Magician - Anime effect

Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon - Anime effect

Performapal Turn Toad - Anime effect

Performage Flame Eater - Anime effect

Performage Trick Clown - Anime effect

Performage Trapeze Magician - Anime effect

Bubble Barrier - Anime effect, though to clarify, I'm treating the anime effect as every monster being able to negate an attack on itself once.

Performage String Figure - Anime-only card.

---

End Notes:

Someone once mentioned that I had to be aware of the dangers of having a character with narcolepsy and who was disabled, and the restrictions placed on that character. And yes, I am very aware of them. Shino's disabilities are based on a friend I have, and I asked her a lot of questions about the difficulties that she faced. At the same time, I don't want to make the world of Arc-V one that discriminates against disabled people. (Well, not the Fusion Dimension, anyway…) That's why even though her disability is addressed, it's not addressed in a way to push her down. It's how I plan on treating disabilities in this story, anyway.

Yuya vs Kachidoki happens about the same way in this story, except that Yuya does not have any synchronisation issues with Yuto, and thus, when he Xyz Summons it, it's just as a sign of friendship to Yuto. Thus, he has no angst associated with using Dark Rebellion here, unlike canon.

Serena is getting a lot of screen time in these few chapters, though that's coincidental. There were several canon characters who I wanted to explore more, in terms of their character traits. Serena's character arc in canon was less of an arc and more of a straight line. Here, we see her doubtful but still resolute, moving forward to understand instead of fight. For those who expected a Serena vs Yuno duel, sorry, but that was never going to be the case. I prefer letting them just talk.

And in this chapter, we get to see how the different cast immediately affects the matchups. Some are the same—Yuzu and Gongenzaka vs Halil and Olga duel off-screen, for example—but in this situation, I bet that some of you are fuming at the result of the main duel of this chapter.

*clears throat*

Yeah, I don't blame you for being annoyed with it. It's an important lesson for Yuya to learn though—not just secondhand through the duel between Mion and Sora, but rather, by seeing it firsthand. If there's one thing that I wanted this duel to do, it was to force Yuya to think outside of the box, to break his dependence on Action Cards. Also, I needed an opponent that was strong enough to overwhelm Yuya, so that he and Dennis could meet in a way similar to canon, since I got the Ryozanpaku characters out. Therefore—Mion. Dennis will get a better and more proper duel soon—but this was simply to emulate the situation where Dennis and Yuya met in canon Arc-V. The duel was originally 12 or so turns, but after I had to remove all of Dennis's Pendulums, his deck could no longer survive against Mion's, so I put him and Yuya out of their misery.

Also, the two duels intended for this chapter just would not work in the way I wanted them to. I messed up the original outline for Mion vs Yuya and Dennis, and Yuno vs Michio happened on a whim. (A whim that doomed me to looking through all of Michio's cards and going what the fuck at his strategy, eventually causing me to just… not write the duel. Like, it served no real purpose anyway.) I had to rewrite the first outline because I forgot that canonically, Dennis has no Pendulum Performages yet. Ugh. Also, Yuya is my least favourite character so far to write a duel for, purely because I've actually played the TCG version of every archetype he plays, so I keep messing up the effects. (I say so far, because there is one character that is going to cause me even more heart pain than Yuya, and I'm sincerely not looking forward to that character dueling on screen, namely, Shun Kurosaki. My three years of playing Raidraptors is a curse in this situation. Luckily for me, I don't have to worry about that for a while.)

Also, we're seeing the end of the Standard Arc in about… I'll say six chapters? Could vary depending on if I decide to add in other duels along the way. So I'm excited for that! It does mean that I'll have to start doing my chapter by chapter outline for the Synchro Arc soon though—I have the general plot and most of the duels decided, but I haven't decided what is in each chapter in terms of content. I'll probably have an interlude chapter that's a Q&A session with the characters, so if you do have any questions specifically for the characters, you can ask them, and they'll be answered in that chapter. I'll continue to answer any questions that are asked in reviews that aren't specifically for that though. Also, once I'm done with the Standard Arc, I'll be opening up a character popularity poll on my profile for the fic, just to see what people think.

Credit goes to DSpaceZ's review for this chapter, which pointed out a duel mistake that has been corrected.

Review responses!

To naminexriku2468, rest assured that Neon Genesis Evangelion's opening was chosen for the lyrics, and not because this story is going to end up like that show. The lyrics, funnily enough, have very little to actually do with the show. I do actually have a theme song for each arc, and this one was always A Cruel Angel's Thesis. To meliodas, Yuya already has a Link Monster, but yes, I do plan on letting him learn summoning methods as he gets to know his counterparts, except Fusion, since he canonically gets that first. So Ritual Summoning will come when Yuya finally meets Yuji. To Javier Alonso, yes, Yuzu and the counterparts are 100% getting Pendulum cards, though it'll take a while longer.

P.S. For fun, I do have two questions of the chapter for anyone who reads this—first, what is your least favourite thing about Yu-Gi-Oh fanfics? Or specifically, is there a pet peeve that makes you dislike certain fics? Second, are there any duels you really want to see? While like I said, I already have all the plot-important duels planned out—I rarely like writing duels unless there's something interesting with the decks involved, or it's plot-important—I want to see what the readers think.