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?

30. Chapter 30: The Depths of the Facility

Starting Notes:

Welcome back! My computer broke, so I wrote this entire chapter on mobile. *deep breath* And all it cost was my sanity. I don't understand how I managed to ever write fanfic on mobile in 2015, but I don't recommend it. Anyway, because this is on mobile, I definitely skimmed a little on certain areas, and I couldn't stand proofreading for grammar on mobile, so I just didn't. Hope it's still enjoyable though!

---

Chapter 30: The Depths of the Facility

When Yuto looked at the people in the Facility, he was mildly thankful for the fact that neither Shun nor Nue had to spend a long time seeing them, considering that one was in solitary confinement and the other had the uncharacteristic self-control to somehow avoid being arrested.

There was something so offputting to him to see the Commons here—people walking around, slumping over, more empty than alive. People that had been reduced to husks. Some prisoners never even left their cells, and Yuto didn't know if they ate at all, or if the guards would simply leave them there. Unthinking, unable to move, until they wasted away of malnutrition, thirst and atrophy. No drive, no hope, no thought at all.

… it was all too much like the Resistance could have been, if not for the seething rage that they had all felt. Yuto had once seen a man in the Resistance, who had been rescued by Shun. He had lost his family—his three daughters and his wife. The last time that Yuto had seen him, he had been blankly staring at the ceiling, unmoving. (He had vanished soon afterwards. No one had dared to ask where he was.)

(People only truly die when they lose the will to live.)

Shinji had put it best, when Yuto had first mentioned his disgust with the conditions that the people here were placed in.

"There are two types of people here. Those with no light left in their eyes, and those whose eyes still glow."

"I don't intend to stay here and waste away to nothing," Yuto had said sharply—defiantly, and Shinji had given him an approving smirk.

"Neither do we. You're free to come along when we leave, if you want. I think the Commons would happily welcome someone like you."

Yuto refused to lower his head, give up and waste away into nothing.

He would fight tooth and fang for the right to exist, each and every time.

---

Two days into their stay in the Facility, the guards came directly to their cell.

"You, you, you and you." The guard gestured to Yuto, Yuno, Dennis and Mion, though he did glance at Yuya for a moment, as though making sure that he had gotten the right ones. "You're coming with us."

"Where are you taking them?" Sawatari called. "Uh—"

"None of your business, prisoners," another guard said, grinning thickly. "We'll be taking the rest of you upstairs."

Yuno frowned, but he followed the guard out anyway.

"Yuno!"

He turned around, with Yuya looking at him, looking worried.

"Stay safe."

"Relax," Yuno said. "We'll be back together before you know it."

As the guards led them away, one of them snorted. "Do you really think you're that safe?" He said. "Keep moving." They were brought to an elevator, one that sent them down into the ground—and then, as they stepped out, the musty scent of dust and rot smothered his sense of smell. Their duel disks were on the ground, and the guards gestured for them to pick them up.

Then…

The door behind them clicked shut. The elevator whirred, slowly rising up again with the guards within it—stranding them down here.

What exactly were they supposed to do down here?

The place was awfully quiet.

Then, Yuno caught onto the sound of approaching footsteps. They were slow, graceful clicks on the ground, each one sounding clear and determined. He tensed up.

From a nearby corridor, a black-haired woman walked out. She smiled thinly at them, twirling a finger through her long hair.

"You must be the interesting ones," she said. She looked across all of them swiftly. "… not quite as threatening as they said you were."

"What are we supposed to do here?" Yuto asked.

The woman smiled thinly. "Welcome to the Sisyphean Wing of the Facility," she said. Despite how calm she sounded—her voice almost a purr—there was something about her that set off alarm bells in Yuno's head. "Or, as they call it up there, the maximum security even beyond maximum security."

Yuno blinked.

And from that, we can infer… that these are prisoners more dangerous than even the most dangerous of prisoners.

"Come along then," the woman said in a lilting tone. "Let's get down to business."

They followed her along the corridor. They were surrounded by cells on both sides, the cells all uncomfortably empty. Where were the people that should be down here? Where was anyone?

"They died," the dark-haired woman said, making eye contact with Yuno. She cracked a smile. "People are sent down here knowing that they are dead—we are all dead down here. All they can do is struggle to cling onto life as it drifts away from them—and isn't that what we all do?" She hummed a strange song as they made their way through the corridors—straight to a lit room, with a few strangers there, and one familiar figure.

"Yuto!" Kurosaki charged over. "They brought me down here without explaining—how did you get here? Are you alright?"

"Shun!" Yuto nodded, looking just as relieved. "Yes—I'm glad to see that you're alright—"

Fingers struck against metal, letting out a sharp sound, interrupting their reunion.

All of them turned over.

There were five strangers there. One of them was the dark-haired woman that had led them here, who had now slunk back over to the side of a woman with long blonde hair. Sitting in a corner was a tired, dark-skinned man with dark hair, who was rather well-built for someone stuck in a prison. There was a man with dark orange hair and a rather casual smirk on his face, leaning on the side of a chair that was crafted entirely from metal bars that were twisted and welded together.

Sitting on that makeshift chair—no, makeshift throne—on the other side of the room, was a man with long, light blue-grey hair. It was long in a way that implied that he had simply forgotten to cut it, but it still looked rather elegant rather than messy. He was dressed in a long black cloak and a long-sleeved grey shirt, as well as long, dark pants.

Light grey eyes looked directly at them.

"Welcome to hell," the man on the throne said, tilting his head. "Misty says that you were asking why you were here." He didn't get up, but his gaze seemed to intensify. "Isn't it obvious?"

"If this is hell," Yuto said tensely, "we're here to die?" Dennis let out a squeak from next to him, having clearly not connected the dots yet.

"Correct." The man tilted his head. "This is the Sisyphean Wing. It is where they put the prisoners that they cannot hope to contain—they know that we could get out at any time that we wanted, but they hope that we'll continue to trap ourselves." He stood up. "I will not lie to you. The people from up there think that you're dangerous. So they're hoping that we'll take the blood off their hands and do the job for them."

The blonde-haired woman let out a scoff.

"... and, will you?" Mion asked, when the silence dragged on for too long.

"That depends on your performance, doesn't it?"

And for a moment, Yuno flinched—feeling sharp killing intent in the room, an invisible pressure against his throat. A flash of silver at the hands of the dark-haired woman and the pale-haired man, a slight head tilt from the dark-haired man, a slight smirk from the orange-haired man and a cold glare from the blonde-haired woman.

"The task is simple." The blue-haired man pressed his hands together. "You all take us on individually. You win—or you die."

He stood up, and he flashed a card between his fingers. One of the security guards' cards, that allowed them to access the elevator in the first place.

"Pick a corridor," he said. He was clearly the leader of the group. "And then… we shall see." Like shadows, each of the strangers vanished down the corridors, a fleeting image.

"... I think they want us to split up," Dennis said. Yuno swallowed slowly—he had been unable to breathe while they were here.

"Hell no," Kurosaki said recklessly. "We—"

"Shun, we have no choice," Yuto said firmly. "If we don't play by their rules, they will probably force us to do it anyway." He took a deep breath. "I suppose we were prepared to come face to face with death anyway… so this is our first test."

"It's not like we can escape," Mion said. "Yeah. Be careful." She moved towards one of the corridors. "... good luck, everyone."

"Good luck," Yuno echoed. He took a deep breath—

And he walked towards his next battle.

(Behind him, he saw Yuto and Shun embracing for a moment—the two best friends clearly reluctant to let the other be in danger, not when they had already lost so much.)

---

Mion got to the end of the corridor, entering a room that was clearly not a cell room—it might have been a connector between different corridors once, but it had clearly been redecorated.

On the walls, in paint, were words written in a shaky hand, barely legible. Mion didn't read them. She looked forward, at her opponent.

"My name is Misty Lola," the black-haired woman from before said, smiling pleasantly. "You're likely wondering about the words on the walls?"

"I am," Mion admitted.

Misty nodded. "Prisoners are very rarely sent down here," she said. "At most, there have six people here at once… and it changes, give or take a few months. Sherry, for example, is constantly in and out—they want to keep her down here as much as possible, but she's famous, so they have to allow her out to keep up appearances." She gestured to the words. "It was a tradition that Kiryu started, when he and Naoya first came down here. To write down our names and the things that we did, to cause ourselves to come down here."

"Why?"

"Do you know what goes first when you're locked up?" Misty said wistfully. "It's not your heart, nor your physical state, or anything like that. It's your state of being. It's your ability to recall who you are, deep down." She raised a finger, tracing the words on the wall. "And once you lose that, you can no longer live on—it's far too empty for you to be able to stand up again. Do you know what that feels like?"

"No," Mion said. "I cannot imagine not knowing who I am."

"Such confidence," Misty said. There was something almost affectionate to her tone of voice. "Regardless. It does well to have a reminder of our own humanity."

She positioned herself on the opposite side of Mion.

"I am Misty Lola," she said again—a subtle distinction of 'I am', rather than 'My name is', a sense of ownership over her own identity now present in a way that it hadn't been before. "I killed seven people in a single night, and then, a year ago, I killed a defenceless man who was begging me to stop the entire time, while I shredded his skin and broke his bones."

She stared at Mion. Mion stared right back.

"And I see you," Misty continued. "You can tell a lot of things from faces. A person who thinks of themselves as fundamentally worthless. A person who only finds fulfilment in acting for the safety of others." She hummed. "You live a sad life, Miss…"

"Mion Myojin," Mion said. "And I don't consider it a sad life." She shrugged. "I am perfectly happy to act in the service of others. That being said, we're here to duel, correct?"

"And you're not afraid to lose?"

"If I was afraid to lose, I wouldn't be here," Mion said. She lifted her prosthetic hand, curling a finger in challenge. Misty's eyes widened slightly in amusement. "I know perfectly well what it means to lose. Well?"

"... more of a wolf than a harmless doe, then." Misty let out a soft, croon-like laugh. "Very well."

[DUEL!]

Misty Lola: 4000LP

Mion Myojin: 4000LP

[Turn 1: Misty] [H:5]

"I will activate the Spell Card, Reptilianne Ramifications," Misty said, revealing the Spell Card from her hand. "I'll discard a card and activate two of three effects listed on the card. I will choose the second and third effect, allowing me to add a "Reptilianne" monster and a "Reptilianne" Spell or Trap except for Ramifications itself from my deck to my hand!" She smiled. "Then, I'll set a monster and a card facedown. Over to you."

[Turn 2: Mion] [H:6]

Mion drew a card with a frown. "I'll Normal Summon Royal Magical Library." The dark obelisk-like structure with a large green, glowing orb in its middle appeared.

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

"I will activate the Spell Card, Terraforming. And with its effect, I can add a Field Spell from my deck to my hand." Mion swiped out the card from her deck. "Come, Magical Citadel of Endymion!" Her Field Spell appeared on the field as well. "And then, I'll activate Spell Power Mastery! I'll add an "Endymion" card from my deck to my hand."

"A very Spell-focused deck," Misty said with a chuckle. "How interesting."

"Then, I can place a Spell Counter on a card I control, since I currently have a total of one "Spell Power Mastery" or "Spell Power Grasp" on my field or in my graveyard. I will place another one on the Citadel. I will then remove three Spell Counters from Royal Magical Library to draw a card," Mion explained, removing the three Spell Counters that her monster had accumulated up to this point. "Then, I'll set the Scale 2 Servant of Endymion and the Scale 8 Magister of Endymion in the Pendulum Scales!" The two pillars of light shot up on either side of her, and Misty raised an eyebrow.

"Fascinating," she said. "We were told that you would have things that we had never seen before, but an entirely new type of card?"

"And new potential," Mion said. "I will remove three Spell Counters from the Magical Citadel of Endymion to substitute for the cost of Royal Magical Library, and draw another card." She nodded when she picked up the card. "I will activate the Continuous Spell, Mythical Institution! And next, by removing three Spell Counters from Royal Magical Library itself, I will draw another card again!" She snapped her fingers. "Then, by removing four Spell Counters from my field—one from Magical Citadel, two from Servant and one from Magister—I will use Mythical Institution's effect to add a Level 4 monster that mentions Spell Counters from my deck to my hand!"

That left her with only a single Spell Counter on her field—on the Citadel.

She pressed her hands together.

"And now, with this Pendulum Scale, I can Pendulum Summon monsters from Level 3 to Level 7. Pendulum Summon! Come from my hand! Magical Abductor! Alchemist of Black Spells!" A black-haired woman appeared on the field, dressed in black and green robes and with a wicked-looking black staff in her hands. Next to her, a man in black robe trimmed with gold appeared, his face covered by a black hood.

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

[Alchemist of Black Spells (4*/1200/1800/WIND/Spellcaster/Effect)]

"I will activate the effect of Alchemist of Black Spells. By changing it to Defense Position, I can place a Spell Counter on a face-up card I control that a Spell Counter can be placed on. I'll choose the Magical Citadel of Endymion."

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

"And now, I'll open the circuit of the glittering citadel! Arrowhead confirmed. The conditions are at least two monsters, including a Spellcaster monster! I will set Magical Abductor, Alchemist of Black Spells and Royal Magical Library in the Link Markers! Moonlight shines down on the citadel lit to the brim with magic. Beautiful empress, crush those that would ruin your peaceful empire! Circuit Combine! Link 3! Selene, Queen of the Master Magicians!" The beautiful blonde woman appeared, holding onto a shining bow.

[Selene, Queen of the Master Magicians (L3/1850/LIGHT/Spellcaster/Link/Effect/↙, ↓, ↘)]

"When Selene is Link Summoned, I can place Spell Counters on her up to the number of Spells on the field and in the graveyard. There are seven!" Selene glowed brightly.

[Selene, Queen of the Master Magicians: Spell Counter(s): 7]

"With the effect of Selene, I will remove three Spell Counters from her to Special Summon a Spellcaster monster from my hand or graveyard to her Link Marker in Defense Position. Come—Mythical Beast Master Cerberus!" She placed down the card from her hand, and one of her strongest monsters appeared right behind Selene.

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

[Selene, Queen of the Master Magicians: Spell Counter(s): 4]

"Selene attacks your set monster!"

Misty smiled as her set card flipped over. An orange-haired girl with a bottom half snake body appeared on the field, smiling cheerfully.

[Reptilianne Naga (1*/0/0/DARK/Reptile/Effect)]

"Reptilianne Naga's effect," she said sweetly. "This card cannot be destroyed by battle, and the attack points of all monsters that she battles become 0 by the end of the Battle Phase." Selene let out a pained sound, poison seeping along her pale skin.

[Selene, Queen of the Master Magicians: 1850 → 0ATK]

Mion frowned. So that applied to a monster that it attacked too?

"I'll set a card and end my turn," she said.

[Turn 3: Misty] [H:4]

"Hmm, I see." Misty nodded. "Not bad! During the Main Phase, since I have a Reptile monster in my graveyard, I can send Reptilianne Nyami from my hand to the graveyard to change the attack points of a monster you control to 0." Master Cerberus fell down to one knee, its strength drained—but what was the point of that? It was in Defense Position.

[Mythical Beast Master Cerberus: 2800 → 0ATK]

"And then, I'll use the effect of Reptilianne Coatl in my hand. I'll Special Summon it from my hand since I control a DARK Reptile monster, and she will also Special Summon Reptilianne Viper from my hand." A red-haired woman with long whip-like hair appeared, her bottom half that of a black-scaled snake with a white underbelly, and with a large knife at the end of its tail. Meanwhile, a tiny green snake appeared, floating next to Coatl.

[Reptilianne Coatl (4*/1400/1000/DARK/Reptile/Tuner/Effect)]

[Reptilianne Viper (2*/0/0/DARK/Reptile/Tuner/Effect)

"Coatl can be treated as a non-Tuner monster for a Synchro Summon," Misty continued, still sounding absolutely tranquil. "I will tune the Level 2 Reptilianne Viper to the Level 4 Reptilianne Coatl! "Beautiful, impossible hydra up in her tower! Now, strike out with your many heads, and crush us below your fangs! Synchro Summon! Level 6! Reptilianne Hydra!" A large, monstrous multi-headed snake woman appeared, towering over the field, letting out a loud set of hisses from each head.

[Reptilianne Hydra (6*/2100/1500/DARK/Reptile/Synchro/Effect)]

"I will activate Reptilianne Hydra's effect. All monsters you control with 0 attack points are destroyed, and then I draw a card for each monster destroyed. Shatterpoint Glare!" The hydra let out another hiss, and as she glared at the two monsters, Selene let out a pained shriek.

"Mythical Beast Master Cerberus can't be destroyed by card effects while I control at least 4 Spell Counters!" Mion declared. However, Selene was still destroyed.

Misty drew a card. "So you saved your monster," she said cheerfully. "It doesn't matter, because my snakes still claim power over everything in the end. I will tribute Reptilianne Naga from my field and Mythical Beast Master Cerberus from yours to Special Summon Reptilianne Vaskii from my hand!" The two monsters dissolved into light. A pale-skinned woman with four arms appeared, red hair streaming down around her shoulders. A golden headdress could be seen on the top of her head. Her snake body slid across the ground.

[Reptilianne Vaskii (8*/2600/0/DARK/Reptile/Effect)]

Misty smiled. "Attack directly, Reptilianne Vaskii!" She held out a hand, a confident strike.

"... you don't actually think that will work, do you?" Mion said.

"Of course not," Misty said. "So show me how beautifully you can bloom, Myojin-san. Only at your best can you wilt away with grace."

Was that what Misty's deck was based on? Sapping the strength of others?

"Trap Card, Defense Draw," Mion called. "I will reduce damage to 0 and draw a card!"

"Sure," Misty said with a nod. "Attack directly, Reptilianne Hydra!"

The second attack hit, and well, Mion didn't exactly care about it.

Mion: 4000 - 2100 = 1900LP

"I'll end my turn," Misty said pleasantly. Her green eyes seemed to stare right into Mion's soul. "It's your turn, Myojin-san."

"... why did you kill seven people?" Mion asked after a moment. She had been trying her best not to ask—the things that could drive a person to kill were still something that was foreign to her. She was sure that it wasn't foreign to most of the other Lancers. That killer instinct certainly existed in them—a ruthlessness they held that Mion herself simply didn't have. She wasn't sure if she ever wanted to understand that feeling, because that would mean that she had found something so desperate that she could justify killing.

Even so, sometimes, morbid curiosity overruled common sense.

"… I had a younger brother once," Misty shared. "His name was Toby. He was such a smart, talented boy—he would have been the absolute best, and he always wanted the best for everyone."

She met Mion's gaze directly.

"My brother was murdered."

… Mion had guessed that was the case. It didn't stop her from reeling.

"I see. You have a younger brother too, then. Maybe you'll understand." Misty shut her eyes. "My brother was a Psychic Duelist. He was so talented, so sweet… and then during a 'training accident', he died. But I know better. My brother was killed because he found out too much about what the Arcadia Movement was planning back then, under that man."

She clenched her fists.

"The seven people that I killed were the higher-ups of the Arcadia Movement. In a single night, I snuck through their privileged, opulent, blinding homes and slit each of their throats."

"… and the man that you beat to death?"

"The leader of the Arcadia Movement," Misty said. "His name was Divine." Her smile was the same as before, and somehow, the lack of difference made it more sinister. "He was the one that killed my brother with his bare hands. After Jack Atlas defeated him and he was locked up in here, he spent his time trying to make himself the leader of the prison. Every terrible, grisly detail of how Toby died—that entire autopsy report—I replicated every injury that he dealt to my brother to him. And I made sure that he died screaming."

"… I am so sorry for your loss," Mion said, and she truly meant it.

"I've never regretted the things I've done," Misty said, dismissing the sympathy. "I ruined my entire life for this—I was once a famous model, you know. Some people might say that my brother would have wanted me to simply live a happy life, and if I could have let it go, I would have been very successful in this horrible city. But the idea of stagnating, of just letting things be and trying to smile the entire time—I would have died. I would have torn my face off because I wouldn't have been able to look at my own smile in the mirror." She touched her face. "And yet, after doing all of those monstrous things, I was finally able to be happy and at peace. There's no need to feel sorry for me, Mion Myojin. The woman that was Misty Lola is dead—I'm just the monster that was born out of her grief. Would you do that, Myojin-san? What would you be capable of, if you lost your brother?"

… Shingo…

"I would always, always want to protect Shingo," Mion said. "But I could never kill. Not for anything. It's not even like I look down on those who kill—I'm not some naive flower that thinks that anyone who kills is a bad person or anything like that. I just… never want to be responsible for ending someone's existence. Maybe that makes me a bad sister."

"… no," Misty said honestly. "I don't think either of us are bad sisters. I think we're just fundamentally different—but don't compare yourself to me. Even if you did, you do not come up short."

Mion nodded.

She felt so much… pity. And yet, she knew that she shouldn't feel it. This was a woman who did not want pity. This was a woman who had made choices that were monstrous and awful and yet so human that Mion couldn't condemn her for it. A woman who would be content for the rest of her life, because she had already achieved her goal.

… and what an awful, sad goal it was.

I could cry for you. I could cry for you and this awful tragedy that you have turned your life into.

[Turn 4: Mion] [H:3]

"Draw," Mion said, squeezing her cards slightly for a moment to compose herself. Alright. She was still dueling to win, no matter what. "I will activate another copy of Spell Power Mastery. I will add another "Endymion" card from my deck to my hand, and since I have two copies of Mastery on my field and in my graveyard, I can place an additional two Spell Counters onto Servant of Endymion in my Pendulum Scale." She nodded to her Pendulum Scale. "I will remove three Spell Counters from Servant of Endymion to Special Summon it from the Pendulum Scale and Reflection of Endymion from my deck!"

The blonde-haired woman appeared next to Servant of Endymion, the two female monsters letting out quiet laughs.

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

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

"Both of them then gain a Spell Counter," Mion explained. "And by bouncing Servant of Endymion back to my hand, I will use Reflection of Endymion's effect to return Reptilianne Hydra to the hand—and thus, Extra Deck! Mystical Mirror!" Reptilianne Hydra was wiped off the field. "And then, Reflection of Endymion gains another Spell Counter. I will then set Servant of Endymion back in the Pendulum Scale!" The pillar of light rose back up. "I will activate the effect of Mythical Institution. I will once again activate the effect of Mythical Institution, and I'll remove 2 Spell Counters from Reflection of Endymion and 2 Spell Counters from Magister of Endymion to add a Level 4 monster related to Spell Counters from my deck to my hand." She gestured upwards. "Swing, pendulum!"

She couldn't revive Mythical Beast Master Cerberus from the Extra Deck due to the Pendulum Scales that she currently had. However, she still had options.

"Pendulum Summon! Return from the Extra Deck, Magical Abductor! And from my hand, Royal Magical Library!" Another copy of Royal Magical Library appeared on the field, while Magical Abductor returned to the field. "I'll remove three Spell Counters from Magical Citadel of Endymion to substitute Royal Magical Library's cost, and draw another card."

She took a deep breath.

Alright.

She definitely used Xyz, Pendulum and Link more nowadays. However, it did not mean that she had forgotten how to use the other summoning methods.

She was Mion Myojin, after all.

"Spell Card, Pendulum Fusion! I can Fusion Summon using monsters I control as materials. Then, since I have two monsters in my Pendulum Scales, I can also use monsters in my Pendulum Scales as Fusion Materials! I will fuse Reflection of Endymion, Royal Magical Library and Magical Abductor on my field, along with Servant of Endymion and Magister of Endymion in my Pendulum Scales!"

"Five cards for a single summon?" Misty frowned as the five monsters flew up into the swirling vortex. "That's…

"Magic reaching the peak of its limit," Mion chanted. "Spinning circles of runes that glow with the light of the golden sun. Break past mortality and humanity, and be consumed by knowledge itself! Fusion Summon! Level 12! Quintet Magician!" A mage in dark purple robes appeared, wearing a tall hat and with armour covering the top of its robes. He had bright, golden orange hair.

[Quintet Magician (12*/4500/4500/DARK/Spellcaster/Fusion/Effect)]

"... what a lovely monster," Misty said.

Mion shrugged. "Since I Fusion Summoned Quintet Magician with five monsters with different names, I can destroy all cards that my opponent controls!"

"I will activate Offering to the Snake Deity," Misty said, revealing her set card. "I can tribute a Reptile monster, like Vaskii, and destroy two cards you control. I will destroy Quintet Magician and Magical Citadel of Endymion!"

"My Citadel can get rid of a Spell Counter to protect itself. Quintet Magician cannot be destroyed by card effects!"

Misty laughed. "Then that's entirely my loss, isn't it? Take your victory, Myojin-san."

Quintet Magician attacked, and Misty's life points were knocked out in a single blow.

Misty: 4000 - 4500 = 0LP

Winner: Mion Myojin!

The black-haired woman walked forward. She looked directly at Mion's face—while she had certainly been staring a lot, this time, it felt like she was being completely seen through.

"Oh," Misty said, and there was something distant to her voice. "Oh, I see."

"You see… what?"

"I can see things when I look at people's faces for a while," Misty said. Her brow was creased in sorrow. "I am… so, so sorry."

"Huh?"

"I am sorry for your loss," Misty whispered.

"Loss? No, you're mistaken." Mion shook her head. "I haven't—I've been rather fortunate, actually. I've never had to deal with death."

Misty reached up, touching Mion's cheek. "Then," she whispered, "why does your very soul seem to be crying over something that you've lost? A sadness that burns right through your very being. What loss have you forgotten, Mion Myojin?"

Mion gulped.

She had never had to lose anything. She had no clue what Misty was talking about.

So why did it feel like she was somehow right?"

"I need to go," she said, pulling away.

Misty chuckled. "Not until the rest of the duels conclude," she said. "After all, these are all trials that we need to face. And we always face our greatest trials alone."

---

"Uh. Hey, big guy."

Dennis really had no clue what he was doing here. Was this a test? Was Roget putting him in this situation to try and give him more credibility among the Lancers? He would really have to get in contact with the spy soon—after all, everyone back in Fusion had been under the assumption that Synchro had yet to be conquered, but Roget had clearly already risen to the strongest position here.

The man looked at him. "I am Bommer," he said after a moment. "And you?"

"Uh, Dennis Mackfield." Dennis cleared his throat. "So, we're here to duel?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure we can't just chill?" Dennis waved his hands through the air. "I mean, you don't have to kill me…"

"If you have the time to distract, duel me."

"Ugh… fine."

Dennis just had to win. It wasn't like it was anything serious—he had always known that as a spy, he would always be in danger. This would just be another duel that he would have to win.

Time to duel.

[DUEL!]

Dennis Mackfield: 4000LP

Bommer: 4000LP

[Turn 1: Bommer] [H:5]

"I will set a monster and a card facedown. I end my turn."

That simple? No, Dennis wouldn't let down his guard so quickly.

[Turn 2: Dennis] [H:6]

"Draw!" Dennis revealed a card in his hand. "Since my opponent controls a monster and I do not, I can Special Summon Performage Wind Drainer from my hand!" A pale-skinned clown with a vacuum-like horn in its hands and a blue witch's hat on the top of its head appeared.

[Performage Wind Drainer (5*/S4/2100/0/WIND/Spellcaster/Pendulum/Effect)]

"Then, its Level decreases by 1!"

[Performage Wind Drainer: 5* - 1* = 4*]

"Then, I'll activate the Spell Card, Magical Pendulum Box! I'll draw two cards, and if they're Pendulum Monsters, I can add them to my hand. If not, I send them to the graveyard!" He swiped up the top two cards from his deck. "... well, one of them is!" He sent the other one to the graveyard. "And since Performage Trick Clown was sent to the graveyard this turn, I can Special Summon it, but its attack and defense points become 0!" A white-faced clown with a staff in the shape of a question mark appeared, doing a handstand.

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

[Performage Trick Clown: 1600/1200 → 0ATK/DEF]

"I'll overlay the Level 4 Trick Clown and Wind Drainer! Show must go on! Artisan of the air, swing across the stage with grace! Xyz Summon! Appear now! Rank 4! Performage Trapeze Magician!" Dennis's main Xyz Monster appeared on his field, taking a bow.

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

"Xyz Summon…" Bommer muttered. "That is… certainly a new concept."

"Oh? Am I piquing some of your interest with my dueling?"

"Hardly." Bommer said flatly. "Hurry up."

"Well, if the audience wants to hasten the show, that's fine with me! Performage Trapeze Magician's effect! I'll detach one of his Overlay Units to give him two attacks this turn! Encore Flare!"

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

"Trapeze Magician attacks your set monster!"

The monster flipped over—

"This is Mecha Phantom Beast Hamstrat," Bommer said, sounding like he was just describing the weather, and not the literal plane that had just appeared in front of him, surrounded by a green aura.

[Mecha Phantom Beast Hamstrat (3*/1100/1600/WIND/Machine/Effect)]

"When flipped face-up, it Special Summons two "Mecha Phantom Beast Tokens" to my field." Two smaller drones appeared on either side of Hamstrat.

[Mecha Phantom Beast Token (x2) (3*/0/0/WIND/Machine)]

"The attack still continues!"

"While I control a Token, Mecha Phantom Beast Hamstrat cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects," Bommer droned on. The attack collided harmlessly with the monster.

"Well, Trapeze Magician will attack your Token then!" One of the Tokens was destroyed, but since it was in Defense Position, Bommer didn't take any damage from it. "And I'll end my turn!"

[Turn 3: Bommer] [H:4]

"Draw." Bommer nodded at the card. "Normal Summoning Mecha Phantom Beast Warbluran." A green aircraft appeared on the field.

[Mecha Phantom Beast Warbluran (1*/300/300/WIND/Machine/Tuner/Effect)]

"Hamstrat's Level increases by the total Level of all "Mecha Phantom Beast Tokens" I control," Bommer continued. "I will tune the Level 1 Mecha Phantom Beast Warbluran to the Level 6 Mecha Phantom Beast Hamstrat! Golden, weaponised warship that tears through the clouds, shred our opponents with your razor sharp winds! Synchro Summon! Mecha Phantom Beast Concoruda!" A large, golden airship with a dragon head on the front of its body appeared in front of him.

[Mecha Phantom Beast Concoruda (7*/2400/1200/WIND/Machine/Synchro/Effect)]

"Warbluran Special Summons another "Mecha Phantom Beast Token" to my field." Now, there were two Tokens floating on his field. "I'll activate the Trap Card, Sonic Boom. I will double Concoruda's attack points, and it is unaffected by other Spell and Trap effects. It also deals piercing damage, but during the End Phase, all Machine monsters I control are destroyed. Other monsters I control cannot attack this turn!"

[Mecha Phantom Beast Concoruda: 2400 x 2 = 4800ATK]

"Attack his monster, Concoruda!"

His monster was destroyed, and Dennis shielded himself from the golden bullets that were raining down all around him.

Dennis: 4000 - 2300 = 1700LP

"I'll set a turn and end my turn. Concoruda is destroyed during the End Phase, but it protects my Tokens from destruction." So he still had two monsters defending himself for the next turn.

[Turn 4: Dennis] [H:6]

"Draw! I will activate the Spell Card, Polymerization! I will fuse Performage Fire Dancer and Performage Water Dancer in my hand! Blazing flames, dance around the fire eater and form the most glorious images! Fusion Summon! Level 6! Performage Blazing Dancer!" A woman dressed in a black cloak appeared, embers burning all around her. She was holding onto a pipe, spitting out flames into the air that seemed almost ribbon-like in the way that they flicked through the air. She had long red and black hair, and she summoned up two rings of flames that spun around her.

[Performage Blazing Dancer (6*/2000/1500/FIRE/Spellcaster/Fusion/Effect)]

Contrary to what Dennis expected, there was no shock on his opponent's face, no confusion at the summoning method. It was like—

It was like his opponent didn't care.

"So, what brings a big guy like you here?" He said glibly.

Bommer looked back at him. He gestured to the wall, which Dennis had avoided looking at until now. (Oh, that was red paint. Not blood.)

He made out words from the wild red streaks.

'My name is Bommer.'

'The previous Director of Security authorised a testing project for a explosive device to wipe out a large area at once. During transportation, the device triggered accidentally. It destroyed my entire hometown.'

'I travelled to the City, bombed the Security headquarters and killed the Director, along with twelve innocent people. It was still less people than the amount of innocents they killed.'

Dennis took a deep breath. He turned to his opponent, who had his head lowered slightly. It looked like he was a man at the gallows, awaiting an inevitable execution.

And, well—

That reflected what Dennis had been feeling about everything ever since that day, ever since he had stepped on the road to commit sins that would cost an entire dimension of lives.

He spoke up before he was fully conscious of what he was doing, bunching up his shirt between his fists.

"I was raised in a circus," he admitted. "When I was five, the entire circus was bombed by an invading force from another country, situated on the neighbouring island. My brother was mid-performance, I was cheering him on—and then, the entire middle of the circus was blown away. Just like that. I lost everything—my parents, my three uncles and my aunt, my cousins, my older brother, my yet-to-be-born younger sister, the tents that were older than I was and that I had lived in for my entire life. I ran away from there, blindly stumbling, only having the biscuits that my brother had snuck out for me to eat in between the performances. I still remember tasting ash in my mouth. And I ran and ran and I couldn't find anywhere to go—the towns nearby had all been ripped to shreds too. I nearly starved to death before I was found and rescued."

He wasn't sure why he had said it—was it to try and give this man some kind of closure? Was it to vent out something that he had never told anyone?

(Was it just to say something as simple as 'I understand'? Or was it to ask for someone else to understand?)

"... it is a life of suffering," Bommer said, "to carry on, wondering why you lived when they did not."

And that hit Dennis like an arrow to the heart.

"Yes," he said, holding back the sorrow that threatened to burst out.

"But if you keep on holding it in," Bommer said, "it will fester like a sore. It will fill you with doubts, and you will never be able to move forward. It will become a noose that you use to hang yourself."

The image sent a chill through him.

(At the same time, it was a rejection from this person, that he had reached out to for affirmation. And that filled him with some anger too.)

"I will succeed, no matter what," Dennis said, forcing down that horrible, horrible doubt. Some part of him agreed with what Bommer was saying, but that part was a traitor to Academia's cause and not worth listening to. "I will keep on moving forward."

"... am I doomed to witness the same tragedy that I lived happening to someone else?" Bommer said, so quiet that Dennis barely heard it at all.

Nor did he want to listen.

"Since Performage Blazing Dancer was Fusion Summoned, I can target and destroy a monster on the field! I'll choose one of your Mecha Phantom Beast Tokens!" The drone exploded. "And then, I take 500 damage! However, I will activate the effect of Performage Flame Eater, and Special Summon it from my hand!" The purple sphere appeared, floating in front of him with a loud whoop.

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

"Then, Spell Card, Monster Reborn! Come back, Trapeze Magician!" His Xyz Monster reappeared on his field. "And I'll Normal Summon Performage Overlay Juggler!" A purple-skinned juggler with two large, spinning rings that resembled the streaks that Overlay Units drew through the air.

[Performage Overlay Juggler (3*/S6/1200/600/EARTH/Spellcaster/Pendulum/Effect)]

"I will then use Overlay Juggler's effect and attach it to Trapeze Magician!" The clown laughed, leaping over and turning into a spinning orb around Trapeze Magician. "I'll then detach it to use Trapeze Magician's effect on itself! Encore Flare!"

Bommer looked at him, and then he closed his eyes.

"Take out his other Token, Blazing Dancer!" The Fusion Monster leapt forward, destroying the other Token. "Attack directly, Trapeze Magician—twice! And bring us to victory!"

Trapeze Magician leapt forward, doubtless, a confident streak in the air.

(Dennis wished that he could be that confident in himself.)

Bommer: 4000 - 2500 - 2500 = 0LP

Winner: Dennis Mackfield!

The holograms faded.

"Don't tell anyone what I told you," Dennis said after a moment.

"That smile of yours is so artificial." Bommer closed his eyes, looking away. "I thought, initially, that it was hiding malice. But you don't have it in you to be the villain. You are far too sad for that."

Dennis scowled. "I'm the villain," he said. "I'll judge myself for it." He turned around, walking away.

(Bommer's gaze followed him, like a ghost breathing down his neck.)

---

"Oh, looks like I got the strongest one. What a bother."

Shun looked at the man with dark orange hair—the one who had been leaning on the throne earlier. The man had a dark, coiling tattoo of a large raven, going from the top of his neck down beyond his collarbone. However, if Shun looked carefully, he could tell that there was one of those yellow marks that he had seen on some Commons beneath it—painted over, transformed into part of the texture of the tattoo.

"This?" The man chuckled, touching the mark. He had smooth hands, with a ring on his fourth finger. "We were told that you were outsiders, so you probably wouldn't know anything about what these are. They're criminal marks. They used to be traceable by Security, but over time, we Commons figured out a way to stop them from working. Nowadays, they're just ugly decorations, so I decided to cover mine up somewhat. You were in solitary, right? You must be a pretty violent one. What's your name?"

"Shun Kurosaki," Shun said, narrowing his eyes. "And you?"

"Naoya Otobashi," the man greeted. Shun blinked.

"Your hair and eyes…" Those dark amber eyes. "And your last name… your sister is the one that arrested us."

"Chino did?" Naoya chuckled. "Well, unfortunate for you. She's always been very talented—a lot more talented than me anyway." He folded his arms. "Well, I've heard that you're strong. I hope that you don't disappoint me."

"Don't get cocky. I'm not an easy opponent."

"I'd never," Naoya said. "After all, I'm used to being the weakest one in any given room." He raised his duel disk, and Shun responded in kind.

[DUEL!]

Naoya Otobashi: 4000LP

Shun Kurosaki: 4000LP

[Turn 1: Shun] [H:5]

"I'll start," Shun said, still somewhat tense. "I'll Normal Summon Raid Raptors - Mimicry Lanius." A golden, metallic bird appeared, floating in front of him, with metallic wheels embedded in its wings.

[Raid Raptors - Mimicry Lanius (4*/1100/1900/DARK/Winged Beast/Effect)]

"I will then activate Raid Raptors - Call. I will target Mimicry Lanius and Special Summon another copy of it from my deck. And now, with the effect of Raid Raptors - Fuzzy Lanius, I can Special Summon it from my hand!" A dark purple bird appeared next to the two golden birds.

[Raid Raptors - Fuzzy Lanius (4*/500/1500/DARK/Winged Beast/Effect)]

"I'll then activate Mimicry Lanius's effect. I will increase the Levels of all "Raid Raptors" monsters I control by 1!"

[Raid Raptors - Mimicry Lanius (x2): 4* + 1* = 5*]

[Raid Raptors - Fuzzy Lanius: 4* + 1* = 5*]

"I will overlay my three Level 5 monsters!" Shun saw the orange-haired man blink. "Ferocious falcon. Break through this fierce battle and spread your wings! Destroy our gathering foes! Xyz Summon! Appear! Rank 5! Raid Raptors - Blaze Falcon!" The bright red bird reappeared on his field, breathing out a small stream of flames.

[Raid Raptors - Blaze Falcon (R5/1000/2000/DARK/Winged Beast/Xyz/Effect) (OU:3)]

"Xyz Summon…"

"I'll set a card and end my turn."

"Those are some mechanical-looking birds," Naoya commented. He chuckled. "My deck's pretty similar too. Allow me to introduce them to you!"

[Turn 2: Naoya] [H:6]

"Draw! I will activate the Spell Card, Scrapyard. I will add a "Scrap" Tuner to my hand." Naoya grinned. "I'll activate the Spell Card, Terraforming, and I'll add a Field Spell from my deck to my hand. I'll now activate the Field Spell, Scrap Factory!" Around them, large gears appeared, spinning around the walls. "All "Scrap" monsters gain 200 attack and defense points. Now, I'll Normal Summon Scrap Raptor!" A large, monstrous dinosaur appeared, its body made out of exposed, melted wires, with claws of different metallic materials, seeming to be put together from spare parts.

[Scrap Raptor (4*/1400/1000/EARTH/Dinosaur/Tuner/Effect)]

"With Scrap Raptor's effect, I can target and destroy a monster I control to give myself another Normal Summon this turn," Naoya explained. "I'll destroy Scrap Raptor itself." The monster exploded into bits of meetal that scattered around the field. "First, Scrap Factory's effect triggers. I can Special Summon a "Scrap" monster from my deck. So let's invite Scrap Beast to the field!" A canine creature made of bright silver and gold metal appeared in front of him with a low growl.

[Scrap Beast (4*/1600/1300/EARTH/Beast/Tuner/Effect)]

"I will then use the effect of Scrap Raptor. Since it was destroyed by the effect of a "Scrap" card and sent to the graveyard, I can add a "Scrap" non-Tuner monster from my deck to my hand." He revealed the card that he added to his hand. "I will Normal Summon Scrap Recycler." A strange robot appeared, with metallic bits floating around it and being dumped into a bucket at the top of its body.

[Scrap Recycler (3*/900/1200/EARTH/Machine/Effect)]

"With Scrap Recycler's effect, I will send a Machine monster from my deck to the graveyard." Naoya smirked. "I'll tune the Level 4 Scrap Beast to the Level 3 Scrap Recycler! Demon of scrap metal. Crush with your claws and obliterate those who look down on us! Synchro Summon—Level 7, abandoned metal demon, Scrap Archfiend!"

A bipedal demon made of dark metal appeared, exposed wires forming horns and wings and long legs. It let out a low growl.

[Scrap Archfiend (7*/2700/1800/EARTH/Fiend/Synchro)]

"Trap Card, Raid Raptors - Lock Chain. I will change your monster to Defense Position." Scrap Archfiend was forced downwards, and Naoya chuckled.

"Thought so. You're overprepared." He revealed a card in his hand. "Spell Card, Creature Swap. I will take control of Raid Raptors - Blaze Falcon, and give you control of Scrap Archfiend!" The two monsters swapped places on the field, and Shun narrowed his eyes—the idea of his monster being in the hands of an opponent created an awful feeling in his heart. Naoya examined the information on Blaze Falcon's effects now that he had it, seeming somewhat surprised.

"I will activate the effect of Raid Raptors - Blaze Falcon! By detaching an Overlay Unit, which I'm guessing is one of the monsters beneath it, I'll destroy all Special Summoned monsters you control and inflict 500 damage to you for each one!" One of Blaze Falcon's Overlay Units vanished, and without hesitation, Naoya destroyed his own monster.

[Raid Raptors - Blaze Falcon: OU:3 - 1 = OU:2]

A couple of bullets scattered around Shun's side of the field as well.

Shun: 4000 - 500 = 3500LP

"You detached Fuzzy Lanius," Shun said. "Since it was sent to the graveyard, I can add another copy of Fuzzy Lanius from my deck to my hand."

"So you still get another card out of it, huh? Fine by me. Blaze Falcon attacks you directly." The bird shot forward, hitting its owner, and Shun winced.

It's fine, Blaze Falcon. I promise that I won't let him use you for much longer.

Shun: 3500 - 1000 = 2500LP

"Setting a card! Over to you."

[Turn 3: Shun] [H:3]

"Draw!" Shun glanced at the card. "... so you came after all."

Naoya tilted his head. "Something good?"

"Something that will leave you defenceless." Shun revealed the card. "Rank-Up-Magic Revolution Force! I will take control of an Xyz Monster you control and use it as material to summon a "Raid Raptors" Xyz Monster which is 1 Rank higher!" Blaze Falcon flew back over to his side of the field, before turning into a red streak. Its Overlay Units were deposited into the graveyard.

"So you took it back…"

"I always take them back," Shun said. "I won't leave a single comrade behind." Not any of his comrades now, and especially not Ruri. He would never let them go, no matter what it cost him. "Prideful falcon. Spread your wings, dyed in the blood of heroes, and charge through the path of revolution! Rank Up Xyz Change! Appear! Rank 6! Raid Raptors - Revolution Falcon!"

The silver falcon appeared with a harsh shriek, glowing with a bright golden light. It seemed too large for the room—its wingspan nearly touched the walls on both sides. Naoya whistled in appreciation.

[Raid Raptors - Revolution Falcon (R6/2000/3000/DARK/Winged Beast/Xyz/Effect) (OU:1)]

"I will then banish Raid Raptors - Mimicry Lanius from the graveyard to add a "Raid Raptors" card from my deck to my hand. Then, I will Special Summon Raid Raptors - Fuzzy Lanius from my hand." The violet-purple bird appeared on the field. "And I'll activate the Continuous Spell, Raid Raptors - Nest. Since I control two "Raid Raptors" monsters, I can add a "Raid Raptors" monster from my deck or graveyard to my hand. I will add and Normal Summon Raid Raptors - Sharp Lanius!" The bright red bird took flight, landing on the field.

[Raid Raptors - Sharp Lanius (4*/1700/1000/DARK/Winged Beast/Effect)]

"And I will have Sharp Lanius and Fuzzy Lanius attack you directly!" The two smaller birds shot forward, both of them hitting Naoya and lowering his life points.

Naoya: 4000 - 1700 - 500 = 1800LP

"And finish him off, Revolution Falcon!"

Naoya's set card flipped over. "Scapegoat," he said, sounding rather amused. "I Special Summon four "Sheep Tokens" to my field." Four colourful-looking sheep appeared in front of him in Defense Position, protecting him from a direct attack. But why wouldn't he just activate it before any of the attacks?

[Sheep Token (x4) (1*/0/0/EARTH/Beast)]

"Revolution Falcon destroys one of them." One of the sheep was torn apart with his ace's claws. "I will move to my second Main Phase. Raid Raptors - Sharp Lanius's effect. Since it declared an attack, I can revive a "Raid Raptors" monster. Return, Raid Raptors - Mimicry Lanius!" The second copy of Mimicry Lanius reappeared on his field. "And I will overlay the Level 4 Fuzzy Lanius and Mimicry Lanius. Avian hunter of the afterlife, seek the truth with your dark eyes, and grasp glory with your sharp talons! Xyz Summon! Take flight! Rank 4! Raid Raptors - Force Strix!" The mechanical owl appeared, floating in Defense Position next to Revolution Falcon.

[Raid Raptors - Force Strix (R4/100/2000/DARK/Winged Beast/Xyz/Effect) (OU:2)]

"I will use Force Strix's effect. By detaching an Overlay Unit, I will add a Level 4 DARK Winged Beast monster to my hand. Nest Calling!" Shun swiped out another card from his deck.

[Raid Raptors - Force Strix: OU:2 - 1 = OU:1]

"And I will activate the effect of Fuzzy Lanius, who I just sent to the graveyard. I will add a third Fuzzy Lanius from my deck to my hand." Shun raised his head slightly. "I end my turn."

[Turn 4: Naoya] [H:3]

"Draw," Naoya said. He hummed. "Got it. I'll Normal Summon Scrap Chimera." A large metal creature appeared. Its head was faded yellow metal, rusty black and twin red lights in the shape of a lion's face. Its main body resembled that of a stallion, with thin legs of exposed wires. Two dark wings clicked open, metallic feathers shifting against each other. A snake-like tail wobbled through the air behind it.

[Scrap Chimera (4*/1700/500/EARTH/Beast/Effect)]

"Scrap Chimera will revive a "Scrap" Tuner from my graveyard," he continued. "So let's welcome back Scrap Raptor!" The dinosaur-like creature reappeared. "Scrap Raptor will destroy one of my Tokens to give me an additional Normal Summon this turn."

So he wanted to use the Tokens as ammunition for his monsters' effects?

"I will then tune the Level 4 Scrap Raptor to the Level 4 Scrap Beast! Mechanical monstrosity with the glowing eyes, let your metallic wings shear through those who suppress us! Synchro Summon! Level 8—Scrap Dragon!" A large purple-tinted metal dragon appeared, its eyes glowing bright red as its wings spread out menacingly. It was silent—and that was perhaps the most unnerving part of this.

[Scrap Dragon (8*/2800/2000/EARTH/Dragon/Synchro/Effect)]

"Scrap Dragon's effect. I can target a card you control and a card I control, and destroy the two of them." Naoya shrugged. "I will target Raid Raptors - Revolution Falcon and one of my Sheep Tokens." Both monsters were blown off the field. "And I will then Normal Summon Scrap Beast with the additional Normal Summon that Scrap Raptor gave me." The mechanical canine reappeared. "I'll tune the Level 4 Scrap Beast to the Level 1 Sheep Token." The final Sheep Token flew through the four rings that Scrap Beast turned into.

Naoya plucked a card from his Extra Deck.

"Leaves fall. The forest's silent protector walks through the trees. Appear now, sacred guardian of the Naturia Forest! Synchro Summon! Level 5! Naturia Beast!" For a moment, Shun saw the image of the Security Officer who had arrested Serena and Dennis standing behind the man—and the familiar tiger strode on in front of Naoya, taking a position next to Scrap Dragon.

[Naturia Beast (5*/2200/1700/EARTH/Beast/Synchro/Effect)]

"Scrap Dragon also gains 200 attack and defense points from my Field Spell."

[Scrap Dragon: 2800 + 200 = 3000ATK; 2000 + 200 = 2200DEF]

"I'll have Scrap Dragon attack your Sharp Lanius." The bird was crushed by the enormous dragon.

Shun: 2500 - 1300 = 1200LP

"And Naturia Beast will destroy your other bird." Force Strix was destroyed by the tiger with a lazy swing of its paw. "Once again, I'm setting a card and passing it over to you."

[Turn 5: Shun] [H:4]

"Draw," Shun said. He was… in somewhat of a pickle. That single tiger alone had crippled both Serena and Dennis heavily—and the inability to activate Spells was definitely a problem for him as well, when it came to Ranking Up his monsters.

However, he was not out of options.

"You're always rushing forward. Why not take a step back and look at the situation more objectively? Maybe there is a simpler way to deal with things, if you break down everything."

… I suppose that this time, Nue, you're right.

Let's return to basics.

"I will Normal Summon Raid Raptors - Vanishing Lanius," he said. The green bird appeared on his field.

[Raid Raptors - Vanishing Lanius (4*/1300/1600/DARK/Winged Beast/Effect)]

"I will then use Vanishing Lanius's effect. I can Special Summon a Level 4 or lower "Raid Raptors" monster from my hand. So come on out—Raid Raptors - Singing Lanius." A small golden bird appeared next to Vanishing Lanius.

[Raid Raptors - Singing Lanius (4*/100/100/DARK/Winged Beast/Effect)]

"I will use the effect of Raid Raptors - Nest to add a "Raid Raptors" monster from my deck to my hand." He revealed a card in his hand. "I will Special Summon Raid Raptors - Fuzzy Lanius from my hand, since I control a "Raid Raptors" monster." The purple bird reappeared on his field. "And I will overlay the Level 4 Vanishing Lanius, Singing Lanius and Fuzzy Lanius. Obscured falcon, raise your sharpened talons in front of adversity, spread your wings of rebellion! Xyz Summon! Appear! Rank 4! Raid Raptors - Rise Falcon!"

His main ace appears, flying through the air before swiftly landing in front of him.

[Raid Raptors - Rise Falcon (R4/100/2000/DARK/Winged Beast/Xyz/Effect) (OU:3)]

"Rise Falcon's effect," Shun declared. "I will detach one of its Overlay Units, and it gains attack points equal to the total attack points of all Special Summoned monsters you control until the End Phase." Rise Falcon glowed brightly.

[Raid Raptors - Rise Falcon: OU:3 - 1 = OU:2; 100 + 3000 + 2200 = 5300ATK]

Naoya raised an eyebrow.

"Then, it can attack every Special Summoned monster you control! Brave Claw Revolution!" Rise Falcon aimed for Scrap Dragon first, crashing its claws into the dragon and attempting to tear it apart.

"Trap Card, Half or Nothing!" Naoya called. "You can either choose to halve the attack points of all monsters you control until the end of the Battle Phase, or end the Battle Phase completely!"

If he halved Rise Falcon's attack points, it would be destroyed by the battle. "I end the Battle Phase," he said. "I'll set a card and end my turn."

[Raid Raptors - Rise Falcon: 5300 - 5200 = 100ATK]

[Turn 6: Naoya] [H:1]

"Draw," Naoya said lazily. He glanced at the card. "I'll admit, you've given me quite the run around. And your Xyz Summoning is pretty interesting… but this is the end of the road for you, I think." He revealed a card in his hand. "I'll Special Summon Scrap Breaker from my hand, since you control a monster." A metal creature made of bronze metal appeared, floating next to Scrap Dragon.

[Scrap Breaker (6*/2100/700/EARTH/Machine/Effect)]

"And then, I must destroy a "Scrap" monster I control. I will choose Scrap Dragon." He carelessly destroyed his own Synchro Monster. Naturia Beast looked at him and let out an annoyed huff. "Don't give me that. Then, since a "Scrap" monster I control was destroyed by a card effect, I can use Scrap Factory's effect. Come—Scrap Goblin!" An old, dusty-looking metal robot appeared next to Scrap Breaker.

[Scrap Goblin (3*/0/500/EARTH/Beast-Warrior/Tuner/Effect)]

"And I will tune the Level 3 Scrap Goblin to the Level 6 Scrap Breaker! Twin-headed monstrosity, let your warped wires light up with flickering electricity and blow away all in my path! Synchro Summon! Level 9, cybernetic madness—Scrap Twin Dragon!" A large two-headed dragon appeared, its entire body made of grey metal, exposed wires sparking brightly. A green glow surrounded it, and its tail slapped against the ground, letting out a hissing noise.

[Scrap Twin Dragon (9*/3000/2200/EARTH/Dragon/Synchro/Effect)]

"Since Scrap Twin Dragon was Synchro Summoned, I can target one card I control and destroy it, and then return two cards you control to the hand! I will return Raid Raptors - Rise Falcon and your set card to the hand, and destroy Scrap Twin Dragon!"

Shun raised an eyebrow. Scrap Twin Dragon, and not Naturia Beast?

… was it because it was his sister's monster?

"Trap Card," Shun called. "Raid Raptors - Phantom Claw. I'll detach an Overlay Unit from Rise Falcon, negate the activation of that effect, destroy that card, and then since the detached Overlay Unit was a "Raid Raptors" monster, Rise Falcon gains attack points equal to the destroyed monster's attack points!" Scrap Twin Dragon was destroyed, and Naturia Beast let out a growl, clearly taking great offence.

[Raid Raptors - Rise Falcon: OU:2 - 1 = OU:1; 100 + 3000 = 3100ATK]

"Since Scrap Twin Dragon was destroyed by your card and sent to the graveyard, I can revive a non-Synchro "Scrap" monster from my graveyard." Naoya stopped, clearly considering his next actions. "I will revive Scrap Raptor to the field in Defense Position. I'll change Naturia Beast to Defense Position and end my turn."

[Scrap Raptor: 1400 + 200 = 1600ATK; 1000 + 200 = 1200DEF]

[Turn 7: Shun] [H:2]

"Draw," Shun said. "I'll Normal Summon Raid Raptors - Tribute Lanius." The blue bird appeared in front of him, letting out a quiet shriek.

[Raid Raptors - Tribute Lanius (4*/1800/400/DARK/Winged Beast/Effect)]

"And with Tribute Lanius's effect, I can send a "Raid Raptors" card from my deck to the graveyard. I will send my final copy of Raid Raptors - Mimicry Lanius to the graveyard, and I'll banish Mimicry Lanius from the graveyard to add another "Raid Raptors" card from my deck to my hand." He gestured forward. "I will activate the effect of Raid Raptors - Rise Falcon again!" The monster's final Overlay Unit vanished.

[Raid Raptors - Rise Falcon: OU:1 - 1 = OU:0; 100 + 1600 + 2200 = 3900ATK]

Naoya sighed.

"Rise Falcon can attack each Special Summoned monster you control! Brave Claw Revolution!"

With two attacks, Rise Falcon wrecked Naoya's field. Naoya nodded in acceptance.

"Tribute Lanius attacks you directly!"

Naoya: 1800 - 1800 = 0LP

Winner: Shun Kurosaki!

Shun looked at his opponent, who raised two hands and leaned back against the wall. There was a carelessness to his actions, but at the same time, a strong sense of rebellion—something that refused to lie down and lose, or lie down and die.

It was something that Shun had seen only in the Resistance.

"So," Naoya said casually, "what are you rebelling against? Your entire deck is based on dissatisfaction."

That was one way to put it. "My enemies," Shun said. "Whoever they are."

Naoya threw his head back and laughed. "You sound so much like Kiryu," he said, sounding rather fond. "Your enemies, huh? I guess that makes sense."

"Kiryu?"

"That guy on the chair earlier." Naoya grinned. "Kiryu Kyosuke. Our… well, unofficial leader down here, purely by virtue of being the strongest."

"Then, if he's so strong, how'd he get caught?"

"Oh, he bombed Security itself," Naoya said with a shrug. "I helped him out with that, and that's how I ended up here, you know? It took almost thirty people to arrest him."

"And your sister is working with the people who arrested you?"

"Oh, Chino and I don't get along at all." Naoya smiled, and there was something mad to his appearance. "I decided that, well, it's not like we can get anywhere with these lives of ours in the first place, not when we were born in such a horrid place, and we will never be seen as anything more than the group that we were born in. The Tops may look down on us, but the Commons always remember our grudges, and we always repay them."

Shun looked at him. He felt uncomfortable. "Don't you care about your sister at all?"

"... hey, never ask that again," Naoya said quietly. "We don't get along, but without question—she is still my sister."

… Shun couldn't imagine not getting along with his sister. He couldn't imagine being on a different side from her.

… in a sense, this was just as alien to him as everything else about the Synchro Dimension. Hopefully the others were alright. Especially Yuto. (And Dennis. Shun didn't want to admit it, but he had grown slightly fond of the redhead, even if he used Fusion. He still suspected him, like he suspected everyone, but there was something truthful to what he had said that day—the wish to do something about the devastation he had witnessed.)

"But you pass the test!" Naoya winked. "Now let's wait and see how the rest do."

---

Duel 1 Summary: Mion Myojin vs Misty Lola

Duel Format: Normal Duel

Turn 1: Misty Lola

Misty draws. She activates Reptilianne Ramifications. She discards a card, adding a "Reptilianne" monster and a "Reptilianne" Spell or Trap from her Deck to her hand. She sets a monster and a card facedown. She ends her turn.

Turn 2: Mion Myojin

Mion draws. She Normal Summons Royal Magical Library. (4*/0/2000) She activates Terraforming, and adds Magical Citadel of Endymion from her Deck to her hand. She activates Spell Power Mastery, adding a "Endymion" card from her Deck to her hand and placing a Spell Counter on Magical Citadel of Endymion. She removes 3 Spell Counters from Royal Magical Library to draw a card. She then sets the Scale 2 Servant of Endymion and the Scale 8 Magister of Endymion in the Pendulum Scales. She removes 3 Spell Counters from Magical Citadel of Endymion to draw another card with Royal Magical Library's effect. She activates Mythical Institution. She then removes 3 Spell Counters from Royal Magical Library itself to draw another card. She removes 2 Spell Counters from Servant, 1 from Magister and 1 from Citadel to add a Level 4 monster that mentions Spell Counters from the Deck to the hand with Mythical Institution's effect. She then Pendulum Summons Magical Abductor (4*/S3/1700/1400) and Alchemist of Black Spells (4*/1200/1800) from her hand. She uses Alchemist of Black Spells' effect to place another Spell Counter on Magical Citadel of Endymion. She uses Alchemist, Abductor and Royal Magical Library to Link Summon Selene, Queen of the Master Magicians (L3/1850/↙, ↓, ↘) to her Extra Monster Zone. Since there are 7 Spells on the field and in the GY, Selene gains 7 Spell Counters. She removes 3 Spell Counters from Selene to Special Summon Mythical Beast Master Cerberus (8*/S4/2800/2800) from her hand to Selene's bottom Link Marker. Selene attacks Misty's set monster, Reptilianne Naga. (1*/0/0) Naga cannot be destroyed by battle. Selene's ATK becomes 0. (SQOTMM: 1850 → 0ATK) Mion sets 1 card and ends her turn.

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

Selene, Queen of the Master Magicians: Spell Counter(s): 4

Turn 3: Misty Lola

Misty draws. She sends Reptilianne Nyami from her hand to the GY to change Master Cerberus's ATK to 0. (MBMC: 2800 → 0ATK) Misty Special Summons Reptilianne Coatl (4*/1400/1000) from her hand, along with Reptilianne Viper (2*/0/0) with Coatl's effect. She tunes the Level 2 Viper to the Level 4 Coatl, Synchro Summoning Reptilianne Hydra. (6*/2100/1500) Misty activates Hydra's effect to destroy all monsters Mion controls with 0 ATK. Since Mion's field has at least 4 Spell Counters, Master Cerberus is protected from effect destruction. Hydra's effect destroys Selene, and Misty draws 1 card. She tributes Naga from her field and Mythical Beast Master Cerberus from Mion's to Special Summon Reptilianne Vaskii (8*/2600/0) from her hand. Vaskii attacks directly. Mion activates Defense Draw, reducing damage to 0 and drawing a card. Hydra attacks Mion directly. [MM: 4000 - 2100 = 1900LP] Misty ends her turn.

Turn 4: Mion Myojin

Mion draws. She activates Spell Power Mastery, adding an "Endymion" card from her Deck to her hand and placing 2 Spell Counters on Servant of Endymion. By removing 3 Spell Counters from Servant of Endymion, she Special Summons Servant from the Pendulum Scale and Reflection of Endymion (7*/S2/1850/2700) from her Deck. He uses Reflection of Endymion's effect, returning Servant of Endymion to the hand and placing a Spell Counter on Reflection, returning Reptilianne Hydra back to the hand. She then sets Servant of Endymion back in the Pendulum Scale. She activates Mythical Institution's effect, removing 2 Spell Counters from Reflection of Endymion and 2 Spell Counters from Magister of Endymion to add another Level 4 monster related to Spell Counters to the hand. She Pendulum Summons Magical Abductor from the Extra Deck and Royal Magical Library from her hand. She removes 3 Spell Counters from Magical Citadel of Endymion to use Royal Magical Library's effect to draw a card. She activates Pendulum Fusion, fusing the three monsters on the field and the two in the Pendulum Scale to Fusion Summon Quintet Magician (12*/4500/4500) in Attack Position. With Quintet Magician's effect, she destroys all cards that Misty controls. Misty activates Offering to the Snake Deity, tributing Vaskii to destroy Quintet Magician and Magical Citadel of Endymion. Mion removes a Spell Counter from Citadel to protect it, and Quintet Magician cannot be destroyed by card effects. Quintet Magician attacks directly. [ML: 4000 - 4500 = 0LP] Mion wins.

---

Duel 2 Summary: Dennis Mackfield vs Bommer

Duel Format: Normal Duel

Turn 1: Bommer

Bommer sets Mecha Phantom Beast Hamstrat (3*/1100/1600) and 1 card facedown. He ends his turn.

Turn 2: Dennis Mackfield

Dennis draws. He Special Summons Performage Wind Drainer (5*/S4/2100/0) from his hand. Wind Drainer lowers its own Level by 1. (PWD: 5* - 1* = 4*) He activates Magical Pendulum Box, drawing 2 cards. Since only one is a Pendulum Monster, he adds it to his hand and sends the other to the GY. Since Performage Trick Clown (4*/1600/1200) was sent to the GY, he Special Summons it with its stats becoming 0. He overlays the Level 4 Wind Drainer and the Level 4 Trick Clown, Xyz Summoning Performage Trapeze Magician (R4/2500/2000/OU:2) in Attack Position. He detaches 1 Overlay Unit from Trapeze Magician to let it attack twice. (PTM: OU:2 - 1 = OU:1) Trapeze Magician attacks the set monster. Hamstrat flips up and its effect triggers, Special Summoning 2 Mecha Phantom Beast Tokens (1*/0/0) to his field. The attack continues. Hamstrat cannot be destroyed by battle while Bommer controls a Mecha Phantom Beast Token. The second attack is directed at a Mecha Phantom Beast Token, destroying it. Dennis ends his turn.

Turn 3: Bommer

Bommer Normal Summons Mecha Phantom Beast Warbluran. (1*/300/300) Hamstrat's Level increases by the Level of the Tokens Bommer controls. He tunes the Level 1 Warbluran to the Level 6 Hamstrat, Synchro Summoning Mecha Phantom Beast Concoruda (7*/2400/1200) He activates the Trap Card, Sonic Boom, doubling Concoruda's ATK. (MPBC: 2400 x 2 = 4800ATK) Concoruda destroys Trapeze Magician. [DM: 4000 - 2300 = 1700LP] He sets 1 card and ends his turn. Sonic Boom destroys Concoruda.

Turn 4: Dennis Mackfield

Dennis draws. He activates Polymerization, fusing Performage Fire Dancer and Performage Water Dancer in his hand to Fusion Summon Performage Blazing Dancer (6*/2000/1500) in Attack Position. Since Blazing Dancer was Fusion Summoned, he targets and destroys a Mecha Phantom Beast Token, and inflicts 500 damage to himself. He Special Summons Performage Flame Eater (4*/1200/1600) from his hand and negates the damage. He activates Monster Reborn, reviving Trapeze Magician. He Normal Summons Performage Overlay Juggler. (3*/S6/1200/600) He attaches it to Trapeze Magician as an Overlay Unit with its own effect, and detaches it to let Trapeze Magician attack twice. Blazing Dancer destroys the Token. Trapeze Magician attacks directly twice. [B: 4000 - 2500 - 2500 = 0LP] Dennis wins!

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Duel 3 Summary: Shun Kurosaki vs Naoya Otobashi

Duel Format: Normal Duel

Turn 1: Shun Kurosaki

Shun Normal Summons Raid Raptors - Mimicry Lanius. (4*/1100/1900) He activates Raid Raptors - Call, Special Summoning Raid Raptors - Mimicry Lanius from the Deck. He also Special Summons Raid Raptors - Fuzzy Lanius (4*/500/1500) from his hand. He activates Mimicry Lanius's effect to increase all their Levels by 1, and overlays them to Xyz Summon Raid Raptors - Blaze Falcon (R5/1000/2000/OU:3) in Attack Position. He ends his turn.

Turn 2: Naoya Otobashi

Naoya draws. He activates Scrapyard, adding a "Scrap" Tuner from his Deck to his hand. He activates Terraforming, adding Scrap Factory from his Deck to his hand and activating it. He Normal Summons Scrap Raptor. With Scrap Raptor's effect, he destroys Raptor itself to Normal Summon another "Scrap" monster. He uses Scrap Factory's effect, Special Summoning Scrap Beast (4*/1600/1300) from the Deck. He Normal Summons Scrap Recycler, sending a Machine monster from his Deck to the GY. He uses Scrap Beast and Scrap Recycler to Synchro Summon Scrap Archfiend. (7*/2700/1800) Shun activates Raid Raptors - Lock Chain, changing Scrap Archfiend to Defense Position. Naoya activates Creature Swap, taking control of Blaze Falcon and giving Scrap Archfiend to Shun. He activates Blaze Falcon's effect, destroying Scrap Archfiend. (RRBF: OU:3 - 1 = OU:2) [SK: 4000 - 500 = 3500LP]

Since Fuzzy Lanius is detached, Shun can add another Fuzzy Lanius from his Deck to his hand. Blaze Falcon attacks Shun directly. [SK: 3500 - 1000 = 2500LP] Naoya sets 1 card and ends his turn.

Turn 3: Shun Kurosaki

Shun draws. He activates Rank-Up-Magic Revolution Force, taking control of Blaze Falcon and Ranking Up into Raid Raptors - Revolution Falcon. (R6/2000/3000/OU:1) He banishes Mimicry Lanius from the GY and adds a "Raid Raptors" card from his Deck to his hand. He Special Summons Raid Raptors - Fuzzy Lanius from his hand. He activates the Continuous Spell, Raid Raptors - Nest. He activates Nest's effect, adding a "Raid Raptors" monster from his Deck or GY to his hand. He Normal Summons Raid Raptors - Sharp Lanius (4*/1700/1000) from his hand. Sharp Lanius and Fuzzy Lanius attack directly. [NO: 4000 - 1700 - 500 = 1800LP] Revolution Falcon attacks directly. Naoya activates Scapegoat, Special Summoning 4 Sheep Tokens (1*/0/0) to the field in Defense Position. Revolution Falcon destroys 1 Token. Sharp Lanius revives Mimicry Lanius. By overlaying Mimicry Lanius and Fuzzy Lanius, he Xyz Summons Raid Raptors - Force Strix. (R4/100/2000/OU:2) He detaches 1 Overlay Unit from Force Strix to add a Level 4 DARK Winged Beast from his Deck to his hand. He uses Fuzzy Lanius's effect to add another Fuzzy Lanius to the hand since it was sent to the GY.

Turn 4: Naoya Otobashi

Naoya draws. He Normal Summons Scrap Chimera (4*/1700/500) and uses its effect to revive Scrap Raptor. He uses Scrap Raptor's effect to destroy a Sheep Token and gain a Normal Summon. He tunes Scrap Raptor to Scrap Chimera and Synchro Summons Scrap Dragon. (8*/2800/2000) He uses Scrap Dragon's effect, destroying 1 Sheep Token and Revolution Falcon. He then Normal Summons Scrap Beast. He tunes Scrap Beast to the Sheep Token, Synchro Summoning Naturia Beast (5*/2200/1700) in Attack Position. Scrap Dragon attacks Sharp Lanius. [SK: 2500 - 1100 = 1400LP] Naturia Beast destroys Force Strix. Naoya sets 1 card and ends his turn.

Turn 5: Shun Kurosaki

Shun draws. He Normal Summons Raid Raptors - Vanishing Lanius. (4*/1300/1600) He Special Summons Raid Raptors - Singing Lanius (4*/100/100) from his hand with Vanishing Lanius's effect. He then Special Summons Fuzzy Lanius from his hand. He uses his 3 Level 4 monsters to Xyz Summon Raid Raptors - Rise Falcon. (R4/100/2000/OU:3) He activates Rise Falcon's effect, detaching 1 Overlay Unit to increase its ATK by the ATK of every Special Summoned monster that Naoya controls. (RRRF: OU:3 - 1 = OU:2; 100 + 3000 + 2200 = 5300ATK) Rise Falcon attacks Scrap Dragon. Naoya activates Half or Nothing, and Shun chooses to end the Battle Phase. He sets 1 card and ends his turn.

Turn 6: Naoya Otobashi

Naoya draws. He Special Summons Scrap Breaker (6*/2100/700) from his hand, and with its effect, he destroys Scrap Dragon. With Scrap Factory's effect, he Special Summons Scrap Goblin (3*/0/500) from his Deck. He uses Scrap Breaker and Scrap Goblin to Synchro Summon Scrap Twin Dragon (9*/3000/2200) in Attack Position. He uses Scrap Twin Dragon's effect to destroy itself and return Rise Falcon and Shun's set card to the hand. Shun activates Raid Raptors - Phantom Claw, detaching an Overlay Unit from Rise Falcon, negating the effect and destroying Twin Dragon, before having Rise Falcon gain ATK equal to Scrap Twin Dragon's ATK. (RRRF: 100 + 3000 = 3100ATK; OU:2 - 1 = OU:1) Naoya revives Scrap Raptor in Defense Position. He changes Naturia Beast to Defense Position and ends his turn.

Turn 7: Shun Kurosaki

He draws. He Normal Summons Raid Raptors - Tribute Lanius (4*/1800/400). He sends Mimicry Lanius to the GY, and banishes it from the GY to add a "Raid Raptors" card from his Deck to his hand. He uses Raid Raptors - Rise Falcon's effect. (RRRF: OU:1 - 1 = OU:0; 100 → 3700ATK) It attacks and destroys both of Naoya's monsters. Tribute Lanius attacks directly. [NO: 1800 - 1800 = 0LP] Shun wins!

---

OC Cards:

Performage Blazing Dancer

(6*/2000/1500/FIRE/Spellcaster/Fusion/Effect)

"Performage Fire Dancer" + 1 Spellcaster monster

If this card is Fusion Summoned: You can target 1 monster on the field; destroy it, and if you do, inflict 500 damage to yourself. During the End Phase: You can discard 1 card; add 1 "Performage" monster from your GY or face-up in your Extra Deck to your hand, and if you do, inflict 500 damage to yourself. You can only control 1 "Performage Blazing Dancer".

---

Different Card Effects from TCG:

Performage Wind Drainer - Anime-only card.

Magical Pendulum Box - Anime-only card.

Performage Trick Clown - Anime effect.

Performage Trapeze Magician - Anime effect.

Performage Flame Eater - Anime effect.

Rank-Up-Magic Revolution Force - Anime effect. After reading through the duels that it appears in, I have decided to treat it as though the Overlay Units the original monster has are discarded, since Revolution Force does not have the clause that states that Overlay Units are attached to the new monster.

Raid Raptors - Revolution Falcon - Anime effect.

Raid Raptors - Rise Falcon - Anime effect.

---

End Notes:

As a person who has been interested in literature pretty much my entire life, the Facility's portrayal here is very much based on Athol Fugard's The Island. In essence, The Island argues that a prison's greatest power is that of the ability to reduce a person's capacity for action—that in doing so, it slowly turns people to stone, unable to think, unable to feel, simply repeating a meaningless routine over and over.

So here, we do get four legacy characters cameoing, though only two of them dueled in this chapter. Don't worry, I saved the best for last. When I was planning all of this before I wrote the arc, I really wanted five, but I couldn't find someone who was both competent and gave off the vibe I wanted other than the ones I had already chosen, so since this is literally a minor character, I decided to just throw an OC there and call it a day, so that I could stop stressing about trying to force a character in. Before you ask why I didn't just take another Dark Signer, I have other plans for Carly, and Demak is an absolute trash of a character. The Sisyphean gang are a bunch of criminals that have isolated themselves from society—who willingly choose to stay in the Facility, because they hate the City and they've already achieved everything that they want to do in their lives. It's of course named after the myth of Sisyphus, a man who cheated death twice and was sentenced to futile and pointless labour for the rest of his afterlife. It's both symbolic of the prisoners here, who all already think that they've 'died' once and are now staying down here for the rest of their lives, and it matches The Island, which is once again, a pretty large inspiration for the way I'm portraying this arc. Also, let's be real, the character writing of the Dark Signers was (mostly) really amazing! I am admittedly biased though, because I adore Misty and Kiryu's characters specifically.

… I am mildly upset that I didn't realise how much I was accidentally putting Dennis up against burn duelists. Oh well. I changed Bommer's deck because while I wanted to use him, his deck is painfully outdated and I didn't feel like making a ton of OC cards, especially because his actual deck does jackshit against Dennis. I actually really didn't want to write their duel—like I said, I don't like duels that serve no purpose, and well, the rest of the duels are a lot more important than this one is in the grand scheme of things. But the pacing felt weird to skip over it, so I decided to just make it short and efficient and then move on with my life. In a very early draft, Mecha Phantom Beasts were going to be Kaname's deck, since they were WIND Machines too. However, I realised that I didn't hate myself enough to write Mecha Phantom Beasts that many times, so I chose a fun deck.

But yeah, I did quite enjoy the small character moments. Tbh, I considered rewriting the entire Chojiro duel, since it didn't really challenge Yuya in an emotional/developmental way. But I decided that it would be taxing enough to figure out what to do here. I only figured out what I wanted to do with Dennis's backstory when he first showed up in Chapter 16, but I didn't fail to notice the similarities he had to Greiger. Thus, even though initially I didn't intend to let him have a moment in this arc, I decided to have a moment when Greiger/Bommer tries to warn him off his current path, but he's too blind to listen. Because I do love painful irony. Mion and Misty has been planned from the start. I wanted to have a character who would never kill anyone else, but I didn't want them to be a snobbish or naive person. Thus, Mion simply doesn't want to be responsible for ending another person's life, no matter what. So Mion and Misty both acknowledge each other's opinions and methods, and they don't think of the other as lesser for it, which I think is an important moment for their characters. They're mature people who don't see the world as black and white.

And of course, the third duel. *deep breath* No one told me that Scrap monsters were an EARTH archetype and not a Machine archetype, wtf. But anyway, the fact that there's a Scrap and Naturia duelist and they're siblings comes from a small fic I wrote for 5Ds a long time ago but never posted. I always thought that the two archetypes mirrored each other a lot. Naturia Marron and Scrap Recycler are pretty much the same card, and there are a few other cool things that are similar, such as having so many different types.

Review responses!

To DSpaceZ, I'm holding back on any other parts of Yuri's backstory for now, similar to what I'm doing with Yuno. It'll come in bits and pieces! No comment on Chiaki's new deck for now, since I won't be showing it off for a while. (There is, of course, the pesky issue of the Friendship Cup.) I mean, I only promised that the Bracelet Girls wouldn't be brainwashed—no promises that the parasites would disappear completely. :) I do intend to have Shinji and Shun meet properly soon, because they're just too similar to not meet up once.

To naminexriku2468, the three reasons mantra will come up, but not exactly in the context that you mentioned. Solfachord probably won't show up in this story, sorry, since we're past Standard and it doesn't really gel well with the internal logic of the story. I do really love Solfachord though. The reason why I let Serena sit with them wasn't just exposition, but because I realised that Serena had a total of like… two scenes with the Lancers, and that was the ending of the Maiami Championship, where she barely spoke to anyone other than Reiji, and her being annoying with Sawatari in Crow's house. And in my classic style, I have decided that everyone needs to actually talk on screen or they're legally not friends, so I am remedying that, heh.

To the Guest that asked about a possible full manga AU, it's certainly coming!… after I finish Six Dimensions itself, for obvious reasons. But yeah, that'll probably be my next main project after Six Dimensions. (Twin Dragons is more of a parallel story, since a lot of my personal worldbuilding for that story's early chapters instantly spoils some stuff that'll happen later in this story, which means that updates for that are usually banked until they're no longer considered spoilers.) But yeah, I'll 100% do a full manga AU. Plus, it'd be weird not to, since I already have the full outline and like 10 chapters written, lmao. For my favourite Arc-V character, I think I mentioned this in an earlier chapter, but it's Shun Kurosaki, for being the only character in the story that the writers managed to give a decent character arc. Yuto and Yuri tie for second, and Sora is a distant third, but that's basically my top few.

To phantomdragons, yeah, that observation you made about Kyorin and Hitoda is spot on, and in fact, it's something that I initially planned for very spoilery reasons. I'll point out that unlike the other four, Kyorin and Hitoda have no reason to be 'older sibling-ish', since they didn't grow up with a younger sibling figure. Glad that you enjoyed the brother-ish relationship the Yu boys have. In terms of counterpart interactions… well, they're definitely coming. I didn't spend this much time building up the Yu boys thinking about their counterparts to not have them actually know who the others are. Also, I'm glad that you're pre-emptively distressed over death scenes already. No comment on whether or not I'll kill off certain characters, but I'm glad you're attached.

To T.V. 2000, yeah, I wanted to make sure that everyone knew what they were getting into when they started reading, considering that trying to translate the vibe of Sergey into words is so difficult. There is something about the animation of him that gives off a really creepy vibe, but can't really be written down. Anyway, I agree that Arc-V shafted Yuri severely. Somehow, whenever I write fics, I always seem to give more focus to Yuri than I planned initially. I think it's because I severely dislike villains that don't actually have a purpose of their own, so I always give them their own motivation. As for the exhibition duel, I actually don't think this is a spoiler. Yes, Yuya will face Jack as per normal, because I have no reason to change the duel. I'm more interested in examining reactions to that duel—the external point of view—than that duel itself. Plus, I'd argue that Jack vs Yuya is one of the few examples of good character development in Arc-V, so I'm not touching that with a ten-foot stick.

Alright, that's it! That took me forever, geez! Can't wait to get my laptop back.