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?

35. Chapter 35: Melodies and Dragons

Starting Notes:

Welcome back! If you're wondering why this took so long in comparison to every other chapter—my laptop's still not fixed. Plus, my internet's out, so I had to do most of this with public wifi. All in all—glad to have this out and never have to open up this document again. I also decided to put in a fun fact about the behind the scenes of the story at the end of the chapter, since I have a lot of trivia that I don't actually share and I have decided to bother everyone with it lmao. Enjoy!

---

Chapter 35: Wondrous Melody, Colourful Dragon

"Reiji-dono." Tsukikage greeted the grey-haired young man. Reiji had told him to report back anything that happened within the residential area for the Friendship Cup once every few hours, and that even if nothing happened, he was still supposed to report anyway. Taking the chance during a commercial break, Tsukikage had come up to the Council's building, finding Reiji while no one else was around.

"What has happened so far?" Reiji got straight to the point, which Tsukikage certainly appreciated—it was hard to find people that got straight to the point in a world full of overexaggerated performers. (Or well—six worlds, now.)

"Nothing out of the ordinary." Tsukikage had been travelling through the corridors, checking on each individual participant. "Only one strange point—the three contestants that lost—Damon Lopez, Tony Simmons and Chojiro Tokumatsu—have not returned to the provided quarters."

"You believe that it's suspicious?"

"I asked Yuno." It felt odd to call the red-haired boy by his first name, but Yuno had insisted. "He said that before he came back, Chojiro Tokumatsu told him that the losers do not go back to the quarters. However, it's odd that they have to be escorted away."

"... interesting." Reiji said. He folded his arms. "... tell me, Tsukikage. What do you think about performing an investigation into that?"

"What do you intend for me to do, Reiji-dono?"

"With the large number of Lancers in the tournament, it is inevitable that some of them will lose eventually," Reiji said. "And thus, they will be sent into an unknown situation. If it's someone with a survivor's instinct like Kamisoka-san or Kurosaki, they will likely be fine. But others, like Sawatari or Mackfield, are still growing. Having them go alone would be detrimental to them."

"I understand, Reiji-dono," Tsukikage said. "I will go down there first then, I suppose."

"... Tsukikage," Reiji said. There was something complicated to his expression—something cold. "Do you not despise this order?"

Tsukikage stopped. He had never been good with words. He and Hikage had always been far quieter than other people their age, but even Hikage was better with people than him. He considered his words, and then he said, "I do not feel like you are sending me off to my death, Reiji-dono," he said, cutting directly to the core of the issue. "If I did, if you were truly that callous with my life and those of our comrades, I would speak up. But this is not callousness. This is compassion. You fear for the others, and so you wish to take control of our situation."

Reiji grimaced, glancing away.

"You choose to put me in danger for the sake of others, because you believe that I am the most suited to the task," Tsukikage said firmly. "And I am happy to follow your orders for the sake of our goal. Just like Hikage was. You have no need to fear that I resent you for my brother's death, Reiji-dono."

No. The only people that should be blamed were those from Academia.

And Tsukikage would continue to have faith in his comrades, and in the leader he had chosen to follow.

---

And the stars seemed to align, because the very next match after the break was his.

Tsukikage was announced first, and he drove out silently, mostly ignoring the crowd—he had never been the kind to enjoy crowds, after all. (Hikage was the flashy one, but he was the quieter one, preferring to stay in the background and watch.)

"... our participant seems like the cool and collected type!" Melissa Claire joked. "And oh, he's a ninja! How fascinating!... or perhaps just a very dedicated cosplayer. Doesn't that outfit have a few too many layers to duel in? Well, it is winter…"

She then seemed to remember that she was supposed to be introducing the other contestant.

"And this other contestant, she needs no real introduction, but I'll be damned if I don't talk about her anyway! Tops adore her, Common respect her, she may have gotten into a spot of trouble with Security, but we all know her as the skilled duelist who is always serious about any duel that she partakes in! The graceful half-French, half-Japanese pro—Sherry LeBlanc!"

The blonde woman rode out on the bike.

In his room, Kiryu raised an eyebrow. Good luck, Sherry.

I've never known you to let your opponents have an easy time at all.

"Tsukikage…" Gongenzaka clenched a fist. "You're a true man! This man, Gongenzaka, believes in you!"

Down on the track, Sherry drove up. Tsukikage nodded to her respectfully. "Hello, Sherry-dono," he said. "I hope that we have a good duel."

"... I hope so too," Sherry said. She looked him over. "You are one of Sugisaki's comrades, I suppose, and you do not look like a pushover. Put up a good fight, and I will not be disappointed in you as an opponent."

At that moment, Tsukikage thought that he wouldn't mind dueling her seriously. That there was a sharpness to her that called forth his will to fight honourably.

A pity, then, that this was a duel that he was destined to lose.

They both drove forward.

He would still try to fight. And hopefully, he would be able to fulfil his mission while still fighting to the best of his ability.

Sacrificing his warrior's honour for a mission…

He didn't quite know how he felt about that.

[DUEL!]

Tsukikage Fuuma: 4000LP

Sherry LeBlanc: 4000LP

[Turn 1: Tsukikage] [H:5]

Alright. He had updated his deck ever since he had learned about the other dimensions. After all, he couldn't use his strategy with Action Cards anymore.

In place of it was a far more… cautious approach to dueling.

"I will Normal Summon Ninja Grandmaster Hanzo," Tsukikage said calmly. The ninja that appeared was wearing silver armour with red patterns on it, with a long purple scarf around its neck.

[Ninja Grandmaster Hanzo (4*/1800/1000/DARK/Warrior/Effect)]

"With Hanzo's effect, since he was Normal Summoned, I can add a "Ninjitsu Art" card from my deck to my hand." Tsukikage took out the card from his deck. "I will set two cards facedown and end my turn."

"Trap Cards," Sherry said, looking somewhat confused. "Well. I've never been bothered by those."

[Turn 2: Sherry] [H:6]

"Draw," Sherry continued. "I will activate the Spell Card, Tuning. I can add a "Synchron" monster from my Deck to my hand, and send a card from the top of my deck to the graveyard." She glanced at the card, smirking. "Next, I will activate the Continuous Spell, Synchro Dilemma. And I will send a "Synchron" monster from my hand to the graveyard to Special Summon a monster from my hand. Come—Noble Knight's Shield-Bearer!" A knight in white and silver armour appeared, with a blue shield in front of them.

[Noble Knight's Shield-Bearer (4*/800/1300/LIGHT/Warrior/Effect)]

"Since I Normal or Special Summoned Shield-Bearer, I will banish a LIGHT monster from my graveyard to draw a card." She banished the one card in her graveyard. That was a very lucky mill from before—or perhaps she was just that confident in her own luck and skill. "I will then activate the effect of Jet Synchron in my graveyard. By sending a card from my hand to the graveyard, I can revive it." A blue engine-like structure with wide red eyes appeared, fire coming out from behind it.

[Jet Synchron (1*/500/0/FIRE/Machine/Tuner/Effect)]

"However, Jet Synchron is banished when it leaves the field," Sherry continued. "I will tune the Level 1 Jet Synchron to the Level 4 Noble Knight's Shield-Bearer." Jet Synchron turned into a red streak that spun around the silver knight. "Gathering hopes will send us flying towards the bright future! Become the path its light shines upon! Synchro Summon! Level 5! Spin through the air—Jet Warrior!" A black and white warrior appeared, mechanical body gleaming with the lights all around them. It was starkly different from Shield-Bearer—very mechanical, as opposed to regal.

[Jet Warrior (5*/2100/1200/FIRE/Warrior/Synchro/Effect)]

"And since Jet Warrior was Synchro Summoned, I can target a card you control and return it to the hand!" Sherry declared. "I will return your monster to the hand!"

"I will activate my set card!" Tsukikage called. "Ninjitsu-Art of Super-Transformation. I will send a "Ninja" monster I control and a face-up monster you control to the graveyard!" The Continuous Trap glowed. Jet Warrior and Hanzo vanished. "I will Special Summon a Dragon, Dinosaur or Sea Serpent monster from my deck whose Level is equal to or less than the combined original Levels of the monsters sent to the graveyard! Come—White Dragon Ninja!" A pale-haired young man appeared, dressed in a white tunic and pants, with armour plating around his hips and shoulders. A long, white serpentine dragon spirit floated around his body, like a fierce guardian.

[White Dragon Ninja (7*/2700/1200/LIGHT/Dragon/Effect)]

"... interesting," Sherry said. She revealed another card in her hand. "I will Normal Summon Necro Synchron." The mechanical, rotten-looking plant appeared on her field.

[Necro Synchron (2*/200/400/DARK/Machine/Tuner/Effect)]

"I will then Special Summon White Steed of the Floral Knights from my hand, since I control a Level 2 or lower monster." A beautiful white horse appeared, wearing white armour with gold edges. Its fluffy white mane and tail floated in the air, thick and stunning.

[White Steed of the Floral Knights (6*/2400/1800/WIND/Beast/Effect)]

"I'll use Necro Synchron's effect," Sherry continued. "I will raise White Steed's Level by 2." The white horse glowed.

[White Steed of the Floral Knights: 6* + 2* = 8*]

"I'll then tune the Level 2 Necro Synchron to the Level 8 White Steed of the Floral Knights."

She had a stronger Synchro Monster to bring out? To be fair, Tsukikage could not have afforded to let Hanzo return to his hand anyway—not if he wanted to bring out one of the Dragon Ninjas. However, it was unfortunate that he could not send this monster to the graveyard for his Trap's effect.

"The one who leads the revolution of the people. Crush the foolish oppressors—and declare, with your elegant lance, the execution of all! Synchro Summon! Level 10! Fleur de Baroness!"

The beautiful woman on horseback appeared, letting out a quiet scoff, galloping parallel to Sherry on the track. A proud knight, as a partner and ace to such a proud woman.

[Fleur de Baroness (10*/3000/2400/WIND/Warrior/Synchro/Effect)]

"Since Necro Synchron was sent to the graveyard for the Synchro Summon of a WIND Synchro Monster, I can Special Summon a Level 1 Plant monster from my deck! Come in Defense Position, Flower of Death - Necro Fleur!" The dark, wilted sapling appeared on her field as well.

[Flower of Death - Necro Fleur (1*/0/0/DARK/Plant/Effect)]

"I will activate Fleur de Baroness's effect," Sherry continued. "Once per turn, I can destroy a card on the field. I will choose White Dragon Ninja. Blossoming Execution!"

"Continuous Trap, Ninjitsu Art of Shadow Sealing!" Tsukikage returned. If he was going to lose his monster, he at least had to make sure to remove a threat. "I will tribute White Dragon Ninja to banish Fleur de Baroness!"

"I will activate Fleur de Baroness's other effect then," Sherry said easily. "Once while she's face-up, I will negate your effect and destroy that card. Declaration of Liberty!" The Trap Card shattered. Tsukikage grimaced. "Now, Baroness attacks directly!" The vibrant, pink-haired woman rode forward, and Tsukikage nearly fell off his D-Wheel from the strength of the attack.

Tsukikage: 4000 - 3000 = 1000LP

"I will end my turn," Sherry said. "Over to you."

[Turn 3: Tsukikage] [H:4]

"Draw," Tsukikage said, remaining calm.

"I will activate the effect of Fleur de Baroness," Sherry interceded. "During the Standby Phase, I can trade it out for a Level 9 or lower monster in my graveyard. I will Special Summon Jet Warrior from my graveyard." The mostly monochrome warrior reappeared in Attack Position.

So she currently had no negation on the field?

Good.

"I will activate the Spell Card, Armor Ninjitsu Art of Alchemy. I will destroy the other Ninjitsu Art cards I control—so just Super-Transformation—and draw two cards." He picked up the two cards. "I will set the Scale 1 Twilight Ninja Jogen and the Scale 10 Twilight Ninja Kagen in the Pendulum Zones! With this Pendulum Scale, I can Pendulum Summon monsters from Level 2 to 9! Pendulum Summon! Come from my hand! Twilight Ninja Getsuga, the Shogun! Aqua Armor Ninja!" A ninja in thick blue clothes appeared next to an imposing, tall man in purple armour and a long green cloak.

[Twilight Ninja Getsuga, the Shogun (8*/2000/3000/DARK/Warrior/Effect)]

[Aqua Armor Ninja (4*/800/1600/WATER/Warrior/Effect)]

"And I will set another card facedown," Tsukikage concluded. "Twilight Ninja Getsuga attacks your Jet Warrior! And with the Pendulum Effect of Twilight Ninja Kagen, it will gain 1000 attack points!" Getsuga glowed, and it powered up. Sherry arched an eyebrow.

[Twilight Ninja Getsuga, the Shogun: 2000 + 1000 = 3000ATK]

"I will banish White Steed of the Floral Knights from the graveyard," she said. "I will negate your attack by targeting a card I control, and then destroying that card. I will destroy Flower of Death - Necro Fleur." The small sapling burst into dark energy. "And since Necro Fleur was destroyed by a card effect, she will summon a certain monster from my deck. Bloom elegantly! Witch of the Time Flower - Fleur de Sorciere!" A woman as colourful and vibrant as a field of flowers appeared as well.

[Witch of the Time Flower - Fleur de Sorciere (8*/2900/0/DARK/Spellcaster/Effect)]

"Fleur de Sorciere's effect. I can Special Summon a monster from your graveyard to my field. I will choose White Dragon Ninja."

"White Dragon Ninja cannot be Special Summoned, except by the effect of a "Ninjitsu Art" card," Tsukikage explained.

"... fine. I suppose I have no viable targets. Regardless, your turn is over."

Right. He couldn't exactly attack with Aqua Armor Ninja, which was in Defense Position. "I will end my turn," he said stiffly.

[Turn 4: Sherry] [H:2]

"Draw," Sherry said. The blonde woman glanced at the card, before she gestured to her field. "I will activate the effect of Sage of the Time Flower - Fleur de Sage in my hand. I'll target a monster I control and another card on the field, and destroy both of them to Special Summon her. I will target Jet Warrior and Twilight Ninja Getsuga, the Shogun!"

"I will chain my set card!" Once again, Tsukikage found himself forced to respond before he lost his best monster for nothing in return. "Once again, I'll activate the Continuous Trap, Ninjitsu Art of Super-Transformation! By sending your Sorciere de Fleur and my Getsuga to the graveyard, I'll Special Summon a Dragon, Dinosaur or Sea Serpent monster from my deck with an equal or lower Level to their total Level!" The two monsters winked out of existence in clouds of smoke. "Come—Yellow Dragon Ninja!" A tall, bearded man with dark hair appeared wearing dark robes, with a yellow dinosaur spirit floating next to him.

[Yellow Dragon Ninja (8*/3000/1500/WIND/Dinosaur/Effect)]

Sherry shrugged. "Sage does not need to destroy both cards—or any cards at all—for its effect to resolve and Special Summon itself. Come—Fleur de Sage!" A woman with a purple flower over her head appeared, letting out a soft sigh.

[Sage of the Time Flower - Fleur de Sage (8*/2900/0/DARK/Spellcaster/Effect)]

Because of how they had traded their monsters out, Fleur de Sage, Yellow Dragon Ninja and Aqua Armor Ninja were the only monsters left on the field.

Sherry revealed the final card in her hand. "Meet Fleur Synchron," she said. A small, orange flower made of metal appeared.

[Fleur Synchron (2*/400/200/LIGHT/Machine/Tuner/Effect)]

"I'll tune the Level 2 Fleur Synchron to the Level 8 Fleur de Sage! The one who leads the revolution of the people. Crush the foolish oppressors—and declare, with your elegant lance, the execution of all! Synchro Summon! Level 10! Fleur de Baroness!"

Fleur de Baroness reappeared on the field, just as powerful of a presence as before.

"Since Fleur de Sage was sent to the graveyard, I can shuffle a monster—Fleur de Sorciere—from my graveyard into the deck, and add a Level 1 Plant monster from my deck to my hand. Then, I'll activate Fleur de Baroness's effect. I will destroy a card on the field. Blossoming Execution!" Flower petals consumed Yellow Dragon Ninja in an instant. "Attack Aqua Armor Ninja." The monster was wiped away, but since it was in Defense Position, Tsukikage didn't take any damage. "I end my turn."

[Turn 5: Tsukikage] [H:1]

"Draw," Tsukikage said.

What he could do here… Baroness could negate his effects, correct?

… why was he trying to figure out how to win? Shouldn't he be happy that it would look realistic if he lost?

… he would just go with the flow.

"I will activate The Warrior Returning Alive," he said.

"I will negate that with Baroness's effect," Sherry said. The card shattered.

Tsukikage shut his eyes.

… good.

He had lost. But he had lost after doing his best. If she drew a monster with more than 1000 attack points, he lost here.

Surely that was enough. Surely that didn't insult his warrior's pride.

"I end my turn," he said.

Sherry studied him. She did not comment. Somehow, her silence made her even more intimidating.

[Turn 6: Sherry] [H:2]

"Draw," she finally said. "I will Normal Summon Noble Knight Joan." A blonde woman in shining silver armour appeared.

[Noble Knight Joan (4*/1900/1300/LIGHT/Warrior/Effect)]

"I'll have Baroness attack you directly."

The lance struck forward, and Tsukikage accepted his fate. Aqua Armor Ninja could negate a direct attack, but since Sherry controlled two monsters, it didn't matter.

With a swing of her lance, the baroness brought forth his execution.

Tsukikage: 1000 - 3000 = 0LP

Winner: Sherry LeBlanc!

"… your thoughts are not clear," Sherry said after a moment. "When you find clarity… I will not mind facing you with a clearer path."

Tsukikage watched her as she left, the Security Officers approaching him. He dismissed his wishful thoughts, focusing on his mission.

Alright.

Time to see what the truth behind the facade was.

---

"Tsukikage lost…" Yuya frowned. Even though he didn't know the ninja duelist very well, Tsukikage was still a comrade. Seeing him lose was not a good feeling.

And more importantly, to see him lose in such a way against the duelist that Yuno had supposedly defeated…

Yuya wondered if he was too weak for this. If he could live up to his ideals in a way that he would be satisfied with.

There was a nervous knock on the door.

Yuya stood up, walking to the door. He opened it.

"Excuse me," a short boy whispered from outside the room. "It's your turn."

"Oh." Yuya got up, shoving down his nervousness. "… thanks."

The boy nodded. He tripped once as he walked out, and Yuya followed him, thinking that he was a bit odd.

When the boy tripped again, even someone as oblivious as Yuya got the hint that the boy was nervous. The boy even dropped a card. Yuya leaned down, picking it up and passing it back to him.

The boy's face went red and he glanced away. "… will you use it?"

"Huh?"

"That monster," the boy said, sounding like he was about to die of an anxiety attack. "Would you use it?"

"Tuning Magician," Yuya muttered as he glanced at the card. "Why give this to me?"

"… because he mocked you too," the boy said nervously. "Jack. He made fun of you too." He gestured to the card. "I—I told him that I admired him once. He gave me that useless card. He told me it suited me. So—he mocked you too—I just wanted to tell you that I support you because of that."

Yuya looked at the boy. As they approached the garage, the boy fled away. Yuya was left there, holding onto the card.

He didn't know why, but he slid the card into his deck.

"Yuya Sakaki?"

Yuya ducked his head, grabbing the helmet, nodding to the person who was preparing a D-Wheel for him. "Thank you," he muttered, and he got onto the D-Wheel. He drove out—

To the sound of many, many boos from the crowd.

He had been expecting it. But that didn't mean that it didn't hurt, regardless. It didn't mean that he wasn't reminded of back then—standing in a crowd, defiantly defending his father as the world around him dug at his self-confidence, and mocked him to the point of collapse.

"He treated you like shit," had been Yuno's response when Yuya had tentatively brought the fragility of his father's image to the surface in a conversation, back when they were in Standard and Yuno was the odd friend that Yuya had trusted more than he should have. Then, again later, "become someone that surpasses your father, and entertain in a way that suits you."

He thought about Tuning Magician again. He thought about mockery, and frustration, and beneath all of that, the wish to still make others happy, despite everything.

A love for entertainment?

No.

A love for the smiles of others. Longing to bring smiles to others' faces because he knew what it felt like to lose your smile. To lose the truth of your own smile, and to search frantically for it, to only find it in brief moments of care and friendship and laughter.

No one should have to create their own lie and plaster it on their face as a smile.

No one should have to frown their entire lives, never finding something that could call forth that truth to their faces.

The natural expression of people was happiness.

Yuya was not dueling just to bring smiles to people's faces.

For people like that boy from before, he wanted to give them back what they had lost, the same way that he had struggled to find the smile that he had lost.

He looked up at Jack Atlas, the one that had defeated him the day before. The one supposedly with the responsibility to unite the City.

In another world, Yuya would have been crushed by his defeat. He would have learned from it and struggled and made his way through everything just to prove himself to Jack again, just to win, and he would have been happy with scraps of respect from everyone around him because at least it was better than mockery. He might have forgiven this entire rotten City and tried to see the best in all of them.

This was not that world.

Because a Yuya that could sit there and justify all of this horror existing in this one city was a Yuya that didn't believe in proper fairness. A Yuya that just wanted to lower his head and pretend that everything would be fine if he just smiled his way through everything, that the greedy and the envious and the proud would be moved by his smile. A Yuya that believed that just being able to stand there without being mocked was enough.

But there would be no genuine change, if that was the case.

And this Yuya—this Yuya could believe in fairness. He had already found proper comrades who he had seen the determination of. People strong enough that they wanted to change things, and they would never settle for anything less than the justice they desired.

Yuya looked at Jack, and he thought so what?

So what if I rely on the strength of others?

Isn't that better than standing at the peak alone, cursing my inability to change things? Thinking that there is nothing I can change, and no longer trying?

I will take the strength of others as my crutch, to learn to walk on my own. And now, I don't have those crutches, but I know better than you do that a gap exists between you and I. So I will claw my way up. With myself, my own power—

I don't need your approval! Nor do I need my father's approval, or that of Reiji Akaba, nor that of anyone who ever treated me like I was not worthy of their attention, that my feelings should be secondary to their own thoughts and their own decisions. Because there are people that will accept my intentions, people that will choose to understand my intentions, and that is more important than any respect I could receive from a stranger.

He looked away from Jack.

I do not need you to become a stronger version of myself. I have enough people that I respect for that.

"And on the other side—" Melissa Claire had continued while Yuya had been thinking, "we have another lovely lady in this tournament! It'll be a tough act for her to live up to the excellent performance of Sherry LeBlanc before her, but this girl may still put up a good show—Kyorin Rinsoka!"

Oh.

The other Lancer rode out, and she and Yuya nodded at each other as she came to a stop beside him.

"Good luck, Yuya," she said shyly.

Yuya grinned. He felt a little silly—thinking so much about so many serious things, when he was just dueling a friend. He held out a fist towards her. Kyorin blinked in confusion, before she laughed and returned the fistbump.

"I'm terrible with this," Kyorin said, pointing to the D-Wheel.

"So am I," Yuya said. "So I guess it's an autopilot battle all around." Kyorin nodded, seeming relieved. To be fair, she seemed like she might pass out if she tried to ride a D-Wheel properly while dueling, so Yuya was perfectly fine with taking it a little slower.

"Let the fun begin?" Kyorin said, posing the catchphrase like a question. She was smiling nervously though—clearly trying to hype him up slightly.

Yuya laughed, more carefree now that the negativity was off his shoulders. "Ladies and gentlemen!" He announced dramatically. "Here we are! We'll show you something more entertaining than you could imagine!"

They both rode forward on Melissa Claire's command. In the end, Kyorin was slightly more lucky, so she started first.

[DUEL!]

Yuya Sakaki: 4000LP

Kyorin Rinsoka: 4000LP

[Turn 1: Kyorin] [H:5]

"I'll start," Kyorin said, and the two of them both drew their starting hands. Yuya was very aware that Kyorin was stronger than she seemed with her mouse-like nervousness. Even so, said nervousness clearly didn't affect her dueling at all. "I'll discard Nekroz of Clausolas from my hand to add a "Nekroz" Spell or Trap from my deck to my hand. I will add the Ritual Spell, Nekroz Cycle to my hand."

She already had a Ritual Spell, huh? That was fast. Yuya had seen how quickly she had dispatched Security, to the point that she had even helped Sawatari with his opponents.

Not for the first time, Yuya wondered who Yuji Fujita was, to have defeated this girl in front of him.

"I will Normal Summon Senju of the Thousand Hands," Kyorin continued. A bright red and gold creature appeared, long hands reaching out around it.

[Senju of the Thousand Hands (4*/1400/1000/LIGHT/Fairy/Effect)]

"I will use Senju's effect. I will add a Ritual Monster from my deck to my hand!" She revealed the card, and Yuya frowned. It was Nekroz of Unicore. "I will activate the Ritual Spell, Nekroz Cycle! By tributing Senju, I will Ritual Summon! Fabled unicorn who cuts the strings of fate. Be channelled into the mirror formed from ice, and bless the ancient sorcerer! Ritual Summon! Level 4—Nekroz of Unicore!" The warrior with silver armour and a long white braid appeared, purple cape sweeping majestically through the air behind him.

[Nekroz of Unicore (4*/2300/1000/WATER/Spellcaster/Ritual/Effect)]

"And Kyorin-chan has performed a Ritual Summon!" Melissa Claire announced from above them. "This is yet another new summoning method! I wonder how many methods exist out there!"

"Six," both Kyorin and Yuya muttered at the same time. Kyorin glanced at Yuya. "Six methods, six dimensions. I'll set a card and end my turn, Yuya. Show me what you can do."

[Turn 2: Yuya] [H:6]

"Draw," Yuya called. "I'll activate the Spell Card, Magician's Call! I'll discard a card and add two "Magician" Pendulum Monsters with different names from my deck to my hand! And I'll set the Scale 1 Stargazer Magician and the Scale 8 Timegazer Magician in the Pendulum Scales!" The two pillars of light shot up brilliantly—

"Trap Card activate," Kyorin called. "Dimensional Barrier. I will declare a Special Summoning method, and you can't Special Summon monsters of that Type this turn! I choose Pendulum!"

Crickets chirped.

Yuya cleared his throat. "I set one card facedown," he said awkwardly. "I end my turn."

Kyorin was clearly surprised, because she let out a nervous giggle. "Um. Ok?"

Well, it was hard to counter that move when his entire hand was filled with Pendulum Monsters. Which would normally be a good thing, but…

"It looks like Kyorin-chan has completely locked Yuya Sakaki down!" Melissa shouted from above.

[Turn 3: Kyorin] [H:3]

"Draw," Kyorin said. She revealed another card in her hand. "I will discard Nekroz of Brionac. I will add a "Nekroz" monster from my deck to my hand. And I will activate the Spell Card, Preparation of Rites. I can add a Level 7 or lower Ritual Monster from my deck to my hand, and a Ritual Spell from my graveyard to my hand. Then, I will activate the Ritual Spell, Nekroz Cycle. I will tribute Shurit, Strategist of the Nekroz in my hand and treat it as the full tribute with its effect, to Ritual Summon a "Nekroz" Ritual Monster from my graveyard."

She plucked out a card from her graveyard, her D-Wheel trailing holograms of snowflakes behind it.

"Cold glaciers that rise in the presence of the icy sigil. Be channelled into the mirror formed from ice, and bless the young warrior! Ritual Summon! Level 6! Nekroz of Brionac!" The young man with armour of bright ice crystals appeared, slashing his sword through the air.

[Nekroz of Brionac (6*/2300/1400/WATER/Warrior/Ritual/Effect)]

"Shurit's effect. Since he was tributed, I can add a "Nekroz" Warrior Ritual Monster from my deck to my hand." Kyorin pointed forward. "Brionac attacks directly!"

The attack hit, and Yuya grimaced.

Yuya: 4000 - 2300 = 1700LP

"I will have Unicore attack directly!" Kyorin continued.

"I'll activate my Continuous Trap, Performapal Pinch Helper! I will negate your direct attack and Special Summon a "Performapal" monster from my deck!" He could have used that effect first, but he'd prefer keeping a monster on the field instead of defending his life points. He had cards that could increase his life points, after all. "Come from the deck—Performapal Whip Snake!" The purple snake appeared in front of him with a loud hiss.

[Performapal Whip Snake (4*/1700/900/EARTH/Reptile/Effect)]

"I'll end my turn," Kyorin said, thankfully not setting a card this time. At least Yuya had survived that turn too. It would have been embarrassing to lose so easily.

[Turn 4: Yuya] [H:4]

"Draw!" Yuya called. "I'll use Whip Snake's effect! I'll swap Unicore's attack and defense points!" The white-haired Spellcaster seemed to grimace as a purple aura surrounded him.

[Nekroz of Unicore: 2300 → 1000ATK; 1000 → 2300DEF]

"Now, with my current Pendulum Scales, I can Pendulum Summon monsters from Level 2 to 7! Swing, pendulum! Cast your light across the aether! Pendulum Summon! First, let's welcome our main performer to the stage! The dragon with the wondrous and beautiful dichromatic eyes! Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon! And also from my hand—Performapal Trump Girl! And finally, Performapal Handsamuraiger!" The bright red dragon and the mischievous purple girl appeared, along with a black-haired warrior in red samurai-like armour.

[Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon (7*/S4/2500/2000/DARK/Dragon/Pendulum/Effect)]

[Performapal Trump Girl (2*/S4/200/200/DARK/Spellcaster/Pendulum/Effect)]

[Performapal Handsamuraiger (4*/1800/400/EARTH/Beast-Warrior/Effect)]

"And I'll use Trump Girl's effect!" Yuya declared. "I'll fuse Trump Girl and Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!"

He glanced at the monster he was going to bring out. This monster had appeared after that day in the park, when he had lost consciousness for a brief moment. He was wary of it—but it was still his monster.

… he had to come up with a summoning chant now though.

"Beautiful lord of the storm! Wings that glide through the air with regality! With the power that lies within those wondrous dichroic eyes, rend all others with the gale that emerges in your presence! Fusion Summon! Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon!" A primarily green dragon appeared, with four white and gold wings that looked like a wind turbine's blades. Winds and lightning stirred around it—it was truly a dragon of the storm. Shadows were swirling around it for a moment, before they subsided.

(It was an odd description. Almost like he had seen the dragon before. As though he'd had these exact thoughts in this exact order.)

[Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon (7*/2500/3000/WIND/Dragon/Fusion/Effect)]

"Since Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon was Special Summoned, I can return a face-up Attack Position monster on the field to the hand! Winds of Calamity!" Vortex Dragon let out a loud roar, winds sweeping up—

"While Nekroz of Unicore is face-up on the field," Kyorin explained calmly, "monsters Special Summoned from the Extra Deck cannot use their effects!" A sheet of ice spread across the field as Unicore pressed his hands together, looking rather tranquil. "Silent Decree!"

Yuya's eyes widened. Oh. And it was a continuous effect, so he couldn't negate it with Vortex Dragon's effect.

He changed tactics immediately. "Handsamuraiger attacks your Unicore!" The samurai-like monster lunged forward, slashing right through Unicore.

Kyorin: 4000 - 800 = 3200LP

"Since Handsamuraiger destroyed a monster by battle, I can add a Level 5 or higher Pendulum Monster from my deck to my hand!" Yuya took a card from his deck. "Then, Vortex Dragon will attack your Brionac! Tailwind Blast!"

"I will discard Nekroz of Decisive Armor from my hand," Kyorin explained. "I will increase Brionac's attack and defense points by 1000!"

"I will activate the effect of Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon! I will negate your monster's effect and destroy it by shuffling a face-up Pendulum Monster from my Extra Deck into my deck! I will shuffle Trump Girl into the deck! Forbidding Gale!"

The effect of the card was negated, and the attack went through, destroying Kyorin's other monster.

Kyorin: 3200 - 200 = 3000LP

"I will have Whip Snake attack you directly too!" The purple snake shot forward, flicking its tail at Kyorin.

Kyorin: 3000 - 1700 = 1300LP

"I'll end my turn," Yuya said. "Over to you, Kyorin."

[Turn 5: Kyorin] [H:3]

Kyorin drew a card. She examined it.

"You know, your monsters counter the Extra Deck," Yuya said after a moment. "And they're really strong, but back in your world, everyone used Ritual Monsters, right?"

"… yes," Kyorin said. She frowned, her eyes glancing away from him, as though recalling something unpleasant. "We had Fusion Monsters there too, for some reason, but they were all very weak. Not worth using. That's what we all thought, at least. So my deck… it was consistent, but it crumbled against the decks of others around me. Eventually, I just stopped dueling for around three years. To be honest, I kept losing, until I couldn't have any confidence in my own hands to play my cards right. I was terrified that every time I dueled, I would only ever lose. So I just… couldn't. I was so weak. My guardian always encouraged me to start dueling again, but I could never really bring myself to. Not until Yuji and Chiaki were taken."

So this was someone that had stopped dueling for a long time—and yet she was still so strong?

"And then, I found out about the other summoning methods, and I realised the true power of the deck that I had chosen to play." Kyorin shrugged. "I'm still the weakest!… but someday, I won't be. So I'll just have to persevere until then."

… the two of them were more similar than Yuya had thought.

"But that's enough talk. I will activate the Spell Card, Graceful Charity. I will draw three cards and discard two cards. Then, since I control no monsters, I can activate the effect of Nekroz Cycle in my graveyard! Since I control no monsters, I can banish it from the graveyard, along with another "Nekroz" monster, to add a "Nekroz" Spell from my deck to my hand."

Yuya decided not to negate it, allowing her to add the card to her hand. After all, if he negated it, she would just be able to use its effect again. It'd be a waste of Vortex Dragon's effect.

"And Nekroz Mirror has the same effect! Thus, by banishing another "Nekroz" monster and Mirror, I will add another "Nekroz" Spell from my deck to my hand!" She flashed the two Spells in her hand. "I banished Unicore and Brionac from my graveyard for that effect. Let's go. I'll activate the Ritual Spell, Nekroz Mirror!"

"I'll activate the effect of Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon!" Yuya called immediately. "I'll shuffle Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon from my Extra Deck into the deck to negate your card! Forbidding Gale!" The verdant green winds shot forward, shredding through the icy mirror that was forming in front of Kyorin—Kyorin, who was smiling slightly. Her blue eyes seemed almost… amused? There was something that was not quite confidence there—assurance, perhaps, that something had gone right.

"Ritual Spell, activate," Kyorin continued. "Nekroz Kaleidoscope." Around her, shimmering auroras emerged, casting shadows that danced through large crystals of ice. "I can tribute a monster in my hand or on my field—but this Ritual Spell also provides me with the third option of sending a monster from my Extra Deck to the graveyard as tribute."

"You have Extra Deck monsters?" Yuya called in surprise.

Kyorin revealed a card in her Extra Deck. "Yes," she said. "I will send the Level 11 Nekroz of Apollousa from my Extra Deck to the graveyard!" Green light surrounded the area in front of her as the two of them turned the corner.

And then, she raised up two cards.

"I will Ritual Summon two monsters whose Level adds up to 11! Winds of the mist valley. Be channelled into the mirror formed from ice, and bless the young warrior! Ritual Summon! Level 3—Nekroz of Clausolas!" The first monster that she was Ritual Summoning, a boy with white and red hair, appeared in a flurry of ice, the feathers on his body still colourful and vibrant. Then, Kyorin immediately launched into her second summoning chant. "Fabled wisdom of the roaring demon gods. Be channelled into the mirror formed from ice, and bless the ancient sorcerer! Ritual Summon! Level 8! Nekroz of Valkyrus!" The tired-looking white-haired man with a beard appeared next to the young boy as well.

[Nekroz of Clausolas (3*/1200/2300/WATER/Warrior/Ritual/Effect)]

[Nekroz of Valkyrus (8*/2900/1700/WATER/Spellcaster/Ritual/Effect)]

Two Ritual Monsters at once?

"When Nekroz of Apollousa is sent from my Extra Deck to the graveyard by a card effect, I can use her effect," Kyorin declared. The spirit of a young woman with blue hair appeared behind her. The girl's hair was going snow white at the ends, and she was holding onto a beautiful, curved golden bow that was emanating a freezing aura of snowflakes. She was wearing a long green cloak, and there was a spirit of a green wolf pawing at the ground next to her. "I can target and destroy a monster on the field. I will destroy Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon!" An arrow made of pure green energy was set loose by the young woman, slamming into the green dragon and reducing it to dust. Then, the spirit faded away.

Yuya gulped.

Clausolas had clearly been summoned in Defense Position as a backup.

"I will use Valkyrus's effect," Kyorin continued. "I'll tribute the last monster in my hand to draw a card. Demonic Renewal! And since I tributed Great Sorcerer of the Nekroz, I can add a "Nekroz" Spellcaster Ritual Monster from my deck to my hand as well." She now had two cards in her hand. "Attack Performapal Samuraiger, Valkyrus!"

The elderly warlock cast forth a beam of light that obliterated Yuya's monster—but thankfully, not his life points.

Yuya: 1700 - 1100 = 600LP

"Over to you, Yuya," Kyorin called.

[Turn 6: Yuya] [H:3]

Yuya drew a card with a frown. He still had Whip Snake on the field, along with his Pendulum Scales and Pinch Helper, but…

"I'll use Whip Snake's effect to swap the attack and defense points of Valkyrus!" He called, and the purple snake spat out some of its venom again.

[Nekroz of Valkyrus: 2900 → 1700ATK; 1700 → 2900DEF]

Alright. If nothing else, Whip Snake could now destroy that monster by battle.

He hadn't drawn Odd-Eyes, so he would have to do without his ace for now…

No! He wouldn't be discouraged. If he felt like he needed Odd-Eyes to win, then he would simply find a way to do so.

"Swing, pendulum!" He declared. "Pendulum Summon! Come from my hand!" He held out two monsters. "Dragoncaller Magician! Dharma-Eye Magician!" In front of him, two tall Spellcasters appeared—one of them was wearing a red mask, with flamboyant-looking dark blue and red clothing. He was holding onto a staff in his hand, with the end shaped like a sharp blade. The other was dressed in black and gold mage's robes, with a black half-mask covering the bottom half of his face—as opposed to Dragoncaller, whose red mask had covered the top half of his face. A golden ring floated behind the second magician, and he held onto a golden, cylindrical staff with gems embedded all around it.

[Dragoncaller Magician (7*/S2/2400/1000/DARK/Spellcaster/Pendulum/Effect)]

[Dharma-Eye Magician (7*/S2/2000/2500/LIGHT/Spellcaster/Pendulum/Effect)]

Kyorin blinked. "Those are Magicians instead of Performapals, huh?"

Yeah. Sometimes, random cards just appeared in Yuya's deck—cards that were familiar, but that he personally didn't remember much. That was how Timegazer and Stargazer had come to him in the first place… actually, most of his Magicians had appeared in his deck in the same way.

"I'll overlay the Level 7 Dharma-Eye Magician and Dragoncaller Magician!" Yuya declared, the two monsters turning into two streaks—one of bright light and the other of darkness, overlapping on each other.

"An Xyz Summon?" Kyorin sounded surprised. "I thought that you didn't have an Xyz Monster…"

Above, Shun smirked with approval. In her own room, Nue raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Frozen dragon that rules over a world in stasis," Yuya said. He raised a card, that card that had appeared in his Extra Deck after the meeting in the park. "Absolute zero, that stops any living thing from daring to breathe. Take form now, and with the power lying within those wondrous and dichroic eyes, freeze all that opposes you! Xyz Summon! Rank 7! Odd-Eyes Absolute Dragon!"

A dragon whose entire body was surrounded by icy blue crystals appeared. Its underbelly was a dark violet, which matched nicely with the blue ice coating its body in the place of scales. It had no wings, but in the place where a dragon's wings should usually be, long spear-like structures made of ice jutted out from its shoulder blades and arms. Its long tail was made of dark rock and cobalt-coloured ice, resembling both a glacier and a long chain of minerals. Snowflakes danced around its body.

[Odd-Eyes Absolute Dragon (R7/2800/2500/WATER/Dragon/Xyz/Effect) (OU:2)]

"Odd-Eyes… Absolute Dragon." Kyorin repeated. "It's a lovely dragon." There was something genuinely affectionate to her voice as she looked at the dragon.

"It does match your usual aesthetic," Yuya joked. "But Odd-Eyes Absolute Dragon will now, on his own, dismantle your entire field!" He raised his voice, to add to that sense of a performance. "Of course, with how powerful your control over the field has been so far, you are probably wondering—how? How will a single monster, Special Summoned from the Extra Deck that you have dominion over, be able to defeat your monsters?"

"Nice," Kyorin encouraged quietly. "Keep going!" She then raised her voice, playing the part of his opponent, for all that she was clearly cheering him on too. "I'd be interested to see if you can defeat me!"

Yuya revealed the last card in his hand. "Give it time!" He said dramatically. "We're setting up for an amazing finale! Spell Card, Spiral Flame Strike! Since I control an Odd-Eyes card, I can destroy a card on the field! I will choose Nekroz of Clausolas!"

"I will activate the effect of Clausolas," Kyorin said. "I'll target your Odd-Eyes Absolute Dragon and negate its effects, changing its attack points to zero! Mistfreeze!"

Yuya nodded. "That's fine."

[Odd-Eyes Absolute Dragon: 2800 → 0ATK]

"Whip Snake attacks Valkyrus!" Whip Snake took down the Ritual Monster, emptying Kyorin's field again.

Kyorin: 1300 - 100 = 1200LP

"I'm ending my turn here," Yuya said. "So my dragon recovers. Over to you."

Kyorin blinked.

[Turn 7: Kyorin] [H:3]

"Draw," she said after a moment. "I'll banish Nekroz Kaleidoscope from my graveyard along with Nekroz of Apollousa, and add another "Nekroz" Spell to my hand!"

She revealed a card from her hand immediately.

"I'll activate Nekroz Mirror. I'll banish Shurit, Strategist of the Nekroz from my graveyard as the full tribute! Dragon of the ice barrier, with the wrathful nature of the protector, be channelled into the mirror formed from ice, and bless the young princess! Ritual Summon! Level 7! Nekroz of Gungnir!" The beautiful red-headed woman surrounded by red and purple-tinted ice appeared, twirling through the air with apathetic grace.

[Nekroz of Gungnir (7*/2500/1700/WATER/Spellcaster/Ritual/Effect)]

"I will use Gungnir's effect!" Kyorin called. "I'll discard a card and destroy a card on the field! I will choose Odd-Eyes Absolute Dragon!"

And Yuya nodded.

"… uh oh," Kyorin said, as Absolute Dragon burst into shards of ice. "Did I fall for a trap?"

"I would have liked to keep my monster on the field," Yuya admitted. Absolute Dragon's ability to negate attacks and revive monsters would have been perfect to stall longer. "But it's fine. When Absolute Dragon is sent to the graveyard, I can Special Summon an "Odd-Eyes" monster from my Extra Deck!"

He took the last new monster from his Extra Deck.

The truth was, he didn't know if he would have been confident enough to bring out this monster before yesterday, because he had not been able to use this summoning method at all.

With Yugo's help, he might now be able to summon it legitimately, but for now…

For now.

"Come forth in a burst of flame! Odd-Eyes Meteorburst Dragon!" A large dragon whose body was once again very different from the other forms of Odd-Eyes appeared. It was primarily red, just like Odd-Eyes, but it didn't look similar to Odd-Eyes's form at all. Meteorburst Dragon was a slightly darker shade, crimson as opposed to the ruby red of Odd-Eyes. The dragon's body was not covered with hard scales, but softer tufts of flame-textured fur that surrounded it. The same cross-shape made by the ice of Absolute Dragon was remade with dark, solid flame-like armour that swirled around it. Golden highlights surrounded its body as well, matching neatly with red.

A dragon of flame, in the same way that Vortex Dragon was a dragon of wind and Absolute Dragon was a dragon of ice.

[Odd-Eyes Meteorburst Dragon (7*/2500/2000/FIRE/Dragon/Synchro/Effect)]

"I won't use Meteorburst's effect," Yuya continued.

Kyorin tilted her head.

And with her usual cautiousness, she kept her guard up. "Gungnir attacks Whip Snake!"

And Yuya smiled in relief. "I will send Performapal Pinch Helper to the graveyard to negate the battle damage!" He called.

Whip Snake was still destroyed, but he had survived the turn yet again.

"I end my turn," Kyorin called. "But if you give me another turn, Yuya, it's really over for you."

[Turn 8: Yuya] [H:1]

"Draw!" Yuya called. He glanced at the card, and he nodded. "Hello, partner." He held up a hand, and the pendulum swung. "Pendulum Summon! Return to my side, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" The bright red dragon reappeared on his field. "And now—attack Gungnir, Meteorburst Dragon! Sunburst Spark Flame!"

"I will discard Nekroz of Valkyrus—"

"During the Battle Phase, while I control Odd-Eyes Meteorburst Dragon, you cannot activate the effects of any monsters in your possession! That refers to monsters on your field, in your hand, among your banished cards and so on! So you can't defend your monsters!"

Meteorburst and Gungnir exploded against each other in a burst of flame and ice.

Kyorin looked directly at him, and then she nodded encouragingly.

"Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon attacks you directly!" Yuya called. "Spiral Strike Burst!"

And with a single blast of flame—

Yuya finally, satisfyingly, won.

Kyorin: 1200 - 2500 = 0LP

Winner: Yuya Sakaki!

They both came to a stop.

Kyorin smiled at him. "Well done," she said.

Yuya nodded. He held out a hand, and she shook it. "You're not mad about losing?"

"Mad about losing to you when you're finding yourself?" Kyorin laughed. She shyly held out a hand, patting Yuya's head. "Um. Like I said before. Well done."

Yuya was about to say something else, and then two officers walked up next to them.

"The young lady needs to come with us," one of them said, jerking his head away. Yuya frowned. Had Tsukikage been escorted away too, without them seeing it?

"She's my comrade," he said. "Does she have to stay somewhere else?"

"All losers of the Friendship Cup are to be escorted away from the residence," the other officer said sternly.

"Alright," Kyorin said. She smiled nervously at Yuya. "It should be fine. I'll meet up with Tsukikage and I'll be careful!"

Yuya watched her go. He clenched a fist, and then he slowly turned around to head back to his room.

As he left the garage, he came face to face with Yuzu, who also stopped when she saw him.

"Good luck," he said. "I know you can win." The idea of her losing, of not being to see her until the Friendship Cup was over… it was too terrible to consider.

Yuzu grinned confidently, though her cheeks were a little red. "Don't worry! Just watch me—I'll definitely win!"

---

"Hey! Hey! Are you awake?"

… noisy.

"Oh, thank goodness! I don't know much about first aid, but you were so insistent that I shouldn't send you to the hospital, um…"

The light above him was extremely bright. It was somewhat grating. At the same time, every part of his body hurt. What had happened…? Right. He had picked a fight with someone again.

Who was talking?

He looked towards the direction that the voice was coming from, seeing a black-haired woman quickly stirring a bowl of soup, radiating anxiety.

"Uh. Hi!" The woman laughed to herself. "Um, I really did go about this backwards, huh? You're probably wondering who I am, or why I uh, have you in my house? I didn't kidnap you, just so you know, but when a guy just collapses in front of your apartment and he looks like he's gotten tossed around in a washing machine, well, you can't help it. I, uh—"

"Thanks," he interrupted brusquely. How long had he been here? Martha would be worried again.

The woman stopped, and then she nodded, before she went off on another bullet fast spiel. "Anyway, I made some breakfast for you, since uh, you definitely haven't eaten in a day or so, and you're probably really tired! It's a bit hot, and I kind of wasn't expecting you to wake up so early, but uh—"

He held out a hand with a nod of thanks. The woman carefully placed the bowl in his hands, but then, he nearly dropped it on himself. She caught it, however, letting out an alarmed sound. While she had clearly caught it, her nervousness caused her to nearly drop it again. There was a moment of silence, before she laughed awkwardly.

"Um—if you were too tired, you could've just said so?"

She sat down next to him, picking up the spoon and holding it up for him. He didn't object, which seemed to surprise her.

"Uh, you don't mind?"

"... it's more embarrassing to fail at eating if I try it myself," he said.

"Uh, well, that makes sense!" She adjusted her glasses quickly. "So, what's your name?"

"... Jack Atlas," he said, figuring that it wouldn't hurt to give her a name.

"Well, Jack Atlas," the woman said, smiling, at once shy and friendly. "I'm Carly Nagisa. Nice to meet you."

---

"Next up, we have one of the other contestants that I'm personally rooting for!" Melissa Claire called. "Meet this cutie—Yuzu Hiiragi!"

Yuzu rode out, with enough confidence to take on the world.

I'm stronger now! So no matter what, I'm going to show everyone what I'm made of!

"And on the other side—an aspiring reporter from the Tops, Carly Nagisa!"

Yuzu glanced behind her as a black-haired woman drove forward as well. She seemed far more steady on her D-Wheel than Yuzu herself was—for all that Yugo had given her lessons, Yuzu was still too nervous to be completely comfortable on a D-Wheel. A fish out of water, in a way that this confident woman with round glasses was not.

Then, the woman opened her mouth, and Yuzu's impression of her shattered.

"Hello!" The woman said, her voice sounding somewhat high-strung. "Um, yeah, hi."

"Hi," Yuzu said, somewhat surprised.

"I don't do well with crowds," the black-haired woman commented. "Too many eyes, you know, but… ah, I'm just here to try something out of my comfort zone!"

Oh. Someone here just to duel for fun.

Yuzu grinned. "Then I look forward to a duel with you!" She called. "Let's go!"

They both revved up their engines again, and Yuzu immediately saw the gap between herself and the woman in terms of driving skill again, because the woman easily drove past the first corner before Yuzu. It wasn't even close.

"You're a good D-Wheeler!" Yuzu called loudly.

The woman glanced back. "U-um, thanks! My boyfriend taught me how to drive!" She swiped up the top five cards of her deck, and Yuzu did the same. "Good luck!"

"Good luck!" Yuzu returned.

[DUEL!]

Carly Nagisa: 4000LP

Yuzu Hiiragi: 4000LP

[Turn 1: Carly] [H:5]

"I'll start!" Carly called. "I'll activate the Continuous Spell, Fortune Vision! And I'll add a "Fortune Lady" card from my deck to my hand!"

Fortune Lady, huh? So that was her deck?

"I'll Normal Summon Fortune Lady Light!" Carly declared. In front of her, a blonde woman appeared, smiling vacantly and twirling around in the air. There were tattoos around her face, and she faced towards Yuzu.

[Fortune Lady Light (1*/?/?/LIGHT/Spellcaster/Effect)]

"Fortune Lady Light's original attack points are equal to 200 times her Level!" Carly called out.

[Fortune Lady Light: ? → 200ATK/DEF]

"I'll then activate the Spell Card, Fortune Lady Calling! Since I control a "Fortune Lady" monster, I can Special Summon a "Fortune Lady" monster from my deck with a different name, but I cannot Special Summon monsters from the Extra Deck this turn, except Synchro Monsters! Come—Fortune Lady Water!" A woman dressed in a blue veil and robes appeared, her eyes covered, water swirling around her.

[Fortune Lady Water (4*/?/?/WATER/Spellcaster/Effect)]

"And since Fortune Lady Water was Special Summoned while I control another "Fortune Lady" monster, I can draw two cards!" Carly quickly drew her cards. "Fortune Lady Water's attack and defense points are equal to her Level times 300!"

[Fortune Lady Water: ? → 1200ATK/DEF]

"I'll set a card facedown," Carly continued. "I end my turn!"

Yuzu glanced at Carly's field. Alright, so Carly seemed to focus on monsters with low attack points… but Yuzu herself knew the power of monsters with low attack points. So…

Alright!

She drew a card, pumped up and ready to go.

[Turn 2: Yuzu] [H:6]

"Draw! Since my opponent controls a monster and I control no monsters, I can Special Summon Solo the Melodious Songstress from my hand!" The singer in a red dress and blonde hair in wing-like structures around her face appeared, smiling with a friendly look in her eyes.

[Solo the Melodious Songstress (4*/1600/1000/LIGHT/Fairy/Effect)]

"Next, since I control a "Melodious" monster, I can Special Summon Sonata the Melodious Diva from my hand!" A pretty green-haired woman wearing a blue half-mask appeared, dressed in a long aqua blue dress.

[Sonata the Melodious Diva (3*/1200/1000/LIGHT/Fairy/Effect)]

She had Laureate Francois in her hand right now, but considering that her opponent had a set card, it might not be wise to go all out from the start. Besides, her monsters had more than enough firepower right now.

"Sonata's effect! Since she was Special Summoned and is now face-up on the field, all Fairy monsters I control gain 500 attack and defense points, including herself!" The green-haired woman reached out her hands, and a green aura surrounded the area of the track that Yuzu was riding on.

[Sonata the Melodious Diva: 1200 + 500 = 1700ATK; 1000 + 500 = 1500DEF]

[Solo the Melodious Songstress: 1600 + 500 = 2100ATK; 1000 + 500 = 1500DEF]

"Solo will attack Fortune Lady Water!" The blonde songstress began to sing, and with a piercing note, she blasted away the blue-haired woman on Carly's field.

Carly: 4000 - 900 = 3100LP

"And Sonata will attack your Fortune Lady Light!"

"I will activate my set card!" Carly called. "Trap Card, Slip of Fortune! I negate your attack, and I'll remove the monster you attacked from play until my next Standby Phase!" Sonata, who had been flying forward, came to a stop. Fortune Lady Light then twirled around, slashing her staff through the air and creating a rippling effect that resembled a portal. She then dove through it. "And since Fortune Lady Light left the field by a card effect, I can Special Summon a "Fortune Lady" monster from my deck! Come—Fortune Lady Earth!" A woman wearing an orange dress appeared, wearing round glasses that were tinted white, similar to Carly's. She let out a soft giggle.

[Fortune Lady Earth (6*/?/?/EARTH/Spellcaster/Effect)]

"Fortune Lady Earth's original attack and defense points are equal to her Level times 400!"

[Fortune Lady Earth: ? → 2400ATK/DEF]

2400 attack points… that monster had higher attack points than Laureate Francois. In that case…

"I'll enter my Main Phase 2!" Yuzu called. She revealed the card in her hand. "I'll tribute Sonata and Solo to Normal Summon Laureate Francois the Melodious Maestra!" A woman with pale purple skin and mint green hair appeared, gold and green butterfly-like wings emerging from her back. She was wearing a purple dress. With thin, graceful fingers, she pressed a few keys on a translucent keyboard of black and white keys that had appeared in front of her.

[Laureate Francois the Melodious Maestra (7*/2300/1700/LIGHT/Fairy/Effect)]

"Laureate Francois lets me add a LIGHT Fairy monster from my graveyard to my hand, but I cannot activate the effects of non-LIGHT monsters this turn!" Yuzu picked up Sonata from her graveyard. "Since I control a "Melodious" monster, I can Special Summon Sonata from my hand again!" Sonata appeared, the green aura covering her field again, and Laureate Francois gained the same boost that Solo had gained earlier.

[Sonata the Melodious Diva: 1200 + 500 = 1700ATK; 1000 + 500 = 1500DEF]

[Laureate Francois the Melodious Maestra: 2300 + 500 = 2800ATK; 1700 + 500 = 2200DEF]

That would help Laureate Francois survive her opponent's attacks. "I end my turn!"

Carly nodded.

[Turn 3: Carly] [H:5]

She reached out, drawing a card.

"Fortune Lady Light returns to my field during the Standby Phase," Carly explained. The yellow-haired girl reappeared next to Fortune Lady Earth with a wave. "And my Fortune Ladies have their Level increase by 1 during the Standby Phase!"

"What?" Yuzu gasped. That meant that their attack and defense points would increase too…

[Fortune Lady Earth: 6* + 1* = 7*; 2400 + 400 = 2800ATK/DEF]

[Fortune Lady Light: 1* + 1* = 2*; 200 + 200 = 400ATK/DEF]

"When Fortune Lady Earth's Level increases, I can inflict 400 damage to you!" With a flash of malice in her grin, Fortune Lady Earth spun around, firing off a blast of dust at Yuzu, who winced.

Yuzu: 4000 - 400 = 3600LP

"I'll then tribute Fortune Lady Light to Normal Summon Fortune Lady Dark!" Fortune Lady Light lifted her hands, before she was consumed by shadows. The shadows parted away to reveal a purple-haired woman dressed entirely in dark colours. The same two black 'horns' could be seen on the side of her head—come to think of it, all the Fortune Ladies had those.

[Fortune Lady Dark (5*/?/?/DARK/Spellcaster/Effect)]

"Fortune Lady Dark's attack and defense points are equal to her Level times 400!"

[Fortune Lady Dark: ? → 2000ATK/DEF]

… oh no.

"Attack Sonata, Fortune Lady Dark!" Carly declared. The purple-haired woman charged forward, smashing her staff into Sonata's stomach and sending her flying.

Yuzu: 3600 - 300 = 3300LP

"When Fortune Lady Dark destroys a monster by battle, I can revive a "Fortune Lady" monster from my graveyard! I will revive Fortune Lady Water!" As if the situation couldn't get any worse, Carly brought back the blue-haired woman. "And since Fortune Lady Water was Special Summoned while I control another "Fortune Lady" monster, I can draw two cards!" She gestured to Laureate Francois. "And since Sonata left the field, your Laureate Francois is now weaker than my monster again!"

[Laureate Francois the Melodious Maestra: 2800 - 500 = 2300ATK; 2200 - 500 = 1700DEF]

"Fortune Lady Earth attacks Laureate Francois the Melodious Maestra!"

Yuzu winced as the attack hit, her monster shattering under the impact.

Yuzu: 3300 - 500 = 2800LP

"Attack directly, Fortune Lady Water!" The final monster on Carly's field swooped forward, and Yuzu nearly lost her balance as the monster swerved past her.

Yuzu: 2800 - 1200 = 1600LP

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

Alright. That was a lot of pressure—to face three monsters that would only grow stronger with every single turn.

[Turn 4: Yuzu] [H:4]

"Draw!" Yuzu glanced at her hand. "I will activate the Spell Card, Ostinato! I will perform a Fusion Summon using two "Melodious" monsters from my deck! I will fuse Aria the Melodious Diva and Soprano the Melodious Songstress! Echoing melodious voice! Angel's song! By the guidance of the baton, gather your power! Fusion Summon! Now debut on stage! Sing the song of victory! Bloom Diva the Melodious Floral Saint!" The lovely pastel-themed saint appeared, sparkling pink ribbons swirling around her and petals floating around her hair.

[Bloom Diva the Melodious Floral Saint (6*/1000/2000/LIGHT/Fairy/Fusion/Effect)]

"I will then activate the effect of Canon the Melodious Diva!" Yuzu called. "I'll Special Summon her from my hand!" The blue-haired dancer appeared, humming with a deep voice.

[Canon the Melodious Diva (4*/1400/2000/LIGHT/Fairy/Effect)]

"I'll Normal Summon Score the Melodious Diva from my hand!" A young girl dressed entirely in white clothing appeared.

[Score the Melodious Diva (2*/200/200/LIGHT/Fairy/Effect)]

Yuzu took a deep breath.

With those two set cards, she would need more monsters to break through Carly's field. At the same time, if she didn't win this turn, she would need a good defence.

So she just had to be confident.

She had already been taught, after all.

At the same time…

"But what about you? Your dueling is entirely borrowed from others! No part of it is your own—no part of this is unmistakably the dueling of Yuzu Hiiragi!"

Up in her room, Miharu folded her arms. "... she's about to do it," she said, and while she wasn't smiling, there was something expectant to her gaze.

"Why is Yuzu hesitating?" Gongenzaka said with a frown. "She is usually far more confident than this…"

"Yuzu…" Yuya frowned. She looks afraid…

Yuzu pressed a hand against her chest.

… it hurt. She still couldn't shake off that feeling of helplessness, no matter how much she told herself that she was strong.

Was this still just borrowing another's strength?

The King, Jack Atlas, had criticised Yuya for borrowing the strength of others without using it properly alongside his own—letting others' strength overshadow his own, a lack of confidence in his own convictions.

… wait!

The King had criticised Yuya for a lack of conviction. And maybe that was true. No one knew Yuya better than Yuzu, after all. She knew that Yuya was still finding himself and the person that he wanted to be.

But Yuzu had never believed that Yuya was weak for that.

And she did not believe that she was weak for leaning on others, to learn what she could for herself.

"This was made for you, Yuzu Hiiragi. I always assumed that you would become one of our Lancers, so I had my employees prepare it before I left."

Yes.

She was a Lancer. And before that—she was Yuzu Hiiragi, daughter of Shuzo Hiiragi, and a proud student of You Show Duel School! What was she hesitating for? If anyone came for her again, she'd send them packing back to Academia! She would become stronger and protect herself!

"Open, circuit of rising harmonies!" She called.

Sawatari launched to his feet. "Wait, Yuzu's Link Summoning?" He shouted in surprise. "No way! That was—"

"Yuzu's Link Summoning?" Yuno chuckled. "Miharu has been busy, hasn't she?"

"Looks like we will get to see the monster that Reiji made for her after all." Mion folded her arms. "... nice."

"Arrowhead confirmed! The conditions are two Fairy monsters! I'll set Score the Melodious Diva and Canon the Melodious Diva in the Link Markers! Beautiful genius with the perfect voice! With your hands that channel the power of music, bring every melody together in wondrous harmony! Circuit Combine! Link Summon! Link 2! Bloom Harmonist the Melodious Floral Virtuoso!"

A woman with dark pink hair appeared, a soft smile on her face. Chartreuse yellow-green streaks could be seen swirling through her curly hair. She had a large pastel pink flower in her hair, with darker pink edges. She was wearing a green and pink dress that resembled the shades of flowers and leaves. Pink petal-like fabric formed frills around her arms and the bottom of her dress. The majority of her dress was made of light green fabric that resembled the bud of a flower. Darker green leaves formed a belt-like structure around her waist. She was wearing green slippers.

[Bloom Harmonist the Melodious Floral Virtuoso (L2/1000/LIGHT/Fairy/Link/Effect/↙, ↘)]

"Beautiful!" Carly praised.

"Thanks," Yuzu said, smiling brightly—proud of herself. "I'll use Bloom Harmonist's effect! I can discard a card from my hand to Special Summon two "Melodious" monsters with different Levels from my deck to the zones that Bloom Harmonist points to, but they have to be summoned in Defense Position. I can't Special Summon monsters this turn, except for "Melodious" monsters! Floral Outburst!" She swiped out two cards from her deck. "Come! Soprano the Melodious Songstress! Elegy the Melodious Diva!"

Soprano had the top half of her face covered, with long red hair curling all around her face and shoulders. Elegy was a more solemn woman, with a shy look. She had green hair, and was dressed in purple fabric from head to toe.

[Soprano the Melodious Songstress (4*/1400/1400/LIGHT/Fairy/Effect)]

[Elegy the Melodious Diva (5*/2000/1200/LIGHT/Fairy/Effect)]

"Two more monsters!" Carly gasped.

"Since Elegy was Special Summoned, all Fairy monsters I control gain 300 attack points!" Yuzu declared.

[Soprano the Melodious Songstress: 1400 + 300 = 1700ATK]

[Elegy the Melodious Diva: 2000 + 300 = 2300ATK]

[Bloom Harmonist the Melodious Floral Virtuoso: 1000 + 300 = 1300ATK]

[Bloom Diva the Melodious Floral Saint: 1000 + 300 = 1300ATK]

"Since Soprano was Special Summoned, I can also add a "Melodious" monster from my graveyard to my hand!"

She picked up the card from her graveyard.

"Bloom Diva attacks Fortune Lady Earth!" Yuzu declared. Carly's eyes widened. "Vaporising Miracle!"

"W-why?"

"When Bloom Diva battles a Special Summoned monster, she cannot be destroyed by the battle, and I take no battle damage from that battle!" Yuzu called. "Then, that monster is destroyed, and you take damage equal to the damage I would've taken! Reflect Shout!"

Fortune Lady Earth was torn apart by sound waves.

Carly: 3100 - 1500 = 1600LP

"Bloom Harmonist attacks your Fortune Lady Water! Harmonious Chant!" The other monster was cleared away by Bloom Harmonist's own blast of sound waves as well.

Carly: 1600 - 100 = 1500LP

"Trap Card, Inherited Fortune!" Carly called. "Since a "Fortune Lady" monster I control was destroyed, I can Special Summon up to two "Fortune Lady" monsters from my hand during the next Standby Phase!"

"I will end my turn," Yuzu said. "Usually, the monster that Ostinato summons is destroyed during the End Phase. But since I control Elegy the Melodious Diva, Special Summoned "Melodious" monsters I control can't be destroyed by card effects! So Bloom Diva stays on my field!"

"I see," Carly said thoughtfully. "My turn!"

[Turn 5: Carly] [H:5]

"Draw!" Carly continued. "During my Standby Phase, I'll Special Summon these two monsters from my hand simultaneously! Fortune Lady Past and Fortune Lady Light!" Two witches appeared on her field, one of them being the familiar blonde woman from before, and the other being dressed in black robes with orange trim, a sinister smirk on her face.

[Fortune Lady Light (1*/?/?/LIGHT/Spellcaster/Effect)]

[Fortune Lady Past (1*/?/?/DARK/Spellcaster/Tuner/Effect)]

"My Fortune Ladies all gain a Level during the Standby Phase," Carly reminded her,, as the three monsters all glowed, growing even stronger.

[Fortune Lady Light: 1* + 1* = 2*]

[Fortune Lady Past: 1* + 1* = 2*]

[Fortune Lady Dark: 5* + 1* = 6*]

"I will use the effect of Fortune Lady Past!" Carly continued. "I'll banish as many Spellcaster monsters as I like from my field, hand or graveyard, and increase or decrease the Level of a "Fortune Lady" monster I control by the number of monsters I banished for this effect! I will banish Fortune Lady Light from my field to increase Fortune Lady Past's Level by 1!" The yellow-haired girl vanished from the field again.

[Fortune Lady Past: 2* + 1* = 3*]

"And since Fortune Lady Light left the field by a card effect, I can Special Summon another "Fortune Lady" monster from my deck! Come—Fortune Lady Water!" Another copy of Fortune Lady Water appeared on Carly's field, and the black-haired woman drew the two cards from her effect without even saying anything this time—which was good, because Yuzu didn't exactly feel like hearing it anyway. "I'll tune the Level 3 Fortune Lady Past to the Level 4 Fortune Lady Water! Infinity, become the magic that I wield and tear open a path to clairvoyance! Synchro Summon! Level 7! Fortune Lady Every!" A blue-haired woman with an innocent, doe-eyed look appeared, twirling around on Carly's field.

[Fortune Lady Every (7*/?/?/LIGHT/Spellcaster/Synchro/Effect)]

"Fortune Lady Every's attack and defense points are equal to her Level times 400!"

[Fortune Lady Every: ? → 2800ATK/DEF]

[Fortune Lady Dark: 2000 + 400 = 2400ATK/DEF]

"I know that I can't attack your Bloom Diva, but your other monsters are fair game! Fortune Lady Every attacks your Bloom Composer!" The blue-haired woman charged forward, summoning forth a flurry of magic that consumed Yuzu's monster.

Yuzu: 1600 - 1500 = 100LP

"And Fortune Lady Dark will attack your Elegy!" Fortune Lady Dark charged forward, destroying Elegy—and Yuzu breathed a sigh of relief. Carly frowned.

"Why—" Then, her eyes widened. "Wait—I Normal Summoned Fortune Lady Dark! If I had her attack your Bloom Diva…"

Not quite. Yuzu had added Score to her hand with Soprano's effect last turn, after all. It would have been bad to use Score but to not defeat Carly though—Yuzu would rather save her.

"... um, since Fortune Lady Dark defeated a monster of yours by battle, I can revive another "Fortune Lady" monster! I will revive Fortune Lady Water in Defense Position!" Carly drew two more cards. "I'll set two more cards facedown!"

---

Above, Jack Atlas sighed. He was not disappointed—he could never be disappointed in her earnest attempts to improve herself. But it was unfortunate that he would not be able to see her go further.

After all, from the look in Yuzu Hiiragi's eyes, this match was over.

Immediately, he waved out a hand, gesturing for a Security officer to come over.

"Escort that woman to my residence after the match, instead of the Underground," he ordered. "I have something to say to her."

He might be helpless to do anything about the Underground as of now, but he would never allow the woman he loved to be subjected to such a fate.

---

[Turn 6: Yuzu] [H:2]

"Draw!" Yuzu declared. She looked at Carly's backrow. Clearly, Carly was prepared for her to launch a powerful attack. "I will activate the Spell Card, Pot of Avarice! I'll return Sonata, Elegy, Laureate Francois, Bloom Harmonist and Solo to the deck to draw two cards!"

She swiped up two cards, glancing at them.

"I'll activate the Continuous Spell Card, Fortissimo! I—"

"Counter Trap, Bending Destiny!" Carly called. "I will negate your card and banish it, but you get it back during the End Phase!"

Too late for it to be any kind of use. And two set cards left meant that there was still a chance that Yuzu would lose. Carly had clearly been cautious about negating her original draw spell. Either way, whatever she did now, it would be risky.

And Yuzu would take that risk, because she wanted to win.

"I will Normal Summon Score the Melodious Diva again!" She called, placing down her final defence instead of saving it. "And I'll open the circuit again! Arrowhead confirmed! The conditions are two Fairy monsters! I'll set Score the Melodious Diva and Bloom Diva the Melodious Floral Saint in the Link Markers! Beautiful genius with the perfect voice! With your hands that channel the power of music, bring every melody together in wondrous harmony! Circuit Combine! Link Summon! Link 2! Bloom Harmonist the Melodious Floral Virtuoso!" Yuzu's first Link Monster reappeared again.

[Bloom Harmonist the Melodious Floral Virtuoso (L2/1000/LIGHT/Fairy/Link/Effect/↙, ↘)]

"You used Bloom Diva as Link Material?"

"Bloom Diva is powerful," Yuzu said. "I know that better than anyone! But on her own, she won't be able to win. That's why I'm going to carve out a path to my victory here! Bloom Harmonist's effect!" She discarded the final card in her hand. "Come from the deck! Prodigy Mozart the Melodious Maestra! Laureate Francois the Melodious Maestra!" Two of her monsters appeared on the field in front of her, including the monster that had once been her strongest monster.

[Prodigy Mozart the Melodious Maestra (8*/2600/2000/LIGHT/Fairy/Effect)]

[Laureate Francois the Melodious Maestra (7*/2300/1700/LIGHT/Fairy/Effect)]

"I will then activate the effect of Crystal Rose in my graveyard!" Yuzu declared. "I'll banish a Fusion Monster—Bloom Diva—from my graveyard to revive it in Defense Position!" The beautiful red rose reappeared, curled up on itself and sparkling gracefully.

[Crystal Rose (2*/500/500/LIGHT/Rock/Effect)]

"With Crystal Rose's effect, I will send a "Melodious" monster from my deck to the graveyard to have its name change to match that monster! I will send Aria the Melodious Diva to the graveyard!" Crystal Rose glowed with orange and purple light. "I will then use Laureate Francois's effect to add a "Melodious" monster from my graveyard to my hand, but I can only activate LIGHT monsters' effects this turn! I will add Canon the Melodious Diva to my hand, and Special Summon her with her own effect!" The blue-haired singer appeared on her field, filling up Yuzu's last Main Monster Zone.

"And now, with Soprano the Melodious Songstress's effect, I can perform a Fusion Summon using monsters on the field that I control! I will fuse Soprano the Melodious Songstress, Laureate Francois the Melodious Maestra, Prodigy Mozart the Melodious Maestra, Canon the Melodious Diva and Crystal Rose which is treated as Aria the Melodious Diva!"

"A five card Fusion Summon?" Carly shouted in surprise.

From above, Serena blinked. "Yuzu Hiiragi…" A genuine smile came to her lips. "Looks like your refusal to fight me either didn't come from cowardice. You are strong, aren't you?"

"Five materials for a Fusion Summon," Dennis murmured. Even most of the students back at Academia can't hope to match that. Granted, they're cannon fodder, but even so… has Yuzu Hiiragi's Fusion become truly her own, now?

"I knew you could do it, Yuzu," Yuya said, his voice carrying no trace of doubt.

"Supreme prodigy! Angel's song! Echoing melodious voice! Graceful melody! The flutter of angel wings! By the guidance of the baton, assemble your power. Fusion Summon! Now on stage, the song of passion! Bloom Prima the Melodious Floral Saint!"

A woman with dark blue hair appeared, beautiful white flowers with blue edges on both sides of her hair. She was wearing a sunshine yellow dress that resembled a large, blooming flower. There was a second layer of her skirt beneath the yellow petals, made of soft streaming blue fabric that was patterned with chords.

[Bloom Prima the Melodious Floral Saint (7*/1900/2000/LIGHT/Fairy/Fusion/Effect)]

"Bloom Prima gains 300 attack points for each of her materials!" Yuzu called. "I used five monsters to Special Summon her, so she gains 1500 attack points in total!"

[Bloom Prima the Melodious Floral Saint: 1900 + 300 x 5 = 3400ATK]

"Bloom Prima attacks Fortune Lady Every! Falling Petal Serenade!" Bright gold music notes and petals flew towards Carly's strongest monster.

Carly blanched. "Trap Card, Slip of Fortune!" She then frowned. "Wait, it's not activating?"

"When a "Melodious" monster that Bloom Harmonist points to battles, my opponent cannot activate cards or effects until the end of the Damage Step!" Yuzu explained, seeing Carly's eyes widen. "So you can't stop me! Destroy her monster, Bloom Prima!"

The blue-haired woman completed her attack, striking down Carly's Synchro Monster.

Carly: 1500 - 600 = 900LP

"But next turn—"

"There isn't going to be another turn for you!" Yuzu called confidently. "Bloom Prima the Floral Melodious Saint can declare two attacks per turn! Attack Fortune Lady Dark! For the final battle of this duel—Falling Petal Serenade!"

The petals shot forward, and with a burst of golden light, Yuzu finally overtook Carly, feeling the wind in her hair.

Carly: 900 - 1000 = 0LP

Winner: Yuzu Hiiragi!

Both she and Carly drove to a stop.

"That was a good ending move!" Carly praised. "I thought I had you, but I guess I still have a lot left to learn."

Yuzu looked at her, finding herself somewhat surprised.

Maybe it was the stress of being caught up in a war, of being one of the main targets of the other side of the war (why her? She was just a normal girl.) However, seeing someone else just happy to learn and improve…

She held out a hand to Carly. "Thank you for the match," she said, smiling so widely that her face hurt. But she couldn't help it.

She was very glad that her opponent was someone like this woman, instead of someone more serious.

Carly shook her hand, smiling.

Yuzu looked at that smile and she wondered how long it would take for herself to smile in such a carefree way again.

---

Hiding on the top of a nearby building, Sora watched as the pink-haired girl walked out of sight.

He breathed out a sigh of relief.

… if Yuzu had lost there, then Roget might have seized the chance to take her back to Academia. This was fine. Nothing had gone wrong yet.

He'd have to scout out what was happening in the City before he made any overt moves though.

The moment that he alerted Roget or Dennis, he'd seal his fate. So he would have to make sure that his next actions would count.

Silently, he snuck away.

---

Duel 1 Summary: Sherry LeBlanc vs Tsukikage Fuuma

Duel Format: Normal Duel

Turn 1: Tsukikage Fuuma

Tsukikage Normal Summons Ninja Grandmaster Hanzo. (4*/1800/1000) He uses Hanzo's effect to add Ninjitsu Art of Super-Transformation from his Deck to his hand. He sets two cards facedown and ends his turn.

Turn 2: Sherry LeBlanc

Sherry draws. She activates the Spell Card, Tuning. She adds a "Synchron" monster from her Deck to her hand, and sends a card from the top of her Deck to the GY. She activates the Continuous Spell, Synchro Dilemma. She sends a "Synchron" monster from her hand to the GY to Special Summon Noble Knight's Shield-Bearer. (4*/800/1300) She banishes a LIGHT monster from her GY to draw a card. She sends a card from her hand to the GY to Special Summon Jet Synchron (1*/500/0) from her GY, but it is banished when it leaves the field. She tunes the Level 1 Jet Synchron to the Level 4 Noble Knight's Shield-Bearer to Synchro Summon Jet Warrior (5*/2100/1200) in Attack Position. She activates Jet Warrior's effect to return Hanzo to the hand. Tsukikage activates the Continuous Trap, Ninjitsu Art of Super-Transformation. He sends Hanzo from his field and Jet Warrior from Sherry's field to the GY to Special Summon White Dragon Ninja (7*/2700/1200) from his Deck in Attack Position.

Sherry Normal Summons Necro Synchron. (2*/200/400) She Special Summons White Steed of the Floral Knights (6*/2400/1800) from her hand in Attack Position, since she controls a Level 2 or lower monster. She uses Necro Synchron's effect to increase White Steed's Level by 2. She tunes the Level 2 Necro Synchron to the Level 8 White Steed of the Floral Knights, Synchro Summoning Fleur de Baroness (10*/3000/2400) in Attack Position. Since Necro Synchron was used as material for the Synchro Summon of a WIND Synchro Monster and sent to the GY, Sherry Special Summons Flower of Death - Necro Fleur (1*/0/0) from her Deck. She uses Fleur de Baroness's effect to target and destroy White Dragon Ninja. Tsukikage activates the Continuous Trap, Ninjitsu Art of Shadow Sealing. Sherry uses Baroness's effect to negate and destroy Ninjitsu Art of Shadow Sealing. Baroness attacks directly. [TF: 4000 - 3000 = 1000LP] Sherry ends her turn.

Turn 3: Tsukikage Fuuma

Tsukikage draws. Sherry uses Fleur de Baroness's effect, returning her to the Extra Deck to Special Summon a Level 9 or lower monster from her graveyard. She revives Jet Warrior in Attack Position. Tsukikage activates the Spell Card, Armor Ninjitsu Art of Alchemy. He destroys all other "Ninjitsu Art" cards he controls and draws two cards. He sets the Scale 1 Twilight Ninja Jogen and the Scale 10 Twilight Ninja Kagen in the Pendulum Scales, before Pendulum Summoning Twilight Ninja Getsuga, the Shogun (8*/2000/3000) and Aqua Armor Ninja (4*/800/1600) from his hand in Attack Position and Defense Position respectively. He sets 1 card facedown. Twilight Ninja Getsuga attacks Jet Warrior. With Kagen's Pendulum Effect, he gains 1000 attack points. (TNGTS: 2000 + 1000 = 3000ATK) Sherry banishes White Steed from the graveyard and destroys Necro Fleur on the field to negate the attack. With Flower of Death - Necro Fleur's effect, since it was destroyed by a card effect, she can Special Summon Witch of the Time Flower - Fleur de Sorciere (8*/2900/0) from her Deck. Tsukikage ends his turn.

Turn 4: Sherry LeBlanc

Sherry draws. She activates the effect of Sage of the Time Flower - Fleur de Sage (8*/2900/0) in her hand, targeting Jet Warrior and Twilight Ninja Getsuga, the Shogun. Tsukikage activates his Continuous Trap, Ninjitsu Art of Super-Transformation, sending Fleur de Sorciere and Getsuga to the graveyard to Special Summon Yellow Dragon Ninja (8*/3000/1500) from his Deck in Attack Position. Jet Warrior is destroyed, and Fleur de Sage is Special Summoned in Attack Position with its own effect. Sherry Normal Summons Fleur Synchron (2*/400/200) from her hand. She tunes the Level 2 Fleur Synchron to the Level 8 Fleur de Sage to Synchro Summon Fleur de Baroness. She uses Fleur de Sage's effect, shuffling Fleur de Sorciere from the graveyard into the Deck to add Flower of Death - Necro Fleur from her Deck to her hand. With Fleur de Baroness's effect, she destroys Yellow Dragon Ninja. Fleur de Baroness attacks and destroys Aqua Armor Ninja. Sherry ends her turn.

Turn 5: Tsukikage Fuuma

Tsukikage draws. He activates The Warrior Returning Alive. Sherry negates it with Baroness's effect. He ends his turn.

Turn 6: Sherry LeBlanc

Sherry draws. She Normal Summons Noble Knight Joan (4*/1900/1300) from her hand. Baroness attacks directly. [TF: 1000 - 3000 = 0LP] Sherry wins!

---

Duel 2 Summary: Yuya Sakaki vs Kyorin Rinsoka

Duel Format: Normal Duel

Turn 1: Kyorin Rinsoka

Kyorin discards Nekroz of Clausolas (3*/1200/2300) from her hand to add a "Nekroz" Spell/Trap from her Deck to her hand. She uses this effect to add the Ritual Spell, Nekroz Cycle to her hand. She Normal Summons Senju of the Thousand Hands (4*/1400/1000) from her hand, and uses its effect to add Nekroz of Unicore (4*/2300/1000) to her hand. She activates Nekroz Cycle, tributing the Level 4 Senju of the Thousand Hands to Ritual Summon Nekroz of Unicore in Attack Position. Kyorin sets a card and ends her turn.

Turn 2: Yuya Sakaki

Yuya draws. He activates the Spell Card, Magician's Call, discarding a card to add two "Magician" Pendulum Monsters from his deck to his hand. He adds Stargazer Magician and Timegazer Magician to his hand. He sets the Scale 1 Stargazer Magician and the Scale 8 Timegazer Magician in the Pendulum Scales. Kyorin activates the Trap Card, Dimensional Barrier, declaring Pendulum Monsters and stopping Yuya from summoning Pendulum Monsters this turn. Yuya sets a card and ends his turn.

Turn 3: Kyorin Rinsoka

Kyorin draws. She discards Nekroz of Brionac to add a "Nekroz" monster from her Deck to her hand. She activates Preparation of Rites, adding a Level 7 or lower Ritual Monster (Nekroz of Clausolas) from her Deck to her hand, and adding a Ritual Spell from her graveyard to her hand. She activates Nekroz Cycle, tributing Shurit, Strategist of the Nekroz in her hand and treating it as the full tribute with its effect. She Ritual Summons Nekroz of Brionac (6*/2300/1400) from my graveyard. With Shurit's effect, she adds a "Nekroz" Warrior Ritual Monster from her Deck to her hand. Brionac attacks Yuya directly. [YS: 4000 - 2300 = 1700LP] Unicore attacks Yuya directly. Yuya activates his set Continuous Trap, Performapal Pinch Helper. With its effect, he negates the direct attack, and he Special Summons a "Performapal" monster from his Deck. He Special Summons Performapal Whip Snake (4*/1700/900) from his Deck in Attack Position. Kyorin ends her turn.

Turn 4: Yuya Sakaki

Yuya draws. He uses Whip Snake's effect to swap Unicore's ATK and DEF. (NOU: 2300 → 1000ATK; 1000 → 2300DEF) Using his currently set Pendulum Scales, he Pendulum Summons Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon (7*/S4/2500/2000) in Attack Position, Performapal Trump Girl (2*/S4/200/200) in Defense Position and Performapal Handsamuraiger (4*/1800/400) in Attack Position. He uses Trump Girl's effect to fuse her with Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon and Fusion Summon Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon (7*/2500/3000) in Attack Position. He activates Vortex Dragon's effect, but since Nekroz of Unicore is face-up on the field, Special Summoned monsters from the Extra Deck cannot activate their effects. Performapal Handsamuraiger attacks Nekroz of Unicore. [KR: 4000 - 800 = 3200LP] Since Handsamuraiger destroyed a monster by battle, Yuya can add a Level 5 or higher Pendulum Monster to his hand. He adds Dragoncaller Magician (7*/S2/2400/1000) to his hand. Vortex Dragon attacks Brionac. Kyorin activates the effect of Nekroz of Decisive Armor, discarding it from her hand to increase Brionac's attack and defense points by 1000. Yuya activates the effect of Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon, shuffling Trump Girl from face-up in the Extra Deck into the Deck to negate the effect and destroy the card. The attack continues. [KR: 3200 - 200 = 3000LP] Performapal Whip Snake attacks directly. [KR: 3000 - 1700 = 1300LP] Yuya ends his turn.

Turn 5: Kyorin Rinsoka

Kyorin draws. She activates the Spell Card, Graceful Charity, drawing three cards and discarding two. She uses the effect of Nekroz Cycle in the graveyard. Since she has no monsters, she banishes it and Nekroz of Unicore from the graveyard to add Nekroz Kaleidoscope from her deck to her hand. She uses the effect of Nekroz Mirror in the graveyard as well, banishing it and Nekroz of Brionac from the graveyard to add Nekroz Mirror from her Deck to her hand. She activates Nekroz Mirror. Yuya activates the effect of Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon, shuffling Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon into the Deck to negate and destroy Nekroz Mirror. Kyorin activates Nekroz Kaleidoscope, sending the Level 11 Nekroz of Apollousa from her Extra Deck to the graveyard. She Ritual Summons Nekroz of Clausolas (3*/1200/2300) and Nekroz of Valkyrus (8*/2900/1700) from her hand in Defense Position and Attack Position respectively. Since Nekroz of Apollousa was sent to the graveyard by a card effect, Kyorin uses its effect to destroy Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon. She then uses Valkyrus's effect to tribute Great Sorcerer of the Nekroz in her hand to draw a card. And with Great Sorcerer's effect, she adds a "Nekroz" Spellcaster Ritual Monster from her Deck to her hand. Valkyrus attacks Performapal Samuraiger. [YS: 1700 - 1100 = 600LP] Kyorin ends her turn.

Turn 6: Yuya Sakaki

Yuya draws. He uses Whip Snake's effect to swap Valkyrus's ATK and DEF. (NOV: 2900 → 1700ATK; 1700 → 2900DEF) He Pendulum Summons Dragoncaller Magician (7*/S2/2400/1000) and Dharma-Eye Magician (7*/S2/2000/2500) from her hand. He overlays the Level 7 Dragoncaller Magician and Dharma-Eye Magician to Xyz Summon Odd-Eyes Absolute Dragon. (R7/2800/2500/OU:2) He activates Spiral Flame Strike, destroying Nekroz of Clausolas. Kyorin uses Clausolas's effect, targeting Absolute Dragon and negating its effects, changing its attack points to 0. (OEAD: 2800 → 0ATK) Whip Snake destroys Valkyrus. [KR: 1300 - 100 = 1200LP] Yuya ends his turn.

Turn 7: Kyorin Rinsoka

Kyorin draws. She banishes Nekroz Kaleidoscope from the graveyard along with Nekroz of Apollousa to add Nekroz Mirror from her Deck to her hand. She activates Nekroz Mirror, banishing Shurit, Strategist of the Nekroz from the graveyard as the full tribute with his effect. She Ritual Summons Nekroz of Gungnir (7*/2500/1700) from her hand. She discards a card from her hand and destroys Odd-Eyes Absolute Dragon. With Absolute Dragon's effect, Yuya Special Summons Odd-Eyes Meteorburst Dragon (7*/2500/2000) from his Extra Deck in Attack Position. Gungnir attacks Whip Snake. Yuya sends Performapal Pinch Helper from the field to the GY to negate battle damage. Kyorin ends her turn.

Turn 8: Yuya Sakaki

Yuya draws. He Pendulum Summons Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon from his hand. Odd-Eyes Meteorburst Dragon attacks Nekroz of Gungnir. Since Yuya controls Odd-Eyes Meteorburst Dragon, Kyorin cannot activate the effects of monsters in her possession. Both monsters are destroyed by the battle, and Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon attacks directly. [KR: 1200 - 2500 = 0LP] Yuya wins!

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Duel 3 Summary: Yuzu Hiiragi vs Carly Nagisa

Duel Format: Normal Duel

Turn 1: Carly Nagisa

Carly activates the Continuous Spell, Fortune Vision. She adds a "Fortune Lady" card from her Deck to her hand. She Normal Summons Fortune Lady Light (1*/?/?) from her hand. She then activates the Spell Card, Fortune Lady Calling, Special Summoning a "Fortune Lady" monster from her Deck. She Special Summons Fortune Lady Water in Attack Position. With the effect of Fortune Lady Water, since she was Special Summoned to the field while Carly controlled another "Fortune Lady" monster, Carly draws two cards. She sets a card facedown and ends her turn. (FLL: ? → 200ATK/DEF) (FLW: ? → 1200ATK/DEF)

Turn 2: Yuzu Hiiragi

Yuzu draws. She Special Summons Solo the Melodious Songstress (4*/1600/1000) from her hand since she controls no monsters and Carly does control a monster. She then Special Summons Sonata the Melodious Diva (3*/1200/1000) from her hand since she controls a "Melodious" monster. With Sonata the Melodious Diva's effect, Yuzu's Fairy monsters gain 500 ATK/DEF. (STMD: 1200 + 500 = 1700ATK; 1000 + 500 = 1500DEF) (STMS: 1600 + 500 = 2100ATK; 1000 + 500 = 1500DEF) Solo attacks Fortune Lady Water. [CN: 4000 - 900 = 3100LP] Sonata attacks Fortune Lady Light. Carly activates the Trap Card, Slip of Fortune, banishing Fortune Lady Light and negating the attack. With Fortune Lady Light's effect, Carly Special Summons Fortune Lady Earth (6*/?/?) from the Deck. (FLE: ? → 2400ATK/DEF) Yuzu moves to her Main Phase 2, tributing Sonata and Solo to Normal Summon Laureate Francois the Melodious Maestra. (7*/2300/1700) She uses Laureate Francois's effect to add Sonata from her graveyard to her hand. She Special Summons Sonata the Melodious Diva from her hand again. (STMD: 1200 + 500 = 1700ATK; 1000 + 500 = 1500DEF) (LFTMM: 2300 + 500 = 2800ATK; 1700 + 500 = 2200DEF) She ends her turn.

Turn 3: Carly Nagisa

Carly draws. During her Standby Phase, Fortune Lady Light returns to her field. Her monsters' Levels increase by 1. (FLE: 6* + 1* = 7*; 2400 + 400 = 2800ATK/DEF) (FLL: 1* + 1* = 2*; 200 + 200 = 400ATK/DEF) Since Fortune Lady Earth's Level increased, Carly inflicts 400 damage to her. [YH: 4000 - 400 = 3600LP] She tributes Fortune Lady Light to Normal Summon Fortune Lady Dark (5*/?/?) from her hand. (FLD: ? → 2000ATK/DEF) Fortune Lady Dark attacks Sonata. [YH: 3600 - 300 = 3300LP] With Fortune Lady Dark's effect, since she destroyed a monster by battle, Carly can revive a "Fortune Lady" monster from her graveyard. She Special Summons Fortune Lady Water from her graveyard in Defense Position. With Fortune Lady Water's effect, she draws two cards. (LFTMM: 2800 - 500 = 2300ATK; 2200 - 500 = 1700DEF) Fortune Lady Earth attacks Laureate Francois the Melodious Maestra. [YH: 3300 - 500 = 2800LP] Fortune Lady Water attacks directly. [YH: 2800 - 1200 = 1600LP] Carly sets 2 cards and ends her turn.

Turn 4: Yuzu Hiiragi

Yuzu draws. Yuzu activates the Spell Card, Ostinato, sending Aria the Melodious Diva and Soprano the Melodious Songstress from her Deck to the GY to Fusion Summon Bloom Diva the Melodious Floral Saint (6*/1000/2000) in Attack Position. She Special Summons Canon the Melodious Diva (4*/1400/2000) from her hand, and Normal Summon Score the Melodious Diva (2*/200/200) from her hand. She uses Canon the Melodious Diva and Score the Melodious Diva to Link Summon Bloom Harmonist the Melodious Floral Virtuoso. (L2/1000/↙, ↘) Yuzu uses Bloom Harmonist's effect to discard a card and Special Summon two "Melodious" monsters with different Levels from her Deck to the Main Monster Zones that Bloom Harmonist points to. She Special Summons Soprano the Melodious Songstress (4*/1400/1400) and Elegy the Melodious Diva (5*/2000/1200) from her Deck in Defense Position. Since she Special Summoned Soprano, she can add a "Melodious" monster from her graveyard to her hand. Since Elegy the Melodious Diva was Special Summoned, all Fairy monsters gain 300 ATK. (STMS: 1400 + 300 = 1700ATK) (ETMD: 2000 + 300 = 2300ATK) (BHTMFV: 1000 + 300 = 1300ATK) (BDTMFS: 1000 + 300 = 1300ATK) Bloom Diva attacks Fortune Lady Earth. Her effect activates, stopping her from being destroyed by battle, destroying Fortune Lady Earth, and inflicting damage to Carly equal to the damage that Yuzu would have taken. [CN: 3100 - 1500 = 1600LP] Bloom Harmonist attacks Fortune Lady Water. [CN: 1600 - 100 = 1500LP] Carly activates the Trap Card, Inherited Fortune, allowing her to Special Summon two "Fortune Lady" monsters from her hand during the next Standby Phase. Yuzu ends her turn. Ostinato's effect triggers to destroy Bloom Diva. However, since Elegy the Melodious Diva is on the field, Special Summoned "Melodious" monsters cannot be destroyed by card effects.

Turn 5: Carly Nagisa

Carly draws. She Special Summons Fortune Lady Past (1*/?/?) and Fortune Lady Light (1*/?/?) from her hand with the effect of Inherited Fortune. Carly's monsters gain a Level during the Standby Phase. (FLL: 1* + 1* = 2*) (FLP: 1* + 1* = 2*) (FLD: 5* + 1* = 6*) Using the effect of Fortune Lady Past, she banishes Fortune Lady Light from the field to increase Fortune Lady Past's Level by 1. (FLP: 2* + 1* = 3*) Fortune Lady Light's effect triggers since it left the field by a card effect. She Special Summons Fortune Lady Water from the Deck in Defense Position. With Fortune Lady Water's effect, she draws two more cards since Water was Special Summoned while Carly controls another "Fortune Lady" monster. She tunes the Level 3 Fortune Lady Past to the Level 4 Fortune Lady Water to Synchro Summon Fortune Lady Every. (7*/?/?) (FLE: ? → 2800ATK/DEF) (FLD: 2000 + 400 = 2400ATK/DEF) Fortune Lady Every attacks Bloom Composer. [YH: 1600 - 1500 = 100LP] Fortune Lady Dark attacks Elegy the Melodious Diva, destroying her. Fortune Lady Dark revives Fortune Lady Water in Defense Position. Carly draws two cards with Fortune Lady Water's effect. She sets 2 cards and ends her turn.

Turn 6: Yuzu Hiiragi

Yuzu draws. She activates Pot of Avarice, returning Sonata, Elegy, Laureate Francois, Bloom Harmonist and Solo to teh Deck to draw two cards. She activates the Continuous Spell Card, Fortissimo. Carly negates it with the Counter Trap, Bending Destiny, banishing it until the End Phase. Yuzu Normal Summons Score the Melodious Diva. She sets Score and Bloom Diva in the Link Markers, Link Summoning Bloom Harmonist the Melodious Floral Virtuoso again. Bloom Harmonist's effect triggers, and she discards a card to Special Summon Prodigy Mozart the Melodious Maestra (8*/2600/2000) and Laureate Francois the Melodious Maestra (7*/2300/1700) from her Deck in Defense Position. She uses Crystal Rose's effect, banishing a Fusion Monster, Bloom Diva, from the graveyard to revive Crystal Rose. Crystal Rose sends Aria the Melodious Diva from the Deck to the graveyard to copy its name. She then uses Laureate Francois's effect to add Canon the Melodious Diva to her hand and Special Summon her. She then uses Soprano the Melodious Songstress's effect to fuse Soprano the Melodious Songstress with Laureate Francois the Melodious Maestra, Prodigy Mozart the Melodious Maestra, Canon the Melodious Diva and Crystal Rose, Fusion Summoning Bloom Prima the Melodious Floral Saint (7*/1900/2000) in Attack Position. Bloom Prima gains 300 ATK times the number of materials used for her Fusion Summon. (BPTMFS: 1900 + 300 x 5 = 3400ATK) Prima attacks Fortune Lady Every. When a "Melodious" monster that Bloom Harmonist the Melodious Floral Virtuoso points to declares an attack, the opponent cannot activate cards and effects in response until the end of the Damage Step. [CN: 1500 - 600 = 900LP] Bloom Prima can declare two attacks per turn. She attacks Fortune Lady Dark. [CN: 900 - 1000 = 0LP] Yuzu wins!

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OC Cards:

Nekroz of Apollousa

(11*/?/?/WATER/Psychic/Synchro/Effect)

1 Tuner + 1+ "Nekroz" non-Tuner monsters

This card's original ATK/DEF are equal to the number of materials used for its Synchro Summon x 800. Once per Chain, when your opponent activates a monster effect (Quick Effect): You can make this card lose exactly 800 ATK, and if you do, negate the activation. If this card is sent from the Extra Deck to the GY by a card effect: You can target 1 monster on the field; destroy it. The targeted monster cannot activate its effects in response to the activation of this effect.

Trivia: I considered just giving Kyorin some non-archetypical Synchros, but most high-level Synchros are archetype-specific. So since all "Nekroz" Ritual Monsters are based on Synchro Monsters except Sophia, who is a special case. Therefore, I decided that a "Nekroz" Synchro Monster would be based on a Link Monster, which is two Special Summoning methods after. (If we don't count Pendulums). Since it's a Psychic monster, it's Ariel channelling the powers of Apollousa.

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Different Card Effects from TCG:

Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon - Anime effect.

Timegazer Magician, Stargazer Magician - Anime effect.

Bloom Diva the Melodious Floral Saint - Anime effect which deals effect damage.

Aria the Melodious Diva - Has both her TCG and anime effect.

Bloom Prima the Melodious Floral Saint - Anime summoning requirements, TCG effect.

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Chapter 35 Fun Fact:

I talk a lot about how characters go through a lot of revisions before the fic itself is made. So I'll start with what I call V1 (Version 1) Yuno. The version that ended up making it into the story is V4 Yuno. V1 Yuno is interesting because the reason that he was rejected was because he and Miharu's areas of expertise overlapped too much. However, I decided to have them both be skilled in different ways (people skills/technological skills). And yes, this does mean that Yuno's original identity wasn't a Charisma Duelist. Actually, V1 Yuno wasn't even a Sugisaki, that's how far back that goes. V1 Yuno used Sky Strikers, and he was just a completely normal person who happened to have the last name Bessho. (Ok, maybe not so normal.) But in the end, V1 Yuno didn't really have a personality—he was just a cardboard cutout. Even if the concept was cool, you'll have to trust me on this, he sucked as a character, and I couldn't intertwine his character arc with the other characters at all. He gave me the most trouble out of the four main counterparts before I figured out what to do with him.

… oh, and his alias was Cloud Piercer. His dragon was FIRE Attribute, and its name was Burning Barrier Link Dragon. (Yeah, it wasn't good.) why Burning Barrier?… *coughs* firewall. That was the whole joke. But I'm much more satisfied with current Yuno, and besides, having him use a card with "Burning" in the name would make him somewhat similar to Yuji, which I did not want.

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End Notes:

Shoutout to phantomdragons, who guessed Yuzu vs Carly and Yuya vs Kyorin! (The latter of which I was very surprised by, I didn't think that anyone would be able to be guess that.) LHOCIN also guessed Yuzu vs Carly.

So, Tsukikage vs Sherry might seem odd, but I wanted to approach Tsukikage differently from canon. I wanted him to face someone that he genuinely wanted to fight to his fullest strength again out of respect, and to act against his orders for a moment, but be satisfied in his own victory. He may not have been a very major character, but I still wanted to do him justice. And come on, he's a ninja. That's cool in and of itself. I also gave him the other Ninjas, since he had like basically no monsters in canon. I wanted to give him all the Ninjas, including the new support, but I decided not to give him Fusion Monsters yet, since the wound of Hikage dying is still a bit too fresh for him.

Sherry, meanwhile, has inherited the parts of Yusei's deck that are linked to Synchrons specifically. Also, I know that I said that I'm using the Japanese names for her cards, but that's specifically for the Fleurs. The rest are still their normal names. In the end, she still won relatively easily, because Baroness is an insane card. Also, if you're wondering why Horse of the Floral Knights and Centaur Mina can't show up, Sherry can't Fusion Summon.

I will point out that Yuya never talked to Sam (the boy who leads him to his matches) before dueling Jack in this story. Instead, he learned from Yugo, Yuto and Yuno here. Therefore, Sam doesn't really hope for Yuya's success, but he does sympathise with Yuya, who he sees as another person mocked by Jack Atlas.

And disclaimer: I am not bashing Jack in the slightest. Jack is well-meaning, ultimately, but Yuya doesn't know that right now, because he hasn't had the chance to learn anything about Jack at all, other than the fact that he's the idol of everyone. They'll have a proper conversation later on, but for now, Yuya is learning that he doesn't have to change for everyone. He's understanding that his own issue with wanting people to smile is inherently mixed in with the trauma of being mocked. And so, as my friend puts it, Yuya says "fuck you" to everyone who expects things from him other than the person that he wants to be. He rejects figuring out what Jack wants to tell him in favour of figuring out a path for himself.

… also, Yuya gets his first onscreen win of the story? I didn't realise that I hadn't given him an onscreen win so far, lmao. There we go. It's a hardfought victory, but at the very least, he has one now. Also, yes, Sunburst Spark Flame. Those who know, well, know.

I always found it interesting that the Odd-Eyes dragons seemed to mirror Yuya's counterparts. Specifically, the evolution of their monsters. Meteorburst seals off monster effects indiscriminately, like Crystal Wing. Vortex negates effects and destroys monsters like Greedy Venom. And Absolute protects monsters from battle like Dark Requiem does from card effects, and they both float into other monsters. This has no impact on how I will eventually design Empty Abyss's evolution—it's not like it would make sense for it to be anything like Gravity. I just thought it was interesting enough to point out.

Carly losing in the first round might seem surprising to some of you, but I want to point out that this is not Dark Signer Carly, who is extremely strong. This is Carly from early canon 5Ds. I think one of the Guest reviewers said it best—any other Lancer except Yuzu would actually curbstomp Carly. Also, Yuzu desperately needed a win after how I screwed her over in the Standard Arc by having her only onscreen duel be against Yuri. Yes, Yuzu gets Link Summoning. I don't think it's a spoiler to say that she'll get Synchro Summoning too. Courtesy of Miharu and Yugo, of course. Her duel was by far the most fun to write out of the three here.

Also, this is Blaise from the future (Chapter 37) speaking, but I'm realising how absolutely fucked the timeline gets here, so I will have to point out that chronologically, a lot is going to happen in a short period of time. For example, there are going to be eight matches in one day, and I plan on cutting between this place, the Underground and Academia over the next few in-story days. So yeah. There's a lot of stuff that needs to get sorted out in a short period of time, especially on Academia's side. For example, as of now, there are some chapters dedicated to the Lancers in the Underground as well.

Review responses!

To phantomdragons, Kyorin and Hitoda being weaker than the other four is very much intentional on my part, because while the other four have been in environments that forced them to keep on persevering and improving, Kyorin has been duel averse for a few years at the point that the story starts. Put plainly, she's just out of practice. As for Hitoda, uh, to put it plainly, she just doesn't care about winning, so it's hard for her to try her best, because she doesn't care if she loses. I will say that if not for those personal circumstances, Kyorin and Hitoda would probably be on a similar level to the other four. You had some nice guesses, and while, I won't comment on most of them because of spoilers, I will say that you got Yuya vs Kyorin and Yuzu vs Carly right. Still though, good observations on your part.

To makotoxvalerie, it's actually quite funny that you bring up Yuri being a Kaiba and beating Chiaki, Joey's sister. I completely didn't realise that, lmao. No comment on Yuji's dragon. I can tell that you're very enthusiastic, but you'll have to wait and see. Yeah, neither Yuri nor Yuji will have a perfect dueling record… well, depending on how you define wins and losses, but we won't go in-depth on that. Anyway, I interpreted Yuto's absorption by Yuya in canon as a matter of proximity—Yuya was just closer to Yuto at the time, rather than any conscious choice on Yuto's part. That is also how I'm going to work with that in this fic. As for your opinion on the pairing, I'm most likely still going with Yuri/Serena in the future, since Shino does view Yuri as a younger brother figure, but I appreciate the compliment for the character! I won't lie, everyone's reception of Shino makes me really happy.

To the Guest that talked about how you hope that Yuri gets punched by the Bracelet Girls, I want you to know that you made me laugh really hard.

To T.V. 2000, it's fine, you haven't ever annoyed me. In fact, thank you for your support on this fic throughout. I appreciate it.

To Hide Kaneki, my favourite canon counterparts are Yuto and Rin. The fact that Rin actually defeats Yugo has always been something I appreciated about that duel in canon.

To DSpaceZ, you made me laugh with that review! I'm going to address your review a bit out of order. For the point about Reira, I personally headcanon Arc-V Reira as non-binary. Six Dimensions!Reira is also non-binary, and they don't mind any pronouns at all, which is why they don't really mind male pronouns even though they were assigned female at birth. I kinda decided to take what canon showed about Yuri and Sora (which was honestly not that much) and deal with what I had. And yeah, I agree that the progression for Sora's redemption arc was a bit scuffed. I'm probably going to give Yuri/Serena more moments in the future, but it's admittedly a bit hard for that now. Your guesses about Ruka and Rua dueling Yuya and Yuzu are honestly really solid, and that was actually part of the original draft of the Friendship Cup! You're also right about there being some duels that people aren't going to like, and that's all I'll say on that front. In the end though, I decided on Kyorin and Carly for the reasons mentioned above. Finally, on the Infernity point, I think that the 4000 life points in the anime means that any deck is capable of an FTK, to be honest.

To Ben23ten, that's a lovely comparison! I know absolutely nothing about Star Wars, but that sounds genuinely fascinating.

To cardfan135, do you really think that I would make my characters suffer like that? (Because the answer is yes.) If I've managed to make people root for Yuri despite… *gestures to the story* all that shit, I've done something right.

To naminexriku2468, Kaiba is dead. He died a long time ago in the timeline of this story.

To LHOCIN, good analysis! I will spoil that Yuzu vs Serena will probably actually happen at some later point in the story, though I don't intend to have Serena or Yuzu change sides. I do agree with your idea of what Yuri in canon would do. I'm glad that you enjoyed what I'm doing with his character!

That's all. Thanks for everyone's support! Next chapter covers the last two duels of the first day of the Friendship Cup. It might take a while—I'm going to be quite busy over the next three weeks.