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?

41. Chapter 41: Shadows Beneath Flowers

Starting Notes:

Welcome back! To those just checking in now, a disclaimer that you might have missed a chapter—Shun vs Dennis was the last chapter, though since I updated it while my story was still the most recently updated in the archive, there's a high chance that those who don't directly follow the story might not have seen it. Do double back and check it out—it's actually a pretty fun/traumatising chapter, all things considered. But the original chapter ended up having to be split. So this chapter is just Yuto vs Nue, with absolutely nothing else happening. :)

---

Chapter 41: Shadows Beneath Flowers

If there was one person that Yuto had always felt that he owed every part of his life to…

It would only be his sister. It would only be her, who had been there every step of the way, from the day that they had met. The person who had looked at him the day that they had met outside the orphanage and decided that she wanted to know who he was. The person who had settled down next to him at the playground and tilted her head curiously. My parents are getting a dog, she had said with a sigh. I don't like dogs.

Yuto had blinked. I like birds, he had said, for lack of something else to say.

Barely passable. Rabbits and cats, those are the only passable animals. The girl turned to him, folding her legs. But I guess as long as you're not one for dogs, we'll get along.

It was funny to think back on it now. He had been mostly alone back then—he had kept to himself most of the time. And yet, that conversation about pets was what had changed his life forever.

Nue always said that he would have been an amazing person even if they had never met. I am the one with the privilege to be your sister, not the other way round. But Yuto had never agreed with that. Yes, he might have been strong, but he might not have known what it was like to be loved.

… he might have become unkind.

So, as Yuto sat down on the D-Wheel and properly looked at his sister, he was struck with a sudden realisation. He had never dueled Nue for real before. Yes, they had dueled a few times when he had first been learning how to duel, but those had mainly just been duels with Nue calmly coaxing him to think outside the box.

"Some people think that just having the strongest monster is an automatic win. But sometimes, you can play around that. Everyone expects a powerful monster to stay on the field and be able to destroy cards through battle and effects. But no one ever expects the quiet traps. If you can learn to use them well… well, I dare say that no one will ever be able to stop you from dueling the way that you want to."

And then, when he was about to apply to a Duel School, Nue had stopped and peered over his shoulder.

"Why are you applying to Diamond Branch?"

"Huh? Well, you're there…" Probably more than just 'there', to be honest, considering that she was already becoming infamous. The girl who never let her opponents make a single move freely.

Nue had sighed. "… yes, I'm there." She had tapped her fingers on the table. "And while it'd be funny to have you as my underclassman… I think you'd grow better without me there. Right now, your entire playstyle, and the way that you think about dueling… a lot of it comes from me, because I taught you, didn't I? But if that's the case, Yuto, you'll never surpass me. You'll always be chasing after me, and I don't want that for you."

Yuto had frowned. Nue had noticed, and she had gently patted his shoulder.

"Not that I don't want you around, of course. But I also want you to find yourself. To find a style of dueling that is yours, to find a way to victory that is completely your own. I taught you the basics. But that might as well have crippled you too, because it means that you haven't yet learned to think for yourself. So, go to Spade or Clover, Yuto. Meet new people, and rethink everything that you know about dueling. Reject your current dueling, and build yourself from scratch again. Then, you'll have a chance of becoming stronger than me."

And she had been right, in the end. It was because he had gone to Spade Branch that he had met Shun and Ruri. He had learned the merits of sometimes being on the offence. He had learned more from being open-minded than he would have by staying in his sister's shadow forever. But they had never dueled each other again—only alongside each other. Yuto would bet all the money he had that no one knew his sister's cards better than him, and that it was the same the other way round—

But even so…

She had never been an opponent to him.

Nue glanced at him, putting on her helmet. "Shall we go out together?" She said.

"Don't they normally come out one by one?"

Nue shrugged. "What are they going to do, disqualify us? It'll be the most anticlimactic ending, and we all know how much these people love their performances."

Yuto couldn't help but laugh. "You're always this way," he said. Brash but assertive. Then, after a moment, he said, "I won't be chasing after you anymore, Nue."

Nue turned her head, seeming curious.

"I want to surpass you," he said honestly. "I want to—I've learned so much since we were kids, onee-san. So—I won't be content staying in your shadow now."

"... oh, you," Nue said, but there was a slight smile on her face. "That's what I'd like to hear."

"Great," Shun croaked dryly from behind them. "But you should probably get going."

---

So, they went out.

And, at the starting line, both of them went forward at full speed.

Yuto focused as much as he could. Winning the first turn against Nue would be a very good advantage—he knew that much about her.

And yet—

Nue drew back, letting him take the first corner.

"We both favour the first turn, you and me," she pointed out. "So, Yuto—go first. And if you lose—" She smirked. "No excuses, yeah?"

… so confident.

She wouldn't be the Ace of Diamonds if she wasn't always so assertive though.

[DUEL!]

Nue Kamisoka: 4000LP

Yuto Kamisoka: 4000LP

[Turn 1: Yuto] [H:5]

"I will Normal Summon The Phantom Knights of Ragged Gloves," Yuto declared immediately. The dark pair of gloves surrounded by bright blue flames appeared.

[The Phantom Knights of Ragged Gloves (3*/1000/500/DARK/Warrior/Effect)]

"And I will Special Summon The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots from my hand, since I control a "The Phantom Knights" monster!" The blue spirit in a tattered brown leather cloak appeared.

[The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots (3*/200/1200/DARK/Warrior/Effect)]

Nue nodded. It wasn't a surprising move—Yuto's tendency to use those two monsters, more than any others, was very well-known.

"I will overlay the Level 3 Ragged Gloves and Silent Boots! Phantoms hide within the shadows, tormenting the cruel minds. Appear now, tortured maiden! Xyz Summon—Rank 3, The Phantom Knights of Tortured Chains!" The feminine grey spirit appeared, her chains whipping wickedly through the air. Blood trailed off her white silk dress. Blue flames flew all around her.

[The Phantom Knights of Tortured Chains (R3/1700/1000/DARK/Warrior/Xyz/Effect) (OU:2)]

"Since Tortured Chains was Xyz Summoned, I can add a "Phantom Knights" Spell or Trap from my deck to my hand!" Yuto declared. He retrieved the card from his deck. "Since Ragged Gloves was used as Xyz Material for Tortured Chains, Tortured Chains gains 1000 attack points!"

[The Phantom Knights of Tortured Chains: 1700 + 1000 = 2700ATK]

"I will set two cards and end my turn!"

Nue tilted her head. "... I see," she said. "I know exactly what your set cards are. Allow me to unravel your field now."

[Turn 2: Nue] [H:6]

"Draw." Nue glanced at her hand. "Spell Card, Traptantalizing Tune. By discarding a Level 4 Insect or Plant monster, I can draw two cards." She revealed a card in her hand. "I'll Normal Summon Traptrix Dionaea."The dark-haired girl appeared in front of her, looking like she was resting lackadaisically on an island paradise.

[Traptrix Dionaea (4*/1700/1100/EARTH/Plant/Effect)]

"When Dionaea is Normal Summoned, I can revive a "Traptrix" monster in Defense Position. Return—Traptrix Myrmeleo." The girl with dusty grey hair appeared, wearing a reddish-brown cape.

[Traptrix Myrmeleo (4*/1600/1200/EARTH/Insect/Effect)]

"When Traptrix Myrmeleo is Special Summoned, I can destroy a Spell or Trap on the field," Nue continued. "I will destroy your left set card." The card exploded, and Yuto grimaced. It was Wrong Magnetring, meaning that he had been stopped from drawing two cards with its effect. "I thought so."

"Since a card I control was destroyed, I can detach an Overlay Unit from Tortured Chains to send a "Phantom Knights" card from my deck to the graveyard!" Yuto declared. Nue nodded. Blue flames floated around them.

[The Phantom Knights of Tortured Chains: OU:2 - 1 = OU:1]

"Open, circuit of the entrapping flowers! Arrowhead confirmed! The conditions are a "Traptrix" monster that isn't a Link Monster! I'll set Dionaea in the Link Markers! Now, cute girl in the beautiful meadow! Rise up with the sunshine over your hair and trap the world in your shadow! Circuit Combine! Link Summon! Link 1! Traptrix Sera!"

A girl with vibrant green hair appeared, sitting in a circle of flowers, a rather calm look on her face.

[Traptrix Sera (L1/800/EARTH/Plant/Link/Effect/↓)]

"Since I control a "Traptrix" monster, I can also Special Summon Traptrix Arachnocampa from my hand!" A girl with aqua-tinted white hair appeared, web strings shaped like droplets of water floating all around her in a tranquil manner.

[Traptrix Arachnocampa (4*/1300/1500/EARTH/Insect/Effect)]

"However, I cannot Special Summon monsters from the Extra Deck this turn, except Insect or Plant monsters."

"Hardly a problem for you," Yuto said with a sigh.

"Yes." Nue shrugged. "I activated the effect of a "Traptrix" monster. Thus, Traptrix Sera's effect triggers. I can set a "Hole" Normal Trap from my deck." A card appeared in front of her. "I'll overlay the Level 4 Arachnocampa and Myrmeleo. Beautiful worker that assists the alluring forest of the tricksters, arise now and revive the darkness that dwells in the forest! Xyz Summon! Rank 4! Traptrix Allomerus!" The red-haired girl appeared, floating in front of her, a rather casual smile on her face.

[Traptrix Allomerus (R4/2200/600/EARTH/Insect/Xyz/Effect) (OU:2)]

"Allomerus's effect," she continued. "By detaching two Overlay Units, I can revive a Level 4 Insect or Plant monster. Return to the field, Myrmeleo." She snapped her fingers. "Myrmeleo's effect is not once per turn. I will destroy your other set card."

[Traptrix Allomerus: OU:2 - 2 = OU:0]

"I will activate The Phantom Knights of Lost Vambrace!" He revealed the Trap Card. "I will lower your Allomerus's attack points by 600. And while it's usually unaffected by Trap effects, that only applies while it has Overlay Units!" Blue flames surrounded the redheaded girl.

[Traptrix Allomerus: 2200 - 600 = 1600ATK]

"Then, Lost Vambrace Special Summons itself as a monster, and "The Phantom Knights" monsters I control cannot be destroyed by battle this turn!" While Myrmeleo still struck at the card, it wasn't destroyed. "Lost Vambrace is not treated as a Trap when it has summoned itself with its effect. Thus, Myrmeleo cannot destroy it!"

[The Phantom Knights of Lost Vambrace (2*/600/0/DARK/Warrior)]

"That's fine. My monsters can't currently defeat your monster by battle, regardless." Nue tilted her head. "I will open the circuit again. Arrowhead confirmed. The conditions are two Insect or Plant monsters. I will set Traptrix Allomerus and Traptrix Myrmeleo in the Link Markers. Beautiful white flower dripping with dew! Form the idyllic creature sleeping in the dark swamp! Circuit Combine! Link Summon! Link 2! Traptrix Cularia!" A woman with long hair appeared, light white and purple hair forming curls that surrounded her head. Green laurels formed a 'crown' around her head.

[Traptrix Cularia (L2/1800/EARTH/Plant/Link/Effect/↓, →)]

"Another Link Monster…" Yuto murmured.

"They're not half-bad. I will set another card facedown." That left her with two set cards on the field. "During the End Phase, Cularia allows me to revive a "Traptrix" monster from my graveyard in Defense Position. Return in Defense Position, Allomerus. Over to you, Yuto."

Right. She didn't necessarily need to defeat him immediately—she was aiming for his resources, not his throat.

Still though, Yuto would take the chance.

[Turn 3: Yuto] [H:3]

"Draw!" Yuto declared. "I'll banish The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots from my graveyard to add a "Phantom Knights" Spell or Trap from my deck to my hand!" He revealed a card in his hand. "I will Normal Summon The Phantom Knights of Ancient Cloak!" The blue spirit in a tattered and old purple cloak appeared, a red scarf wrapping around its 'neck'.

[The Phantom Knights of Ancient Cloak (3*/800/1000/DARK/Warrior/Effect)]

Nue didn't respond to the summon of the monster. A pity—Yuto had been hoping that she would destroy it, so that he could use Tortured Chains' effect to send another card from his deck to the graveyard. Still though, he wasn't that worried about it.

"I'll Special Summon another copy of The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots from my hand as well," Yuto continued. "And I'll overlay the Level 3 Silent Boots and Ancient Cloak! Souls of knights who fell on the battlefield. Revive here and now, and become the light that breaks the darkness! Xyz Summon! Appear! Rank 3! The Phantom Knights of Break Sword!" The familiar dark cavalier appeared on his field as well.

[The Phantom Knights of Break Sword (R3/2000/1000/DARK/Warrior/Xyz/Effect) (OU:2)]

"I hope you didn't really expect me to let you keep it," Nue said. With a flick of her hand, she flipped over a set card. "Trap Card, Bottomless Trap Hole. Since you summoned a monster with 1500 or more attack points, I can destroy and banish it. Of course, it's a net gain for you because of Break Sword's effect, but it'll also help me." She gestured to Cularia. "Cularia allows me to set a "Hole" Trap that I activate back to my field once per turn. Since I activated both a "Traptrix" monster's effect and a "Hole" Trap, I can use both of Sera's effects immediately. I will set a "Hole" Trap from my deck and Special Summon a "Traptrix" monster from my deck. Come in Defense Position, Traptrix Nepenthes." The girl with yellow and orange sunrise-like hair appeared.

[Traptrix Nepenthes (4*/800/2000/EARTH/Plant/Effect)]

Still though, that meant that Nue only had one more set card that could be activated on this turn. If Yuto pushed through that last card…

"I will activate the effects of Tortured Chains and Break Sword! With Tortured Chains' effect, I will detach another Overlay Unit to send another "Phantom Knights" card from my deck to the graveyard! Vengeful Reincarnation!" Another card fell into his graveyard.

[The Phantom Knights of Tortured Chains: OU:1 - 1 = OU:0]

"Then, Break Sword! Since it was destroyed, even though you banished it, I get to Special Summon Silent Boots and Ancient Cloak back to the field and increase their Levels by 1! Phantom Resurrection!" His two monsters reappeared on the field.

[The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots: 3* + 1* = 4*]

[The Phantom Knights of Ancient Cloak: 3* + 1* = 4*]

"Dark Rebellion?" Nue asked.

Yuto shook his head. "Knowing you, you'd have a hard counter for Dark Rebellion ready, just because he's my ace," he pointed out. "No matter how much you like him. Manifest, circuit that honours the fallen warriors!"

Nue raised an eyebrow, before nodding.

"Arrowhead confirmed! The conditions are two or more DARK monsters. I will set The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots, The Phantom Knights of Ancient Cloak and The Phantom Knights of Lost Vambrace in the Link Markers. Dark, angry polearm, rise into the air with the crackling blue fire of the ancient warriors! With no path backwards and only light in front of you, aid your fellow warriors in destroying the enemy. Circuit Combine. Link Summon—Link 3! The Phantom Knights of Rusty Bardiche!" The armoured Link Monster appeared on his field, ready for battle.

[The Phantom Knights of Rusty Bardiche (L3/2100/DARK/Warrior/Link/Effect/↙, ↘, →)]

"I will use Rusty Bardiche's effect to send a "Phantom Knights" card—"

Nue's second set card flipped over. "Link Monsters are very versatile and powerful," she said. "Their mechanics are very different from the rest of the summoning types as well. As such, some effects don't work against them." She shrugged. "Then again, some work better. Trap Card, Titanocider!"

… oh.

"I will target a face-up monster you control that was Special Summoned from the Extra Deck, like The Phantom Knights of Rusty Bardiche. I will permanently change its attack points to 0 and negate its effects!"

One of Nue's most powerful Traps…

A strange figure appeared behind Nue, firing off an arrow of light. The figure looked strangely familiar to Yuto, though he didn't know why. The arrow hit Rusty Bardiche, forcing it to its knees.

[The Phantom Knights of Rusty Bardiche: 2100 → 0ATK]

"She shut him down immediately," Miharu noted. "Unsurprising for a counterplay deck…"

"Merciless," Mion said. "Even to her own brother? I could never do that to Shingo…"

Yuto didn't let himself be fazed by the move though. "I will banish Ancient Cloak from my graveyard to add a "Phantom Knights" card from my deck to my hand," he explained. The reason why Nue had been so confident about using Titanocider on Rusty Bardiche was likely due to the fact that Link Monsters couldn't change battle position. Thus, even if Yuto had another copy of Lost Vambrace, Rusty Bardiche was essentially useless to him now. In that case… he had to buy another turn. If he Xyz Summoned now, he would only be handing Titanocider back to Nue on a silver platter, for her to use it again the next turn.

So—

"Battle Phase," he called. "The Phantom Knights of Tortured Chains attacks your Traptrix Cularia!" That was currently the biggest problem on the field, after all—it could easily bring back the whole formation that Nue had just set up if Yuto left it on the field. Nue shielded herself, seeming unbothered by her monster's destruction.

Nue: 4000 - 900 = 3100LP

"I'll set two cards facedown," he declared. "Your turn—Nue."

Nue arched an eyebrow. "You don't sound defeated," she said. "Interesting. Let's see why then."

[Turn 4: Nue] [H:4]

Nue's field currently still had Sera, Allomerus and Nepenthes. Of course, Allomerus was currently about as useful to her as Rusty Bardiche was to Yuto, so…

Nue hummed. "I will Normal Summon Traptrix Mantis," she declared. The girl with pink and orange hair appeared, flowers growing all around her. Her hair was very similar to Nepenthes, just with the colours inverted.

[Traptrix Mantis (4*/1500/1300/EARTH/Insect/Effect)]

"And with Traptrix Sera's effect, since a "Traptrix" monster used its effect, I can set another "Hole" Trap from my deck." Another set card appeared on her field—that made three now. "I know what you're thinking, Yuto—you think that Allomerus is useless to me, right?"

She reached out a hand, and Allomerus stood back in Attack Position.

"Most of my Traps work on the turn that a monster is summoned, and so Tortured Chains has escaped the brunt of them," she said. "But I think that it has survived long enough. So—let's go. Open once again, circuit!"

Wait, she had yet another Link Monster?

"Reiji Akaba made three Link Monsters for me," Nue said, filling him in. "Usually it's more worth it to keep Sera on the field without the other two, due to how versatile her support effects are. However, I suppose it's fitting that this is one of the specific situations where I'd need her. Arrowhead confirmed. The conditions are at least two monsters, including a Plant or Insect monster. I will set Traptrix Sera, Traptrix Nepenthes and Traptrix Mantis in the Link Markers! Cunning cruelty that weaves the web of destruction. Atypical anomaly that tugs on the strings of all that pity her. Circuit Combine! Link Summon! Link 3! Cursed cunning—Traptrix Atypus!"

A brown-haired girl appeared, wearing a purple robe, with a rather sweet smirk on her face. Webs could be seen spun all around her, a thick spiral that went on and on.

[Traptrix Atypus (L3/1800/EARTH/Insect/Link/Effect/←, ↓, →)]

"While I have a Normal Trap in my graveyard, all my "Traptrix" monsters gain 1000 attack points, including Atypus herself," Nue elaborated.

Oh.

Usually, Nue's deck had no need for raw numbers at all. So to have a card like this in her deck now… it truly was a card with less applications than one might imagine.

Except in a specific instance where Yuto's monster had exactly 2700 attack points.

[Traptrix Atypus: 1800 + 1000 = 2800ATK]

[Traptrix Allomerus: 2200 + 1000 = 3200ATK]

"Atypus attacks The Phantom Knights of Tortured Chains," Nue declared.

The Xyz Monster was destroyed, and Yuto shielded himself as his life points fell slightly.

Yuto: 4000 - 100 = 3900LP

"Allomerus attacks The Phantom Knights of Rusty Bardiche."

"Allomerus doesn't have Overlay Units anymore," Yuto pointed out. "I will activate the Trap Card, The Phantom Knights of Wrong Magnetring!" The dark ring appeared. "I'll negate the attack and Special Summon Wrong Magnetring as a monster." The ring floated in front of him, perching next to Rusty Bardiche.

[The Phantom Knights of Wrong Magnetring (2*/0/0/DARK/Warrior)]

Nue nodded. "Good job," she praised. She didn't seem surprised by his move at all, however—had she expected it and simply run straight into it, because she didn't care? "I will end my turn."

Not setting any additional cards—and why would she need to, when she had those three set cards already?

[Turn 5: Yuto] [H:2]

"Draw," Yuto called. He had survived another turn. Alright. If he summoned a monster from the Extra Deck this turn, Nue would immediately get back Titanocider, even if she couldn't use it this turn. She had Bottomless Trap Hole still set, thanks to saving it with Cularia's effect.

Yuto sighed.

She steals the right of others to attempt. I knew that. I knew how soul-crushing she was as an opponent…

But without having faced it, I don't think I would have understood.

"I will send Wrong Magnetring and Rusty Bardiche from my field to the graveyard to draw two cards," Yuto explained. He drew the top two cards of his deck, glancing at them quickly.

… oh, I am far too lucky. I run this card to destroy my own cards normally, but this might work out very well.

"I will set a card facedown," he declared. Nue frowned. "I will activate the Trap Card, The Phantom Knights of Tomb Shield. I will Special Summon it as a monster."

[The Phantom Knights of Tomb Shield (3*/0/0/DARK/Warrior)]

"Summoning a monster with less than 1500 attack points to avoid Bottomless Trap Hole?"

"Tomb Shield Special Summons itself in Attack Position," Yuto pointed out. "At 0 attack points and Special Summoning itself from my Spell or Trap Zone, it dodges every Trap Hole that you currently have, except Treacherous Trap Hole and Nightmare Trap Hole. But Treacherous Trap Hole requires that you have no Traps in your graveyard, and we both know Titanocider is there, so you'd never have set it facedown when you searched out cards with Sera's effect. And Nightmare Trap Hole requires you to have a "Hole" Trap in your graveyard, which you don't have. So my monster is perfectly safe."

When Nue glanced forward again, Yuto could see a smile on her face. "... yes," she acknowledged. "Very, very well done. I'm very proud. Go on."

From above, Yugo watched with some envy in his heart. It wasn't malicious, but seeing the scene below did make him wonder what it would be like to be in the same position. Is that what it's like to have someone supporting you the whole way, even if your victory means their loss?

… I wish I had that.

Yuto revealed one of the three cards in his hand. "I will Special Summon The Phantom Knights of Stained Greaves from my hand, since I Special Summoned a "Phantom Knights" monster!" The armoured knight dressed in silver with blue flames seeping out from the gaps appeared, floating around it.

[The Phantom Knights of Stained Greaves (3*/1200/600/DARK/Warrior/Effect)]

He glanced at his sister, who shrugged, not making a move. Were her Traps not aimed at his weaker monsters at all?

"I control the state in which a monster is allowed to exist on the field."

Imagine if everything was just aimed at Dark Rebellion…

"I will overlay the Level 3 Stained Greaves and Tomb Shield!" He declared. "Thin shields rise. A battalion of soldiers charges across the battlefield. Xyz Summon—Rank 3, The Phantom Knights of Jagged Chainmail!" A humanoid being with the same blue energy-like glow to its body as most of Yuto's monsters appeared. It was wearing a silver chainmail chestplate and pants, and swinging two shields in the air. The handles of the shields were made of thin lines of blue fire.

[The Phantom Knights of Jagged Chainmail (R3/1000/2000/DARK/Warrior/Xyz/Effect) (OU:2)]

"Jagged Chainmail cannot be destroyed by card effects," Nue murmured. She raised a hand, Titanocider setting itself back to her field.

"Yes," Yuto called. "Once per turn, I can detach an Overlay Unit from Jagged Chainmail to set a "Phantom Knights" Spell or Trap from my deck to my field, and if it's a Trap or Quickplay Spell, I can activate it this turn!"

[The Phantom Knights of Jagged Chainmail: OU:2 - 1 = OU:1]

A set card emerged on his field.

"I will banish Stained Greaves from the graveyard to Special Summon a "The Phantom Knights" monster from my hand. Come—The Phantom Knights of Cloven Helm!" A rusty silver helmet with long orange fibres forming a trail in the air. Blue flames could be seen burning within the helmet itself.

[The Phantom Knights of Cloven Helm (4*/1500/500/DARK/Warrior/Effect)]

"Bottomless Trap Hole," Nue declared. The helmet monster immediately shattered, being banished as well after a moment. "But you knew that. What's your plan then?"

"My plan is this! I will Special Summon The Phantom Knights of Fragile Armor from my hand, since a "Phantom Knights" monster I control was destroyed!" The flaming black armour with bone white structures wrapping around it appeared.

[The Phantom Knights of Fragile Armor (4*/1000/2000/DARK/Warrior/Effect)]

"Trap Card, Floodgate Trap Hole," Nue called. Another of her set cards flipped over. "I will change your monster to facedown Defense Position."

And in facedown Defense Position, Fragile Armor couldn't be used for another Xyz Summon. But that was fine. Fragile Armor flipped facedown, turning into a single card on his field. However—

"I will activate the card that I set with Jagged Chainmail's effect," Yuto called. "Phantom Knights' Raging Blades! With this Trap, Jagged Chainmail gains 500 attack points for each Special Summoned monster on the field, including itself! And even if you flipped Fragile Armor facedown, it's still treated as a Special Summoned monster!" His Xyz Monster glowed ominously.

[The Phantom Knights of Jagged Chainmail: 1000 + 500 x 4 = 3000ATK]

"Jagged Chainmail attacks Atypus!" The knight in chainmail leapt forward, two swords slashing through the air and lighting up the area briefly with bright blue flames. The spider webs dissolved, and Atypus dissolved.

Nue: 3100 - 200 = 2900LP

Yuto pressed a hand to his chest, taking a deep breath. "Your Allomerus's attack points fall back to normal!"

[Traptrix Allomerus: 3200 - 1000 = 2200ATK]

"I will then set one more card in addition to the previous one that I set this turn. I'll end my turn," Yuto declared, emptying out his hand. "Over to you—Nue!"

[Turn 6: Nue] [H:5]

"Draw," Nue called. "Let's get this out of the way. Trap Card—Titanocider." The arrow of light shot out, weakening his monster again.

[The Phantom Knights of Jagged Chainmail: 1000 → 0ATK]

And the Trap fell into her graveyard again, sealing his monster's fate.

"I will then send a set card I control to the graveyard to Special Summon Traptrix Vesiculo from my hand." Her final set card vanished, a black-haired girl with a leaf-like skirt appeared. She floated next to Allomerus, looking rather amused.

[Traptrix Vesiculo (4*/1400/1400/EARTH/Plant/Effect)]

"I will then Normal Summon Traptrix Myrmeleo from my hand." The girl with ashy white-grey hair appeared in front of her again.

[Traptrix Myrmeleo (4*/1600/1200/EARTH/Insect/Effect)]

"I will use Myrmeleo's effect to add a "Hole" Normal Trap from my deck to my hand." She set the card facedown immediately. "I will overlay the Level 4 Myrmeleo and the Level 4 Vesiculo. Beauty made flesh, appear with the fruit of temptation! Xyz Summon! Rank 4! Traptrix Rafflesia!" The girl sitting in the large red flower appeared in front of her.

[Traptrix Rafflesia (R4/300/2500/EARTH/Plant/Xyz/Effect) (OU:2)]

Nue's ace. The monster that basically allowed her to use any of her archetype's Traps from her Deck with a single Overlay Unit. The monster that could protect all of Nue's other "Traptrix" monsters from battle, destruction effects and targeting effects. If there was any card in her deck that could be considered a field killer… well, it was certainly not Rafflesia herself. But in return, she made it impossible for someone to efficiently take care of Nue's field.

Yuto thought back to the first time that he had seen Nue and Kaito duel.

---

"And that's my win again, Kaito."

"You left me with no moves again," Kaito Tenjo said, folding his arms. Nue smirked as the holograms faded from around them.

"It was close though. Neo Galaxy-Eyes nearly got you the win since its effect didn't target." Nue walked towards a nearby tree, before dragging Yuto out from behind it by the arm. "Look who's hiding here."

"Oh, Yuto," Kaito greeted. "You could've just watched in the open."

Yes, but they had already started, and he had felt awkward interrupting.

"You looked curious near the end there, Yuto," Nue said, because of course she had taken notice of him. "Did you have a question?"

"... how come he wasn't able to make a proper move at the end, while your hand was still filled with cards?" Nue's hand had never dropped below four cards, up until the very end of the duel, when Kaito had pretty much forced her to restart from 0. "It didn't feel like he was playing more cards than you, so why did he end up with less options?"

Nue nodded. "I'll see you later, Kaito," she said, waving to her best friend and gesturing for Yuto to follow her. "I get what you're asking, Yuto. Have you had that question for a while?"

"Quite a while, since I started seeing you duel again," Yuto said.

"Well, it's pretty simple." Nue snapped her fingers. "Say that I have Rafflesia and Nepenthes on the field at the same time, with one set card. One card in my hand. You have five cards in your hand. Your field is empty, and it is your Main Phase. Solve."

'Solve.' That made Yuto smile for a moment—it reminded him of when he was first starting out, and Nue would provide him with random scenarios, and he would have to figure out what combination of cards was needed to achieve victory.

"Normal Summon Ancient Cloak, Special Summon Silent Boots," he recited.

"I will activate Treacherous Trap Hole from my deck with Rafflesia's effect and detach an Overlay Unit to use its effect when you summon Silent Boots," Nue responded. "I will destroy both Silent Boots and Ancient Cloak."

"I will Special Summon The Phantom Knights of Fragile Armor from my hand. I will then banish Silent Boots from the graveyard to add a "Phantom Knights" Spell or Trap from my deck to my hand," Yuto called. "I will set The Phantom Knights of Shade Brigandine facedown and activate it to Special Summon it to the field as a Level 4 monster. And I will overlay the Level 4 Fragile Armor and Shade Brigandine to Xyz Summon Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon."

"My set card is Bottomless Trap Hole. I will destroy and banish Dark Rebellion. I will then use Nepenthes's effect to Special Summon Traptrix Atrax from my deck."

Yuto would still be able to play two cards, but in that hypothetical situation, Atrax would let her use Trap Holes from her hand. "Scoop," he said. "What was the way to win there?"

"The way to win?" Nue chuckled. "You missed the point. Alright. So, in this example, I clearly started with five cards in my hand. So did you. At the end, however, you had possession of only two cards, and I had possession of four. In other words, in the most simplistic description, I traded the net card loss of a single card for three of yours. And if we count all the searching that you did, technically, I traded one for five."

"... so the key is…"

"Well, bleed them dry," Nue said wryly, a smile tugging at the edge of her lips. "I make sure that even if someone can counter me, it costs them more than it counters me. I save my counters to make sure that I earn more from them than just destroying a monster. If I know that a monster can lead to far more combos—usually I just get rid of it before everything spirals. Trade one for two, or one to stop a combo at a critical moment. I don't aim for my opponents' throats. I aim to bleed them dry, metaphorically speaking."

"... when you talk like that, it sounds like you're a vampire."

Nue flicked his forehead. "The way to win as someone facing a situation like that? Well, there's two ways. The first is to always play with a backup plan. Be aware that things won't always go your way, so you might need to have a secondary move. Consider all your options and see which ones don't back you into a corner. Don't overextend, because that's exactly what people like me want."

"What's the second method then?"

"Hmm?" Nue smiled at him fondly. "Ah, well—"

---

"You just have to understand me very well, I suppose."

"Traptrix Allomerus will attack your Jagged Chainmail," Nue declared.

"Before you end the Main Phase, I will activate my set card!" Yuto immediately flipped over the set card. "The Quickplay Spell, Phantom Knights' Rank-Up-Magic Force! By banishing as many DARK monsters as I like from my graveyard, I can Rank Up Jagged Chainmail by a number of Ranks equal to the number of DARK monsters that I banished. I will banish Stained Greaves from the graveyard and Rank Up Jagged Chainmail by one Rank. Formed from pitch-black darkness, to fight those foolish enough to oppose it with its treacherous fangs! Now, descend! Rank-Up-Xyz-Change! Rank 4! Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon!" Yuto's ace and faithful partner appeared next to him, the dark dragon letting out a loud roar as lightning flew everywhere.

[Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon (R4/2500/2000/DARK/Dragon/Xyz/Effect) (OU:1)]

Nue chuckled. "There you are, Dark Rebellion," she said fondly—she had always liked his ace monster. Dark Rebellion roared back, though not in an aggressive manner—after all, his ace had also always liked his sister, though Yuto was surprised by that.

Of course though, it didn't mean that Nue would be soft about it.

"Traptrix Rafflesia's effect," Nue called. "I will detach an Overlay Unit from her and send a "Hole" Normal Trap that meets its activation conditions from my deck to the graveyard. Rafflesia's effect becomes that card's effect when activated."

[Traptrix Rafflesia: OU:2 - 1 = OU:1]

Yuno, who had not yet encountered or even heard about that absurd effect, blinked in surprise. Miharu tilted her head, analysing her odds against a deck like that in her head.

Mion folded her arms. "... is her deck more annoying than mine?" She murmured.

"I will activate the effect of the Trap Card, Terrifying Trap Hole Nightmare," Nue continued. "Since you Special Summoned a monster this turn, I can destroy a monster with 2000 or more attack points that you control. I will choose Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon, obviously."

Dark Rebellion roared, sounding indignant.

"Oh, shush," Nue said, rolling her eyes and letting out a huff of fond exasperation. "I like you, but I'm not letting Yuto use you against me, alright? Begone."

Yuto flipped up his set card. "Trap Card, Phantom Knights' Wing. I'll target Dark Rebellion and give it 500 more attack points, and the next time it would be destroyed by battle or card effects this turn, it is not!" Dark Rebellion was surrounded by the blue flames, its wings glowing brightly.

[Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon: 2500 + 500 = 3000ATK]

Dark Rebellion was thus protected from Rafflesia's effect.

"... Terrifying Trap Hole Nightmare has an additional effect," Nue explained.

"But it's a 'A, then B' effect," Yuto completed. "So since Dark Rebellion was not destroyed—your effect does not complete!"

"Exactly. Allomerus pauses her attack." Nue obviously wasn't attacking the Fragile Armor that she had forced into facedown Defense Position with Floodgate Trap Hole, since that would just free a Monster Zone on Yuto's field and give him more resources to work with. She held out two cards from her hand. "I will set two cards facedown. Over to you."

So, effectively three cards facedown.

Dark Rebellion roared in challenge—now unstoppable, because next turn, it would no longer be a monster that was 'summoned that turn'.

Yuto nodded to his dragon.

That's the reason that I summoned you on her turn. I was hoping that you would survive the turn.

And together, we will turn the tides.

[Turn 7: Yuto] [H:1]

"Draw!" He declared. "I'll activate the Spell Card, Phantom Knights' Fang. I will detach an Overlay Unit from Dark Rebellion and double its attack points until the End Phase!" Dark Rebellion roared, electricity flying all around it.

[Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon: 3000 x 2 = 6000ATK; OU:1 - 1 = OU:0]

"Then, I can send a "Phantom Knights" Spell or Trap from my deck to the graveyard!" He slipped a specific card into the graveyard.

Now, he could just attack Allomerus with Dark Rebellion. Nue had 2900 life points, meaning that the attack would defeat her. However…

"Be aware that things won't always go your way."

"When Jagged Chainmail is sent to the graveyard, I can add a "Phantom Knights" card from my graveyard to my hand," he declared. He picked up the card that he had originally sent with Fang. "Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon attacks your Traptrix Allomerus!"

"Rafflesia's effect," Nue declared. "I will detach an Overlay Unit and send Nightmare Trap Hole from my deck to the graveyard. I must destroy two monsters on the field. I will destroy both Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon and Traptrix Allomerus."

[Traptrix Rafflesia: OU:1 - 1 = OU:0]

"And Traptrix Allomerus can't be destroyed by card effects while you control Rafflesia," Yuto said. "But I—" He swallowed slowly. "I expected things to go wrong, Nue."

He placed down a card immediately.

"The Phantom Knights' Rank-Up-Magic Launch. I can Rank Up a Xyz Monster with no Overlay Units by one Rank. I will Rank Up Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon!"

"Ranking Up Dark Rebellion?" Nue frowned. "Blackened Bayonet, perhaps?..."

"No," Yuto said. "You haven't seen this yet, Nue. This is Dark Rebellion's evolution! From the depths of purgatory, dedicate to the unsinking souls your song of rebellion! Appear and let it echo forevermore! Rank-Up Xyz Change! Appear, Rank 5! Dark Requiem Xyz Dragon!" The dark purple, black and cyan dragon appeared, its kaleidoscopic wings sweeping through the sky, light reflecting and yet passing through them to cast bright colours across the ground. It let out a howl, its body gracefully weaving through the air as it flew around them, before settling down in front of him.

[Dark Requiem Xyz Dragon (R5/3000/2500/DARK/Dragon/Xyz/Effect) (OU:1)]

"Since I used Dark Rebellion as Xyz Material, The Phantom Knights' Rank-Up-Magic Launch attaches itself to Dark Requiem as an Overlay Unit!"

[Dark Requiem Xyz Dragon: OU:1 + 1 = OU:2]

"Dark Requiem, huh?" Nue said. "... so you evolved your dragon on your own." She tilted her head. "And you're smart. You wouldn't bring it out for no reason… let's see what that reason is." She notably did not flip over her set cards. Only one of them had been searched out properly. However, she also pulled out Titanocider from the graveyard, setting the card facedown.

Yuto focused on the field.

Think.

"You just have to understand me very well, I suppose."

I just have to understand her. I have to understand the kind of person that Nue Kamisoka is, to know what she would have searched for in that exact moment. If she knew that she could always pull out Nightmare Trap Hole from her deck with Rafflesia's effect…

… I know what she chose. Because whatever card she chose, she would have chosen it to act as a backup plan in case Nightmare Trap Hole couldn't do the job. In other words, a card that would not activate upon a summon.

Nue.

I know you.

And that is how I know that the card you set first will not defeat Dark Requiem.

"Dark Requiem attacks Rafflesia!"

"Trap Card, Trap Hole of Spikes," Nue said, as Yuto had known that she would. "Since a monster that was Normal or Special Summoned this turn declared an attack, I can destroy it and inflict damage to you, equal to half of that monster's original attack points!"

"I will activate the effect of Dark Requiem Xyz Dragon! Since you activated an effect that would destroy a monster, I can detach one of its Overlay Units to negate your effect and revive an Xyz Monster from the graveyard!"

Nue raised an eyebrow.

"Solemn Dark Repression!" Next to Dark Requiem, Dark Rebellion rose up with a loud, defiant roar.

[Dark Requiem Xyz Dragon: OU:2 - 1 = OU:1]

"And then, I'll banish Phantom Knights' Raging Blades from my graveyard! I can grant Dark Requiem an additional attack this turn for every other Xyz Monster on the field! You control Allomerus and Rafflesia, and I control Dark Rebellion! Thus, Dark Requiem can declare four attacks this turn! Now, your card was negated, so Dark Requiem will complete its attack! Disaster Disobey of Rebellion!"

"... you are so strong, Yuto," Nue murmured. "So strong, and you've been growing this entire time. It's a shame that I have to do this, but… I suppose this is pride. I'm unable to accept a loss while there is something else that I can do." The other Trap flipped over. "Trap Card, Needle Ceiling. While there are at least four monsters on the field—I can destroy all face-up monsters on the field!"

… Yuto had already detached Dark Rebellion here. Therefore, he could no longer use Dark Requiem's effects. He had assumed that he could simply win with those monsters—

I guess this time, I backed myself into a corner.

I managed it halfway, but I've still got a ways to go.

Metal needles pierced through all the monsters on the field. Dark Requiem and Dark Rebellion were both shredded by the needles, and Rafflesia fared no better. The set Fragile Armor was also spared. Rafflesia did manage to protect Allomerus though, so it remained on Nue's field for a free shot.

Had he overextended against her?

"I'll end my turn," Yuto muttered.

[Turn 8: Nue] [H:3]

Now, Nue had Allomerus and a set Titanocider on her field. Meanwhile, Yuto's field was empty, except for Fragile Armor.

"Draw," Nue called. "I won't make the mistake of just attacking you directly. We all know what happens when someone does that." She revealed a card in her hand. "I will Normal Summon Traptrix Dionaea." The dark-haired girl reappeared. "And I'll Special Summon Traptrix Rafflesia in Defense Position."

Yuto grimaced.

"I'll then—you guessed it—send Titanocider to the graveyard to Special Summon another copy of Traptrix Vesiculo. And I'll overlay the Level 4 Dionaea and the Level 4 Vesiculo. Graceful flower, set into bloom. Leaves, unfurl and unravel this field. Never lose control of the world. Xyz Summon! Rank 4—Traptrix Pinguicula!" A girl with bleached white hair appeared, pink flowers blooming all around her—in her hair, on her clothes, and so on. Dimly lit green leaves could be seen around her. Glowing butterflies floated all around her.

[Traptrix Pinguicula (R4/2500/300/EARTH/Plant/Xyz/Effect) (OU:2)]

This was the third of Nue's main Xyz Monsters.

"I will detach an Overlay Unit from Pinguicula to add a "Traptrix" monster from my deck to my hand," Nue called.

[Traptrix Pinguicula: OU:2 - 1 = OU:1]

"You sent two "Phantom Knights" cards from your deck to the graveyard with Tortured Chains' effect at the start of this duel," Nue said. "And I'm guessing that your cautiousness means what I think it means. You sent two monsters that could defend you from direct attacks. You have 3900 life points." She tilted her head. "Yes. Let's do this then."

She placed down a green-bordered card.

"Rank-Up-Magic Tantalizing Force. I will Rank Up a Plant or Insect Xyz Monster I control into a Plant or Insect Xyz Monster that is one Rank higher!"

"Your Rank Up…"

"I will Rank Up Rafflesia by one Rank," she said, shocking Yuto—she had sacrificed the defences that Rafflesia provided? "Tricksters, let your mind bloom with the brightness of the deceiving flower, and evolve into the hungry devil that longs for chaos! Rank-Up-Xyz-Change! Rank 5! Traptrix Cephalotus!" The girl with dark green hair appeared, waving two graceful green fans in her hands. She was wearing a yellow tunic and a long green grassy skirt.

[Traptrix Cephalotus (R5/2800/0/EARTH/Plant/Xyz/Effect) (OU:1)]

"Tantalizing Force attaches itself to Cephalotus as an Overlay Unit, similar to your Rank Up, Yuto."

[Traptrix Cephalotus: OU:1 + 1 = OU:2]

"Then, when Xyz Summoned, Cephalotus lets me send cards from the top of my deck to the graveyard, equal to the number of materials that she has." Two cards fell from the top of her deck into the graveyard. "Then, I can revive a "Traptrix" monster. Return—Traptrix Myrmeleo!" The grey-haired girl with long brown horns appeared. "Attack his set monster, Allomerus." The redhead dashed forward, destroying Fragile Armor. "And quite frankly, Yuto—I'll take the bait. Attack directly, Myrmeleo."

"I will activate the effects of both copies of The Phantom Knights of Shadow Veil in my graveyard. Since you declared a direct attack, I can Special Summon both of them to the field in Defense Position, but they are banished when they leave the field!"

[The Phantom Knights of Shadow Veil (4*/0/300/DARK/Warrior)]

"I know," Nue said. "Myrmeleo redirects her attack." The first copy of Shadow Veil was destroyed. "Pinguicula." The second attack destroyed the second copy. "And attack directly, Traptrix Cephalotus."

The green fans shot through the air with a sharp sound. Yuto's life points plummeted.

Yuto: 3900 - 2800 = 1100LP

Yuto breathed out slowly. Alright, on the next turn, he could—

"... you're not surviving this turn, so don't look so relieved," Nue said.

Huh?

"I'll banish Traptrix Holeutea from my graveyard to revive a "Traptrix" monster from my graveyard," Nue explained. A portal appeared in front of her, and Mantis reappeared on her field.

There was a moment when she just looked at him and looked so… sad.

"I've run out of moves, Nue," Yuto said, trying to reassure her. "You win."

"... I wish…" Nue gestured forward. "Attack directly, Traptrix Mantis." And with a single strike, Mantis slashed straight at Yuto.

His life points trickled down to zero. At the last moment, Nue looked away, clearly guilty about it.

Why?

Yuto didn't blame her for winning, after all.

Yuto: 1100 - 1500 = 0LP

Winner: Nue Kamisoka!

They came to a stop.

"... what was the way to win there?" Yuto asked. Because he was always, always, looking to grow. Because no matter what, he could never have brought himself to lose on purpose against someone that he had always wanted to defeat.

(Back in that park, he had attempted to throw the match against Yuya Sakaki. But that was simply because Yuya was not the enemy that he wanted to defeat back there. If it had still been Sora Shiun'in, Yuto would have fought tooth and nail to win.)

(He might have been kind, but that didn't mean that his desire to win was any less than that of others.)

"... to be honest?" Nue got off the D-Wheel. Her face was… unreadable. "I don't know."

And that was a shock. Because Nue always knew.

"You've exceeded my expectations, Yuto," she continued. "That last turn you took… I did have precautions in place, but I never saw most of your moves coming. My predictions were all off—it just so happened that all my cards still worked in that situation."

She swept him into a tight, swift hug.

"You've become someone who duels so differently from me that I can't read you completely," she said. "And I'm very proud of you, little brother. Never forget that."

And perhaps she might have said more to him, or he might have gotten to say something, if that moment had lasted longer. But seemingly learning from the duel before theirs, the guards were already there to take him away. Yuto felt Nue tense up, and to stop her from punching someone, he pulled himself out of her arms.

"No matter what, Nue, we'll see each other after this is over," Yuto declared.

After a moment, Nue nodded.

There was something else that he should be saying, wasn't there?...

"Love you," he said.

"Love you too," she replied immediately.

---

As Yuto was taken away, Nue turned around, her smile fading from her face, turning back to that unreadable expression from before. Her fists were clenched tightly—Yuto hadn't seen that, though.

She strode back towards the garage. The woman in the helicopter above was talking about some bullshit about the first round of the Friendship Cup being over, and while Nue hadn't cared enough to acknowledge it initially—

"Wasn't that a great match to finish things off? Far less violent than the one before that, anyway! Really, was it so necessary to go to such an extent?"

The flippant tone to the woman's voice set Nue on edge. Was it necessary…?

"Regardless! Remember—the City is one! We're all friends!"

And the entire stadium burst into noise. Commons shouting at Tops, talking about their own suffering. Tops sneering and looking down on them.

Nue listened, and in a moment of incandescent, cold fury, she reached out for the microphone on the D-Wheel and ripped it off, holding it to her lips. "How dare you look down on his reasons for lashing out," she whispered, but the microphone amplified it across the entire stadium. Even the guards holding onto Yuto stopped in their path, and her brother turned back to look at her. "You preach for unity when it is your people's fault that this city of yours is so divided. You complain about the minor inconveniences in your life while you force others to slave away in passivity. You look down on those who struggle for their lives. You all, you Tops—you create an impossible situation of suffering everyday through your apathy, and you have the gall to have that look in your eyes when you look at those who suffer because of you? Don't you dare look down on those with the resolve to fight despite the fact that they have had everything that they ever cared for torn from them! Don't you ever dare compare me or Shun or my brother to all of you and your carelessness! Your antipathy towards cooperation! Your greed! Your envy! Every part of your city disgusts me from the ground up! Every part of it is built on suffering and hatred and every part of it was cemented with your own hands!"

She flung the microphone on the ground, crushing it with a single stomp, before she finally strode out of their sight.

From above, Crow whistled. "Impressive," he murmured, even though his heart was stinging as well.

"It's not for nothing that she's Yuto's sister, I suppose," Shinji said, thinking about the conversations that he'd had with the black and purple-haired boy.

Sherry tilted her head. "She's an angry one, isn't she?"

"Mic drop moment," Yuno quipped half-heartedly, turning away from the screen. "Today's over, right?" He walked out of the door, heading towards Miharu's room.

When he opened the door, Miharu was still looking at the screen.

"Hey," Yuno greeted. "What are you thinking?"

Miharu cast one final look at the screen, and then she stood up. "… I agree," she murmured.

---

Fuck. I went on a bit of a rant there.

… was it deserved?

Well, I know that I don't care about that part. What I care about…

Everyone might think that I hesitated. And I did, but not for the reasons that they think.

I never once intended to lose to Yuto. I hesitated because I had consciously recognised that fact.

To be so ruthless that striking down my brother is nothing to me…

I hate who I have become.

And I was so angry at myself that when I had the chance to let it out, I let it out at those who could act as a scapegoat for my rage.

"Hey. You're Kamisoka-san, correct?"

Nue glanced towards the left side of the corridor that she was hiding in. (Hiding, not sulking, naturally. She had never sulked a day in her life, no matter what Yuto or Shun or Kaito might say.)

Sherry LeBlanc waved to her. "Can I come over?"

"It's not like this corridor is private property," Nue snarked.

"Well, it's basic courtesy." Sherry walked over and leaned on the wall next to her. "I'm Sherry LeBlanc."

"I saw you duel," Nue said. After a moment, she returned the formality. "Yes. I'm Nue Kamisoka."

"What you said intrigued me," Sherry said after a moment. "And your brother, and Kurosaki…" She shrugged. "You have been through a lot, haven't you?"

Nue stayed silent.

"I always think that this city can't always have been this way," Sherry confided in her. "That a long time ago, before anyone here today can remember, this place was a far more fair city. Because it couldn't have been possible for them to build this—" She gestured to the tall buildings outside, though she was clearly referring to the whole city. "Out of just cruelty."

"… they're just monuments to slavery," Nue muttered. "I don't know what you see beyond that."

Sherry shrugged. "You don't?"

"… I'm a pretty pessimistic person," Nue admitted. "But it's idealistic and patronising to try and find meaning in any of the cruelty that others endure."

"I suppose that's true in its own way." Sherry tilted her head back, staring at the ceiling. "At the same time, don't most rebellions start because people insist on finding symbols in the real world to rally behind? Because people refuse to give up?"

"Sure. What's the point you're getting to?"

"… you're surprisingly brash. Well, seeing what Roget and the Council have done so far with the matchups, I doubt that I will get the chance to face you," Sherry said. "So I thought I would get it out before the next round started. You are not wrong for defeating your brother, you know."

Nue frowned.

"I know you might feel guilty about sending him to the Underground, but—"

And well, Sherry had most likely been about to launch into a long monologue, but Nue had never been good at listening.

"The what?" She asked.

Sherry looked at her, and then her eyes widened. "Has no one told your group what the penalty for losing in the Friendship Cup is?"

---

"—and that's what Dennis was sent here for," Sora concluded.

Yuya leaned back in his seat. "But why did he have Smile World?" He asked. Sora shrugged, having no answer.

Serena clenched a fist from nearby. "What made you decide to help us then?" She asked. "Are you also a spy?"

"If I was, I wouldn't have outed Dennis," Sora protested. "From what I've heard, none of you had any suspicion about him!" It was a good point, and Serena reluctantly backed down, despite how betrayed she felt. "And what made me decide to help you all…"

He took a deep breath.

"I think I've been doing the wrong things all this time? I think that I misunderstood everything."

And Serena recognised her own voice in his—the sound of someone whose worldview had been shattered.

"I don't want to live in a utopia after betraying my friends," Sora finally admitted. "I don't want to betray my friends at all, the first friends that I made… even if you hate me now, I want to protect you."

"Sora…" Yuya looked rather touched. "But the last time that we talked, you were still loyal to Academia, right? What changed your mind?"

"… dueling you in Standard was horrible, Yuya," Sora said. He clenched his fists. "I didn't want to. It was the first time that I hated being on a mission. And when I heard that Yuzu was missing, when I thought that I had caused Yuzu to be carded, I felt like I was dying."

Yuzu reached out with a hand for a moment, her eyes stinging as she was about to pat Sora's shoulder—but Sora dodged from the gentle touch. Partially out of guilt, partially out of self-hatred.

"So I couldn't bring myself to do anything," Sora admitted. "I was so confused. The Professor was my hero for most of my childhood. I believed so much in his ideals." Serena glanced away from him, because the situation felt too eerily familiar. "I couldn't accept that I was beginning to disagree with him. It… took me a while."

"Why exactly are people in your dimension such fanatics?" Yuno asked. Most of the remaining Lancers were in the room—Shun was hanging in the background, while Yuya, Yuzu, Miharu, Yuno and Serena were sitting at the dining table with Sora. Reira was standing next to Mion nearby. The only absent one was Nue.

"Oi," Sora complained mildly. "It's just… well, the Professor saved us." He hesitated. "Serena, can you…"

"You think I know?" Serena shrugged. "I don't know a lot about our world, really, except what we were taught in classes. I was from an orphanage in Domino City. One day, the Professor showed up and adopted me."

"... if you lived in Domino City, you must have been from a well-off family when you were born," Sora said.

"Probably," Serena agreed. "Uh, Domino City was filled with many rich people who sponsored war machines and profited off the war that was taking place in the Outer Islands. Essentially, Domino City never fought in the war. They just sold weapons to both sides. And they were real weapons too—tanks and bombs and guns, from what I heard. You would know better than me, Shiun'in."

"... I do," Sora said. He took a deep breath, and then he explained the situation with the Outer Islands and Academia. Treating it as something that had never happened to him made it easier—talking about it like it was something generic, as though he had never suffered through it.

"So he's a saviour to the Fusion Dimension," Yuno murmured.

"Bullshit," Shun snorted.

"He was," Sora said, folding his arms. "To us, he was the one that stopped the war that killed all of our families."

And—what could Serena even say to that? She had never known a family. She had never suffered a loss like that—only a loss of ideals.

"But I think he was wrong," Sora continued. "So, if you'll have me—and I don't care if you never forgive me—let me fight to make up for what I've done."

"Even if you have to fight your friends?" Yuzu asked, sounding concerned.

"What friends?" Sora shook his head. "I was too strong and yet not serious enough, so I never made any friends back in Academia. You two and that loudmouth Gongenzaka—you were the only friends I ever made. I'd card the whole of Academia before I betray you again. And that's what… my heart decided anyway, no matter how much more it might have made sense to stay with Academia."

"... I forgive you," Yuya said after a moment.

"... but you're not the only one that I wronged here," Sora said.

"Huh? Me?" Yuzu raised a hand. "Uh, I—"

Sora wasn't looking at her though. He was looking at—

Yuno blinked. "Us?" He asked. "Miharu and I?"

"I was the one who spied on the two of you, along with Shino," Sora confessed. "I was the one who told Academia where you were."

"And?" Miharu said bluntly. "Why would we blame you?"

And that hit Sora like a truck.

Miharu glanced away. Her eyes were… calm. "You might think that you ruined our lives," she said. "But you're just a cog in a machine. You're not that important. Your actions changed nothing."

Silence filled the room.

Yuno quietly whistled.

"Ice cold," Mion muttered.

But Sora blinked. His heart felt slightly warm.

It might have sounded cold, but it was a very clear indication that Miharu had not forgiven him. Instead, she thought that there was nothing to forgive at all.

And Sora disagreed, but it still made him feel better.

Mion walked over, Reira trailing behind her. She held out a hand.

"Welcome to the Lancers, Sora Shiun'in," she said wryly. "It seems that we had a recent vacancy. I suppose you'll do."

Sora abruptly felt like he might cry. He held himself together though—he was not a crybaby—and took her hand, shaking it. "Happy to be here!" He chirped.

---

"Hey."

Sora turned around.

"Tell me," Serena said bluntly. "What about Dennis? What was Dennis like?"

"I didn't know him that well," Sora replied. The two of them were walking side by side in the corridor—the only ones from Fusion left here. "He was apparently from the Outer Islands like me, though he was from a different territory from mine. I heard that he was an orphan too—from a wandering circus group that got bombed while in a supposedly neutral territory. He had nowhere to go, so he was sent to Academia as a charity case."

Serena glanced away, clearly uncomfortable. "Were all the students of Academia like that?"

"A vast majority. Not those from Domino City, like the Kaiser, but most of us from the Outer Islands were."

"... I didn't know about any of that stuff."

"If you're from Domino," Sora said, "that's not surprising."

"But I want to understand," Serena replied determinedly. "To know what suffering I've been blind to."

"... I'll tell you after the Cup," Sora said. "If you'd like."

It was a tentative offer of friendship. Serena nodded.

---

There was a sharp flash of light.

"Man, it's rough-looking around the edges here," Yuri said, glancing around. "So you've already been here, right?"

Yuji nodded. He glanced around. "There are cameras," he said quietly. "Be careful."

"Because we don't want Roget to know that we're here, right?" Yuri said with a smirk. "Sure. Let's scope out the situation that's going on, then. I want to know what our enemies are doing."

---

In the Fusion Dimension:

"So these are Pendulum Monsters." The Professor looked at the cards. "Thank you, Dennis. You will be participating in the invasion of the Synchro Dimension as well. You are dismissed."

Dennis left the room, and the Professor turned to the scientist in the room. She was a woman in her early twenties, and she had been working in the research division for a long time now. Alongside the Doktor, she was one of the strongest and most talented members of the science and development division. She had long white hair, tied in long braids around her body, and she was wearing a white lab coat with a light brown shirt and an aqua blue skirt. Bright blue eyes examined the card that he passed to her, seeming to be quickly making some observations.

"Do you think that you can produce more of these?"

"I'd have to conduct an interview with Dennis to learn about any unique properties that these monsters have," the woman said. "But it's doable. I don't need to enlist Ishii-san, do I?" There was some distaste to her voice, as most people usually had when they referred to the Doktor. Maruta Ishii was well-known for how… eccentric he was, and how questionable his projects were.

"No, I don't think so. This is more your expertise than his anyway."

The woman nodded.

"I'll leave it in your capable hands then, Tsutsuji-san."

Kisara Tsutsuji looked at the card, before she nodded. "I won't have them ready-made by the time of the invasion," she said sternly. "So do not expect that from me."

"If you had a prototype done, then it could be tested out during the invasion," the Professor said. "It doesn't have to be perfect, or even strong—Synchro isn't quite strong enough to repel us, regardless."

Kisara shrugged. "I'll try," she said. "I'll get going now."

The Professor—

Leo Akaba sighed, slouching back slightly as she left. Now, he was all alone in the room.

I may have lucked out by having two talented scientists join under my banner, but my luck certainly ran out when they met each other and started hating each other. It makes delegating tasks far more complicated, as if teenagers weren't already enough to wrangle.

… at least, I've had to keep her far away from Yuri too. She doesn't seem keen to address it, and she doesn't seem to want to have anything to do with him. So as long as he never finds out…

He rubbed his forehead.

I can't wait for all of this to be over.

---

Duel 1 Summary: Nue Kamisoka vs Yuto Kamisoka

Duel Format: Normal Duel

Turn 1: Yuto Kamisoka

Yuto Normal Summons The Phantom Knights of Ragged Gloves. (3*/1000/500) He Special Summons The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots (3*/200/1200) from his hand. He overlays the Level 3 The Phantom Knights of Ragged Gloves and the Level 3 The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots to Xyz Summon The Phantom Knights of Tortured Chains. (R3/1700/1000/OU:2) With Tortured Chains' effect, he adds a "Phantom Knights" Spell/Trap from his Deck to his hand. Ragged Gloves gives Tortured Chains 1000 ATK. (TPKOTC: 1700 + 1000 = 2700ATK) He sets 2 cards and ends his turn.

Turn 2: Nue Kamisoka

Nue draws. Nue activates the Spell Card, Traptantalizing Tune, discarding Traptrix Myrmeleo (4*/1600/1200) to draw 2 cards. She Normal Summons Traptrix Dionaea (4*/1700/1100) and uses its effect to revive Traptrix Myrmeleo from the GY. She uses Myrmeleo's effect to destroy Yuto's left set card. Yuto uses Tortured Chains' effect to detach an Overlay Unit and send a "Phantom Knights" card from the Deck to the GY. (TPKOTC: OU:2 - 1 = OU:1) Nue uses Dionaea to Link Summon Traptrix Sera (L1/800/↓) from her Extra Deck. She Special Summons Traptrix Arachnocampa (4*/1300/1500) from her hand since she controls a "Traptrix" monster. Sera sets a "Hole" Normal Trap from the Deck. She overlays Arachnocampa and Myrmeleo to Xyz Summon Traptrix Allomerus. (R4/2200/600/OU:2) She detaches both Overlay Units from Allomerus to revive Traptrix Myrmeleo. (TA: OU:2 - 2 = OU:0) She activates Myrmeleo's effect. Yuto activates The Phantom Knights of Lost Vambrace and Special Summons it as a monster (2*/600/0) in Defense Position, while lowering Allomerus's ATK by 600 and stopping "Phantom Knights" monsters from being destroyed by battle this turn. (TA: 2200 - 600 = 1600ATK) Nue uses Allomerus and Myrmeleo to Link Summon Traptrix Cularia. (L2/1800/↓, →) She sets a card and ends her turn. During the End Phase, Cularia revives Traptrix Allomerus in Defense Position.

Turn 3: Yuto Kamisoka

Yuto draws. He banishes The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots from the GY to add a "Phantom Knights" Spell/Trap from his Deck to his hand. He Normal Summons The Phantom Knights of Ancient Cloak. (3*/800/1000) from his hand. He Special Summons another copy of Silent Boots from his hand, using the Level 3 Ancient Cloak and Silent Boots to Xyz Summon The Phantom Knights of Break Sword. (R3/2000/1000/OU:2) Nue activates the Trap Card, Bottomless Trap Hole, to destroy and banish Break Sword. Cularia lets her Set Bottomless Trap Hole back to her field, while Sera allows her to Special Summon Traptrix Nepenthes (4*/800/2000) from her Deck in Defense Position and set another "Hole" Normal Trap from her Deck to her field.

Yuto activates Break Sword and Tortured Chains' effects. Tortured Chains lets him detach an Overlay Unit and send another "Phantom Knights" card from his Deck to the GY. Break Sword revives Ancient Cloak and Silent Boots and increases their Levels by 1. He uses Ancient Cloak, Lost Vambrace and Silent Boots to Link Summon The Phantom Knights of Rusty Bardiche (L3/2100/↙, ↘, →) Yuto activates Rusty Bardiche's effect, but Nue activates the Trap Card, Titanocider, negating Rusty Bardiche's effect and changing its ATK to 0. (TPKORB: 2100 → 0ATK) Yuto banishes Ancient Cloak from the GY to add a "Phantom Knights" card from his Deck to his hand. He has Tortured Chains attack Traptrix Cularia. [NK: 4000 - 900 = 3100LP] He sets 2 cards facedown.

Turn 4: Nue Kamisoka

Nue draws. She Normal Summons Traptrix Mantis. (4*/1500/1300) She adds a "Traptrix" monster from his Deck to his hand. Nue uses Sera's effect to set another "Hole" Normal Trap from her Deck to her field. She changes Allomerus to Attack Position. She uses Sera, Nepenthes and Mantis to Link Summon Traptrix Atypus. (L3/1800/←, ↓, →) Atypus grants all her "Traptrix" monsters 1000 ATK since there is a "Hole" Normal Trap in the GY. (TA: 1800 + 1000 = 2800ATK) (TA: 2200 + 1000 = 3200ATK) Atypus attacks Tortured Chains. [YK: 4000 - 100 = 3900LP] Allomerus attacks Rusty Bardiche. Yuto activates The Phantom Knights of Wrong Magnetring. (2*/0/0) He negates the attack. Nue ends her turn.

Turn 5: Yuto Kamisoka

Yuto draws. He sends Wrong Magnetring and Rusty Bardiche from the field to the GY to draw 2 cards. He sets 1 card facedown, and he activates the Trap Card, The Phantom Knights of Tomb Shield, Special Summoning it as a monster. (3*/0/0) He Special Summons The Phantom Knights of Stained Greaves (3*/1200/600) from his hand. He overlays Stained Greaves and Tomb Shield to Xyz Summon The Phantom Knights of Jagged Chainmail. (R3/1000/2000/OU:2) Nue sets Titanocider back to her field with its own effect. He detaches an Overlay Unit from Jagged Chainmail to set a "Phantom Knights" Spell/Trap from his Deck to his field, and it can be activated this turn. He banishes Stained Greaves from the GY to Special Summon The Phantom Knights of Cloven Helm (4*/1500/500) from the hand. Nue activates Bottomless Trap Hole, destroying and banishing Cloven Helm. Yuto Special Summons The Phantom Knights of Fragile Armor (4*/1000/2000) from his hand since a "Phantom Knights" monster he controlled was destroyed. Nue activates Floodgate Trap Hole, changing Fragile Armor to facedown Defense Position and locking it in that position. Yuto activates the Trap Card, Phantom Knights' Raging Blades, increasing Jagged Chainmail's ATK by 500 for each Special Summoned monster on the field. (TPKOJC: 1000 + 500 x 4 = 3000ATK) Jagged Chainmail attacks Atypus. [NK: 3100 - 200 = 2900ATK] Yuto sets 1 card and ends his turn.

Turn 6: Nue Kamisoka

Nue draws. She activates Titanocider, targeting Jagged Chainmail. (TPKOJC: 1000 → 0ATK) Nue sends a set card from her field to the GY to Special Summon Traptrix Vesiculo (4*/1400/1400) from her hand. She Normal Summons Traptrix Myrmeleo. She uses its effect to add a "Hole" Normal Trap from his Deck to his hand. She uses Vesiculo and Myrmeleo to Xyz Summon Traptrix Rafflesia. (R4/300/2500/OU:2) During the end of the Main Phase, Yuto activates the Quickplay Spell, Phantom Knights' Rank-Up-Magic Force, banishing Stained Greaves from the GY to Rank Up Jagged Chainmail by one Rank. He Ranks Up Jagged Chainmail into Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon. (R4/2500/2000/OU:1) Nue uses Rafflesia's effect to detach an Overlay Unit and activate Terrifying Trap Hole Nightmare from her Deck, targeting Dark Rebellion to destroy it. (DRXD: OU:2 - 1 = OU:1) Yuto activates the Trap Card, Phantom Knights' Wing, giving it 500 more ATK, and the next time it would be destroyed by battle or card effects, it is not destroyed. (DRXD: 2500 + 500 = 3000ATK) Nue sets 2 cards facedown.

Turn 7: Yuto Kamisoka

Yuto draws. He uses Phantom Knights' Fang to detach 1 Overlay Unit from Dark Rebellion and double its ATK, while also sending The Phantom Knights' Rank-Up-Magic Launch from the Deck to the GY. (DRXD: OU:1 - 1 = OU:0) Yuto uses Jagged Chainmail's effect to add a "Phantom Knights" card from his GY to his hand. Dark Rebellion attacks Allomerus. Nue detaches an Overlay Unit and sends Nightmare Trap Hole from his Deck to the GY to destroy both Dark Rebellion and Allomerus. Yuto activates the Spell Card, The Phantom Knights' Rank-Up-Magic Launch, Ranking Up Dark Rebellion by one Rank into Dark Requiem Xyz Dragon. (R5/3000/2000/OU:1) Launch attaches itself to Dark Requiem as an Overlay Unit. (DRXD: OU:1 + 1 = OU:2) Nue sets Titanocider from her GY to her field. Nue activates the Trap Card, Trap Hole of Spikes to destroy Dark Requiem. Yuto activates Dark Requiem's effect to negate the effect and revive Dark Rebellion. He banishes Phantom Knights' Raging Blades from the GY to give Dark Requiem three more attacks this turn. Nue activates the Trap Card, Needle Ceiling, destroying all face-up monsters on the field. Rafflesia protects Allomerus. Thus, Allomerus and the facedown Fragile Armor are left on the field. Yuto ends his turn.

Thank you to DSpaceZ for pointing out a problem with how I used Dark Rebellion's effect, which has been rectified.

Turn 8: Nue Kamisoka

Nue draws. Nue Normal Summons Traptrix Dionaea, reviving Traptrix Rafflesia. She sends Titanocider from her field to the GY to Special Summon Traptrix Vesiculo from her hand. She overlays the Level 4 Dionaea and Vesiculo to Xyz Summon Traptrix Pinguicula. (R4/2500/300/OU:2) She activates the effect of Pinguicula to detach an Overlay Unit and add a "Traptrix" monster from her Deck to her hand. She activates the Spell Card, Rank-Up-Magic Tantalizing Force, Ranking Up Rafflesia into Traptrix Cephalotus. (R5/2800/0/OU:1) Tantalizing Force attaches itself to Cephalotus as an Overlay Unit. (TC: OU:1 + 1 = OU:2) Cephalotus sends 2 cards from the top of Nue's Deck to the GY and revives Myrmeleo. Allomerus destroys Fragile Armor. Myrmeleo attacks directly. Yuto Special Summons two copies of The Phantom Knights of Shadow Veil as monsters (4*/0/300) from the GY in Defense Position. Myrmeleo and Pinguicula destroy both. Cephalotus attacks directly. [YK: 3900 - 2800 =1100LP] Nue banishes Holeutea from the GY to revive Traptrix Mantis. Mantis attacks directly. [YK: 1100 - 1500 = 0LP] Nue wins.

---

OC Cards:

The Phantom Knights of Tortured Chains

(R3/1700/1000/DARK/Warrior/Xyz/Effect)

2 Level 3 DARK monsters

If this card is Xyz Summoned: You can add 1 "Phantom Knights" Spell/Trap from your Deck to your hand. If a card you control is destroyed: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card; send 1 "Phantom Knights" card from your Deck to the GY. You can only activate each effect of "The Phantom Knights of Tortured Chains" once per turn.

The Phantom Knights of Jagged Chainmail

(R3/1000/2000/DARK/Warrior/Xyz/Effect)

2 Level 3 monsters

This card cannot be destroyed by card effects. Once per turn: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card; Set 1 "Phantom Knights" Spell/Trap from your Deck to your field, and if it is a Trap or a Quickplay Spell, it can be activated this turn. If this card is sent to the GY: You can add 1 "Phantom Knights" card from your GY to your hand. You can only activate this effect of "The Phantom Knights of Jagged Chainmail" once per turn.

Phantom Knights' Raging Blades

(Trap)

You can target 1 DARK monster on the field: It gains 500ATK for each Special Summoned monster on the field. You can banish this card from the GY; target 1 DARK Xyz Monster you control with no Xyz Material, and it gains 1 additional attack during each Battle Phase this turn for each other Xyz Monster on the field. You can only activate each effect of "Phantom Knights' Raging Blades" once per turn.

Nightmare Trap Hole

(Trap)

If you control only "Traptrix" monsters (min. 1) and have at least 1 "Hole" Normal Trap in your GY: Discard 1 card; destroy 2 monsters on the field. You can only activate 1 "Nightmare Trap Hole" per turn.

Phantom Knights' Fang

(Spell)

You can detach 1 Xyz Material from 1 DARK Xyz Monster you control: Double that monster's ATK until the End Phase, then, if that monster was a "Xyz Dragon", "The Phantom Knights" or "Xyz Dragon" monster, you can send 1 "Phantom Knights" Spell/Trap from your Deck to the GY. You can only activate 1 "Phantom Knights' Fang" per turn.

Rank-Up-Magic Tantalizing Force

(Spell)

Target 1 Plant or Insect Xyz Monster you control; Special Summon from your Extra Deck, 1 Plant or Insect Xyz Monster that is 1 Rank higher than that monster you control, by using it as the Xyz Material, and if you do, attach this card to it as Xyz Material. (This Special Summon is treated as an Xyz Summon. Xyz Materials attached to it also become Xyz Materials on the Summoned monster.) If you control a "Traptrix" Xyz Monster: You can banish this card and 2 Normal Traps from your GY; draw 2 cards. You can only activate this effect of "Rank-Up-Magic Tantalizing Force" once per turn.

Traptrix Cephalotus

(R5/2800/0/EARTH/Plant/Xyz/Effect)

2 Level 5 monsters

If this card is Xyz Summoned: You can send cards from the top of your Deck to the GY, up to the number of Xyz Materials this card has, and if you do, Special Summon 1 "Traptrix" monster from your GY. All "Traptrix" monsters you control cannot be targeted by card effects. (Quick Effect) You can detach 2 Xyz Materials from this card; banish 1 "Hole" Normal Trap from your GY which meets its activation conditions, and if you do, this effect becomes that Trap Card's effect when that card is activated. You can only Xyz Summon "Traptrix Cephalotus" once per turn.

---

Different Card Effects from TCG:

The Phantom Knights' Rank-Up-Magic Launch - Anime effect, but Quickplay Spell like its TCG counterpart.

Dark Requiem Xyz Dragon - *clears throat* So, I said that it was the anime effect in Chapter 31. But that is complicated by the fact that, uh, anime Dark Requiem doesn't negate the effect, and as a Phantom Knights player, I wrote it as the TCG effect accidentally. As such, to avoid having to rewrite 31—the ATK-draining effect is the same as the anime effect, but the second effect is its TCG effect. Sorry for the confusion.

---

End Notes:

Edit: An originally accidentally cut scene from this chapter has been uploaded as Chapter 6 of the Additional Shorts fic! (Because the tone doesn't match, ahem.)

*gestures to Nue, turns to Shino and Kaname* Now this is how you care for someone without being dysfunctional! Take notes! *clears throat*

May I share my largest difficulty with this chapter? It's not the duel itself. It's the fact that Yuto autocorrects to Youtube on my phone. That's it. Do you know how hard it is to write dramatic lines when you're laughing your ass off because your phone keeps autocorrecting to "Youtube said"?

… oh, and I also had to rewrite my whole outline, but that was much less important. The chapter name is a double reference, but I'll elaborate on that another time. I really wish I had a place to just dump all my trivia, lmao.

But yes, I did enjoy writing this duel. Yuto only being able to navigate around Nue's Traps because he knows her so well made this duel pretty easy to inherently tie into Yuto's growth—he's grown stronger, yes, but he's still got room to grow. For those who might wonder why I didn't use all of the new cards here, it's because Yuto's current deck could not handle having to fight five Trap Holes per turn. Give it time. Especially Pudica. Arachnocampa and Pinguicula are fine, but Pudica is kinda stupidly broken in Arc V format, where most monsters only have destruction protection. And Traptrip Garden is horrifying for battle-based decks to face. Yuto is actually wrong when he says that Tomb Shield dodges all of the Trap Holes—the newest one, Wipeout, would have wrecked it, but it hasn't been translated yet, so I didn't use it. It'll probably show up another time. But yeah, overall, I do want to make it sure that Yuto tried his best, but he still lost anyway.

Also, I didn't intend for it to be so, but this duel ended up being ruling city. The number of times I had to have characters bring up rulings within universe because it would feel weird if I didn't mention them was ridiculous.

The Doktor's name in this story is Maruta Ishii, with two naming inspirations. Firstly, Shiro Ishii, leader of the Japanese Unit 731, one of the main contributors to the biological warfare/war crimes/chemical warfare research of Japan during World War II, or more specifically, the Sino-Japanese war. Similarly, the Doktor is the leader of the inhuman experiments in Academia. Maruta is the Japanese word for 'logs', specifically tree logs. Back when Unit 731 conducted its experiments, they referred to the people used as subjects as logs, since they were covering up the experiments by claiming that it was a lumber mill. They treated their terrible experiments on these people as a joke, which is, while horrific, similar to the attitude of the Doktor in Arc V. Don't worry, he'll still mainly be referred to as the Doktor, but I did think that I should give him a name.

And boom, Kisara's here! Yes, she is DM's Kisara. I'm not elaborating on her existence too much yet, since that will be revealed later, but very early on, I decided that I wanted to have a 'good' counterpart to the Doktor, and while I could've used that one minor character from GX, I thought that it would be far more interesting to use Kisara in that role, since I wasn't having her exist in the Ritual Dimension anyway, and I needed just a few more proper antagonists. :) I will clarify that in this universe, Kisara is just a completely normal human being, not the spirit of the Blue-Eyes or anything like that. If I get a review from someone talking about how they can't wait for Kisara to become a dragon and attack someone, I may get mildly triggered. Anyway, her last name, Tsutsuji, just means the plant azalea, which symbolises patience and modesty.

Alright, to the review responses! I've decided to discontinue the fun facts because I realised just how many spoilers I might accidentally give out, haha.

To redeyes, I don't have any co-writers, I write the whole fic myself! I have a little too much anxiety to ever entrust my story to someone else to write, haha. When I mention my friends helping, it's mainly for proofreading before I post chapters.

To phantomdragons, glad you enjoyed the descriptions in the duel! Yeah, when I was trying to figure out the vibe to give for that duel, I wanted it to be… well, piercing would be the closest to what I was going for. I wanted it to be very different from what anyone would assume it should be. You got the result of this chapter's duel right, so congrats!

To name (funny reviewer name), yeah, I intended to make it sting a little, because Dennis is one of the most complex villains that has ever existed in a YGO series. I actually felt like the original Dennis vs Kurosaki oversimplified both of their characters, which is why I knew from the start that I wanted to rewrite it.

To Liko99, I've heard of it, but no, I haven't read it yet. I probably will at some point.

To Playmaker, I actually disagree that the writers intended for her to win against Sergey. The mistake wasn't her loss against Sergey. It was the fact that the Arc-V writers refused to give her any room to grow from her losses at all. It's the same problem with Yuri. If she had lost but gotten up again and defeated Sergey near the end while Yuya faced Roget, it would have been far more interesting.

To Racer the Sniper, Rush Duels are interesting, but the ruleset is less interesting to me than normal duels.

To Goku the Monkey, funnily enough, all three legacy characters that you requested to show up are already in the story.

To cardfan135, thanks for the review! Yeah, Ultimate Falcon being the one to win was very intentional. I think it's less that we watch different anime, and more that I don't watch as much anime as most. I read books. :D

To kikuruhime, that's a very unique opinion! Glad you enjoyed.

To the Guest asking about whether or not I would ever write a Dark Dimension like bladewriter3, the answer is that I definitely would not for this fic. Maybe in the future, but this would necessitate OC archetypes, and that's a tall task, especially considering that it would be an entire other world. So yeah, 100% not in this fic, and never in this specific fic. I have enough to juggle.

To king, that's quite a lot of reviews! A lot of it is future speculation, which means that I can't address it. And I especially can't talk much about Yuji. Glad that you seem to enjoy the story so much though.

To makotoxvalerie, thanks for the compliment! I really enjoyed your review. In reality, the fact that the duels always have some level of stakes is due to my own distaste for writing duels when they're not really necessary, which is why I try to keep most of them plot-relevant. I would like to add a slight disclaimer that I never said that Yuji vs Shino and Yuno vs Ryoken were guaranteed to happen within the main plot. I said that they were both duels that I would be interested in writing, but I never confirmed that they were in the main plot. ;D For your question, I was a little unclear on your phrasing. If you're asking about self-perception, or who among the Yu boys thinks that they are good-looking, the answer is quite frankly none of them. Yuto is too humble, Yugo, Yuno and Yuya don't really think about looks at all—especially not Yuno, who is used to looking like someone else anyway. Yuji is uninterested in what others have to think about his appearance, and Yuri kinda has more important things to worry about.

QOTC: The Round 2 participants are Yuya, Yuzu, Serena, Yuno, Miharu, Yugo, Kaname, Reira, Mion, Shun, Nue, Sherry, Kiryu, Aki, Crow and Shinji. Make your Round 2 predictions now!

K, that's it! As usual, feel free to drop a review, I always enjoy reading them! And feel free to favourite or follow if you haven't already. :) I feel like this is basically the ending of every chapter now. Appreciate you all!

(... oh, and I did change the fic cover. That is probably an important thing to point out. It's just a Miharu. Haha. See yall!)