Eventually, the day of LDS's challenge to You Show arrived. I had done my best to prepare Yuya and Yuzu, but Xyz summoning was hard for them to grasp for some reason. I didn't really get the difficulty with stacking two monsters on top of each other and then grabbing a third from the extra deck to put on top of that, yet issues persisted. They were able to tentatively go into a Castel or other simple toolbox card, but they still struggled with the Ptolomaeus into Nova into Infinity line. At least they'd cut the majority of situational cards from their decks in favor of more consistency cards, handtraps and extenders. I'd emphasized the importance of cards like Effect Veiler quite heavily, and while they were still struggling with the concept of boarding out handtraps based on the matchup, they at least understood the idea of 'Veiler the starter' and 'Activate Maxx "C" in response to anything that could special summon'.

"It is good to see that you are prepared, Headmaster Hiiragi," Himika said as she entered the building, three LDS students in tow. "Who will be dueling first?"

Yuya glanced at me. I gave him a thumbs-up. "You've got this."

"I will," Yuya said, stepping forward. "Who's my opponent?"

"I am!" one of the LDS students declared. He had purple, spiky hair and some sort of headband thing with stars on it. In my opinion, it looked ridiculous. "LDS's Xyz Course student, Hokuto Shijima!"

"Xyz?" Yuzu questioned. "Is that why you taught us Xyz, Joshua? So we know how to counter his strategy"

I shook my head. "I taught you guys Xyz summoning so you can access the rank-4 toolbox and add some much-needed power to your decks."

"Hokuto Shijima... he's dueled 58 times, 53 wins!" one of the three kids whose name still escaped me remarked.

"That's over a 90% win rate!" another one of the trio commented.

"Doesn't matter," I said. "He's on Constellar. His deck sets up one bounce as part of its turn 1 end board and lacks recurrence. Yuya should be able to play through that easily."

"Don't dismiss me like that! I'll show you my perfect dueling!" Hokuto yelled.

"Don't get intimidated, Yuya!" Shuzo yelled. "Get fired up!"

As far as I remembered, Hokuto's dueling was far from perfect. He was the type to shotgun his interaction instead of waiting for a choke point. "Just stating the facts," I said. "Your dueling style may work well against weak duelists, but an experienced one will find the obvious flaws in your strategy."

"Do you have a preferred dueling field?" Shuzo asked, desperately trying to keep the situation from escalating.

"Pick whatever you like. My students are prepared to duel in any situation," Himika said smugly.

"Very well," Shuzo said, glancing at the Action Duel controls. "Action Field on! Cosmic Sanctuary!"

"Ha!" Hokuto laughed. "He chose a field where I'm an expert! My chance of victory is one hundred percent!"

"We'll see," Yuya said. "The duelists meet at the battlefield!"

As the chant went on, I turned my thoughts towards my plan for Reiji's probable appearance. I needed the opportunity to speak to him about Pendulum and the Lancers Selection, but I couldn't give away too much of what I knew. My e-mail had probably failed to interest him, but perhaps if I dangled something more interesting in front of him he'd be more willing to talk. Machinex, perhaps? Link summoning? I didn't exactly want to show off Tearlament just yet, especially not in front of Sora, but if that was what it would take, I'd do it. The advantage gained by having Reiji on my side and working with me early on was too large to pass up.

"I summon Constellar Algiedi!" Hokuto proclaimed. Ah yes, the duel. It appeared that Hokuto was doing the same opening he did in the anime. "Its effect allows me to Special Summon one Constellar monster from my hand!" The feminine-looking Constellar monster raised its staff, which began to glow.

"I activate Effect Veiler in my hand!" Yuya yelled. "During your main phase, I can discard this card to negate the effects of one monster you control!" Slightly inaccurate—Veiler was a targeting effect and needed to be sent to the grave instead of discarded, but otherwise correct. Constellar usually didn't have any way to extend through this, in my experience.

A phantasmal image of Effect Veiler appeared in front of Algiedi and absorbed the glow from the staff as the Constellar monster slumped. I hadn't been paying attention to the solid vision animations of the game before, but it was honestly really cool. The sheer amount of work that must have gone into creating animations for all possible monster interactions was truly impressive.

"I end my turn," Hokuto said, running off to find an Action Card.

"Well done, Yuya!" I called. "Now that Hokuto has no disruption, you're free to combo off!"

Yuya nodded. "My turn, draw! Ladies and gentlemen! Let's have a round of applause for our lead performer, Performapal Skullcrobat Joker!" The monster spun around into a bow, taking off its hat, while Yuya imitated its pose. "When Performapal Skullcrobat Joker is normal summoned, I can add one Performapal, Magician, or Odd-Eyes monster from my deck to my hand! I add Performapal Monkeyboard and then place it in the Pendulum Scale! Now, Performapal Monkeyboard's effect activates! Once per turn, I can add one level four or lower Performapal monster from my deck to my hand! I add Performapal Pendulum Sorcerer!"

So far, so good. This was the basic Performapal line that I'd drilled Yuya on for several hours yesterday, and I was pleased to see that he was following it perfectly.

"Are you going to search monsters all day or are you actually going to do something?" Hokuto taunted. Was he trying to goad Yuya into attacking after picking up an Action Card or something?

"The fun is only beginning!" Yuya responded. "I place Performapal Skullcrobat Joker in my other pendulum scale. Swing, pendulum of my soul! Draw an arc of light that splits the sky! Pendulum Summon! Performapal Pendulum Sorcerer! Performage Trick Clown! And the wonderful dragon with dichromatic eyes, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!"

"Action Spell - Falling Meteor!" Hokuto shouted. "When my opponent summons one or more monsters, I can target one of those monsters and destroy it! I'll destroy your Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!"

Meteors began to rain from the sky, all of them focused on Odd-Eyes

"Performapal Pendulum Sorcerer's effect activates!" Yuya said before the metors could hit. "I can target up to two cards I control, destroy them, then add Performapal monsters with different names from my deck to my hand equal to the number destroyed! I target Odd-Eyes and the Performapal Skullcrobat Joker in my Pendulum Scale!"

I was ninety percent sure that that was not how priority was supposed to work in this situation, but perhaps Action Cards were able to break the fast effect timing rules in some way. Regardless, the hologram animation for Pend Sorc's effect was cool, as the monster turned Odd-Eyes and Joker into balls of light that coalesced into card, which then flew into Yuya's hand.

"I add Performapal Odd-Eyes Dissolver and Performapal Monkeyboard from my deck to my hand!" Yuya continued. "Now, I place Performapal Odd-Eyes Dissolver in the Pendulum Scale and activate its effect! I Fusion Summon one Fusion Monster using monsters from my hand or field! I fuse the second Performapal Odd-Eyes Dissolver in my hand with Performapal Pendulum Sorcerer! Dichromatic dragon, come forth from the swirling vortex of fusion! Fusion Summon! Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon!"

A dragon that looked similar to Odd-Eyes but with far more wings and golden armor instead of red emerged from the fusion vortex and roared kicking up strong winds and causing Hokuto to step back in the face of the gale.

"Fusion? Since when did You Show start teaching Fusion Summoning?" Himika questioned. "And with such advanced technique, as well... fusion from pendulum?"

"Oh, I taught him yesterday," I said. "It's not difficult."

"Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon's effect! When it is summoned, I get to return one attack position monster you control to the hand!" Algiedi was blown off the field by a tornado cause by Odd-Eyes' arrival, and Hokuto barely managed to stand his ground against the strong winds.

"Battle phase!" Yuya proclaimed. "Performapal Skullcrobat Joker attacks you directly!"

[Hokuto: 4000 - 2200]

"Finish it! Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon! Spiral Vortex Strike!"

"Action Spell Star's Protection!" Hokuto yelled as Vortex Dragon charged a blast in its mouth. "It negates one direct attack!"

"In this moment, I activate Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon's second effect! By returning one face-up Pendulum Monster from my Extra Deck to my Deck, I can negate the activation and destroy your card!"

The Joker in Yuya's Extra Deck was absorbed by Vortex Dragon, transforming into another whirlwind that blew Hokuto's action card aside, allowing Vortex Dragon's initial shot to connect with the Xyz duelist.

[Hokuto: 2200 - 0]

[Yuya: WIN]

"My perfect plan..." Hokuto groaned. "Dismantled from the very start."

As Himika berated Hokuto for his loss, a dark-skinned girl stepped forward. "I, Masumi Kotsu of LDS's Fusion Course, will be dueling next. Who will be my opponent?"

"I will!" Yuzu responded, stepping down to the dueling field.

"Yuzu! Side decking!" I reminded her.

"Oh, right," Yuzu said, swapping a few cards out of her deck.

"What would be the perfect Action Field for my cute daughter?" Shuzo wondered aloud.

"Dad!" Yuzu protested. "Stop being embarrassing."

"Please just pick the action field at random this time," I suggested.

"Of course! The only suitable field for Yuzu would be this one! Action Field on! Crystal Corridor!"

"Oy vey," I groaned, rubbing the bridge of my nose. So far, he was two for two.

"I'll take the first move," Masumi declared. Did these people just not understand the concept of a die roll? "I activate Gem-Knight Fusion!"

"Since you activated a spell card that Special Summons a monster, I can activate the effect of Retaliating 'C' in my hand!" Yuzu said. "I get to Special Summon it, and while summoned this way, any card that would be sent to the graveyard is banished instead!"

A cloud of cockroaches with glowing eyes swarmed out from under a pillow and covered Gem-Knight Fusion as well as the monsters used as material, sending them to what was presumably the Shadow Realm. Or possibly the cockroach realm, a place of eternal torment where your opponent always has Maxx "C" in the opener.

I was getting distracted.

"Tch. How did you know about Gem-Knight Fusion's graveyard effect?" Masumi questioned.

"Fusion decks typically rely on using the floating effects of either their monsters or fusion spells to maintain advantage, as fusion is an inherent loss of card advantage. Retaliating 'C' is easily triggered by fusion spells and cuts off advantage engines," I explained.

"It's surprising you know so much about fusion's weaknesses, Sensei," Sora commented. "Did you battle a lot of fusion users?"

"Yeah," I said absentmindedly, remembering Tear mirror after Tear mirror at my locals and on online simulators, and many duels against Branded and Invoked before that.

"Regardless! I fuse Gem-Knight Alexandrite, Gem-Knight Toumaline, and Gem-Knight Emerald to fusion summon! In a whirlpool of light, combine to bring forth a new dazzling radiance! Fusion Summon! Appear! Supreme radiance who illuminates everything! Level 10! Gem-Knight Master Diamond! I set one card and end my turn."

"My turn, draw! I summon Aria the Melodious Diva, and since I control a Melodious monster, I can special summon Sonata the Melodious Diva from my hand!" Two women in brightly-colored appeared in flashes of light, twirling and singing as they entered the field. "Finally, since I control two or more monsters, I can special summon Performage Hat Tricker from my hand!"

As the floating clown thing appeared on the field with a flourish of its cape, Yuzu gripped her bracelet, steadying her resolve. "I... overlay... Retaliating 'C' and Performapal Hat Tricker! Dragon of the raging winds, blow away all opposition! Xyz summon! Rank 4 Tornado Dragon!"

The wind started to pick up in the Action Field, swirling around the vortex of the Overlay Network before forming recognizable limbs and a head, becoming a dragon that towered over the other monsters on the field. The dragon threw back its head as if to roar, but it wasn't like the animalistic roar of Odd-Eyes. No, it was the primordial roar of the rushing wind. It was amazing how awesome a generic rank-4 looked.

"I activate Tornado Dragon's effect! By detaching one Xyz material from it, I can destroy one spell or trap card on the field!" The dragon reached down with one of its colossal limbs, ripping apart Masumi's backrow and revealing it to be... some trap I didn't recognize at all. Probably an irrelevant battle trap. "Now, I overlay Aria the Melodious Diva and Sonata the Melodious Diva! Legendary avian warrior, come forth! Xyz Summon! Rank 4 Castel the Skyblaster Musketeer! Castel's effect! By detaching two of its Overlay Units, I can shuffle one monster you control into the deck!"

Castel appeared on the field, brandishing its musket, before loading the two orbs floating around it into its musket and shooting Gem-Knight Master Diamond, blasting the monster off the field and back into Masumi's extra deck. "Battle phase!" Yuzu yelled. "Tornado Dragon and Castel attack you directly!"

Masumi attempted to run for an action card, but the strong winds of Tornado Dragon's attack blew both her and the card away, leaving her wide open for Castel's bullet to find its mark.

[Masumi: 4000 - 0]

[Yuzu: WIN]

"That's 2-0," I said. "I believe that means that You Show wins the best of three."

"Indeed," Himika said. "I am impressed, You Show performed nothing like what the statistics showed. You claimed that you taught Yuya Sakaki how to Fusion Summon, Joshua Cohen? I presume you also taught Yuzu Hiiragi about Xyz summoning."

I nodded.

"Impressive. Very few people know more than one Extra Deck summoning method, let alone all three. Tell me, would you be interested in teaching at LDS?"

"Hey, don't try to go and steal my students!" Shuzo protested. "We had a deal!"

"I am staying well within the terms of our deal," Himika said. "But I always get what I want in the end. I came to You Show with the intent of bringing Pendulum to LDS."

"In an ideal world, everyone would know every Extra Deck summoning method, including Pendulum," I began. "I would love a chance to spread my knowledge to other duelists. However! LDS's teaching methods seem to be mediocre at best. Your 'ace students' play Gem-Knights, Constellar, and X-Saber... archetypes that range from middling at best to terrible at worst. They fail to make use of powerful staple cards and fold to disruption. What I want... is to create a new world of dueling! One where all duelists learn to duel at the highest level! When each and every student is capable of using the best decks to their full potential... that's when I'll be satisfied!"

I heard clapping from off to the side and looked towards the source. A hooded man with a scarf was applauding my speech. Reiji.

"That was an inspiring speech, Joshua Cohen," Reiji said, taking off his hood. "Truly ambitious. It has been a while since someone attempted to revolutionize the field of dueling. I believe the last person to do so was Yusho Sakaki. In some ways, you remind me of him."

"You knew my father?" Yuya asked.

"I knew him well," Reiji confirmed.

"I'm not like Yusho," I said, shaking my head. I'd never abandon my hypothetical children just to go off and set up duel schools in another dimension, I added mentally. "Reiji Akaba. I've been wanting to meet you for a while."

"I've been interested in you as well, Joshua," Reiji said. "Your e-mail was extremely intriguing. Not many would give away information like that."

"Just kiss already," Yuzu grumbled. I glared at her.

"Returning to the subject at hand, would you be willing to have a duel with me?" Reiji asked. "You're clearly a skilled duelist, but I wish to experience that myself."

I nodded. "Of course. There's a lot you can learn about a person by dueling them. To make this more interesting, I won't be using these cards—" I removed the three copies of Maxx "C" from my deck and showed them to him "—and I'll let you go first."

"I see. You're 'that' kind of person. Too generous for their own good."

I laughed. "Not at all. I just want this duel to be interesting. There are no stakes, so let's have a fun duel!"

"Just like Yusho," Reiji commented. "Very well. Do you have a preferred Action Field?"

"Anything's fine," I said. "Shuzo, you can pick whatever."

"Action Field on!" Shuzo yelled. "Hellish Descent! Get fired up, Joshua!"

Around us, the ground became rocky and jagged, and rivers of lava formed. Thankfully, I couldn't feel the heat from them, but I had no doubt it would hurt if I touched the molten rock. "A fitting duel field for someone who uses a deck of demons," I commented as I drew my opening five. Veiler, Providence, Zefraath, Zefra War, and Swordsoul Emergence. Not bad.

"I activate the continuous spell Dark Contract with the Gate," Reiji began. "Once per turn, I can add one D/D monster from my deck to my hand, thus I will add D/D Swirl Slime. Now, I activate the effect of D/D Swirl Slime in my hand. This allows me to Fusion Summon one D/D/D monster from my Extra Deck, using it and other monsters from my hand as fusion material! I fuse D/D Swirl Slime with D/D Lamia! In a whirlpool of light from the realm of the dead, become one and give birth to a new king. Fusion Summon! Be born! D/D/D Flame King Genghis! Now, I activate the effect of D/D Swirl Slime in my graveyard! By banishing it from my graveyard, I can Special Summon one D/D monster from my hand! Come forth, D/D Savant Copernicus!"

"When a D/D monster is Special Summoned, D/D/D Flame King Genghis can bring back a D/D monster from my graveyard! In addition, when D/D Savant Copernicus is Summoned, I can send one D/D monster from my deck to my graveyard!"

"I'll activate Veiler targeting Genghis," I responded. "Genghis' effects are negated until the end of the turn." This might not have been the perfect place to disrupt the line, but it seemed as though it would lock him out of accessing Siegfried, unless he had something like a Kepler in hand, of course.

"D/D Savant Copernicus will send D/D Lamia from my deck to the graveyard," Reiji stated. "Now, I place D/D/D Oblivion King Abyss Ragnarok in the Pendulum Scale. By sending one Dark Contract from the field to the graveyard, I can special summon the tuner monster D/D Lamia from my graveyard, but it is banished when it leaves the field. Howls that tear through the night. Gain the swiftness of a gale and become the cries of a newborn king! Synchro Summon! Be born! Level 7! D/D/D Gust King Alexander!"

"Synchro and fusion..." Yuya commented. "Does that mean Xyz is coming as well?"

"Yes," I responded bluntly. "D/D/D is a deck that focuses on using all Extra Deck summoning methods."

"D/D/D Oblivion King Abyss Ragnarok's Pendulum Effect activates! Since I summoned a D/D monster, I can special summon a D/D monster from my graveyard, but take 1000 damage! Be reborn, D/D/D Flame King Genghis!"

Ragnarok gestured, barely moving from its floating throne in the pillar of light that was the Pendulum Zone, which caused a portal to open on the field from which D/D Lamia crawled out.

[Reiji: 4000 - 3000]

"This triggers D/D/D Gust King Alexander's effect! Because a D/D monster was Special Summoned to my field—"

"—you can special a D/D monster from your grave," I finished.

"You picked up on it quickly," Reiji commented. "Yes, I will special summon the other copy of D/D Lamia from my graveyard! Climb over the corpses of heroes, carrying your bloodstained blade! Synchro Summon! Be born! Level 8! D/D/D Cursed King Siegfried! I will now use the last card in my hand—I normal summon D/D Savant Kepler! When it is summoned, I can add one Dark Contract card from my deck to my hand! I activate the card I added, Dark Contract with the Swamp King! Once per turn, I can use its effect to fusion summon a D/D/D monster, using monsters from my hand or field as fusion material! I fuse D/D Savant Kepler with D/D Savant Copernicus! Come forth once more, D/D/D Flame King Genghis! In order to subjugate all that resides in this world, now, descend onto the peak of the world! Xyz Summon! Be born! Rank 6! D/D/D Wave High King Caesar! I end my turn."

Reiji got the end board I expected despite my handtrap. This was not unexpected with the sheer amount of extension D/D/D had. It was also going to be rather difficult to navigate with my current hand. Despite this, a grin broke over my face as I drew for turn. My draw was a copy of Nine Pillars, which was really not what I needed.

"Now things are getting interesting," I said, smiling in the face of the two intimidating demonic kings. "Wave High King Caesar can, twice per turn, negate an effect that special summons a monster and boost the attack of your D/D/D monsters. Siegfried is a once per turn spell/trap negate. Obviously, running the Swordsoul line into this would be a bad idea."

I could see a line that would work around both Big Caesar and Siegfried. The Zefra War in hand meant that once I had Siegfried offline I could get rid of Big Caesar. The sheer number of spell activations I was going to be doing this turn meant that Siegfried would be pretty easy to bait. "I see the line. Activate Providence to search Oracle, activate Oracle. Effect to serach. Add Zefraxi. Scale Zefraxi and Zefraath. Zefraath effect."

"I activate the effect of D/D/D Cursed King Siegfried!" Reiji proclaimed. "Once per turn, I can target one spell or trap you control and negate its effects until the end of the turn!"

"Then I activate Zefra War targeting Oracle and Caesar! Since I control two Zefra monsters in my Pendulum Zones, I can activate this trap card from my hand! I target one Zefra card I control and one card you control and destroy both!" Unfortunately, the holograms didn't really get the concept of the field spell 'battling' with a monster, thus both targets exploded into a shower of pixels and the field reverted to the hellscape it had been previously.

"When D/D/D Wave High King Caesar is sent from the field to the graveyard, I can add a Dark Contract card from my deck to my hand. I add Dark Contract with the Gate," Reiji said, revealing the relevant card from his deck.

I nodded. "Activate Emergence to search Taia, normal Taia. Taia effect, banish Emergence and make a token. Synchro for eight, make Baxia. Baxia's effect! It targets cards on the field, up to the number of attributes used for its synchro summon (in this case, two) and shuffles them into the deck! I'll get rid of your Siegfried and Ragnarok. Battle phase! Baxia attacks you directly!"

I jumped on top of the Eastern dragon as it flew toward Reiji. As I passed over an island in a pool of lava, I stretched out, nearly falling off of the dragon, and snagged an Action Card. The way I saw it, Action Cards were free card advantage, thus it always made sense to grab one if possible. This one seemed to be an attack-boosting combat trick, which meant I probably wanted to hold it. Reiji would die from Contract burn if Baxia's attack connected regardless.

"Action Spell! Hellish Rebuke!" Reiji shouted. "Your attack is negated, and we both take 500 points of damage."

That seemed to be the gimmick of the spells in this Action Field. All of them included some sort of burn effect, which was interesting. It also gave me a definite advantage, because I wasn't being constantly burned by my own cards.

[Reiji: 3000 - 2500]

[Joshua: 4000 - 3500]

"Second main," I said. "Set one, pass."

"Draw," Reiji said. "During my standby phase, Dark Contract with the Swamp King causes me to take 1000 points of damage."

[Reiji : 2500 - 1500]

"I activate Dark Contract with the Gate and use its effect to add D/D/D Oblivion King Abyss Ragnarok from my deck to my hand. I set the Pendulum Scale with D/D/D Oblivion Abyss King Ragnarok and—"

Nine Pillars was a little finnicky, being able to negate only spell/trap cards and not effects. Thus in order to prevent Reiji from rebuilding his board, I needed to get rid of Abyss King Ragnarok. "Counter-trap activate, Nine Pillars of the Yang Zing! The activation is negated and the card is shuffled into your deck, then I destroy a Yang Zing card I control. I'll destroy Zefraxi and use the grave effect of Providence to prevent its destruction." I normally wouldn't play like that, but in a 4000 LP format it was important to keep a blocker on my field.

"I activate the effect of Dark Contract with the Swamp King! Its effect allows me to fusion summon one D/D/D monster by banishing materials from my graveyard in addition t using material on my hand or field! I fuse D/D/D Flame King Genghis with D/D Lamia to Fusion Summon D/D/D Flame High King Genghis!"

A larger version of Genghis emerged from the continuous spell, this one carrying a large flaming sword and having some sort of horn-like growths protruding from its back.

"Battle! D/D/D Flame High King Genghis attacks Baxia, Brightness of the Yang Zing!"

"Damage step?" I asked as the demonic king neared my dragon. My duel disk beeped, alerting me that we were, in fact, in the damage step. "Action Spell activate! Infernal Lance! It grants Baxia an extra 1000 attack points and we both take 500 damage!"

[Joshua: 3500 - 3000]

[Reiji: 1500 - 1000]

An enormous fiery lance appeared in Baxia's talons, slipping past Genghis' sword and impaling the flame king, which proceeded to explode into a shower of pixels.

[Reiji: 1000 - 500]

"I set one card and end my turn," Reiji said.

"Draw for turn, standby, main." My draw was another copy of Emergence, in other words, I was basically guaranteed a win this turn. "Zefraath effect, send Zefraniu. Pend summon Zefraniu, Zefraniu search Providence search Zefraxi. Emergence search Mo Ye, normal Mo Ye, reveal Zefraxi." I was just going through the motions at this point. "Synchro into Chixiao, Chixiao chain link one, Mo Ye chain link two. Chixiao search Longyuan, Longyuan effect, pitch Zefraxi. Synchro for ten, make Baronne. Longyuan effect for game?"

"I activate Contract Laundering!" Reiji decared. "It—"

"Baronne effect, negate and destroy!" I yelled. This was it! Baronne's sword slashed apart the trap as it flipped up, and then a ghostly image of Longyuan shot flames at Reiji, causing his life to tick down to zero.

[Reiji: 500 - 0]

[Joshua: WIN]

"Good game," I said. "That was a fun duel! It feels great to finally duel against a deck that can put up a defense!"

"Likewise," Reiji said. "It has been a long time since I dueled an opponent who can defeat me even when I go all out. By the way, I'll send you an e-mail to schedule our meeting. My worries have been lifted; I am now sure you are genuine."

"What did Reiji mean?" Yuzu asked me as we walked away from You Show. We'd parted ways with Yuya a little ways back. "Why are you meeting with him?"

"I have something he wants, and he has something I want," I responded. I wanted to keep things as vague as possible for now. "He wanted to make sure I was who I said I was."

"That explains nothing!" Yuzu complained. "You're not giving me any details?"

"There are some thing you'd be better of knowing," I said. "I'm not going to say more than I need to."

"How do you know Yuto?" Yuzu asked.

"Huh?" That question had come out of nowhere. "Why do you ask?"

"There's something going on behind the scenes, isn't there? Yuto's comment about me. The fact that you knew instantly that he wasn't Yuya despite them having the same face. You say you're from somewhere far away, but I don't know where you're from. And now the fact that you seem to know something that Reiji Akaba wants."

Wow. She'd put things together far more quickly than I'd expected. Perhaps the lack of distraction over Yuya's false accusation and the Yuya/Yuto confusion had allowed her to think things through and come to a logical conclusion?

"You are... correct, somewhat. I don't know Yuto personally, but there is something going on, something that I would prefer that you stay out of for as long as possible."

"Dammit, stop trying to leave me out of everything!" Yuzu snapped. "First Yuto, now Reiji. There's more to you than you're letting on, and you're going to tell me it!"

"A man is entitled to his secrets," I said. "I don't go around trying to figure out what manga you read at night."

"How did you—don't change the subject!" Yuzu spluttered. "There's something going on here!"

"Actually, I had no idea what you read. I... just trust me on this one. This kind of conflict isn't one you want to be part of. Just knowing about it could be dangerous. There will come a time where you will have to get involved, soon, and then I'll explain everything. It'll sound completely insane now, but once you see more... maybe then."

"I—"

"Just trust me, okay? If you really want to know, I think Yuto might explain everything. Good luck finding him, though."

"Joshua is... interesting," Reiji said, sitting aside Himika in the back of a limousine. "What was your impression of him, mother?"

"He's skilled," Himika said. "Few people have mastered all three summoning methods—and if we include Pendulum then only you and Joshua have mastered all four. His approach towards dueling, however... it's not something I've seen taught by any duel school."

Reiji nodded. "He predicts his opponent's moves before he even gets a turn and his deck is exceptionally well-tuned, designed around doing the same few combos every game, while common dueling knowledge dictates that one ought to use a wide variety of cards to create variance and unpredictability, and he seems to have imparted that philosophy on the rest of the You Show students. I believe that his ambitions may not just be talk. You saw the duels—LDS's top team was completely crushed. You Show didn't just win, they won with complete control."

"Control is the word," Himika said. "Joshua's duel style focuses on limiting his opponents moves and preventing the opponent from bringing out their strongest monsters."

"He could prove a valuable ally if he strategizes outside a duel as well as within a duel. While his origins are still suspect, I believe an alliance with him is worth the risk."

Author's Notes:

High Flame King Genghis retains its anime effect, meaning that it cannot negate activations and thus does not work in the damage step. Did Reiji duel optimally? I'm not sure. D/D/D combos are complicated pre-Gilgamesh and pre-Gryphon/Machinex, especially when interrupted. Joshua probably didn't play optimally either, but I hope the duel was a bit more back-and-forth than previous duels in this fic.

I'm not a huge fan of this chapter because of the large ratio of duels to plot, but I didn't want to go too far over 5k words, as that's plenty in my opinion. Still, we have plot development! Reiji and Joshua will be forming an alliance, Yuya and Yuzu have improved dramatically, and Yuzu is getting closer to finding the main plot of Arc-V!