Empty.

A feeling that Yuto desired to never once feel on his life. If he were to feel emptiness, it could be classified as a corpse. After all, a corpse is empty. It has no soul. All that a corpse is the decomposing body and the skeleton that lies within.

As soon as he woke to that feeling of emptiness, he knew something was wrong.

As he woke up, he couldn't see clearly. It was as if something had hit him hard in the head. His ears were ringing as well, and it took awhile for them to adjust. Every moment he couldn't hear anything except the ringing felt like a moment wasted that could have been used to learn something useful.

"-to!"

He jumped out off his seat startled. Was he hearing things, or was that actually someone yelling. Moments later, the calls continued, and they became more clear.

"Yuto!"

His vision returned at that moment, and so did his hearing. He was immediately met by the sound of applause and cheering from the audience, mixed with chants of his name. That wasn't what he heard though.

"Yuto!"

This voice sounded much closer. And much more comforting and familiar at the same time.

The Phantom Knights user cocked his head to the left, seeing Ruri, letting out a sigh of relief. He then suddenly saw the big picture.

By big, he meant the two big brutes restraining her by the arm, but Ruri seemed to pay no heed to that. All of her attention was on him, Yuto. He opened his mouth to speak...

"..."

But nothing came out. All that was in his mind was the image of her being taken away. He then had the image of something he definitely didn't want to see.

His face. Same eyes. Same hair color. Same clothes. All but one thing…

The wicked grin on his face. The wicked grin that he wore as he stood over a collapsed Ruri, beaten, battered, and dirty from falling into debris after losing a Duel.

To him, he all but didn't want to assume. And then he saw Ruri being picked up, before being met by the wicked smile, as his body. His body. Turned into light blue and disappeared from his eyes. Along with Ruri.

No. That won't happen again!

Yuto jumped off his seat (the restraints were removed once Ruri's-wheel parked), making a mad dash for the two men restraining Ruri, much to the latter's surprise. The Xyz Duelist ran so fast that he appeared as a blur to the two guards, and even Ruri could barely keep up with his movements.

The next thing Ruri knew, her arms were released, and Yuto had grabbed her hand. He directed her to his d-wheel. He sat in the front while Yuto placed Ruri in the back, with her Duel Disk in hand and Deck already inserted.

He slammed the gas pedal.

And they were gone before Melissa or anyone else could do anything about it.

As they sped out of the stadium, Ruri looked with a look of confusion at Yuto's back, surprised that he would do something like this. This was one of the only times she has seen Yuto lose his cool like this. Was he still acting weird like in their Duel?

"Yuto! What are you doing? You know Academia is looking for me!" Ruri protested at Yuto's rash actions, wrapping her arms around his body and leaning forward so the chances of falling off were reduced.

Yuto closed his eyes, "I know. But if you go down into the underground, Security could just as easily try to capture you and Serena. They could use both of you as bargaining chips against Academia."

"But brother and some of your comrades are down there, right? They could easily protect me if Security were to arrive. Besides, I'm not so weak that I need a babysitter all the time!" Ruri exclaimed out of frustration.

"I know...You are strong...very strong. Hell, in some situations, you could probably beat me in a Duel. You have before. I'm aware of your strength, it's just…"

Yuto grit his teeth, forming a tight fist with his right hand before loosening it and moving over to Ruri's hands. He gripped both of them tightly, not wanting to let go.

"I already had you taken away once. I don't want that to happen again."

Ruri's face turned from an expression of frustration to one of surprise.

"I see...I'm sorry." Ruri apologized, realizing her misconception about the boy's actions. This wasn't the monster that she was Dueling. It was her dear comrade. Her friend.

"It's fine. Now that I have the chance to ask you, what the hell happened to you during that Duel?" Yuto switched gears at the other topic that was ramming against their skulls.

"I don't know, I just blacked out," Ruri stated before raising an eyebrow, "And I could ask you the same question. I was scared, Yuto. You…"

Ruri caught herself. Mentioning what Yuto had said was going to worsen his mood. Telling him about what he said would make Yuto afraid of himself.

Ruri winced as the words of the seemingly possessed Yuto echoed in her head…

"I am the one whose name inflicts fear! Wherever there is darkness, I will be there! Wherever there is sin, I will be there! So who am I? I am the devil's incarnate! And the reincarnation of the Supreme King who wreaked havoc on the world years ago!"

What did that mean? And why was her bracelet shining when all of this was happening? All of this made no sense and it was driving Ruri crazy!

Was Yuto really what he had said, a reincarnation of something called the Supreme King? No, Yuto didn't say. Ruri knew that. That demonic voice, the dark aura of an intent to destroy everything…that was anything but Yuto.

But if that wasn't Yuto...then what was it?

What Yuto had said next only gave further evidence to believe that the person she was facing for the last turns of the Duel was not the Xyz Duelist that Ruri had known and grown to love.

"I also blacked out at some point. I woke up to in the stadium…"

Ruri would have let out a sigh of relief, but held her breath so Yuto wouldn't get the wrong idea.

"Actually...no...I think I was temporarily conscious…" Ruri paled at the statement, "I...saw complete darkness...and I heard a voice trying to tempt me to 'give in'. Then, I could have sworn I heard someone else yelling…"

Ruri continued to listen as she retracted her hands, turning her attention to the Duel Disk that she was clutching this entire time. She proceeded to remove all of the Cards from the Grave and such, adding them back to her Deck. However, during this process, she froze when she came across two Cards.

Parasite Fusioner and Lyrilusc-Independent Nightingale.

These were the two blank Cards, Ruri was sure of it. But why could she see them now?

Ruri's immediate instinct was to take the Cards and rip them to shreds, but she stopped herself. During her stay at Academia, she was always caught when she ripped up the Cards. She knew that the tower she was trapped in was under surveillance by a single camera, but even that had a blind spot.

Ruri usually ripped the Cards under the camera's blind spots yet she was somehow always caught. It was clear that these two Cards are Academia's own creations. It wouldn't surprise her if Academia ha somehow programmed a tracker into the Card. It sounded absurd, but she was currently fighting in a war against people from ANOTHER DIMENSION, using the game Duel Monsters as a means of attack and defense.

Hell, if she remembered correctly, in the war, planes and tanks tried to attack the many Ancient Gear Chaos Giants, only to fail and be destroyed.

Academia didn't just Card people. They also ruthlessly murdered those in the planes and tanks, or others who were crushed by collapsing structures, fired, etc.

Ruri stared at the Cards, before looking at Yuto, remembering how he used a Fusion Monster in the Duel against Duel Chaser 227. Ruri knew that there was nothing with using Fusion. It was just a Summoning method. It was only abused by the soldiers of Academia, and that painted the method in a bad light for the Xyz Duelists.

Ruri took Independent Nightingale and put it into her Deck slot which was strapped to her left leg. She glared at Parasite Fusioner for a very long time.

If she was ever going to use Fusion, it was never going to be with this Card!

Ruri held her hand off the side of the d-wheel, dropping the Parasite Fusioner Card, which was taken by the wind and blown into the Commons area.

"Yuto, don't worry about whatever is happening. We're together again, and that's all that matters."

Yuto gave a small smile of gratitude.

"Thank you, Ruri."

Minutes of driving later, the two saw a flash of purple light followed by an angry yell of a familiar voice to both Yuto and Ruri, the former hearing in many times before and the latter hearing it from his Duels in the Friendship Cup.

It was Yugo.


Rooftops-Commons

Yuri gasped as he found himself back in the place where he was before that weird feeling came. What did happen anyway?

He looked around, eventually seeming multiple yellow lights in the sky. Yuri narrowed his eyes at the sight of this.

"The Obelisk Force? I thought Darkness, Shiunin Sora, and I were going to take care Ruri, Serena, and Hiragi Yuzu…" Yuri trailed off. If there were Obelisk Force members here, then that meant someone was in this dimension commanding them.

Barrett. Yuri assumed internally. The Fusion Duelist looked down at his Duel Disk, he had received a message from Barrett.

The message basically said that there was a change of plans. The Professor still needed more Carded souls in order to fuel that stupid reactor Yuri constantly saw the man stare at. As a result, they were going to plunge the Synchro Dimension into a big battle just like the Xyz Dimension, to Card more people and draw out the three needed girls.

He also noticed that Barrett had added that Rin was at the frontlines, as she was a more than capable Duelist.

"I've found you, bastard!" The familiar voice of an angry Yugo rang through Yuri's ears, causing him to look up from his Duel Disk. Here he was, Rin's overprotective boyfriend. Yuri let out a grueling smirk as he saw Yugo's d-wheel fly into the air off of a wall.

Yugo glared daggers at Yuri as his d-wheel plummeted to the roof Yuri was standing on. He hit the breaks on his d-wheel and stopped it abruptly. The holder of Clear Wing forced off his helmet as he gave Yuri a look of disgust.

Yuri turned around to face the Synchro Duelist. Originally, he wasn't interested in the guy, but after that weird feeling, he had some sort of...attachment, to the boy who shared his face.

Yuri chuckled to himself, preparing himself to push Yugo's buttons, hoping to get a funny reaction, "Who are you again?"

"I'm Yugo!"

"Oh? Fusion? So you use Fusion as well?" Yuri drawled, putting his arms behind his back.

What he got from this wasn't he was expecting.

"You already know I don't use Fusion, you piece of shit!" Yugo's eyebrows furrowed even more out of sheer anger. Yuri could clearly see all of the anger drawn over his face.

"Hmm? Hey, you know, until now I had the feeling that I was Dueling." Yuri spoke as he took a couple of shaky steps backwards, as if to taunt Yugo. "I wonder...was my opponent you?"

Yugo's eyebrows raised slightly out of confusion, murmuring something Yuri could just barely hear, "I had that same feeling too just now…"

Yugo shook his head rapidly, once again directing his attention to Yuri.

"But all of that doesn't matter now! Now, tell me, where the hell is Rin?!" Yugo interrogated.

"Sure, but under one condition." Yuri raised a single finger.

"A condition?" Yugo narrowed his eyes.

"I'll tell you where Rin is, if you tell me where Hiragi Yuzu is." Yuri proposed, "I saw her being taken somewhere, but I don't know if she is there anymore."

At Yugo's silence, he sighed.

"Well, I didn't expect less. It doesn't matter anyhow, my comrades should be pursuing her as we speak."

"What?!" Yugo widened his eyes, before looking off to the side. Were those lights he saw in the sky just soldiers of Academia?

"You know what, I'm feeling generous. I'm sure you'll love this! Rin…"

A long gust of wind came into the area, as if to build up the tension building between the two lookalikes.

"Rin has sided with Academia."

Yugo immediately felt like he was hit by a truck. And he hated that feeling.

"Stop spewing bullshit! Rin would never side with people like you!" Yugo jabbed an accusing finger at Yuri.

"Heh? You know, Academia isn't bad as you think. A perfect world can be created from all of this. A world of peace. Justice. All of the Carding will be undone in the new world. Oh yes, and also, you'll have equality."

Yugo froze. That was the one thing he had secretly wished for his entire life! But his hatred for the Tops had drowned out that desire ages ago! He only rekindled a desire for equality after his Duel with Yuzu.

But Yugo didn't buy any of Yuri's bullshit.

"Stop messing with me! I know you're lying!" Yugo retorted.

"Suit yourself. You missed out on a good opportunity. Frankly, I don't care about the Professor's vision for the world. Me? I just want to be the strongest in all of the dimensions." Yuri grinned, which amped up Yugo's anger even more.

Yuri closed one eye as he held up a Card in his Hand.

"Anyway, I don't have anymore time to waste with you. Magic Card, Violet Flash, activate!" Yuri slipped the Card into his Duel Disk, causing a bright flash of purple to envelop the area. It was this light that Yuto and Ruri saw.

Yugo grunted and covered his face. When the light dissipated, Yugo brought down his arms.

"DON'T RUN AWAY YOU…" Yugo trailed off as he saw that Yuri was no longer in the area. He groaned out of annoyance as he slipped on his helmet, ready to get on his d-wheel and speed off in pursuit of Yuri. However, he froze when he heard someone calling out his name.

He turned around, seeing a purple d-wheel launch itself into the air, crashing onto the ground as Yugo saw the person-no, people on it.

"Yuto! And...Rin!" Yugo's eyes lit up out of joy, immediately bolting for the long haired girl next to Yuto, only for the latter to step in front of Yugo, halting his run. "What the hell are you doing?!"

Ruri merely looked on with a dumbfounded expression on her face. However, she perked her ears up when she heard Yugo say the name Rin.

"Are you that delusional that you can't tell the difference between Ruri and this Rin girl you know." Yuto chided Yugo lightly yet forcefully.

"What? But...they look exactly the same! Fuck, this person's like the third person who looks like Rin! First Yuzu, then that Fusion girl Serena who Yuzu Dueled, and now this person! What the hell is going on here?!" Yugo cried out loud.

"You know Rin?"

At Ruri's question, Yugo shoved Yuto to the side and grabbed Ruri's shoulders in a flash with an exuberant expression plastered on his face.

"Where's Rin?! Tell me, please!"

"I met her at Academia. She was captured also. We both were freed, but I blacked out, I found myself in this dimension. Rin might be in another dimension." Ruri stated.

"But that bastard said that Rin had sided with them!" Yugo growled under his breath.

"He's lying." Yuto butted in immediately, trying to lighten up his mood, "She hasn't joined Academia's side, at least not willingly. Ruri and I just had a Duel against each other in the Friendship Cup, and she went all weird in the Duel. We believe that she was controlled by Academia. And if Rin and Ruri were both captured, then I am sure Rin is being controlled as well."

Yugo's hand tightened into a fist, gritting his teeth from the pain of his nails digging into his skin.

"I guess this gives me another reason to beat the shit out of everyone Academia soldier I see! Including that guy!" Yugo raised his fist out of declaration. "This has gone too far!"

That guy…Yuto thought to himself before opening his mouth to speak.

"Yugo, this guy you're talking about...does he have the same face as us?"

"Yeah! And I'm sure it's the right guy this time!" Yugo assured Yuto with a fire in his eyes.

"It has to be him. It isn't Yuya because…"

Yuto took a deep breath. This was going to take a lot of explaining.

"Because Yuya is inside of me."

As expected, Yugo was confused. Yuto went onto tell him and Ruri about how after Yugo beat Yuya, the Standard Duelist practically disappeared into his arms. He also mentioned the mental link he and Yuya has, and how they can communicate with one another.

"If that's so…" Yugo murmured after learning about the mental link, "If you can really talk to that Yuya guy. Then can you tell him…" Yugo felt his breathing stop before letting out the rest of his wish, "I'm sorry for attacking him."

Yuto nodded his head, "Don't worry, I'm sure Yuya doesn't hold any ill feelings towards you."

Speaking of Yuya, where is he? Yuto then attempted to mentally call out to Yuya, but to no avail. He never got a response. It was as if Yuya was never in Yuto's head in the first place. Was this the empty feeling he had not too long ago, Yuya's disappearance? Did something bad happen to the boy? Did he cease to exist?

No, Yuto couldn't think like that. Maybe Yuya was just in a deep sleep within the dark corners of Yuto's mind. That was it. He was sure of it!

He tuned back in to hear Yugo's sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness. Truth be told, that has been weighing down on me ever since my first conversation with Yuzu."

That's right, Yuzu and Serena! Yuto flinched. He had completely forgotten about the task at hand due to this conversation.

"Yugo! We need to go! Hiragi Yuzu, Serena, and Ruri are all in danger! Ruri and I are separated from our comrades, and we need as many people as we can get! Academia is invading this dimension as we speak! Who knows what they're going to do! So please...Yugo, lend me your strength!" Yuto pleaded the Synchro Duelist, clapping his hands together.

Yugo looked at his lookalike out of surprise, before giving his own smile and chuckle.

"Don't worry." Yuto looked up at his Synchro counterpart, who was giving him a thumbs up…

"I've got your back!"

Ruri smiled as she saw the two boys standing, with Yugo giving Yuto a high five out of excitement. She then noticed something.

From what she remembered during the Duel, she had heard three more voices speak along with Yuto. One was that boy who had captured her. And now Ruri recognized Yugo's voice as one of the two other boys. So...if this Yuya boy was really inside of Yuto, then was he the fourth person speaking?

Ruri brushed these topics to the side for now. At the moment, they could be facing the subjugation of the Xyz Dimension all over again!

They had no time to waste.


Meanwhile-In a Commons Alleyway

"So the preparations are set?" The masked man going by the codename Darkness asked the man who he was talking with, the Doktor.

"Yes. You have the honor of sending the signal." The Doktor informed Darkness.

The masked man nodded his head, "And when does the fighting stop?"

"When Hiragi Yuzu, Kurosaki Ruri, and Serena are captured of course. Our goal is also to get rid of the Lancers, but that is a secondary priority."

Darkness narrowed his eyes, "And about Yuri's lookalikes?"

"Hoh? Why the interest? You haven't ever met his three counterparts once in your life."

Darkness frowned out of irritation, he really didn't want to state his reasons. The Doktor didn't know shit about it. So he stayed as cryptic as possible.

"Let's just say...I have some...history with Yuri and his counterparts…"

"Really now? As I've stated, you've never met Yuri's counterparts before. So why do you really want a hand at them?" The Doktor enquired his 'comrade'.

"I'm not obliged to answer." Darkness replied with a small smirk on his face.

"From what I remember, you always hated Yuri for how smug he acts despite your Dueling skills being superior to his?"

"From your logic, Doktor, you would be implying that I am disgusted by everyone aligned with Academia, except the Professor. Of course, everyone except the Professor would include you too. If that is what you're implying…" Darkness let out a dark smile, "Then you're not wrong."

"You've always wanted to stab Yuri in the back, haven't you?"

"I've never thought of him or anyone else except the Professor as my comrade. In fact, the only person from your little group that I actually hold some sort of respect for is Barrett."

"Touché. Of course, I don't really respect the Professor in the slightest." The Doktor grinned, not bothered by Darkness' attitude in anyway.

"I know what you're up to with those parasites of yours."

"..."

The grin on the Doktor's face had disappeared, he had turned his back so Darkness couldn't see. The masked man could tell he made his mark however, and a smirk appeared on his face out of victory.

"You are aware that I can finish you whenever I want, right?" Darkness questioned the Doktor.

Let it be known to the world that there was nothing more silent than the Doktor at that moment.

The Doktor regained his composure and shoved the topic off to the side and moved to something else, beginning to walk away from Darkness.

"I have Rin at the ready. She is ready to assist you if needed." Darkness said as a silhouette walked into the alleyway, revealing themself to be Rin.

Darkness glanced at the girl, seeing that the Wind Witch user's eyes were now void of any emotion.

"Do you have that tracker on Ruri that you put on those two Cards?" Darkness asked curiously, wanting to see if the Doktor's reputation as a genius really lived up to its name.

"No. For some reason, one of my trackers were destroyed, and the other one is just sitting in one place, it surely isn't her. To make things worse, Ruri isn't under my control anymore."

"Anymore? We were never told that Ruri was under your control. What is the meaning of this?" Darkness took a step toward the Doktor, and indirectly Rin.

There was once again silence, and Darkness knew that the Doktor was sweating heavily, even in the dark.

Soon, the Doktor found the will to speak, however he once again changed the topic, "Whenever you are ready, send the signal for the attack."

Darkness nodded his head, deciding to put aside the Doktor's questionable allegiance to the Professor to the side for now. He raised his head to look at the sky.

The same night sky that had disappeared long ago. Deep inside his black heart, he had wished the sky was the same as it used to be.

But it will never be the same.

"The night sky will change. Just like how the four dimensions will change after the war is won."


Finished!

So, the Fusion Dimension is going to launch an attack on the Synchro Dimension similar to the one on Xyz.

So, this chapter is just a little interlude if you will, which is why there was no Duel.

Now if you guys were wondering, next chapter, we will go into the underground. Now I'll say this now, the Duel with Tsukikage, Sora, and the Obelisk Force has happened already off screen. I won't show the Duel, but it still happened. As of right now, Tsukikage is already on his way to the underground.

I also wanted to mention something else but I have forgotten it at the moment.

One more thing, next chapter, we may have 'Darkness' first Duel. It won't be against anyone important. It will be against Duel Chaser 227, who unlike the other members of Security, isn't complete donkey cheeks as he gave Yuto and Yugo a run for their money.

DG: Yes, I had Ryoga mention underground Dueling before. I had him mention that for two reasons. 1. So he could relate to the underground Dueling in Synchro. 2. To also show that even before Academia attacked, although Heartland was a pretty peaceful place, it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows.

Skadi: Yugo will be facing Sergey if you forgot.

Bridgey: The guys in the underground will be featured next chapter. For the record, Yuzu isn't the underground at the moment.

That's all for now guys. Hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Take care, goodbye!