Starting Notes:

Welcome back! I… had to split this chapter, which was already 'the second half' of the last chapter, into another two halves for narrative structure, so… yup :) Definitely not laughing over my own hubris with regards to that… still, I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 104: A Derailed Train of Thought

Things had moved quickly after that, all things considered. Hisako and Rio had escorted the crying Sayaka to one of the chambers that they had turned into interrogation rooms. Unfortunately, Hisako had never quite had the finesse for interrogation, nor did she really like doing it in the first place. As such, she had come to find him.

So now Kaede was sitting in a room with a crying girl that had apparently been planning to betray the entire Resistance, with far too many questions in his head.

… he wasn't going to like these answers, was he?

"If you would just tell us why you wanted to betray the Resistance," he said, "this would go much easier."

"I…" Sayaka hiccupped. "I can't…"

"Was it a promise of safety? Of your loved ones?" There were plenty of things that Academia had tried to use to sway them. "That you'd be the one to survive if you helped them take the rest of us down?"

"No!"

Kaede narrowed his eyes. "If you don't tell us, then you really have betrayed us," he warned. "We're only treating you so well because Rio caught you before you did any real harm… well, that might not be true."

Sayaka's head shot upwards, her eyes wide as she stammered. "W-what?"

"... we've suspected that there's a mole in the Resistance for quite a while," Kaede said. "And…"

"And you think it's me," Sayaka said. Her voice sounded… heartbroken. Kaede did his best to pretend that it didn't affect him. "You think I've been doing this this whole time. I… I know you have no reason to believe me, but I didn't… I haven't…"

"... information has been leaking out of the Resistance for a while now, Sasayama." Kaede folded his arms. "You and Allen barely leave the base, and when you do, you're with each other. And yet you managed to get caught up in this just like those other traitors from Diamond Branch. How would you have gotten contacted from Academia recently, when you haven't been unaccounted for? Unless, of course, Allen is also…"

"Allen has nothing to do with this!" Sayaka exclaimed.

"Then you must have met with Academia when he wasn't there," Kaede said. "Meaning that you must have met them a while ago." He shook his head. "... I've been told that you looked far too comfortable eavesdropping, before you were caught."

"... were you told that by Rio?" Sayaka said, her voice quiet.

"Yes," Kaede said. He stood up. "You'll be under guard. We have no reason to suspect Allen for now, but if you don't explain things, we'll have to dig more into what you've been doing."

He walked away from her, briefly turning his head.

"Whenever you want to speak," he said, "you'll be worthy of forgiveness. But the longer you leave it, the more unforgivable your reasons become. Just keep that in mind."

He took another step away—

And Sayaka finally broke down.

"Fine…" She whispered. "Fine, I'll tell you… just please, please don't let her get to me."

Kaede frowned. 'Her'…

"Her?" The one who spoke then wasn't him. He turned his head.

"... Tsubaki-san," Sayaka said weakly.

"Tell me," Tsubaki said, stepping closer to her. She looked resigned. "If you want us to believe you. Tell me about what that person said to you."

Sayaka swallowed. "She just told me to tell her what plans you guys made," she said. "And she told me she would come after me and my entire family forever, if I didn't…"

"So you say that you haven't been leaking anything before this," Tsubaki said. "Have you?"

"No!"

"... then she set you up," Tsubaki said. Her voice was completely placid. "You realise that, right?"

"... huh?"

"If Academia already had a way of finding information without you here, then they had no reason to ask you to spy on us and report back to them," Tsubaki said. Sayaka's eyes widened as she finally caught onto the meaning of the red-haired girl's words. "The only reason she asked you—you, someone that's known for being skittish and nervous—to spy on us… do you understand what it is?"

"... she wanted me to get caught?" Sayaka said, sounding horrified.

"It doesn't change the fact that you betrayed us. But yes. She wanted you to get caught, so that we would assume that you were the one leaking information and stop trying to figure out just how she's been finding out our plans," Tsubaki said. "... does that help you realise just how foolish you've been? She counted on your skittishness to make us think you were lying. You were tasked to do something useless, all as a trick—one that we didn't even fall for."

Sayaka lowered her head.

"But you still have to stay here," Tsubaki said.

"Huh? But you know…"

"You still betrayed us," Tsubaki said bluntly. "But… why let the enemy know that we've figured out this trick?" She looked over at Kaede. "Let's keep our speculations secret."

"... you want to make them think that they succeeded," Kaede said. "So that we can try and fish them out."

"... we're about to face off against Academia." At Kaede's confused look, she clarified things. "Reiji Akaba and I have settled on a plan. For now, all we have to do is prepare to take them down."

… about time. The only reason they had waited this long was because of Tsubaki's caution in the first place.

"So, if we keep her here and spread a rumour that she's been leaking information this whole time…" Tsubaki cast a brief look at Sayaka. "Our enemy might think that they've succeeded and slip up."

"But, everyone will think…"

"That you did something that you were in the process of doing?" Sayaka winced at the harsh words. "Just because you were caught, do you think that it's any less of a betrayal?"

"That's not what I…"

"If you have any loyalty left in your heart, you should just stay here." The Firebird King of Hearts turned her back on the purple-haired girl. "... it's the best way to keep yourself safe, don't you think?"

When she left, Kaede followed her.

"... do you want to talk about it?" He asked. It was obvious that she was upset about something.

"... it's troubling," Tsubaki admitted.

"Why did you say it while I was there? The less people that know, the better."

"... maybe I just trust you," Tsubaki said. "... just have faith in me for a while longer."

"I always do," Kaede said, and he willed her to understand. You can rely on us too.

Tsubaki turned to look at him properly. "… tomorrow morning," she said. "We should all talk then."

"Sure." Kaede paused. "… all?"

"All of us," she confirmed. "You, me, the other two. Reiji Akaba and his people. And especially Nue."

"… but not Kaito?"

"… it's about time we give up on him," Tsubaki said. "We've tried enough."

Can you really accept that? Kaede wondered, but he didn't say anything. He only knew the smallest amount of details when it came to his friend's relationship with Kaito Tenjo—but one thing that she'd always been adamant about was that even if they were close, even if Kaito obviously had a thing for her, she held no such feelings towards him. It was a weird relationship, all things considered—Kaede trusted her word, and he was pretty sure that he knew where exactly her romantic inclinations had been. (It was a shame that the war had never given them the chance to bloom.)

… he'd just have to hope that ignoring Kaito Tenjo didn't come back to bite them.

Ruri had been talking to some other members of the Resistance (ones that she was less familiar with, of course) when the rumour of Sayaka betraying the Resistance had reached them. The moment that she could, she excused herself and walked off.

She didn't go look for Yuto or Shun. Instead, she found a corner where no one else was—and buried her head in her knees.

Sayaka had betrayed them. Sayaka, her best friend. Apparently, according to the rumour, she'd been betraying them for months.

And Ruri hadn't noticed anything. She hadn't even gotten a chance to try and talk her friend out of it—because how long had it been since they'd had a proper, serious conversation? She had gone to Sayaka when she was struggling with a crush on Yuto. It had been at a sleepover with Sayaka and Rio (and Rio's annoyed brother hanging out in the kitchen) that Ruri had shyly confessed her worries over her brother's overprotectiveness and how she wanted to do things by herself too. Sayaka was so important to her, and yet…

When Ruri had come back to Heartland, had she approached Sayaka herself for any reason? Or had she always been moving onto the next thing, the next plan, without slowing down to just ask her friend if she was alright? Without noticing that something was wrong?

Maybe Ruri was part of the reason that Sayaka had been desperate enough to betray them…

She couldn't help but think about Sachi Izumi's words again. Maybe she really was the lucky one, she thought. Maybe she had been selfish. Maybe she had just never realised how little she ever did for anyone else.

She didn't know how long she was sitting there, but she did react when she heard voices coming down the passageway.

"I'm just irritated at myself," the first voice said.

"You can't expect to work well with the other Lancers when we've only just gotten here," the second voice said, slightly chiding. "Plus, you don't have much history with most of them, except… Rinsoka-san, right? If you talked to them more, maybe…"

"You don't need to tell me that—" The footsteps approached, before they stopped. "Ruri?"

Ruri looked up.

Chiaki sat down next to her, glancing at her. Rin did the same.

"Are you okay?" Rin asked concernedly.

Ruri glanced at them, wiping at her eyes. She felt a little embarrassed about being caught crying—but then again, she'd cried so much when she was stuck in that tower that these two were probably used to it by now. "My best friend betrayed the Resistance," she said.

Rin's eyes widened. Chiaki was much less subtle. "That girl who stutters a lot?"

"Yeah," Ruri said. "I don't know why."

"Maybe don't judge too quickly?" Rin said. "Maybe—"

"She got caught doing it," Ruri said. "... I don't think it's debatable. She just did it."

"… oh." Rin put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry about that, Ruri."

"It's okay," Ruri said. "I just don't know why. Was it my fault?"

Rin gently patted her shoulder again. "It's not," she said—immediately supporting Ruri. It didn't really make her feel better, though it was sweet of Rin to try.

"… you're trying too hard to take credit for someone else's idiocy, Ruri," Chiaki said, far more harshly than Rin.

"Huh?"

"There is no good reason…" Chiaki clenched her fists. "For anyone to betray someone else."

"But…" Ruri wrapped her arms around herself. "Maybe I could have stopped her before she made a mistake like this. Maybe if I was there for her…" She trailed off.

"Then what?" Chiaki said, though there was no force in her words.

Ruri swallowed slowly, putting her hands in her lap. "Is it bad," she said softly, "that I'm more betrayed by the fact that she didn't come to me than the fact that she betrayed everyone? That she just did this… without caring what anyone would think of her?"

… it was such a mean thing to be thinking. It was horrifying to Ruri herself.

"Ruri…" Rin looked surprised—she clearly hadn't expected Ruri to say something like that. Ruri felt like curling in a ball—she shouldn't have admitted it.

Chiaki looked at her. Then, she abruptly said: "I still can't forgive Asuka Tenjoin. You know, that girl I used to talk about."

Ruri blinked.

"I trusted her so much," Chiaki said. "When I didn't really trust anyone back then. She smiled to my face and helped Academia kidnap me behind my back, and then she had the gall to come to me and tell me that she was sorry. But it doesn't matter. Being sorry doesn't change things. It doesn't change the fact that she betrayed me. To be honest, who cares about the fact that her spying probably helped to destroy my whole world too? That's terrible, but you want to know what hurt me the most? What still hurts me the most? It's that she lied to my face and pretended that she wanted nothing more than to be my friend. At least when an enemy hurts you, they're honest about it."

Ruri understood exactly what she was trying to say.

… it didn't make her happier. "It's not the same thing," she said.

"Why not? If she betrayed you, she betrayed you—"

"It's just different!" Ruri looked Chiaki in the eyes, practically begging her to understand. "Because… your friend approached you intending to betray you from the start, right?"

Chiaki's eyes widened.

"But that's not what Sayaka and I are," Ruri said, even more tired than before. "Before all of this, before the war and everything… she was my best friend. I trusted her. That's the problem. She changed, she wasn't like this, and… I don't know how to deal with that."

"… you're right," Chiaki said. She glanced away. "Sorry. I was trying to help, but I think I fucked it up."

"You're trying," Rin said, clearly trying to help both of them out. She turned to Ruri. "And… if it's tearing you up so much inside, Ruri, why not go talk to her?"

Ruri looked back at her. Rin sighed and took her hands, gently squeezing them.

"If you're so hurt by what she did," she said, "then go talk to her. Tell her that she hurt you. And ask her why."

… yes. It really was that simple, wasn't it?

"I should do that," Ruri finally said. She smiled tentatively. "Thanks, Rin. And thanks too, Chiaki."

"I didn't really help," Chiaki pointed out.

"But you validated me immediately," Ruri said. She put a hand on her chest. "How I felt… thanks for that."

"Whatever," Chiaki said. She shot Ruri a smile. "What are friends for?"

Rin laughed—seeming relieved. "Mm! We'll be right here if you need us!"

Sayaka had betrayed the Resistance? Of all people, it was Sayaka?

… needless to say, Allen had nothing that he could say. He'd been suspecting the Lancers for so long, paranoid of everyone else for so long, and then it turned out that it had been the one person that he hadn't suspected? It might be better if he hadn't found out. At least—

At least, he wouldn't feel so damn stupid!

He'd been counting on her, Allen realised. Because Sayaka was so nice, and she always listened to him, and he'd taken that for granted. If there was one person he believed in, it was her…

… maybe that just meant that he was a dumbass. Maybe he shouldn't have trusted anyone at all. Maybe—

Maybe he was just alone, no matter what.

There were footsteps. Allen looked up.

… fuck. He didn't want to see this person right now.

Yuya Sakaki shuffled his feet. "Hey," he said. "Can I sit down?"

Allen glared at him. "Come to gloat or something?" He muttered.

"Huh? No, I just…" Yuya frowned. "I heard about what happened with Sasayama-san? And everyone was discussing it, but I didn't hear anyone talk about you… so I wanted to check on you."

Allen froze.

"Are you okay?" Yuya asked—and, damn it, he had the audacity to look concerned. As though he actually cared about Allen or something…!

"I'm fine," Allen muttered. "Get lost."

"I can't do that," Yuya said. "Not when you look so upset."

"What does that have to do with you?" Allen snapped.

"Because we're allies!"

"You're not my ally!" Allen shot back. He didn't have any allies anymore, not here, not after Sayaka. He couldn't trust anyone.

"I just want people to smile," Yuya said. "... just like my father did."

A different man's voice spoke up in Allen's head, at that moment. "Because I'm your teacher, and you're my student. And I want my student to smile."

He gritted his teeth. "Your father was naive," he said, "and a traitor. And you are at least one of those things, too!"

Yuya gulped. However, his eyes were determined as he sat down next to Allen—despite the fact that Allen hadn't answered his initial question.

"What?" Allen muttered rudely.

"You really hate my father," Yuya said. "I wanted to know why… is it just that he wasn't here?"

'Just'? This guy had no idea. But…

But Allen really wanted to complain about that guy.

"You said you wanted to know about what your father did here," he said abruptly. "I'll tell you. But screw off afterwards." Just so that he could complain, just so that he could say something…

Yuya's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Some of it's what I heard from the others," Allen muttered. "But shut up before I change my mind." And then, he started to talk.

(... well, there was one person that had introduced Yusho Sakaki to him first. He missed her so much.)

(... there were way too many memories coming back.)

Four years ago:

Look. When one started studying at Clover Branch, they'd learn super quickly that there was one teacher who all the older students liked. Namely, the Man of Mystery himself, the guy with the office right by the stadium, on the opposite side of the school from the classrooms. Apparently he'd only joined the school this year, but he had already shown just how strong he was—and Anna had taken note, okay?

Obviously she had.

If there was such a damn strong teacher, you bet she was gonna figure him out!

Still, she hadn't actually had him in class yet, so in the end, she impatiently marched over to the office and knocked on it, to the shock of everyone around her. Hey, she wasn't one to hold back!

The door opened. A black-haired man looked at her, seeming surprised.

Before he could say anything, Anna barrelled forward with absolutely zero delicacy or grace. "You're the Mystery Teacher, aren't you?"

"Is that what they're calling me?" The man relaxed. "Yusho Sakaki. And you?"

"First year, Anna Kozuki!" Anna grinned. "Duel me!"

She'd expected stammers, or half-hearted promises for later like most other teachers—but Yusho seemed genuinely surprised, and then he grinned. "Sure," he said. "I like your initiative! I don't think I'm scheduled to take first years for a few more months though…"

"A friend of mine told me you're good!" And anyone that Kaito Tenjo thought was good would probably be someone great to learn from.

"Well, I'd better live up to that," Yusho said, sounding entertained. "Why don't you go back to classes? I'll duel you afterwards, if you want."

Anna grinned, nodding. "I'll hold you to it!"

So obviously, when Allen came to find her after school (her lil brother was so excited to hear about her day, it was kinda funny!) Anna dragged him along to watch her match against the mystery man. In fact, there were quite a few other people there.

Kaito approached her with a smirk. "Hey, Kozuki," he said. He nodded towards Allen as well. "Heard that you challenged Yusho-sensei."

"Hell yeah! You told me he's good, I wanna see just how good he is!"

"I should've expected that," Kaito said. "Well, I'll be watching. Some of the others are here too, so you'd better do us first-years proud."

"Says you, first-year Ace of Clubs," Anna said, flicking him in the arm. "Yeah! I'll do my absolute best, haha. That guy had better give me a challenge…"

She headed out to the field, where Yusho was talking to a few other students. Eventually, the others dispersed to the stands and Yusho turned to look at Anna.

"Shall we start?"

"Hell yeah!" Anna raised her duel disk. "You'd better not hold back, teach!"

"I never do," Yusho said. He raised his own in response. "Very well! Keep that energy—and let's entertain the crowd together!"

Anna grinned. "That works with me! Let's go!"

[DUEL!]

Anna Kozuki: 4000LP

Yusho Sakaki: 4000LP

[Turn 1: Anna] [H:5]

"Let's go!" Anna revealed a card in her hand. "Field Spell, Revolving Switchyard! I'll send Snow Plow Hustle Rustle from my hand to the graveyard to add Night Express Knight from my deck to my hand! And then—" She slammed the card down with a bright smirk. "I can Normal Summon Night Express Knight without any tributes, but its attack points become 0!"

The train with a white knight attached to the top of it appeared, just as enormous as it always was.

[Night Express Knight (10*/3000/3000/EARTH/Machine/Effect)]

[Night Express Knight: 3000 → 0ATK]

"A Level 10 monster, just like that?"

"Impressed?"

"Of course I am!" Yusho said, sounding rather genuine. "But, dare I assume that this isn't the only performer you have in mind this turn?"

"You got that right!" Anna flashed her teeth in a wide grin. "Since I control only EARTH Machine monsters, I can Special Summon Super Express Bullet Train from my hand!" A large blue train appeared on the field next to Night Express Knight, bright jets of flame shooting out behind it before fading.

[Super Express Bullet Train (10*/3000/0/EARTH/Machine/Effect)]

"And you have to know how this goes, right? I've got two Level 10 monsters on the field now, after all! I'll overlay my Level 10 Night Express Knight and my Level 10 Super Express Bullet Train! From beyond the railway, arriving here and now, alongside the tremors of the earth. Xyz Summon! Rank 10! Appear—Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Gustav Max!" Her ace, that enormous green cannon, appeared on the field.

[Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Gustav Max (R10/3000/3000/EARTH/Machine/Xyz/Effect) (OU:2)]

"Gustav Max's effect!" Anna snapped her fingers. "Fire off that shot! By using an Overlay Unit, once per turn, Gustav Max can deal you 2000 damage!"

She loved watching Gustav Max fire—the cannon shot rung across the whole arena, creating a holographic explosion of smoke.

[Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Gustav Max: OU:2 - 1 = OU:1]

But…

The smoke cleared, and Yusho was standing behind a large blue cape. The cape shrunk back down, revealing the shape of a goat made of blue fabric. The goat leapt around, before fading.

"My Performapal Rain Goat!" Yusho declared. "By discarding it, I reduce that damage to 0!"

"... nice!" Anna snapped her fingers. "I like that! You're not bad, sensei! I'll set a card and end my turn. And Bullet Train's effect will add Snow Plow Hustle Rustle to my hand!"

"... alright, Kozuki-san." Yusho reached for the top card of his deck. "Then, I suppose it's my move!"

[Turn 2: Yusho] [H:5]

The way that he lifted the card was extremely flashy—he turned his head to look at it, still smiling.

"Now, for my first move… since my opponent controls a monster and I control no monsters, I can Special Summon Performapal Revue Dancer from my hand!" A dark-skinned dancer with a large red bow in her hair appeared on the field, bowing with a wink.

[Performapal Revue Dancer (3*/800/1000/LIGHT/Spellcaster/Effect)]

"Revue Dancer can be treated as two tributes for a Tribute Summon!" Yusho held out a card. "So let's welcome my ace monster to the field!" Revue Dancer faded into shards of light. "Draw back the curtain and appear now! The one, the only Performapal Sky Magician!"

A tall, pale magician appeared, holding onto several bright gold rings that he spun around in the air. He took flight on bright purple wings that formed from his cloak, doing a quick bow. He had pale blue fabric wrapped around his waist, curling over and forming a sash that floated through the air as well.

[Performapal Sky Magician (7*/2500/2000/WIND/Spellcaster/Effect)]

"Wow! So that's your ace? It can't win against my Gustav Max though…."

"I wouldn't worry about that," Yusho said. He revealed another card in his hand. "Continuous Spell, Magician's Restage! Once while it is face-up on the field, I can revive a Level 3 or lower Spellcaster monster! So welcome back to the stage, my previous performer—Revue Dancer!" The blue-haired dancer reappeared on the field, to the left of Sky Magician. "And then, I'll tribute Revue Dancer to Special Summon Performapal Sleight Hand Magician from my hand!"

A colourful magician dressed in a red suit appeared, grinning widely as he spun a thin silver staff in his hands. White wings could be seen forming around his suit, from his waist.

[Performapal Sleight Hand Magician (7*/2500/2000/LIGHT/Spellcaster/Effect)]

"Sky Magician's effect," Yusho said. "I can return Restage back to my hand!"

Anna blinked—what did that do to help him? It wasn't like his attack points were going to increase with that…

"Now!" Yusho spread his arms out. "As dramatic and overpowering as your monster is, it's time that it exits the stage to make room for this performance!" He held up Restage. "By discarding a card, I'll destroy your monster!"

"What?" Anna shielded her face as Gustav Max blew up. "... huh…"

"Since Restage was sent to the graveyard, I'll add a "Magician" Continuous Spell from my deck to my hand! I'll add and activate Magician's Curtain!" Yusho gestured forward. "Now! Let's see if you can escape this situation! I have two monsters on the field, and both of them are strong—in fact, Sky Magician is even stronger, since I activated a Spell this turn! He's got 300 attack points on Sleight Hand Magician!"

[Performapal Sky Magician: 2500 + 300 = 2800ATK]

"For the first act! Set up the stage for us! Sleight Hand Magician attacks directly!"

"Not that fast, teach!" Anna revealed a card in her hand. "Snow Plow Hustle Rustle's effect! When you declare a direct attack while I have a card in my Spell or Trap Zone, I Special Summon it and destroy all cards in my Spell and Trap Zones!" A large red and yellow train dusted with snow landed on the field, blocking off Sleight Hand Magician's attack with its large size.

[Snow Plow Hustle Rustle (10*/2500/3000/EARTH/Machine/Effect)]

"And you take 200 damage for each destroyed card!" Some snow flew towards Yusho as well, hitting him in the leg.

Yusho: 4000 - 200 = 3800LP

"My set card, Urgent Schedule, adds a Level 10 Machine monster from my deck to my hand when it's sent to the graveyard after being set! Then, Revolving Switchyard's effect!" Anna grinned. "I'll Special Summon a Level 4 EARTH Machine monster with 1800 attack points from my deck, since I summoned a Level 10 EARTH Machine monster! Come! Flying Pegasus Railroad Stampede!" A large white train with a front engine shaped like a regal horse appeared.

[Flying Pegasus Railroad Stampede (4*/1800/1000/EARTH/Machine/Effect)]

"Flying Pegasus Railroad Stampede's effect! I'll Special Summon Super Express Bullet Train from the graveyard in Defense Position with its effects negated! And Switchyard makes Railroad Stampede Level 10!"

[Flying Pegasus Railroad Stampede: 4* → 10*]

"I see," Yusho said. "Well done." He was still smiling. "Then I suppose I must respond to you in kind, Kozuki-san." He pointed towards Railroad Stampede, and Sleight Hand Magician crushed it.

Still, what could he do right now?

"Then…" He pointed to his two monsters. "I'll enter my Main Phase 2 and overlay my two Level 7 monsters!"

Of course he could Xyz Summon too… who couldn't?

Still, Yusho looked a bit perplexed as he looked at his cards, and then he carefully arranged them on the duel disk, before stacking the Xyz Monster on top of it. "... like this," he said to himself. "In a blaze of glory, arrive, new performer! Xyz Summon! Rank 7! Performapal Blaze Magician!"

In front of him, a new spellcaster appeared—he looked very similar to Sky Magician, with his cape being bright crimson instead of purple. In fact, all the purple parts of the magician had become red, and the edges of the cape burned with bright embers. The golden rings that he was spinning through the air were now burning like those rings of fire that animals leapt through in circuses.

Blaze Magician tossed up a ring in the air, and as it flew up, one of the orbiting Overlay Units flew through it in a quick loop. He bowed, gesturing forward in challenge.

[Performapal Blaze Magician (R7/2500/2000/FIRE/Spellcaster/Xyz/Effect) (OU:2)]

"Damn," Anna said. "That one's pretty cool…"

"Blaze Magician's effect! By using one Overlay Unit, we can welcome back another performer to the stage!" One of the hoops flew through the air, and then from within it, as though emerging from a pocket space, Sky Magician reappeared on the field.

[Performapal Blaze Magician: OU:2 - 1 = OU:1]

"To add to my field, I'll activate the Continuous Spell, Magician's Right Hand. And I'll end my turn—it's your move!"

[Turn 3: Anna] [H:2]

"Draw!" Anna smirked. "I'm gonna crush you with extreme force! Revolving Switchyard's effect! I'll discard a card from my hand and add a Level 10 EARTH Machine monster from my deck to my hand!"

She reached out for her deck—and then, a white, gloved hand covered it up. It was just a hologram, obviously, but it still meant something.

"The first time that my opponent activates a Spell card or effect while I control Magician's Left Hand and a Spellcaster monster, that effect is negated on resolution," Yusho said. "Then—"

The hand shifted over, moving next to Anna's Field Spell.

"That card is destroyed!" Yusho snapped his fingers—and the hand slammed down on the Field Spell, shattering it.

"Damn." Anna whistled. "You like negating things, teach?"

"I enjoy it," Yusho said with a wink. "Performance is an act of mutual reaction, is it not? And negation is the purest form of action and reaction."

"Geez. Fancy words to call yourself a stun player." Anna shrugged. "Well, I already have one anyway! Spell Card, Special Schedule! You can't negate this one! I'll Special Summon a Machine monster with 3000 attack points from my graveyard!"

"... unfortunately, Kozuki-san, that is not on the table for you." Yusho held out his hand. "Performapal Sky Magician's effect! Once per turn, I can return a Continuous Spell to my hand!"

Magician's Right Hand vanished from the field as Yusho picked it up. Still smiling, the dark-haired man flipped it over.

"Then, I can activate a "Magician" Continuous Spell from my hand! I will activate Magician's Right Hand again!"

"But you can't negate my Spell with that—I activated it before your card returned to the field!" Anna countered.

"Incorrect." Yusho held out a hand, smiling—he really did look like a teacher like that. Huh. "Here's a lesson for you, young Kozuki! Magician's Right Hand negates your effect on resolution, not activation. Thus—this still manages to negate your card."

Anna blinked—and her card fizzled out. "Jeez," she said. "That's something I didn't know… what cards even do that?"

"There are a few. This one certainly does though!" Yusho turned to his two magicians. "And once per turn, when a Spell is activated, my two performers power up! Sky Magician gains 300 attack points, while Blaze Magician gains 500 attack points!"

[Performapal Sky Magician: 2500 + 300 = 2800ATK]

[Performapal Blaze Magician: 2500 + 500 = 3000ATK]

Anna sighed. She'd wanted to summon one more Level 10 monster to overlay all three into a certain monster that would have gotten rid of all her opponent's backrow cards… but ugh. She'd just have to settle.

Settle for massive damage, that was!

"Overlaying my two monsters! Come back, Gustav Max!" She Xyz Summoned a second copy of her cannon to the field. "And I'll detach an Overlay Unit! Fire off 2000 damage at him, Gustav Max!"

A large blast hit the other side of the field—halving Yusho's life points in an instant.

Yusho: 3800 - 2000 = 1800LP

"And now, Gustav Max attacks Sky Magician!"

"When you declare an attack while I control a Spellcaster monster," Yusho said, seeming entirely calm, "Magician's Curtain lets me negate that attack!" Sky Magician glided back as explosions rained down around him, disappearing behind a curtain and vanishing, protecting himself from the attack.

Anna's eyes widened, and then she grinned. "I see," she said. "Well, teach, you've eaten up all my cards! Next turn's all yours. Think you've sealed the match already though…"

"He's got Anna on the ropes!" Allen clung to the railing, eyes wide. "Man, is he famous or something? How come we've never heard of him?"

Kaito smirked, as though he knew something that Allen didn't. "Yusho-sensei is rather talented, isn't he? He's strongest with the element of surprise—those swapping Continuous Spells are pretty strong."

[Turn 4: Yusho] [H:1]

"Draw!" Yusho glanced at the card in his hand, before looking back at Anna's field. "Interesting… I'll activate the effect of Blaze Magician! I'll detach his other Overlay Unit and bring back my Sleight Hand Magician as well!" The other spellcaster from earlier reappeared on the field.

[Performapal Blaze Magician: OU:1 - 1 = OU:0; 3000 + 500 = 3500ATK]

[Performapal Sky Magician: 2800 + 300 = 3100ATK]

"And I'll activate Sky Magician's effect! I will return my Magician's Curtain to my hand!" The defensive curtain from earlier vanished, even as Sky Magician bowed dramatically on the field. "And then, I will activate the Continuous Spell, Magician's Left Hand!"

Left Hand… Allen frowned. Huh?

"Sleight Hand Magician's effect! I'll discard a card in my hand and destroy your Gustav Max!"

Anna's cannon blew up, which was a weird sight—it was usually her blowing things up, not the other way around!

Still, Anna grinned. "Let's see then," she said. "Right Hand negates Spells… so Left Hand negates Traps, right?"

"Yes," Yusho said—sharing his card effects openly? What?

"Well then, you got the win!" Anna revealed a card in her drop. "My Barrage Blast banishes itself and Gustav Max from the graveyard to deal you 200 damage times Gustav Max's Rank… but you're going to negate that, aren't you?"

"The moment that Trap effect resolves, Left Hand will negate it," Yusho confirmed.

"... man! Then I've been outmatched. You're good, teach." Anna gestured forward. "Go ahead, yeah?"

Yusho had a rather confident smile. "I like to make sure my opponent enjoys themselves, but as a teacher, I must also make it clear when there are things to learn," he said. "I hope that's lived up to your expectations?"

"Hey, I challenged you as a teacher! I knew what to expect. But…" Anna smirked. "Next time, I won't lose!"

"Hah. Then feel free to challenge me again." Yusho gestured forward—Sleight Hand Magician and Sky Magician both floated up in the air. Then, they both dove down, their staffs casting bright light through the air—

Neatly cutting through Anna's life points.

Anna: 4000 - 3500 - 3100 = 0LP

Winner: Yusho Sakaki!

"No way," Allen muttered.

Kaito grinned. "Want to meet him?" He said. "You said you're going to come to Clover Branch in the future, right? Don't know if Yusho-sensei will still be here in the future, but… I'm sure he'd be happy to meet you."

Allen gulped.

… well, the guy was cool.

"Okay," he said. "Sure."

One year ago:

Allen paced around the classroom, nervously pulling at his poncho. He only looked up when he heard the door open, and he grinned.

"Hey, Yusho-sensei!" He greeted cheerfully.

"That's a good smile!" Yusho chuckled. "Can I take it that you're ready for your exam today then?"

Allen gulped. "Uh," he said. "I mean…"

"... not so prepared?"

"That guy's a ranked member of Diamond Branch, and he's a second year!" Allen said defensively. "I just got unlucky in my assigned opponent…"

Yusho stared at him, before laughing again. "No such thing," he said. "Tell you what, Allen. Why don't you just go out and duel? I have something for you once you're done."

"Really?" Allen perked up. If there was one thing he'd learned about his favourite teacher, it was that Yusho was extremely good at gifts. (And obviously, he'd learned plenty of other things as well.)

"Yeah. So watch your friends duel instead of worrying so much, alright?"

"... yes, sensei!" Allen charged out of the room. He heard Yusho laugh one more time behind him.

He was kind of happy about that!

This set of exams, Allen had learned early into his first year, was the first real test that Heartland Duel School gave its students—matching all of them up against students from other schools. These other students could be first years or third years, highly-ranked members or newbies, but either way, one thing was certain. These matchups were not random. They were formed based on an algorithm that Dr. Tenjo had made, in order to challenge the students involved. Apparently it took into account strategy and other things…? Whatever. Allen had fallen asleep during the explanation.

For example, Sayaka was paired up against a girl from Spade Branch… who was apparently the Ace of Spades's younger sister? And already a ranked member of Spade Branch? Damn. In the end, she lost, but she seemed happy about it, as did her opponent—the two of them left the duel field, still chatting.

Anna, who was watching with him, whistled. "Oh, you might be interested in this match," she said.

Allen peered at the field. "... huh. I think you've mentioned that guy before…" 'That guy' referred to an orange-haired boy walking into the duel field. There was a rather amused look on his face as he spoke to his opponent (who really needed no introduction, that girl was obviously Rio Kamishiro.)

"Rui Shingetsu," Anna said. "Fucking Vector. He was my opponent in the second exam of my first year."

"Huh? He was?"

"Yeah." Anna snorted. "He forgot his deck and had to loan Nue's." Huh? The Ace of Diamonds was willing to just lend her deck out like that? Were they friends or something? "He proceeded to wipe me out in two turns—I stood no chance. Point is, he's stupidly adaptable and good at figuring decks out on the go. Don't ever tell him I said this, but he's probably a good example to learn from."

Allen turned his head back to the field, genuinely curious. Rio and Vector shook hands—Vector seemed to be saying something to Rio, who scowled a moment afterwards. The orange-haired boy waved a hand in a way that was almost mocking, and then he walked back to one end of the field. Then, he and Rio raised their duel disks towards each other, and they began their duel.

[DUEL!]

Rui Shingetsu: 4000LP

Rio Kamishiro: 4000LP

[Turn 1: Vector] [H:5]

"Draw," Vector said with a smirk—his voice was loud enough for the crowd of students to hear him. "Let's see here… I'll activate the Spell Card, Onomatopaira!" He revealed the card in his hand. "I'll send one card from my hand to the graveyard to add two monsters to my hand—those monsters have to belong to one of four different archetypes, and each must come from a different archetype."

"Don't bother saying the archetypes," Rio said, looking slightly annoyed.

"Oh, but it's an integral part of the game!" Vector grinned. "So, the monsters I can add are "Zubaba" monsters, "Dododo" monsters, "Gagaga" monsters or "Gogogo" monsters!"

… what? Only half of those syllables had actually made it to Allen's ears—they just sounded like a garbled mess.

"So I'll add Zubababancho Gagagacoat from my deck to my hand—"

Somehow it was getting worse. What cards were these? Why did they sound so… weird?

"Along with Gagaga Sister!" He picked up both cards.

"Is this his actual deck?" Allen asked. Anna nodded.

"According to the people that actually talk to him," she said, "he built that deck with his foster brothers or something like that. It's based on a really old cartoon?"

A cartoon, huh.

"So let's start this out! Younger sister of the heroine, Gagaga Sister—take the stage!" A short blonde girl in a white and pink magician's robe appeared, blinking. She was… kind of cute? What? This guy didn't seem like the kind of person to use cute monsters… Allen really didn't know what to think about this.

[Gagaga Sister (2*/200/800/DARK/Spellcaster/Effect)]

"When Gagaga Sister is Normal Summoned," Vector continued, "I'll add a "Gagaga" Spell or Trap from my deck to my hand! I'll choose Gagagadraw!... no prizes for guessing what this does. But I can't use it yet—not until I do this. Welcome to the field, she who tiredly works on alliances and connections—Gagaga Clerk!" A young woman with long pink hair appeared, wearing a long white coat. She smoothed it out, along with her dark skirt and blouse, before standing up straight, looking forward determinedly.

[Gagaga Clerk (2*/400/800/DARK/Spellcaster/Effect)]

"So, do I want a Rank 2 monster, or something more?" Vector smirked. "Let's see. Gagaga Sister's effect! I'll target both her and Clerk! Since their total Levels are 4, they both become Level 4 monsters for the rest of this turn!"

Gagaga Sister spun around on the field, holding up her key-shaped staff. Both she and Clerk glowed, their Levels increasing.

[Gagaga Sister: 2* + 2* = 4*]

[Gagaga Clerk: 2* + 2* = 4*]

"I'll overlay my Level 4 Gagaga Sister and my Level 4 Gagaga Clerk!" The two monsters turned into streaks of light, shooting up. "Let's see how you do against this, yeah? Warrior that leads the charge, round 'em up for our attack! Xyz Summon! Rank 4! Gagaga Cowboy!" A man in a brown cowboy hat appeared, spinning around two guns. He looked like the hero of a television show—if Anna hadn't already told him that, Allen might have been able to guess it from this. Two orbs spun around him as he raised a gun to his lips, blowing at its barrel.

[Gagaga Cowboy (R4/1500/2400/EARTH/Warrior/Xyz/Effect) (OU:2)]

"Gagaga Cowboy's effect," Vector said. "I know you like a bit of burn damage, so I'll be taking that opportunity first. If Gagaga Cowboy is in Defense Position, I can detach one of his Overlay Units—and he deals 800 damage to you!" The gunman raised his… well, gun and pointed it straight at Rio. One of his Overlay Units flew down, entering the barrel of the gun.

[Gagaga Cowboy: OU:2 - 1 = OU:1]

He fired—and the bullet hit the ground near Rio's feet, her life points falling.

Rio: 4000 - 800 = 3200LP

Still, Rio looked unaffected—and she raised a card from her hand. "You want to play with effect damage?" She said, raising an eyebrow. "Then I'll have to disappoint you! When I take effect damage, I can Special Summon Guard Penguin from my hand!" A bird with dark blue feathers appeared, wearing a bright white and gold robe that resembled a royal guard's uniform. Its feathers flared outwards as it postured proudly.

[Guard Penguin (4*/0/1200/WATER/Winged Beast/Effect)]

"Then, I'll gain life points equal to the damage I took," Rio said, flipping her fringe. A soft blue glow surrounded her, healing back the damage she'd taken.

Rio: 3200 + 800 = 4000LP

"Cool as a cucumber, are you?" Vector laughed. "Well, we'll see… I'll set a card and end my turn." He held the two cards left in his hand between three fingers, though he was clearly keeping them out of Rio's sight. "Let's hope you're as entertaining as your brother, yeah?"

Rio twitched. "Must you do that?" She said, glaring at him.

"Ah, she really doesn't like that comparison," Anna said—though it was pretty unnecessary. Yikes. Rio looked so scary that Allen wanted to run, and she wasn't even looking at him!

"Well, if you're asking…" Vector's next grin was with teeth bared. "People as serious as you are the ones that are fun to mess with, you know."

"... ugh. You never change."

[Turn 2: Rio] [H:5]

"Draw." Rio glanced through her hand. "... good. I'm going to wipe you out, right now."

"Aww, lil miss Rio wants to do that?" Vector smirked. "... bring it."

Rio shot him a frosty look. "… so annoying. I don't know how the others deal with you. I'll activate the Field Spell, Mythological Ocean Kingdom of Poseidon! All Winged Beast and Fish monsters I control cannot be destroyed by card effects on my turn, and they gain 200 attack points!"

"And next is your Blizzard Falcon, right?"

"If you know, then—" Rio placed down the card, and the brilliant blue bird made from ice appeared on the field. "Brace yourself."

[Blizzard Falcon (4*/1500/1500/WATER/Winged Beast/Effect)]

"With my Field Spell, Blizzard Falcon gains 200 attack points," Rio said.

[Blizzard Falcon: 1500 + 200 = 1700ATK]

"And once while it's face-up on the field, if Blizzard Falcon's attack points are higher than its original attack points, I can inflict 1500 damage to you!" The bird flapped its wings, sending forth a burst of cold wind towards Vector—directly chipping away at his life points too, as he shielded his face.

Vector: 4000 - 1500 = 2500LP

"And clearly, you have nothing for it," Rio said. "In terms of damage, no one beats me."

"You wanna say that when we have people like Kaito Tenjo around?" Vector lowered his arm, revealing that he was still smiling. "Awfully cocky of you."

"I mean that almost every card in my deck is geared around damage, and nothing else." Rio's pinkish eyes were serious. "I'm not slowing down. I'll overlay the Level 4 Blizzard Falcon and the Level 4 Guard Penguin! Icy cold beast who reigns over the frigid wasteland. Arise with your cold heart and destroy our foes! Xyz Summon! Rank 4! Sylphine, the Sub-Zero Bird Beast!" In front of Rio, a woman with icy blue skin appeared, cobalt and sapphire armour covering her from head to toe. Cold wind blew across the field as she flew around them, jagged crystal and ice forming on the ground—even though they were just holograms, they looked way too real.

[Sylphine the Sub-Zero Bird Beast (R4/2000/2200/WATER/Winged Beast/Xyz/Effect) (OU:2)]

[Sylphine the Sub-Zero Bird Beast: 2000 + 200 = 2200ATK]

"Sylphine's always so interesting," Anna said with a chuckle. "I heard she's planning on moving to Rank 5 monsters as her specialty soon though…"

"It doesn't have enough attack points though," Allen pointed out.

"Please, attack points aren't everything."

… says her…

"Since I Xyz Summoned Sylphine, my Field Spell's other effect activates," Rio continued. "I'll add a Winged Beast or Fish monster with less attack points than Sylphine to my hand!" She swiped up a card. "Then, I'll activate the Equip Spell, Wings of Silence! I'll equip it to Sylphine, and she gains 300 attack points!"

[Sylphine the Sub-Zero Bird Beast: 2200 + 300 = 2500ATK]

"Furthermore, Sylphine becomes unaffected by your Spell and Trap cards!" Rio gestured forward. "Now, I'll activate Sylphine's effect! I'll detach an Overlay Unit and negate the effects of all face-up cards you currently control. Then, Sylphine gains 300 attack points for each face-up card on the field! Perfect Freeze!"

Ice blanketed the field, and Sylphine's attack points shot up.

[Sylphine the Sub-Zero Bird Beast: OU:2 - 1 = OU:1; 2500 + 300 x 4 = 3700ATK]

"You know I won't take damage this turn, right?"

"Sylphine's effects last until my next Standby Phase," Rio countered. "If I increase her attack points, the chance of you beating her in battle falls—that means that the only thing that she's vulnerable to now is monster effects. And if your Trap is meant to protect your Cowboy, you can't burn me next turn. Attack his monster, Sylphine!"

"... I'll let it go through," Vector said with a shrug. The Xyz Monster was crushed under the blast of ice.

"... I'll set a card and end my turn," Rio said. "Over to you—let's see if you make it past just Sylphine."

"Oh please, who knocked out three of your brother's monsters in a single turn last time?"

"You lost that duel to Ryoga in the end, didn't you?" Rio retorted. "Don't act like it was some big victory."

"It's all the same to me," Vector said with a shrug. "Still, I'll recover just as well. Let's go."

[Turn 3: Vector] [H:4]

"Draw," Vector said, still smirking. "Alright, let's bring that bird back down to earth, shall we? I'll activate the Continuous Spell, Onomatopickup!" The card appeared on his field, glowing with green light. "With its effect, I'll add an "Onomat" card from my deck to my hand! I'll add another Onomatopaira to my hand and activate it! I'll discard a card and add two monsters of those categories to my hand again." He smirked. "Need a recap of what those categories are?"

"No," Rio said flatly.

"Glad you asked! Well, they are—"

"She looks like she wants to hit him over the head," Anna said, looking like she was going to laugh. Below, Vector rattled off the archetype names, before he played his next card.

"I like forcing my opponent to pronounce these cards too," Vector said, the grin on his face having evolved to a look that Allen could only call 'shit-eating'. "But if you really don't want to… pfft. Can't say that with a straight face."

"Nothing about your face is straight," Rio remarked.

"... pfft. The Spell Card, Gagagadraw! I will banish Gagaga Cowboy, Gagaga Clerk and Gagaga Sister from my graveyard to draw two cards!"

He swiped up both cards.

"Now, shall we get to the most fun part?" He said with a smirk. "It's time to welcome a certain someone's favourite monster! I'll Normal Summon the one, the only ace of the Gagaga gang! Gagaga Magician!"

A tall magician appeared, dressed in various muted shades of red and brown, with some grey mixed in as well. His hat and mask were so big that they covered most of his face. Chains hung around his body loosely—he looked rather cool, honestly speaking.

… Allen was kind of upset that he had to think that about Rui Shingetsu's monster.

[Gagaga Magician (4*/1500/1000/DARK/Spellcaster/Effect)]

"He really isn't that strong," Rio said. "Though it is a flexible option…"

"You can let me worry about that," Vector said, still smirking. "I'll activate the effect of Zubababancho Gagagacoat in my hand! Since I control a "Zubaba" or "Gagaga" monster, I can Special Summon it from my hand!"

"What if I just made him 'gagaga' and die," another voice muttered gruffly from nearby. Allen turned his head and nearly yelped as Two of Spades, Ryoga Kamishiro sat down near them. His purple hair was slightly messed up—he looked like he'd literally just rolled out of bed with zero shits to give. (Huh. That sounded like how Anna would put it. Maybe his sister was rubbing off on him too much.)

Next to Ryoga, the Four of Diamonds practically cackled. "I'd like to see that. I always say we let him get away with too much shit." He drew a hand through his spiky yellow and red hair. This was Thomas Arclight, obviously. He was kind of intimidating.

The final member of the group had a smirk on his face. It was honestly rather charming—there was a reason why Two of Diamonds, Tatsuya Izumi, had been a constant figure in the society columns of Heartland since he was a kid. Allen had seen pictures of him as a kid, dressed in fancy suits, though Allen'd obviously not cared about that stuff back then. "No one's used to him in the way we are," he said. "Pity though. Vector has a far better sense of humour than most other people anyway."

"Wouldn't take your word for it, Tatsuya," Thomas remarked with a grin. "You don't look like it, but your sense of humour's way off."

Tatsuya waved a hand flippantly. "Hah. If it makes me laugh, it's funny." He glanced back down. "Still, this guy, man… you wouldn't expect him to be this invested in a children's cartoon."

In front of Vector, a warrior in dark armour appeared, swinging a sword through the air as he nodded towards Gagaga Magician.

[Zubababancho Gagagacoat (4*/1800/100/EARTH/Warrior/Effect)]

"And with Gagagacoat's effect, I'll Special Summon Dodododwarf Gogogoglove from my graveyard!" A warrior in green armour with a long, lush green cape appeared on the field next to the warrior.

[Dodododwarf Gogogoglove (4*/0/1800/EARTH/Rock/Effect)]

"Dodododwarf Gogogoglove's effect!" Vector was clearly having the time of his life with the card names. "I can Special Summon a "Gagaga" or "Zubaba" monster from my hand! Come! Gagaga Girl!" A girl dressed in a dark witch's robe and hat appeared, pink fabric wrapped around her robes like ribbons.

[Gagaga Girl (3*/1000/800/DARK/Spellcaster/Effect)]

"Gagaga Girl's effect! Once per turn, she can copy Gagaga Magician's Level!" Three stars appeared above Gagaga Girl's head, before a fourth one floated over, joining it. "So, for those slow to catch on in the audience, she becomes a Level 4 monster!"

[Gagaga Girl: 3* → 4*]

Four Level 4 monsters…

"I'll overlay the Level 4 Gagaga Girl, Gagaga Magician and Zubababancho Gagagacoat!" The three monsters shot up, forming three streaks that flew into a portal. "Foolish insects, kneel before this dazzling light! Xyz Summon! Rank 4! The one, the only, Masquerade Magician - Shining!"

In front of him, a figure dressed in white and gold landed on the field, cracked purple rock forming its limp wings. It seemed almost devilish.

[Masquerade Magician - Shining (R4/2700/1200/LIGHT/Spellcaster/Xyz/Effect) (OU:3)]

"... your monster still isn't strong enough."

"Oh, these monsters have their tricks," Vector shot back. "Gagaga Girl's effect! Since I only used "Gagaga" monsters to Xyz Summon my Masquerade Magician—I can target a Special Summoned monster you control, and its attack points permanently become 0!"

Rio narrowed her eyes.

"And your Equip Spell only protects her from Spell or Trap effects. So your Sylphine's getting dragged right back down to zero, as her name says!" The bird woman was surrounded by dark energy, letting out a pained cry.

[Sylphine the Sub-Zero Bird Beast: 3700 → 0ATK]

"And…" Vector smirked. "I still have my Gogogoglove on the field, no? So it's time to bring out my other brother's favourite card! Since there's an Xyz Monster on the field, I can Special Summon Astraltopia from my hand!" A warrior glowing with bright blue light appeared on the field, its wings spreading out dramatically as it took flight next to Masquerade.

[Astraltopia (4*/0/0/LIGHT/Warrior/Effect)]

"His brothers, huh…"

"He has two foster brothers," Anna explained—obviously, the other three, absolute jerks that they were, weren't going to explain anything to Allen. He could always count on his sister though. "I think… what, he mentioned them once, right? What were their names… Yuma and… what, Kyosei?"

"Kyosei Hokkusho?" Allen yelped.

"Oh, you know him?"

Obviously Allen knew who Kyosei Hokkusho was! That was like asking if an aspiring hologram engineer knew who Dr. Arclight was. Allen had seen photos of the man before—they were a few years older than Allen, tall, slender and pale, with light blue hair and golden eyes. In the photos, they were usually wearing formal attire, and they had a green body tattoo that was barely visible over the collar of their shirt.

Why was that guy important?

Because they were an international dueling champion. Born in Heartland, but they'd been travelling and dueling in competitions for half a decade now. Allen had seen them on television, with the announcer shouting at the top of his lungs that 'And of course, the one who clutches victory at the last minute with their clever strategy is the one, the only Astral—'

But that guy was Vector's brother? Why? Since when? How was Allen ever supposed to look Vector in the eyes again?

Why didn't Vector ever talk about that? If Anna won that many tournaments, Allen would be yelling about it all over the rooftops.

"I'll overlay the Level 4 Astraltopia and the Level 4 Dodododwarf Gagagaglove!" The two monsters shot up, turning into bright streaks. "Let's get going! Dystopia that lies within the heart of horror! Rise up now and drain all hope from this world! Xyz Summon! Rank 4!"

In front of him, a dark warrior landed—ghastly white muscle could be seen under the armour. Lightning crackled around him as he raised a thick sword—long wings spread out behind him, made of brilliant white metal. There were some spots of colour on his body, but he was mostly rather… colourless.

"Number 98!" Vector declared with a smirk. "King of Despair, Hopeless!"

[Number 98: King of Despair, Hopeless (R4/2000/2500/DARK/Warrior/Xyz/Effect) (OU:2)]

"God, he actually got Kaito to get that for him," Ryoga said with a scoff. "Ridiculous. I suppose that it's because of Nue…"

"And I think I have it here, unless you have a convenient way to get out of this! Masquerade Magician - Shining attacks your Sylphine!"

Rio shielded herself as the beautiful bird was crushed by Vector's monster, grimacing.

Rio: 4000 - 2700 = 1300LP

"Your Masquerade Magician only negates monster effects," Rio retorted. "So this will do! Trap Card, Ghost Salvage! I can activate this card when a WATER Xyz Monster is destroyed by battle! I'll Special Summon Sylphine back to the field with her effects negated—along with the two monsters used for her Xyz Summon! Come back! Blizzard Falcon! Guard Penguin!" The two smaller birds appeared in Defense Position. "And then, return! Sylphine!" Her Xyz Monster reappeared on the field with a loud cry.

"... geez." Vector shrugged. "What am I gonna do against that, huh…? Attack Blizzard Falcon, Hopeless!" The small blue bird was crushed by his Number. "I'll end my turn."

"Why'd he attack Blizzard Falcon instead of Sylphine?" Allen muttered. "She's the Xyz Monster, no?"

"Because he doesn't want Rio to get another Xyz Summon for free next turn," Thomas drawled. "Rio's Field Spell is still on the field, you know." Allen's cheeks pinked in embarrassment.

"As if that stops her," Ryoga said, rolling his eyes—clearly supporting his sister, even if he wasn't saying it directly.

[Turn 4: Rio] [H:3]

"Draw!" Rio glanced at her hand. "... I'll Normal Summon Blizzard Thunderbird!" A bright blue bird with yellow wings appeared—its wings were made of several long thunderbolt shapes.

[Blizzard Thunderbird (4*/1600/1400/WATER/Winged Beast/Effect)]

"I'll discard a card—and then, I can Special Summon a WATER Winged Beast monster from my hand, along with one from my graveyard!"

That must have been the card that she had added with her Field Spell's effect last turn…

"So return! Blizzard Falcon! And from my hand, Aurora Wing!" The two ice birds appeared on the field, though only one of them was actually a newcomer to the duel.

[Aurora Wing (4*/1200/1600/WATER/Winged Beast/Effect)]

"Then, Thunderbird returns to my hand." Rio picked up the card. "Blizzard Falcon gains 200 attack points from my Field Spell again—enough to burn you down again! Do it!"

The ice bird glowed, sending another torrent of ice towards Vector.

Vector: 2500 - 1500 = 1000LP

"I'll overlay the Level 4 Guard Penguin and the Level 4 Aurora Wing! Frozen priestess slumbering in the kingdom of Poseidra! Rise now and seal the world's fate! Xyz Summon! Rank 4! Ragna Zero, the Subzero Funerary Maiden!"

A beautiful woman dressed in white and red appeared, bright scythes of ice surrounding her. She stared forward sternly at Vector—the scythes briefly seemed to darken, as though they were stained with something, before they turned back to normal. She gestured forward with a hand—cold and regal.

[Ragna Zero, the Subzero Funerary Maiden (R4/2400/1200/WATER/Fairy/Xyz/Effect) (OU:2)]

"My Field Spell's effect! I'll add another Fish or Winged Beast monster from my deck to my hand!" Rio stared at Vector's field. "... I don't know what your Number does…"

"He's the King of Despair!" Vector said with a smirk.

"... I can't stand you."

"Pfft, you don't know my Number's effect, but I know Ragna Zero's," Vector said. "Her main power is to destroy monsters with different stats from their original stats, but Ragna Zero herself can't do it before the Battle Phase—where my monster's gonna wipe her out. So? What are you gonna do?"

"Obviously, I'm going to change your monster's attack points," Rio said. "Spell Card, Zero Blade!" She played the last card in her hand other than Thunderbird. "I'll give Ragna Zero the ability to attack twice this turn! Then, your Masquerade Magician loses 1000 attack points!"

Shining was surrounded by ice, seeming to 'stumble' on the spot.

[Masquerade Magician - Shining: 2700 - 1000 = 1700ATK]

"It's not the Battle Phase, so Shining can't protect itself!" Rio gestured forward. "Ragna Zero's effect! By detaching one Overlay Unit, I'll target Shining, which has a different amount of attack points from its original attack points! Then, I can destroy it and draw a card!"

Ragna Zero flew forward. Her scythes rose, and then—

She slashed straight through Vector's monster. Shining trembled—and then it crumbled into frozen dust.

[Ragna Zero, the Subzero Funerary Maiden: OU:2 - 1 = OU:1]

"I'll change Sylphine to Attack Position," Rio continued. Both of the birds were gaining attack points from the Field Spell, though Ragna Zero wasn't a Winged Beast, so she didn't gain any.

[Sylphine, the Sub-Zero Bird Beast: 2000 + 200 = 2200ATK]

[Aurora Wing: 1200 + 200 = 1400ATK]

"Battle! At the start of my Battle Phase, Ragna Zero can give a monster on the field 1000 attack points!" It was a way for her to trigger Ragna Zero's effect quickly, of course. "I'll target Ragna Zero herself!"

[Ragna Zero, the Subzero Funerary Maiden: 2400 + 1000 = 3400ATK]

"Ragna Zero's first attack! She'll attack your Number!"

"Yeah, her first attack," Vector said—and then he grinned fiendishly. "And it's her last one too!" He gestured forward. "Number 98: King of Despair, Hopeless's effect! When my opponent declares an attack, I can detach an Overlay Unit and change that attacking monster to defense position! New Moon Barrier!" The warrior gestured forward, a dark force surrounding Ragna Zero. He made a fist right after that—pinning the woman of ice down.

[Number 98: King of Despair, Hopeless: OU:2 - 1 = OU:1]

"What?" Rio exclaimed. Her monster was forced down to Defense Position immediately afterwards. "Then… I can't attack again with her… Sylphine!"

"Hopeless's effect isn't once per turn!" Vector grinned. "Again, Hopeless! New Moon Barrier!" He pinned down her other monster too.

[Number 98: King of Despair, Hopeless: OU:1 - 1 = OU:0]

Rio narrowed her eyes. "Aurora Wing doesn't have enough attack points… I'll have to end my turn."

[Turn 5: Vector] [H:2]

"Draw!" Vector grinned. "I'll Normal Summon another Gagaga Sister!" The small blonde girl in a white wizard's robe appeared on his field again. "I'll then use her effect! I'll add the Spell Card, Gagagadraw to my hand and activate it! I'll banish Gagaga Magician, Gagaga Girl and Zubababancho Gagagacoat from my graveyard to draw two cards!" He glanced at both cards, before smirking. "Well, aren't we lucky? Since I control a "Gagaga" monster, I can Special Summon the lucky star, Gagaga Child!" A short red-haired girl in a dark robe landed on the field, green spell circles forming around her.

[Gagaga Child (2*/800/1200/DARK/Spellcaster/Effect)]

"I won't use her effect though—that'd stop me from attacking this turn." Vector gestured forward. "I'll use Gagaga Sister's effect! My two monsters become their total Level—that is, Level 4!"

[Gagaga Sister: 2* + 2* = 4*]

[Gagaga Child: 2* + 2* = 4*]

"I'll overlay them again," Vector said—and he grinned widely. "One more time! Xyz Summon! Rank 4! Gagaga Cowboy!" The gunner from earlier reappeared on the field. "And by detaching an Overlay Unit, I can deal you 800 damage again!"

[Gagaga Cowboy: OU:2 - 1 = OU:1]

The bullet hit.

Rio: 1300 - 800 = 500LP

"And this time, I know for a fact that you don't have a Guard Penguin for it," Vector said.

"Don't get so smug…"

"Why not? I've won." Vector clapped his hands. "You can't manipulate any of my monsters' attack points anymore, not when I know all your cards. Battle Phase." He pointed forward—Hopeless raised his sword. "Your Aurora Wing is in Attack Position."

Rio narrowed her eyes.

"... oh, god damn it," Ryoga muttered from nearby. "He's never going to let her hear the end of it."

"Number 98: King of Despair, Hopeless attacks Aurora Wing!"

The warrior king raised his sword—and sliced straight through the bird, along with the rest of Rio's life points.

Rio: 500 - 600 = 0LP

Winner: Rui Shingetsu!

"He's never gonna shut up," Thomas said, looking gleeful. "Oh, he's going to be insufferable."

Anna rolled her eyes. "Come on, Allen," she said. "Let's get away from the sadism brigade."

"I'm not one of them," Ryoga muttered irritably.

"Well, you're the one hanging out with your boyfriend." Anna stood up. "You guys have fun—"

"Actually, I'm supposed to report for my match soon," Allen said, slightly sheepish.

"Huh, yeah. Me too." Thomas stood up. "My match's against you, no, Anna? Let's go."

"Hah." Anna eyed him. "... don't get cocky about it."

Thomas grinned. "We'll see! I'll make sure to show you lots of fanservice."

"... gross." Anna walked off, and Allen awkwardly followed her. Behind them, Thomas facefaulted.

"That was really fucking lame," Allen heard Ryoga say, adding salt to the wound.

As Anna and Allen made their way down, they came across a conversation. One of the people involved was Vector, of course, but the other…

"You're telling little old me that you didn't expect me to win that match? I'm heartbroken."

"It was a toss-up for me," his conversation partner returned—the sharp, analytical voice was obviously that of Nue Kamisoka, in other words, the Ace of Diamonds. "You're competent, but so is Rio. If she'd managed to bring back Blizzard Falcon one more time, that would've been it for your life points."

"Meh, I guess so. I was confident that she couldn't do it. All her revival Spells negate the effects of the monster they revive."

"Clearly not Thunderbird."

"Thunderbird has a hard once per turn on it—"

Allen and Anna crossed the corner to where the two were talking. They both looked rather laidback, relatively speaking. Vector was even smiling in a way that was different from his usual one—way less mocking. Meanwhile, Nue…

Okay, look. Allen really wasn't interested in girls much, but even he could understand why there was a running joke that 'your first crush in Heartland Duel School will be Nue Kamisoka'. The dark-haired girl just had a certain aura to her, even when she was just standing there and talking.

"Yo, Vector, Nue!"

Both of them turned over. Nue nodded, her lips curving up slightly. "Anna," she said. "And that's your brother, right?"

"He really is a mini version of you!" Vector cackled.

"Yeah!" Anna grinned proudly. "Anyway, we're heading down for our matches. You two had yours already, right?"

"You could say that," Nue said, as though she hadn't crushed some hapless boy from Spade Branch underfoot just twenty minutes ago. "Good luck for yours." She turned to Allen. "You too."

"Uh. Thanks." Allen watched as the two walked off. "They're actually friends, huh…"

"Trust me, no one understands," Anna said. "Anyway, good luck!" She ruffled his hair. "I'm up first, but I'll be watching yours, 'kay?"

"... yeah, good luck too, Anna."

So Anna impatiently waited, until it was her turn to kick ass! She stepped out onto the field, with a grin on her face.

On the other side, Thomas Arclight shot her a smirk. "Now you're excited…"

"Well, it's not 'cause of you, that's for sure!" Anna raised her duel disk. "Let's get started already!"

"... pfft. Sure."

[DUEL!]

Thomas Arclight: 4000LP

Anna Kozuki: 4000LP

[Turn 1: Anna] [H:5]

"I'll start!" Anna said determinedly.

"Yes, that seems to be what the randomiser decided," Thomas said—he might have sounded polite, but there was a gleam in his eyes that made it clear that he was making fun of her. Anna raised her middle finger at him, before she carried on with her turn.

"Spell Card, Tokusano Shinkyojin! I'll discard a Level 10 monster from my hand and draw two cards!"

She knew about Thomas Arclight's two main monsters—and she knew that summoning Gustav Max on the first turn was practically asking to lose on his next turn. So she'd have to actually think carefully about how much she wanted to do on the first turn…

Ugh. Not her forte. She'd honestly have preferred going second—she might have been able to just end him in one turn.

Still, without a lot of defensive options…

… she just had to trust herself!

"I'll Normal Summon Tin Goldfish!" A strange, flat-looking fish made of metal plates appeared on her field. It was rather colourful.

[Tin Goldfish (4*/800/2000/WATER/Machine/Effect)]

"Then, with Tin Goldfish's effect, I can Special Summon a Level 4 monster from my hand! I'll Special Summon Ruffian Railcar!" She declared. A smaller red train appeared on the field, its engine rumbling.

[Ruffian Railcar (4*/1800/1000/EARTH/Machine/Effect)]

"Oh? That's not a Level 10 monster…"

"Great observation," Anna said, sticking out her tongue at him. "Ruffian Railcar's effect! I can't battle this turn, but I'm gonna hit you with some damage! 500, to be exact!" The train's engine could be heard firing up, before it spat out a cloud of smoke at Thomas, who smirked.

Thomas: 4000 - 500 = 3500LP

"That all you good?" He said. "Why not bring out Gustav Max?"

"I'll bring out an Xyz Monster alright—it's just not the one you're hoping to see! I'll overlay the Level 4 Ruffian Railcar and Tin Goldfish!" Anna grinned. "Through the harshest storms and the wildest oceans, fire that ultimate cannon and come to my aid! Xyz Summon! Number 27!"

Thomas's eyes widened.

"Dreadnought Battleship - Dreadnoid!"

A large silver battleship appeared on the field. While it wasn't exactly a train like the rest of her monsters, it had the signature cannon protruding out of the top of it. Glowing red and orange patterns could be seen all over the silver ship as well, one of those patterns being the signature symbol of the Numbers—the number '27' written in that specific font.

[Number 27: Dreadnought Battleship - Dreadnoid (R4/2200/1000/WATER/Machine/Xyz/Effect) (OU:2)]

"You got one?" Thomas exclaimed.

"Yeah?" When Anna had become the Two of Clubs, Kaito had congratulated her and offered her a Number in pretty much the same breath. She'd gone to look up the myth that her Number was based on a moment later. The twenty-seventh ruin in Heartland, as it turned out, was some kind of sci-fi fantasy from someone a long time ago. Everyone knew that there was a common main character amongst all the ruins—an adventurer whose memories were supposedly recorded like this. The story of that ruin went as such—the adventurer had visited a new planet where he'd found machines beyond his wildest imagination, one of which had been used as the inspiration for this monster—an enormous metal ship that could travel across even the most dangerous waters, filled with creatures darker than any other, without any worries.

Cool as hell, in her opinion!

"I'll set a card," she said. "Over to you!"

[Turn 2: Thomas] [H:6]

"Looks like I'm favoured," Thomas said with a smirk. "After all, my opponent decided to Xyz Summon against me, despite knowing what my cards do!"

"You say that like you think I'll be scared of you!" Anna shot back. "I'll just gun you down on my next turn!"

"You think you can manage? Let's see then—I'll also start this off with a bang! Draw! By discarding a card, I can Special Summon Gimmick Puppet - Bisque Doll from my hand!" A doll with long, stringy pink hair appeared. Her skin was porcelain white, and she was wearing a gothic black dress with a faded red bow ribbon on the front of it.

[Gimmick Puppet - Bisque Doll (8*/1000/1000/DARK/Machine/Effect)]

"Then, I'll Normal Summon Gimmick Puppet - Gear Changer!" A mechanical puppet with a large grey machine emerging from its chest appeared—it might almost have appeared normal in anatomy, if not for that. It was made from dark blue metal that appeared… dull.

[Gimmick Puppet - Gear Changer (1*/100/100/EARTH/Machine/Effect)]

"Gear Changer's effect! I'll target Bisque Doll and change him to the same Level as her!" One of the blue puppet's arms reached up the red lever on the top of its body, jerking it back and forth. Above it, stars appeared one by one, representing the shift in its Level.

[Gimmick Puppet - Gear Changer: 1* → 8*]

Thomas smirked. "Now it's time to go! I'll overlay the Level 8 Gimmick Puppet - Gear Changer and the Level 8 Gimmick Puppet - Bisque Doll! The envoy from Hell who pulls the strings of fate. Once more, lift the curtain to the stage in the depths of the deepest, blackest darkness! Appear now! Number 15: Gimmick Puppet - Giant Killer!"

In front of him, an enormous monster emerged—it was a large black statue with lifeless eyes, sitting on a large throne—the entire monster towered over the whole stadium, being larger than even Gustav Max, who was usually already a sight to behold. It stared down at her, which was—

"Creepy," Anna muttered. Whatever the story was behind that thing, she did not want to know.

[Number 15: Gimmick Puppet - Giant Killer (R8/1500/2500/DARK/Machine/Xyz/Effect) (OU:2)]

"I'd prefer to call him charming," Thomas said.

"... no, I'm right. He's creepy as hell."

Thomas smirked. "Let's see then. Gimmick Puppet - Giant Killer's effect! I'll detach one of his Overlay Units and target a Special Summoned monster you control—and then, I can destroy it!" He gestured towards her Number. "Your big cannon's going down! And when an Xyz Monster is destroyed with Giant Killer's effect, you take damage equal to its attack points!"

The Xyz Monster raised its fist—

And then smashed it downwards, creating a cloud of smoke.

[Number 15: Gimmick Puppet - Giant Killer: OU:2 - 1 = OU:1]

When the smoke cleared, however…

"Sorry, but this Xyz Monster isn't going down without a fight!" Anna shouted. Dreadnoid was still towering over her, not a single scratch visible on its frame. "If Dreadnought Ship - Dreadnoid would be destroyed, he can toss one of his Overlay Units instead!"

[Number 27: Dreadnought Ship - Dreadnoid: OU:2 - 1 = OU:1]

"Oh yeah?" Thomas gestured forward. "Well, can it do it twice? Hit it again, Giant Killer!"

[Number 15: Gimmick Puppet - Giant Killer: OU:1 - 1 = OU:0]

The dark statue raised its fist—

"Uh," Anna said, "yes, actually." The ship's other Overlay Unit vanished.

"Oh," Thomas said, deflating for a moment. "Huh."

There was a moment of awkward silence.

[Number 27: Dreadnought Ship - Dreadnoid: OU:1 - 1 = OU:0]

Anna fought the urge to laugh. "So, do you have another move to make, or…"

"Well, obviously I do!" Thomas revealed another card in his hand. "I'll activate the effect of Gimmick Puppet - Magne Doll in my hand! Since you control a monster and I control only "Gimmick Puppet" monsters, I can Special Summon it from my hand!" A large grey robot appeared—its limbs were stiff grey metal poles, connected by rusty yellow ball bearings. As it landed on the field, it seemed to shudder, its parts sliding around, before it slowly straightened into a standing position.

[Gimmick Puppet - Magne Doll (8*/1000/1000/DARK/Machine/Effect)]

"Then, I'll banish Gear Changer from the graveyard to activate the effect of Gimmick Puppet - Necro Doll! I can Special Summon her to my field!" A blonde doll dressed in a pink dress appeared. That might have sounded cute, but it was absolutely not, considering that the doll was covered in blood and gore.

Ugh.

Could Thomas Arclight not be normal for like. Two minutes.

[Gimmick Puppet - Necro Doll (8*/0/0/DARK/Machine/Effect)]

"I'll overlay the Level 8 Gimmick Puppet - Necro Doll and the Level 8 Gimmick Puppet - Magne Doll!" The angel who plucks the strings of disaster! Arise now and crush their hopes and dreams!"

… so anyway, he's totally a nice guy, yeah. Sure.

"Xyz Summon! Rank 8! Number 40: Gimmick Puppet - Heaven's Strings!" An enormous, dark angel with a single wing appeared, made of black metal with a single silvery-white wing. He raised a large sword in the air, swinging it through the sky.

[Number 40: Gimmick Puppet - Heaven's Strings (R8/3000/2000/DARK/Machine/Xyz/Effect) (OU:2)]

Of course he had two Numbers, this was just nepotism at its best. Anna rolled her eyes.

… she probably wouldn't think that about either of his brothers, but that was because Michael Arclight and Chris Arclight were actually nice people, unlike this asshole.

"And your ship's run out of Overlay Units! Get rid of it, Heaven's Strings!" The angel raised his sword, before slashing it down—cleaving straight through Anna's Xyz Monster.

Ah, damn it…

Anna: 4000 - 800 = 3200LP

At least she'd controlled how much damage she took though. Thomas had summoned Giant Killer in Defense Position, after all—so he couldn't attack her again.

"I'll set a card and end my turn—"

"Not so fast!" Anna flipped up her set card. "When you move out of your Battle Phase and set that card, I'll activate the Quickplay Spell, Urgent Schedule! I'll Special Summon two EARTH Machine monsters from my deck with their effects negated, one which is Level 4 or lower and the other being Level 5 or higher! I'll Special Summon Lionhearted Locomotive and Heavy Freight Train Derricrane!" In front of her, two monsters appeared—one of them was a standard-looking bright green train, while the other had a large crane protruding out of the back of its orange frame. However, other than that, it was relatively normal-looking.

[Lionhearted Locomotive (4*/2400/2100/EARTH/Machine/Effect)]

[Heavy Freight Train Derricrane (10*/2800/2000/EARTH/Machine/Effect)]

"... huh. I'm still ending my turn."

"And when you end your turn, Ruffian Railcar's effect activates since I sent it to the graveyard this turn! I'll add a Level 10 EARTH Machine monster to my hand!"

"... whatever," Thomas said, raising an eyebrow. "Just take your turn."

[Turn 3: Anna] [H:4]

"Draw!" Anna declared. "I'll Normal Summon Flying Pegasus Railroad Stampede!" The sleek black animalistic vehicle appeared in front of her.

[Flying Pegasus Railroad Stampede (4*/1800/1000/EARTH/Machine/Effect)]

"And Flying Pegasus Railroad Stampede's effect lets me bring back another EARTH Machine monster with its effects negated! Come back, Ruffian Railcar!" The small red train from earlier appeared on the field again. "I'll overlay the Level 4 Ruffian Railcar and the Level 4 Lionhearted Locomotive!" The two monsters turned into streaks, flowing into the ground again.

Now that Giant Killer couldn't do anything to her, she was free to do anything!

"Impregnable iron fortress, make the earth tremble violently and charge down the railway crawling with the enemy soldiers! Xyz Summon! Appear, Rank 4! Heavy Armored Train Ironwolf!" A blue train with a wolf's head in gold on the front of it appeared.

[Heavy Armored Train Ironwolf (R4/2200/2200/EARTH/Machine/Xyz/Effect) (OU:2)]

"I'll then activate Railroad Stampede's effect! By targeting another monster like my Derricrane, he gets to copy that monster's Level—but I can't attack this turn, except with Xyz Monsters! So you know what that means, right?"

[Flying Pegasus Railroad Stampede: 4* → 10*]

Anna grinned. "You wanted to see Gustav Max so bad? Then you'll be 'happy' with this! I'll overlay the Level 10 Flying Pegasus Railroad Stampede and the Level 10 Heavy Freight Train Derricrane!" She didn't even bother with the summoning chant—she was too pleased with the fact that she could finally summon her favourite monster. "Come on out and strike him down! Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Gustav Max!"

The large green cannon appeared on the field—not as large as Giant Killer, but far more imposing, especially with the Overlay Units floating around it.

[Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Gustav Max (R10/3000/3000/EARTH/Machine/Xyz/Effect) (OU:2)]

"Gustav Max…" Anna removed one of the Overlay Units from under the card. "Is going to fire at you now!"

[Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Gustav Max: OU:2 - 1 = OU:1]

An explosion rocked the other side of the field—Thomas's life points fell sharply.

Thomas: 3500 - 2000 = 1500LP

"And you might think that there's no way for me to get through your field this turn, since your Giant Killer is in Defense Position and your Gimmick Puppet - Heaven's Strings has 3000 attack points. But you're wrong!" Anna revealed the card that she'd detached from Gustav Max. "Derricrane's effect! Since it was detached from Gustav Max as cost, I can target a card you control and destroy it! I'll target your set card!"

"... my set card?" Thomas smirked. "... I see. You think that I don't know Ironwolf's effect? In that case, you're going to regret not targeting a monster!"

Anna blinked.

"Trap Card, activate!" Thomas flipped over his card. "Puppet Play - Servist Puppet! I can take control of monsters you control until the End Phase, up to the number of "Gimmick Puppet" Xyz Monsters I control!"

"What?"

"And as you can see—" With a wide grin, Thomas gestured to the whole field. "Our fields are mirrored! Give me Gustav Max and Ironwolf!" Bright blue threads formed on the field, tangling up both of Anna's monsters and dragging them over to Thomas's side of the field. "So, what's your plan now?"

"I'll set a card," Anna said, narrowing her eyes. "... your move." Her two monsters, thankfully, came back to her—but she had a feeling that she had only seen part of what Thomas Arclight could do.

[Turn 4: Thomas] [H:2]

"Draw!" Thomas declared. "I'll activate the Spell Card, Graceful Charity! I'll draw three cards and discard two. Then, I'll Normal Summon Gimmick Puppet - Terror Baby!" A baby's pram appeared on the field—but there was immediately something wrong with it. It was a shade of blue that would make anyone uneasy, with its 'legs' being metal shaped like actual human legs. In the place of cushioning was squelching purple flesh. The edges of the 'fabric' were lined with white spokes that made the whole pram resemble the mouth of some kind of monster… and the one-eyed, zombie-like baby sitting within the pram was probably best left undescribed.

[Gimmick Puppet - Terror Baby (4*/500/0/DARK/Machine/Effect)]

"Terror Baby's effect! I'll Special Summon a "Gimmick Puppet" monster from my graveyard! Come back! Gimmick Puppet - Scissor Arm!" A…

Well. Did Anna really have to describe this one? A creature made of glittery purple metal appeared, with a scissors protruding from the top. And obviously, it looked like an arm.

[Gimmick Puppet - Scissor Arm (4*/1200/600/DARK/Machine/Effect)]

"I'll overlay the Level 4 Scissor Arm and the Level 4 Terror Baby!" Thomas smirked. "It's time to take you down! Hybrid doll born of chaos, break this field to pieces! Xyz Summon! Rank 4! Gimmick Puppet - Gigantes Doll!" A large green golem that could barely be considered a doll appeared on the field. Its face was on its chest, as its eyes lolled about aimlessly. It swung a scythe through the air—before it knelt down in Defense Position.

[Gimmick Puppet - Gigantes Doll (R4/0/2000/DARK/Machine/Xyz/Effect) (OU:2)]

Was that really the first non-Number Xyz Monster he'd summoned so far? Geez.

"Gigantes Doll's effect!" Thomas said, sounding way too smug. "I'll detach two of his Overlay Units. For the rest of this turn, I can only attack with Xyz Monsters—and then I get to steal two monsters from you!"

Again? Anna's eyes widened.

"I'll take your Gustav Max and your Ironwolf!"

Thinking fast, Anna flipped up her set card. "Trap Card, E.M.R.!" She shouted.

"... huh? What does that stand for?"

"Electromagnetic railgun," Anna said. "I'll tribute my Gustav Max!" He specifically hadn't said that effects were negated, so if they weren't, he could just fire at her with Gustav Max's own effect too. "Then, for every 1000 attack points Gustav Max had, I can destroy a card on the field! I'll destroy Giant Killer, Heaven's Strings—and my own Ironwolf!"

All three monsters shattered—when Gigantes Doll's effect resolved, nothing actually happened.

Anna grinned. "And with your own effect locking off your attacks, you aren't going to get to attack me this turn!"

"... geez. You just blew up your own field?" Thomas shook his head. "Ridiculous… I'll end my turn."

"Then," Anna said, "I'll finish this! During the end of your turn, Ruffian Railcar will let me add another Level 10 EARTH Machine monster from my deck to my hand!"

[Turn 5: Anna] [H:4]

"Draw!" Anna glanced at the card.

… nope. That would not do! Luckily, she already had everything she needed.

"I'll Normal Summon Night Express Knight from my hand, and its attack points become 0!" The familiar sleek white train appeared on the field in front of her, glowing.

[Night Express Knight (10*/3000/3000/EARTH/Machine/Effect)]

[Night Express Knight: 3000 → 0ATK]

"And since all monsters I control are EARTH Machine monsters, I can Special Summon Super Express Bullet Train from my hand!" The dark blue rocket-shaped train emerged next to Night Express Knight as well.

[Super Express Bullet Train (10*/3000/0/EARTH/Machine/Effect)]

"Two Level 10 monsters again," Thomas said with a frown. "That means…"

"That means it's game over," Anna said with a smirk. "I'll overlay the Level 10 Night Express Knight and Super Express Bullet Train! One more time, from the top! Gustav Max!" The green cannon reappeared.

"How many copies of that card do you even own?" Thomas muttered. "Even one is excessive…"

"Nothing's excessive!" Anna gestured forward. "One more time, Gustav Max! Fire!"

The cannon shot forth one more blast—eliminating her opponent's life points.

Thomas: 1500 - 2000 = 0LP

Winner: Anna Kozuki!

Good!

Anna grinned widely.

"Looks like even that monster's not enough," Thomas muttered. "...in that case, I need something stronger…"

Anna turned over. "Huh? You good?"

Thomas shrugged. "Good match," he said, shooting her a smile that couldn't have been more forced if he tried. "See you next time."

Anna watched him go, a little confused.

Oh well.

It was her little brother's duel soon, so she'd better watch!

Allen was very nervous as he walked through the corridor, heading towards the field. He was so nervous, in fact, that he bumped straight into someone and knocked the bottle of water out of their hands. It fell on the ground, but thankfully, it didn't explode.

"Ah! I'm sorry!" The other person… apologised to him? Allen raised his head, about to apologise—before he noticed exactly who he'd bumped into. The pink-haired boy was currently rubbing the back of his head, before he leaned down and picked up the bottle. When he looked back at Allen, he blinked in recognition too. "Huh. Aren't you…"

He reached out a hand, helping Allen to his feet. Allen glanced down, shifting his feet a little. "Uh," he said, "yeah. I am."

"That's nice." Eight of Diamonds, Michael Arclight shot him a smile. "... don't look so nervous around me, you'll make me nervous too… I don't bite!"

Somehow, his nervousness was… reassuring? This guy was only a year older anyway, right? "Yeah, okay," Allen said. "Let's have a good duel?" He carefully shifted, noticing that Michael hadn't let go of his hand yet. "Uh…"

Michael noticed a moment later. "Oh! Uh. Sorry." He pulled his hand away. "Let's have a good duel, yeah." He was still smiling in that awkward manner.

They entered the duel field. The pink-haired young man stood on the opposite side of the field from Allen.

Allen gulped.

… he'd have to do his best. Otherwise, how was he going to live up to his sister?

[DUEL!]

Allen Kozuki: 4000LP

Michael Arclight: 4000LP

[Turn 1: Allen] [H:5]

His deck… was similar to his sister's, but not the same. He couldn't imagine ever wanting to use the same deck as his sister, that'd just be boring. And it meant that people would compare him to her too…

Ugh. Maybe one or two cards was fine, but that was it.

It was a high bar to live up to. Not that he didn't love Anna, because he did, but he just didn't want to be compared to her…

He quickly looked through his hand.

… ah! He saw it.

"I'll Normal Summon Geargiarsenal!" He declared. In front of him, a small yellow tank with several drills and cannons protruding out of it appeared—it looked kind of like a toy, but Allen thought it was cool!

[Geargiarsenal (4*/1500/500/EARTH/Machine/Effect)]

"Geargiarsenal's effect! I'll tribute it and Special Summon a "Geargia" monster from my deck in Defense Position! Come! Geargiarmor!" A small yellow robot holding up two shields appeared on the field.

[Geargiarmor (4*/1100/1900/EARTH/Machine/Effect)]

"Geargiarmor's effect! I'll flip it into facedown Defense Position!" His monster vanished from the field, replaced by a set card. "I'll set two more cards and end my turn!"

[Turn 2: Michael] [H:6]

"Hmm." Michael didn't pick up his next card immediately. "Is that your strategy?"

"H-huh?"

"No, I just see why you were matched up against me." He seemed a lot more… calm now that they were actually dueling? "Draw!" He revealed a card in his hand. "From my hand, I'll Normal Summon OOPArts Nebra Disk!" A spinning green disk appeared on the field, golden symbols carved on it—a circle, a crescent and small dots. Hmm. Were those circles supposed to be the sun and the stars or something?

[OOPArts Nebra Disk (4*/1800/1500/LIGHT/Machine/Effect)]

"OOPArts Nebra Disk's effect! I'll add a "OOPArts" card from my deck to my hand, like OOPArts Crystal Skull!" He revealed the card. "And by sending Crystal Skull from my hand to the graveyard while I control another "OOPArts" monster, I can add yet another "OOPArts" monster to my hand!"

Huh? Couldn't he have just added that new monster immediately?

Michael answered that question immediately with his next card. "Spell Card, OOPArts Technology!" He declared. "I'll banish an "OOPArts" monster from my graveyard to check the top two cards of my deck! One of them goes to my hand and the other one goes to the graveyard!" He removed one card—that was obviously Crystal Skull—and he added a card to his hand, dropping the other in the slot at the side of the duel disk. "But I can only Special Summon "OOPArts" monsters this turn!"

Well, that was his archetype, so it wasn't like that restriction actually mattered…

"Since I activated an "OOPArts" Spell this turn, I can Special Summon OOPArts Aztec Mask Golem from my hand!" A red golem appeared on the field, carved from dark rock—it looked like an alien.

[OOPArts Aztec Mask Golem (4*/1500/1000/EARTH/Rock/Effect)]

"I'll overlay the Level 4 OOPArts Nebra Disk and the Level 4 OOPArts Aztec Mask Golem!"

Allen tensed up. Man. If there was one thing that he'd heard, it was that Michael Arclight had the most Numbers out of anyone in Heartland—save for Kaito Tenjo, obviously. And that this guy's main strategy was apparently One Turn Kills…

"Rumble on, fierce engine that powers the unimaginable creativity of human imagination! Xyz Summon! Rank 4!"

In front of Michael, a large, glowing sphere appeared—it consisted of several bright blue lines of light, all surrounding a small fragment of land held within it, with some buildings still rising out of the small structure. A black, egg-like object was floating over the city fragment, still within the larger sphere of light.

"Come!" Michael declared. "Number 36: OOPArts - Super Engine Fork Hyuk!"

[Number 36: OOPArts - Super Engine Fork Hyuk (R4/2000/2500/LIGHT/Machine/Xyz/Effect) (OU:2)]

"Fork… Hyuk," Allen muttered.

"We'll keep things simple for now," Michael said. "Fork Hyuk will attack your set monster."

Huh? Just like that? Well, it wasn't a good thing to lose Geargiarmor, but… Allen had been expecting a lot worse. The mechanical sphere fired out a beam of light at his set monster, flipping it face-up—which had been Allen's goal anyway.

"Geargiarmor's effect!" Allen declared. "When he's flipped face-up, I can add another "Geargia" monster to my hand!" A moment later, his monster was destroyed.

"Huh." Michael nodded, still smiling. "I'll set a card and end my turn."

"I'll activate the Continuous Trap, Call of the Haunted!" Allen didn't let him end his turn yet. "I'll take back my Geargiarmor!" The yellow robot reappeared on his field.

"Looks good. Your turn, then."

Allen frowned. "Why didn't you…"

"Is there something wrong?"

"I was told that you were known for OTKs…"

"Oh!" Michael smiled—his eyes seemed to light up, and despite the fact that they were still in a duel, he began to explain. "I didn't draw the card that usually lets me summon two of my Xyz Monsters in one turn. And the OTK usually requires you to have a face-up monster before the Battle Phase, so I couldn't do it that turn."

So he'd actually escaped without knowing it? Jeez…

Still, if all Michael needed was a face-up monster for that, then Allen might be in trouble…

[Turn 3: Allen] [H:4]

"Draw!" Allen declared. "I'll use Geargiarmor's effect to flip it facedown. And then, I'll Flip Summon it and add another "Geargia" monster to my hand!"

Once he'd searched out the new card, he revealed it. "Since I control a "Geargia" monster, I'll Special Summon Geargiaccelerator from my hand!" A bright yellow sports car appeared on the field.

[Geargiaccelerator (4*/1400/800/EARTH/Machine/Effect)]

"I'll overlay the Level 4 Geargiaccelerator and the Level 4 Geargiarmor! Come on out, giant robot that crushes all to pieces! Xyz Summon! Rank 4! Gear Gigant X!" A colourful robot appeared on the field—red, blue and green metal formed most of its body. Smaller robots could be seen stored in the armour covering its chest.

[Gear Gigant X (R4/2300/1500/EARTH/Machine/Xyz/Effect) (OU:2)]

"Gear Gigant X's effect! I'll detach one of his Overlay Units and add a Level 4 or lower Machine monster from my deck to my hand!" He revealed the card. "I'll add and Normal Summon Geargiauger from my hand!" A green machine with a large drill on the front of it appeared on the field.

[Geargiauger (4*/500/500/EARTH/Machine/Effect)]

"Geargiauger's effect! I'll add another Geargiaccelerator from my deck to my hand and Special Summon it!"

"Oh? Two Xyz Summons in one turn?"

"Yeah! I'll overlay the Level 4 Geargiauger and the Level 4 Geargiaccelerator! Impregnable iron fortress, make the earth tremble violently and charge down the railway crawling with the enemy soldiers! Xyz Summon! Appear, Rank 4! Heavy Armored Train Ironwolf!" In front of him, the dark blue train appeared.

[Heavy Armored Train Ironwolf (R4/2200/2200/EARTH/Machine/Xyz/Effect) (OU:2)]

Just one card… wasn't that bad. And anyway, he summoned it more than his sister did!

"Battle! Gear Gigant X attacks your monster!"

"Once per turn, on either player's turn," Michael said, "I can activate Fork Hyuk's effect. I'll detach one Overlay Unit." One of the bright orbs faded away. "Then, I can change your monster's attack points to 0!"

"What?" Allen exclaimed. Gear Gigant X froze in place briefly, before weakly raising its arms—but the damage was done.

And the attack was still continuing.

[Number 36: OOPArts - Super Engine Fork Hyuk: OU:2 - 1 = OU:1]

[Gear Gigant X: 2300 → 0ATK]

A laser shot out from the sphere, incinerating his monster—and burning away half of Allen's life points.

Allen: 4000 - 2000 = 2000LP

Allen grimaced. "Gear Gigant X's effect! I'll—" Fuck. He didn't have any Level 3 or lower Geargias in his graveyard, so he had nothing to summon. "U-uh, Ironwolf attacks Fork Hyuk!"

"I'll discard OOPArts Aćambaro Figure from my hand to negate my monster's destruction!" The train charged straight ahead, but the sphere held strong—and Michael barely took any damage.

Michael: 4000 - 200 = 3800LP

Damn it…

"I'll end my turn," Allen muttered. It wasn't completely over, he still had a Waboku set. Even if Michael changed his monster to 0 attack points, he would live the turn.

[Turn 4: Michael] [H:4]

"Draw!" Michael picked up the card, glancing at it. "Since I control an "OOPArts" monster, I can Special Summon OOPArts Moai from my hand!" A statue of black stone carved into the shape appeared on the field, floating.

[OOPArts Moai (5*/1800/1600/EARTH/Rock/Effect)]

"Then, OOPArts Aćambaro Figure's effect!" Michael raised a hand—a portal appeared next to Moai. "I can pay 1000 life points to Special Summon it!" A strange stone dinosaur appeared on the field, letting out a loud roar.

[OOPArts Aćambaro Figure (5*/1000/1800/EARTH/Rock/Effect)]

Michael: 3800 - 1000 = 2800LP

Two Level 5 monsters… Allen didn't get more time to think about that though.

"I'll overlay my Level 5 OOPArts Moai and my Level 5 OOPArts Aćambaro Figure! Megapolis that towers over the city of the future. With your crumbling ruins, strike down all that dare approach the ancient city! Xyz Summon! Rank 5! Emerge! Number 33!"

An enormous city structure appeared above them. Within its crumbling rock body, however, was a glowing blue core—one that looked exactly like Fork Hyuk, though it was smaller, probably for hologram reasons.

"OOPArts Super Weapon!" Michael seemed genuinely excited to summon the monster. He waved out a hand. "The one, the only, Machu Mach!"

[Number 33: OOPArts - Super Weapon Machu Mach (R5/2400/1500/EARTH/Machine/Effect) (OU:2)]

Okay, so he had two monsters… but it didn't change the situation! If he attacked—

"OOPArts - Super Engine Fork Hyuk's effect!" The other Overlay Unit crumbled to dust, before Ironwolf's attack points fell.

[Number 36: OOPArts - Super Engine Fork Hyuk: OU:1 - 1 = OU:0]

[Heavy Armored Train Ironwolf: 2200 → 0ATK]

"Then…" Michael turned to his other Number. "... this is the finishing move that you were asking about. Once per turn, I can activate Machu Mach's effect! I'll detach one Overlay Unit and target a monster you control!" One of the Overlay Units around the second monster faded to dust too.

[Number 33: OOPArts - Super Weapon Machu Mach: OU:2 - 1 = OU:1]

"What does that do?" Allen asked.

Michael's smile briefly widened. "I inflict damage to you equal to the difference between your monster's current attack points and its original attack points," he explained.

… what.

The weapon glowed—and then it fired, casting the entire field in smoke.

Allen: 2000 - 2200 = 0LP

Winner: Michael Arclight!

Allen gritted his teeth. What could he even have done there? It just wasn't—

"Hey!"

He glanced up. Michael Arclight had walked across the field and was now standing in front of him—his eyes were bright and earnest.

"Don't worry about it," the pink-haired boy said. "If you had known what my cards did, it would have been a very different result, I think."

Allen gulped.

He was… annoyed, but…

"Next time I duel you, it'll be different!" He declared.

"Sure," Michael said, smiling. "Let's see how it goes!"

Anna had gotten two ice cream cones, heading towards where she knew that Allen would be sulking. However, when she got there, her brother wasn't alone.

Allen was laughing now. Sitting next to him, Yusho was smiling and holding out a card towards him. Anna's heart warmed—her teacher had clearly come to check if Allen was alright, and had been trying to cheer him up.

The card that he was holding out to Allen… had to be that card, right?

… heh.

Anna turned around, deciding to go and find someone else instead.

The ice creams would melt, after all!

Behind her, Allen's cheerful voice continued. "So, in that case, Yusho-sensei, do you have any tips for—"

In the present:

Yuya had realised something early on, when Allen had started talking about his father. This strong disdain that Allen seemed to hold for his father now… it only existed because the other boy had idolised his father.

Just like Yuya himself.

It was in the smaller details. Like how Allen's face had softened when he was recounting some of his memories, how he'd switched from calling Yuya's father by his full name to 'Yusho-sensei' halfway through, how he'd begun to relax into the seat, how his tone was almost wistful by the end, as he talked about the lessons that he'd learned.

But it couldn't last forever. After a moment, Allen's expression went back to annoyance again.

"But when the invasion started," he said, "we couldn't find him. My sister was so worried that she ran off on her own to look for him."

Yuya's heart sank. "... did she get carded because of that?" He asked, finally understanding the situation. The story clearly wasn't over yet—but when Allen spoke again, his words were rushed. He clearly wanted to get through it as quickly as possible.

"I heard from Kaito about it," he said, clenching his fists. "... apparently, Tsubaki-san was dueling the commander of the invasion, but the building accidentally set on fire because she wasn't used to controlling her powers while Solid Vision was involved… and he broke her concentration. Edo fucking Phoenix. And she got injured, so my sister tried to help her… only to get caught in a duel with the First Lieutenant or whatever, the same person that carded your friend. Kaito didn't get there in time to save my sister—but he did hear Anna's opponent tell her that the Professor and Yusho Sakaki were old friends. So that's it. What else could it be?"

… oh.

Oh no.

So, this entire time…

"That's it," Allen muttered. "You can get lost now."

"... the Professor was from Standard," Yuya said. He looked Allen in the eyes. "That's where he and my father met. They were good friends, yes, but… my father didn't know about any of this."

Allen watched him. "So what?" He muttered. He seemed… willing to listen now, but there was still a cold hostility to his expression. "He still disappeared once his 'friend' attacked us. So he's loyal to a genocidal maniac, but not to us?"

"He's not loyal to Leo Akaba," Yuya said. "He left Standard and left me behind… because he was trying to get to Leo Akaba. That's how he ended up here—it was an accident. But he always wanted to get the Professor to stop—even if it meant leaving everyone behind."

"Like you," Allen said.

He breathed out. He seemed to be considering something.

"Your father abandoned you and you're still trying to defend him!"

Faced with his fierceness… Yuya could only smile. A tight smile that didn't reach his eyes. "... no," he said. "I know he hurt you all."

… it felt like he kept having to think about his father, over and over again—about the things his father had done, the things that his father had said. He'd left home and left everything behind to fight in a war and yet, even so far away, even after he'd already promised himself that he would stop trying to copy his father—

He was still stuck in Yusho Sakaki's shadow.

And he would still be, right?

Who knew where his father was now—what world he'd stumbled into? It might be the Fusion Dimension, but it could be any other world too. What if the next time he went into another world, he would hear that his father had been there, but had just slipped out of reach again?

… but Yuya didn't want to be afraid.

Take a step forward with courage.

So he breathed out, and spoke. "I'm sorry my father did this," he said. "... I'm sorry he left you guys behind."

I'm sorry you miss him. I miss him too, but even if he's my father, he's not 'only' that.

"I'm sorry about your sister." Yuya looked at him determinedly. "I'm… thankful that she cared for my father enough to go look for him. I'm sorry that happened to her. It's not fair. But we're going to stop Academia, so that no one has to lose their sister or friend or father anymore, not like this."

… he felt odd. His voice sounded strange, almost… mature?

He held out a hand.

"I want to be friends with you."

"I've treated you like shit," Allen spat out. "And you still want to be friends? What's wrong with you?"

"If I could only be friends with people who never did anything wrong to anyone…" Yuya thought about the rest of the Lancers. His smile briefly widened, a little wistful. "... I don't think I'd have any friends at all. I've been told that I need to be more open about asking for people to apologise to me, by someone I really value the opinion of… but I'm still bad at it. But if you can forgive me for my father's mistakes, and I can forgive you for how you treated me… can't we be friends?"

"... that's not an equal thing at all," Allen muttered, sounding fed-up. "... whatever. Hold on."

He reached into the inner pocket of his poncho and pulled out something, holding it out towards Yuya—whose eyes widened.

"I don't want this anymore," Allen finally said. "Anna held onto it because she thought he was amazing. I held onto it because I thought Anna was amazing—and Yusho-sensei." He glanced back at the copy of Smile World. "But your father gave them out like candy. It means nothing—it's not special. We never were. He just left us behind!" He shook his head. "I don't want this. Just take it back and yell at your father for me."

And—

Yuya took it. His fingers briefly shook.

He understood what this was.

It was an attempt to trust him.

"Okay," he said, feeling relief bubble up in his heart. "I will."

Allen—

Allen cracked a smile. "Alright," he said. "I guess I can try trusting you guys."

He held out a hand. With his free hand, Yuya clasped it.

"Is there a reason why you came to find me?" Miharu said.

Yuji shrugged. He knew that in a situation like this, most people would criticise him for trying to attend to his own thoughts—but considering that Chiaki had marched off on her own to cool down, Yuji had decided to try to clear his head in the meantime.

That was how he'd ended up here.

"You don't dislike Chiaki," he said. It was blunt, but it was also a statement, because he was confident enough in that assertion.

"... there's no one in the Lancers that I dislike." Miharu pushed her fringe to the side—it was similar to how Yuji himself did it. "Not her, and not you."

"... and she doesn't dislike you."

"I wouldn't speak for her. You know her better than I do."

"... I'm speaking for her," Yuji said. "She likes you."

Miharu's fingers paused on the keyboard, before she nodded. "I know," she said. "... is something wrong?"

"... Chiaki and I always help each other," Yuji said. He was about to speak, but the next words felt like they were cluttering up in his mouth. He stopped, thinking them through. "But… I think we help each other because we've known each other for a long time."

"... yeah." Miharu was still patiently waiting for him to finish.

"But, I realised that there's a lot of things that I don't know yet." Yuji folded his arms. "I thought that even if we didn't talk much, we knew each other. But I've learned that… that's not all that it means to understand someone." He remembered one of the novels that he'd read once in the library. "... 'If I could but know her heart, everything would become easy.' It's something like that."

"You both keep a lot of things close to your chest," Miharu said. "... are you feeling like you don't understand her anymore?"

"No." Yuji put his hands on the table, pressing them tightly against each other, until his knuckles went white. "I… think that after Academia caught her… Chiaki's out of there, but she's still… living in there in her head, sometimes." It was a hard thing to explain. "And I think because of that, there's things that she doesn't tell me. And they're important things. And if she would only tell me… I might be able to help… but I…"

He had practised what he was going to say, but the words went numb anyway.

… this was the most he'd spoken in a while. He only really spoke in the end because he was… what? He wanted to help her? Something like that.

"I don't know how to get her to talk more," he said. "... she spoke more to you about her frustration with herself after that duel… than she's ever spoken to me. I don't know how you did it. I want to know."

"... you're talking a lot more clearly," Miharu said. It was a simple statement—and yet, Yuji took it for what it was, a clear and gentle compliment.

… yeah. He was talking more, wasn't he?

At some point in Academia, he had lost his ability to speak clearly without even thinking about it. This tiredness, this constant inability to just… want to exist around other people… yes, he'd always been that way. But talking? No, the reason why his communication skills had deteriorated so much was because there was no one he'd wanted to talk to… wasn't that right?

And not wanting to, he'd retreated into his head so much that when he'd tried to come out again, he'd found himself scrambled up—unable to say or explain anything.

But he was still the same boy who'd read books since he was a child. He'd devoured novels so quickly that he'd always left a mess on the return racks and trolleys at the library. He'd quoted books and spoke in nothing but quotes—

But it was impossible for him to have learned nothing from that. He'd told an entire story when he'd met the Lancers in Standard, hadn't he? He'd talked about himself, about Chiaki until his throat went raw (even though his tone had never changed throughout all of that.)

Hadn't that been because he wanted to talk? No matter how cruel he'd been—

"And this is why you'll never convince me to defect to your side. Justice? Only children care about it. Honour? That's a social construct used to shame people into behaving. Mercy? It exists only for those with a choice. I outgrew all of those things long before I ever fell into Academia's hands. If I'm going to be used, let me be used. My side isn't Academia, nor is it yours. My side is the side that 'most likely guarantees Chiaki Katsuya's safety'. That is all. If you stop me from succeeding, you oppose me. That is my reasoning, completely laid out for you, Kyorin. Are you satisfied?"

(And he'd been cruel.)

What would it be like, he had thought then, to be a normal person? Someone whose mind didn't carry these heavy clouds that could never be lifted? What would it be like to be able to muster up the strength to push through all of this and just…

(What if he could like the world he lived in?)

And Yuji wanted to talk, he realised. He wanted to talk—and while most of it was because of Chiaki Katsuya, there was a part of him that just wanted.

It was… such a strange feeling.

A part of him, more sentimental, briefly thought I didn't realise that something broke while I was at Academia. I thought that was just me. But I want that part of me back—the part of me that was smart enough to use others' words when I couldn't do anything with my own.

"I don't know how to understand Chiaki Katsuya better than I already do," he said. "I want you to help me."

"... the book you were quoting," Miharu said after a moment. "Yuno likes it too."

"Really?"

"Mm. Neither of us read much, but there was a school assignment once. Yuno's a sucker for romantic novels."

"... he seems like the kind."

"He is." Miharu turned her head. "... isn't it weird that the same books exist in every world? But… I can try to help."

"Really?"

"I think we're alike," she said. "... we keep a lot of things hidden. And one of them is what goes on in our heads. And… it can be hard to cope with all that when it's already so complicated. It can be hard to shift our worldview, to try and accept something new. And I think that's what you're struggling with."

"I'm not struggling," Yuji said.

Miharu raised an eyebrow. "You just spent a few minutes telling me how much you don't know what to do," she pointed out.

… Yuji couldn't really say anything to that.

"To be honest, sometimes I look at how you two circle around each other and I wonder if that's how Yuno and I look like," Miharu said. "... but… I hope that you'll forgive me if I'm wrong. But you two are so intertwined that sometimes, it feels like you two treat each other as an extension of your own lives. I don't think that to each other, you're a separate person."

Yuji bristled slightly. "... there's nothing wrong with that," he said. "We're close, just like you two."

"But I can live my life without Yuno there," Miharu said. "... I want him there, and I'm comfortable with him, and I miss him when he's not around. But I have things I want to do even if Yuno isn't there for them, and I know he feels the same."

Things he would want to do without Chiaki there…

"Can you think of anything like that?" Miharu asked. "Anything in your life that doesn't involve her?"

Yuji shifted on his feet. He pursed his lips.

"I think that if you want to understand her better," Miharu said, "why don't you try asking her about things? How she feels, how her day's going, what she wants to do."

"But I know all those things," Yuji said blankly. "She knows I know." Most of the time, just standing next to each other often revealed their intentions and thoughts to each other. "What's the point?"

"... I see," Miharu said softly. Then, she did something that Yuji didn't expect—she closed her laptop, putting it on her lap. Then, she looked directly at him. "If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?"

Yuji recognised that quote. "The objects of sense exist only when they are perceived," he recalled.

"Things only exist, if you're conscious of them," Miharu said. "You can know what she's thinking, she can know what you're thinking, but… even if you don't think there's a point to it, there's a point to saying it aloud, you know?"

"... why?"

"It feels good to understand someone," Miharu said, "but even better to let them know that they're understood. If you want to have something 'more' with her… that's the best advice I can give you."

"... that's not that specific." Yuji said, rather disappointed. "I'm not unsatisfied…"

"I know." Miharu met his gaze. "You and Katsuya-san. Are you what I think you are?"

Yuji ducked his head.

… he knew what she meant. He wished she wouldn't ask, because he had no answer.

He knew he wasn't satisfied with sitting still and not pushing any longer.

Whatever that meant… he'd figure it out later.

"... thanks," he said, not answering her question.

Miharu didn't seem to mind. Her lips briefly curved up. "... I know it's difficult to consider these things," she said. "If you need anything, or to just talk about things, go ahead and talk to me."

Yuji looked at her.

… he still didn't think that she'd actually said anything that he really believed. But it was clear that she believed it, and that she was trying to help.

"I think we're alike."

He surprised himself when he replied. "... I'll think about it," he said.

Sayaka was sitting down in the room, her hands tied up when Ruri approached. There had been a few members of the Resistance outside, but Ruri had politely asked, and they hadn't had the heart to stop her—even though they were whispering about her behind her back, wondering if she was a traitor too.

Her friend looked up at her, and her eyes widened.

"They say you betrayed us all." Ruri spoke up first. She sat down on the ground in front of Sayaka, but she kept a small distance between them. "I wanted to hear you out…?"

Sayaka stared at her. She closed her eyes. "I did," she said, barely a whisper. "I betrayed everyone. I'm sorry."

"Then, was it like that all along?" Ruri whispered, unable to look her in the eyes. Did I judge so poorly… again?

"Ruri…"

(She didn't see the way that Sayaka swallowed slowly, the way that her gaze drifted to the 'guards', the way that eventually, she took a deep breath. For a brief moment, determination flashed in her eyes. How in the end, she didn't make any excuses.)

"I'm sorry," she said again.

"... I missed you. I missed you so much." Ruri closed her eyes. "I wanted to help you. I was so scared that you and everyone else would be gone when I came home—I begged for news of you all and I never got it!"

… because why would Academia tell her anything?

"Why would you do this?" She whispered—heartbroken.

Sayaka lowered her head.

"Sayaka," Ruri said, reaching out a hand forward—leaning her entire body forward. "Please. I don't want this to break us apart…"

"... you wouldn't forgive me," Sayaka said. She leaned away, wrapping her arms around herself. Ruri froze in place, unsure of herself for a moment. "... the thing is, Ruri, there's something terrible that I did to you… and I still haven't managed to escape it. In the end, trying to hide it, I just made more mistakes…"

"Huh? I don't understand…"

The words were rushing out now—a desperate need to confess. Sayaka covered her face as she kept talking. "You wouldn't think this way about me. You wouldn't think I was your best friend if you knew what I—"

"Just tell me!" Ruri leaned forward, clasping Sayaka's hands between hers and pulling them away from her face. "... please, Sayaka. Please just tell me."

Sayaka turned her head away, still trying to hide. "That day," she murmured. "When you ran away to help your friend. I followed you because I was scared to be alone in the base."

"You weren't alone…"

"I felt alone without you," Sayaka said. "You'd protected me back when it all started… I didn't want to be separated from you. So I followed, and I saw that duel… I saw how he won against you."

… oh. Her duel against Yuri.

"And I did nothing," Sayaka whispered, as though confessing some great sin. "I stood there scared and did nothing while you were taken away. It's my fault!"

Ruri stared at her.

There was something painful and numb in her heart.

How many times now?

How many times was she going to have to hear this? How many times was someone going to come to her in tears and confess something to her, and tell her that they wronged her? How many times was she going to be begged for forgiveness by a person who had never had any control over their horrible, horrible situation?

Ruri never wanted to be the kind of person who couldn't forgive, but it was so exhausting to keep seeing this, over and over again…

She wanted to cry, but she just couldn't.

"... and this made you betray us?"

"... she told me that she'd tell everyone," Sayaka said. "And I was so scared to be found out, to lose everything, because I was so ashamed that I hurt you, you of all people…"

Ruri looked at her.

"You can hate me," the purple-haired girl said, looking away. "I deserve it—"

"Stop it!"

The other Resistance members in the room looked over at them, and then awkwardly looked away. Ruri shook her head, trying to stop herself before she started crying.

"I don't want to be told to hate," she said. "I don't want to be told to do something, to be someone I'm not. I'm just me, I'm not worth all of this self-hatred."

"... Ruri…"

"I want to forgive you, Sayaka," she said, getting up in a hurry. "I want things to be okay. I want to go back to normal—that's all I've wanted for a year now."

And I'm nowhere close to getting it. I just lose things as fast as I gain them.

"So, just…" She swallowed. "Do whatever it takes to become a person that you can forgive, okay? Don't worry about me." And before the tears fell, she fled the room.

And came face to face with Yuto.

Yuto, who from the look on his face, had at least heard that single shout she'd let out.

Ruri sniffled and moved forward clumsily, burying her head in his chest.

It took a while. Yuto found somewhere where he and Ruri could sit down, until she slowly told him everything.

And maybe there was no way that Yuto could understand how she felt. After all, he hadn't been the one that everyone apologised to. He had been reckless and angry and he'd been the one that wronged others.

But the soft, injured tone of Ruri's voice…

"I'm so tired," she said, "of being this… innocent person that can never do wrong to everyone. Of being the one that was rescued, the one that never hurt anyone, never killed anyone, of just always having people think of me as the only one that was wronged…"

"... you're not in the wrong for that," Yuto said soothingly. "... I can't say I get it, but I'm trying to."

"And you don't think I'm terrible for wanting to get people to forgive Sayaka?" Ruri said softly.

"Of course not!" Yuto looked at her, and then slowly sighed. "... of course not, Ruri."

"But it's not anything useful to the Resistance or the Lancers…"

"... that doesn't matter." Yuto reached out, taking her hand. "She's your friend. Of course you want to help her. We're allowed to be selfish."

Ruri flinched at that. Yuto frowned—was it something that he'd said?

"I think the problem with me isn't that I'm selfish," Ruri admitted. "It's that people around me keep on doing selfish things… and those things always have to do with me."

Yuto felt that strange, sinking sense of shame again.

"And then they come to apologise to me. And because it's for me, or to do with me… it's ungrateful to say that they shouldn't have done it, or that there should have been another way. I just have to carry that weight and forgive them."

"Ruri—"

"I love you, Yuto." Ruri drew away from him. "I love my brother. I love Sayaka. I love all of you so much. And… I'm loved. I've never doubted that I'm loved. And I was so happy before, but I only just realised that it's so scary to have everyone be willing to do this for me… and to be responsible for all of you and what you do."

"We never asked you to be—"

"Stop it, Yuto."

Yuto looked at her. Her lips were trembling.

"Just stop it," she whispered. "That… I can't hear that right now. I can't hear you tell me that on some level, I didn't cause all of this."

"Ruri," he said, helpless to say anything else. He didn't know what she was leading up to, but it couldn't be good.

"I need to fight by myself," she said. "Without you. Without my brother. Otherwise… I'll never be able to stop thinking that I'm just someone who makes other people worse."

"You're not!"

"But how do I know?" Ruri stood up. She was still on the verge of tears. "... I don't. I don't know at all. In the end… it's as though nothing I've done matters."

Yuto stood up too. He reached out a hand.

"Please, Yuto," Ruri said. She sounded so… resigned. "I love you. That's why right now… I need to be on my own. Until I can be someone that does things herself… who can be responsible for herself."

He was about to speak again, but Ruri turned away. He heard her breathe in quickly, trying to control her tears, before she walked away.

He watched her, hand still reached out.

… he'd never felt more hopeless.

OC Cards:

Magician's Curtain

(Spell/Continuous)

Once per turn, when a monster declares an attack while you control a face-up Spellcaster monster: You can negate the attack. If this card is sent to the GY: Add 1 "Performapal" or "Magician" monster from your Deck to your hand. You can only activate this effect of "Magician's Curtain" once per turn.

Trivia: Just adding to how annoying Yusho's deck is—more in the notes on that :)

Performapal Blaze Magician

(R7/2500/2000/FIRE/Spellcaster/Xyz/Effect)

2 Level 7 monsters

If you activate a Spell Card: This card gains 500 ATK. (Quick Effect): You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card; Special Summon 1 Level 7 or lower Spellcaster monster from your GY, and if you do, this turn, cards in your Spell/Trap Zones cannot be destroyed by card effects. If this Xyz Summoned card is destroyed by battle, or if this card in its owner's Monster Zone is destroyed by an opponent's card effect: You can destroy cards your opponent controls, up to the number of face-up Spell Cards on the field. You can only activate each effect of "Performapal Blaze Magician" once per turn.

Trivia: Tfw you try to make a support monster for Yusho Sakaki's playstyle and give him an alternate version to his ace as an Xyz upgrade, but end up making Snake-Eye Diabellstar support. This was way too funny so I just nerfed it hard (yes this is post-nerf) and kept it how it was.

Mythological Ocean Kingdom of Poseidon

(Spell/Field)

All Winged Beast and Fish monsters you control gain 200 ATK, also your opponent cannot destroy them with card effects on your turn. Once per turn, if you Xyz Summon a WATER Xyz Monster: You can add 1 Winged Beast or Fish monster with less ATK than that monster from your Deck to your hand. You can only activate "Mythological Ocean Kingdom of Poseidon" once per turn.

Ragna Zero, the Subzero Funerary Maiden

(R4/2400/1200/WATER/Fairy/Xyz/Effect)

2 Level 4 monsters

At the start of your Battle Phase: You can target 1 monster on the field; it gains 1000 ATK until the End Phase. Once per turn, during either player's turn: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card, then target 1 face-up monster your opponent controls, whose current ATK or DEF is different from its original ATK or DEF; destroy it, and if you do, draw 1 card.

Trivia: You knew this was coming, haha. Unlike Masquerade, whose negation effect at least gives it something to work with, Ragnazero is a bit too slow in 6ARC's power curve, even in the context of one year pre-canon. Her buff makes her effect slightly more generic, which does wonders for her. She also gains a way to manipulate ATK on her own, to trigger her own effect. So yeah. Buffed. She kind of has to be too, because she's not a Winged Beast or Fish monster, so she doesn't trigger Rio's Field Spell.

Different Card Effects from TCG:

Wings of Silence - Anime-only card from ZEXAL.

Over-Hundred Numbers - No longer considered Numbers in this classification system. Umbral has a clause in parenthesis that treats it as a "Umbral Horror" monster.

Ghost Salvage - Anime-only card from ZEXAL.

Zero Blade - Anime-only card from ZEXAL.

End Notes:

This is just the chapter of cameos, huh. A lot of the characters mentioned or introduced in this chapter won't show up for the plot, but they're mostly there to develop the other characters :)

Notes here are a bit disjointed, I wrote the chapter out of order :)

The Rin-Ruri-Chiaki trio (prison break trio, ahem) is dear to my heart :)

Is Tsubaki right about a certain someone's intentions with asking Sayaka to spy for her? Eh. Can't say that for now. But I will say that what I wanted to convey is that even if a character like Sayaka thinks that they know why they're doing what they're doing… there's always layers to that intention.

Allen not being a jerk for like one chapter? It's a miracle! That being said, him thinking that Yuya has no clue what it's like to be left behind and abandoned is very funny. I always knew this focus chapter was going to happen, but man. Me making Allen so insufferable in the present definitely made this chapter slightly more fun to write, haha. Also, not me lying through my teeth and saying that I wasn't going to give Allen and Sayaka focus. Still, Sayaka's focus, as you can tell, was very much for me to work on Ruri too—on that compassion, that sweetness. The more I write about her, the more I love how… pure Ruri is compared to a lot of the other characters in the story.

Anna POV! Love that particular part of the chapter. She's a breath of fresh air compared to her brother, haha. She also lets me write a 'softer' side to the Xyz Dimension through her interactions with other characters. The flashback was a bit tough to get done, since because of the framing device (Allen is the one explaining the situation), I couldn't use anyone's POV except Anna and Allen. Still, it was fun.

One thing that my partner pointed out about Yusho's dueling when I was thinking about this fic is that despite being an Entertainment Duelist, he's not actually a combat kind of person—instead, his dueling is this incredibly uncreative stun deck that consists of playing the exact same cards over and over. He's a stun player. He has a card that is pretty much a guaranteed removal plus draw 2 cards… genuinely he's just got a really weird deck in the context of who Arc-V tells us he is. It's a fascinating disconnect. I was wondering why it was the case, and then I remembered that it was probably just uncreative Arc-V writing. So now, Yusho's dueling is very much just cycling Spells and monsters forever, as a 'performer enters and exits the stage' kind of vibe. That observation very much shaped how I think about Yusho, haha.

Anna vs Yusho is very much intended to reference Yuya and Yuzu vs Allen and Sayaka, specifically the Yuya and Allen parts, obviously :) I do think that Yusho would have learned Xyz during his time in Heartland, considering that he was there for a little over two years. So yes, he gets to show off an Xyz Summon here as well. I was going to give Anna Juggernaut Liebe in the Yusho duel, but by power curve reasons, at this point in the timeline, she would not have access to Rank Up yet—it'd be like a second or third year thing. So Gustav Max spam.

Allen had to be playing something before the war, I refuse to believe that his deck was like three Trains throughout. So man gets to cameo Geargias—not that it helps him.

Why is Vector using Yuma's cards?... there was a clue to that a while back, but it is stated pretty definitively here. :) But considering how small the Umbral Horror archetype is, I'd never have been able to write just it for several duels straight. So… yeah. Vector was originally going to just straight up use the Gagaga cards in the duel against Yuto, but I decided to set certain things up there too :)

I spent way longer than I care to admit writing out connections between the Gagaga monsters in this hypothetical 'anime'. Don't ask how long. I have way too much Duel Monster Spirit lore for 6ARC as it is.

I would like to stress that 6ARC's Xyz Dimension, at least before the invasion, is a universe where most of the ZEXAL cast got to be happy. This includes Vector. This man was living his best life before the invasion. :)

Before you guys get mad at any characters for… hmm, shall we say, getting along with Tatsuya Izumi, remember that at this point, no one knows anything about what he's actually like :) Not exactly their fault for not knowing. That being said, poor Shark being tarred with the same brush as IV and Tatsuya just for being there… :3

Kyosei Hokkusho, who some of you may be able to guess the actual identity of (*cough* I say this as though I didn't pretty much give the answer in the chapter), is entirely a pun. The name is a scrambling of the Japanese characters, 北極星, or hokkyokusei, aka Polaris, the north star. It's technically written in katakana (aka the name isn't actually written with these characters, since 'kyoku' is one character and I separated the syllables). 'Sho' is another reading of the character for star, tagged on at the end to make the name flow a bit better. Cough. Once again, no Astral or Barian lore in this fic, but who says that the Barians are the only characters to get a slightly better life pre-invasion in this fic? But yes, they/them pronouns for him, my goat.

*cough cough cough* So maybe within this story, some of the Gimmick Puppets just don't need to exist… don't worry about it. Nah, some of the INFO Gimmick Puppets will show up later, but for now, because we're in a flashback, I would like to slow things down, just a little… I had a version of this duel which used basically all the INFO cards and their very good loop, but it was just a bit too overwhelming. I cannot have him be comboing more than Kaito/Shun/Nue realistically would have been comboing at this stage. Trust me, I know how Gimmick Puppets play now… I just don't want to write them like that. I promise that IV will get a better showing in the future though :)

That being said, I have so much respect for scififan now, because it's almost impossible to write good pacing in duels involving trains—at least, unless you have the opponent suddenly run ten thousand more defensive cards for no reasons. Because Trains either lose really hard immediately or win very easily, and there's rarely any in-between. In this situation, I just made a conscious choice to have that be Anna's style.

And I'll be honest—I was originally going to worf Anna really hard here, but I absolutely hated the idea of bringing her in just to make her lose twice. Plus, I made her the Two of Clubs in backstory and ranked her over Rio, so I'd better let her kick some ass, right? :)

"If I could but know his heart, everything would become easy." comes from Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. The quote relating to the tree thought experiment comes from George Berkeley.

I always say that Yuji and Miharu would have a really cute dynamic—though it's undeniably platonic. There's a similarity between them that Miharu's picked up on, though Yuji hasn't yet—I'll wait for Miharu to say it herself in the future.

Review responses!

To TheRealD3lph0xL0v3r, yeah, I despise Tatsuya with all my being, but he makes such a good villain.

To Infernal Enby, thanks for the kind words. Yeah, I'm pretty upset over it (especially because the person in question hasn't stopped it), but there's really not much I can do about it. Serena and Miharu do have a really sweet relationship in this fic, I'm so glad I got to write it! It's my kind of... well. It's the kind of friendship I like writing. I'm glad you're enjoying the character interactions, they really are the lifeblood of the fic.

To Bryz0n, heh, thanks for the review! I'm glad you enjoyed all those little moments :)

To Ben23ten, hope this lived up to what you were expecting! And I hope you enjoyed all the Allen content, this is an Allen story now /j

To phantomdragons, always glad to see you! No worries about not reviewing for a while, I totally get it. And I'm glad to see your analysis, as always.

To T.V. 2000, mm, thanks for the review! The secret is actually just Sayaka's canon motivation, just... taken to an extreme scenario in this case. I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

To maryyassa523, welcome! It's always nice to see a new reader. There's really so much in your reviews that it's hard to pick something to focus on specifically. But I want you to know that I see you, and your reviews made me very happy! :D

Sidenote, but ffnet's broken its formatting system, so it took me an hour just to change all my formatting back to post this. So if you spot anything wrong... it is what it is. :)

Next chapter (which was originally a part of this chapter), we should be concluding this little preparation arc for the final battle :) Hopefully… we'll see.