Starting Notes:

Welcome back! This chapter is basically simultaneous with the previous chapter. But it's a chapter that I really enjoyed writing! :)


Chapter 56: Reflowering Melody

"Sir! Academia is dominating approximately seventy percent of the City!"

"Damn it," Roget muttered. "We need to push them back. What are the Lancers doing?" One of his assistants switched the feed to one of the cameras near the Commons. There, carrying his younger brother on his back, Reiji Akaba was demolishing his way through the Obelisk Force, several of his fiends surrounding him, such as Caesar, Alexander and d'Arc. Despite most of the Obelisk Force trying to pile on him at the same time, he was completely unfazed by their numbers.

(If Roget wasn't quite so narcissistic, he might have admitted to respecting Reiji Akaba slightly, for that ruthless efficiency.)

How many had he defeated? It seemed to be about twenty-one. Reiji Akaba absolutely had no chill, though if anyone knew that Roget had thought that, they would probably stare at him judgmentally.

Meanwhile, next to him, Mion Myojin was easily dealing with most of the soldiers around her as well. And scattered all around the city, the Lancers were fiercely defending themselves—and the people around them. Meanwhile, Security…

Well, it was cannon fodder against cannon fodder, but it was clear that Security was losing more than they were winning.

There was the sound of nails scratching against the door. Roget turned over.

"You're up?" He said, hiding his sheer relief. It was far better to feel like he was in control now. "About time. I need you—"

Kaname folded her arms. She looked in remarkably good shape, for someone who had just been injured. 'Guard. Corridor.' You want me to guard this corridor. The one with you and with Miharu Kogami in it.

"Yes." Roget looked at her. He wasn't surprised that she had grasped the strategic point. Obviously, he was more important than anyone, so protecting him was far more important than those—

She signed a few more words. 'Not. Protect. Citizens?'

"The Lancers can manage that much," Roget said. Of course, it wasn't like he cared about those people. He wouldn't send out his strongest to deal with others—he wasn't naive enough to think that he could handle anyone who came after him just by himself. Especially if Hell Kaiser Ryo or that woman, Kisara, came here. Unlike most of Academia, they weren't children. "Most of the Tops are in areas with high numbers of Security, anyway. They'll be fine."

Kaname didn't respond with anything. She just looked at him.

She held out a hand.

"What do you want?" Roget asked, and then, Kaname took a tablet from the table. She turned on the screen, even as she headed outside.

Roget looked towards her.

It made sense. She was probably looking for her brother, and that was fine. There were only two outcomes—one, she saw her brother and dispatched more members of Security to where he was, which wouldn't affect the current situation much, since most of Security was about as useful as soggy toilet paper. Two, Academia had already killed her brother. In that case, she would be so furious that she would make an even better weapon to wield against others.

"I'll keep a look out for your brother," he lied. "After all, he's your family, which means that he's mine too, isn't he?" He smiled widely.

He did not care about that boy. But he could be useful too.

He turned back to the screen.

"Send Sergey to the Commons," he ordered. "Make sure that our units are keeping far away from him!"

at the very least, if he goes insane again, the only casualties will be the less important ones.


"Come this way!" Sora called, gesturing for some of the Commons to follow him. "Keep going—there's a large group of you gathering in front there, to head towards the stadium, where it's safer!"

Some of the children were crying, terrified by the sight, but seeing his face, they actually seemed to trust him. It was an odd feeling, seeing Academia invade and not actually being a part of it. He had joined up with Gongenzaka, Kyorin and… Tsukikage, to evacuate people from the Commons. Currently, the other three were holding off Academia in front of the building, while Sora was getting the kids out through the back.

(Sora and Tsukikage still couldn't quite talk to each other. It was like a pot that was slowly boiling—they were both not addressing the obvious issue, for the sake of tackling what was at hand.)

Anyway, their mission was simple. It was what they were currently doing—trying to preserve lives.

Sora had pretended to understand that decision, when Tsukikage had conveyed the order to them. At the same time, it was slightly foreign to him. There was nothing more to the order than just to 'protect lives'. To find Commons that were in danger and exposed currently, and guide them to a safer position. At the same time, by pulling the Commons down here together, it gave them strength in numbers too, so that they could also defend each other.

And that was fine, but… maybe Sora was just too used to Academia and the orders that they gave. Those cold orders that said nothing about protecting others. Academia always had a goal, and they never quite looked at the lives that were lost for that goal. A person might be dispatched to spy on someone, and any carding that they did would just be… something they did in addition to their actual mission. Sora had expected to be sent after specific targets, no for something as vague as 'preserving lives'.

Academia hadn't raised a lot of kids who were good at caring for the lives of others.

One of the kids that came close to him tugged at his sleeve. "Martha-san is still upstairs!" She sobbed. "She got injured—there was an explosion—"

Sora looked at the girl. "I'll help her," he said, trying his best to soothe her. "So just go, alright?" He patted her shoulder. "Oi, Gon-chan! I'm going inside!" He went straight into the building and raced up the stairs. When he saw the state of the area upstairs, he understood—one of the Antique Gear Chaos Giants had shot a laser through the living room upstairs.

And there was a dark-haired woman collapsed on the ground.

Sora swallowed slowly. "Ma'am," he called, his voice oddly weak to his ears. "Are you…" He walked forward, reaching out a hand.

The woman turned over to him. "Are the kids out?" She whispered.

"They are," Sora said. "They're all going to be fine. They were worried, so I came up. You need to get to safety. Are you hurt?"

And yes. She was. The laser had clearly scraped her leg, which was why she had fallen—she had hit the lamp as she had fallen, which meant that the glass had shattered everywhere too.

"Is there a first aid kit?" Sora asked.

Martha gestured to the shelf, and Sora grabbed the first aid kit. He immediately pulled out saline and a bandage.

"You should go and make sure that the kids are alright," Martha said.

… had she sent the kids, who were too young to understand, to escape first, because she was injured and couldn't escape on her own?

Sora began to deal with the wounds of the woman.

It was weird. Normally, he'd be whining about wanting to duel. He wouldn't be content doing something like this, but…

Maybe part of him wanted to stay away from fighting, now.

"Thank you," Martha said softly. "You're very kind."

Sora froze.

You're very kind.

He could not respond to that—how was he even supposed to respond to that?

He just wrapped up her wounds, staying out of the fighting. He didn't know what to think.

Gongenzaka came up halfway through. "You know first aid?" He said in his rumbling voice.

"It was a boring lesson in Academia," Sora muttered. He looked at the bandage. "She'll need to actually be treated, but I don't think hospitals are going to work in these conditions. This will have to do. How's the situation downstairs, big guy?"

"We've cleared away the Obelisk Force downstairs," Gongenzaka explained calmly.

"Good. Then, you can carry her to a safer place, right?"

"Reiji-dono said to stick together," Gongenzaka said.

"But she can't move much on her own." Sora sighed. "Come on, Gon-chan. We can't leave her here."

Gongenzaka nodded determinedly. "I agree." He lifted Martha up easily. "Tsukikage is looking for more people around who can't evacuate by themselves."

"I'll go look then." Sora moved to the window. "I'll tell you if I see anyone!" He clung onto the pole outside, shimmying down it, and swiftly escaping.

He did not want to deal with people saying that he was kind.

He searched around too for anyone—

He heard stifled sobbing from nearby. He immediately headed over, and he saw… no one in the alleyway. He blinked in confusion—

And then, there was an odd thumping sound. The sobbing still sounded like the person was trying to shut themselves up.

His gaze turned to the dumpster. Carefully, he walked over and lifted up the lid.

Inside, a boy was covering his face, hiding, clearly terrified. He couldn't be older than five. His face was dirty, and he was curled up in a ball.

"Hey," Sora said. "I'm not going to hurt you, alright? But it's not safe here."

"You're lying!" The boy cried out. "You're wearing the same clothes! You—you're evil!"

Sora looked down at the blue uniform that he was wearing.

… he had been very proud of this uniform. It had been the proof that he was one of Academia's strongest.

Right now though, it wasn't a uniform that showed off his power and how important he was. It was a stain on him, which could only terrify a small child.

"I'm a runaway," Sora explained. "They'll take me out too, if they see me."

"But you're still evil! Anyone who looks like them is evil!" The boy was still crying. "You all kill people! You all just kill people and you're just like the Tops! Don't touch me! You're as bad as they are! You've probably killed people too!"

And Sora just… stood there.


Both Tsukikage and Kyorin heard this, as they hurried over to check on what was going on.

Kyorin was going to step forward, but Tsukikage held out a hand, stopping her.

"Hey—"

"No," Tsukikage said solemnly, shaking his head. They were keeping quiet, so that they didn't intimidate the child anymore. "I know that you want to help him clear up the misunderstanding. But he has to hear this."

Kyorin looked at him, and then she looked back at Sora, her heart aching slightly for the boy. "He's trying his best," she said quietly.

"You have a very kind heart, Kyorin-dono," Tsukikage said. "Many of you are kind and forgiving, and that's a good trait to have in war… but you can't shield him from the severity of his actions. He has to face them and acknowledge them."

Kyorin looked at him.

… Sora had carded Tsukikage's brother, hadn't he? And yet here Tsukikage was, working with him to try and protect people.

This wasn't out of any malice on Tsukikage's part, then. He wasn't just trying to see Sora suffer—he just genuinely believed that Sora needed this moment. That they had all been coddling him when he needed to face what he had done.

Kyorin closed her eyes, and she turned around, searching for anyone else that might be around.

"Thank you for trusting me, Kyorin-dono," Tsukikage said. "Many might have thought that I was trying to hurt him."

"We're all comrades," Kyorin said, smiling at him. "You're the most professional of us. I understand. You're just trying to do what you think is best for him. It's hard for me to… leave him there to deal with that, but I trust that he'll… manage."

Making him confront his own cruelty and his own trauma again…

Is that really the only way for him to deal with his past?


The sounds of Antique Gear Chaos Giants and their footsteps loudly echoed, but Sora could barely process them right now.

In a sense, the kid was right. Sora had done exactly what the kid was claiming that he had, and the only thing that had stopped him was a selfish wish to protect the people who had been kind to him. It wasn't honour like Serena. He had just understood that there were people that he wanted to protect, and realised how… terrible Academia's dogma was. But he was still here. He still had the same beliefs.

The kid was very right.

A laser shot down, missing both of them. The kid shrieked.

"... I know," Sora said. "I'm the worst." He shook his head. "I am just as bad as them. But right now, I can promise—I'm not trying to hurt you. I'm done with that. I'm just trying my… best. I'm trying to be… kind."

He was talking to a boy that couldn't possibly know any part of his past, other than the obvious part of his uniform. But for a moment, he felt like he had too many apologies to say, to too many people.

But he couldn't.

He was still in the middle of a war.

"I want Martha," the boy wept.

"... I know," Sora said. "I know it's scary, I…"

And he just couldn't help but remember. Remember how his parents had burned alive in a house that was razed to the ground. How he had screamed for his parents over and over in the middle of a warzone, just wanting someone to protect him. Shino grabbing his hand and dragging him away from the burning wreckage of their own lives. He had spent those days before they were found and sent to a refugee area, wishing for his parents to come back and save him over and over, feeling so lost and in pain…

But his parents would never have come.

He had hated the people who had put him in that situation. The people with power who had raged war and ruined his life—

But he had become the same.

He had become just as awful as the people who had ruined his life.

"But when it's so scary, you can't sit and wait for someone to find you," Sora said. "You have to be brave too. My friend's taking Martha to safety. You don't have to do much. Just let me help you, alright?"

The boy peered at him.

Sora saw what was in the boy's hands. Two cards. Children's faces on them.

(It made him feel sick.)

"We'll bring your friends back," he promised.

And finally, the kid nodded.

It didn't make Sora feel any better. But…

At the very least, he wanted to try and save this child too…

The kid climbed out of the dumpster. Sora searched his pockets and held out a candy. The boy chewed on it immediately.

"Well," Sora said, "let's get you back to Martha."

It'd be his best attempt to try to be a good person, at least. And after they beat up Academia and sent all of them back, Sora was going to ditch this jacket.

It wouldn't do any good to have people think that he was still a part of Academia, after all.


There were some things, perhaps, that could be called 'fate'.

There were other things that could be called 'luck'.

But in a sense, those two terms were interchangeable, weren't they? They both referred to something intangible that had decided one's life before they could even begin to make choices. 'Unlucky' and 'a bad fate', didn't they mean the same thing in the end? Those terms just meant that a person was blaming something else for how their life was turning out.

And well, Dennis Mackfield had never claimed that he was logical enough to be able to accept any of that.

His life was perhaps as 'unlucky' as it could ever have been.

It was a life that went in circles, that put him in the same situations over and over again. If he was a character in a book, he might call it the worst case of narrative irony that he'd ever heard of—he'd accuse the author of putting him through all of this for the sake of symbolism and mirroring, not accounting for the sheer pain that this would cause him.

Because a month or so had passed, he had gone from invasion to invasion to invasion for a total of three times now, and yet, as always, his first job during the invasion semed to revolve around this.

Meeting one of those girls with the bracelets, and getting ready to betray them.

"Hey, Yuzu," he greeted, plastering a fake smile on his face. "Oh, and you're here too."

Yuzu Hiiragi and Shingo Sawatari looked back at him, both of them with those wary expressions on their faces. Dennis couldn't exactly blame them for that.

"... Dennis!" Sawatari spoke up first, and his tone was immediately accusatory. "What are you doing here?"

"What do you think I'm doing here?" The answer was rather obvious, after all. "Anyway—since I'm here—"

I'm a traitor, so what's one more betrayal?

"I'll be taking you back to Academia with me, Yuzu Hiiragi." He raised his duel disk, feeling vaguely nostalgic—after all, he had dueled Yuzu back in the Battle Royale too, hadn't he? Except that 'nostalgic' wasn't quite the right word about it. That would imply that Dennis felt good about that memory, when the familiarity felt more like something toxic burning through him.

Except—

"Hold on!" Sawatari called, raising a hand. "I'll take you on!"

"Sawatari?" Yuzu exclaimed. "Hold on—"

"That's not going to work," Dennis said. "You do know that our targets are the girls with the bracelets, right? I'm not just going to let her go while I duel you, when you don't have as much value as her."

"Don't say that!" Yuzu shouted back, clenching her fists. "No one has more value than someone else!"

"More value in Academia's eyes then," Dennis said, casually denying Sawatari's right to exist in the war at all. "So—"

"That's just cruel."

Yuzu took a step forward.

"Academia cards people who can't even duel!" The pink-haired girl shouted. "So clearly, Academia doesn't care about strength! They just want to kill anyone that they can kill, so in my eyes, Academia doesn't have the right to judge anyone's worth at all! To me, Shingo Sawatari is my comrade, and that's all that matters, so don't insult him or his strength!"

Dennis was struck silent.

… what would it be like to have someone defend him so fervently?

(He'd had the chance for that. He'd already thrown it away. He had thrown a lot of things away.)

Sawatari looked between them. He then threw his hands up in the air. "Well, I guess that's enough conviction for me to leave this to you!" He said. He was trying to sound flippant, but Dennis could tell that he felt touched by Yuzu's words. "I'll check the back to see if he's waiting with anyone to ambush you. You know what Academia's like. Just beat his ass for me, alright?"

"Got it," Yuzu said confidently. The two of them high-fived. Sawatari ran past Dennis to check out the situation behind him.

Dennis raised his duel disk, despite how half-hearted he felt. "Come on, Yuzu-chan," he said with a wink. "Let's see if I go two for two, yeah?"

"I won't lose to you again," Yuzu said. "Not now, when the stakes mean that I can't see everyone again… not when it means that I can't go home again! I'll defeat you!"

[DUEL!]

Yuzu Hiiragi: 4000LP

Dennis Mackfield: 4000LP

[Turn 1: Dennis] [H:5]

"I'll start!" Dennis declared. "I'll Normal Summon Performage Trick Clown!" The clown with an orange cap appeared, wearing a purple and white costume. He was holding onto a white staff with a red tip, shaped like a question mark.

[Performage Trick Clown (4*/1600/1200/LIGHT/Spellcaster/Effect)]

"And if I Normal or Special Summoned a "Performage" monster to the field this turn, I can Special Summon Performage Flimsy Slimmer from my hand!" A magician that seemed to be made entirely out of thin rolls of film tape appeared, black stripes over thin strips with a metallic texture.

[Performage Flimsy Slimmer (4*/S3/100/1200/EARTH/Spellcaster/Effect)]

"I'll overlay the Level 4 Performage Trick Clown and the Level 4 Performage Flimsy Slimmer. Show must go on! Artisan of the air, swing across the stage with grace! Xyz Summon! Appear now! Rank 4! Performage Trapeze Magician!" Dennis's first Xyz Monster appeared, wearing his long bright pink cape, letting out a hearty laugh that was completely at odds with Dennis's own feelings.

[Performage Trapeze Magician (R4/2500/2000/LIGHT/Spellcaster/Xyz/Effect) (OU:2)]

"I'll set a card and end my turn."

[Turn 2: Yuzu] [H:6]

"Draw!" Yuzu declared, as determined as ever. "Since I control no monsters, I can Special Summon Solo the Melodious Songstress from my hand!" The blonde idol dressed in a red dress appeared on the field.

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

"And since I control a "Melodious" monster, I can Special Summon Canon the Melodious Diva from my hand!" The woman with light indigo skin appeared, her spiked blue hair pointing upwards, a golden mask covering the top half of her face. She was wearing a purple blouse with pink sleeves, and a short checkered blue and black skirt.

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

"And I will tribute both Canon the Melodious Diva and Solo the Melodious Songstress!" Yuzu declared. The two monsters turned into two bright streaks of light. "Enchanting melody echoing in the heaven. Awaken the sleeping virtuoso. Come forth! Level 8! Prodigy Mozart the Melodious Maestra!"

Yuzu's strongest Main Deck monster appeared on the field, light shining through her green wings. Her red dress stuck out brightly against their glum surroundings.

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

"I will use the effect of Prodigy Mozart the Melodious Maestra. Once per turn, I can Special Summon a LIGHT Fairy monster from my hand, but I can't activate the effects of non-LIGHT monsters for the rest of this turn! Come from my hand—Elegy the Melodious Diva!" The green-haired woman appeared on the field, wearing rather darkly elegant purple garments. A large, harp-like purple wing could be seen emerging from her back.

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

"Elegy's effect. Since she was Special Summoned, all Fairy monsters I control gain 300 attack points! And while I control her, Special Summoned "Melodious" monsters I control can't be destroyed by card effects!"

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

[Prodigy Mozart the Melodious Maestra: 2600 + 300 = 2900ATK]

"Battle Phase!"

"Continuous Trap, Mage's Fortress!" Dennis declared, the Continuous Trap showing up on the field. "While I control a Spellcaster monster, you can't declare an attack!"

Yuzu internally facefaulted. "I'll end my turn," she said.

[Turn 3: Dennis] [H:3]

"Draw," Dennis said. "I'll activate the Spell Card, Magical Pendulum Box! I will draw two cards from my deck, and if they're both Pendulum Monsters, I get to keep both of them!" He picked up the top two cards of his deck, revealing them. "I get to keep both of them! And now, I'll activate the Spell Card, Performage Chaos Fusion! I will send Polymerization from my deck to the graveyard, and I'll place Pendulum Monsters from my deck face-up in the Extra Deck as Fusion Materials for a Fusion Summon!"

He took out two cards from his deck.

"I will fuse two copies of Performage Wing Sandwichman!" Two identical monsters appeared in front of Dennis. Wing Sandwichman was a male mage dressed in gold armour that was covered in stars, with a strange moustache on his face. He had two white wings that resembled angel wings. He was holding up a blue shield with a red star in the middle of it, surrounded by several smaller gold stars. He had a dark yellow militaristic cap, with two red feathers emerging from behind it. The two monsters dashed at each other, turning into two brown streaks. "Creator of the antique machines that remain backstage. Now, awaken the power nested in your eye and tear down any unnecessary actors on this stage! Fusion Summon! Level 8! Performage Automaton Engineer!"

The female magician appeared, raising her black top hat, smirking coldly at Yuzu. She had a purple mask covering the top part of her face, except her mask. A long purple robe flared around her body, with golden trim. Most of her body was mechanical—it shone with a purple tint. Her heterochromatic eyes stared forward, one eye green and human, the other mechanical and reddish-orange.

[Performage Automaton Engineer (8*/2900/1600/DARK/Spellcaster/Fusion/Effect)]

"I will Normal Summon Performage Bubble Gardna!" A blue-eyed girl appeared, wearing white gloves, with a bubble-like hat on the top of her head. She was holding onto a striped wand with a pink crab on the top of it. Hearts decorated her clothes.

[Performage Bubble Gardna (4*/S2/800/2000/WATER/Spellcaster/Pendulum/Effect)]

"While I control Performage Automaton Engineer, when a "Performage" monster I control declares an attack, my opponent cannot activate Spell or Trap cards, or Spell or Trap effects, until the end of the Damage Step!" Dennis pointed forward. "Performage Automaton Engineer will attack Prodigy Mozart the Melodious Maestra, and she'll gain 200 attack points with her own effect!"

[Performage Automaton Engineer: 2900 + 200 = 3100ATK]

Yuzu shielded herself, Prodigy Mozart being destroyed in front of her.

Yuzu: 4000 - 200 = 3800LP

"I'll then detach an Overlay Unit from Trapeze Magician! Automaton Engineer can attack twice this turn! Encore Flare!"

[Performage Trapeze Magician: OU:2 - 1 = OU:1]

Trapeze Magician flung Automaton Engineer through the air, and the woman raised an arm up, swinging it through the air.

"Attack Elegy! And she'll gain 200 more attack points!"

[Performage Automaton Engineer: 3100 + 200 = 3300ATK]

"I will Special Summon Consonance the Melodious Diva from my hand and negate the attack!" The woman with light orange skin appeared, wearing pink slippers and a pink dress, her bright yellow hair streaming over her shoulders.

[Consonance the Melodious Diva (5*/1900/1300/LIGHT/Fairy/Tuner/Effect)]

"With her effect, I will target Prodigy Mozart the Melodious Maestra in the graveyard."

"... and you can bring her back during the End Phase, right?" Dennis pointed to Elegy. "Then I'll take her out first. Trapeze Magician attacks Elegy!" The other monster was destroyed.

Yuzu: 3800 - 200 = 3600LP

"I'll end my turn!"

Yuzu gestured forward. "With Consonance's effect, I will Special Summon the targeted monster from the graveyard! Return to the field, Prodigy Mozart the Melodious Maestra!"

[Turn 4: Yuzu] [H:2]

Then, Yuzu swiftly drew a card.

"I'll activate the effect of Prodigy Mozart the Melodious Maestra!" Yuzu declared. "I'll Special Summon another LIGHT Fairy monster from my hand! Come! Soprano the Melodious Songstress!" The woman with dark blue and red hair appeared, wearing a white gown. Her hair was curled around her.

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

"When Soprano is Special Summoned, I can add a "Melodious" monster from my graveyard to my hand!" Yuzu picked up a card. "And I will use the effect of Soprano! I will perform a Fusion Summon of a "Melodious" Fusion Monster using materials on the field! I will fuse Soprano the Melodious Songstress and Consonance the Melodious Diva on the field!"

Yuzu clapped her hands together.

"Angel's song! Lovely consonance! With guidance of the baton, gather your power! Fusion Summon! Now come here to the stage! Fusion Summon! Meisterin Schubert the Melodious Maestra!" The woman with long, curly orange hair appeared, twirling around, a golden mask on her face. Beautiful streams of music notes appeared around her, glowing bright green.

[Meisterin Schubert the Melodious Maestra (6*/2400/2000/LIGHT/Fairy/Fusion/Effect)]

"Meisterin Schubert's effect!" Yuzu called. "I'll banish up to three cards from either graveyard, and Meisterin Schubert will gain 200 attack points for each! I'll banish Magical Pendulum Box, Performage Flimsy Slimmer and Performage Chaos Fusion from the graveyard!" Meisterin Schubert flew up in the air, singing loudly.

[Meisterin Schubert the Melodious Maestra: 2400 + 200 x 3 = 3000ATK]

"But you still can't attack!" Dennis declared.

"I know!" Yuzu said. "But even so…" She gestured forward, placing down one of her two cards. "Quickplay Spell, Mottotheme. Since I control a face-up "Melodious" monster, I can target a face-up card on the field and negate its effects until the End Phase! I will target Mage's Fortress!"

The Continuous Trap faded in colour.

Dennis's eyes widened.

"Then, Continuous Spell, Fortissimo!" Yuzu gestured forward. "Once per turn, I can target a "Melodious" monster I control, and she gains 800 attack points until my next Standby Phase! I will target Meisterin Schubert!"

[Meisterin Schubert the Melodious Maestra: 3000 + 800 = 3800ATK]

"And that means that Meisterin Schubert the Melodious Maestra now exceeds the attack points of Automaton Engineer!" Yuzu clenched a fist. Automaton Engineer was the one that was most important to deal with—she remembered its rather terrifying effect.

"Meisterin Schubert the Melodious Maestra attacks Performage Automaton Engineer!" Schubert dashed forward, music notes flying around her.

"Once per turn, if a "Performage" monster I control would be destroyed by battle or by card effect, I can activate the effect of Performage Bubble Gardna!" Dennis laughed. Bubble Gardna blew out several colourful bubbles, which flew around Automaton Engineer, combining with each other to form a giant bubble, which formed a shield around the female magician. "Bubble Gardna will protect that monster from destruction!" It cushioned the blow from Schubert's attack, though Dennis still took the damage.

Dennis: 4000 - 500 = 3500LP

"Fine," Yuzu said. "That means that there's another attack that I can perform, and you can't protect your other monster! Prodigy Mozart the Melodious Maestra attacks Performage Trapeze Magician!"

Prodigy Mozart flew forward, and with a single strike, she destroyed Trapeze Magician.

Dennis: 3500 - 100 = 3400LP

"Since Trapeze Magician was destroyed, my Performage Trick Clown was sent to the graveyard," Dennis said. "If it was sent to the graveyard this turn, I can Special Summon it back to the field, with its attack and defense points becoming 0! Return to the field in Defense Position, Trick Clown!" The grinning, pale and short clown appeared, adjusting its orange hat.

[Performage Trick Clown: 1600 0ATK; 1200 0DEF]

Yuzu nodded, acknowledging it. "I'll end my turn!"

Yuzu would admit to being a little disappointed though. She had been hoping to get rid of Automaton Engineer. While defeating Trapeze Magician was still a bonus, stopping Dennis from declaring more attacks, it wasn't the best outcome that could have come about.

[Turn 5: Dennis] [H:3]

"Draw!" Dennis declared. Automaton Engineer and Bubble Gardna floated in front of him. "I'll activate the effect of Performage Automaton Engineer! By tributing a "Performage" monster, I can Special Summon a "Performage" monster from my Extra Deck in Attack Position!" Bubble Gardna dissolved into rainbow bubbles, before they reformed again. "Boost Remake! Come—Performage Trapeze Witch!" The green-skinned woman in a purple hat appeared, spinning around in the middle of the field. She spun a baton around in front of her, with each end being a pink sun.

[Performage Trapeze Witch (7*/2400/1800/DARK/Spellcaster/Fusion/Effect)]

"And now, Performage Automaton Engineer will attack your Meisterin Schubert the Melodious Maestra! And she will gain another 200 attack points from her own effect!"

[Performage Automaton Engineer: 3300 + 200 = 3500ATK]

Gears spun around the magician, and she struck towards Meisterin Schubert, who backed away.

Dennis raised a finger, waggling it. "And let's not forget. When a "Performage" monster I control battles another monster, I can lower the opposing monster's attack points by 600!" A dark aura surrounded Meisterin Schubert, forcing her to the ground. Trapeze Witch let out a sharp, malicious laugh, waving her baton through the air, before gesturing towards Automaton Engineer—a witch calling to an executioner.

[Meisterin Schubert the Melodious Maestra: 3800 - 600 = 3200ATK]

And Automaton Engineer laid the final blow, crushing Meisterin Schubert. Yuzu winced.

Yuzu: 3600 - 300 = 3300LP

"And Performage Trapeze Witch will attack your Prodigy Mozart the Melodious Maestra!" Dennis clapped his hands together. "And Trapeze Witch's effect will trigger another time!" Prodigy Mozart was weighed down by the effect, and Trapeze Witch let out another wicked laugh.

[Prodigy Mozart the Melodious Maestra: 2600 - 600 = 2000ATK]

Trapeze Witch swung forward, kicking Prodigy Mozart to the ground sharply. Spinning around, she slammed her staff down on the fairy. Yuzu winced, as did Dennis. Then, the sinister-looking woman flipped Prodigy Mozart through the air, destroying her with a final blast of shadows.

Yuzu: 3300 - 400 = 2900LP

"I'll end my turn," Dennis said. "Your turn."

Yuzu looked at the field. It was… difficult to deal with, but…

Three monsters. Trick Clown was still there in Defense Position, but the other two monsters were both Fusion Monsters. One of them was made out of mechanical parts and clockwork, resembling those Antique Gear monsters that most of Academia used. Meanwhile, the other was a sinister puppeteer who weakened anyone that went against other monsters that he controlled.

Both of them represented things about Dennis that were… sinister. That didn't match up with the Dennis that most of the Lancers had met back in Standard.

And to be honest, as someone that had dueled Dennis before… despite her earlier hostility towards him, Yuzu didn't hate him. She was just… disappointed, in a way. She had never sensed any malice from him, nor any wish to genuinely hurt someone. And he had just seemed… sad, when he had been dueling Shun Kurosaki.

So, Yuzu couldn't really hate him. She was disappointed with him for still following Academia when it was so clear that he didn't believe in what they were telling him to do.

But she had to be strong enough to show that disappointment. To show what she thought was right…

To show, very simply, that she disagreed!

And if there was something that Yuzu was good at doing, it was being disagreeable.

[Turn 6: Yuzu] [H:1]

Her field was empty, other than Fortissimo. She would have to build everything up from scratch again.

"Draw!" Yuzu declared, no hesitation at all in her voice. "I will activate the effect of Mottotheme in my graveyard! By banishing it, I can Special Summon a Level 4 or lower "Melodious" monster from my hand or graveyard to the field, but its attack and defense points become 0! Come from the graveyard, Soprano the Melodious Songstress!" Soprano reappeared on the field, though she was weakened by the effect of Mottotheme.

[Soprano the Melodious Songstress: 1400 0ATK/DEF]

"Since Soprano the Melodious Songstress was Special Summoned, I can add a "Melodious" monster from my graveyard to my hand!" She picked up a card again. "I'll Special Summon Canon the Melodious Diva from my hand, since I control a "Melodious" monster!" The blue-haired girl appeared on her field. "Open, circuit of the rising harmonies! Arrowhead confirmed! The conditions are two Fairy monsters! I'll set Canon the Melodious Diva and Soprano the Melodious Songstress in the Link Markers! Beautiful genius with the perfect voice! With your hands that channel the power of music, bring every melody together in wondrous harmony! Circuit Combine! Link Summon! Link 2! Bloom Harmonist the Melodious Floral Virtuoso!" Her pink-haired Link Monster appeared on the field.

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

"Bloom Harmonist's effect! When she's Link Summoned, I can discard a card to Special Summon two "Melodious" monsters with different Levels from my deck to the Main Monster Zones she points to, and those monsters must be in Defense Position! But I can't Special Summon monsters this turn, except "Melodious" monsters! Floral Outburst!" Yuzu took out two cards from her deck. "Come to the field! Laureate Francois the Melodious Maestra! Alto the Melodious Songstress!" First, the woman with short and curly green hair appeared, wearing a long and elegant purple gown, a translucent keyboard in front of her hands. Second, the violinist with green and orange hair appeared, sitting down and calmly running her tuning fork across the strings of her violin.

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

[Alto the Melodious Songstress (1*/100/800/LIGHT/Fairy/Tuner/Effect)]

"When Alto the Melodious Songstress is Special Summoned, I can increase the Level of a "Melodious" monster I control by 1! I'll choose Laureate Francois the Melodious Maestra!" Alto pointed her tuning fork at Laureate Francois, who smiled widely and bowed as she was surrounded by a colourful glow.

[Laureate Francois the Melodious Maestra: 7* + 1* = 8*]

"And with Laureate Francois the Melodious Maestra's effect, I can target a LIGHT Fairy monster in my graveyard and add it to my hand! However, I cannot activate the effects of monsters this turn, except LIGHT monsters!"

Yuzu picked up a certain card from my graveyard, before turning back to the field.

"You don't know this one, Dennis," she declared. "I only brought out this monster for the first time after you left us! So if you're going to keep on reporting back to Academia even when you don't want to, you can report all of this too—that I, Yuzu Hiiragi, am more than just my Fusions, and I'm more trouble than any of you can handle! I'll tune the Level 1 Alto the Melodious Songstress to the Level 8 Laureate Francois the Melodious Maestra! Graceful melody! Low-rising harmony! Let the rising rhythm signal your arrival to this stage now, noble voice! Synchro Summon! Level 9! Evolution of music! Gospodin Tchaikovsky the Melodious Overture Saint!" The beautiful angelic monster appeared, its starkly contrasting left and right halves making it hard to look at them as a whole. Their blue-grey dress covered their entire body, and they held up their batons like daggers.

[Gospodin Tchaikovsky the Melodious Overture Saint (9*/3000/2000/LIGHT/Fairy/Synchro/Effect)]

"Since Gospodin Tchaikovsky was Synchro Summoned using at least two "Melodious" monsters as material, I can target and destroy a "Melodious" monster I control and two cards on the field! I will choose to destroy Bloom Harmonist, along with Mage's Fortress and Trapeze Witch!"

"Your new power is useless!" Dennis declared. "When I control Performage Trapeze Witch, "Performage" monsters I control cannot be destroyed by card effects, and they can't be targeted by card effects either!"

And there, Yuzu found her problem.

Gospodin Tchaikovsky required her to target exactly two other cards on the field. Not 'up to two', but exactly 'two'. But currently, Dennis only controlled a single card that could be targeted.

"I'll target Bloom Harmonist, Mage's Fortress and Fortissimo," she said, making her decision swiftly. "Betrayal Rhapsody!" All three cards were destroyed as Gospodin Tchaikovsky flew up into the sky, light shining down on all of them.

"Destroying two of your cards for Mage's Fortress? How wasteful." Dennis folded his arms. "When Mage's Fortress is destroyed, I can draw a card."

Yuzu frowned, slightly annoyed. "I'll be the one to decide if my moves are a waste or not! I gain 400 life points for each card destroyed by Betrayal Rhapsody! Three cards were destroyed, so I gain 1200 life points!"

Yuzu: 2900 + 400 x 3 = 4100LP

"Attack Performage Trapeze Witch! Blackwhite Melodious Assault!"

"It seems that you've forgotten most of my monsters' effects in my absence!" Trapeze Witch let out a sharp cackle, as though mocking her. "Performage Trapeze Witch can't be targeted for an attack while I control another "Performage" monster!"

"... right. Then…"

Yuzu grimaced.

"I'll have to end my turn," she muttered.

[Turn 7: Dennis] [H:5]

"Really?" Dennis drew a card. "I'll tribute Performage Trick Clown with the effect of Performage Automaton Engineer!"

Yuzu winced.

Once she had failed to destroy Automaton Engineer the first turn, this had just snowballed impossibly. Its attack points were only going to keep going up too.

"Come from the Extra Deck! Performage Shadow Maker!" A dark figure made entirely out of shadows appeared, wearing a bright green hat. On the front of his face, he was also wearing a red mask. He was grinning widely.

[Performage Shadow Maker (R5/2600/1000/DARK/Spellcaster/Xyz/Effect) (OU:0)]

"And since Performage Trick Clown was sent to the graveyard, I can Special Summon it back to the field with its attack and defense points becoming 0."

Yuzu's eyes widened.

"Do you see?" Dennis asked. "It's an infinite loop. Every turn, it'll only get worse for you. What are you going to do now?" He pointed forward. "I will have Automaton Engineer attack your Gospodin Tchaikovsky the Melodious Overture Saint! And with her effect, she will gain 200 attack points again!"

[Performage Automaton Engineer: 3500 + 200 = 3700ATK]

"And with Trapeze Witch's effect, your monster's attack points fall by 600!"

[Gospodin Tchaikovsky the Melodious Overture Saint: 3000 - 600 = 2400ATK]

"And that's where you messed up!" Yuzu called. "Once per turn, when my opponent's monster battles a "Melodious" monster I control, I can discard Score the Melodious Diva to change that monster's attack and defense points to 0!" A white glow surrounded Automaton Engineer, weakening it.

[Performage Automaton Engineer: 3700 0ATK; 1900 0DEF]

"What?" Dennis gasped.

"This factory-like production of new monsters is stopping right here!" Yuzu declared. "Break down now!"

Gospodin Tchaikovsky flew forward, her batons flicking forward. With the force, the Fusion Monster was crushed, and the attack backfired on Dennis.

Dennis: 3400 - 2400 = 1000LP

"Ugh…" Dennis grimaced. "But you have no more cards in hand! You can't pull off a trick like that again! Performage Shadow Maker is going to attack your monster! And with the effect of Performage Trapeze Witch, your monster's attack points fall by 600!"

[Gospodin Tchaikovsky the Melodious Overture Saint: 2400 - 600 = 1800ATK]

And Trapeze Witch herself still hadn't attacked…

"When a "Melodious" monster I control battles an opponent's monster, I can banish Alto the Melodious Songstress from the graveyard!" Yuzu declared. "The opposing monster's attack points are permanently decreased by 500!" The spirit of Alto appeared in front of her, floating around her, before sprinkling a few sparkles of light on Shadow Maker.

[Performage Shadow Maker: 2600 - 500 = 2100ATK]

It didn't change the result, but Yuzu managed to lower the damage that she took.

Yuzu: 4100 - 300 = 3800LP

"Performage Trapeze Witch attacks you directly!"

The Fusion Monster that was also causing her far more trouble than it should leapt forward, bashing her staff through the air. Only dodging the attack kept Yuzu safe from it, and even then, that wicked cackle surprised her slightly.

Yuzu: 3800 - 2400 = 1400LP

"I'll set a card and end my turn."

Yuzu gritted her teeth, glancing at her field.

What am I doing?

I said that I would defeat him! And I genuinely believed it—that I could and I should be able to defeat him. I am not injured, I am not out of my mind, I am entirely myself and my mind is mine, and so, I am not deluded!

I know I can win!

Then, a bad feeling filled her heart. She looked down at her bracelet, which was flickering slightly.

… it only ever did that if something bad was happening, right? She still didn't understand this bracelet, or what its role was.

But there was one thing that she knew for sure. It was something that was beyond her. It was a miracle to call upon when there was something terrible happening and she did not understand why.

Yuzu looked at Dennis.

This was not beyond her understanding. This was not beyond her capability.

She did not need a miracle, or to be saved by someone else!

The bracelet glowed. There was something strange to how it felt on her wrist now—oddly ill-fitting, despite the fact that it had fit well enough her entire life. As though her conviction had made her outgrow it. At the same time, Yuzu almost felt like she was being asked something. There were no words that she was really hearing, but there was a sentiment there.

"Dennis," Yuzu said. "Does Academia want me… or does it want my bracelet?"

"... I have no clue," Dennis admitted. "They always just call you all the girls with the bracelets."

… that was just…

"They can't even acknowledge us," Yuzu muttered. "As though the only thing about me that matters is this bracelet…"

She reached to her wrist and slipped the bracelet off.

She had been wearing this her entire life, from what she remembered. It hurt her now to take it off—because she was taking off something that had been with her for sixteen years. Even so…

"Then," Yuzu continued, "I'm going to become someone that Academia can't just reduce to this!"

She tossed the bracelet on the ground. Then, despite the apprehension that filled her mind, she raised her foot.

"Wait, are you…" Dennis's eyes widened.

Yuzu stomped down on the bracelet. A part of her mind was yelling at her not to do it, but her heart…

Her heart just wanted to be acknowledged.

Metal broke apart, and a flash of light exploded outwards.


Sawatari whipped his head around, nearly blinded by the light. "What's that?"

He shook his head after a moment, turning back to the Obelisk Force members in front of him.

He'd finish them off and head back to Yuzu. He had to figure out what had just happened.


"If I just stay 'the girl with the bracelet'," Yuzu shouted as the light faded, "I'll never be able to become someone that can win against all of you!"

The remains of the bracelet disappeared, fading into light and flowing into her duel disk. Yuzu noticed it, but it didn't shake her resolve at all.

"You destroyed the bracelet?" Dennis said, eyes widening. "That's… they said that the bracelets were indestructible! How is that… possible? Don't you love that bracelet?"

"I grew up with it," Yuzu admitted. "It was a constant for me ever since I was a child, even as my life changed and shifted as I grew up. But somehow, along the way, it ended up becoming both a weakness and a parasite on my identity!" She shook her head. "If there's something that it's made me forget, it's that I can't rely on miracles! I can't stand there and hope that something else will help me!"

She exhaled sharply.

"And more importantly. I am not defined by something that I wear. I am Yuzu Hiiragi, and that's all that someone needs to use to describe me! Academia can't remove my identity from me!"

She drew her next card determinedly.

Reshape it.

Reshape my own heart and mind—

Reshape this into something that's my own!

[Turn 8: Yuzu] [H:1]

"Spell Card, Floral Melody!" Yuzu declared. She had never seen this card before, but she was not going to question it after seeing what had just happened. "I can declare three monster card types. I will declare Fusion, Link and Synchro! And I can banish a monster of each declared card Type from my graveyard! I will banish the Fusion Monster, Meisterin Schubert the Melodious Maestra! The Link Monster, Bloom Harmonist the Melodious Floral Virtuoso! The Synchro Monster, Gospodin Tchaikovsky the Melodious Overture Saint!"

The three cards appeared above her, before vanishing.

"Then, I can draw a card for each card banished with this effect! Furthermore, since all the monsters banished for this card's effect were "Melodious" monsters, I can add a "Melodious" monster from my deck to my hand! However, I cannot Special Summon monsters of the declared card types for the rest of this turn!"

"Then—" Dennis's eyes widened. "You locked off every summoning method that you know? Why would you do something like that?"

Yuzu swiped up three cards from the top of her deck. Then, she glanced through the list of cards in her deck.

Her fingers drifted over a familiar-yet-unseen card in her deck, before she chose it.

"You're wrong," she said.

"Huh?"

"Because I watch him," Yuzu said firmly. "I look at him more than I look at anyone else! I look at him and I try to understand every single thing that he does, more than anyone. So, I understand. I've always understood!"

She placed down two cards on her duel disk swiftly.

"I will set the Scale 1 Mimosa the Melodious Illusion Maiden and the Scale 9 Fairall the Melodious Illusion Maiden in the Pendulum Scales!"

And the two pillars of light shot up around her. On one side was a woman dressed entirely in a green dress. Her hair was bright pink, long and spiky, coming out in a ball-like shape around her. Her skin was light green-yellow, and she held up two maracas that resembled the bulbs of a flower. Pink flowers were floating in the air around her, along with music notes.

The other side had a woman with bright fiery orange hair, curled into rolls around her face. She had light yellow skin, with a bright yellow antenna coming out of the front of her hair. She was wearing a slim red cocktail dress, and holding up a glass of white wine, with hands covered in orange gloves, with white ribbons around the wrists of the gloves.

"You have Pendulum Monsters?" Dennis exclaimed. "But—you only have two cards in your hand! Even if they're both monsters—"

"When I have two cards in my hand, I can Pendulum Summon this card from my hand by itself," Yuzu declared. "Come forth now, and bloom beautifully against the odds! Natural Energy Spirit - Reflowering Angel!"

And a single monster appeared on the field, glowing with light.

This woman that appeared had light pink skin, and her hair was made out of lovely pink flowers that covered her scalp and came down, sweeping, long and thick, to her waist. Wisteria, clematis, bougainvillaea, all of them draped around her body. She had twin wings that resembled the wings of the rest of Yuzu's monsters—resembling a harp in their shape, solid lines around the edges. However, they were made of leaves and purple flowers. The woman had two corsages around her hands. A necklace hung around her neck, with a pink crystal pendant on it. She was wearing a white vest and a bright blue skirt, with long white stockings on her legs and pink slippers. The slippers had bow ribbons on the top of them. She held onto a violin's bow in her right hand, in the way that a person might hold a rapier. In the other, a long stream of hyacinth blossoms whipped through the air sharply.

A halo was above her head, made of silver—resembling the same silver as the bracelet that Yuzu had just broken.

[Natural Energy Spirit - Reflowering Angel (7*/S4/2500/2000/LIGHT/Fairy/Pendulum/Effect)]

"Natural Energy… Spirit?" Dennis murmured.

"This is the 'me' that I choose for myself," Yuzu declared. "This is the 'me' that I choose to be! When Natural Energy Spirit - Reflowering Angel is Pendulum Summoned using its own effect, it cannot be targeted by card effects until the End Phase!"

She gestured forward.

"Trapeze Witch's effect has to target the monster that it's affecting! Therefore, that monster no longer has any way to weaken my monster!"

Dennis grimaced. Trapeze Witch pulled a face from next to him.

"I will activate the Pendulum Effect of Mimosa the Melodious Illusion Maiden! While I control a LIGHT monster, I can destroy a Spell or Trap on the field!" She gestured to Dennis's backrow card, which was swept away. "Then, I will activate the Pendulum Effect of Fairall the Melodious Illusion Maiden! Once per turn, if I control a Fairy monster, I can negate the effects of a card on the field. For good measure, I will seal down your Performage Trapeze Witch's effects!"

The Fusion Monster was knocked back down to the ground.

"Quickplay Spell, Pendulum Unveiling," Yuzu declared. "I will Special Summon a Pendulum Monster from my Pendulum Zone. Come—Fairall the Melodious Illusion Maiden!" The pillar of light shattered, and the orange-haired woman stepped out elegantly.

[Fairall the Melodious Illusion Maiden (4*/S9/1500/700/LIGHT/Fairy/Pendulum/Effect)]

"And that's it," Yuzu said. "Natural Energy Spirit - Reflowering Angel will attack Performage Trapeze Witch!" Since Trapeze Witch's effects were negated, she could now be targeted for an attack, even though Dennis still controlled other Performage monsters.

"Huh?" Dennis said, sounding baffled.

"Huh?" Sawatari, who had just arrived again and had far too many questions to ask, stared at the scene.

"Angelic Magicorolla!"

Reflowering Angel summoned forth several brightly coloured flowers, which wrapped around the woman and destroyed it, as though absorbing her into the ground.

Dennis: 1000 - 100 = 900LP

"The thing is, Dennis," Yuzu said, "I feel so… sad when I see you. Because you're not happy, are you?"

Dennis blinked.

"There you are. With your attempts at being happy, sealing yourself away in your shadows." Shadow Maker and Trick Clown were on both sides of Dennis, and for a brief moment, Dennis looked at both of them. "You can't let yourself be freed to be… yourself. And I hate that."

She held out a hand.

"So right now, let me try to free you from both! I won't challenge your darkness, because you've probably seen more than I've seen. I won't challenge your entertainment, because just like that monster of yours, you keep longing to entertain others no matter how much you force it down. So I will defeat you without destroying either of those! When Natural Energy Spirit - Reflowering Angel destroys a monster by battle, I can inflict 500 damage to you for each Special Summoned monster you control! Then, I can draw a card." She sighed. "Though that's not going to matter."

"500 damage for each Special Summoned monster I control…" Dennis's eyes widened. "That's 1000."

"And you have 900 life points." Yuzu clapped her hands together. "Do it! Flowerspring Refrain!"

Flower petals shot forward—

"Do you think…" Dennis muttered, "that it's that easy to save me?"

He slammed down a card.

"I will Special Summon Performage Flame Eater from my hand and change the damage to 0!" He raised his head, staring at her defiantly. "Effect damage negation is my specialty! Just like back then—your Bloom Diva couldn't finish the job, and this time, it's the same! Your monster can't get it done! You haven't changed anything about yourself since then!"

"You're wrong," Yuzu retorted. "I have changed, and that's why you lose! When my opponent's monster activates its effect—I can send Fairall from my hand or field to the graveyard, and I can negate that effect!" Fairall vanished into orange sparkles and music notes.

Dennis blinked.

"Your fear, your violence, your hatred," Yuzu said. "Sweep it all away, Reflowering Angel!"

Light and flowers engulfed the field—

And Dennis's life points trickled down, slowly drained out of him.

Dennis: 900 - 500 x 2 = 0LP

Winner: Yuzu Hiiragi!

Everything faded away.

Yuzu glanced at her bare wrist.

It felt odd…

But it felt right too.

I don't need anyone to save me, anymore.

That's what I've decided.

And hey, she had gotten Pendulum Monsters out of whatever that was. And Yuzu had already learned the disadvantages of overthinking things from that time that she had first met Yuto, so instead of considering what had actually happened, she just filed it away under 'another weird thing has happened to me today' and moved on.

Namely, she stepped forward.

"I lost," Dennis muttered. "I lost… again… I should be dead by now…"

Yuzu stopped, lost for words.

However, the other person there did not. Sawatari slapped Dennis across the back of the head.

"Hey," Sawatari said. "Take it from me! I lose all the time, and it doesn't mean I have to die, you know. That's just dumb."

"Sawatari!" Yuzu chided, because he was currently referring to someone's very messed-up mindset about war that had most likely been taught to them by an authority figure that they trusted, and calling it 'dumb' was not exactly… nice.

"Hey, Dennis." Sawatari took out his hands from his pocket, holding out a hand towards Dennis, who was currently sitting on the ground. "You're too much of a loser to stay in Academia. They're too strict for you."

Dennis raised his head, glancing at Sawatari.

"You can come back to the Lancers, if you want," Sawatari said. He smirked. "I mean, we have pretty high standards, but I'm sure we can make an exception. And Kurosaki might punch you a few times, but you can handle that, right?"

Yuzu stared at Sawatari, open-mouthed.

Was this the same Sawatari that she had met all that time ago?

Dennis stared at Sawatari's hand. He raised his hand, as though he was about to take it—and then he slapped Sawatari's hand away, after a moment of hesitation. He stumbled as he stood up, and then he began to walk away.

"Dennis!"

"The only reason that you're extending a hand to me is because you're both too naive," Dennis spat out. There was an attempt at sounding callous, but it failed when his voice broke. "The only place that a cruel, traitorous loser like me belongs is Academia. Leave me alone."

Neither Yuzu nor Sawatari spoke up as Dennis left. They just stared after him for a moment.

"That guy," Sawatari said. "He was… saying that he doesn't deserve to come back to the Lancers, right? Even though he disagrees with Academia."

"Yeah," Yuzu said. She was somewhat at a loss for words.

"You were pretty cool when you won," Sawatari said.

"... thanks?"

Sawatari looked like he was struggling with something.

"Should we go?" Yuzu asked, completely oblivious.

"Wait." Sawatari raised a hand. "I… I…" He exhaled. "I'm sorry, Yuzu Hiiragi."

"For what?" Yuzu frowned in confusion.

"For putting you in danger. For bullying Yuya. For looking down on you." Sawatari gritted his teeth. "... look. It's really hard to say any of this, but… yeah. It's what you deserve, I think—you deserve an apology from me."

"Sawatari…"

"The thing is, I kind of understand that guy." Sawatari grimaced. "It's uncomfortable. I don't like thinking that I understand that guy. The thing is, I joined the Lancers because it was the first time that someone… acknowledged me, you know." He shook his head. "If it was something like Academia instead… I might have done anything to make them proud too. I'm that kind of person too. And that makes me realise… I'm really kind of rotten, huh? And I guess I did—I just feel like I should apologise."

Yuzu looked at him, and then she sighed, somewhat exasperated. "It's the past," she said. She jabbed him in the chest. "It's all in the past now. Yes, I'll be honest. I hated you when we first met. But you're not the same now. Neither am I. We're both Lancers. You're my comrade, like I said. There's no need for apologies between us. Come on—let's go already. We have people to save."

"... yes." Sawatari grinned. "There's tons of people waiting for me, the Neo New Great Shingo Sawatari, and his sidekick—"

"Alright, if you call me a sidekick again, I'm kicking you."


In the back of Yuzu's mind, someone smiled.

at the very least, one of them doesn't need me to stand on their own feet anymore.

Good. That's how it should be.

Neither me nor Z_ should be able to interfere any longer. This is their life to live.

I hope that they all make it soon. Yuzu Hiiragi was first, because she's able to recognise herself now. That monster… they are the part of my power that exists in them, but she has claimed it and reshaped it into something that resembles her view of herself.

That power never belonged to the bracelet. It was part of you—always yours.

Yuzu Hiiragi…

Reflower. Flourish anew, as your very own person.

I am so very proud of you.


Duel 1 Summary: Yuzu Hiiragi vs Dennis Mackfield

Duel Format: Normal Duel

Turn 1: Dennis Mackfield

Dennis Normal Summons Performage Trick Clown (4*/1600/1200) from his hand. He Special Summons Performage Flimsy Slimmer (4*/S3/100/1200) from his hand with its own effect, since he Normal Summoned a "Performage" monster. He overlays the Level 4 Trick Clown and Flimsy Slimmer, Xyz Summoning Performage Trapeze Magician (R4/2500/2000/OU:2) in Attack Position. He sets a card and ends his turn.

Turn 2: Yuzu Hiiragi

Yuzu draws. Since she controls no monsters, she Special Summons Solo the Melodious Songstress (4*/1600/1000) from her hand. Then, she Special Summons Canon the Melodious Diva (4*/1400/2000) from her hand, since she controls a "Melodious" monster. She tributes both Canon and Solo to Tribute Summon Prodigy Mozart the Melodious Maestra (8*/2600/2000) in Attack Position. She uses the effect of Prodigy Mozart the Melodious Maestra to Special Summon Elegy the Melodious Diva (5*/2000/1200) from her hand. Elegy grants both herself and Prodigy Mozart 300 attack points. (ETMD: 2000 + 300 = 2300ATK) (PMTMM: 2900 + 300 = 3200ATK) Dennis activates the Continuous Trap, Mage's Fortress, stopping Yuzu from declaring an attack while he controls a Spellcaster monster. Yuzu ends her turn.

Turn 3: Dennis Mackfield

Dennis activates the Spell Card, Magical Pendulum Box, drawing 2 cards. Since they're both Pendulum Monsters, he can keep both of them in his hand. He activates the Spell Card, Performage Chaos Fusion, fusing two copies of Performage Wing Sandwichman from his Deck by placing them face-up in his Extra Deck, to Fusion Summon Performage Automaton Engineer (8*/2900/1600) in Attack Position. He Normal Summons Performage Bubble Gardna. While he controls Performage Automaton Engineer, when a "Performage" monster he controls battles, his opponent cannot activate Spells or Traps. Automaton Engineer attacks Prodigy Mozart, and gains 200 attack points when she attacks with her effect. (PAE: 2900 + 200 = 3100ATK) [YH: 4000 - 200 = 3800LP] Dennis activates Trapeze Magician's effect, detaching an Overlay Unit to give Automaton Engineer a second attack. (PTM: OU:2 - 1 = OU:1) Automaton Engineer attacks Elegy. (PAE: 3100 + 200 = 3300ATK) Yuzu Special Summons Consonance the Melodious Diva (5*/1900/1300) from her hand to negate the attack. She targets Prodigy Mozart in the graveyard with Consonance's effect. Trapeze Magician attacks Elegy. [YH: 3800 - 200 = 3600LP] Dennis ends his turn. With Consonance's effect, Yuzu revives Prodigy Mozart the Melodious Maestra.

Turn 4: Yuzu Hiiragi

Yuzu draws. She uses Prodigy Mozart the Melodious Maestra's effect, Special Summoning Soprano the Melodious Songstress (4*/1400/1400) from her hand. She uses Soprano's effect to add a "Melodious" monster from her graveyard to her hand. She uses Soprano's effect to fuse Soprano with Consonance, Fusion Summoning Meisterin Schubert the Melodious Maestra (6*/2400/2000) in Attack Position. She uses Meisterin Schubert's effect to banish Magical Pendulum Box, Performage Flimsy Slimmer and Performage Chaos Fusion from Dennis's graveyard, and grant Meisterin Schubert 200 attack points for each card banished with this effect. (MSTMM: 2400 + 200 x 3 = 3000ATK) Yuzu activates the Quickplay Spell, Mottotheme, negating the effects of Mage's Fortress. She then activates the Continuous Spell, Fortissimo. She uses its effect to grant Meisterin Schubert 800 attack points. (MSTMM: 3000 + 800 = 3800ATK) Meisterin Schubert attacks Automaton Engineer. Dennis uses the effect of Bubble Gardna to protect Automaton Engineer. [DM: 4000 - 500 = 3500LP] Prodigy Mozart attacks and destroys Trapeze Magician. [DM: 3500 - 100 = 3400LP] Trick Clown's effect Special Summons it back to the field with its ATK and DEF becoming 0. Yuzu ends her turn.

Turn 5: Dennis Mackfield

Dennis draws. He activates Automaton Engineer's effect, tributing Bubble Gardna to Special Summon Performage Trapeze Witch (7*/2400/1800) from the Extra Deck in Attack Position. Automaton Engineer attacks Meisterin Schubert. It gains 200 ATK with its own effect, and with Trapeze Witch's effect, Meisterin Schubert loses 600 ATK. (PAE: 3300 + 200 = 3500ATK) (MSTMM: 3800 - 600 = 3200ATK) [YH: 3600 - 300 = 3300LP] Trapeze Witch attacks Prodigy Mozart the Melodious Maestra. With Trapeze Witch's effect, Prodigy Mozart loses 600 ATK. [YH: 3300 - 400 = 2900LP] Dennis ends his turn.

Turn 6: Yuzu Hiiragi

Yuzu draws. She banishes Mottotheme from the GY to Special Summon Soprano the Melodious Songstress from her GY. She uses Soprano's effect to add Canon the Melodious Diva from her GY to her hand. Then, with the effect of Canon the Melodious Diva, she Special Summons Canon from her hand. She uses Canon and Soprano to Link Summon Bloom Harmonist the Melodious Floral Virtuoso (L2/1000/↙, ↘) to the Extra Monster Zone. She discards a card to use Bloom Harmonist's effect, Special Summoning Laureate Francois the Melodious Maestra (7*/2300/1700) and Alto the Melodious Songstress (1*/100/800) from her Deck in Defense Position. With Alto's effect, she increases Laureate Francois's Level by 1. (LFTMM: 7* + 1* = 8*) She uses Laureate Francois's effect to add Score the Melodious Diva, who she discarded for Bloom Harmonist's effect, from her GY to her hand. She tunes the Level 1 Alto to the Level 8 Laureate Franocis, Synchro Summoning Gospodin Tchaikovsky the Melodious Overture Saint. (9*/3000/2000) She uses Gospodin Tchaikovsky's effect to destroy Fortissimo, Bloom Harmonist and Mage's Fortress. Since Mage's Fortress was destroyed, Dennis draws 1 card. With Gospodin Tchaikovsky's effect, Yuzu gains 400 life points for each destroyed card. [YH: 2900 + 400 x 3 = 4100LP] Yuzu ends her turn.

Turn 7: Dennis Mackfield

Dennis tributes Trick Clown with Automaton Engineer's effect, to Special Summon Performage Shadow Maker (R5/2600/1000/OU:0) in Attack Position. Trick Clown Special Summons itself back to the field with its own effect. Automaton Engineer attacks Gospodin Tchaikovsky. Automaton Engineer gains 200 ATK with its own effect, and Trapeze Witch lowers Gospodin Tchaikovsky's ATK by 600. (PAE: 3500 + 200 = 3700ATK) (GTTMOS: 3000 - 600 = 2400ATK) Yuzu discards Score the Melodious Diva, lowering Automaton Engineer's ATK and DEF to 0. Automaton Engineer is destroyed. [DM: 3400 - 2400 = 1000LP] Shadow Maker attacks Gospodin Tchaikovsky. Trapeze Witch's effect lowers Tchaikovsky's ATK by 600. (GTTMOS: 2400 - 600 = 1800ATK) Yuzu banishes Alto from the GY to permanently decrease Shadow Maker's ATK by 500. (PSM: 2600 - 500 = 2100ATK) [YH: 4100 - 300 = 3800LP] Trapeze Witch attacks her directly. [YH: 3800 - 2400 = 1400LP] Dennis sets a card and ends his turn.

Turn 8: Yuzu Hiiragi

Yuzu draws. She activates the Spell Card, Floral Melody. She banishes Meisterin Schubert, Bloom Harmonist and Gospodin Tchaikovsky from the GY to draw a card for each, and with its additional effect, she adds Natural Energy Spirit - Reflowering Angel (7*/S4/2500/2000) from her Deck to her hand. She sets the Scale 1 Mimosa the Melodious Illusion Maiden and the Scale 9 Fairall the Melodious Illusion Maiden in the Pendulum Scales. She uses the effect of Natural Energy Spirit - Reflowering Angel and Pendulum Summons her from the hand, allowing her to be immune to targeting card effects for the rest of the turn. She then uses Mimosa's Pendulum Effect to destroy Dennis's set card, and uses Fairall's Pendulum Effect to negate Trapeze Witch's effects. She activates the Quickplay Spell, Pendulum Unveiling, Special Summoning Fairall the Melodious Illusion Maiden (4*/S9/1500/700) from her Pendulum Scale. She has Reflowering Angel attack and destroy Trapeze Witch. [DM: 1000 - 100 = 900LP] She activates Reflowering Angel's effect to inflict 500 damage to her opponent for each Special Summoned monster they control. Dennis activates the effect of Performage Flame Eater. Yuzu sends Fairall from the field to the GY to negate the monster effect. The effect resolves. [DM: 900 - 500 x 2 = 0LP] Yuzu wins!


OC Cards:

Performage Chaos Fusion

(Spell)

Send 1 "Polymerization" from your hand or Deck to the GY, then choose 1 "Performage" Fusion Monster in your Extra Deck; you can place Pendulum Monsters from your Deck face-up in the Extra Deck as Fusion Materials, and if you do, Special Summon the chosen Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck. (This is treated as a Fusion Summon.) You can banish this card from your GY; add 1 "Fusion" card or "Polymerization" card from your Deck to your hand. You can only activate each effect of "Performage Chaos Fusion" once per turn.

Performage Automaton Engineer

(8*/2900/1600/DARK/Spellcaster/Fusion/Effect)

2 "Performage" monsters with the same name

You can Tribute 1 "Performage" monster you control; Special Summon 1 "Performage" monster from your Extra Deck in Attack Position. You can only activate this effect of "Performage Automaton Engineer" once per turn. While you control this card, when a "Performage" monster you control declares an attack, your opponent cannot activate Spell/Trap cards or effects until the end of the Damage Step. When this card declares an attack: It gains 200 ATK.

Consonance the Melodious Diva

(5*/1900/1300/LIGHT/Fairy/Tuner/Effect)

When your opponent's monster declares an attack: You can Special Summon this card from your hand, and if you do, negate that attack, then you can target 1 monster in your GY. During the End Phase, if the monster targeted by the above effect is still in the GY: You can Special Summon it to the field, and if you do, it is treated as a "Melodious" monster. Once per turn: You can target 1 monster in the GY; this card's name and Level/Attribute/Type become the same as the targeted monster's until the End Phase.

Mottotheme

(Spell/Quickplay)

If you control a "Melodious" monster(s): Target 1 face-up card on the field; negate its effects until the End Phase. You can banish this card from the GY; Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower "Melodious" monster from your hand or GY with a different name from cards on your field, but its ATK/DEF becomes 0. You can only activate 1 "Mottotheme" per turn.

Alto the Melodious Songstress

(1*/100/800/LIGHT/Fairy/Tuner/Effect)

If this card is Special Summoned: You can target 1 "Melodious" monster on the field; increase or decrease its Level by 1. If a "Melodious" monster you control battles an opponent's monster while this card is in the GY: You can banish this card from the GY; decrease the opposing monster's ATK by 500. You can only activate each effect of "Alto the Melodious Songstress" once per turn.

Gospodin Tchaikovsky the Melodious Overture Saint

(9*/3000/2000/LIGHT/Fairy/Synchro/Effect)

1 LIGHT Tuner + 1+ non-Tuner monsters

If this card is Synchro Summoned using at least 2 "Melodious" monsters as Synchro Material: You can target 1 "Melodious" monster you control and 2 cards on the field; destroy the targeted cards, and if you do, gain LP equal to the number of destroyed cards x 400. If this card battles a Special Summoned monster: You can target 1 "Melodious" monster you control other than this card; Tribute it, and if you do, negate the effects of that Special Summoned monster until the end of the Battle Phase. Your opponent cannot activate the effects of that monster they control in response to this effect. You can only activate each effect of "Gospodin Tchaikovsky the Melodious Overture Saint" once per turn.

Floral Melody

(Spell)

Declare 3 monster card types (Ritual, Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, Pendulum, or Link); banish 1 monster of each declared card type from the GY, and if you do, draw 1 card for each banished monster, then, if all monsters banished for this effect were "Melodious" monsters, you can add 1 "Melodious" monster from your Deck to your hand. You cannot Special Summon monsters of the declared card type from your Extra Deck on the turn that you activate this card.

Mimosa the Melodious Illusion Maiden

(4*/S1/1200/1000/LIGHT/Fairy/Pendulum/Effect)

Pendulum Effect: Once per turn, if you control a LIGHT monster: You can destroy 1 Spell/Trap on the field.

If this card is Special Summoned: You can add 1 "Melodious" monster from your Deck to your hand. You can Tribute this card; all "Melodious" monsters you control gain 500 ATK. You can only activate each effect of "Mimosa the Melodious Illusion Maiden" once per turn.

Trivia: The Japanese name of "Melodious" puns on 'genso', which means illusion, by writing it with the kanji for playing music instead. It also uses 'Otome', which means 'maiden', but writes it as 'sound' instead. Both of those are thus referenced in this name. Mimosa is a plant, and it starts with 'mi', aka the music 'mi', similar to the Solfachord monsters. Them having a flower motif is a symbol of how they were born of Yuzu's destruction of En Flowers.

Fairall the Melodious Illusion Maiden

(4*/S9/1500/800/LIGHT/Fairy/Pendulum/Effect)

Pendulum Effect: Once per turn, if you control a Fairy monster: You can negate the effects of 1 face-up card on the field.

Once per turn, if this card was Normal or Special Summoned this turn: You can Special Summon 1 "Melodious" monster from your hand. If your opponent activates a monster effect: You can send this card from the hand or field to the GY; negate that effect. You can only activate this effect of "Fairall the Melodious Illusion Maiden" once per turn.

Trivia: See above. Refers to Fairall's honeysuckle, which starts with 'fa'.

Natural Energy Spirit - Reflowering Angel

(7*/S4/2500/2000/LIGHT/Fairy/Pendulum/Effect)

Pendulum Effect: Once per turn (Quick Effect): You can Tribute 1 Pendulum Monster you control; negate the effect of all Pendulum Monsters your opponent controls until the End Phase.

(This card is always treated as a "Melodious" monster.) If you have 2 cards in your Pendulum Zones, you can Special Summon this card from your hand, and if you do, it cannot be targeted by card effects until the End Phase. (This is treated as a Pendulum Summon.) You cannot Pendulum Summon other monsters on the turn that you activate this effect. This card cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects. Once per turn, if this card destroys an opponent's monster by battle: You can inflict damage to your opponent equal to the number of Special Summoned monsters they control x 500, and if you do, draw 1 card. You can only control 1 "Natural Energy Spirit - Reflowering Angel".

Trivia: Alright, we can go over it one by one. Firstly, yes, this is the monster form of 'En Flowers'. The main colour motif is pink, because that's the colour of Yuzu's gem on her bracelet. The word 'reflower' means for something to bloom anew. Take on a new shape and form as something more beautiful. Wisteria means 'welcoming', bougainvillaea means 'passion, liveliness and love', clematis means 'mental beauty'. Hyacinths, her weapon, means 'sorrow'. I'll leave that all up to interpretation. It being an angel is an obvious reference to Yuzu's monsters being 'saints'. There is a bit of a stealth joke in 'reflowering' starting with 're' and thus, the pendulums to summon it being 'mi' and 'fa'. The effect obviously references Bloom Diva. The Pendulum Summon effect, on the other hand, references Tribute Summons, with two monsters required to bring her out. 2500/2000 as her stats makes her an equal to Odd-Eyes.

Pendulum Unveiling

(Spell/Quickplay)

Special Summon 1 Pendulum Monster from your Pendulum Scale. You can banish this card from your GY; add 1 Pendulum Monster from your Extra Deck to your hand.

Trivia: This is probably just going to become a generic card that I give to people because I need a way for people with only two Pendulum Monsters to recover their Pendulums, lmao.


Different Card Effects from TCG:

Performage Trick Clown - Anime effect, but with a hard OTP clause. Also interpreted as a Quick Effect.

Performage Trapeze Magician - Anime effect

Performage Flimsy Slimmer - Anime-only card

Mage's Fortress - Anime-only card.

Magical Pendulum Box - Anime-only card.

Performage Wing Sandwichman - Anime-only card.

Performage Trapeze Witch - Anime-only card.

Performage Flame Eater - Anime-only card.


End Notes:

"The next chapter will take a while," I said, looking at the wrong outline. :)

So, let's go through the chapter chronologically. First, Roget's scene. It's mainly just to establish the current situation. Roget's role comes a bit later.

Second, Sora's scene. Sora's scene is something that I've had in my brain for a long time. Sora didn't change sides for any actual morally good reason. He just didn't want to hurt his friends, and realised the value of his bonds. In a sense, here, he's forced to face someone's reaction to actions that he was once a part of. Two someones—Martha, who represents his wish for a caretaker who genuinely cared for him. Instead of using his strength to fight, Sora is using first aid, which he deemed as a useless skill, to help someone else instead. To save instead of needlessly fight. Meanwhile, the young boy is a representation of Sora himself. Sora was told as a kid that he needed to be stronger to fight to protect himself. Now, looking at a younger kid around the same age that he was back then, he instead tells the kid that he needs to be brave so that he can escape.

Also, Sora's interactions with the other Lancers here were something I enjoyed writing. He and Tsukikage are working together despite both being aware of what he did. (And he's not getting off scot-free from that.) Gongenzaka trusts him implicitly when he says that they should get Martha out of there. Kyorin's genuinely concerned for him but listens to Tsukikage and lets Sora face his guilt so that he can begin to atone. Do I feel like logically, Sora needs a redesign from the Academia uniform? Yes. Do I have any clue remotely what that redesign should be? Nope. :) But I'll figure that out later.

I'm not going to lie, having Sawatari trying to step in for Yuzu in a duel was funny for me to write precisely because of how Yuto stepped in for Yuzu early in the story too. It's a role swap in its own way! As for why Yuzu struggled so much with Dennis? Well, in canon, Shun kind of got to beat up both Sora and Dennis, but you get the sense that Sora and Dennis are both still stronger than the rest of the cast (because Kurosaki is just overpowered, lmao.) It's what I'm going with for this story too—Dennis may have lost to Shun, but he's still stronger than Yuzu, in the same way that Sora is stronger than Yuzu. In the end though, Yuzu triumphs through doing the one thing that we all agree she should have done a long time ago—using Pendulum Monsters.

(Also, after reviewing through some of the early Arc-V duels… Shun vs Dennis was 5 turns? Yuzu vs Dennis was 3? Damn.)

Dennis's dueling is entirely a metaphor for Academia. Automaton Engineer is Academia's attempt at taking all of the entertainment and individualistic spirit of the students within it and transforming all of them into malice, darkness, etc—performers who aren't truly there to perform, but to hurt others. And Dennis doesn't use Pendulum Summoning either.

And I'm stalling. :) I've already talked about card symbolism up there, but now I can finally say it. Yes, the girls all have a card that is their 'Dimension Dragon equivalent'. It's born from them having the resolution to break their bracelet. They have a strong connection and attachment to the bracelet that stems, ultimately, from being Ray. Implicitly, when they can break that bracelet, it's when they can subconsciously cling on so strongly to their own 'self' that they reject being someone else.

Will that happen for the other Bracelet Girls? I mean, the answer is obvious, but it's 'eventually'. Yuzu comes first, because she's the one who doesn't have a lot of baggage to work through first. Also, I am choosing to ignore the Bloom Diva vs Mozarta debate by simply giving her a definitive new ace. :)

Some people also choose to make those cards dragons, but that isn't really my vibe—plus, not everything has to be a dragon. I'm much more interested in the nature spirit vibe.

What does Yuzu not having a bracelet anymore mean for the plot? Well, it has some ramifications, but probably not as much as you think. (In this early stage, anyway.)

Also, Sawatari and Dennis are pretty interesting foils imo. In canon, Dennis is a very competent person who hides his deck's true power to seem less competent, and spies on the main characters. His baggage breaks him, causing him to regret everything and be unable to duel at his full strength, and he never redeems himself and dies. Meanwhile, Sawatari is a very incompetent person who pretends to be more competent than he is, and he is introduced as shifty and spying, but grows to be more sincere. He also never quite redeems himself because Arc-V has questionable writing, but at the end, he reaches a point where he can actually do something to Zarc. They're both given Pendulums by Reiji, but while Sawatari sticks to just Pendulums out of, well, admiration towards Reiji and Yuya, Dennis's Pendulums end up making much less impact on his overall playstyle. In this essay I will— *gets shot*

And yeah, Sawatari and Yuzu actually talk. :) That's important too.

Review responses!

To NightWingBOI, I totally get that feeling of looking back at earlier writing, haha. Kaiba vs Aigami is great! And yeah, Jaden vs Crowler is iconic for a lot of reasons. Yusei vs Kiryu is nice too, as someone who really likes their dynamic. I really liked a lot of those duels, personally—and yeah, I think I liked Revolver because he was probably one of the most involved 'main villains' in YGO for quite a while—like he actually duels quite a decent amount, and he's in the position of being both the 'rival' and 'main villain'.

To phantomdragons, nice theory!... and that's all I can say on that. Spoilers :) Thank you for the review though, I appreciate it! And yes, Ai vs Yusaku was great.

To cardfan135, very good observation!

To Ben23ten, thank you for the kind review! Blue Maiden's existence always makes me mildly infuriated, lmao—I love Aoi Zaizen, and I hate that she didn't get to actually win much? But yes, it's nice to have her actually face the main villain. And yeah, the 3v1 against Aporia really solidified both Rua and Aporia as characters for me at the time. It's one of the reasons I still think Rua is a phenomenal character.

To LHOCIN, mm… :) good theory! Very good theories. I will have to skip directly to the QOTC part, but I do appreciate your analysis, haha. Yes, Zane vs Yubel rocked, and Playmaker vs Blue Angel is one of my favourite duels as well. It really made me look forward to seeing more of Blue Angel in the show at the time, which is why I was very disappointed.

To Bryz0n, ah, I get the paladins comment now. In that case, mm, I don't know if I can answer that. :) And yeah, most of our Yu-boys still have stuff to do this arc! Suffering from head trauma? Too bad, you're still plot-relevant. :D

To Combo Enthusiast, mm, funnily enough, Brightsoul and Shadesoul's Attribute assignments were based on colour theory! So red-yellow-brown (orange, kinda) and blue-green-purple. As for the three card Extra Link, yup! I did consider that when I made the card, haha. It is a very deliberately unfair card. Thank you for the kind review!

To Unlucky-Fausto, haha, I was going to leave everyone with a cliffhanger, but I figured everyone would stab me. And lmao, 'card game heart disease'. Yup, it's still nighttime now. No one's getting to sleep for a while! :) Fubuki isn't here, but the rest are here, yes. I will say that Ryo's portrayal in this fic is more Kaiser than Hell Kaiser, but he does go by Hell Kaiser. As for VRAINS and ZEXAL, I do recommend them! VRAINS is a lot more serious, but its duels are genuinely really good. It does have the problem of severely underdeveloping its characters, but most of the main cast does hold up. ZEXAL is just really fun. There are some times when it makes no sense, but if you just suspend your disbelief and go with it, it's really fun.

To makosultima12, don't worry, I'm not offended. You haven't been particularly rude. :) I will say that I'm not trying to justify their existence by connecting them to the Original Dimension or anything like that. Rather, they were created with that new lore in mind. I understand your dislike for the idea, but it was one of the original premises that this fic was built on. Thank you for your feedback, and for reading this far regardless. I want to assure you that the Bracelet Girls won't get shafted though. Once Chiaki/Ruri/Rin come back to the plot, they're going to get quite a lot of screentime, along with the other three.

QOTC: What are some songs that you think are good soundtracks for duels in general? I've listened to some AMVs, but I'm just curious in general about what kind of music people think of, since I'm personally mostly just listening to video game soundtracks and occasionally anime soundtracks.

Thank you very much for reading! :) Feel free to drop a review!