Starting Notes:
Welcome back! Chapter 100—can't believe it! To celebrate, we also have the popularity poll results at the bottom of the page—thanks to everyone that voted :) Without further ado—back into the plot!
Chapter 100: Oblivious in the Water
Ten years ago:
After they moved into another building for shelter, Sora felt his chest seizing up again as he saw what was inside—the stains on the ground. He turned his head, his stomach lurching.
"… don't," Shino said. The eight-year-old girl was watching the battle outside intently—Sora didn't know how his cousin could stand it, how she could look at any of this when it was all scary. Too scary.
Sora slowly swallowed, but it all smelled so bad that his stomach was still spinning.
"We don't have enough food that you can spend it throwing up," Shino said flatly. She clearly wasn't trying to be mean, but she didn't sound concerned either. It just sounded like a fact.
Sora gulped.
"We're going to have to cut through a few alleys up ahead. Keep your footsteps light or they'll come after us."
"… okay."
Shino turned away—Sora couldn't see her face or eyes anymore. She moved forward.
(Sora tripped on the way through. A few soldiers approached. Shino's enormous, bright white ace breathed down its flames, destroying the field.)
(Shino did not scold him or blame him for the trouble he'd caused her. When it was done, she simply kept going—and pulled him along too, by her side.)
(Maybe it felt far worse, to not be blamed for something that he'd so clearly done wrong.)
In the present:
Those days had been how Sora had first learned to be careful on the battlefield.
Don't make too many sounds, Shino had told him, because if they hear you, they will track you down and kill you. She had taught him to keep his footsteps quiet, to spot what parts of the ground would make more noise if he stepped on them. What kinds of clothes they could wear that would cause as little rustling and noise as possible. How to touch something and pick it up quickly without alerting anyone.
… Sora had never asked her why she had already known all those things, even before they had been left alone.
Still, those skills had been useful for him. They were part of the reason that the Professor had acknowledged him in the first place—his capacity to participate in covert operations when needed had been useful to Academia as a whole. And now, even after he'd left Academia, they were still proving useful in other ways. He was still rather rusty in that regard though, considering that he'd abandoned any hope of being secretive or blending in the moment that he'd decided to have fun at You Show without caring too much about other things.
Still, even if lessons could fade, some instincts never did. He knew how to keep his feet light, to stand in just the right angles to avoid his targets' sight—
(Still not as good as the person he was replacing.)
To recap, Reiji had asked him to spy on the leaders of the Resistance. Sora had agreed, and so that morning, he'd set out to follow the two women from a distance. Tsubaki Nagare and Mariko Ejiri had headed out of the base together. They'd briefly split up to search various different areas, meeting up in ways that made it clear that their movements were practised—they were very used to working with each other. Sora had followed behind them most of the time, keeping his distance. When they were separated, he chose to follow Tsubaki based on Reiji's orders. It wasn't that hard to see them and follow them though—both that vibrant red and that pale silver-grey stood out in the dark battlefield. Neither of them seemed inclined to be careful either—there was a sharp confidence to how they were both moving, as though they were invincible, even if they clearly weren't.
Despite that lack of fear though, neither of them were talking much—just existing in a certain comfortable silence. That was why it surprised Sora when Mariko spoke up, just as the duo was crossing into the industrial area near the docks. (Apparently Yuno, Miharu and Yugo had been there a few days ago, but Sora didn't really remember the full story there.)
"You sure you want to do this? In the end, no one's going to blame the rest of us—it's all on your shoulders."
"Getting second thoughts?" Tsubaki said neutrally—Sora stiffened up. It sounded like a threat. For a moment, he was watching Kisara Tsutsuji's stare as she dismantled the ego of a student who disrespected her. For a moment, he was a child again, watching his aunt's fingernails scrape across the table as she undercut everything that anyone else attempted to say. For a moment, he worried for the other girl—
—Mariko snorted. That strange feeling diffused as she turned to Tsubaki, her smile betraying no signs of fear or intimidation. "No," she said. "This has to happen, I think. But that's when we account for the whole Resistance. To be honest, I'd tell them to all go to hell for you, if you asked."
"Well…" Tsubaki's expression didn't change. "You are rather fond of me."
"Well, you're my first friend ever, Tsuba!" Mariko grabbed onto the red-haired girl's arm—they didn't stop walking, but the atmosphere around them had become… oddly brighter. "Of course I am."
Tsubaki shrugged. "Maybe I've underplayed it a little."
"It's 'downplay', I think."
"Don't they mean the same thing?"
"Well, there are different ways of saying the same thing in this language, but at different levels of 'respectfulness', so… who knows, really. Mine's slightly more aggressive." Mariko reached up with her other hand, fiddling with her earring. "But you know what I always tell you, right?"
"... you're with me 'til the end of this," Tsubaki said, even mimicking the other girl's inflections. "If this was a novel, you're raising more death flags than anyone should."
Mariko winked. "Good thing that I don't lose."
Sora realised how tense he was—and subsequently, felt slightly embarrassed. That had clearly been a very personal moment for both of them, and if they had no clue that he was there…
However, at the same time, both of them stiffened up. Sora took a step back—but then, Tsubaki turned her head, moving swiftly in a different direction. Mariko followed her, and Sora followed after both of them—
… huh.
There were two squads of Obelisk Force there. Sora… hadn't noticed them. Maybe it was because he was so focused on those two… there was no further communication between the two women though. Mariko moved to the left, Tsubaki moved to the right, and that was that.
Sora watched, slightly anticipatory. These two were the number one and two of the Resistance now, right…? Specifically, while Sawatari had mentioned offhandedly that Mariko Ejiri's playstyle resolved around the graveyard, the Lancers hadn't actually had the chance to ask about the playstyle of the leader of the Resistance yet.
How exactly did she duel?
"... you know," Mariko said, pulling on one of her earrings lightly, "I'm really not in the mood to deal with this nonsense right now. But it's to survive, so you'll have to forgive me for this. Orders and all."
[DUEL!]
Mariko Ejiri: 4000LP
Obelisk Force Red: 4000LP
Obelisk Force Green: 4000LP
Obelisk Force Yellow: 4000LP
[Turn 1: Mariko] [H:5]
"... huh." Mariko picked up a card from her hand. "Sure, why not. I'll Normal Summon Exosister Stella." The brown-haired girl appeared, holding onto several stacked boxes with a composed expression, her clothes warm and earthy in colour.
[Exosister Stella (4*/300/800/LIGHT/Spellcaster/Effect)]
"Stella's effect. I'll Special Summon an "Exosister" monster from my hand—come, Exosister Sophia!" Another one of the nuns appeared on the field, stiffly adjusting her dark purple habit.
[Exosister Sophia (4*/100/800/LIGHT/Spellcaster/Effect)]
"Sophia's effect. I draw one card." She picked up the card.
"But you're an offensive duelist!" One of her opponents sneered. Mariko blinked—huh. Had they gotten this confidence just because the other three had been the ones to draw the short straw of contesting Tsubaki Nagare? "What are you going to do now? We'll burn away all of your life points before you get to do anything!"
"... annoying." Mariko shook her head. "I know I'm going first. To be honest, I would have survived even if I took a later turn…"
But I don't feel like putting in that much effort. It's pointless for me of all people to beat up fodder like this. Typhon doesn't even really help me against them either—they're not strong enough for it.
I suppose I'll settle for the little one.
"I'll set two cards and overlay my two Level 4 monsters!" The two monsters turned into bright streaks, sinking into the ground. "Dark demonic beast that slumbers drunken in the deepest of caverns! Emerge now, and lure the unsuspecting and unintelligent into the haze of moonlight and sin! Xyz Summon!" She plucked the card from her Extra Deck, placing it down. "Come forth! Number 41!"
In front of her, a dark beast appeared. It was surrounded by white mist, but its lumbering shape was still visible. It took a step forward slowly, before it wobbled back and forth on its hind legs—then, it fell back onto the ground. Lighter purple fur could be seen around its face. Its eyes were closed, and some drool was coming out from its mouth. Around it, pillows materialised, falling on the ground in a circle. It let out several loud snores. Compared to the rest of Mariko's monsters, it could be considered the most bestial—yet at the same time, it was neither threatening nor devilish, neither cruel nor blasphemous. (She just liked getting to be more dramatic with summoning chants like this—her typical demeanour didn't allow for things like that.)
Well, it made sense that it didn't fit her theme. A Number that had been made for one of the Arclights' school friends. That person had been carded, however, and Mariko had declined one of the two actual Numbers offered to her, just because she liked this one far more. It fit her.
"Meet Bagooska the Terribly Tired Tapir," Mariko finished with a wink.
[Number 41: Bagooska the Terribly Tired Tapir (R4/2100/2000/EARTH/Fiend/Xyz/Effect)]
"In… Defense Position?"
"... oh, you'll figure it out." Mariko lifted two cards from her hand. "Setting two cards. Take your turns."
[Turn 2: Obelisk Force Red] [H:5]
"I'll Normal Summon Antique Gear Hound Dog!" The rusty green dog appeared on the field in front of her opponent.
[Antique Gear Hound Dog (3*/1000/1000/EARTH/Machine/Effect)]
"And I'll activate—"
"While Bagooska is in face-up Defense Position, all face-up monsters on the field are changed to Defense Position," Mariko said calmly. The dog was forced to its knees. "It's a Continuous Effect, so it takes place before you get the chance to use Hound Dog's effect. And then, Bagooska's effect. When a monster activates its effect while in Defense Position, that monster's effect is negated."
"What? So, you negated…" The opponent bit his lip, taking a step back. "Then, if I activate Hound Dog's effect to Fusion Summon, it'll be negated as well… I… end my turn."
The next one didn't have anything new to do—just set a monster facedown, which was obviously Antique Gear Hound Dog. Mariko had enough experience looking at those decks to know that much. However, the third…
[Turn 4: Obelisk Force Yellow] [H:5]
"I'll activate the Spell Card, Smashing Ground! I'll destroy the monster my opponent controls with the highest defense points—that's your Bagooska!"
… hmm.
"Sure," Mariko said. Her monster exploded. "I'll activate the Trap Card, Exosister Vadis!" The Trap Card flipped over. "I'll pay 800 life points and Special Summon two "Exosister" monsters from my deck, as long as one of them mentions the other in her card text." She revealed two cards from her deck, even as her life points ticked downwards.
Mariko: 4000 - 800 = 3200LP
"Come, Exosister Sophia! Exosister Irene!" The two monsters appeared in front of her.
[Exosister Irene (4*/400/800/LIGHT/Spellcaster/Effect)]
"But I can't Special Summon monsters from the Extra Deck for the rest of this turn, except "Exosister" monsters." Mariko reached out for her other set card, flipping it over. "Trap Card, Exosister Returnia. Since all monsters I control are "Exosister" monsters, I can pay 800 life points."
Mariko: 3200 - 800 = 2400LP
"Then, with that, I banish a card you control. I'll choose your set monster." She wiped out the second opponent's monster, since there was a tiny, tiny chance that it was not in fact Antique Gear Hound Dog. "Then, I can perform an Xyz Summon immediately. I'll overlay the Level 4 Exosister Irene and Exosister Sophia!"
"Performing an Xyz Summon on my turn?"
"Yup," Mariko said. "Heavenly messenger, carry the strength of the divine down to the mortal plane! Silence the unworthy and empower the pious! Xyz Summon! Rank 4! Exosister Gibrine!" The blonde woman appeared, swinging her rifle through the air. She rested in Defense Position too, though she was still aiming at the opponent.
[Exosister Gibrine (R4/1400/2800/LIGHT/Warrior/Xyz/Effect) (OU:2)]
"I'll Normal Summon Antique Gear Hound Dog!"
Really.
"Is this the best that you can do?" Mariko said. "Disappointing." As her opponent activated Hound Dog's effect, she gestured forward. "Exosister Gibrine's effect. I'll negate the effects of your Antique Gear Hound Dog until the end of this turn."
Gibrine fired off a glowing blue bullet. It hit the dog, knocking it down.
And—
And her opponent ended his turn.
"... really," Mariko said. "That's just… god, it's so inefficient."
The fact that they're so weak, the fact that Academia has put so few actual powerful forces towards the Resistance's destruction… that's why we've been stuck here for so long. It's a war that doesn't end, because both sides are just so weak, sometimes—
She drew in a breath.
"I'm going to win now," she said.
And of course, she did.
… let's get this over with.
[DUEL!]
Tsubaki Nagare: 1000LP
Obelisk Force Red: 4000LP
Obelisk Force Green: 4000LP
Obelisk Force Yellow: 4000LP
[Turn 3: Tsubaki] [H:5]
"My turn," Tsubaki said, cutting them off. Both of her opponents had Antique Gear Triple Bite Hound Dog on the field, and Tsubaki had taken a direct attack from one of them, along with effect damage from two of them. Still, it was the most efficient way to do this.
After all, letting them set up a field would help her burn it down more easily.
"Continuous Spell," she said. "Fire King Sanctuary. When this card is activated—I can activate the Field Spell, Fire King Island from my deck." Steam began to form around the field—flames not yet erupting, but the temperature shooting up. Those were holograms, of course. Keep calm. "Fire King Island's effect. I'll destroy a monster in my hand or field to add a "Fire King" monster from my deck to my hand." A card in her hand dissolved into flames, before she picked up a card from her deck. "When Fire King Avatar Kirin is destroyed by a card effect, I can send a FIRE monster from my deck to the graveyard. And when a monster I control that was originally a FIRE monster is destroyed by battle or a card effect, I can Special Summon Legendary Fire King Ponix from my hand!"
A small red bird with golden tail feathers appeared, floating in the air, staring forward with beady blue eyes. It flew over, landing on Tsubaki's shoulder, pressing its cheek to hers, before flying back down to the field.
[Legendary Fire King Ponix (1*/500/200/FIRE/Winged Beast/Effect)]
It carried none of the majesty that one might expect from a monster that was referred to as a 'fire king'—for now.
"Ponix's effect. I can add a "Fire King" Spell or Trap from my deck to my hand." She picked up the card, sliding it into her hand, before revealing another one. "I will activate the Spell Card, Graceful Charity. I will draw three cards and discard two. Then, I will activate the effect of Fire King High Avatar Kirin. I will Special Summon him from my hand by destroying Ponix." A tall, pegasus-like monster appeared on the field—the actual colour of its fur was hard to see under its armour and the bright green flames that surrounded it. Tsubaki knew that it was blue-grey though—smoky, mixing in with its red and gold armour.
[Fire King High Avatar Kirin (8*/2400/200/FIRE/Beast/Effect)]
"I will activate the effect of Magmacho Dragon in my graveyard. When a face-up FIRE monster I control is destroyed by a card effect while it is in the graveyard…" Tsubaki lifted the card, pressing it to her duel disk. "I Special Summon it, but it is banished when it leaves the field." A large, glowing bright red dragon appeared on the field, brighter gold streaks running through its lava-like body.
[Magmacho Dragon (8*/1800/2200/FIRE/Pyro/Effect)]
"Then, I can draw a card." She picked up the card. "Overlaying the Level 8 Magmacho Dragon and the Level 8 Fire King High Avatar Kirin. Flames engulf the world. On this blazing altar of sacrifice, take the tribute of your servants, and cannibalise the crowned beasts of flame!" Multi-coloured flames danced around her, casting the shadow of a crown on the top of her head. "Destroy your mortal shell, and ascend into a higher form! Xyz Summon! Rank 8! My eternal soul—Garunix Eternity, Sacred God of the Fire Kings!" Flames swirled up around her, before an enormous bird appeared. It didn't seem to have a solid form—its feathers were surrounded by glowing golden flames, for all that its feathers were multi-coloured and bright. It stared down at her opponents imperiously—glaring as the sun.
[Garunix Eternity, Sacred God of the Fire Kings (R8/3000/2000/FIRE/Pyro/Xyz/Effect) (OU:2)]
One of her opponents might have gasped. Spoken her name. That title that Byron Arclight had come up with and spread for the sake of publicity for the program that he was planning, to make sure that people knew who she was.
They were certainly speaking.
Tsubaki did not react—she did not even really hear them.
She did not hear anything.
"When Garunix Eternity is Xyz Summoned, I can destroy all other monsters on the field." She stretched out a hand, open palm outwards, fingers splayed out. "Burn everything from the sky to the earth! Heaven-Defying Flames of Nirvana!"
The golden flames burst forth, incinerating both of the three-headed dogs.
"Then, I will Normal Summon Fire King Consort Ulkanix," Tsubaki continued. A red-haired woman appeared, wearing a golden crown on her head. She had two bright, multicoloured wings, plumage of long red, blue and green feathers illuminated by gold-orange flames just a shade off from Garunix's own flames and plumage. She had a serene look on her face.
[Fire King Consort Ulkanix (4*/800/2000/FIRE/Winged Beast/Effect)]
"Ulkanix's effect." Tsubaki gestured forward. "I will destroy another FIRE monster in my hand or face-up on my field to add a FIRE monster from my deck to my hand—as long as that monster is also a Beast, Winged Beast or Beast-Warrior monster. I choose Garunix."
("You're killing your own monster?" One of her opponents gasped, but she did not hear and did not respond.)
The firebird burst into flames. The golden flames showered down around her.
Tsubaki exhaled. The flames did not burn.
"I'll add Sacred Fire King Garunix to my hand," she said. "And then, the effect of Garunix Eternity activates. Since he was destroyed when he had Overlay Units, I can Special Summon "Fire King" monsters from the graveyard, up to the number of Overlay Units he had when he left the field."
Two bright pillars of flame shot up in front of her.
"Be reborn in the regal flames." Tsubaki lifted up two cards. "First, Fire King High Avatar Kirin." The enormous steed surrounded by green flames reappeared on the field, slamming its hooves on the ground. "Second. Return to the field in all your glory." The golden flames shifted—took on a familiar form. "Garunix Eternity, Sacred God of the Fire Kings!"
Her ace monster reappeared on the field, scattering embers through the sky.
"Then, since a FIRE monster I control was destroyed, I can Special Summon Sacred Fire King Garunix from my graveyard." Flames wreathed the field. A large red bird appeared on the field—colourful black and gold armour covered some parts of its body, green and blue acted as a contrast to those feathers, but when looking at it, the first thought of anyone would just be red. The flames around it, however, were bright gold, and as it let out a shriek, her opponents reeled.
[Sacred Fire King Garunix (8*/2700/1700/FIRE/Winged Beast/Effect)]
"When Garunix is Normal or Special Summoned, I can destroy a FIRE Beast, Beast-Warrior or Winged Beast monster in my hand, field or deck. Then, Garunix gains attack points equal to half that monster's attack points until the End Phase." Tsubaki lifted another card from her deck. "I'll choose Fire King High Avatar Garunix." She dropped the third form of Garunix in the graveyard. The Garunix on her field glowed, attack points shooting up.
[Sacred Fire King Garunix: 2700 + 2700 / 2 = 4050ATK]
She now controlled four monsters—Garunix, Garunix Eternity, Ulkanix and Kirin.
"Spell Card, Circle of the Fire Kings. I will target a FIRE monster I control and one in my graveyard. By destroying the one on my field, I will Special Summon another from my graveyard. So I will target Fire King High Avatar Kirin on my field and Magmacho Dragon in my graveyard." The green beast vanished from the field—and the bright red, magma-like dragon reappeared on the field, all in a bright burst of flames. "I will activate two effects here. First, the effect of Fire King High Avatar Kirin. I will Special Summon a "Fire King" monster from my graveyard—return, Fire King High Avatar Garunix."
A form of Garunix surrounded by far less flames appeared on the field, landing to the right of Garunix Eternity.
[Fire King High Avatar Garunix (8*/2700/1700/FIRE/Winged Beast/Effect)]
"And then, with the effect of Fire King Avatar Rangbali, I will Special Summon it from my hand." The monster that appeared was a warrior with the appearance of a monkey, dark skin contrasting with white hair that was so long that it went from the top of his head to his abdomen. A tail of the same white-gold fur swung through the air behind him. Pink flames drifted around him as he stared forward with golden eyes.
[Fire King Avatar Rangbali (4*/1600/200/FIRE/Beast-Warrior/Effect)]
"Then, with the Level 4 Fire King Avatar Rangbali and the Level 4 Fire King Consort Ulkanix…" Tsubaki picked up both cards, stacking them in her Extra Monster Zone. "I'll perform another Xyz Summon. Flames engulf the world. Take the form of the dancing devil witch. Xyz Summon—Rank 4!" Orange flames stirred up, forming a vortex in front of her. "Infernal Flame Banshee!" The flames cleared, forming a feminine figure—the orange hair and clothing of the girl was glowing, flickering, strange in their form. Two red demon-like wings could be seen waving back and forth on the sides of her head.
[Infernal Flame Banshee (R4/1700/600/FIRE/Pyro/Xyz/Effect) (OU:2)]
"Infernal Flame Banshee's effect. By detaching an Overlay Unit from her, I can add a Pyro monster from my deck to my hand."
[Infernal Flame Banshee: OU:2 - 1 = OU:1]
Tsubaki picked up the card, before flipping it over. "Since Agnimal Candle was added to my hand instead of being drawn—I can Special Summon it from my hand." A large, fluffy puppy made of flames appeared on the field with a loud bark, its body far brighter of a shade than Tsubaki's hair, but just as fiery in appearance.
[Agnimal Candle (4*/1700/0/FIRE/Pyro/Tuner/Effect)]
"That's enough," Tsubaki said.
She gestured towards her first opponent.
"Sacred Fire King Garunix attacks you directly."
The second.
"Infernal Flame Banshee and Fire King High Avatar Garunix attack you directly."
The third.
"Garunix Eternity, Sacred God of the Fire Kings and Agnimal Candle attack you directly."
One, two, three—
They went up in flames.
The Firebird King of Hearts watched them impassively. She then took a step back, turning her head. Sweeping her hair behind her, she walked back towards her comrade.
Obelisk Force Red: 4000 - 4050 = 0LP
Obelisk Force Green: 4000 - 1700 - 2700 = 0LP
Obelisk Force Yellow: 4000 - 3000 - 1700 = 0LP
Winner: Tsubaki Nagare!
Sora watched, surprised. Defeating three members of the Obelisk Force really wasn't that big of a deal—most of the Lancers could pull that off solo by this point. However, it was the eerie calmness of her expression the entire time—there didn't seem to have been any passion or effort on her part. From her expression, she might as well have been brushing dust off her sleeve and nothing else. The complete lack of enthusiasm or passion…
… it just felt like there should have been more. Like there was something being held back, like there was nothing in the duel at all…
Was that really it? Just… that kind of anticlimax?
"... she's absolutely stunning, isn't she?"
Sora nearly leapt into the air—he turned his head. Mariko Ejiri was looking at him, smirking.
"Dr. Arclight really wanted a duelist that was impressive enough in appearance to be a sign of Hearts Branch's success," she commented. "That's why she's here. Though I do prefer watching Shun or Kaito's playstyle to hers… but I can't deny that she does look good when she duels."
Sora opened his mouth. Closed it. There was no surprise in Mariko's expression at all, meaning… she already knew that he was watching, and hadn't stopped him?
Mariko looked at him. There was something… disconcerting to her expression. Sora raised his hand, pressing against his injured nose—the same injury that she'd patched up. When she spoke, her tone was completely different. "Is it that Reiji Akaba doesn't trust the Resistance, or…"
Her smile did not fade; her tone returned to normal.
"Are you still working for Academia, even now?"
"I'm not—" Sora glared at her, riled up—before pausing. That much was an admission, wasn't it?
"Thought so. Geez." Mariko stuffed her hands in her pockets. "In that case… hey, Tsuba. Isn't the game up?"
Tsubaki Nagare, who had returned, looked at Sora. "... I suppose so," she said. "It's no use hiding it from him if he's already here." She turned her head. "We're headed to the docks. If you want to see what we're doing, come along."
… what?
Then…
Mariko glanced back over—for a brief moment, there was something troubled in her expression. "Tsubaki," she started, before stopping.
A few seconds passed as they looked at each other.
Mariko finally nodded. When she turned back to Sora, it was as though nothing had happened. "Well, I guess you can come along…"
Sora narrowed his eyes at her, but in the end, he did follow.
He had to find out what he could, after all. In order to be useful to the Lancers…
He had to be useful. He had to make sure that… he just had to do what he could, no matter what. To make up for everything.
There was something about having grown up with someone that made it harder to be apart from them. Back when they had both first been adopted, Chiaki had found herself sneaking up into Yuji's room. Neither of them had been used to the feeling of sleeping on anything but concrete and newspapers, and they'd still been afraid, so they'd laid down on the ground, one looking at the door and the other at the window.
Her brother had not cared about it—in fact, he'd seemed relieved that the two of them were still so close. Yuji's guardian, however, had been a bit more cautious about it all. Once, he'd attempted to explain to them that they couldn't just keep on sticking to each other or something like that—something about codependency, of needing to learn to live without each other around, because otherwise, they'd struggle to learn to socialise at all.
Yuji had looked up at his guardian, expression bleary from just waking up, and said: "Why is that bad?"
It had probably been Shuichi Fujita's first exposure to how entwined the two of them really were, come to think of it…
There was a part of Chiaki that understood the logic of it all. However, she couldn't really care less about that. So what if the two of them were together most of the time?
How could that ever be a bad thing? She was more comfortable when Yuji was there—that was an indisputable fact. That was all there was to it.
Still…
She would be hard-pressed to say that she wasn't somewhat uncomfortable with the amount of time that they were spending apart nowadays. Obviously, Yuji wanted to train, and that in itself was already rather strange. Obviously, Chiaki was not just going to sit there and watch him and Hisako keep going at it, especially because…
"Want to… surprise you," Yuji said. "To be stronger."
And yes. Chiaki could understand that much, but…
It just felt like she was still stuck in this strange situation, unable to move forward properly. As though she was just floating in stasis. Yes, she'd gotten that one new card from Miharu, but other than that… it was like nothing had changed. And the worst part was that she wasn't sure if it needed to. This deck was strong—stronger than most other decks of the people around her, but it had very little room to actually grow, because of… well. Everything.
She didn't need a mentor. She didn't need someone to preach to her about ways to improve or anything like that.
After all, her only goal was to win against Academia. That was it—dueling was a tool to that end. If she wanted to get stronger, to be as strong as Yuji currently was, it was to reclaim something about herself that she'd lost when she was trapped in Academia. (... and she'd have to think more about that later. That was not something that she ever wanted to speak about.)
That being said…
No matter how strong this deck was…
Chiaki glanced at the cards that she'd laid out in front of her.
It just didn't suit her nature. On the surface, it might look somewhat similar to her Heralds, but… it was far more insidious than that deck. It was a deck that sapped away the opponent's resources, instead of directly countering their moves. And yes, Chiaki played it like a beatdown deck, but she couldn't shake the feeling that it just wasn't working out.
What is it that I can do right now to become stronger…? There is an obvious answer that I won't admit.
If it's my only option… will I be able to do it?
"Katsuya-san."
Chiaki raised her head. Huh. She hadn't really talked to most of the Lancers—they really weren't her concern, after all. Even so, she'd at least tried to remember their faces. This was… uh. Gongenzaka, right? "Hi," she said. "What do you want?"
"I saw that you did not come to the cafeteria today, along with a few others." Gongenzaka held out a small plate of food. "The man, Gongenzaka, saved some food for you."
… huh.
"... thanks," Chiaki said. She took the plate. Gongenzaka stared at the deck on the ground, observing the different cards. "Curious about something, big guy?"
"... I simply realised that I know very little about you," Gongenzaka admitted. "May I ask you about yourself?"
"Sure, why not." It wasn't like it was a big deal anyway. "All that really matters to you all is that I'm Kyorin's friend, right?"
"That certainly matters, but that says nothing about you as a person." Gongenzaka paused. "... except that you have good taste in friends."
Chiaki snorted—she hadn't expected him to actually make a joke. Not bad. At least it felt less awkward now. "That's questionable." She would be the first to admit that she and Yuji were not… the best people to try to befriend. "What'd you want to know?"
"... well, she mentioned that you get into fights." Gongenzaka took the chance to sit down—there was still something awkward to the whole thing. "And I noticed that you were capable of lifting a lot of things more easily than Yuzu would have…"
Chiaki pursed her lips.
Look. She didn't hate Yuzu Hiiragi. But something about the other girl did rub her the wrong way, and she couldn't quite put a finger on that. It was fine. She didn't need good reasons to dislike other people.
Getting compared to someone she didn't particularly like—and treating Yuzu Hiiragi as the baseline, seeing her for her differences to Yuzu… it just grated on her. Fine though. Whatever.
"—do you exercise often, Katsuya-san?"
"... yeah," Chiaki said. She began to pack up her cards—she probably wasn't going to get to stay here in peace now. "One of my brother's friends runs a gym." According to the stories that her brother had told her, Hiroto Honda had been just as much of a delinquent as him back in high school, though one wouldn't know it from how responsible he had turned out to be in adulthood. "I go there pretty often." Mostly on weekends, early in the morning—Yuji tended to sleep in late when he didn't have to go to school, whereas Chiaki got up as early as she could. It was a way to occupy herself. And anyway, people couldn't usually win fights without some level of physical fitness. "Went there, I mean. Yeah."
And after she had been captured by Academia, she'd had to pass the time somehow, so she'd thought through all the different things that Honda had told her about exercising, and—
… and she'd distracted herself that way. It was better than wasting away and doing nothing.
"In that case…" Was that sadness in Gongenzaka's expression? "I find that training with other people around is usually better. I used to train in the morning with Tsukikage, after we left Standard. While we may not know each other, and we're not interested in the same things, would you be interested in…"
Chiaki looked at him.
… hmm.
Well, she was restless, and she didn't really have much to do right now anyway. And she was not a Lancer, the Lancers were not her friends, she was not interested in them beyond Kyorin and Rin and Ruri, but something like this wasn't a commitment to friendship anyway.
And maybe a part of it tugged at her heartstrings, even if she didn't really care to admit it, not even to herself. The idea that Gongenzaka and Tsukikage had been close in a way, that they'd shared something specific in their routine, and that this was one way that Gongenzaka was trying to wrestle with the loss of his friend… it was something that hit a bit too close to home.
(Chiaki would never, ever forgive Asuka. She wouldn't forgive Johan either, but that was a separate thing—she had been far closer to Asuka than she ever was to Johan. People might say that forgiveness was a sign of virtue or some bullshit like that, that Asuka had only betrayed them once, but that was fucking nonsense. They'd still betrayed her and Yuji and Kyorin. Once was enough for her to never trust them again.)
"Sure," she finally said. "Don't expect too much talk from me though."
Gongenzaka… smiled? "Of course not," he said.
On the inside, Noboru Gongenzaka breathed out a sigh of relief. He hoped that it wasn't too obvious.
He'd obviously seen the attempts by both Yuji Fujita and Chiaki Katsuya to… 'separate' themselves from the Lancers. It was obvious. However, Yuji at least seemed to have some attachment to Yuno. Chiaki, on the other hand, was far more aloof—for all that she liked Rin and Ruri, the two girls were also 'new Lancers', so to speak. So they also mostly stuck to people they already knew.
… but if no one tried to reach out, then nothing would change about that.
… Gongenzaka would at least try to befriend her. And at the very least, they did have this one thing in common.
Maybe it was foolish. But he didn't want any of the Lancers to isolate themselves—no matter how strong they were, that should never be the answer.
"Is Sora around?" Nue asked, keeping her voice calm. "I had something to ask him about."
"Not sure. I think he left earlier to do something." Shun shrugged—he was holding onto her hand, so Nue could feel it. "He's been avoiding all of us. Can't say I don't understand why. Must be the first time he's lost someone after leaving Academia."
Nue understood what he was really saying—it was the first time that Sora had no righteousness to cushion the loss, no way to say that it was for a better goal that would make it all worth it in the end. The Lancers were fighting to stop someone else—in that sense, every loss stung more because the end goal was not some nonsense like perfection, it was peace.
A loss couldn't be rationalised that easily. Nue knew that.
… after all, the Resistance had never been able to take a loss with grace.
Shun was holding onto her left hand, but Nue was still walking on her own two feet. (There was something frightening about that.) She had a metal 'cane' of sorts now—table legs welded together, makeshift but efficient. She was getting used to using it.
Step by step, she was getting closer to being a 'functional' person again. She didn't like using that word, but… it was still hard not to look down on herself for her current state.
"Shun. Nue."
Nue at least recognised that voice. "Rio," she greeted—next to her, Shun nodded in acknowledgement. (She was getting better at interpreting what he was doing from the slight motions that she could feel.)
"You're holding hands," Rio remarked. "Guess one good thing came from you leaving, right?"
"... Rio—"
"Oh, don't apologise, Shun." With the ease of a childhood friend, Rio interrupted him. "Yes, it was irresponsible, yes, it might have made our problems worse, but I have a brother too. I wanted to see him so much—and that was when he was obviously safe too. I'm not hung up on it like… others."
"Allen," Shun muttered.
There was a brief pause in the conversation, before Rio spoke up again, sounding somewhat surprised. "I actually meant Sayaka. I mean, we all know that Allen's hung up on a lot of things—has been since Anna was carded and all. Still, Sayaka was the one that… hasn't she said anything to you or Ruri?"
"Sayaka…?"
"She was really upset when you three left," Rio said. "I guess you didn't say anything to her, huh? Yeah, she got really weepy about it… and she's been stressed about it the whole time."
"She still seems stressed now," Shun said. Nue thought that he might be raising an eyebrow, just from the tone of his voice.
Rio sighed. "Yeah. I thought that having you all come back would help her, but she only seems more stressed… I'm not sure I understand why either. Oh well. She was always easily freaked out by things…"
Nue frowned. Something about that seemed off. But—
I don't have time to worry about other things right now.
She'd spent enough time being unconscious—and after that, she'd spent so much time struggling with the reality of her situation. But now that she could stand up and somewhat manage things for herself again… she felt some shame for how she had handled the situation. How she had sat there and struggled not to cry, how she had wasted so much time thinking about herself when—
"I need to talk to Tsubaki about something regarding Diamond Branch," she said. It was harder to say things like this—when she couldn't see the ways that others reacted, couldn't adjust her words accordingly. It all felt clumsy. "Is she around?"
"... it figures that you'd want to talk about Diamond Branch," Rio said. She sounded disappointed. "It's happened. Fuck them. What else is there to talk about? We wouldn't take them back if they crawled back on their hands and knees."
"Rio—"
"No, Shun. I need to know." There was the sound of a single footstep, a shift in the air—Rio had moved closer to her then. "What is there to talk about, Nue? I know you well enough to know that you're not going to volunteer to take those bastards down or something like that."
"You're right," Nue said, raising her head—she would not be cowed when she hadn't yet said what she wanted (needed) to say. "I'm not. I'm not going to ask for mercy."
"Good, because they don't deserve it. No matter what, Nue, you can't show mercy—"
Maybe it was undeserved. But those words made Nue snap. Because Nue had tried. She had tried so hard to rationalise things, without betraying anyone. She had tried so hard to change her friend's mind.
Show mercy?
She had been full of mercy, and subsequently, just flat out full of it. It hadn't done her any good. It hadn't helped the people that she wanted to save either.
So she slammed the cane down on the ground, and she stared forward, where she hoped that Rio was standing. "They changed their side," she said. "It's over. Stop talking to me like I'm foolish, Rio. I'm not."
… because wasn't that what Rio was doing, even if she didn't realise it? Trying to explain Nue's own reasons to her, trying to caution her against something that she would clearly already know was pointless…
Talking to her like…
"I'm not glass," Nue finished. "Don't treat me like I'll break under unpleasant truths."
"... sorry," Rio finally said. "I guess I shouldn't…" She paused. "... no. You're right. I was treating you like there was no way that what you said would be any different from what we knew. That's…"
She didn't finish the sentence. It would have sounded like a platitude. That's not right.
"Tsubaki's out," Rio said after another pause. "But later… we'll talk, okay?" Nue felt a weight on her shoulder as Rio pressed her hand down. "I'll make sure to listen to you. I'm sorry."
"... I'll listen to you too," Nue said. "I'm not your enemy."
"For the record, I never thought you were." Rio shifted away. "It's just hard, sometimes."
"... I'm sure that Ryoga is doing fine out there."
"I know. I know." Rio slowly drew in a breath. "And the thing is, I'm glad that he got out of here on that exchange program before all of this happened, you know? But I keep worrying that Academia is going to go further outwards eventually. What if their next target is Sparta City? What if Ryoga is hurt too?"
"He'll be fine," Shun spoke up. "Your brother is one of the strongest duelists I've ever known."
"Yes, but… his deck is with me." More shifting away. "... I just hope that the decisions we're making mean that I'll… eventually get to see him again."
The footsteps faded.
"... at least I found Ruri," Shun muttered. "Everyone else… like her, like Allen, like Kaito…"
"If you start blaming yourself, I will kick you."
"... I just think that there's more that I could have done back then, if I wasn't so consumed…"
Aren't you tired of blaming yourself for being a person with priorities and connections and emotions? I know I am.
Nue didn't follow through on her earlier threat of kicking him. She simply sighed and took another step forward—he quickly grasped onto her arm.
"I'll talk to Tsubaki," she said. "... we have to end this, no matter what. If we have to start with… one group, better there than none."
It took a moment, but Shun seemed to pick up on the implications of her words a moment later. "You don't mean—"
"... if I could," Nue started to say, before she sharply cut herself off. "... never mind. I…"
I know that what I want isn't possible anymore. It's been lost long before I could even try to reach for it.
Reaching for it makes me a traitor too. So I…
"... she comes back, I talk to her and Reiji Akaba," Nue decided. "And then, whatever decision they make with regards to that information… I'll respond to it with my own will."
And if I disagree…
… well. I'll disagree.
These were the docks, huh? Sora stared at the dark barbed wire that seemed to line the edge of the docks—thick, strangely shaped and textures—what was that?
"That's the handiwork of your people," Tsubaki said. She was standing in front of a warehouse—her brown eyes glanced back at him briefly, emotionless. It reminded him of Yuji Fujita, strangely enough, though he wasn't exactly familiar with the other boy. "Blew up all the ships in the docks, flung out all the shipfaring supplies into the ocean, strung the wreckage together and made a barrier to stop any other ships that they hadn't found from exiting Heartland.
"The Resistance can't even touch that barrier," Mariko said—her tone was remarkably cheerful. "The metal's so rusty that it's awful—the water's so polluted that trying to cross over to it… mm. Might melt off some of your skin."
Sora instinctively touched his nose, slightly nervous.
"Let's not even talk about what they did to any planes that tried to enter Heartland," Mariko continued. "Well, at least the people inside must have died in the explosion before hitting the ocean."
He winced.
"This way." Tsubaki pulled up the shutter door, slipping in—Mariko followed her, and after a moment, Sora slipped in as well. Inside…
Inside was the faint scent of seawater and rust, along with something else that was strange and familiar. Strange metal scraps were scattered around the table in the middle of the warehouse. And, right in the middle of the table… was a strange device. There were several antennae sticking out of the top of the dark metal, wired together in such a complicated way that Sora had no clue what was going on. (Not that Sora had any clue how complicated it was, really. Electronics had not been a part of his education at all.)
"You were so interested in spying on us," Tsubaki said. "I suppose this is the culmination of your efforts. This is what the Resistance has been working on."
Sora took a step closer. "What exactly is…"
"It's my little brainchild!" Mariko leaned on the shutter door behind him. "Well, a few members of the Resistance like Rio have helped to work on it, but… most of it's my work. We call it the ADTR."
"AD… TR?" None of this was actually answering any of Sora's questions.
"She calls it that," Tsubaki said. "I haven't stopped her."
"Academia Dimensional Travel Regulator," Mariko said with a smirk. "ADTR." There was something sardonic to the words. "Not a very indicative name though!"
Sora took a step towards the table—
"Careful," Mariko continued. "That thing's hooked up to a bomb or two. Or twenty. Or every single one we managed to retrieve from the water by the docks.
—and stumbled back, eyes widening.
"You get how that might make travelling slightly more inconvenient for them?"
"You're going to blow it all up?"
"Yup. To smithereens." When Mariko smiled, her eyes were filled with ruthless satisfaction. "So there'll be no way back, and no way forward other than to stay here."
Sora's eyes widened.
Blowing up Academia's base… how many people were going to be hurt by that? That was physical damage too, not just being carded! It would be taking this war outside the territory of dueling—
Like back then.
Like those warzones back then.
"You can't!" He exclaimed. "How many people are going to be hurt by that? So many of them are like me—they're just kids that…"
Kids that were told the wrong things. Kids that believed they were saving something. Kids with good intentions.
Tsubaki and Mariko both looked at him.
This—this was just monstrous. Why would they do this? They were supposed to be better, right? To not be as cruel as Academia! Why—
Mariko, strangely, didn't say anything. Tsubaki, however, turned away sharply. "What do you mean?" She said. "How many more people will be hurt if we don't do it?"
"Huh?"
"You were a member of Academia. To the teachers there, you're likely nothing but a disposable pawn."
"But that doesn't mean—"
"Tsubaki's right," Mariko said. "That's how I feel about it all too. No matter how strong we are, there's no real consequence to Academia when we card a person—not right now. But if we can shift the situation, if we can break this complacency… we can force a result." She waved a hand through the air—if Tsubaki's voice was calm apathy, hers was cold callousness. "All the soldiers that Academia sends here mean nothing to the people in charge. We take out more of them, and then they send more. They're so complacent that at this point, they're used to that—seeing that the glass is half-full and pouring more water in until it reaches the brim. So let's break the glass more."
Those words…
Why did they sound so…
"... it still isn't right!" Sora snapped. "You can't hurt people for some kind of agenda, even if it's Academia, or you're…"
He stopped.
"... or what?" Tsubaki said. "Or we're as bad as them?"
Sora winced.
"Even you know that's ridiculous," Tsubaki said. She turned her head, walking towards the shutter. "It's in your hands, Mariko."
"Kay! Love you, Tsuba."
"... mm." The red-haired girl left the warehouse. Sora turned his head—and then, he realised that Mariko was now standing between him and the door.
"... you can't tell me that you weren't suspicious when we let you see it all so easily," Mariko said. Now that Tsubaki was gone, there was something even frostier to her expression. "What do we do with you…?"
"... the Lancers aren't your enemies."
"I know." Mariko tapped her cheek. "The Lancers and the Resistance have no reason to quarrel right now. Carding you would change that very quickly… but you were going to follow us anyway, and there was no way to stop you without harming you. I'm assuming from your earlier reaction that Reiji Akaba and the rest of the Lancers won't approve of something like this?"
"They won't," Sora said—his words carried a sharp force to them, even though he didn't know for sure. Reiji Akaba… was Reiji Akaba, after all, always with callous schemes and greater goals in mind.
"… then, that's it." She was… smiling? Well, from what Sora could tell, she was always smiling, but one would have thought that she would be a bit less chipper when talking about things like this. She drew her fingers through her silver hair. "… well, maybe it's going too well for us—I can't help wanting to make it a little more balanced. It's entirely for her goals, anyway."
She took a step forward—but she was still between him and the door.
"Tell you what," she said. "You win against me, you get to go and warn everyone about this." That smile did not change. "You can stop the Resistance from taking revenge against the forces that slaughtered their family, their lovers and their friends. Congratulations—you'll be a hero."
Sora gritted his teeth. But…
I'm done with people being hurt when I can help it. And I'm done with not being able to help it!
"You've got a deal!" He raised his duel disk.
"Okay," Mariko said with a shrug. "And if I win, you stay out of the way for a bit, alright?"
This was his chance to do something—to be a good person.
… he had to do this.
[DUEL!]
Mariko Ejiri: 4000LP
Sora Shiun'in: 4000LP
[Turn 1: Mariko] [H:5]
"I'll start," Mariko said as they both drew their starting hands. "... you're an Academia student, huh? Okay, I know how to play this." She picked up a card from her hand, placing it down. "I'll Normal Summon Exosister Stella." The brown-haired girl appeared on the field, bowing politely.
[Exosister Stella (4*/300/800/LIGHT/Spellcaster/Effect)]
"Stella's effect. I'll Special Summon a "Exosister" monster from my hand." Mariko flipped over a card in her hand. "I'll Special Summon Exosister Irene from my hand!" The girl with silvery blonde hair appeared on the field, glancing away with a gentle demureness to the look on her face.
[Exosister Irene (4*/400/800/LIGHT/Spellcaster/Effect)]
"Then, the Spell Card, Exosister Pax," Mariko continued—a third card from her hand. Wasn't she planning to retain any hand advantage at all? "I'll pay 800 life points to add an "Exosister" card from my deck to my hand, and if I control an "Exosister" monster that is listed on its card text, I can Special Summon that monster from my hand. Come—Exosister Sophia!" The nun in the purple habit appeared on the field again—a third monster on the field.
[Exosister Sophia (4*/100/800/LIGHT/Spellcaster/Effect)]
Mariko: 4000 - 800 = 3200LP
"Exosister Irene's effect. I will place an "Exosister" card from my hand on the bottom of the deck and draw one card." She picked up the card. "Then, since I control Sophia, I can gain 800 life points."
Mariko: 3200 + 800 = 4000LP
"Then, I'll activate the effect of Exosister Sophia. I'll draw one card—and then, since I control Irene, I can gain 800 life points."
Mariko: 4000 + 800 = 4800LP
"I'll set a card facedown," Mariko continued. "Over to you."
Just like that—not even an Xyz Summon, just three monsters on the field…?
Sora narrowed his eyes.
Fine.
He'd just have to take her down before she pulled any tricks on him!
[Turn 2: Sora] [H:6]
"Draw!" Sora glanced through the cards in his hand. "I'll send Fluffal Bear from my hand to the graveyard to set Toy Vendor to my field!" He picked up the card, placing it on his duel disk. "Then, I'll activate Toy Vendor!" The Continuous Spell appeared on the field, briefly glowing. "With its effect, I'll discard a card and draw one!"
He cycled out the card, before revealing the card that he'd just drawn.
"Then, since I drew a "Fluffal" monster, I can Special Summon a monster from my hand! Come! Fluffal Dog!" The brown and white spotted dog appeared on the field, pacing and letting out a bark.
[Fluffal Dog (4*/1700/1000/EARTH/Fairy/Effect)]
"Fluffal Dog's effect! I'll add Fluffal Mouse from my deck to my hand—and I'll Normal Summon it!" The small blue mouse appeared on the field too.
[Fluffal Mouse (1*/100/100/EARTH/Fairy/Effect)]
"Mouse's effect! Come!" Sora picked up two cards from his deck, slamming them on the duel disk. "I Special Summon two more copies of Fluffal Mouse from my deck, but I can only Special Summon "Frightfur" monsters from the Extra Deck this turn, and no other monsters!" The mouse let out a sniff on the field, before two more blue mice appeared, the three mice gathering together and nuzzling their cheeks against each other. "I'll then activate the effect of Fluffal Wings in the graveyard! I'll banish it and Fluffal Bear from the graveyard! Then I'll send Toy Vendor from my field to the graveyard—and I can draw two cards!"
He quickly drew both cards, and then, he gestured forward.
"And Toy Vendor's effect—"
"Sorry," Mariko said, folding her arms. She did not sound apologetic in the slightest. "I was thinking that you would trigger this when you tried to get your Polymerization back from the graveyard—most Fusion users do." She gestured forward. "You just moved a card out of the graveyard, Sora Shiun'in."
"Huh?"
"When my opponent moves a card out of either graveyard," Mariko declared, "my Exosister monsters activate their effects. I can perform immediate Xyz Summons using them as the only material!"
All three monsters started to glow—Sora took a step back from the bright light. "What?" He gasped. "That means you're Xyz Summoning three times on my turn?"
"It's such a specific activation condition that the payoff has to be ridiculous," Mariko said. "Otherwise, I would never use it—it's inefficient! So first! Irene!" The pale-haired girl raised up her hands, dissolving into light. "I'll overlay the Level 4 Irene on herself. Heavenly messenger, carry the strength of the divine down to the mortal plane! Silence the unworthy and empower the pious! Xyz Summon! Rank 4! Exosister Gibrine!" The blonde woman appeared, her eyes serious as she held up her silvery gun in the air, blue light swirling around it.
[Exosister Gibrine (R4/1400/2800/LIGHT/Warrior/Xyz/Effect) (OU:1)]
"Second! I'll overlay the Level 4 Sophia on herself. The oldest of all angels, that writes the destiny of man! Signal the holy resurrection and rapture with your musical voice! Xyz Summon! Rank 4! Exosister Asophiel!" Sophia reappeared, her hair having turned golden brown—she held up a bow in the air, firing off several bright blue arrows that scattered around the field.
[Exosister Asophiel (R4/2100/1800/LIGHT/Warrior/Xyz/Effect) (OU:1)]
"And finally, third." Mariko gestured forward. "I hope this doesn't break you yet, Sora Shiun'in. There's more I want to see from you. I'll overlay the Level 4 Stella on herself. Angel of pursuit that dances between sorrow and compassion. Keep your enemy trapped in your gaze and cast out all sin that catches your eye! Nothing escapes you! Xyz Summon! Rank 4! Exosister Kaspitell!" The young woman dressed in pinkish clothing appeared, a fierce expression on her face as she swung her polearm through the air, strange ripples emerging in the air around her—circles of light that faded the further they got from her.
[Exosister Kaspitell (R4/2300/800/LIGHT/Warrior/Xyz/Effect) (OU:1)]
Three Xyz Summons…
Sora narrowed his eyes. "But my card's effect resolves before you can do anything else. I'll use Toy Vendor's effect to add Edge Imp Sabres to my hand!" He picked up the card.
"Sure. Asophiel's effect," Mariko said. "You can't activate the effects of cards in the graveyard for the rest of this turn—though neither can I."
Effects of cards in the graveyard… then, did that mean…
"You Fusion users always have monsters that activate effects when they're used as Fusion Material," Mariko said. There was no suspense there at all—just stating the obvious. "But those effects activate in the graveyard. You won't be getting them this turn. Kaspitell's effect. Neither of us can Special Summon monsters from the graveyard either."
Still—
He couldn't just back down just because his opponent had locked his graveyard off from him!
(He was also going to yell at Sawatari later. A playstyle revolving around the graveyard was one thing, but Sawatari should have specified that her deck countered the graveyard—it didn't affect Pendulum users that much, but it did affect him!)
"I'll activate the Spell Card, Frightfur Patchwork! I'll add an "Edge Imp" monster from my deck to my hand, along with the Spell Card, Polymerization!"
Unlike the rest of the Xyz duelists that Sora had met, Mariko didn't flinch or glare at him. She just watched him—waiting for his next move.
"I'll activate Polymerization and…" He'd been planning to bring out his Frightfur Wolf, but that had been when she had three weak monsters on the field. Now, Wolf couldn't break through any of those Xyz Monsters… but he had another way forward! "I'll fuse Edge Imp Sabres in my hand with all three copies of Fluffal Mouse on my field!"
If just attacking wildly wouldn't take her down, then he'd just have to tear this field down!
"Demonic claws, sharp fangs! Become one in the mystic vortex and show us a new form and power! Fusion Summon! Show yourself! Mystical jungle beast that rips everything to shreds! Frightfur Tiger!" In front of him, one of his strongest Fusion Monsters appeared on the field, its aquamarine fur matted and messy. It raised its claws, slashing through the air with them.
[Frightfur Tiger (6*/1900/1200/DARK/Fiend/Fusion/Effect)]
"Frightfur Tiger's effect! I'll target and destroy cards you control, up to the number of Fusion Materials I used for its summon! I used four monsters to summon it—so I'll target every card you control!"
"... don't feel like it," Mariko said with a shrug. She gestured forward. "Exosister Gibrine's effect! On the turn that she is Xyz Summoned, I can target an Effect Monster on the field and negate its effects until the End Phase!" Gibrine raised the gun in her hands. "I'll target Frightfur Tiger, obviously."
"What?" She'd had a monster negate on the field too?
"Pin it down," Mariko ordered—the words were abrupt. "Fire!"
Gibrine pressed the trigger—a bright bullet of light shot through the air, hitting Tiger and knocking it back. Sora's monster let out a growl, landing on its feet—but it was stopped from cutting down the field.
And with that, the attack point modification effect wouldn't work either…
Damn it.
He couldn't just let this go though—he'd lose if he did. He just had to keep pushing—
She had to run out of cards eventually!
"I'll activate the Spell Card, Fusion Recovery. I'll add Polymerization and Edge Imp Sabres from my graveyard to my hand!"
"So you're going to Fusion Summon again?" Mariko said, folding her arms.
Sora's fingers paused over another card in his hand.
… most of his Fluffals gave him more cards to work with when used as material, but he couldn't do that now… in that case, shouldn't his goal be to preserve as many cards as possible while still clearing her field? So…
"I'll activate the Spell Card, Polymerization! I'll fuse Edge Imp Sabres in my hand with Fluffal Dog on the field! Demonic claws! Protector of the home! Become one and show us your new powerful form! Fusion Summon! Come out! Sea devil that steals freedom and pulls everything into the darkness! Frightfur Kraken!" The large sea creature appeared on the field, ready to strike.
[Frightfur Kraken (8*/2200/3000/WATER/Fiend/Fusion/Effect)]
"Frightfur Kraken's effect! I'll target a monster you control and send it to the graveyard!" Kaspitell and Asophiel were both in Attack Position, while Gibrine was in Defense Position. Meanwhile, Kaspitell's 2300 attack points and Gibrine's 2800 defense points were too much for Kraken or Tiger to break down, even with Kraken's two attacks… losing Tiger's effects had really made this a problem, huh?
Still…
"I'll send Exosister Gibrine to the graveyard!"
Mariko removed the monster from the field with a shrug. "Sure," she said.
"Kraken attacks Asophiel!"
"Sure."
She took the damage… seemingly without caring?
Mariko: 4800 - 100 = 4700LP
"I'll set two cards and end my turn," Sora said. "Tiger's effects come back! My "Frightfur" monsters gain 300 attack points for every "Fluffal" and "Frightfur" monster I control!" He had held back on bringing out Sabre-Tooth for now, since he couldn't bring monsters back from the graveyard anyway. Still, he'd do it next turn.
It wasn't a hopeless situation in the slightest.
[Frightfur Tiger: 1900 + 300 x 2 = 2500ATK]
[Frightfur Kraken: 2200 + 300 x 2 = 2800ATK]
[Turn 3: Mariko] [H:3]
"Draw," Mariko said. "So you chose Gibrine because of that effect, right? Because you knew that Kaspitell's attack points wouldn't be high enough to take out your monsters anyway…"
She looked at him. For a brief moment, her face shifted—as though her smile was about to fall, as though there was a different expression trying to make itself known.
"Is that the best you can do?" She said, her tone frigid. "Disappointing." She gestured towards Kaspitell. "Exosister Kaspitell's effect. By detaching one Overlay Unit, I will add an "Exosister" monster from my deck to my hand."
[Exosister Kaspitell: OU:1 - 1 = OU:0]
"I will add Exosister Martha to my hand." She picked up the card. "Exosister Martha's effect. Since I only control Xyz Monsters, I can Special Summon her from my hand." A woman in dark attire appeared, her bright pink hair extremely different from the rest of the monsters that the girl had summoned so far. "And then, I can Special Summon Exosister Elis from my deck." Another girl showed up, wearing a green outfit with white trim, her hair bright blonde.
[Exosister Martha (4*/1600/800/LIGHT/Spellcaster/Effect)]
[Exosister Elis (4*/500/800/LIGHT/Spellcaster/Effect)]
"However, I can't Special Summon monsters from the Extra Deck this turn, except "Exosister" monsters." Mariko flipped over her set card. "Trap Card, Exosister Vadis. I pay 800 life points to Special Summon two "Exosister" monsters from my deck, as long as one of them mentions the other."
Mariko: 4700 - 800 = 3900LP
"However, I cannot Special Summon monsters from the Extra Deck this turn, except "Exosister" monsters."
Except that she was already locked off from other monsters, right? So that restriction meant nothing.
"They are also shuffled back into the deck during the End Phase. So come. Sophia. Irene." Mariko filled up the last two Main Monster Zones—Sora blinked in surprise. She'd gotten that many monsters that quickly? "Sophia and Irene's effects activate—I place one "Exosister" card on the bottom of the deck and draw one card, and then I draw another card. And I gain 800 life points for both of their effects."
Mariko: 3900 + 800 + 800 = 5500LP
"Overlaying the Level 4 Elis and Irene." The two monsters turned into bright streaks of light, like the others before them. "Angel of mercy, angel of death! Now, take human form, and at my side, crush all injustice in the world with your holy judgement! Xyz Summon! Rank 4! Exosister Mikailis!" A sword-wielding warrior appeared on the field, her golden yellow hair flickering like flame. She settled down in between Martha and Kaspitell.
[Exosister Mikailis (R4/2500/1800/LIGHT/Warrior/Xyz/Effect) (OU:2)]
"Mikailis's effect. I'll detach one Overlay Unit from her and add a "Exosister" Spell or Trap from my deck to my hand." Mariko picked up the card, briefly flipping it over to reveal its green border.
[Exosister Mikailis: OU:2 - 1 = OU:1]
"Activating the Continuous Spell, Exosister Carpedivem. And then, I will use Mikailis's effect. On the turn she's Xyz Summoned using an "Exosister" monster as material, I get to target a card on your field or in your graveyard—and then, I can banish it. I will target Frightfur Kraken."
Then, Sora wouldn't be able to pull off Kraken's effect with Sabre-Tooth next turn… "I'll activate Edge Imp Scythe's effect in my hand!" He declared. "I'll fuse it with Frightfur Kraken on the field and Fluffal Cat in my hand!"
"A Fusion Summon on my turn, huh? Go ahead."
Why did she sound like she was expecting it…? "Reaper's scythe! Demonic evil! Sharp fangs! Become one and reveal a new power! Show yourself! Wild ghost-cave beast that bares fangs at all! Frightfur Sabre-Tooth!" The large beast made of purple cloth appeared in front of him with a loud roar.
[Frightfur Sabre-Tooth (8*/2400/2000/DARK/Fiend/Fusion/Effect)]
"I'll activate—"
Sora stopped.
I'll activate Frightfur Sabre-Tooth's effect to Special Summon Frightfur Kraken from the graveyard.
I'll activate Fluffal Cat's effect to add Polymerization from the graveyard back to my hand.
But both those cards…
"Remind me again, what are you activating?" Mariko said, clearly understanding his dilemma.
Sora grimaced.
If I don't try and get back my hand advantage, I'll lose just because she's bleeding me out! She's already shown that she has a Xyz Monster that matches with each of her Main Deck monsters. That… 'Martha' is the only one without a corresponding monster, right? So I already know the effects of the rest… she'll seal off my revival effects and the effects of the cards in the graveyard.
Don't tell me she summoned Mikailis first to force me into this choice! She's never seen me duel, she can't know me this well! Then, is it just a coincidence that I've been pushed this hard from the beginning?
… I'm not backing down to someone from Academia!
"I'll activate the effects of Frightfur Sabre-Tooth and Fluffal Cat!" He declared. "I'll Special Summon Frightfur Kraken from the graveyard and add Polymerization back to my hand!" His monster resurfaced. "Frightfur Sabre-Tooth's effect gives all "Frightfur" monsters 400 attack points! And since I control three Frightfurs, Frightfur Tiger's boost increases!"
[Frightfur Sabre-Tooth: 2400 + 400 + 300 x 3 = 3700ATK]
[Frightfur Tiger: 1900 + 400 + 300 x 3 = 3200ATK]
[Frightfur Kraken: 2200 + 400 + 300 x 3 = 3500ATK]
"So you're stepping up instead of running away?" Mariko gestured forward. "Let's see if you're right then! Since you moved a card out of the graveyard, Exosister Martha and Exosister Sophia's effects activate!" The two monsters glowed. "I'll immediately perform an Xyz Summon using each of them as the only material!"
Sora took a deep breath.
It didn't matter. He would have been forced to trigger them on his turn too anyway. At least now…
Her monsters and their detrimental effects only seemed to work on the turn that they were summoned. If he could eliminate any surprises here…
"First. I'll overlay the Level 4 Martha on herself. Again, return to my field, heavenly messenger! Exosister Gibrine!" The blonde girl with the gun appeared on her field. So, the one that could negate effects… "And then, I'll overlay the Level 4 Sophia on herself. Oldest of the angels, Exosister Asophiel!"
Two more of the angelic warriors took to the field.
"Asophiel's effect. Neither of us can activate effects of cards in the graveyard until the End Phase." Mariko gestured to her Continuous Spell. "Since I Xyz Summoned, I can declare a card name. That card's activated effects and its effects on the field are negated for the rest of this turn. I'll declare Frightfur Tiger!"
What? So…
"Your monsters lose the attack points they gained from Tiger's effect."
[Frightfur Tiger: 3200 - 300 x 3 = 2300ATK]
[Frightfur Sabre-Tooth: 3700 - 300 x 3 = 2800ATK]
[Frightfur Kraken: 3500 - 300 x 3 = 2600ATK]
"Then, Gibrine's effect. I'll pin down Frightfur Sabre-Tooth." The blue bullet shot out, hitting Sabre-Tooth, who stumbled on its own feet for a moment as it was weakened.
[Frightfur Tiger: 2300 - 400 = 1900ATK]
[Frightfur Sabre-Tooth: 2800 - 400 = 2400ATK]
[Frightfur Kraken: 2600 - 400 = 2200ATK]
So in the end, it was like he hadn't even strengthened his monsters at all… and Sabre-Tooth's protection effect had been negated too.
"Time to shoot you down, Pinocchio," Mariko said, tapping her nose—briefly, the wound on Sora's nose felt like it was flaring up again. "Exosister Gibrine's effect. I'll detach her Overlay Unit, and all Xyz Monsters on the field gain 800 attack points until the End Phase."
The blonde woman raised her gun, firing off a bullet above them—it exploded like a firework, scattering stars through the warehouse.
[Exosister Gibrine: OU:1 - 1 = OU:0; 1400 + 800 = 2200ATK]
[Exosister Kaspitell: 2300 + 800 = 3100ATK]
[Exosister Mikailis: 2500 + 800 = 3300ATK]
[Exosister Asophiel: 2100 + 800 = 2900ATK]
"Finally, Asophiel's effect. I'll detach an Overlay Unit and put Frightfur Kraken back in your Extra Deck." The large purple monster vanished from the field.
[Exosister Asophiel: OU:1 - 1 = OU:0]
"Beginning the Battle Phase. Exosister Mikailis attacks Frightfur Sabre-Tooth. And Exosister Carpedivem's effect activates. I'll destroy a Spell or Trap you control!"
Then—
"Continuous Trap, Frightfur Jar!" Sora declared. "I'll discard a card and draw a card with its effect!" He revealed the card. "I drew an "Edge Imp" monster! So I can destroy a card on the field!"
It had been a gamble—he didn't run that many Edge Imps, after all. But it'd been better than doing nothing.
"I'll destroy Exosister Mikailis!"
"Sure," Mariko said, the swordswoman being torn apart by scissor blades. "The effect still resolves."
Frightfur Jar blew up.
"When Frightfur Jar is sent to the graveyard, I can halve the attack points of one of your monsters until the End Phase—"
Mariko tapped her foot on the ground. "Sent to the graveyard?" She repeated—a warning.
… oh, come on.
"Exosister Asophiel's effect locks off the graveyard," Sora muttered. "So Frightfur Jar's effect… doesn't trigger…"
"Yes," Mariko said. "So now. Exosister Kaspitell attacks Frightfur Sabre-Tooth."
Sora grimaced. "I'll banish Edge Imp Scythe from the graveyard to negate the destruction of Sabre-Tooth! And this isn't an effect that activates, so Asophiel can't stop it!"
Mariko nodded. "I guessed that you had something like that," she said. "Well, it's worth it. You still take the damage."
Sora: 4000 - 700 = 3300LP
"Asophiel attacks Frightfur Sabre-Tooth." This time, Sora had no way to protect it—his monster crumbled under the attack.
Sora: 3300 - 500 = 2800LP
"Exosister Gibrine attacks Frightfur Tiger!"
Sora glanced to the right—just in time to see the bullet hit the cerulean tiger, tearing it to bits.
Sora: 2800 - 300 = 2500LP
"I'll set another card." Mariko gestured forward. "Take your turn, then."
[Turn 4: Sora] [H:3]
Returning Kraken, but destroying Sabre-Tooth and Tiger… that had been a deliberate choice, hadn't it?
"Draw!" Sora picked up the card. He didn't have to worry about using the graveyard this turn—she no longer had any of those Main Deck Exosisters on the field, so it didn't seem like she could benefit from it any longer. Still, an empty field, save for his set card… it didn't inspire confidence…
He'd make it work.
He couldn't hesitate. He couldn't step back—he just had to keep going. That was what he had promised himself when he and Serena had been dueling Makoto Toyama. That was what he'd promised himself in the aftermath of being left behind by someone that had been protecting him all this time. That was what he'd promised himself when he was wildly grieving the person he'd wronged so much.
"I'll Normal Summon Fluffal Dolphin," he said. The pink dolphin wearing a bright orange and yellow floatie appeared on the field, waving its fins around.
[Fluffal Dolphin (4*/1600/1000/WATER/Fairy/Effect)]
"Then, Fluffal Dolphin's effect! I'll set Toy Vendor from my graveyard to my field—and then, I'll send another copy of Fluffal Wings from my deck to the graveyard!"
And now, he could draw more cards…
"I'll activate the Continuous Spell, Toy Vendor. I'll discard one card and draw another!" He picked up the card.
… a miss.
"I didn't draw a "Fluffal" monster, so I must send the card I drew to the graveyard." He dropped it. "I'll activate Fluffal Wings's effect in the graveyard again. I'll banish it and Fluffal Cat from the graveyard to draw a card—and then I'll send Toy Vendor to the graveyard to draw another! And with Toy Vendor's effect, I'll add one more "Fluffal" card from my deck to my hand, or Edge Imp Sabres!"
He revealed another card.
"I'll activate the Spell Card, Polymerization! I'll fuse Fluffal Dolphin on the field with Edge Imp Chain in my hand! Come back! Frightfur Kraken!" The large purple sea creature appeared on the field, thrashing around slightly. "I'll activate Dolphin's effect. Since it was used as Fusion Material, I'll shuffle Polymerization from my graveyard into the deck."
Just because he could, really…
"And then, the effect of the Edge Imp Chain that I used as material. I can add a "Frightfur" card from my deck to my hand." Sora picked up the card, revealing it. "You got it—it's Frightfur Patchwork! I'll activate it and add a "Edge Imp" monster and Polymerization from my deck to my hand!"
He now had four cards in his hand.
"I'll activate Kraken's effect! I'll send Kaspitell to the graveyard!" One more down—there were only two more Xyz Monsters to get rid of now.
And…
He'd searched out both a "Fluffal" card and an "Edge Imp" card.
He held up both cards.
"I'm going to take you down," he vowed. "I'll set the Scale 1 Edge Imp Cotton Eater and the Scale 8 Fluffal Angel in the Pendulum Scales!"
Two pillars of light shot up around him. In one of them, a short blond doll appeared, beady blue eyes staring forward with a cheeky smile. Small yellow wings emerged from his shoulders, flapping slowly. Blue and white cloth wrapped around his body loosely.
In the other pillar of light was a far less benign-looking monster—a creature of yellow cloth, with sharp silver blades emerging from the middle of it like teeth. Sharp, golden metal formed wings that emerged from within the soft yellow cloth. A menacing red aura surrounded it.
"Pendulums…" Mariko murmured.
Pendulum Monsters.
Sora remembered the first time that he'd seen Yuya Pendulum Summon—it felt like it had been so long ago now. Seeing something completely new, something that Academia had never shown him. Changing his plans immediately, to infiltrate You Show instead of LDS—it had been the first thing that he'd truly done of his own accord, the first thing he'd wanted that was different from what Academia had expected of him.
Two pillars of light, Stargazer Magician and Timegazer Magician staring down from within them, and Sora had wanted to see more and more. He'd dueled Yuya and learned more about Pendulum Monsters, and the entire time—
… the entire time…
… it would be a lie to say that they had been anything close to friends when Sora had first come to You Show, right? Yuya had been annoyed by his presence, and Sora had manipulated anyone and everyone in an attempt to be accepted into the school.
It hadn't been Yuya Sakaki or Entertainment Dueling that had led him to choose You Show—it was this. Pendulum Monsters, the Pendulum Summon, the arc of light that had captured Sora's attention immediately.
He had wanted Pendulum Monsters so much back then.
… and he had only gotten them from Reiji Akaba after he'd come back and fought alongside the Lancers in the Synchro Dimension.
They felt like an acknowledgement of his new allegiance—of the Lancers' trust in him.
… he couldn't let them down.
No matter what, he had to stand by their side.
Sora gestured forward—the left pillar glowed. "I'll activate the Pendulum Effect of Fluffal Angel! I'll Special Summon a "Fluffal" or "Edge Imp" monster from the graveyard, but I can't summon monsters from the Extra Deck this turn, other than Fusion Monsters! Come back! Fluffal Octopus!"
The small pink octopus appeared, floating midair—compared to the enormous form of Kraken, it was almost normal-looking.
[Fluffal Octopus (1*/800/800/WATER/Fairy/Effect)]
"Fluffal Octopus's effect. I'll add Edge Imp Chain from my graveyard to my hand."
"Looks like I was right," Mariko said. "You thrive when you get to use the graveyard."
Sora narrowed his eyes. Two copies of Asophiel were already out—even if she brought out another one next turn, he just had to survive one more turn of it all. "I'll activate Polymerization again! I'll fuse Edge Imp Chain and Fluffal Penguin in my hand!"
Another Fusion Summon…
Mariko just watched him—was she really just observing all of this, no hatred, no comments?
"Adorable water bird! Dark creature that resides within! Combine and form the dark monster that destroys all! Fusion Summon! Level 9! Frightfur Cruel Whale!" On the other side of Kraken, the large white and black sea creature appeared with a loud, whistling sound as winds stirred up around them.
[Frightfur Cruel Whale (9*/2600/2400/DARK/Fiend/Fusion/Effect)]
"Once per turn, when I Fusion Summon a "Frightfur" monster, I can activate Cotton Eater's Pendulum Effect to draw one card. Penguin's effect also lets me draw two cards and discard one when he's used as material! And I'll chain Cruel Whale's effect! When he's Fusion Summoned, I can destroy one card on both players' fields—and this doesn't target!"
"Doesn't target, huh?" Mariko shrugged. "Go ahead."
"I'll destroy…" He could choose either of her monsters, her Carpedi-whatever or that unknown set card… but Asophiel and Gibrine both had lower attack points than Kraken, so he could finish them off. The answer was obvious. "I'll destroy my Fluffal Octopus and your set card!"
The two cards both blew up.
That left her with two monsters, so…
"Cotton Eater's other Pendulum Effect also gives all Fusion Monsters I control 300 attack points!" Sora declared.
[Frightfur Cruel Whale: 2600 + 300 = 2900ATK]
[Frightfur Kraken: 2200 + 300 = 2500ATK]
Sora glanced at the two cards in his hand, before he nodded to Cruel Whale. "Frightfur Cruel Whale's effect! I'll send Frightfur Daredevil from my Extra Deck to the graveyard to increase Kraken's attack points by half of Daredevil's until the End Phase!" A bloody red glow surrounded the large kraken, making it look even more menacing.
[Frightfur Kraken: 2500 + 3000 / 2 = 4000ATK]
"Battle! Frightfur Kraken attacks Exosister Gibrine!"
Kraken couldn't attack directly, so he had to take out the two monsters like this. That would be 4500 damage, and then Cruel Whale could attack for the win—
"Kuri kuri!"
Sora blinked—and then a small rainbow blob attached itself to Kraken. The monster flailed around for a moment, but it couldn't detach the strange monster from itself.
"Rainbow Kuriboh," Mariko said. "When my opponent's monster declares an attack, I can equip Rainbow Kuriboh from my hand to that monster. Then, that monster can no longer declare an attack while Rainbow Kuriboh is equipped to it."
What was a monster like this doing in a deck like that?
Then, that meant…
"... Cruel Whale attacks Asophiel."
The dark sea creature slammed its body down, destroying the archer in a single blow…
But it was so much less damage than he'd expected to deal to her this turn.
Mariko: 5500 - 800 = 4700LP
"... I'll set another card and end my turn."
[Turn 5: Mariko] [H:3]
"Draw." Mariko picked up her next card. "... that's two, isn't it? I'll have to remember that. Spell Card, Pot of Avarice. I will shuffle Martha, Elis, two copies of Sophia and a copy of Irene into the deck to draw two cards." She picked up both cards, glancing at them. "... mm. I will Normal Summon Stella again then." The brown-haired girl appeared on the field for the third time. "Stella's effect. I will Special Summon Sophia from my hand. And since I control an "Exosister" monster, I will Special Summon Exosister Elis from my hand. And with Elis's effect, I'll gain 800 life points!"
Mariko: 4700 + 800 = 5500LP
"And then, the Spell Card, Exosister Pax. I'll pay 800 life points to Special Summon Irene from my deck."
Mariko: 5500 - 800 = 4700LP
"Sophia and Irene's effects. I'll cycle a card and draw another, and gain 800 life points with each effect."
Mariko: 4700 + 800 + 800 = 6300LP
She had five monsters again…
"Overlaying the Level 4 Exosister Sophia and the Level 4 Exosister Elis."
Another Xyz Summon? Just how many of those had she pulled off now?
"Oh, eternal laborer, now rise from your ancient sleep, and become the wings that soar through the sky! Enforce the will of those holy seraphs that serve God, and end battles before they begin!" Mariko smirked. "Number 44!"
From the vortex in the ground, a stark white horse emerged, its body made of bright metal. Under the silvery metal were darker, black sheets of metal. It stepped forward, its hooves clacking against the ground with sharp, metallic sounds. Behind it, bright metallic wings spread out, the wingspan twice the length of the monster's body. The 'feathers' were blue-tinted white. Stars spun around it, eye-catching and bright.
"Mach Speed Beast," Mariko declared, "Sky Pegasus!"
[Number 44: Mach Speed Beast - Sky Pegasus (R4/1800/1600/LIGHT/Beast/Xyz/Effect) (OU:2)]
The pegasus stepped up next to Mariko, who reached up a hand, running her fingers along its neck.
"Number… 44?"
"Mm. This guy's the one that Dr. Tenjo actually designed for me." Mariko drew her hand back. "Well. It was one of the last Numbers ever made—actually printed it after the invasion too. He upgraded its effect from its original one because of that too. I'll show you now. Sky Pegasus's effect. I'll detach an Overlay Unit and target a monster you control. You either pay 1000 life points, or that monster is destroyed."
"What? Giving me a choice like that…?"
"Sky Pegasus does love dilemmas." One of the orbs that was flying around the white steed flew down and was absorbed straight into it. "I'll target Frightfur Cruel Whale. So? What's your choice?"
[Number 44: Mach Speed Beast - Sky Pegasus: OU:2 - 1 = OU:1]
"I'm not gonna let you force me into that!" Her monsters were both weaker than his, so as long as he kept Cruel Whale on the field… "I'll activate the Counter Trap, Frightfur March—"
Error.
"What?" Sora tried to play the card again, but nothing happened.
"Imagine if they printed a Number whose only use was a possibility of destroying one card. That would be ridiculously weak, wouldn't it?" Mariko smirked. Sky Pegasus let out a neigh. "While I control Sky Pegasus and he still has Overlay Units, and you control a monster Special Summoned from the Extra Deck—you can't respond to the effects of my LIGHT or DARK Xyz Monsters during the Main Phase!"
"What?" So he couldn't even counter that play?
"So you have no way out—Sky Pegasus doesn't allow you to run from it." Those blue eyes stared at him—piercing and dark. "So? Pay your life points or let it be destroyed? It's your choice."
Sora gritted his teeth.
She didn't have any monsters stronger than Kraken. Gibrine had no Overlay Units, so it couldn't boost her monsters again. She'd already used her Normal Summon. His set card could protect Kraken if she tried to destroy it with another effect—he already knew Gibrine's effect, so…
But…
I need Cruel Whale. Cruel Whale's effect can protect my life points and my monsters. I can't let it go down…
I can't. I just can't.
(He was trying to logically rationalise it. And in a sense, it was the logical choice, but if he looked deep down…)
(The reality was just that he did not want to throw away his monster just to preserve his life points.)
(The truth was, he did not want to be a callous person. Not like before.)
"I'll pay the life points," he spat out.
Sora: 2500 - 1000 = 1500LP
Mariko nodded—her smile was the same, but there was a tinge of mockery to it now.
… god.
Sawatari had called this girl nice. Was he blind or something? There was nothing kind about this.
"So your set card can respond to an effect, huh?" Mariko shook her head. "... sure, then. I'll overlay the Level 4 Exosister Irene and Exosister Stella. Once more—Exosister Mikailis." The golden-haired swordswoman reappeared on the field. "I'll detach an Overlay Unit from her and add an "Exosister" Spell or Trap from my deck to my hand."
[Exosister Mikailis: OU:2 - 1 = OU:1]
"And then, Mikailis's other effect. I'll target and banish a card you control or in your graveyard." She gestured forward. "I'll banish your Cruel Whale."
Sora winced as his monster vanished from the field. Damn it…
"And then…" Mariko glanced at his monster. "I could just attack and win, couldn't I…? There's no reason to bring out that card right now."
Sora narrowed his eyes.
"So I won't."
"You seem like the kind of person to play cards for dramatic effect," Sora snarked—he couldn't help it. He felt far too bitter about this. He'd played well enough—kept his cards to protect his monsters, and yet he still couldn't protect them. Couldn't protect anything.
The silver-haired girl shrugged. "I'm never needlessly cruel, Sora Shiun'in," she said. Her gaze was… odd. Sharp, and yet… a familiar kind of look. "Just efficient."
She gestured forward.
"Mikailis attacks Kraken. Both monsters are destroyed"
The golden blade cut through his monster, even as the woman was skewered by a dark tendril.
The Golden Blade of Hearts gestured forward again, her expression sharp—unbothered by the loss of the monster that she'd condemned herself.
"And Sky Pegasus attacks you directly."
Sora closed his eyes.
… it really was too much.
Sora: 1500 - 1800 = 0LP
Winner: Mariko Ejiri!
This girl… wasn't normal. If this was number two, how strong was number one?
If he couldn't beat someone when it mattered like this, then what about when someone's life was on the line?
Why was he only ever failing?
He slammed his fist into the ground.
(If he'd looked up, he would have seen Mariko's expression change as she looked at him. A pause, a frown. Briefly pressing her lips together. He would have seen her walk past him, scoop up the device on the table, and turn to walk towards the door. He would have seen her pull down the shutter door. He would have heard her footsteps as she walked away.)
(However, all he could do was stand there.)
(... wasn't that all that he was good for, anyway?)
It was late in the evening. Tsubaki and Mariko had returned back to the base a while back, and things were generally quiet right now.
Well. Mostly.
Something was brewing.
However, before any of that could go horribly wrong…
There was always one more thing. One more thing, out of sight—and even when a person thought that they knew it all, there would always be more.
"I'm not going to help you with that!"
Allen's eyes widened—he clearly hadn't expected her reaction. Sayaka, however, bit her lip, before she shook her head again.
"I don't trust them," she said, "but I don't think they're our enemies! Working against them like that… isn't that just working against ourselves? I can't do that—I can't hurt the Resistance like that!"
"They're trusting those outsiders too easily!" Allen scowled. "That Reiji Akaba—don't you see how calculating he is? Even if he wants to win against Academia, what if he tries to sacrifice all of us to do it?"
"But Ruri.." Sayaka closed her fingers together, pressing a fist tightly against her chest. "Ruri, and Shun… they both clearly trust those people, right?"
Allen gritted his teeth. "But… you can't just agree with them because Ruri is your best friend!"
"... I'm not—"
"And—" Allen was now lashing out, frustrated that she wasn't agreeing with him—he'd clearly expected her to just go along with him. "You can't just trust them blindly because you still, for some, some stupid reason or whatever, like Shun Kurosaki!"
The wild, angry words echoed through the ruins. Sayaka's face went ghost white. Allen seemed to realise how horrible the words that he'd spoken were—he took a step back. Sayaka turned her head—the embarrassment of him saying that, the fear that came with being shouted at, all of it made it so hard to breathe.
"Sayaka, I…"
"Don't…" Sayaka breathed out. "Don't say that. Don't say that, don't say that, don't say that—"
"Sayaka, I'm not—"
"—I'm not that shallow!" Tears fell from her eyes. "Do you think I'm just… going along with things? I have thoughts too, I have things I feel, I—"
She swallowed slowly. She turned around, quickly walking away.
"Sayaka!"
"Don't follow me!" She had barely managed to avoid crying after she'd lost against Ruri, but now she couldn't help it. "I just want to be alone! If you're going to say things like that to me, just leave me alone!"
She rubbed at her eyes, fleeing as quickly as she could—Allen shouted after her, but eventually, he finally let things be.
Sayaka found a place where no one else was, and she sat down and buried her head in her hands.
It didn't help her feel better.
It didn't—none of this felt good at all. And she'd thought that she could hide it, but this guilty feeling in her heart wouldn't go away, it wouldn't become any less, it just got heavier! Why wouldn't it go away? She hadn't done anything wrong at all! It didn't matter that she hadn't done anything back then, it didn't matter at all, she—
I wouldn't have won. It's been so long, and Ruri's still stronger than me! She's still special, she was never in danger at all, but if I stepped in, I was the one that was in danger! I was right, I know I was right—
And then—
Quiet footsteps.
Sayaka looked up.
Her eyes widened.
"How…" She took a step back. "What are you…"
"Obviously, I don't have a lot of time," the figure there said, their voice calm—and subsequently, more terrifying. "I need you for something. And I assure you, you're not going to say no to me."
Sayaka's mind raced. How had this person even gotten in here? She had to go and find—
"I know about what you did to Ruri Kurosaki," the figure said, brushing their fingers through their hair. "And if you don't want to talk to me… I'll let the entire Resistance know. They may not trust my word, but they'll trust you less."
… what?
What? How could—
"So, listen." And the figure in the corridor laid out a plan so horrifying that at the end of it, Sayaka could only stare in horror. She could only sink to the ground, covering her face as the figure walked away, presumably to go back to where they had been operating from.
And yet…
She had no choice. With what this person knew about her…
… she simply had to play the role she'd been asked to play.
… how cruel. How cruel…!
Why did she have to keep on doing things like this?
OC Cards:
Number 44: Mach Speed Beast - Sky Pegasus
(R4/1800/1600/LIGHT/Beast/Xyz/Effect)
2 Level 4 monsters
During the Main Phase, while you control this face-up monster with Xyz Material and your opponent controls a monster Special Summoned from the Extra Deck, your opponent cannot activate cards or effects in response to the activation of a LIGHT or DARK Xyz Monster's effect. Once per turn: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card, then target 1 face-up monster your opponent controls; destroy it, unless your opponent pays 1000 LP to negate this effect.
Trivia: In the original, it's called "White Winged Horse - Sky Pegasus". The usage of 'Mach' is a reference to Sky Pegasus's other name in canon ZEXAL. This beast is literally so fast that its effects can't be responded to—that's the joke. I also don't think I need to hide the fact that Mariko having this card is a very unsubtle reference to Durbe. I won't elaborate more on that though!
Different Card Effects from TCG:
The dogs - Anime-only cards, Hound Dog is modified to have the opponent not require a monster.
Frightfur Leo - Anime effect, TCG summoning conditions
Chapter 100 Special:
Welcome! Honestly, genuinely surprised that we've gotten this far. 6ARC has gone from a concept in a notebook, to a long document where I outlined everything, to its current state as a fic that people… enjoy? That's still a wild thought to me, that people found this story that I love so much and devoted so much of myself to. 6ARC is an expression of my love for the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise, but at the same time, it is also a reflection of the parts of the real world that I love and hate. When I write, when I plan, when I edit all of this, it's like placing a picture of my own mind on the page. I cannot express how happy I am when people get it, in that sense—how happy I am when people are willing to engage with things that I care about too.
Honestly, I feel very nostalgic. The person I was when I first started 6ARC is a very different person from the person I am now—it's been over three years since I started planning, and one and a half years since I started posting it. Some authors often cite personal change and growth as the reason why they've lost interest in writing something (which is very understandable), but that's not what I'm doing here. I can be candid and say that I started 6ARC at a point in my life when it felt like I was struggling to find things to be happy about, things that could motivate me at all. Without going in detail, I had gone through a lot of things, and I was still handling the aftermath of them. I would not be exaggerating if I say that writing this story saved me—it gave me something to look forward to and to work towards, and because of that, I could also bring myself to face everything else. In a sense, when I say that I wrote this fic for myself, I mean it. Obviously, you don't have to take it as seriously! But if I've made you happy, or made you feel something else, or just in general, ever made your day better with a chapter… I am happy that some part of this feeling (that continues to keep me writing) managed to find you too.
And I also want to thank everyone that has supported this story so far, whether through reviewing or just by reading it. Either way, it's been a long journey so far, and I look forward to continuing with it for a long while. (We're just in our third arc, after all!) And also those people that just… helped me, in general. My best friend, who listened to me talk on and on about a fandom that she had never been into, and who helped me to find the strength to reconnect with people that I had lost during that period of my life. My brother, who was the one that introduced me to Yugioh in the first place, who helped me find the strength to escape my situation back then. My current partner, who… well. I have a lot to thank them for, and I don't want this note to go on forever. :) But they're very important to me, and I am glad that I'm in a situation and state of mind where I can finally accept and return their love and kindness. Even just the random people I met in my daily life. I stepped out of my shell, but these are the people that convinced me not to return to hiding in it.
… is that pretentious? Pfft, sorry. We can get to the popularity poll results now. I just had a lot to say, and well… I've never really had the opportunity to say it so clearly.
Firstly, shoutouts to the voters! Thanks to Swagster1984, Ore-sama, ziggetyjak, Jtblake, Tornado, APN8000, kingofcards, ucj89, Infernal Enby, Bryz0n, phantomdragons, Tasha_Veles, kikuruhime, Eldlich, cardfan135, Joker, MochiYoshi, Yuri Best Antagonist, foxxy, Masque and 16 anonymous users for voting :)
Now, let's get to it! I'll have one of the characters read out the results—standard for this story :)
Sitting in a studio in front of a screen, Shino waved at the camera. "Hi!" She said, smiling. "It's been a while since I actually got to be on screen, huh?... Blaise really needs to give me more screentime soon. Anyway, I was elected to do the reading of the results!... because it needed to be a main character OC, and none of the others wanted to do it. Well, except—"
"Hi!" Yuno waved from next to her. "I'm the other host, because… why not?"
"Because everyone else is way less fit for doing this," Shino said with a shrug.
(In order—Kyorin had looked like she was going to faint at the very idea. Kaname had shot them a very flat look and left. Hitoda had just laughed and grabbed some popcorn. Mion hadn't been interested in being in front of people. Nue had not wanted to deal with people for that long. Chiaki and Yuji had both noped out of it because they could not have cared less about what people thought of them. Miharu was sitting behind the camera though—the one that was handling the film.)
"Anyway, I guess that we can start. We'll go with the 'smaller' questions first, and then we'll give the big prizes at the end!" Shino picked up an envelope. "Let's get going! So, skipping the first few questions… Question 6. Who is your favourite character from the Standard Dimension?"
Yuno whistled. "We didn't really spend that much there, huh?"
"You're the Lancer, I wouldn't know." Shino pulled the paper out of the envelope, staring at it. "... huh. Now that's surprising. By that much? I mean, he's not my type, but what do I know?"
Yuno peered over her shoulder. "... I mean, not that surprising!"
"Sure, to you, maybe. He and I haven't exactly talked, except during the invasion." Shino flipped over the paper. "Rounded to the closest whole number, with 61% of the total vote, Reiji Akaba takes it. Jeez. I personally would have gone for Myojin, but—"
"You're biased," Miharu said from behind the camera.
"Well, you're not wrong about that. Guess he has gotten a lot of good moments though, especially compared to that other version of him." Shino shrugged, putting the envelope down. "Anyway, that's a lot of votes for him! The person in second place only had 14%... can't say that I see what people see in him, but I guess I'm not allowed to vote."
"We're also fictional," Yuno said, reaching over to take another envelope. Shino laughed.
"Let's not get into an existential crisis right now!"
"Yeah…" Yuno opened up the envelope. "Well, that's less surprising… Question 7. Who is your favourite character from the Ritual Dimension?"
"It'll be Fujita," Shino said, rolling her eyes. "It always is."
"Actually, it wasn't as big of a sweep this time," Yuno said, before he blinked. "... ah, I just spoiled it, huh? Yeah. Yuji got 53% of the vote."
"Less of a sweep than Reiji Akaba then… huh. I guess it's because Rinsoka and Chiaki Katsuya actually have plot relevance now." Shino shrugged. "Well, Fujita winning is the least surprising result here."
"Are you sure?" Miharu spoke up. "I can think of a less surprising winner…"
Shino winked at her. "... I can think of one too, but I think we're both aware of who the other's thinking of, right?"
Yuno cleared his throat. "Question 8," he said, moving things along. "Who is your favourite character from the Fusion Dimension?" He turned to look at Shino, as did Miharu.
"We don't know for sure," Shino said with a wink.
"55%," Yuno responded. Faced with statistical evidence, Shino just laughed.
"Really? I'm not the best kind of person to like, you know… how did Yuri do?"
"Second place," Miharu filled in, glancing at the spreadsheets in front of her. "30%."
"Thought so…" Shino pressed her hands in her lap. "... well! I knew people would like him. He's sweet."
Both Miharu and Yuno shot her a look. Shino, however, reached for the next envelope.
"Alright… Question 9. Who is your favourite character from the Synchro Dimension? We're really just running through the summoning methods, huh? Get a bit more creative, Blaise." Shino peered at the paper. "... huh. Good for you, cousin-of-sorts. 47% of the vote and first place."
"Mizuchi-san?"
"Yeah." Shino put the paper down. "For the only one of us who was actually introduced in the second arc instead of the Standard Arc, she's pretty popular, huh? Only Yugo got even close to half of her votes."
"Nice, Yugo…" Yuno chuckled. "Well. She'd be surprised if she heard—I don't think she'd expect to be liked that much."
"She should be! No one should expect to be disliked." Shino picked up the next two envelopes. "We already know this is Xyz and Link, right? Link's obvious enough, but I actually can't guess who the winner of the Xyz vote would be…" She opened up the envelope. "Alright. Question 10. Who is your favourite character from the Xyz Dimension? Let's see here… aww, that's cute!"
Yuno glanced at the paper. "... it really is!"
Shino flipped over the paper. "First place, in a tie… with 33% of the vote each, Shun Kurosaki and Nue Kamisoka take first place!"
"Together?"
"Well, I guess they've both gotten more focus recently… Yuto was pretty close to taking it too, apparently."
"I just think it's cute," Shino said. She put down the paper. "... and it's nice that it was a close vote. This next one isn't going to be."
Yuno nodded. Miharu sighed.
"Question 11. Who is your favourite character from the Link Dimension?" Shino waved a hand. "No one needs me to say this. Miharu Kogami, first place."
"Ooh, by how much?" Yuno didn't seem perturbed at all, instead grinning excitedly.
"Not as much as you think," Shino said, sounding amused. "63%. Any comments?"
Miharu glanced away. "... I'm surprised," she said. "... I'm not sure why."
"People love you!" Yuno said cheerfully. "As they should! I love you, by the way."
Miharu nodded, shooting him a brief smile.
"Well, that's thematic," Shino said with a sigh. "I'm here with the lovebirds, huh… Question 12. Favourite ship. With 60% of the vote, Rainflowershipping—in other words, these two, right here."
"Us?" Yuno pointed to himself. "... oh! That's…"
"... in that case," Miharu said, "it's a joint victory." The two of them shot each other smiles, while Shino sighed and put the paper away, though she smiled at the camera and gestured with a 'what can you do' expression.
"Alright," she said. "Then it comes to the first five questions again—five categories. Blaise asked you to vote for… your three favourite Lancers, your three favourite antagonists, your three favourite legacy characters, your five favourite canon characters and your five favourite OCs, huh… I guess we'll go through them? Question 5. Who are your three favourite antagonists? Well…"
"Blaise took the votes for each character and divided them by the number of voters to get percentages, and then ranked them," Miharu pointed out quietly. "So they're calculated differently."
Shino had already drawn out the paper, so she stared at it for a moment. "Huh. Really?"
"You won, right?" Yuno glanced over. "... whoa. Blowout. 83% of people voted for you in this category? That's… heh. Congrats?"
"... sure." Shino still seemed surprised. "Second place was Yuri, with 75%. Heh. He's pretty close, huh… and then third place was Roget." She paused briefly. "... joint fourth place was Tsutsuji-san and Ryo-san… and fifth place was… Mizuchi? That's pretty impressive! All characters introduced in the second arc, huh…" She put it down. "Next, I guess… Question 4: Who are your three favourite Lancers? That's a pretty wide net… there's twenty-something of you all, isn't there?"
"Can I read out this one?"
"Sure." Shino passed the paper to Yuno, who unfolded it.
"Okay, so… first place, Miharu!" He grinned. "Hey, you won this one too!"
Miharu stood up, walking over to look. "... that's strange…"
"Hey, exactly half of the voters chose you!" Yuno reached out, taking her hand. "Obviously because you're cool. Anyway… second place is Kurosaki, third place is Reiji Akaba… fourth place is Serena, and joint fifth place is Yuto and Mizuchi-san."
"... yeah, I'm not surprised that Shun Kurosaki is popular," Shino said, clearly holding in a laugh. "Next, Question 3: Who are your three favourite legacy characters? I actually don't know who'd win this one…" She pulled out the paper. "... huh. Let's do this backwards. Fifth place… Kaito Tenjo. Huh. Didn't Blaise say not to vote on Xyz Arc characters… guess this guy was popular enough that he still managed to break into the top five somehow! Fourth goes to…" She smiled to herself. "... Ryo Marufuji. Third place goes to Aki Izayoi… and then, by the difference of a single vote, second place goes to Kisara Tsutsuji! But first place, with almost double the votes of second place… goes to Jack Atlas, who 80% of voters chose!"
"Guess that makes sense," Yuno said. "He's a pretty cool guy…"
"... I think Ryo should have gotten more votes," Shino said. "But I respect the choices of the masses!" She glanced at the paper. "Still, 80% in a 'vote three' category…"
"Didn't you get 83%?"
"Let's not think too hard about that!" Shino took out the two final envelopes. "Alright. Now… Question 2. Who are your five favourite Arc-V canon characters? Ooh, Blaise made one note here… the top five characters are all separated by only one vote each…? Huh. You Lancers are pretty balanced then, unlike us…" She read off the names. "Fifth place, Yugo. Fourth place, Yuto. Third place, Yuri. Nice! Second place, Kurosaki… and first place, Reiji Akaba, who once again had 61% of people vote for him? Same number twice, huh… guess there's a connection there."
"Reiji Akaba's winning a surprising amount of these."
"Don't let him hear that, you'll hurt his feelings…"
"He'd agree with me," Miharu said. "I guess people like him for the same reason they like me though… or maybe it's the other way round."
"It's funny you say that," Shino said, lifting the last piece of paper. "Alright, this last one, and we can go back to being at war again. Question 1. Who are your five favourite OCs?" She leaned forward. "... these results are pretty funny. So, one person abstained from the vote entirely. However, out of the thirty-five voters, thirty of them had one character in common in the five that they chose."
Miharu glanced back at her.
"First place, 86%," Shino said. "It's you, Miharu Kogami. Congrats! You crushed it."
"... were you second place?"
"Sure was. 63%. But it seems people really love you."
Miharu turned towards the camera. Slowly, she exhaled, drawing her hair over her face. "Then, thanks," she said. "... it doesn't really matter to me, to be liked. But I'm glad to not be disliked either."
"Who could dislike you?" Yuno said, slipping his hand in hers.
"... alright, you guys can keep being sappy." Shino stood up. "On behalf of Blaise, who can't talk since we're in a narrative segment, thanks for coming, everyone. See you next time."
End Notes:
(This part of the note was written in December 2023. I've had certain parts of this chapter done for a while.) Thank you, Konami, for leaking the translation for the new Fire Kings at the start of October. Let's just say that I was very stressed that it wouldn't happen in time. And yes, Tsubaki was going to play Fire Kings even before the OCG Structure Deck was announced—I was just going to make OC Fire King Xyz cards. :) I actually had the entirety of this duel already written back in December 2022, but with the release of the new cards, I rewrote the whole duel. I'm better at writing duels now than I was back then, so I figured that it would also work out better :)
So yeah, Tsubaki Nagare. The idea of having someone use Fire Kings but also have the most outwardly composed demeanour of all time was pretty interesting to me. Can you believe that I wrote this duel entirely from memory first before checking the stat lines of all the cards? And yes, that reveals how much I've played the Fire Kings for fun, though not pure Fire Kings. (And the pain of writing dog-burn-fuse.) I'll pre-empt the question—yes, it's just Fire Kings.
Me being like "how the fuck do I describe Kirin, it's not actually a horse… steed. Just keep calling it steed".
Garunix's name is stylised a bit from its official translation, because God and Hyang are not quite the same thing?… Hyang is definitely more fitting to the mythology that the Fire Kings are based on, but it sounds a bit stranger in translation.
Sora is coping pretty badly with everything, huh? :) Can't blame him, I put the poor guy through a lot.
I guess I can talk a bit about Mariko here too. Girl's rocking both Bagooska and Typhon, ball's in your court about which one you find more annoying. Both card choices were things done for character reasons rather than actually smart deckbuilding choices, but they're both fun tools for writing :) She also gets Sky Pegasus as the 'actual' Number that was intended for her by Dr. Tenjo, though I retrained it… just slightly. :) Totally didn't give it an insanely busted effect.
Obligatory note that neither Nue nor Sora's thought processes about themselves are healthy. As always, there is no such thing as an objective or unbiased narrator in 6ARC, and the thoughts of the characters don't reflect my opinion, and can be wrong.
This chapter took a lot longer because of the duel writing—Exosisters are really hard to write for me, and I rewrote Sora vs Mariko like six times before I was satisfied, because it was a duel that had the potential to be really good and fun, and I wanted to do it justice! But it's at a point where I'm satisfied with it.
I'll make a Tumblr post where I consolidate all the voting results, but it's a bit harder to format it for the fic. Hope you enjoyed the segment though!
Next chapter… is fun. See you then! :3 I'll answer any reviews for the last chapter in that next one too—I'm wiped out. Thanks for reading for this long! As a quick reminder since we are at Chapter 100, the fic does have both a Tumblr and a TV Tropes page. Feel free to engage on either :)
