Starting Notes:

Welcome back! Life's been busy, but I'm sorry for keeping everyone waiting for so long. :) We're ready to keep going though! This chapter is very character interactions-focused, but don't worry, the plot isn't going to stop for that anymore :) Enjoy! See you at the bottom!

Chapter 101: As It Rises

One year ago:

Twenty minutes from Diamond Branch, lying behind an unassuming door in the corner of Seventh Street, was the Barian Bar—usually just referred to as the Barian, by most people. It was a rather rustic-looking bar. The seats by the counter were velvety red, the cushions rather old and softer for their age—deflated, in a way. Wine glasses lined the shelves behind the bar—the thin glasses reflected the warm spotlights above them, casting a red glow on everything.

It tended to be far more quiet in the day—but by nighttime, the loud chatter was constant enough that most conversations, ironically enough, went unnoticed.

That was why it had quickly become a hangout for students from Diamond Branch—or rather, one specific group of six teenagers, sitting in the back of the bar.

"God. I can't wait until I'm eighteen." Alito Kiraku leaned back. "I don't wanna have to run back home from here anymore! Sou's been getting on my back about coming home late." He was holding onto a red mocktail, spinning it around with one hand—Nue watched him, slightly worried that it was going to spill.

Curled into the corner of the sofa seat, the lanky figure of Kani Shikawa sipped at his own non-alcoholic drink. His azure ponytail was already messed up—outside of school, he didn't bother to tie it up properly. Despite the fact that he was currently texting his boyfriend on the phone, he still spoke up in response to Alito's words. "Please, with how long driving lessons take, you won't even be a student at Diamond anymore by the time you get a car. And with how you'll probably drive…"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're reckless."

"What—"

As Kani continued to needle Alito and the other boy fell for all of his barbs, Michael Arclight and Nue Kamisoka both exchanged slightly amused looks. They continued watching the other two argue, until—

A glass slipped along the table, filled with bright orange liquor, a slice of pineapple sticking out of it along with several long and thin green leaves. Nue glanced over—her eyes softened briefly, though her tone was exasperated. "No way. They let you have it?"

"It pays to be from another country sometimes, Nue." Mariko Ejiri said with a wink, sliding into the seat next to her. "And besides, the drinking age in Colossia is twelve, not twenty. My dad let me have a sip when I was way younger—I don't mind the taste. I'm already a legal adult in Sparta City, anyway." She took a sip of the drink.

Nue rolled her eyes. It wasn't the first time that Mariko had lorded said 'adulthood' over them—she was basically free to do anything here, just because of how Dr. Arclight had set up her new citizenship in Heartland.

"Yeah, don't praise her too much! I'm the one that's incredible."

"... you don't even have an excuse, Rui."

Rui Shingetsu grinned, a cup in his hands too—that red cocktail that he always ordered. (He'd called it something strange once, vieux carre. Some drink from… Elseine, the name seemed to suggest, that area in central Colossia.) "Up high, Golden Blade." He raised his glass, and Mariko raised hers—they tapped their glasses against each other.

Show offs.

Nue didn't ask if he was sure that he wanted to drink something—it'd be way too patronising, for her of all people to ask. She doubted that he actually liked alcohol, he just liked doing things that he knew he shouldn't do. (She seemed to be surrounded by boys like that.)

He squeezed into the booth besides Alito, taking an exaggeratedly long sip. When he put it down, he turned to the bickering Alito and Kani. "I'm with crabmeat on this one, fisticuffs. Careful not to drive off a cliff, Sou-san will get pissed off."

"Vector, you—" Then, Alito spotted the drink. "Wait, you got it?"

"They always let me have it." Rui sounded smug—Nue knew that he was intentionally letting that fact be known. "Not my fault that they don't accept shitty fake IDs."

"How did you even—"

"Family secrets."

Alito facepalmed. "My family lives right next to yours, you—ugh. Can I get a sip?"

"If you must beg, fisticuffs." Still, Rui pushed the glass towards him. Alito rolled his eyes. "Leave the phone, Kani, you can suck face with your boyfriend later. It's Barian time."

Kani rolled his eyes, but he did put down his phone. "Must you phrase it like that?"

"Am I wrong though?"

"... at least I'm not a coward and asked out someone that I was interested in, unlike others at this table that I could mention." Kani said. "Anyway, Vector, you're the one that called a Barian meeting, but you haven't said anything."

"It's interesting that you say that!" Vector clapped his hands together. "Because, Barians—"

He really liked that nickname, huh? Alito had just started using it to describe them, and it'd caught on—the five Diamond Branch first-years that had begun hanging out here together after school a few months ago, along with Mariko, who attended most of her classes at Diamond Branch. (She still seemed to prefer the trio at Hearts Branch, especially Tsubaki, but she was nevertheless there whenever Nue was around, so at this point, she was considered a part of the group.) There were others like Kaito and Rio who also hung out with them, but they weren't quite 'part of the group', even though everyone there was close.

"I have an announcement." He turned to grin at Nue, who got a bad feeling. "Guess whose little brother's coming to school with us~!"

"No," Nue said, folding her arms. "He's going to Spade."

Rui facefaulted on the table. "Wait, what? He's not coming to Diamond?"

"Spade's closer to home anyway." She'd only come to Diamond because—no. No thinking about that.

"Nue has a little brother?" Kani blinked. "... that makes sense."

"... why."

"You give off the feeling of an older sister."

"... what does that even mean…"

Michael cleared his throat. "She does have a younger brother," he said, having known her for the longest out of everyone there. "Adopted, a year younger than us."

Alito whistled. "... huh. Nuts."

"Anyway," Rui stressed, "as a younger sibling of a Barian, he's pretty much an honorary Barian! So that means that we should test his dueling skills. Just between friends."

"You didn't do that to my sister," Kani pointed out.

"That's 'cause your sis is in the same year as us," Alito said. "Doesn't count! Anyway, I'm interested~!"

"... you're not hazing my brother," Nue said, facepalming. "I will make you sit through a twenty turn duel if you do anything to him."

Alito, Kani and Michael reacted with varying states of horror. Rui's grin widened (he was clearly just stirring up trouble for the sake of it. Nue held back a smirk—she almost couldn't help it, not when she was seeing him so happy.) Mariko, meanwhile, had just been listening, but now she leaned forward, interested.

"Can we see a photo of him?"

Nue looked at her, before she sighed and took out her phone. "You're lucky I like you," she said. One of Mariko was enough—she hoped that she would never meet another cheerful smoothtalker like her. "Fine."

(As the other five crowded around her to see the photo, Nue had an idea. After they were all done talking—and there was a lot of talking—she snapped a selfie of all of them, grinning at the camera.)

(There would be many such photos.)

(Nue would say goodbye to all of them, when she decided to go to Standard with her brother and the man that she was worried to lose. They were her friends, after all. She'd known Michael her entire life, she'd met Rui at that place, and the rest had been willing to talk to her once she'd finally slipped away from that icy figure, away from that man, and began to find herself.)

(She had no way of knowing that she would never see that group of friends alive and whole again.)

In the present:

"I can hear you, you know," Nue finally said, fiddling with a loose thread on the sleeve of her jacket. (Usually, she fidgeted with cards instead, but considering that she kept hearing Ryoma and Tatsuya every time she picked up a card, it was probably not the best idea to touch one so casually.) It was… what, evening?

It was strange how much one could tell from others' footsteps. Nue had always been able to distinguish all of her family members' footsteps—to know who was walking up to the door, know who was sneaking down to the kitchen for snacks, and so on. However…

There was also more to it than just the identity of the person in the room. There was an attempt at being quieter, occasional missteps—hints at hesitance, impatience… nervousness?

… but the person who those footsteps belonged to should never have to feel those things around her.

… she'd hoped that he'd come to talk to her himself eventually. Maybe that was cowardice on her part—she should have stepped up before allowing something like this to simmer for so long.

When she heard those footsteps moving away, she sighed. "Don't," she warned. "... it's about time we talk, anyway."

"... I don't want to push you to talk if you still can't."

"... if it's you, I can." She covered her face briefly, before she winced again. Everything still hurt—she'd only managed to walk for about fifteen minutes before she'd collapsed and Shun had to bring her back here, and that was already remarkable, considering that she'd apparently broken several bones when she'd fallen, including ones in her legs—whatever miraculous force had saved her life there, it had apparently also stopped her from being completely unable to move after that. Still, despite the fact that some of it had healed out of nowhere, it all still ached. "Sit down, Yuto."

After a moment, Yuto listened to her.

Nue rubbed her forehead.

Her little brother. The person that she had tried to protect from the worst parts of herself. Who had now been forced to learn about it in the middle of a war—to process it, on top of the other burdens that he already had.

"I'm sorry," she said—and Yuto said it at the same time. They both stopped.

Then—

They both laughed. The awkwardness vanished for a moment as they both laughed—just two siblings who recognised that they had been silly to be this nervous, when talking to each other. Nue gestured forward for him to speak first, and he did, but some of the tension from earlier was gone.

"I'm sorry that I didn't come to talk to you earlier," he said. "It was just… I was waiting for you to feel comfortable, and then… I overheard what you said to Shun."

Nue grimaced.

"I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but… after hearing that, I felt guilty about it. You didn't mean for me to know it. So, that's why… I couldn't really bring myself to come and talk to you."

"... it's fine. I would have told you."

"Really?" Yuto sounded surprised. "Because… I didn't think you would have. You always…"

"Maybe not everything." Nue pushed herself forward. "Not in such detail anyway, but… I know how I would feel, if you were hurting and you didn't tell me. We're both older now. I don't want to be a hypocrite… I think you can handle it."

"... I can," Yuto said, sounding certain. "So… nee-san. I know about Izumi now… but please. Tell me everything else."

So Nue did. She talked about her childhood, about her broken mind. She talked about her arriving in Heartland, about separating from Tsukikage. (About how much she regretted that choice, about how much she wished that she hadn't, because then he might have been spared his fate, and she might have been spared hers. Or maybe not. Maybe it would have ended up this way anyway—some kind of cruel fate.) She talked about dueling Ryoma, about his attempt to convince her to change sides, about how she'd won and Academia had done something to him that made his duel disk card himself. Finally, she talked about how Tatsuya had—

(If there was one detail she held back, it was how violent he'd been with her there. She didn't hide the fact that she'd been hurt—but there were some things that were just gratuitous.)

But most importantly…

She spoke to her brother honestly. She didn't hide her real feelings, she didn't try to pretend that everything was alright, she didn't try to protect him from the truth out of misguided good intentions. Just open communication. Treating him as an equal, someone who could hear these things. Being overprotective of him at this point was just… condescending.

(It would be like how Ryoma had treated her.)

"I knew it," Yuto said—the vindication in his voice was hard to miss. "I knew that Izumi-san got it wrong—you'd never have carded him on purpose."

… well. He was one of her people, after all. (Even if—no. She had to stop thinking like that.) Still… "You talked to Sachi?"

"Yeah. I guess I should talk about what I've been doing…"

"How much should I expect to be exasperated by this?" Nue said dryly.

"... uh." She could imagine how sheepish Yuto looked right now. "A bit."

"… fantastic. Go on."

So Yuto talked about what he'd been through too—about meeting and losing to Edo Phoenix, of all people. Of hearing about her and rushing to find Tatsuya, only to stumble upon the other members of Diamond Branch. About meeting Sachi and about dueling…

Nue pursed her lips.

Rui. What are you doing?

… at least the rest of them seem to be alive.

It might not be the best or most… loyal thought that she could have to the Resistance or the Lancers right now. But… the students at Diamond Branch had been her people for a long time. It was hard to stop thinking of them as such, no matter what kind of harsh words she had spoken back when she was arguing with Ryoma.

Once Yuto was done, Nue considered everything, and then spoke up. "Did Rui say anything to you?"

Yuto hesitated.

"... did he hurt you?" Nue said tersely.

"No," Yuto said. "Just… it bothered me a bit. Vector doesn't seem like the kind of person to just bend the knee to Academia without saying anything, right? And…" He repeated certain things that Rui had said to him, and Nue thought them over for a moment.

"What, do you think you're similar to her? As if. She's her—all order and rules, one card to the next, destruction and revenge. You, on the other hand… you start out with the same move every time and build from there. Your entire playstyle dissolves into chaos—you're just like me!"

"Do I look like I've bent the knee to you? No! I only do what's best for me! And… that has nothing to do with any of you anymore! All you need to do is cower and weep before me!"

"You're not fit to stand in the shoes of anyone else."

"He doesn't have the right to say those things to you," Nue said. She clenched her fists briefly. "... even if it's Rui. No one gets to talk to you like that."

"... you know, you never really explained to me when the two of you met, or why you became friends in the first place…"

"... talking about it would be intruding on his privacy and mine," Nue said. "So we don't really do that." She swiftly changed the subject. "Regardless… I should go talk to Tsubaki about these things, and… do you know where Sora is?"

"He's mostly been lurking around the base and sulking," Yuto said. "Do you need to ask him something?"

"I do, but… if he's not ready to talk, I'll wait." Nue pushed herself up—and immediately fell back down. She held up a hand, and luckily, Yuto seemed to recognise it as a sign to not do anything to help her right now—it would only make it more disorientating for her to get back to a standing position, if someone was trying to move her at the same time that she was trying to stand up. She got back up eventually, though her legs still hurt. "Come on. Everything that I told you, I need to tell everyone else. Well, the useful parts, anyway."

They weren't here to throw pity parties, after all.

Considering that Reiji Akaba had already planned a meeting for later today, Nue decided to find the leaders of the Resistance first. Apparently they had been out that morning, but once Yuto got news that they'd returned in the evening, the two of them headed off to the 'office'.

While her problems with dueling had been semi-solved with Hitoda's help (and the program that Miharu had cooked up and downloaded into her duel disk that morning), navigation remained a big issue, especially in the maze of corridors that the Resistance had taken as their base. As such, Nue was forced to rely on Yuto on that front. She briefly heard the sound of running water as they finally entered the room.

Yuto breathed in sharply—in response to something that Nue could neither see nor identify. "Tsubaki-san?"

"It looks worse than it is." Tsubaki responded. "It's my own responsibility anyway."

Nue kept her expression calm—though she caught the insinuation. Once, Dr. Arclight had been going over the Hearts Branch files after dinner at their place. There had been a lot of pseudoscientific descriptors there that Nue could now identify as the signs of a Psychic Duelist, though she obviously hadn't had the chance to tell Tsubaki about all that yet. Still, Dr. Arclight had suggested back then that while Tsubaki could obviously endanger people while dueling if she wasn't careful, she hadn't actually hurt another person before. She'd mostly just hurt herself accidentally with the flames. Still, there had been a way that Dr. Arclight had suggested that they could help her keep it in check, in those files…

Nue did not speak those words aloud. Instead, she just said: "Tsubaki. I have something to tell you."

She imagined the red-haired girl turning her head, looking over at her, bandage half-wrapped around her wrist. "I thought you would," she said. "I was waiting for you."

… everyone had been waiting for her to get back up. Nue didn't know how to feel about that. She wanted to yell, she wanted to cry—she wanted a lot of things. (And she wasn't going to get them.) Still, she ended up just getting the story on the roof out, as quickly as possible—she'd already told it too many times by now, and yet each time was like ripping open a wound that had barely healed at all.

"So if we defeat them, Academia will card them using their own duel disks." Tsubaki did not sound surprised in the slightest, but Nue didn't know if it was just her usual composure.. "... it's useful information to have, I suppose."

"... I don't believe that you've never had this situation come up before," Nue said. There was something frosty to her tone—she felt Yuto tense up, his arm still on her shoulder. "It's impossible that they've had their way for this long, with you and Kaito around."

"... you're right," Tsubaki said. "They haven't. There were a few stragglers that broke off to join them at the start, after seeing what they did to the base and thinking that they'd be safer there. Those stragglers have since lost duels and been picked off."

"And so, you already knew."

"I did."

… Nue couldn't hear any clues at all in the other girl's voice. Nothing that even hinted at guilt, or steel—just that typical blankness. Still…

"I assume you're not going to argue with that," Tsubaki said.

"... you'd have carded them anyway, and they were after the Resistance anyway. Telling people this would make them hesitate and possibly lose their lives… I don't fault you for that." Nue turned away. Yuto moved next to her, seeming surprised.

Tsubaki spoke up then, from behind her. "So what are you going to do, Nue?"

"... we're not enemies," Nue said. She folded her arms. "... they are my people. But they changed sides. It's over for them. I can't protect those who don't want to be protected. I understand that much…"

… she understood that much, and it still hurt her.

"But." She turned her head, looking towards the direction that Tsubaki's voice had come from. "I was miserable when Ryoma was carded because of me, Tsubaki. Because that blood is on my hands, no matter how many reasons people try to give for why I wasn't at fault."

"Nue—"

Nue shook her head. "... that's just the truth, Yuto. I could have stopped those wheels from spinning if I knew. And… I'm guessing that there have been people that have known. Completely ordinary members of the Resistance who bumped into enemies, fought and then had to live with that blood on their hands because they didn't know to try any other way than dueling."

She took a step forward—even when everything was dark, she had to make herself clear.

"It's knowing, Tsubaki, that lets us make actual decisions for ourselves. I would have liked to have known…"

She stopped.

After all, that was why she had to speak up. Not to beg anyone to spare her friends—she wasn't that pathetic or that out of touch in the world. It was because people deserved to know. They deserved to know that a fight like that would always end in that result—that there was no room for mercy, not anymore.

"... would you have told me, Tsubaki? If you had found me first?"

The tension in the air was like a rope hung taut—ready to snap. But Tsubaki didn't seem bothered by it. "You? Yes, I would have."

Nue nodded tersely. "Why?" It was the answer that she wanted to hear—it meant that the Resistance, at the very least, was not holding the others' actions against her. However, she couldn't help but ask anyway.

"Other people might hesitate or hold back because they know what the result will be," Tsubaki said. "But you, Nue Kamisoka? Nothing about knowing changes the result for you. In fact, not knowing… hurt you like this."

There was a pause, some tenderness to the words—but when Tsubaki spoke again, there was no trace of it.

"I would tell you. You wouldn't have mercy just because of that. And I don't think you'd be weaker for it."

Nue glanced away. I've carded at least forty-eight people by now, she thought. My hands are not clean. None of ours are.

… at least forty-nine.

I suppose at this point, no matter how hard I tried to protect people back then, no matter how much I tried to be kind to the people who mattered to me, I've cultivated a reputation of mercilessness.

She nodded. Then, she turned and walked away, her fists clenched.

She had said what she needed to say, and from now on, she would do what she needed to do too.

There was something comforting, Miharu thought, to working on things alone. SOL as a workplace had a lot of conveniences and facilities for employee benefits, but Miharu always found that instead of being in an office or at a desk, sitting alone with a cup of coffee made her more efficient.

… that being said, it would be hard to find a place to truly be alone here. People were constantly wandering around, and it was an obvious and undeniable fact that the Resistance knew the space better than they did. Not to mention…

Roboppi and Pandor had mentioned that they couldn't actually take on their Solid Vision forms without it… hurting? Hurting probably wasn't the right word, but either way, there was some kind of interference with it. Still, it didn't stop them from hearing what was going on outside, or looking at the laptop screen. As such, Roboppi had been watching her code the whole time—and asking questions through text boxes on the screen. Not that she minded. She could talk while working, after all.

Still…

"It's unsalvageable," she said to Reiji Akaba. "Or rather, the way that I initially coded it won't work here—it'd be easier for me to do it from scratch."

"You said that you took advantage of certain vulnerabilities in Security's programs to make it work?"

"Yes." It was a simple enough answer—she didn't bother going into details like 'I hijacked Security's internet network to connect the duel disks' and things like that, because that wasn't important enough to waste time on. Miharu raised her head. "But it is not currently possible for me to remake it from scratch."

"Then what do you need?" Reiji asked. After all, he'd clearly picked up on what Miharu was implying—'not currently possible', as opposed to 'not possible'.

"... whatever thing that Academia is using to jam wireless signals, it's very effective and very confusing," Miharu explained. "I believe that it's attached to some kind of physical contraption in Academia's base—and therefore, that without connecting to the wired network of that specific machine, the physical machine itself, I cannot shut it down."

"... you're saying…"

"... I need to go into Heartland Tower, and I need time to connect to its system," Miharu said. "In other words, we will not have access to a messaging system, or anything like that, until we manage to enter Academia's base. Not in Heartland, at the very least."

Reiji nodded. His expression was… strange. Miharu observed him.

… it was no secret to her that a part of her initial trust in Reiji Akaba had come from meeting Reira and seeing herself in the other girl. That feeling that anyone that could help someone else like her… couldn't be that cold of a person. At the same time, another part of her had also believed in him because of how much he reminded her of Ryoken. She knew that look.

So…

"Is something bothering you?" She asked. "You seem to be in a rush."

Reiji turned to her. He seemed to be debating something. "... I was going to wait until the meeting with everyone else to say this," he said. "But—"

"Sora Shiun'in is missing."

The news sent a sharp ripple of shock through the group—Reiji had gathered the Lancers together for a meeting after dinner, though this time, they had managed to avoid having anyone else from the Resistance listening in. Miharu and Yuno were not present at the meeting—apparently, they were guarding the corridors that exited this part of the ruins for that exact reason, which had made Yuto… apprehensive. If Reiji Akaba was so on guard against the Resistance that he was putting two of their strongest members in charge of something like that, something must have gone terribly wrong.

Still… Sora was missing? How? Why?

"What do you mean missing?" Yuzu stood up, eyes wide. "Do you—do you mean he was carded?" Next to her, Yuya looked just as shocked.

"No," Mion said. She and Reiji exchanged a brief look, before Reiji inclined his head. Continuing on, she said: "Yesterday, Reiji and I were discussing certain strange behaviours on the part of the Resistance towards us. Namely, that while the Resistance considers us 'on the same side', they do not actually seem willing to include us in their plans here."

"It's been four days," Shun objected. "Even if they know it logically, we've been alone for so long—of course it'll take a while—"

"Regardless, Shiun'in heard us talking," Reiji interrupted. "He said that he would take over Tsukikage's role in gathering information." A pause—no one interrupted him, all of them struck by those words, by how Sora must have been feeling then, of what it meant to say something like that in the first place. "I asked him to keep an eye on Tsubaki Nagare, so that we could figure out what was going on behind the scenes."

Yuto blinked.

"This morning, Tsubaki Nagare and Mariko Ejiri left the base together, and Shiun'in followed them." Reiji's voice was calm, despite the words. "I planned this meeting so that he could tell us what he found—however, those two returned two hours ago, and he has not. At this point, we can assume that he isn't just investigating on his own. Something has waylaid him."

"Do you think that Academia found him and he was captured?" Yuya stood up, looking anxious. "Then, we have to find him—"

Nue, her knees pressed up to her chest, spoke up then. "You don't think it's Academia," she said, interrupting Yuya. "Isn't that right, Reiji Akaba?"

Reiji pushed his glasses up, looking at her. "... could you say with confidence, Nue Kamisoka, that the Resistance would not eliminate someone if that person had a chance of ruining their plans?"

Shun looked ready to argue, but Nue reached out a hand. She missed his arm the first time, but it seemed to get the message across—he backed down.

"No," she said. "I can't."

"So we need to find him quickly, or at least figure out what has happened to him. I would like to believe that the Resistance would not do anything to a member of a group that they consider an ally, but we cannot afford to take that risk." Reiji narrowed his eyes. "We must figure out what the Resistance is planning, and we must rescue Sora Shiun'in, in the event that his disappearance is not a coincidence. Thus, the plan is…"

Yuno held out his hand to block the way, smiling. "Sorry, but we're testing Miharu's program to see if it'll help Nue with moving around," he said with a wink. "Extra noise is going to be unhelpful, so don't go in there first, alright?"

The red-haired boy eyed him. Yuno thought that he might know who this was—Allen Kozuki, right? Yuya had mentioned him before—someone who held a specific dislike for Yuya's father (and as such, Yuya), and who clearly distrusted the Lancers greatly. Yuya had looked somewhat hurt and worried when he'd talked about it—and Yuno obviously didn't have the best opinion of Allen after that, even without meeting him. Still, Yuno didn't feel like getting in a fight right now…

Though it didn't seem like he was being given a choice…

Allen took a step forward, eyes fiery with challenge. "Why not? What if you're lying and you're just trying to hide something important from us?"

Well yes, they were. However… just because he could figure out that there was something being hidden didn't mean that he had the right to know what it was, right? Secrets were secrets, and well… Yuno would like everyone to trust each other, he always would, but it seemed like it was unavoidable, now that they knew that the Resistance was in fact keeping some secrets from them.

… no real trust on either side, huh?

"It feels like you're already expecting the worst from us without any proof," Yuno pointed out. "If that's the case, then I don't know how to convince you that we're not doing anything wrong. But we're not, and I want to protect my comrades, so no. If you're just going in there to yell at people again, then you're not making it past me."

"Yuya Sakaki deserves it," Allen spat out.

Yuno couldn't help but bristle on the inside.

I've seen in Yuya's head. Even if I don't really understand how I did that, I know how he feels and what he's been through.

Enough.

Yuya Sakaki deserves none of the scorn that anyone has given him.

"That's your opinion," Yuno said. "I have mine!" He tilted his head, still smiling. "And between displeasing my comrades or you, there's an obvious answer!" (The others wouldn't actually be displeased, but it was a good excuse.)

Allen scoffed. "You have that face, but you couldn't be any more different if you tried. You're so… weird."

Yuno, however, grinned even more widely. He recognised that tone—the tone of someone who was trying their best to put up a front when they'd already lowered their guard, when they no longer considered you an enemy, even if they didn't want to admit it. "I'm just saying what I think," he said. "So… are we good?"

"... duel me," Allen said abruptly.

"Huh?"

"I said that I want to duel you." He narrowed his eyes. "There's no way there's someone as weirdly nice as you here—I'm going to figure you out!"

"Okay…?" Well, he'd been confronted with weirder reasons for dueling…

And well. He hadn't really been fighting yet, but he might as well make sure that he hadn't gotten rusty.

(And some strange things had happened in the Synchro Dimension. Leafking Seadragon was still in his duel disk, an ominous reminder of his duel against Miharu, but certain other strange cards had disappeared on the day that they'd come to Heartland, though he still hadn't figured out why—like those strange, overpowered traps that he'd used while in that fugue, such as the one that had given him such high life points…)

(He didn't know how they had disappeared, but a part of him was almost glad for that.)

[DUEL!]

Yuno Sugisaki: 4000LP

Allen Kozuki: 4000LP

[Turn 1: Allen] [H:5]

"I'll start!" Allen swiped up his starting hand, and Yuno did so too, glancing at the field. "I'll activate the Field Spell, Revolving Switchyard!" The hologram of the card showed up next to him, holograms of railway tracks projecting themselves on the ground below them. "I'll then Normal Summon Night Express Knight from my hand without a tribute, but its attack points become 0 in exchange for that!"

A large white train appeared, white and gold metal forming a tall knight that was connected to the train by the waist.

"... huh," Yuno said. "So… knight express, huh?"

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

[Night Express Knight: 3000 → 0ATK]

"You got a problem with puns?" Allen said, eyes lidded.

"Nope! I've seen worse." Yuno winked. "Pretty strong monster! And it's Level 10, huh…"

"When I Normal or Special Summon a Level 10 EARTH Machine monster to my field, I can use Revolving Switchyard's effect! You don't take any more battle damage this turn, but I get to Special Summon a Level 4 EARTH Machine monster with at least 1800 attack points from my deck! Come! Ruffian Railcar!"

A big red train appeared on the field next to Night Express Knight. It was rather bright in colour, with gold and silver metal around it that reflected the fluorescent lights in the ruins.

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

"And then, that monster becomes Level 10!" Allen clenched his fist, and the monster glowed.

[Ruffian Railcar: 4* → 10*]

"Ruffian Railcar's effect! I can't enter my Battle Phase this turn, but I can deal 500 damage to you!"

Yuno tilted his head. "Alright," he said. Two effects that sabotaged his Battle Phase… but since it was on the first turn, it didn't matter. Not bad!

Yuno: 4000 - 500 = 3500LP

"I'll overlay the Level 10 Ruffian Railcar and the Level 10 Night Express Knight!" The two monsters turned into streaks that flew into the ground. Rank 10, huh? "From beyond the railway, arriving here and now, alongside the tremors of the earth. Xyz Summon! Rank 10! Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Gustav Max!" An enormous green cannon appeared behind him, but in order to fit in the corridor, the cannon was squashed down awkwardly towards the ground at a strange angle.

… Yuno did his best to hold in a chuckle.

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

"Cool monster," he said. If only I could see it fully…

"... thanks," Allen muttered, seeming reluctant to even say the words. "It was my sister's ace monster."

Yuno blinked. "... oh." So his sister was… oh.

Oh dear.

He didn't know why it surprised him so much. After all, most of the people in the Resistance had likely lost someone—not losing anyone at all was probably rare in war.

"And Kaito picked up her cards and gave them to me—as though it makes up for the fact that a weird girl or whatever carded my sister!" Allen glanced away, snapping. "Whatever, I just—never mind." The outburst seemed to have put the wind back in his sails. "I'll activate Gustav Max's effect! I'll detach an Overlay Unit from it—and I can inflict 2000 damage to you!"

The cannon fired, and Yuno shielded his own eyes as it hit with a loud boom. Geez, was he trying to wake up everyone in the ruins or something…?

Yuno: 3500 - 2000 = 1500LP

"I'll end my turn there!"

Yuno stared at the monster, blinking slowly. "... huh."

Reiji's plan was simple. Investigating the Resistance and sending out scouting parties in groups—it sounded so normal, but the implications of them were obvious—that they had to start acting not just for their goals, but for their own safety too.

Yuya was just talking to Yuzu when they heard the cannon shot—a familiar one.

That was—

Was that guy, Allen, dueling someone? But it was nearby, so that meant… was he dueling—

Yuya rushed out, wildly worried. He'd won against Allen, but for someone unprepared to deal with him, the effect damage might be too much—!

He stopped as he finally got to where Yuno was—and saw what was happening in the duel.

"Oh, hi!" Yuno looked over at him. "You're done with all that stuff?"

Yuya stared at the field, slack-jawed.

"Hydrostatic Current attacks you directly," Yuno said. Gustav Max was sitting on his side of the field. Allen looked just as surprised as Yuya did. His life points fell to zero immediately after that. "That's it."

Allen and Yuya exchanged a look—for once united in one thought.

This guy.

Maybe it was foolish to be worried about Yuno Sugisaki, come to think about it…

The moment passed. Allen broke eye contact with a scoff. "... you're stupid strong. Why haven't you done anything yet?"

Yuno blinked. "Well, that's because you guys don't trust us enough for me to do anything…"

"What?" Allen snapped.

"I know I'm strong," Yuno said, with all the conviction of a person who also knew he was right. "But if I make big moves by myself, or Miharu does… well. It'll make it look like we can't be trusted and we're not willing to follow someone's lead, you know?"

Yuya's eyes widened.

Allen glared at him, and then walked off, muttering to himself.

Yuno turned back to Yuya, stretching slightly. "All in a day's work," he said cheerfully.

"… you really are something else, Yuno."

"Where are we going?"

Chiaki turned to look at Yuji, shrugging. "They're all searching for that guy, right? Might as well."

"… why?"

"You don't want to?"

No. Yuji wanted to. … he didn't know why. The atmosphere had just been so… tense.

"I don't care about him either," Chiaki said bluntly. "And you don't need to say it. I…"

A pause.

"I hate being down here," Chiaki confessed. Yuji furrowed his brow. "It's dark and stuffy and warm and there's never any sunlight."

"… so, like Academia," Yuji said a moment later. The words hung between them. Finally, Chiaki nodded sharply.

"These people are useless," she said. "They just want to help. So focused on helping to build up things, on doing everything except fighting—" She clenched her fists. "And now, on saving someone."

Her tone didn't match her harsh words. There was something disbelieving to it.

"Will making friends and trying to protect every person here stop the war? They've already failed once."

"It's not their fault," Yuji said slowly.

"If they want to have a goal as big as 'save everyone', they have to be responsible for that!" Chiaki shook her head. "… I just want out of here, Yuji. So we find that guy whether he's dead or alive, whatever, so that they all stop wasting time—"

Stop.

Yuji pressed his head to her shoulder abruptly. It wasn't tender in the slightest, though there was no force. He didn't want to hurt her. He just wanted her to stop for a moment. His head was ringing.

Too much. And trying to speak right now would take even more out of him.

He didn't want to think through all this. Chiaki was always right. Her judgement is my rule of right.

But…

But…

Yuji couldn't explain it.

"Yuji?" Chiaki sounded confused. "What's…"

… too much.

He whirled around and fled.

… but of course, Chiaki Katsuya was far faster than him. She followed him, but she didn't try to touch him.

(She still understood.)

Eventually, Yuji turned and shook his head.

"… I know you don't like being pushed to talk or explain what's going on in your head," Chiaki said, as though she was trying to calm a stray animal. "So I won't. But… you can't expect me to do nothing."

I don't want to expect anything.

"Okay," Chiaki said. Yuji blinked. Had he said that aloud? That… usually didn't happen…

("Want. Nothing.")

"Then, I…" Chiaki trailed off. She was staring at him.

Yuji felt disconnected from everything. Like his limbs were limp, like his mind was outside his body.

"Yuji," she repeated.

"How long…" Yuji managed, "can we…"

Go on like this?

How long can we go on, always keeping each other comfortable? Always letting each other stay in our own minds, never minding what the other does? Always saying that 'it's fine to never step out of your comfort zone'?

How can we say we're close if we can't even push?

… if I can't let you push me?

… there was just too much self-reflection. It made Yuji want to shut them all down again.

He wanted to be satisfied being like this.

But wanting something meant that he didn't already have it. Why was he thinking these things now? Why…

Because I had to live without you for months, when I'd been with you for years without stopping before that.

Because…

It hurt, to not know where to go, to not know that I could return to somewhere at the end of it.

It hurt.

I was hurt.

And, because I struggled… I had to think, when I didn't want to think. Do things, when I wanted to do nothing, I—

"Disagree," Yuji finally said. One simple word, packed with all of that.

They looked at each other.

"Is that it?" Chiaki said. Her voice was uncharacteristically quiet. "… then why are you scared of me?"

"I'm not." That much he knew was true. He would never be scared of Chiaki. "… I'm overwhelmed." And that was an honesty that only she would ever be afforded. "I'll be fine in a while, and I'll stop being so... difficult to understand."

"Be as difficult as you want." She rolled her eyes. There was a brief pause.

"I don't mind if you disagree with me," Chiaki said. "You know that's true."

"No, I…" Yuji gripped onto his head. "Chiaki, you…" He needed to figure out how to word this, so that he wasn't just arguing with her without understanding anything.

"… yes?"

"You do." Yuji finally met her gaze, as her brown eyes widened with shock. "You… care, Chiaki. You do. Don't… you're not like this."

I am. But you're not.

"You're doing it because you care," he finally said. "Who… made you care?"

And finally, Chiaki closed her eyes. "… I don't know why I lie," she said quietly. "… you're right, Yuji."

That much made him relieved—the strange, odd blockage was gone.

"I just… don't want to care that much," Chiaki admitted. "They can die… I don't mean that as in 'I don't care if they die', it's just a fact. We know that. I already care for too many of them. Like Rin. Ruri. Kyorin. That girl with the blonde hair."

She didn't say Yuji's name, because they both knew that much. And she didn't say Miharu Kogami's name, because she was trying to downplay how she felt.

… Yuji could finally parse what she was saying.

"If we care, we get hurt," Chiaki said. It was just… matter-of-fact. "If we like people and they go… we're just always hurt by it. And just… fuck. I don't want to be left behind anymore, Yuji."

Yuji looked at her.

He reached out a hand and carefully, firmly grabbed hers.

"Not me," he said. Not by me. It was a promise—he didn't know where that sharpness had come from. "I won't die. Just trust—"

Me.

Don't hide this from me.

"… you can't," Chiaki said—accepting his promise. "… and I won't."

"Okay."

"Okay." Chiaki didn't pull her hand away. "We look for that weird guy together?"

"… okay."

If I'm with you…

Something strange had changed. One of them had finally pushed the other—neither of them had expected it, but… it didn't feel like anything had gone wrong between them?

Like they were still the boy and the girl surviving on the streets.

… Yuji was fine with that.

"So that's the situation in Heartland right now," Dennis said, leaning back on the wall behind him. "Seriously? Those guys know how to turn things upside down immediately. I'm surprised that they haven't already charged in here."

Saki rolled her eyes. "Me too. I'd like that…"

"So, uh. You lost to Chiaki Katsuya?"

Saki twitched. "Yeah."

"... you really don't like her, huh." Dennis didn't know the girl—after all, he'd only really known Ruri, out of Academia's main targets. The girl had escaped Academia after Dennis had returned—he hadn't known anything. "Why?"

Saki glanced around them. There was no one else there—after all, they were hanging out in a quieter part of the base together right now. "... because she stole from that person." She spat out the words with clear anger.

"That person?" Dennis echoed. "Who's… that person?"

"... Shino-san," Saki said.

"Shino-san," Dennis repeated. "… huh? Shino Gitsune?" He hadn't heard of any special connection between Saki and that strange girl that everyone called the Empress of Dragons. Why did Saki care so much?

Saki seemed to sense his question. She drew a hand through her dark hair. "I just…" She trailed off. "You know people were shitty to me about being… me. Y'know. Saki Garam."

Dennis winced. "The same kind of people who…"

"Who would think that me still having short hair is some kind of argument against me being a real woman," Saki muttered. "They'll make anythinginto an argument to avoid letting me be myself."

"You know I don't agree."

"I would kick your ass to the curb if I thought you did," Saki said.

Dennis shot her a nod and a grin. "Keep going?"

And Saki did. "The Tyler Sisters helped me a lot. Basically adopted me as a little sister of sorts, you know? Didn't let anyone mess with me. But, one time, I bumped into…"

She lowered her voice.

"… her. You know. The Professor's second-in-command."

"… Eve-san?" Dennis could barely say the name—it was like saying it caused a chill around them.

"Yeah." Saki cleared her throat. "It was during a mission brief. She called me… you know. The name I used to go by. I tried to correct her, but she looked at me, and I just… froze up. I couldn't. But I also had this awful, awful feeling that if I just let her say it, no one would ever call me by my own name again, you know? Everyone was so quiet, and then…"

She lapsed into silence. Eventually, Dennis elbowed her, shooting her a smile. It seemed to work—she spoke up again.

"Shino-san spoke up for me," she said.

"There might be a problem with the documents, if that's what they say!"

The golden-haired woman turned her head, breaking eye contact with Saki, who nearly collapsed in relief. She turned to look at the door—a girl with bright purple-pink hair had just entered, and had clearly been waiting for a while.

Eve stared at the girl. "… it's you," she said. She did not sound pleased.

"Her name is Saki Garam," the girl said. "Chosen names are important, don't you think…?"

"… I suppose you would know."

The girl looked back at Eve. She narrowed her eyes. "I do," she said, keeping her voice light. "Old names don't matter more than who you decide you are now."

"She stood up to… that woman like that for you?"

"It was so tense," Saki muttered. "But… that's why I thought she was amazing. Who couldn't think she was? I don't think even Gloria or Grace would have spoken up in that situation" She folded her arms across her chest. "And afterwards, she came to ask me if I was okay…"

"Um. Yes." Saki didn't know how to respond to the girl. They were outside in a garden—hold up, wasn't this that Yuri's garden? Was this really okay? Well, the girl didn't seem to be that worried, and if she could stand up to Eve with no consequences, then it had to be okay…

"Okay, that's good." The girl leaned on the side of her wheelchair. "She had no right to do that to you in front of so many people. I'm sorry."

"You… helped me…"

"I mean. I know I'm not responsible…" The girl shook her head. "But 'I'm sorry it happened'. That's what I mean."

"Oh. Thanks." Saki lapsed into silence. "You're… not scared?"

"... a little," the girl admitted. Saki's eyes widened.

"Then, why—"

"Even if I'm scared, I couldn't just sit there when she was treating you so badly."

But they didn't even know each other… why would she risk something like that? Was she really just that nice? There was no way…

"She scares me a lot." The girl pushed back her purple hair. She glanced at Saki earnestly. "But, if I know that… I don't want her to scare other people. If she comes after you again… just come to me, okay, Saki Garam? I'll figure out something to help you."

"What do you want from me? Do you want me to work for you or something?"

The girl frowned. "... no. If I need anything done… I do it myself."

"Then—"

"I don't want anything from you. I just don't want to see someone treated like that." The girl made eye contact with her—it was gentle, but no less intense. "That's the truth. Anyway, that's all I wanted to tell you."

Saki found her voice a moment later. "... what's your name?"

"... you can just call me Shino," the girl said. Her smile was warm. "Nice to meet you. Saki is a really pretty name—to 'bloom', right?" She picked up a fallen flower from the ground, and then she came over, stretching up from the wheelchair. Saki lowered her head slightly on instinct, just to meet her on an equal level—and Shino tucked the flower behind her ear. "Good choice. I hope you get to use that name for a long time."

"So I'm really grateful to her," Saki finally said. "That's why I need to defeat that girl and take her deck back. And since Academia also wants to take her back…"

"Is that why you came here?"

"Yeah." It was the real reason that she'd agreed to come here. Glory was one thing, but more than anything, she owed that person.

Dennis looked at her. He sighed.

"The Professor ordered an upgrade for my cards," he said. "Before you came back to get me, I mean. It just got completed. Just reshaping some of the Pendulum Monsters that Reiji Akaba made, so that I could use them properly with my Fusions."

"An upgrade…"

Dennis swallowed. "He says that if I fail to accomplish the mission I'm sent on again, I'll be punished."

Saki whirled her head around to look at him. "… no…"

"I think if I don't manage to help keep Heartland, I'll…" Dennis raised one of his hands to the collar of his shirt, his fingers trembling. "I'll be carded."

"And I brought you here." Saki covered her mouth. "Oh, fuck. Oh no. Dennis. I'm so—"

"Edo Phoenix sent you back," Dennis cut her off, quickly forcing a smile on his face and grabbing her hands. "Don't be like that, Saki, you couldn't control anything."

"Aren't you scared to die?" Saki shouted back. "We have to find a way—what if Edo Phoenix can't do it? I can't lose you!" It was a sharp, emotional outburst, uncharacteristic of her.

"I'm scared," he said. "But… I'm just going to try. If I fail, I think I just don't know what to do…"

He let go of her. He thought about when they were younger, back when he was still reeling from losing everyone that he'd known. When they'd met…

"Do you remember when you saw me summon Trapeze Witch for the first time?" He said.

"Huh?" Saki scowled. "Don't change the subject. It's about your life!"

And so is this.

This is about my life, about everything I've ever believed…

All at war inside me.

"You smiled so much that day," he said. It was how they'd become friends. Trapeze Witch grinning over them as the haughty heir had asked him about his deck. "And recently, I've been beginning to think that it's not too bad to make people smile…"

"Well, obviously not." Saki folded her arms. "What are you getting at?"

… she wasn't getting it. Obviously, wanting other people to smile wasn't in itself a treacherous thought.

But wanting to duel to make everyone happy, instead of all of this…

Dennis forced a smile on his face again. "Nothing," he said. "… I'll do my best, Saki. Just don't worry about it."

Mariko Ejiri looked up, her hands pressed together on the table. "Oh? You're back here again. Don't you have better things to be doing?"

Sawatari narrowed his eyes. This girl had been nothing but nice to him, but… according to Reiji Akaba, who Sawatari generally accepted as way smarter than him, there was a chance that she and that other redhead had done something to Sora. And in that case…

He looked away from her face—her moving hands caught his gaze. He blinked. "Are you peeling your nails?" He exclaimed.

Mariko tensed up at the sudden change in volume, her fingers pressed together. "Yeah," she said. Her nails were chipped, edges uneven and sharp. "And I bite them and stuff. So?"

"I mean, you shouldn't do that…"

"Not like we have a lot of nail clippers to go around." Mariko yawned. "Bad habit of mine. So? What are you doing here? I'll start thinking you have a crush on me, if you keep showing up."

"I—what? No!"

"Okay, you don't need to sound that offended." Mariko eyed him. "So, what's this about?"

I want to know what you did to Sora. A part of Sawatari felt… defensive over the other boy, after coming to this dimension with him. Back in Standard, they obviously hadn't had any kind of relationship at all, never mind a good one. They'd met when Sawatari was… bullying Yuya (and that was what it was, even if he hadn't acknowledged it back then) and Sora had knocked him unconscious back then. And then he'd turned out to be an Academia spy and—Sawatari just hadn't had a chance to think of him as a person, let alone a friend or whatever.

But then he'd seen Sora crouched in a corner, hiding himself and struggling to breathe. He'd seen Sora trying to save Tsukikage, he'd heard Sora's desperation, and…

Whatever. He just wanted to do something, okay?

But Mariko was looking at him with faint confusion, and… it was odd. Sawatari didn't want to believe that the Resistance would just outright attack a Lancer like that…

(Or maybe, he specifically just didn't want to doubt this girl… it was weird to be this attached now though.)

Mariko turned away after a moment. "Huh. You're acting odd. Say it already, or at least grab a chair."

Sawatari glanced around, wondering if he was missing something… no, he was not. What. "There are no chairs here?..." It came out like a question.

Mariko snorted, leaning back on the table that she was sitting on. "Good observation."

"You told me to get a chair!"

Mariko stared at him, before throwing her head back. The sound that she made was something close to exasperation. She fiddled with her right earring, glancing at him. "Yeah, so?"

She told him to talk or get a chair… there were no chairs there… so she wanted him to go somewhere where there were chairs…

"Are you telling me to go away?" Sawatari yelped.

"Well, if you're just going to stand there and stare at me, it's uncomfortable. I don't like being looked at." Mariko looked back at him. "I don't bite if you just ask questions, you know. What do you need?"

She sounded… like she was telling the truth? It somehow made Sawatari feel guilty…

"You've been hanging around with Mariko Ejiri recently, right? See if you can pick up any clues about Sora and their plans from her."

How was he supposed to be subtle about asking stuff like that? And then, it would feel like he was using her, somehow…

If his past self could see him now, he would be surprised. The difference between proudly and mindlessly listening to orders, as opposed to thinking about other people like this… it was something that he should have learned early on, if not for how he was raised. Sawatari wouldn't have been able to do this back then. He wouldn't have been able to think about the consequences of following orders like that, not on other people, he would only have thought about himself and how great he was…

(A part of Sawatari realised how similar that sounded to the Academia soldiers that they'd met, and quickly shut that down. Nope, he was not going to think about that, not right now.)

"Fine," Mariko said. "I'm going to sit here and do my own thing. You're going to look at the wall until you feel ready to talk to me."

"What do you know about Kaito Tenjo?" Sawatari blurted out, and then fought the urge to facepalm because how the hell had his brain gotten there from all of that.

"... Kaito?" Mariko tilted her head. "That's what you're so curious about? Didn't think you'd be the type to get so nervous asking about someone that you've got no connection to in the slightest…"

"What does that mean?"

"Well, you do give off the rich kid vibe with no self-awareness…"

Sawatari was about to argue back, but Mariko continued talking immediately after that.

"Kaito, huh? What exactly do you want to know about him?"

"Uh." Well, he just had to commit to it now, didn't he? "Some of the Lancers met him? Uh, one of them was my sister…" It felt weird to call Mion his sister so openly now, as though he could feel his father standing behind him and staring at him disapprovingly. But Sawatari had yelled at him and already told him what he wanted, and so—he was just going to do it, from now on! "She dueled him."

"I did hear about something like that, yeah."

"Huh? Who told you…?"

Mariko smirked. "I hear everything," she said after a moment. "Not the result though. So, your sister's alive… but she didn't manage to beat Kaito Tenjo, did she? Otherwise, I might actually have to be worried about you all."

"Uh, the duel ended without a result…"

"... huh. I've never known that guy to give up on a duel midway. Your sister must have said something to him that messed him up."

Well, apparently Mion had bricked for the entire duel and had subsequently come back and rearranged her entire deck, taking out pretty much a third of it, so apparently that guy had done a number on her too.

"Whatever. Anyway, he's one of the strongest members of the Resistance. I'd say that he's only gotten better as the invasion's gone on." Mariko glanced at him. "He's pretty strong, pretty out of his mind, pretty pretty, all things considered. Hard to pin down exactly what to say about him if you don't ask me an actual question."

Sawatari frowned. He had to figure out a way to reroute the conversation to Sora or those other plans that Reiji was talking about… "Is he stronger than you?"

Mariko looked over at him—and then, she actually smirked properly. It was a strange look on her face. "Oh, I wouldn't know," she said, in a tone that made it very clear that she did in fact know. "He's enough of a threat to everyone around him though. But he's Tsubaki's problem now, not mine."

"Aren't you friends?"

"Me and Kaito Tenjo?" Mariko shrugged. "Sorry, I only know him as Tsuba's… well. I only personally know him through her. We get along well enough, I guess, but he's turned on the Resistance in his own way, so he's dead to me now. I don't need to worry about him anymore."

Sawatari grimaced. That was just… flat out cruel…

… maybe it wasn't too far-fetched to think that this girl could have done something to Sora after all…

"Fine, this is agonising," Mariko said, leaning back and stretching. "... you're bad at interrogation. It's an essential skill in war, you know."

"I'm not tryin—"

"Yes, you are." Mariko pulled up her duel disk. "But the thing is, you can only interrogate someone when you're in a higher position of power than them. And you're not stronger than I am." She glanced at him. "Tell Reiji Akaba that if he needs to know something, he'll be told it. And that we're more than capable of handling our own business."

"We're allies!"

"We are. But the Resistance doesn't actually need you—we just respect you." The silver-haired girl looked him in the eyes—there was a sharpness to her gaze. "He shouldn't give us reasons to get upset."

But…

"Then, we duel!"

A slow blink. Mariko looked over at him. For a brief moment, her lips quirked up, as though there was something funny about the situation.

"You've lost to me five times," she said. "Let's not pretend like you're going to get anything out of me."

"But—"

Out of the Lancers, excluding those who grew up here, I know your deck best, I think? And… even if I lose, you might let something slip…

"I'm gonna try," Sawatari said determinedly. "So let me!"

"... you're so entitled. Huh." Mariko eyed him. "You really think that you did something there, huh?"

She stood up.

"Fine. We'll have it your way. But just so you know, I'm done talking to you after this. I don't want to deal with someone who can't recognise when they're pushing too much."

Sawatari gulped. For a moment, he thought about backing down.

But…

He wanted to be useful. To be able to do something for his comrades. There was a chance that he'd offended this girl for no reason and she had nothing to do with Sora's disappearance, but…

He needed to know!

[DUEL!]

Shingo Sawatari: 4000LP

Mariko Ejiri: 4000LP

[Turn 1: Sawatari] [H:5]

"You can have the first turn," Mariko said. She was still smiling, despite her harsh words from earlier—it set Sawatari on edge a bit.

"Sure," he said. He glanced through his hand. Okay, he had Mellow Madonna and Wild Hope already, but no Extras or Curtain Raiser… and he also already had his Field Spell in his hand, meaning that he didn't need Super Producer to search it out… got it! "I'll activate the Field Spell, Abyss Playhouse - Fantastic Theater!" He played the card directly onto the field.

"So you're already restricting my monster effects…"

"I'll then activate Fantastic Theater's effect! I'll reveal Abyss Actor - Wild Hope and Abyss Script - Rise of the Abyss King in my hand! Then, I can add another "Abyss Script" card from my deck to my hand!"

He couldn't afford to hold back, or she'd tear through his field immediately…

"I'll Normal Summon Abyss Actor - Wild Hope!" The cowboy leapt onto the field, adjusting his hat.

[Abyss Actor - Wild Hope (4*/S2/1600/1200/DARK/Fiend/Pendulum/Effect)]

"Then, I'll activate the Spell Card, Abyss Script - Dramatic Story! I'll put Wild Hope in my Pendulum Scale and Special Summon a "Abyss Actor" monster with a different name from my deck! Come! Abyss Actor - Superstar!"

His ace emerged on the field, flipping back his pink hair. He turned to Wild Hope and nodded once—Wild Hope returned the nod, before leaping up into the pillar of blue light that emerged to Sawatari's left, floating within it.

[Abyss Actor - Superstar (7*/S3/2500/1800/DARK/Fiend/Pendulum/Effect)]

"With Superstar's effect, I'll add an "Abyss Script" card from my deck to my hand!"

Alright! Now…

"Open, circuit of the dark shining stars! Arrowhead confirmed! The conditions are one "Abyss Actor" Pendulum Monster! I will set Abyss Actor - Superstar in the Link Markers! Come forth now and streamline the path forward! Circuit Combine! Link Summon! Link 1! Abyss Actor - Hyper Director!" The Link Monster appeared, adjusting his glasses.

[Abyss Actor - Hyper Director (L1/800/DARK/Fiend/Link/Effect/↓)]

Mariko glanced at it. Unlike most of the other members of the Resistance, she didn't react with any kind of distaste to the Link Monster. She hadn't reacted negatively the last few times that Sawatari had done it either.

It was… kind of relieving? That she was so accepting of it? Sawatari really wasn't sure why though! It wasn't like he was that close to her or anything.

"Hyper Director's effect!" Sawatari declared. "I'll Special Summon Wild Hope from my Pendulum Scale!" The cowboy leapt back onto the field—like a trick, going on and off stage in the blink of an eye. "Then, I'll set the Scale 1 Abyss Actor - Evil Heel in the Pendulum Scale!"

"As per normal then," Mariko said with a shrug.

Sawatari briefly froze up, but before he could get defensive, he breathed in slowly. Sora. Think about Sora! Don't start yelling!

He couldn't let her quit this duel.

"Open, circuit," he said. He couldn't let himself worry about other things too much. "Arrowhead confirmed! The conditions are two monsters, including a Fiend monster! I will set Abyss Actor - Hyper Director and Abyss Actor - Wild Hope in the Link Markers! Smug and organised, all the props and actors bend before your will! Circuit Combine! Link Summon! Link 2! Abyss Actor - Super Producer!" The orange-haired man in a dark suit appeared, holding onto a contract with a smirk on his face.

[Abyss Actor - Super Producer (L2/1600/DARK/Fiend/Link/Effect/↙, ↘)]

"I'll activate Super Producer's effect! I'll destroy Evil Heel in my Pendulum Scale and set another "Abyss Actor" monster from my deck in the Pendulum Scale! Come! Abyss Actor - Twinkle Little Star!" The young, witch-like girl in a pink hat appeared, sitting on a floating star.

"... that's a lot of actor changes," Mariko snarked.

"Well, I don't need to search for my Field Spell anymore…" Sawatari revealed another monster in his hand. "I'll complete the Pendulum Scale with the Scale 0 Abyss Actor - Mellow Madonna And then, by paying 1000 life points, I'll add an "Abyss Actor" Pendulum Monster from my deck to my hand! But I can't Special Summon monsters this turn, other than Pendulum Monsters!"

Sawatari: 4000 - 1000 = 3000LP

"Lowering your life points against me?" Mariko says. "Are you sure?"

Sawatari narrowed his eyes. "I'm sure! With my current Pendulum Scale, I can Pendulum Summon monsters from Level 1 to 8! Swing, pendulum! Cast your light across the aether! Pendulum Summon! Come, my monsters! Return from the Extra Deck! Abyss Actor - Superstar! Abyss Actor - Evil Heel! Abyss Actor - Wild Hope! And come from my hand, Abyss Actor - Comic Relief!" The four monsters appeared on the field, right behind Super Producer.

[Abyss Actor - Evil Heel (8*/S1/3000/2000/DARK/Fiend/Pendulum/Effect)]

[Abyss Actor - Comic Relief (3*/S8/1000/2000/DARK/Fiend/Pendulum/Effect)]

"Superstar lets me add another "Abyss Script" card to my hand! I'll activate it—Abyss Script - Opening Ceremony! I'll gain 500 life points for each of my "Abyss Actor" monsters!" He glowed brightly. "Five! So I'll gain 2500 life points!"

Sawatari: 3000 + 500 x 5 = 5500LP

"I'll then activate the Spell Card, Abyss Script - Chivalrous Invitation!" He revealed the card—one of the new Spells that Reiji Akaba had made for him. The art on the card was a bright theatre set, a ballroom with Leading Lady standing within it, with a knight dressed in silver armour kneeling in front of her and kissing her hand. "I'll target Wild Hope and destroy him—and I'll add a "Abyss Actor" monster from my deck to my hand!" He swapped out the card. "Wild Hope's effect! I'll add another "Abyss Actor" card from my deck to my hand!"

"Not bad."

Sawatari nearly grinned—and then he remembered the situation. "... I'll set two cards facedown! Over to you."

[Turn 2: Mariko] [H:6]

"Got it. Draw." Mariko glanced at the field. "... okay. Pendulum Monsters go to the Extra Deck when they're sent to the graveyard, unless they're sent there from the hand or deck… so, what I have to do now is…"

She placed down a card swiftly.

"I will Normal Summon Exosister Stella." The brown-haired girl appeared, spreading out her neat red skirts with a delicate smile.

[Exosister Stella (4*/300/800/LIGHT/Spellcaster/Effect)]

"I'll then activate Stella's effect. I can Special Summon a "Exosister" monster from my hand." She looked him in the eyes. "Of course, with your Field Spell…"

"You destroy one of my set cards instead!" Sawatari pointed to his two cards. "Which one?"

Mariko gestured to the card on his left. Sawatari grinned.

Well, they'd both help him!

"Since you destroyed Abyss Script - Fantasy Magic, I can place a card you control on top of the deck! I'll put your Stella on top of the deck!"

The brown-haired girl turned into a star, floating to the top of Mariko's deck.

"I thought so," Mariko said. "You're trying to stop me from bringing out Elis from my hand, and Pax needs me to control a monster to summon another one… so by having nothing, you think you're blocking me off… too bad. Since I control no monsters, I can Special Summon Exosister Martha from my hand!" The woman with bright, bubblegum pink hair appeared, standing in front of Mariko majestically.

[Exosister Martha (4*/1600/800/LIGHT/Spellcaster/Effect)]

"Then, I can Special Summon Exosister Elis from my deck!" The blonde girl (Martha's younger sister, as Sawatari had learned during one duel) appeared next to Martha, clutching onto her bag. "I can't Special Summon monsters this turn though, except "Exosister" monsters.

[Exosister Elis (4*/500/800/LIGHT/Spellcaster/Effect)]

"Then, I'll activate the Spell Card, Exosister Pax," Mariko continued. "I'll pay 800 life points and Special Summon Exosister Stella from my deck, since I control Elis!" The brown-haired girl reappeared on the field, as her life points ticked downwards.

Mariko: 4000 - 800 = 3200LP

"I'll overlay the Level 4 Exosister Elis and the Level 4 Exosister Stella!" The two monsters shot up, turning into streaks of light. "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!" The woman with golden hair appeared on the field, drawing her sword through the air, casting holy blue light around her.

[Exosister Mikailis (R4/2500/1800/LIGHT/Warrior/Xyz/Effect) (OU:2)]

Sawatari winced.

"I'll detach an Overlay Unit from Mikailis to add a "Exosister" Spell or Trap from my deck to my hand!"

[Exosister Mikailis: OU:2 - 1 = OU:1]

"And then, Mikailis's effect. I'll banish a card you control—or in your graveyard. I'll banish Abyss Actor - Superstar." She wiped out his ace monster in an instant. And by banishing it… he wasn't going to get it back that easily, if at all…

Still, he had Evil Heel on the field, and none of her monsters could defeat it. So he wouldn't be taking that much damage this turn…

"I'll activate Exosister Carpedivem and set two cards facedown," Mariko continued. "Exosister Mikailis attacks Abyss Actor - Super Producer! And with the effect of Carpedivem, I will destroy a Spell or Trap you control. I'll bring down the theatre!"

Sawatari glanced away as his monster was destroyed—then, with another swing, Mikailis shaved off another part of his life points. Then, the blonde woman floated to the side—and with a third, final swing, she tore through the props and background that Sawatari's Field Spell had set up.

Sawatari: 5500 - 900 = 4600LP

"Martha attacks Comic Relief!" The pink-haired woman leapt forward, striking down the other monster.

"I don't take any damage when Comic Relief battles!" Sawatari retorted as the monster was destroyed.

"Sure," Mariko said. She gestured forward. "Your turn."

[Turn 3: Sawatari] [H:3]

"Draw!" Sawatari glanced at the new card. "I'll activate the Spell Card, Abyss Actors' Dress Rehearsal! I'll add an "Abyss Actor" card and an "Abyss Script" card from my deck to my hand, but I can't Pendulum Summon monsters this turn, other than "Abyss Actor" monsters!"

He was about to pick up both cards, but Mariko raised her hand, snapping her fingers and grabbing his attention.

"Chaining the Counter Trap Card, Oratio in the World's Dusk." The purple-bordered card appeared on the field, shimmering with light. "Before you ask, this card is always treated as an "Exosister" card. I guess you could call it 'Exosister Oratio', but that just doesn't sound right." It was clear that it was what she had searched out with Mikailis. The image on the card showed the four Exosisters (except Martha) bathed in blue and purple light as they knelt in front of a bright, colourful pillar of light. Meanwhile, Martha was standing right next to the pillar of light, one hand reaching into it, as though to push through it. "When my opponent activates a monster, Spell or Trap effect, I can activate this card!"

Sawatari's Spell glowed, taking on a strange colour.

"I'll pay 800 life points," Mariko said, tilting her head.

Mariko: 3200 - 800 = 2400LP

"Then, your effect changes," she continued.

"My effect… changes?" Sawatari turned his head, looking at his Field Spell. "Wait, so—"

"You don't get to add anything to your hand now," Mariko explained. "Instead, you banish a card from your graveyard."

Sawatari's eyes widened. He turned to Martha. "But then…"

Mariko nodded, her lips curving up. "Yup."

Sawatari grimaced. He picked up Fantasy Magic and removed it from his graveyard.

"Then, your opponent gets to add a card from their graveyard to their hand." Mariko continued. She picked up the card, revealing it—Pax. "And a card left the graveyard, so Exosister Martha's effect triggers. I get to immediately perform an Xyz Summon using only her as material!" The pink-haired woman leapt into the air, turning into a single golden streak. "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 gunner appeared, pulling her fingers through her hair and smiling confidently as she landed next to Mikailis.

[Exosister Gibrine (R4/1400/2800/LIGHT/Warrior/Xyz/Effect) (OU:1)]

Sawatari grimaced. "Then, I'll—"

"Carpedivem's effect triggers since I Xyz Summoned. I'll then chain the Trap Card, Exosister Returnia," Mariko said, as her monster landed on the field. "I'll pay 800 life points and target a card you control and banish it. I'll target Abyss Actor - Mellow Madonna!"

Mariko: 2400 - 800 = 1600LP

Sawatari… couldn't respond to that. He watched as the card whose effect he'd been about to activate vanished from his field.

"Then, since I Xyz Summoned this turn…" Mariko shrugged. "Returnia's additional effect triggers. I banish another card you control!" She gestured forward—Evil Heel vanished from his field too. "And Carpedivem's effect lets me declare a card name and negate its effects for the rest of the turn. I'll declare Abyss Script - Rise of the Abyss King. I'm done now. Go ahead."

Sawatari glanced at his field again—torn to tatters. Only one pillar of light shone behind him, with Twinkle Little Star being the only one left in the Pendulum Scales. There were no monsters left on his field. He did have a set card, but that was Rise of the Abyss King—he'd wanted to activate it after Pendulum Summoning to destroy her field, but… she'd sealed that off too.

… ruthless, but…

"You don't have cards left in your hand, other than Pax!" Sawatari said loudly, jabbing his finger towards her. "So you don't have that Rainbow Kuriboh of yours! So as long as one of my monsters manages to get an attack through…"

"Oh? But you don't have either Evil Heel or Superstar anymore. You can't even destroy my monsters with Abyss King. How are you going to overpower my monsters?"

2500 attack points, 2800 defense points…

"I'll set the Scale 7 Abyss Actor - Curtain Raiser in the Pendulum Scale!" Sawatari declared, the yellow and red fiend rising up in the pillar of light. "Then, since I control no monsters, he'll Special Summon himself!" The monster leapt out, bouncing along the field with a loud laugh.

[Abyss Actor - Curtain Raiser (4*/S7/1100/1000/DARK/Fiend/Pendulum/Effect)]

"Then, Curtain Raiser's effect!"

"... it has an effect other than the Special Summoning effect?" Mariko said, blinking.

"... uh, yeah?" Sawatari grinned. "I'll send an "Abyss Script" card from my deck to the graveyard and add a "Abyss Actor" Pendulum Monster from my Extra Deck to my hand!" He revealed the card. "I'll take back Comic Relief! And I'll reset the Pendulum Scale with the Scale 8 Abyss Actor - Comic Relief!"

The grinning fiend reappeared in the same pillar of light as before.

"Scale 8, Scale 9," Mariko said, folding her arms. "You can't Pendulum Summon like that… so it's not your intention. Does that card have an effect I don't know about?"

"Yeah," Sawatari said. "Comic Relief's effect! I'll target my Curtain Raiser and your Mikailis—and then, I switch control of those monsters!"

"... oh," Mariko said. "Huh. Okay, I see."

Comic Relief exploded into confetti. The colourful ribbons wrapped around Mikailis, horribly clashing with her aesthetic, before pulling her over to Sawatari's side of the field. Curtain Raiser tipped his head forward, spinning around and leaping towards Mariko's side of the room. He sidled up to her, cackling, before he moved back to the Main Monster Zone. Mariko—

Mariko laughed. A surprised laugh, as she covered her mouth. Sawatari froze. She caught herself a moment later, a moment of shock on her face—then, her face went completely calm, as though she'd slid a mask over it. However, her smile came back a moment later. "... huh. That's unexpected. I don't deal with people stealing my monsters often."

… huh. Huh. Ah.

That was…

That was such an honest laugh that Sawatari didn't know how to react.

"Well. How are you going to get past Gibrine?"

She sounded actually expectant now… "I'll set the Scale 2 Abyss Actor - Leading Lady in the Pendulum Scale! With my current Pendulum Scale, I can Pendulum Summon monsters from Level 3 to 8! Pendulum Summon! Come back to my field! Abyss Actor - Comic Relief! Abyss Actor - Wild Hope!"

With his two powerhouses gone, the two monsters that showed up on the field clearly didn't have enough power to take her on. However, they were standing in Defense Position.

Mariko looked at them, and then she exhaled. "Disappointing," she said. "Hiding behind my monster to stall for time? That's your way to win?"

"Mikailis attacks Curtain Raiser!" Sawatari declared. The swordswoman slashed straight down, cutting through Sawatari's own monster—and dealing a heavy blow to Mariko's life points. The silver-haired girl, however, looked unfazed.

Mariko: 1600 - 1400 = 200LP

"... I end my turn," Sawatari muttered. She wouldn't be able to pay life points for her effects anymore…

[Turn 4: Mariko] [H:2]

"Draw," Mariko said. "I'll activate the Spell Card, Graceful Charity."

She even drew that card? How good was her luck?

"I'll draw three cards and discard two." She obviously dropped Pax from her hand, since she didn't have the life points to use it anymore. "... you know. I thought that the Lancers would mostly be weak. I didn't expect your group to be stronger on average than the usual Resistance member. And obviously, far above the Obelisk Force and the other pawns under Edo Phoenix. But you're one of the weakest of that group, right? And yet… you actually managed to recover from losing so much stuff. Not bad. But you Lancers are all the same."

Sawatari narrowed his eyes.

"... I really could have done so much more at the start," she said. "But I'll settle this properly now. I'll banish Martha from the graveyard to Special Summon Diana the Light Spirit." A beautiful white-haired angelic spirit appeared, her white dress soft and bright like the feathers of a dove.

[Diana the Light Spirit (4*/1700/1000/LIGHT/Thunder/Effect)]

Mariko revealed another card in her hand. "I'll Normal Summon Exosister Sophia." The tomboyish brown-haired girl appeared to the left of Diana.

[Exosister Sophia (4*/100/800/LIGHT/Spellcaster/Effect)]

"And since I control an "Exosister" monster, I'll Special Summon Exosister Elis from my hand." Another copy of Elis appeared on the field. "Sophia's effect. Since I control another "Exosister" monster, I can draw a card."

She picked up the card.

"I'll overlay the Level 4 Exosister Sophia and the Level 4 Exosister Elis. 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! Xyz Summon! Rank 4! Number 44! Mach Speed Beast - Sky Pegasus!" In front of her, a bright white pegasus appeared, its sleek metallic body futuristic in appearance—matching the aesthetic of the rest of Mariko's monsters.

[Number 44: Mach Speed Beast - Sky Pegasus (R4/1800/1600/LIGHT/Beast/Xyz/Effect) (OU:2)]

"Sky Pegasus," Sawatari muttered. He hadn't actually seen her use that monster…

"He's majestic, isn't he?" Mariko touched the pegasus's neck, before she gestured forward. "To work then. Sky Pegasus's effect. I'll detach one of his Overlay Units and target a face-up monster you control. Then, you get a choice. Let me destroy it, or you pay 1000 life points." She gestured towards Mikailis. "Make your choice. Decisive Flash!"

[Number 44: Mach Speed Beast - Sky Pegasus: OU:2 - 1 = OU:1]

"... I'll pay the life points!" Right now, Mikailis had higher attack points than anything on her field. If he could keep three monsters on the field again… last time, she hadn't been able to actually deal any damage to him! It'd be the same this time!

Sawatari: 4600 - 1000 = 3600LP

"I know," Mariko said. Her smile did not change, once again. "You Lancers really are the same." She gestured forward. "Now. You Pendulum Summoned two monsters from the Extra Deck last turn, didn't you? So the requirements are met. I'll overlay my Sky Pegasus on himself!"

"What?" Sawatari gasped—from the outside, he'd look comical. "This… a Rank Up?"

"Yup. So my Sky Pegasus can be treated as the sole material."

The Xyz Monster dissolved into light, flying down into the ground.

"The flip side of a coin. Deity of darkness, wreathed in the blood of monsters past and present! Rip the stars out of the heavens, and bring such darkness that not even the storm could darken this world as much as your wrath! Let your monstrous cry echo, and echo, and echo, until gods and mortals go silent, horrified at the taint of your presence!... and your dirty, earth-stained soul that never dies."

In front of her, an enormous dark war machine appeared, rising up out of the ground. Sawatari's eyes widened. What? That didn't fit her entire deck theme at all!

"What, can't a girl have a mech or two?" Mariko said—her smile was more mocking now, something wry. "Rank-Up-Xyz-Change! Rank 12! Fell beast! Will of gods, weapon of extinction! Super Starslayer TY-PHON - Sky Crisis!"

[Super Starslayer TY-PHON - Sky Crisis (R12/2900/2900/DARK/Fiend/Xyz/Effect) (OU:2)]

"Typhon's so powerful that I'm not allowed to summon monsters for the rest of the turn," Mariko continued. "I'll activate his effect. By detaching an Overlay Unit, I'll return a monster from the field to its owner's hand. I'll choose my own Mikailis." The monster turned into a bright gold streak, returning to her Extra Deck—leaving him with two monsters.

But still! He had enough life points—

"Gibrine's effect," Mariko said. "I'll detach an Overlay Unit from her. And… all Xyz Monsters I control gain 800 attack points until the End Phase."

What?

Gibrine fired a shot in the air, and both her and Typhon glowed briefly.

[Super Starslayer TY-PHON - Sky Crisis: 2900 + 800 = 3700ATK]

[Exosister Gibrine: 1400 + 800 = 2200ATK]

Sawatari's eyes widened.

"Gibrine and Diana," Mariko said. "Clear his monsters away!"

The two angelic monsters cut down his performers, and then—

Just one left.

"Typhon," Mariko said.

A laser shot out—

It decimated Sawatari's life points and sent him flying back into a wall.

Sawatari: 3600 - 3700 = 0LP

Winner: Mariko Ejiri!

Sawatari picked himself back up.

"Satisfied?" Mariko said, tilting her head. "We both knew how that was going to end."

Sawatari couldn't help it.

He smirked.

Mariko tilted her head. "Picked something up?" She asked.

"... you said 'you Lancers really are the same'!" Sawatari got to his feet properly, pointing at her. "So you've dueled one of the Lancers other than me and showed off that Number, right? But none of the other Lancers have actually come to duel you at all! So who are you talking about?"

Mariko glanced at him.

"It's Sora, right?" Sawatari grinned victoriously. "I bet if I ask every other Lancer, they'll say that they haven't dueled you before! Right?"

I know I was never gonna win against you. And I'm not smart, I'm not as good as everyone else, not now, but I was listening to find what I wanted to hear, and I found it!

"So it's you, isn't it? You're the reason that Sora isn't back here!"

He couldn't see Mariko's expression as she turned away.

"So, I'm going to go and tell the rest right now!"

"... you know," Mariko said, "you're making a good argument for carding you right now. You shouldn't do that."

Sawatari flinched.

"How clever do you think you are?" Blue eyes glanced back at him. "... if I was truly that kind of person, you'd already be gone."

"You're not gonna—"

Mariko picked up something on her table and flung it towards his face. Sawatari barely managed to dodge it as it hit the wall behind him with a loud smack.

"Why don't you go?" She said. "Get out. Go ahead and talk. And don't come back. This is all we can get from each other. I'm tired of you."

… he couldn't read her tone. Still, all the triumph of the moment was gone. He turned and fled the room.

… they had to find Sora.

OC Cards:

Abyss Script - Chivalrous Invitation

(Spell)

Target 1 "Abyss Actor" monster you control; destroy it, and if you do, add 1 "Abyss Actor" monster with a different Pendulum Scale from your Deck or GY to your hand. If this Set card in its owner's control is destroyed by an opponent's card effect, and you control a Pendulum Summoned "Abyss Actor" Pendulum Monster: You can discard 1 random card from your opponent's hand, and if you do, add 1 "Abyss Actor" Pendulum Monster from face-up in your Extra Deck to your hand. You can only activate 1 "Abyss Script - Chivalrous Invitation" per turn.

Oratio in the World's Dusk

(Trap/Counter)

(This card is always treated as an "Exosister" card.)

When your opponent activates a monster effect, or a Spell/Trap effect while you control a LIGHT or DARK Xyz Monster(s), or an "Exosister" monster: Pay 800 LP; the activated effect becomes "Banish 1 card from your GY, then your opponent can add 1 card from their GY to their hand". If a card on the field is destroyed by a card effect or banished while this card is in your GY: You can banish this card from the GY; discard 1 card, and if you do, add 1 banished card to your hand, other than "Oratio in the World's Dusk". You can only use 1 of these effects of "Oratio in the World's Dusk" per turn, and only once that turn.

Trivia: 'Oratio' is a kind of speech and prayer in Latin. The whole magical girl aesthetic of the Exosisters always gives me an image in my brain of the four of them fighting against monsters in the dark and stuff like that, thus 'world's dusk'. Also, 'dusk' references the end of something, an apocalypse of kinds. The LIGHT or DARK Xyz Monster thing is obviously to work with both the Exosisters and well, Typhon. Also, it's a way for the Exosisters to force their opponent to remove a card from the graveyard, which may very well make them far more unbalanced in this story than they are irl, but oh well. It's a cute card. 'Exosister Oratio' didn't sound like a good name to me, so I made it a bit more flowery :) It also matches other cards, like Sawatari's Field Spell, as mentioned in-story. And the different name is also a reference to the fact that it's about the Exosisters crossing into a different 'world' to fight.

Different Card Effects from TCG:

Abyss Actor - Superstar - Anime effect.

Abyss Actor - Leading Lady - TCG effect, but ATK-changing effect is only for one turn.

End Notes:

Don't think too hard about them being referred to as Barians, aliens do not exist in this universe, and if I get people asking about ZEXAL worldbuilding, I will throw myself into the ocean. (Or: I'm not handling that worldbuilding rn, and I want to exaggerate my feelings a lil. :)) It's just a cute nod to canon ZEXAL. I think you can probably tell, but excluding Vector and Alito, the other four are positioned in specific references to the other Barian emperors, sans Girag, who is just himself but also way too old to be hanging out with teenagers after school.

As a fun fact, Vector's drink is vieux carre, which was technically invented in New Orleans, but because of the French-sounding name, is instead referenced as being from Elseine, aka the Xyz Dimension's equivalent of France. Mariko's drink is the 'jungle bird' cocktail. Is any of this plot relevant? No. Is my search history now filled with tons of different cocktails because I fell down a rabbit hole while researching? Yes.

As for the scene itself… idk, I just really wanted to have the characters just… have fun together as friends, pre-invasion. It's very much that vibe of classmates just hanging out after school.

The Yuto and Nue conversation is so important to me as a scene in this story, haha. It's really about two people trusting each other with their own troubles properly, without one side being so protective that they try to shoulder everything. Moving to that equality between them... it's important for both characters.

Yuno vs Allen is such an absolute wipeout—and it's meant to be. No sense of suspense there at all. I actually wrote it out, but then I cut it because while the duel itself was not horrible, it's way funnier to have Yuno just wipe out someone offscreen. It's a nice reminder of power levels. Plus, having too many duels makes the chapter too dense—I want to give it space to 'breathe', so to speak.

"It has an effect other than the Special Summoning effect?" - genuinely just me, because Curtain Raiser's first effect is usually all I use it for.

Sawatari loses, but he manages to contribute in a way that comes from intelligence… he'll start winning duels soon though. But he's the kind of character that needs to get beaten down until he grows :) Still, I want all the Lancers to get a time to actually contribute in a way other than fighting.

Shino adopting the entire population of Academia :3

Dennis saying that the Professor ordered an upgrade for his cards is just my way of errataing the cards to match the newly revealed Performages.

It's long past time for Eschatonshipping (Yuji/Chiaki) to get more focus :3 I do really enjoy writing them just figuring out each other and trying to understand each other.

Review responses (Chapter 99)!

To TheRealD3lph0xL0v3r, glad that you enjoyed, and... that character will come back into focus in a bit.

To Infernal Enby, hehe, I'm glad to hear she's grown on you! Hitoda is meant to be a bit more in the background until that specific chapter of Synchro, haha. And yeah, I really try to portray those kind of difficulties with words properly, since I have the same thing.

To Bryzon, well, we do love small character moments like that around here! :3

To T.V.2000, I do love my calm chapters!

To the Guest asking about why it's harder to find the fic, I changed the rating, so now you have to adjust the rating filter to find it!

And of course, for this chapter...

To Infernal Enby, glad that you enjoyed! It's a deeply personal story for me! And please don't worry about eloquence, I appreciate your words, and I'm thankful that the story means something to you too!

To Bryzon, well, I do like Exosister duels, so here's another :)

To Enigmathenightmare, wow, you've been reading for that long? Thanks for the support for so long though 3 Tsukikage has a way lower chance of being found in that situation, but he probably would still be found in the end :) And yeah, Sayaka's meant to be a bit unbearable right now haha.

To T.V. 2000, I'm assuming that you don't believe that she would card him... heh. Do you think I would do that? :)

To Egduardiazsluber, well, I was very happy to get there :D

To phantomdragons, I was just really busy, haha. Thanks for the kind words!

Okay, see you all next time! Obligatory 'review, favourite and follow' if you feel like it, and edit the TV Tropes page if you'd like :D