Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc V: The Six Dimensions

by BlaiseCandell

Before the invasion of the Xyz Dimension, scans done by the Fusion Dimension reveal two more dimensions. The Ritual Dimension, and the Link Dimension. Within those two dimensions, Chiaki, Yuji, Miharu and Yuno have their lives turned upside down, and are tossed into a vicious war. Also, why are there five people with the same faces as them? (M for discussions of trauma.)

111. Stars and Fire

Starting Notes:

Welcome back! I actually had this chapter done two days ago, but ffnet broke so hard that I couldn't post it. I actually had to copy and paste this on the mobile app and then reformat it there to get it out to you guys... there might still be some problems with formatting, so sorry about that, I did my best :D Still, I'm really excited for this chapter. Hope everyone had a good Christmas! Shall we get to it then? :)

---

Chapter 111: Stars and Fire

"Hisako. Rio." Kaede greeted, as they met up in a brief moment of respite, near a building's ruins. "Have you managed to find any of their lieutenants yet?" Near him, Allen awkwardly shuffled his feet—he wasn't used to being part of a meeting with people that were this important in the Resistance. Still, he didn't want to just leave in the middle of a meeting like this, especially because he'd been paired up with Kaede in the first place.

"No," Rio said, taking on the role of explaining for her girlfriend. "We've been looking…" After all, the plan had been for the rest of them to make their way to the edges of the battlefield and search for the most important members of the Occupation Force. "... still, it's all just small fries."

"And Tsubaki said not to engage and save our stamina for the important fights," Hisako chimed in, smiling at him wryly. "Though I see that you didn't really agree with that choice…"

"Obviously, it's good to save our energy. But we cannot just be seen doing nothing." Kaede shook his head, tugging at the loose tie around his neck—clearly using it as a way to focus himself, huh?. "Otherwise, we're setting a bad example anyway."

"I suppose so." Hisako glanced out at the battlefield. "... regardless, Rio and I did not just come to find you for no reason. The suggestion that the two of us came up with is that we should group up and move together."

"Why?" Kaede frowned. "Won't it slow us down?"

"... but we're not getting anywhere anyway," Rio explained. "In which case… if we cannot find them, it's because our opponents are staying out of the fight too, aren't they?" She narrowed her eyes. "In which case, in order to find them, we have to take a risk and expose our position. By sticking together, we minimise how much danger we end up putting ourselves in with that decision."

Kaede considered the suggestion. "... with Mariko and Tsubaki acting on their own," he finally said, "you're probably right that it's not a good idea for all of us to separate."

"I'm glad you agree." Hisako shot him a serene smile. "Let's keep going then."

"Yes, we should," Rio said, far more assertive. "There's a certain asshole I have to talk to, and if I don't find him first, there's a whole queue of people waiting to punch his face in too…"

Kaede pushed up his glasses. "As it stands," he said, "I happen to want to find another member of that group and get my answers, so… we may as well go on the hunt, yes." He turned to Allen. "... if you want, we can find another group in a less risky position and you can join them."

"... no," Allen decided. "I'll go along with you guys."

Anna wouldn't even have hesitated to say that.

Hah.

Guess as her younger brother, I still have way more to learn…

---

The truth was, Yuji and Chiaki had started watching a while before the duel had ended. They'd had plenty of time to think about it.

Yuji had been neutral on the topic. Chiaki had been confident that Rin and Yugo would win. Still, they'd hung around just in case… and they'd discussed what they should do, in the situation where they had to take on that duel. In the situation where they… had to share a field.

(Neither of them really wanted that.)

"My whole deck is filled with Spells and stuff that stays on field," Chiaki said. "And obviously, your monsters have no way to stay alive once I make a move."

Yuji glanced away.

"Can we really take this duel?"

"... you're worried about what happened with Miharu Kogami," Yuji said, surprisingly direct.

"... I don't want to assert myself too much and end up losing because of it."

"You won't."

"But your deck…"

Yuji shrugged. "... who started working with you first?" He said rhetorically.

… he still didn't know that much about her deck. But he was trying to say that, huh?

Chiaki closed her eyes. She reached into her duel disk—and took out her deck, handing it to Yuji. Yuji looked back at her—before, recognising what she was doing, took out his own.

It was an insane move to give her deck to someone else in a war. But who could she trust more?

She paused as she looked at the deck. She raised her head, looking at Yuji.

"... I won't be a load," Yuji said, looking away awkwardly. He didn't seem to want to make eye contact with her. "Not in this duel. And not to you. I decided that."

… I never thought you would be.

---

So that was how they'd gotten here.

"Come on, Yuji," Chiaki said. "Let's win this."

… she didn't want to go back. And because she knew what it was like to hate that place, she wouldn't let anyone take Rin back either. Or Ruri. Not while she could still fight!

… and obviously, this was for her own pride too. To take down the people who had looked down on her, no matter what.

[DUEL!]

Chiaki Katsuya & Yuji Fujita: 8000LP

Grace Tyler & Gloria Tyler: 8000LP

[Turn 1: Yuji] [H:5]

Yuji had gotten the first turn, huh… well, he'd at least get to work with one turn where Chiaki's monsters hadn't touched the field yet. He looked at his hand, tilting his head—and then he lifted a single card, pressing it against his forehead briefly—

Before he made a different move.

"Spell Card, Graceful Charity. I will draw three cards and discard two. Then, I'll Normal Summon Armageddon Knight," he said. The dark-haired knight in rusty armour appeared on the field, holding up his blade—his dark red shawl was wrapped around his face and drifted through the air behind him like a scarf.

[Armageddon Knight (4*/1400/1200/DARK/Warrior/Effect)]

Chiaki watched, unsurprised due to the fact that she'd already looked through his deck before this. Still… if there was one thing that Chiaki had noticed before this, it was that Yuji had been streamlining and expanding his deck past a lot of the more janky cards that they'd used before. But the deck build that he was using now…

He'd clearly swapped out some cards in order to suffer less from the nature of his own cards.

Chiaki hoped it was enough.

"Armageddon Knight's effect. When he is summoned, I can send a DARK monster from my deck to the graveyard. I will send Cagna, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss to the graveyard—and with the effect of Cagna, I will send a "Burning Abyss" Spell or Trap from my deck to the graveyard. I will send Thieving Shadows of the Burning Abyss from my deck to the graveyard. And by banishing Thieving Shadows from my graveyard, I'll Special Summon a "Burning Abyss" monster from my graveyard with its effects negated. Come back—Cagna, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss!"

The dark grey, demonic beast emerged on the field with a wild howl. His chained claws slammed against the ground once, and then over and over again, sweeping up dirt in the air.

[Cagna, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss (3*/1500/300/DARK/Fiend/Effect)]

"I'll activate the Ritual Spell, Sins Cast into the Burning Abyss. I'll tribute the Level 4 Armageddon Knight and the Level 3 Cagna, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss." Yuji slipped both cards into the graveyard. "I am the way into the city of woe, I am the way into eternal pain, I am the way to go among the lost. Arrive now, the one who bridges the gap. Ritual Summon—Level 7. Charon, Ferry Boatman of the Burning Abyss!" The dark, skeletal warrior appeared on the field, tipping his fedora. His ghost-white claws rose slowly in the air, barely connected to his torso by thin, fragmented and distorted skin and tissue. They were holding onto a dark wooden oar, though obviously there was no boat for him to sit in. The lower half of his body was completely missing, severed at the waist.

A very creepy-looking monster—not that Chiaki minded, obviously. It was just how Yuji's monsters had always been.

[Charon, Ferry Boatman of the Burning Abyss (7*/2400/2600/DARK/Fiend/Ritual/Effect)]

"Charon's effect. When Ritual Summoned, I can Special Summon a "Burning Abyss" monster from my graveyard in Defense Position." Yuji revealed the monster. "... Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss." The winged, dark canine demon appeared on the field. Behind it, its demonic black wings flapped twice. On its chest, glowing red scars covered all of its fur. It let out a vicious howl.

[Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss (3*/1000/1500/DARK/Fiend/Effect)]

He'd obviously discarded Graff for Graceful Charity, but hadn't used its effect then because he'd wanted to use Armageddon Knight without blowing up his monster first. It was the order of operations and all.

"I'll set a card and end my turn," Yuji said. "I'll activate the effect of Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss. During the End Phase, if it was sent to the graveyard this turn, I can add a Level 3 DARK Fiend monster from my deck to my hand."

Chiaki already knew what his plan was.

… well, fine. It wasn't like she had any special objections to it anyway.

[Turn 2: Gloria] [H:6]

"Draw!" Gloria glanced at her hand. "Hmm. I suppose we're not as knowledgeable about your deck as we are about hers, even if you were once on our side…"

Yuji… visibly bristled. It was such an obvious reaction that it was impossible not to notice. Nearby, Grace grinned, staring at him as though she was observing a particularly interesting experiment.

(Yeah, Chiaki thought sardonically. This was the kind of woman who would point a magnifying glass at ants and watch them squirm.)

"Oh?" The white-haired woman said in a singsong voice. "Do you have an objection to that, huh? To the idea that you were on our side, on Academia's side—"

"Fuck off," Chiaki interrupted her.

"Huh? It's not like I'm telling a lie, or have you already forgotten because you're now on a side that's oh so forgiving?" Grace playfully twirled a lock of her hair between her fingers. "Have they forgotten that you were once their enemy for such a selfish reason, huh? You can't just swap sides and pretend like nothing happened, y'know, that's not how life works. Everyone remembers the kind of person you are!" She held up one finger after another as she spelled out the word, each of the five syllables emphasised dramatically. "Okubyōmono." Coward.

Chiaki bristled again. The specific word that Grace had used was infuriating—she was essentially calling Yuji unable to rise to a challenge, unable to do anything at all, which he was not! "Oi—"

"Chiaki."

She whirled her head around to look at Yuji, who shook his head.

"Don't," he said.

Chiaki bit back a retort—they were actively acting like shit towards him, and he didn't want her to say anything?

"Regardless," Gloria said, "I suppose that you were always below our notice, White Inferno. After all, who really cares about a stray that the Professor decides to take in?" She held up a card from her hand. "So, if you want to come crawling back to the battlefield… you're making yourself one of Academia's shames, aren't you? The stray that ran away. We'll have to make up for that stain on our reputation by eliminating you."

Yuji shrugged. He didn't say anything—but he clearly wasn't giving up later. All of that could only mean one thing—

Go ahead and try.

Gloria seemed to recognise it too, judging from the way that she narrowed her eyes, even as she raised a card. "I'll activate the Quickplay Spell, Amazoness Secret Arts! And I will fuse Amazoness Queen and Amazoness Spiritualist in my hand. Queen of the jungle. Receive the power of the spiritual leader, and build an empire that rules over everything! Fusion Summon! Appear, Level 8! Amazoness Empress!" The monster that they had seen earlier appeared on the field—a white-haired woman with a fierce expression, striding across the field and slamming her sword into the ground with such force that anyone would flinch—and yet, Yuji's fiends had no response to her presence.

[Amazoness Empress (8*/2800/2400/EARTH/Warrior/Fusion/Effect)]

"I'll then set the Scale 7 Amazoness Silver Sword Master in the Pendulum Scale—and with Amazoness Spiritualist's effect, I can return Silver Sword Master to my hand and Special Summon her from my graveyard, but I can't Special Summon monsters from the Extra Deck this turn, except "Amazoness" monsters!" Before the pillar of blue light had even formed properly, it shattered to sparkling dust, the card floating back to her hand. On the field, the dark-haired figure of Amazoness Spiritualist appeared, a somewhat cheerful expression on her face as she waved a hand, her staff glowing as the bright blue flames on top of it flickered for a brief moment, casting light around her.

[Amazoness Spiritualist (2*/800/1800/EARTH/Warrior/Effect)]

"Spiritualist's effect! I will add the Spell Card, Polymerization, from my deck to my hand." Gloria picked up the card, before revealing it immediately. "The Field Spell, Amazoness Village! All "Amazoness" monsters on the field gain 200 attack points!" Both Spiritualist and Empress glowed as they were strengthened by the field—while the actual number of attack points gained was minimal at best, Chiaki could see how the two women's expressions seemed to grow more determined—empowered by their environment.

[Amazoness Spiritualist: 800 + 200 = 1000ATK]

[Amazoness Empress: 2800 + 200 = 3000ATK]

"Then, I'll set Silver Sword Master back in the Pendulum Scale!" This time, there was the chance for the pillar to fully form. Within it, the silver-haired woman who looked like Grace rose up, adjusting her mask with one hand. With her other hand, she gripped onto a shining blade, one that had clearly been polished well—it almost seemed to glitter. "Silver Sword Master's effect! All "Amazoness" monsters gain 100 attack points times their Level!"

[Amazoness Spiritualist: 1000 + 100 x 2 = 1200ATK]

[Amazoness Empress: 3000 + 100 x 8 = 3800ATK]

"Battle Phase! Amazoness Empress attacks Charon, Ferry Boatman of the Burning Abyss!" The woman charged towards the skeletal boatman. "Silver Sword Master's effect. When an "Amazoness" monster battles, I can add an "Amazoness" Spell or Trap from my graveyard to my hand—I'll take back my Amazoness Secret Arts. And while Empress is face-up on the field, all "Amazoness" monsters will deal piercing damage when they attack monsters in Defense Position!"

Yuji shrugged. "... Charon's effect activates at the start of the Damage Step, since he's battling a Special Summoned monster." The fact that Empress had been Fusion Summoned was completely self-explanatory. "I'll pay 500 life points."

Chiaki & Yuji: 8000 - 500 = 7500LP

"Then, I send both of our monsters to the graveyard." Yuji blinked, his long eyelashes briefly covering his eyes. "Because of that, we don't take damage from this attack. Death Sermon!" Charon raised the oar, and then as Amazoness Empress charged towards him, dark energy surrounded both of them and dragged them all the way down, straight into the ground.

"... interesting," Gloria acknowledged. "Regardless… when Amazoness Empress is destroyed by battle or sent to the graveyard by one of my opponent's card effects, I can Special Summon Amazoness Queen from my hand, deck or graveyard! Return from the graveyard!" On the field, the original form of Empress appeared, pushing back her blue hair. There was a rather cold look on her face as she watched Yuji and Chiaki—with a wariness that her older self lacked.

[Amazoness Queen (6*/2400/1800/EARTH/Warrior/Effect)]

"And she gains the boosts from Silver Sword Master and Amazoness Village!" Amazoness Queen carelessly waved her sword through the air, her expression still sharp—two separate glows surrounded her, empowering her further.

[Amazoness Queen: 2400 + 200 + 100 x 6 = 3200ATK]

"... Charon's effect activates too," Yuji said. "I can add a "Burning Abyss" Spell or Trap from my deck to my hand when he's sent to the graveyard."

"Hah. I'll at least clear your field—Amazoness Queen attacks Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss!"

Chiaki couldn't help but smirk. The warrior woman cut down Yuji's monster, but since Empress had already left the field for this monster to return in the first place, there was no piercing damage.

"... Graff's effect," Yuji returned with a shrug. "... I will Special Summon a "Burning Abyss" monster from my deck. Come. Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss." The chained ogre-like monster with purplish grey skin appeared on the field in Graff's place, roaring as he slammed his fists together. He was wearing silver armour, but there was visible age to the metal—rust, as well as dirt and grime, all of it covering up the natural shine of metal.

[Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss (3*/1600/1200/DARK/Fiend/Effect)]

"Tsk." Gloria rolled her eyes. "I'll end my turn."

[Turn 3: Chiaki] [H:6]

"Draw!" Chiaki declared, glancing at the field. Hmm… it seemed that there was one advantage that the two of them had which Yugo and Rin hadn't gotten the chance to make use of. It was a small thing, but…

The main thing that was making this field so much more manageable was that out of the two Tyler Sisters, Gloria had gone first. So the Continuous Traps that made things so troublesome, which were all Grace's cards, were not on the field yet. They would only be on the field after Chiaki took her turn. So those annoying cards—Magic Mirror, Onslaught, Hot Spring and Hall—wouldn't be on the field until after this turn.

(When all of someone's cards could be considered annoying, then Chiaki probably had to concede that they were a good duelist. Still, she'd be damned if she ever said it directly to them—there was something very different about complimenting Miharu Kogami, who was both a good person and generally content with helping other people improve to be as good as she was, and complimenting these two women, who only seemed to want to drag other people down.)

Still, this meant that on their opponents' field, there were only two monsters—Amazoness Queen and Amazoness Spiritualist. Amazoness Queen protected the opposing monsters from battle destruction, so that was worth taking into account. And 3200 attack points were nothing to sneeze at—

Unless you were Chiaki Katsuya.

And this field that Yuji had left for her was the worst—it could not be less clear what he had intended by leaving one copy of Cir on the field to most people. Good thing for him then that she wasn't most people, and to her, this was practically a step by step manual.

Good thing for him that she was here.

… heh.

"I'll tribute Cir," Chiaki declared abruptly, the demon vanishing from the field. "To Tribute Summon Choju of the Trillion Hands!" On the field, an enormous golden statue appeared. From around it, metallic hands began to reach out—so many of them, all of them winding around each other that it was hard to keep count of just how many of them there were.

(... well, obviously there were a trillion hands there. Just a hunch. No reason why she thought that.)

The golden body of the statue stretched out below it, turning to silky, pure white robes that draped lazily around the lower half of the statue. Behind the statue, a large, glimmering orb of light emerged, surrounded by several smaller orbs.

[Choju of the Trillion Hands (6*/1400/1000/LIGHT/Fairy/Effect)]

She knew that Yuji had been surprised to see Choju in her deck—after all, it wasn't her card, nor was it his. And it wasn't Jounouchi's card either. Rather, it was Kyorin's. Not a card that Kyorin used much nowadays, but back when they'd all first met, Kyorin had been keeping it as 'a reminder of someone she once knew'. She'd given it to Chiaki once they'd reunited in Synchro—just one of those small, sentimental Kyorin things. It didn't really matter that much to Chiaki, but it seemed to matter to Kyorin, so… why not, if it was so small?

… deep down, Chiaki did know why she was so hesitant to say that she was touched by the gesture of an exchange. After all—

"Our decks really are remarkably similar," she said. "Give me a moment." She tossed her bag on the ground, sitting down and pulling out a binder. Asuka sat down as well, peering at her curiously. Chiaki flipped through the card binder, before she pulled out a card. "Here you go." She handed it to Asuka, who took it, before her eyes widened.

"This is… your Diviner of the Herald!"

"I mean, I do have multiple copies of Diviner." Chiaki held up a finger. "I figure that Diviner'll work well in your deck too, if our decks are so similar, yeah? Count it as a gift from me."

"Then we'll trade," Asuka said. Chiaki blinked in surprise, taking the card. She looked at it.

"Ritual Sanctuary, huh?" The red-haired girl nodded. "Alright then."

"Keep it as a sign of our friendship."

—she'd been burned once before.

Still…

If they couldn't trust Kyorin, then would they ever be able to trust anyone?

Still…

"Choju's effect and Cir's effect both activate!" She declared. "First, Choju's effect! I'll add both a Ritual Spell and a Ritual Monster from my deck to my hand!" She swiped up both cards from her deck. "Then, Cir's effect. I can Special Summon any "Burning Abyss" monster from my graveyard—I'll choose Charon, Ferry Boatman of the Burning Abyss!" Yuji's dark Ritual Monster reappeared on the field, letting out a low-pitched chuckle and adjusting the collar of his tattered suit.

Of course, Charon wasn't there for her sake. Yuji had left her the option of using Cir as a tribute to Ritual Summon, but either way, the intention had always been for her to bring back Charon for him.

And it wasn't like she'd refuse a free tribute anyway!

So, she needed a way to get her monsters on the field… but because Yuji had gotten rid of Amazoness Empress, there was no longer a monster Special Summoned from the Extra Deck on the field. It wasn't that they were out of sync though—in fact, they were on the same page. Chiaki's only monster that could do any damage to a field with Amazoness Empress on it was Dogmatika Nexus, which was better saved for when they swarmed the field.

So right now, her goal was…

We need to deny them of options.

After a brief moment to think, Chiaki continued with her turn."I'll activate the Spell Card, Nadir Servant. I'll send a monster from my Extra Deck to the graveyard to add a "Dogmatika" monster with equal attack points or less from my deck to my hand—also, I can't Special Summon monsters from the Extra Deck for the rest of this turn."

Not that it would be a problem for her for the rest of this turn…

"I'll send the Fusion Monster, Amphibious Bugroth from the Extra Deck to the graveyard—and since it has 1850 attack points, I can add Dogmatika Maximus from my deck to my hand!" She held up Maximus, revealing it—there was no point in keeping the information hidden, considering what she was about to do. "Then, Maximus's effect. I'll banish a Fusion, Synchro, Xyz or Link Monster from our graveyard to Special Summon him from my hand!"

Since Amphibious Bugroth was the only monster from the Extra Deck in their graveyard, it was the target—Chiaki removed it immediately. On the field, the regal and calm-looking figure of Dogmatika Maximus appeared—for a man consumed by zealotry, he looked remarkably holy. He was wearing white and gold robes. On the back of his sleek gloves were purple sigils that glowed with an eerie light.

[Dogmatika Maximus (8*/1500/3000/LIGHT/Spellcaster/Effect)]

"Dogmatika Maximus's effect. I'll send two monsters with different names from my Extra Deck to the graveyard, and then, you must send two monsters from your own Extra Deck to the graveyard too!" She cast out two random Fusion Monsters into the graveyard.

Gloria raised an eyebrow. "... interesting," she acknowledged. "I'll send… Warrior of Tradition and Amazoness Queensguard to the graveyard."

Chiaki frowned—she knew the name 'Warrior of Tradition', at the very least. It was one of the generic Fusion Monsters that Chiaki herself owned. So, even people from the Fusion Dimension sometimes had non-vital monsters in their Extra Deck, huh?

"I'll activate the Ritual Spell, Dogmatikamacabre! I'll tribute the Level 6 Choju and banish the Level 4 Mavelus from my graveyard to Ritual Summon!"

Has this gotten too easy for me? Not dueling, obviously, but… has it gotten too easy to use this deck?

… I can't let it be easy.

"Holy knight shrouded in the light of dogma. Be swallowed up by the lunacy of the sacrilegious void, and let your empty shell strike out mercilessly! Ritual Summon! Level 8! White Knight of Dogmatika!" On the field, the dangerous, unholy knight appeared, raising its purple-tinted sword and shield and sharply swinging them through the air.

[White Knight of Dogmatika (8*/500/2500/LIGHT/Spellcaster/Ritual/Effect)]

Grace laughed. "Anyone and everyone knows what those cards do, if they're smart! And they're not making it past my sister's Amazoness Queen, anyway."

"... you're right. It's not my cards that will be making it past that monster." Chiaki gestured forward. "Battle Phase! Charon, Ferry Boatman of the Burning Abyss attacks Amazoness Queen! And with his effect, I'll pay 500 life points to send both him and Amazoness Queen to the graveyard!"

She clenched a fist—and then recited one of Yuji's overdramatic phrases again. (As if she was one to talk.)

"Death Sermon!"

Chiaki & Yuji: 7500 - 500 = 7000LP

The two monsters were dragged down into the ground again.

"So your monsters aren't immune to battle destruction anymore!" Chiaki smirked, somewhat happy to be putting their opponents on the backfoot—after all, she would never deny that she was a spiteful person. "Charon's effect! I can add a "Burning Abyss" Spell or Trap from my deck to my hand!"

"Huh?" Gloria narrowed her eyes. "You mean you have one of his cards in your deck?"

"... you know, you guys like to boast a lot about being good at Tag Duels," Chiaki said, "but don't you think that it's easy to say that you're good when the two of you use literally the same deck?" She shrugged. "If anything, you guys are mocking people while using training wheels!"

"You—" Gloria actually sounded offended at that.

"Can dish it out but can't take it?" Chiaki rolled her eyes. "You want to know why I have a card in my deck that I can't use? Because Yuji suggested it, and I agreed. Charon is so strong against you guys that we can't afford not to use him. So I compromised. That's all there is to it." She revealed the card that she was adding to her hand. "Another copy of Yuji's Thieving Shadows of the Burning Abyss. Then, Dogmatika Maximus attacks Amazoness Spiritualist!"

Since Spiritualist was in Defense Position, no matter how much they boosted its attack points, the result was the same. The attack hit, destroying the monster.

Gloria narrowed her eyes.

"Gonna do anything?" Chiaki said.

"And let your White Knight of Dogmatika rip more cards from us unnecessarily?" Gloria shook her head. "Go ahead and deal us that pathetic amount of damage…"

"You really can't take it," Chiaki commented. "Being looked down on. So the fact that you look down on other people is even more annoying to me! White Knight of Dogmatika attacks directly! Stigma Lance!" The beautiful warrior charged forward—she still only had 500 attack points, but damage was damage.

Grace & Gloria: 8000 - 500 = 7500LP

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

For a moment, the air was cloaked in tension as they all looked at each other.

Grace broke the silence with a laugh that could almost be considered ditzy, if not for the identity of the very dangerous woman that it came from. "Man. You said so much stuff, huh… but in the end, aren't you still just a girl forcing her will on other people? At least both my sister and I want to play the same deck and want to fight. Meanwhile, you're a girl who keeps picking random fights all for the sake of… what, being the 'good person'? But you're not a good girl at all, aren't you? Not the good girl who can just sit still and pay attention to orders." She smirked, tapping her cheek with a finger innocently. "Rude. Messy. You can't listen to orders no matter who they're from. And you're surrounded by a bunch of sweet, do-good little pacifists! You don't belong there, you know. And honestly? Doesn't matter if my sister and I have an unfair advantage, because even if we had a disadvantage, we'd still be better than you~!"

[Turn 4: Grace] [H:6]

Grace drew a card, still with that playful yet vicious smile. "So! I don't want you to insult our team dueling! Because neither Gloria nor I mind dueling like this forever if we wanna do it, y'know? Do you think adding a single Trap that you didn't even draw into your deck means you're suddenly a team player? It doesn't! We saw what kind of person you really are beforehand—you would rather make a single rash move instead of leaving any opportunities for your teammate. You don't get to judge!"

"... I can judge anything and anyone I want," Chiaki said.

"Hah. That's such a teenage girl thing to say." Grace winked. "Well, as someone who was a bitchy teenage girl once, why don't I kick your teeth in? Maybe that'll teach you a lesson."

… you're still a bitch.

"I'll activate Amazoness Spiritualist's effect in the graveyard! I'll Special Summon her from the graveyard by returning Amazoness Village to my hand!" The black-haired woman reappeared on the field. "I'll use her effect to add Polymerization from my deck to my hand too!"

Some people might be intimidated. But Chiaki wasn't—and she spoke up.

"You used an effect. White Knight of Dogmatika's effect! I'll send a monster from both of our Extra Decks to the graveyard, and White Knight of Dogmatika gains attack points equal to half the total attack points of those monsters this turn! I'll send Humanoid Worm Drake from my Extra Deck to the graveyard—and Amazoness Pet Liger King from yours to the graveyard!"

Grace's eyes widened.

"You played against Kirijo and Rin, and you laughed at their best efforts," Chiaki said. "But the two of them? Never in their lives would they have ever decided to fight this dirty. But Yuji and I? We can fight as dirty as we want. So, you'll never get to use it! Drop that in your graveyard! Premature Execution of Dogma!"

Grace wordlessly dropped the card in her graveyard—as Chiaki did the same with the fodder monster that she was discarding. White Knight glowed eerily, gaining a dark aura around her body.

And honestly? Watching Grace drop that card made Chiaki grin.

… she'd never claimed to be a nice person. And well, these two sisters reminded her too much of the people that she'd used to deal with on a daily basis, back in school.

… thinking about Domino High now was like thinking about something a whole lifetime ago, wasn't it?

[White Knight of Dogmatika: 500 + 2200 / 2 + 2900 / 2 = 3050ATK]

"... well, that's interesting." Grace shook her head. "Seriously…?" For a moment, she dropped the ditzy, cute girl voice. "You really think that's all it takes? In case you forgot, this isn't the first time that you've dueled us. Last time… we were just fine, don't you think? I'll activate the Spell Card, Polymerization! I'll fuse Amazoness Spiritualist on the field with Amazoness Baby Tiger in my hand! Dark beast that leaps through the jungle, come to heel at my feet and serve me! Fusion Summon! Level 6! Amazoness Pet Jaguar!" The dark beast appeared—still smaller than Amazoness Pet Liger or its evolved form, but no less regal in its appearance. The gold making up its armour was eye-catching.

[Amazoness Pet Jaguar (6*/2000/1800/EARTH/Beast/Fusion/Effect)]

"And then, we can use Pet Jaguar's effect, since he was Fusion Summoned! I'll banish my sister's Amazoness Sage from the graveyard to revive another "Amazoness" monster with a different name from my graveyard. So come back! Amazoness Empress!" Gloria's ace reappeared on the field. "But she can't attack this turn."

So the only monster on the field that could attack was Jaguar, huh…?

"And then, I'll activate the Amazoness Village that Spiritualist returned to my hand! So again, my monsters all gain 200 attack points from our Field Spell, as well as 100 attack points times their Level with the effect of my sister's Pendulum Monster!"

[Amazoness Pet Jaguar: 2000 + 200 + 100 x 6 = 2800ATK]

[Amazoness Empress: 2800 + 200 + 100 x 8 = 3800ATK]

"Then…" Grace lifted one of the five cards left in her hand, flipping it around playfully between her fingers. "Spell Card, Amazoness Call! I'll add an "Amazoness" card from my deck to my hand! So I'll add Amazoness War Chief from my deck to my hand—and since we only control "Amazoness" monsters, I can Special Summon her from my hand!" The orange-haired, spear-wielding woman appeared on the field with a boisterous grin, stomping on the ground once and raising her spear, jabbing it in Chiaki's direction in challenge.

[Amazoness War Chief (5*/1900/0/EARTH/Warrior/Effect)]

"Then, Amazoness Baby Tiger will revive itself!" The small red beast appeared on the field with a growl, despite its friendly and even cute appearance.

[Amazoness Baby Tiger (2*/500/500/EARTH/Beast/Effect)]

"Then, War Chief's effect! I'll add an "Amazoness" Spell or Trap from my deck to my hand! The one I choose… is Amazoness Hall!"

Hall, not Onslaught or Hot Spring?

"I'll set a card facedown. And War Chief and Baby Tiger get the boost from our two cards too, y'know?"

[Amazoness War Chief: 1900 + 200 + 100 x 5 = 2600ATK]

[Amazoness Baby Tiger: 500 + 200 + 100 x 2 = 900ATK]

Grace paused, looking at Chiaki. "... geez. You're not going to be like 'but Empress can't attack so you can't destroy my White Knight of Dogmatika' or something? Give me some kind of banter to work with, or this is just going to be boring…"

"If you're going to treat me like prey, I'm not obligated to make things interesting for you, am I?"

"And you, Yuji Fujita?" Gloria was the one who spoke up this time, directing her words at the silent boy next to Chiaki. "You're not going to say anything?"

"... Chiaki can argue," Yuji said. "... I'm only here to beat you. Leave me out of…" He paused. "... this."

"... aww…" Grace smiled mockingly. "Sadly for you, I don't feel like it! Aren't you two basically the same person, anyway? One unit, you do the same things and have the same opinion?"

For a brief moment, Chiaki let her eyes get drawn to Yuji—stupid of her, to let the others see her doubt even for a fraction of a second. It was too late to take it back though—and from the smirk that formed on the Tyler Sisters's faces, they'd caught it.

"Oh," Grace said, with cruel intent. "I see. Hah. Interesting…" She waved a hand. "Anyway, Battle Phase! I'll—"

"Before you end your Main Phase, I'll activate the effect of Dogmatika Fleurdelis, the Knighted in my hand! Since there's a monster Special Summoned from the Extra Deck on the field, I can Special Summon her!" The beautiful white knight appeared on the field, glancing at the corrupted version of her—White Knight—with some wariness.

[Dogmatika Fleurdelis, the Knighted (8*/2500/2500/LIGHT/Spellcaster/Effect)]

"Then, since I control a "Dogmatika" monster, Fleurdelis lets me negate the effects of a monster on the field for the rest of the turn! I'll negate Amazoness Empress's effect!" The woman took a step back, stunned for a moment as Fleurdelis raised her weapon—before she narrowed her eyes and glared back at Chiaki.

"Oh, it's funny that you think one more monster will change anything," Grace said smugly. "You wasted a card in your hand just to stall off a bit of damage? Let's see if that's enough for you then! I won't enter my Battle Phase yet!"

Chiaki blinked. Then…

This woman had pretended to go to the Battle Phase… specifically to draw out Fleurdelis early? That indicated more than just passing familiarity—more than just the understanding that one would get from a single aborted duel or observing the cards from afar.

This spoke of someone knowing this deck well.

And this woman sure as hell didn't know about the deck by knowing her. No, this deck only had, and would only ever have, one owner, and it was not Chiaki Katsuya.

Still, this understanding…

"I'll activate the Continuous Spell, Amazoness Fighting Spirit! Now, when our "Amazoness" monsters attack a monster with higher attack points, they gain 1000 attack points! Amazoness Pet Jaguar attacks White Knight of Dogmatika! And he gains 1000 attack points!"

[Amazoness Pet Jaguar: 2800 + 1000 = 3800ATK]

Chiaki shielded her face as the attack hit, shoving her back.

Chiaki & Yuji: 7000 - 750 = 6250LP

"And here, you're going to topple before us! Amazoness Baby Tiger gains 100 attack points for every "Amazoness" card in my graveyard!" The tiger growled. "Only two of them left, since we've been fishing them back all duel—but I have a feeling you know why that's a good thing, don't you?"

[Amazoness Baby Tiger: 900 + 100 x 2 = 1100ATK]

"After all, this keeps Baby Tiger weaker than your weakest monster, so it still benefits from Fighting Spirit! Amazoness Baby Tiger attacks Dogmatika Maximus!" The beast lunged forward, surrounded by a warm-coloured glow as it let out a ferocious roar, sinking its teeth into Maximus's chest as it was powered up.

[Amazoness Baby Tiger: 1100 + 1000 = 2100ATK]

It slammed its head into Maximus again—and her monster shattered.

Chiaki & Yuji: 6250 - 600 = 5650LP

"Finally, Amazoness War Chief attacks your Fleurdelis!"

War Chief was stronger, so it didn't gain 1000 attack points—still, the attack was just as ferocious as the rest.

Chiaki & Yuji: 5650 - 100 = 5550LP

"See how worthless that cooperation of yours is?" Grace taunted. "All you left for your teammate is the card that comes from him anyway. Your efforts don't mean anything!"

Chiaki stared at her.

She laughed. A sharp, nasty laugh.

"You don't get it, do you," she said. "You can only see yourselves and your form of cooperation. You can't even consider anything else. You think this… isn't right?"

Chiaki didn't say it aloud, because Rin was there and she wouldn't want to hurt her friend. But she suspected that the reason why Grace and Gloria had been able to handle Rin and Yugo relatively well was due to the fact that all of them viewed teamwork in the same way—they relied on the similarity of their decks, relied on passing on their cards to each other and using them in tandem.

But that was never going to work for Yuji and Chiaki in the long run. The longer the duel went on, the more one of them would be suppressed for the sake of the other.

So, what was the best way to do this? What was the best way for the two of them to cooperate, the one that they'd known since they'd both gotten their starting decks to begin with?

… to them, cooperation was not sharing and giving things to each other.

Cooperation was 'making room'.

She turned towards Yuji, who glanced at her—silver eyes calm. Clearly, he understood too.

"The field's empty," she said, her voice making it clear that it was her intention in the first place.

"Obviously."

"Go ahead then." Chiaki waved a hand. "It's all yours to use."

"... mm."

---

Yuji glanced at the empty field.

… yeah. He could work with this.

[Turn 5: Yuji] [H:3]

"Draw. I'll activate the Trap Card, Thieving Shadows of the Burning Abyss. Since we control no other Spells or Traps, I can draw two cards, but during the End Phase, all Spells and Traps I control are destroyed."

He picked up both cards, glancing at them.

… hmm… one more turn. It was fine—he and Chiaki could buy that much time. This turn, all he had to do was make sure that he wiped out the rest of the field.

Chiaki's taken away the future of this duel for them. Now, I need to destroy the present.

"I'll Normal Summon Tour Guide From the Underworld!" The pink-haired woman appeared on the field, dressed in her deep blue uniform—she had a cheerful smile on her face as she waved.

[Tour Guide From the Underworld (3*/1000/600/DARK/Fiend/Effect)]

"Tour Guide's effect! I'll Special Summon a Level 3 Fiend monster from my hand or deck with its effects negated. Come from my deck! Calcab, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss!" A rather emaciated grey demon appeared on the field next to Tour Guide, its wings barely lifting it off the ground—its bottom half was insect-like and covered in tendrils. It let out a shriek.

[Calcab, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss (3*/1400/0/DARK/Fiend/Effect)]

Since Calcab's effects were negated, it didn't destroy itself when it entered the field, even though there was another monster there.

"Open, circuit of the blazing abyss. Arrowhead confirmed! The conditions are two Level 3 monsters! I will set Tour Guide and Calcab in the Link Markers! The heavens, that their beauty not be lessened, have cast them out, nor will deep Hell receive them—even the wicked cannot glory in them. Circuit Combine! Link Summon! Link 2! Cherubini, Ebon Angel of the Burning Abyss!" The dark, bull-like demon appeared, its heads shaking as its dark wings stretched out behind it, red hair streaming through the air—the card that he had gained during his first and only duel with Yuno Sugisaki.

[Cherubini, Ebon Angel of the Burning Abyss (L2/500/DARK/Fairy/Link/Effect, ↙, ↘)]

"Calcab's effect!" Summoning Cherubini seemed to have given him a burst of energy too, much to his own surprise. "I will return your set card to the hand!"

"... huh."

Yuji knew that they'd been planning to save the card for when he summoned a stronger monster—the card was obviously Amazoness Hall. Still, if they had been planning to wait for him to summon a monster and chain the card…

… right now, you've missed the timing.

"... I'll chain Amazoness Hall!" The card flipped up. "I'll add an "Amazoness" monster from my graveyard to my hand—I'll choose—"

"... who are you adding back?" Yuji said, arching an eyebrow.

It seemed to dawn on Grace a moment later—the only card that she could add back to her hand right now was Amazoness Queen. The others were Fusion Monsters.

She couldn't gain any card advantage like this—not if she wanted to leave something for Gloria to use.

"... I'll return Amazoness Pet Liger King to my Extra Deck."

… and now Gloria can't use it to add back a card for herself. And Chiaki will get rid of Pet Liger King again next turn, so it's fine.

But…

Wasn't there still more that he could do? Those attack points were all still too high, and Amazoness Empress was still a problem, even if Charon had already taken her down before.

… too much thinking. He didn't want to think. He absolutely, no matter what, did not want to think—

But…

Just leaving Chiaki to think and puzzle through all of this on her own was wrong.

Think.

Even if just for a while, focus and think…

… okay.

"Since I control no Spells or Traps, I can Special Summon Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from my hand!" The fiend from before reappeared on the field. "Then, I'll do the same with Draghig, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss!" A large, reptilian demonic creature appeared on the field—around its head, two horns curled downwards, moving parallel to its head and mouth. A red orb could be seen above the demon's mouth, in the place of a nose. Two dark wings spread behind it, far darker than its dull grey scales. A pink cross could be seen in the middle of the fiend's chest, and its claws glowed pink as well.

[Draghig, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss (3*/1100/900/DARK/Fiend/Effect)]

He couldn't use their effects when sent to the graveyard if he Special Summoned them like this, but that was completely fine.

"I'll overlay the Level 3 Draghig and Cir. In the middle of the journey of our life, I found myself within a dark woods where the straight way was lost. Xyz Summon! Rank 3! Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss!" One of the only humans in the deck appeared on the field, raising an eyebrow.

[Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss (R3/1000/2500/LIGHT/Warrior/Xyz/Effect) (OU:2)]

… it was still slightly hard to look at Dante.

At first, it had seemed like a coincidence that out of all the monsters Academia could have chosen to make for him, they had chosen an Xyz Monster. Even more than that… was it a coincidence that said Xyz Monster was humanoid? Most of the Burning Abyss monsters were demonic creatures, that was exactly the point of the archetype—the only non-demonic monsters that Yuji had before this were Francesca, the Fusion version of Dante and well… Empty Abyss. And considering the fact that at the time, Yuji's preferred playstyle had just been to keep resources handy and rush down his opponent… most monsters they'd seen would have been these fiends.

So…

It might have stumped another person. Or rather, it might have stumped someone more normal.

… after all, the answer was something so self-deprecating that anyone would shy away from that specific truth about how someone else might perceive them.

Yuji had figured out the answer immediately, because self-deprecation was absolutely nothing new to him.

The answer was that Academia had tried to sanitise his deck, when they'd given him Dante. To give him a monster that they didn't see as ugly and unholy. To make it so that they weren't disgusted by every part of his deck—a stereotypical male hero, one that would work in the midst of all of these demons and sacrifice them for his own power.

To rewrite the story of this deck into something more palatable—to make Yuji himself more palatable to them.

… boring.

"Dante's effect," Yuji said, his expression still neutral and betraying none of the odd conflict that he felt towards this card. "I'll detach an Overlay Unit and send the top three cards of my deck to the graveyard, and he gains 500 for each card that I choose to send to the graveyard this way. Pulled to the Underworld." He dropped Draghig into the graveyard, though obviously its effect didn't activate.

[Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss: OU:2 - 1 = OU:1]

"Playing the lottery, huh…" Chiaki said, shaking her head.

"... it'll be right, I think," Yuji replied, lowering his head to glance at his deck. "... I don't need any of them to have effects… I just need Dante to gain attack points." He picked up the three cards, dropping them. Dante's attack points shot up.

[Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss: 1000 + 500 x 3 = 2500ATK]

"... two effects activate from the cards that were sent to the graveyard by this effect. First, Alich, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss's effect. I'll target a face-up monster on the field and negate its effects for the rest of this turn. I'll target Amazoness Empress." Shadows swarmed around the woman. "... then, the effect of Burning Abyss Ritual. Since it was sent to the graveyard, I can Special Summon a "Burning Abyss" monster from my graveyard with its effects negated."

Gloria rolled her eyes. "... not this again."

"Come back. Charon." The skeletal boatman reappeared on the field.

Grace spoke up quickly. "Amazoness Hall's effect! We'll gain life points equal to the attack points of the monster you just summoned!"

"... fine."

Grace & Gloria: 7500 + 2400 = 9900LP

"... now, Cherubini's effect. I can send a Level 3 monster from my deck to the graveyard, and then, a "Burning Abyss" monster I control gains attack points equal to the sent monster's attack points for the rest of this turn."

He lifted up the card.

"... Barbar, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss. I'll target Dante. Abyssal Darkening."

[Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss: 2500 + 1700 = 4200ATK; 2500 + 1000 = 3500DEF]

"Then, Barbar's effect activates since he was sent to the graveyard. I'll banish Cagna, Calcab and Alich from the graveyard, and you take 300 damage for each card I banish this way."

"Only three?"

"... I can only banish up to three." The three fireballs emerged, firing at the two women.

Grace & Gloria: 9900 - 300 x 3 = 9000LP

"Battle Phase. Dante attacks Amazoness Empress." With her effects negated, the Fusion monster could do nothing but shatter under Yuji's attack again.

Grace & Gloria: 9000 - 400 = 8600LP

"Amazoness Village's effect!" Grace retorted. "Once per turn, when you destroy an "Amazoness" monster, I can Special Summon an "Amazoness" monster from my deck with an equal or lower Level! Come! Amazoness Tiger!" The older form of the red beast appeared on the field, its dark stripes striking against its fur.

[Amazoness Tiger (4*/1100/1500/EARTH/Beast/Effect)]

"While I control Amazoness Tiger, you can't attack any other "Amazoness" monsters! Tiger also gains 400 attack points for each "Amazoness" monster I control—adding in Silver Sword Master and Village, that's more than enough to stop you from destroying it!"

[Amazoness Tiger: 1100 + 400 x 4 + 200 + 100 x 4 = 3300ATK]

"Excellent, sister," Gloria said, patting her shoulder. "Well, Fujita?"

"… Dante changes to Defense Position after his attack. I'm backing down, Chiaki."

Chiaki shrugged, looking as self-assured as ever. "You don't need to tell me that. Just keep us alive."

"… mm." Yuji glanced at the field again. "... I end my turn." No reason to set anything, even if he could—his Trap card would have destroyed it all during the End Phase anyway.

[Turn 6: Gloria] [H:4]

"Draw." Gloria took her turn immediately after. "I'll activate Spiritualist's effect in the graveyard, as you very well recall. I'll return Amazoness Hall from my field to my hand, and then add another copy of Polymerization from my deck to my hand!"

She smirked.

"And then… Grace, may I have your monster?"

"Of course, sister~!"

"Alright. First, I will Normal Summon Amazoness Princess." The young girl appeared on the field, grinning brashly as she readied herself for battle.

[Amazoness Princess (3*/1200/900/EARTH/Warrior/Effect)]

"Princess's effect. I'll add an "Amazoness" Spell or Trap from my deck to my hand. Then, I'll activate the Spell Card, Amazoness Secret Arts! I'll fuse Grace's Amazoness Pet Jaguar with Amazoness Princess, who treats herself as Amazoness Queen! Empress that stands at the peak of all battle! Now, crush our foes with the fiery might of your supremacy! Fusion Summon! The one, the only Amazoness Augusta!" Her strongest monster appeared on the field with a loud warcry—her bellow echoed across the battlefield. She swung her weapon through the air with a cold expression.

[Amazoness Augusta (10*/3200/2800/EARTH/Warrior/Fusion/Effect)]

"Augusta's effect. I'll Special Summon an "Amazoness" monster from my deck! Amazoness Spy!" A dark-haired woman appeared, wearing a cloak that was a slightly lighter shade of blue-black than her hair. She had a determined look in her eyes, though half of her expression was hidden by a red mask that covered the bottom part of her face. She held up a short blade, jumping across the field to land to the right of Amazoness Baby Tiger.

[Amazoness Spy (3*/800/1200/EARTH/Warrior/Effect)]

"So, let's recap. All our monsters gain 100 attack points times their Level, plus 200 attack points, thanks to my two cards. Baby Tiger gains a… couple more attack points too."

[Amazoness Augusta: 3200 + 100 x 10 + 200 = 4400ATK]

[Amazoness Spy: 800 + 100 x 3 + 200 = 1300ATK]

[Amazoness Tiger: 1100 + 400 x 5 + 100 x 4 + 200 = 3700ATK]

[Amazoness Baby Tiger: 500 + 200 + 100 x 2 + 100 x 5 = 1400ATK]

[Amazoness War Chief: 1900 + 200 + 100 x 5 = 2600ATK]

"She told you to survive and pass it onto her," Gloria said, mimicking Chiaki's tone for a brief moment. "Doesn't that mean that she doesn't believe in you at all? That she's just forcing her intentions on you again?"

"... it's not like that," Yuji said, narrowing his eyes. After all, I… was the one to suggest it in the first place. I know what I am capable of.

"Heh. You see…" Gloria narrowed her eyes. "... you two want to claim that this pathetic way that you fight—what, making room?—somehow matches up to us? That really irritates me, you know. We'll have to punish you two for it." She gestured forward. "With no set cards? Just try to withstand this! Amazoness War Chief attacks Dante!"

The first monster shattered—though at least, unlike Empress, Augusta didn't grant piercing damage.

"... I'll activate the effect of both Dante and the Cir that was attached to him as an Overlay Unit," Yuji said, frozen in place. "... Cir revives Dante. Dante adds Graff back to my hand." The blue-haired man reappeared in Defense Position.

"Another one then. Tiger attacks Dante!" The red beast clawed Dante across the chest—the man let out a pained sound, before shattering as well.

"... Dante's effect is not a hard once per turn effect," Yuji said quietly. He picked up a card—he had a lot of options, but he specifically left two cards in the graveyard, completely untouched.

"That doesn't bring anything new to the field though! Next! Amazoness Augusta attacks Charon!" The other Ritual Monster shattered—their life points plummeted.

Chiaki & Yuji: 5550 - 2000 = 3550LP

"Charon's effect!" Yuji declared yet again, picking up another card from his deck.

"Doesn't matter," Gloria said. "Augusta's second attack—"

She pointed towards Cherubini.

"Is going to knock both of you out of this duel. Attack Cherubini!"

The warrior queen dashed forward, slamming her weapon down on the ground in front of Yuji. Clouds of dust shot up in the air.

Yuji quietly placed a card on his duel disk. There was no suspense—nothing like that.

Not when he already knew what he had to do.

The smoke cleared.

"Trap Card, Gate into the Burning Abyss," he said, stone-faced.

"What?" Gloria balked. "But you had no set cards!"

"... it's based off the deck of…" A friend of mine, Yuji almost found himself saying, but he bit back the words. Are we friends? He couldn't help but doubt it. "One of the other Lancers. If I control no Spell or Trap cards, I can directly activate this card from my hand. I can negate this attack." Augusta was repelled by a strong pulse, blasted backwards by azure flames. "Then, I can declare a number from 1 to 3. I will choose three. Then, I'll excavate that number of cards, and send all "Burning Abyss" monsters from among them to the graveyard."

He flipped over all three cards.

"... they're all "Burning Abyss" monsters." One by one, the cards slipped into the deck slot. "Then, I—we gain life points equal to half their total attack points. I sent Scarm, Malacoda and Libic… that's 800, 2700 and 1300. 4800… so we gain 2400 life points."

Chiaki & Yuji: 3550 + 800 / 2 + 2700 / 2 + 1300 / 2 = 5950LP

She only had Baby Tiger and Spy left. Even if they attacked Cherubini, there was nothing else left that could deal them enough damage.

… so we're just barely alive.

"Amazoness Baby Tiger attacks Cherubini!"

Chiaki & Yuji: 5950 - 900 = 5050LP

"Amazoness Spy attacks directly!" The warrior took over from the small red beast, striking at them.

Chiaki & Yuji: 5050 - 1300 = 3750LP

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

"... Scarm will add another Level 3 DARK Fiend monster from my deck to my hand." Yuji turned his head. "... Chiaki."

"Mm?"

"... it's there for you to use."

"... I get it." Chiaki sighed. "... it's not like I have much better of an idea of how to do this anyway…"

[Turn 7: Chiaki] [H:4]

"Draw," Chiaki said. "I'll activate the Spell Card, Graceful Charity. I'll draw three cards and discard one. Then, I'll activate another Spell—Preparation of Rites. I'll add a Level 7 or lower Ritual Monster from my deck to my hand, and then add a Ritual Spell from my graveyard to my hand."

She picked it up, revealing it.

"Ritual Spell—Burning Abyss Ritual!"

"Next thing you're going to say is that you put one of your boyfriend's bricky cards in your deck too." Gloria said, rolling her eyes.

"He's not my boyfriend," Chiaki muttered. "And anyway—it has nothing to do with me. Yuji was just fortunate enough to mill what he needed—and I'll be bringing it to the field now! Burning Abyss Ritual allows me to Ritual Summon a monster from the graveyard. I'll tribute the Level 8 Dogmatika Ashiyan in my hand!"

---

And well…

He did ask me to do it.

How well do I know Yuji Fujita? That answer is very different from 'how well do I know this monster'. After all, I knew it existed. I saw its shadow back then.

And yet…

I have never sensed malice from it.

To me, it's just Yuji Fujita's other half. So… if Yuji and I are truly so entwined… then it's fine if I use you, right?

She lifted the card. For a moment, she thought she saw it shine.

… I know your summoning chant, at least. I remember as much as I can of what this person says.

… some things about you, I still don't really get. Regardless, I know what kind of trust you hold in me—the same I hold for you, anyway.

What's yours is mine, and what's mine is yours. And we make sure that the other one doesn't go too far from what we both want.

That's how it's always been.

---

Six years ago:

Chiaki would admit that she wasn't nearly as good at picking locks as most people on the streets were—Yuji had always been better at handling it, out of the two of them. That was why the door to the Fujita residence had intentionally been left open—just so that she could tiptoe to it in the dark, pull it open and take a step in—

Only to freeze in place.

Sitting on the couch in the living room, Shuichi Fujita glanced at her, even as he placed a cup of tea down on the table. He cocked an eyebrow. He and Yuji really couldn't look any more different—he had dark brown hair and eyes, and he was dressed in a long black blazer, as well as a graphic tee (at least, that was what Chiaki's 'brother' had called that kind of shirt) and sleek grey long pants.

Refusing to be abashed or ashamed, Chiaki let out a huff, closing the door behind her.

"I did think you guys were sneaking around," Shuichi commented. He didn't seem mad. Hmph. Good. He had no right to be anyway—as if anyone was going to keep Chiaki from seeing Yuji! "You know, if you want to visit each other, you're very welcome to just ring the doorbell and come in. It's not like I'm going to say you can't." He took a sip of his tea.

"... fine," Chiaki said. She moved towards the stairs—she could see a shadow lingering over them.

"Ah, wait a moment."

Chiaki turned her head.

"While you're here," Shuichi said casually. "I'm getting some groceries soon, since I'm running out of some things faster than I thought… Do you know what kinds of snacks he likes?"

There could only be one 'he' in this situation… Chiaki would have said 'ask him yourself', but Yuji would never answer a question like that so easily. "... bread," she finally said. "He likes sandwiches. If you get ham and lettuce, he'll make snacks himself."

"... well, you two sure are independent." Shuichi turned back to the table, flipping open a book. "Enjoy talking, but make sure you get back home before Jounouchi wakes up and gets worried."

Chiaki shrugged—she still wasn't used to having someone that would worry about her. She made her way up the stairs, and as she'd expected, Yuji had been listening in. The two of them moved into his room.

Chiaki crossed her arms. "... where did you hide them?" She said.

Yuji didn't bother asking how she'd guessed—instead, he lifted up some of the clothes that Shuichi had bought for him, stuffed into the corner of his wardrobe. Buried beneath them was an assortment of cookies and snacks—food that didn't need to be stuffed into a fridge and could last for a while.

Chiaki sighed. She tossed herself onto the futon in the middle of the room. "Come on, Yuji… we don't have to steal from them…"

"... I just want to make sure," he said, sitting down next to her stiffly.

"Make sure of what? They seem like good people."

"... I don't trust him," Yuji said, and Chiaki knew him well enough to know that it didn't mean that Shuichi Fujita had actually done anything wrong—Yuji just didn't want to warm up to someone else so quickly.

… she still didn't know much about the life he'd lived before they met, huh?

"So what? It's not like he's going to starve you, or Jounouchi-san's gonna starve me. That's not what normal adults do, or whatever."

"But we need food anyway." Yuji paused, as though looking for the words. "... if we have to run."

… ah.

Chiaki shrugged. "Guess so. But we only have to run if we're not happy, right?"

"... are you happy, Chiaki?"

Ah—

She… didn't know how to answer that.

But this was Yuji. Her Yuji, a possessive part of her brain said. The one person in the world who she could really consider as 'hers' alone, who would never betray her and would never leave her.

Chiaki wanted Yuji to be safe. She wanted him to be happy. And being here instead of on the streets seemed like a good way to finally have the first… and well. Maybe someday they'd have the second.

So, she shrugged. "I think I'll be," she said. "So, Yuji. You can stop preparing to escape, okay? If it comes down to it, we'll figure it out—"

But as long as you keep thinking we gotta escape… you can't be happy.

I'll just do my best to be happy too.

"... if I want to go," Yuji said, folding his arms in his lap, "... will you stay here anyway?"

… how could you say that?

If you're not happy, then I'm not either!

"Nah," Chiaki said. "I'll be the first to get you out of any mess we get ourselves into." She turned to look towards him, and raised her pinkie finger. Her heart felt strange. "So, you trust me?"

Slowly, Yuji hooked his pinkie around hers too. "... okay," he said. "I trust you."

And that day—

The girl who would be known as Chiaki Katsuya understood two things immediately.

First, she understood the responsibility that she held towards this person. How the two of them had found each other, how they had formed a partnership that had kept both of them alive in more ways than once, how even now, they were so entwined that they could barely go a day without seeing each other, even if they said basically nothing to each other when they were in the same room.

Second…

She let go of him, rolling over and trying to disguise the warmth in her chest.

Ah.

This kind of feeling…

She didn't quite understand what it was, this buzzing, bright feeling. But whatever it was… it made her want to look at Yuji longer, to lean on his side, to be closer.

… that wasn't them though. That was nothing like what they were.

Chiaki didn't want this feeling. She didn't want something like this that would ever make her choose to do something that would change things—she didn't want this to change!

So she ignored the feeling and stuffed it as far down as possible, and willed herself to ignore it until she forgot it.

(And she did.)

---

In the present:

Chiaki stared down their opponents.

For two people like us, who have shared everything for so long… and yet are so incompatible in morals and preferences that it's easier for one of us to simply go along with the other, making ourselves an accessory to the will of the other…

Yuji Fujita wants it, so I'll help out. Chiaki Katsuya moves forward, so you must as well.

Really…

The fact that people still think that you always give in to my will is ridiculous, because they really don't understand, right?

… after all, in a way, for all these years, I've been 'Yuji Fujita's voice'. And to be that for you, don't I have to give in, in my own way? To give your words to someone else… don't I have to let you through?

Maybe we're two different people. But at this point, too much of me is you, and too much of you is me. I don't know where it starts and ends.

So I'll say the words for you.

"Misery incarnate," she said. "Which way shall you fly, in infinite wrath and infinite despair?"

I'll voice them for you, as I always have.

"Dragon serving as the embodiment of hell, sink lower into the infinite abyss, beyond that plane of any mortal comprehension, and return back stronger than before, your feathers stained with demonic intent! Now, devour me as tribute, and let the hell I suffer form a new heaven!"

She pressed the card to the duel disk, a certain warmth at her fingertips.

"Advent. Level 7. Mythical creature slumbering in the depths of the fallen abyss—Empty Abyss Ritual Dragon!"

And in front of her, the white-grey dragon appeared, its chains dragging across the ground. Yuji's dragon glanced back at her, tilting its head. Chiaki felt like she was being studied like a specimen.

[Empty Abyss Ritual Dragon (7*/2800/2000/DARK/Dragon/Ritual/Effect)]

Then, the dragon that looked like a fallen angel turned back towards the battlefield, its cracked mask staring directly at Grace and Gloria.

"That dragon…" Grace narrowed her eyes. "It's supposed to belong to him, right?"

"Oh, so now sharing is wrong?" Chiaki said, never one to miss an opportunity. "... Empty Abyss Ritual Dragon's effect. After I Ritual Summon her, all other Special Summoned monsters on the field have their effects become 0 until the End Phase, but only Empty Abyss can attack this turn! Suppression Decree!"

"... you even got the effect name right," Yuji murmured.

"... Continuous Trap, Amazoness Hall!" Gloria shot back, their life points increasing sharply as she targeted Empty Abyss. "I'll add Amazoness Princess back to my hand."

Grace & Gloria: 8600 + 2800 = 11400LP

The entire field was consumed by a sharp pressure—even with all the boosts that Grace and Gloria had given to their monsters, it didn't matter. Their attack points were all reduced to zero anyway.

[Amazoness Augusta: 4400 → 0ATK]

[Amazoness Spy: 1300 → 0ATK]

[Amazoness Baby Tiger: 1400 → 0ATK]

[Amazoness War Chief: 2600 → 0ATK]

[Amazoness Tiger: 3700 → 0ATK]

"Then, since you control a monster Special Summoned from the Extra Deck, I will Special Summon Dogmatika Ecclesia, the Virtuous from my hand." She put down Ecclesia in Defense Position.

[Dogmatika Ecclesia, the Virtuous (4*/1500/1500/LIGHT/Spellcaster/Effect)]

"Ecclesia's effect. I will add a "Dogmatika" card from my deck to my hand—like the Continuous Spell, Dogmatikamatrix! And by activating it, I will add two "Dogmatika" cards from my deck to my hand, since you control a monster—though one of them has to be a Ritual Monster or Ritual Spell. Then, I'll Special Summon another copy of Dogmatika Fleurdelis, the Knighted from my hand!"

The honoured warrior appeared on the field.

"And I'll negate Amazoness Tiger's effect!"

"Tiger? Not Augusta?"

"... of course not," Chiaki said with a scoff. "I want to go for the head of your strongest monster. That tiger can sit there useless for the rest of its life."

Gloria's mouth opened and shut.

"... got no more comments for me? Let's keep going then. I'll activate the Ritual Spell, Dogmatikalamity! I'll send the Level 4 Kamionwizard from my deck to the graveyard to Ritual Summon. Holy corpse shrouded in the light of dogma. Let your relentless apathy cleanse this funereal plane, and bring forth the perfection that you seek! Advent! Level 4! White Relic of Dogmatika!" Her other Ritual Monster appeared on the field, already holding up her staff in the air.

[White Relic of Dogmatika (4*/500/2500/LIGHT/Spellcaster/Ritual/Effect)]

"White Relic of Dogmatika's effect. I'll target two face-up monsters on the field, and one of them gains attack points equal to the other monster's attack points! I'll target Dogmatika Fleurdelis, the Knighted and Empty Abyss Ritual Dragon! Yuji's dragon gains 2500 attack points! Awakening Cleanse!" The glow surrounded both monsters—to Chiaki's surprise, Empty Abyss seemed to bask in the light, before turning its head to Fleurdelis. A claw came up, dragging a rusty metal chain across the ground—

Before gently resting on Fleurdelis's shoulder, almost seeming… comforting.

[Empty Abyss Ritual Dragon: 2800 + 2500 = 5300ATK]

"Dogmatikamatrix's effect!" Chiaki declared. "I'll look into your Extra Deck and send a monster from it to the graveyard!"

… Gloria laughed.

"... what?" Chiaki said annoyedly.

"You've done your job too well, Chiaki Katsuya," Gloria said, smirking. She clicked the button to free up the Extra Deck slot, reaching into it—and revealing an empty slot.

"What…?" Chiaki muttered. "There's none left? There's no way…"

"You lost your shot," Gloria continued. "And Grace already put Pet Liger King in her Extra Deck—but you can't touch her deck this turn, can you?"

… no, I can't.

"So no matter what you destroy here, Grace will bring it back next turn. Your White Knight's already dead and buried."

"... I already activated Dogmatikamatrix's effect, so I have to resolve it. I'll send a monster from my Extra Deck to the graveyard." She cast another card into their graveyard, somewhat irritated. She and Yuji did share one weakness with Yugo and Rin—their inability to get rid of those backrow cards. They were just lucky that Grace had been slowed down and Gloria had chosen to fuse Pet Jaguar instead of letting it stay on the field and be destroyed to search out another one of those Continuous Spells or Traps.

"A shame," Gloria said with a smirk.

"Do you think so?" Chiaki gestured forward. "Then, where's your Hot Spring at?"

"You've only got one attack. You can't manage it."

"… well, don't tell me what I can't do," Chiaki said. "We'll be sealing off your future now. Empty Abyss Ritual Dragon…"

It looked back at her again… and nodded.

"Your effect," she continued, addressing the dragon directly. "I'll banish a Spell or Trap from the graveyard." She revealed her Dogmatikamacabre. "Then, I can target a Level 5 or higher monster on the field and destroy it! Get rid of Amazoness Augusta!"

The dragon nodded, turning its head to face towards Grace and Gloria. She charged up bright flames in her maw.

"Flames of Judgement," Yuji murmured.

"That one, we don't hear you use that often," Chiaki said, accepting the words. "Incinerate her, Empty Abyss! Flames of Judgement!"

The flames shot out, consuming the warrior woman as she vanished from the field with a scream.

"Amazoness Village's effect!" Gloria shouted. "Come from the deck, Amazoness Swords Woman!" The tall woman that had defeated both Yugo and Rin appeared on the field, a triumphant expression on her face.

[Amazoness Swords Woman (4*/1500/1600/EARTH/Warrior/Effect)]

"… that's fine," Chiaki said. "Empty Abyss Ritual Dragon! Attack Amazoness War Chief! Hellfire Devastation!" The flames rained down, incinerating the monster—and slicing their opponents' life points in half.

Grace & Gloria: 11400 - 5300 = 6100LP

"Huh. In the end, you barely did anything at all," Gloria laughed. "When your turn ends, Swords Woman will remove all the hope you have left—"

"I'll move to my Main Phase 2," Chiaki said brusquely, cutting her off. "Banishing Yuji's Sins Cast into the Burning Abyss from the graveyard to add a "Burning Abyss" monster from our graveyard to my hand. I'll add Cir, Maelbranche of the Burning Abyss to my hand. Then, I'll set a card and end my turn. Your monsters go back to their original attack points."

[Turn 8: Grace] [H:5]

"... hmph." Grace pouted. "Interrupting my sister like that… I really don't like you, y'know."

"Feeling's mutual," Chiaki said, narrowing her eyes. "I hate you both."

"... hmph. You changed nothing. Village and Silver Sword Master are both still active!"

[Amazoness Tiger: 1100 + 400 x 4 + 200 + 100 x 4 = 3300ATK]

[Amazoness Swords Woman: 1500 + 200 + 100 x 4 = 2100ATK]

[Amazoness Baby Tiger: 500 + 200 + 100 x 2 + 100 x 7 = 1600ATK]

[Amazoness Spy: 800 + 200 + 100 x 3 = 1300ATK]

"And guess what? It's getting a lot worse for you two! I'll set the Scale 1 Amazoness Golden Whip Master in our other Pendulum Scale! And once again, all "Amazoness" monsters gain 100 attack points times their Level!"

[Amazoness Tiger: 3300 + 100 x 4 = 3700ATK]

[Amazoness Swords Woman: 2100 + 100 x 4 = 2500ATK]

[Amazoness Baby Tiger: 1600 + 100 x 2 = 1800ATK]

[Amazoness Spy: 1300 + 100 x 3 = 1600ATK]

"And now, I'll seal the deal! I'll return Hall to my hand to Special Summon Amazoness Spiritualist from our graveyard!" Once again, the woman in a green cloak appeared on the field. "With her effect, I'll add Polymerization from my deck to my hand! And I'll activate it to fuse Amazoness War Chief in my hand with Amazoness Spiritualist on the field! Roar with the ferocity of the jungle and intimidate any that dare approach with your fearsome roar! Fusion Summon! Level 9! King of the jungle—Amazoness Pet Liger King!" The ferocious beast king appeared on the field, seeming furious—what, was it not happy with getting milled and sent to the graveyard without battling or something?

[Amazoness Pet Liger King (9*/2900/2800/EARTH/Beast/Fusion/Effect)]

… still…

Chiaki smirked to herself. She flipped over her set card.

"... you know, I should thank you," she said. "If you didn't set your Pendulum Scale before this, things wouldn't go this smooth for us!" Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Yuji watching her with a slightly curious expression. "Quickplay Spell, Light of the Branded!"

"... Branded?" Grace's eyes widened. "You're joking… you even have a card like that?"

"What is your relationship," Chiaki asked sharply, "to Shino Gitsune?"

Grace and Gloria both flinched at that—and with that, Chiaki had her answer. Only one answer could have pierced these two women's armour enough to get a reaction like that. These two women, who felt no guilt, no kindness, nothing at all—

"You fear her, don't you?" Chiaki said, taking a step forward. "You fear her, because, let me guess, you two looked down on her, only to realise how terrifying that girl is! And so you see me with her deck, and you think that you can get over that fear by mocking me instead—"

(And in another world, perhaps, Shino was confronting another person with that attitude. But Chiaki wouldn't know that.)

"—but I'll be damned if anyone ever looks at me as a substitute for anyone else! You want to look down on me? Then I won't hold back, not to be a good person or anything, because you don't deserve it! People like you, who treat others like nothing but ants to be crushed for your own amusement—you deserve nothing but to be destroyed without mercy! You deserve all you get!"

And after all, there was only one kind of person that Chiaki Katsuya had ever wanted to be.

All her life, she had only wanted to be a protector. And…

I thought that protection came from picking fights, from always rising up to defend someone, from refusing to let a single slight pass.

But I've seen so many people, and they protect in their own different ways.

It's not just Yuji now, tbat I have to protect no matter what. After all, there is someone, no matter how reprehensible she is, that I owe a lot to.

… and you protect people through lying with a smile.

So I suppose, to protect you, the person who saved me, and to protect so many other people… like my friend, sitting behind me, as much a target as I am, or the boy that's so important to her, or the boy standing next to me…

I have to let go of a part of me that I've never changed. I still want to be a protector. But…

I cannot be this inflexible forever!

If Yuji of all people can change, if Yuji can start to gain some kind of passion, and still be my Yuji throughout it all, still be the same boy I've known since then—

Then I can be brave enough to change too.

After all, I've never been any less or any more than him.

She gritted her teeth—and made her decision.

"I'll return a Fusion Monster on the field or in the graveyard to the Extra Deck!" She gestured to Pet Liger King, who was removed from the field before it could make a single move. "Then, I can Special Summon a specific monster from my graveyard. Come back—Fallen of Albaz!"

Everyone there baulked at the declaration. But Chiaki didn't waver—and the white-haired boy that she'd discarded last turn returned to her field. He looked at her with a solemn expression… and then shrugged.

This card. This card had been in the deck all along. The one Fusion card that she'd been given with this deck.

And Chiaki was finally desperate enough to use it.

[Fallen of Albaz (4*/1800/0/DARK/Dragon/Effect)]

"Then, I have to give you back one of your own monsters too—Spiritualist." The dark-haired woman appeared in Attack Position on the field. "And—Fallen of Albaz's effect," Chiaki said. The words were awkward on her lips. She'd never once said it—even as Shino made her practice with this deck, she'd rather have lost than use it. "I'll discard Cir from my hand! And I'll fuse him with a monster on the field that has 2500 or more attack points—and guess what? With that Pendulum Monster that you just played, Swords Woman's reached exactly that point!"

"What?" Grace covered her mouth. "Then…"

"You giftwrapped your monster for me!" Chiaki gestured towards Swords Woman, making a fist. "I'll fuse Fallen of Albaz with Amazoness Swords Woman!"

She did not use a summoning chant—after all, she did not know what that girl would say, anyway.

"Fusion Summon! To the field with the sharpest of claws! Titaniklad the Ash Dragon!" The bright silver dragon with molten red wings emerged on the field, letting out a triumphant roar—freed at last. It landed in the Extra Monster Zone.

[Titaniklad the Ash Dragon (8*/2500/2000/DARK/Dragon/Fusion/Effect)]

Chiaki bit her lip—so hard that when she finally stopped, she could feel the numbness of it. "Titaniklad's effect," she muttered. "He gains 100 attack points times the total Levels of the monsters used for his Fusion Summon."

[Titaniklad the Ash Dragon: 2500 + 100 x 4 + 100 x 4 = 3300ATK]

"Then, the effect of the Cir that I discarded for Albaz's effect. I'll Special Summon a "Burning Abyss" monster from our graveyard." She shrugged. "... Dante's working hard." The blue-haired man reappeared on their field.

"So? Ball's in your court."

Grace looked down at her field, before she looked back up at Chiaki—and for once, seemed to properly look at her. "... you haven't won," she said. "Our life points are still too high for you to deal with, and… it's not like I can't still attack you!"

Still, despite her bravado… her field was in ruins. Baby Tiger and Tiger's attack points had fluctuated but hadn't changed in the end. The only new element was Spiritualist.

[Amazoness Spiritualist: 800 + 200 + 100 x 2 + 100 x 2 = 1400ATK]

"... whatever. You brought out that monster only for it to die! Amazoness Tiger attacks Titaniklad the Ash Dragon! And with Golden Whip Master's Pendulum Effect, I'll destroy your Dogmatikamatrix!" The red beast leapt towards her field—

"Wrong," Chiaki said. "I brought out Titaniklad for one and only one reason—to kill your monster. He's done it—he can go." The monster shattered on the field, and Yuji and Chiaki's life points fell slightly.

Chiaki & Yuji: 3750 - 300 = 3450LP

"Furthermore, his other effect! When destroyed, I can Special Summon a "Dogmatika" monster from my graveyard, or "Fallen of Albaz"—or add one of them to my hand. I'll take back my Dogmatika Ashiyan." There was no room left on the field to Special Summon monsters, after all.

"Amazoness Baby Tiger attacks Ecclesia!" Ecclesia was destroyed, but since she was in Defense Position, it didn't matter either. "I'll set two cards and end my turn…" She clearly hadn't been afforded the chance to search out her cards at all this duel.

Chiaki glared at them.

… how does it feel to be in this position for once?

Against us? You're the weak ones!

---

Yuji could only stare.

This, he thought, was it. This was Chiaki Katsuya at her sharpest, her most destructive, her most furious point—

And it was also her at her breaking point, though he suspected that no one knew it except him. This was Chiaki, now that she felt that she had the right to rage at an actual person, rather than a group—unloading all of it in a single moment. Still, right now, looking at her, she was brighter than any star, burning more than any flame.

Yuji looked at her, and didn't know what to say. How could he know what to say?

It was just… Chiaki.

His dragon craned her neck back to look at him—Yuji shrugged. Did she feel it too? Probably not, he decided. It was strange, but he would like this feeling to be entirely his own. The feeling that he was looking at the most majestic sight he would ever lay eyes on.

"Doubt thou the stars are fire," he murmured a familiar quote under his breath, "doubt that the sun doth move, doubt truth to be a liar, but…" He didn't finish the words.

Do I…

"Yuji?" Chiaki called. "It's your turn."

… there's too much to think about right now.

If I have to consider it like this, then….

… she said she doesn't want anything like that anyway. And I would never want something different… so it can't be that.

"... okay," he said. "Thanks."

"... no need to thank me. This field's all yours to use."

Yeah.

A field so packed that there was no room to breathe.

[Turn 9: Yuji] [H:6]

"Draw. Spell Card, Twin Twisters. I'll discard a card and destroy both Amazoness Hall and your set Amazoness Hot Spring!"

Grace's eyes widened—and then both of the cards appeared on the field and shattered, Hot Spring being revealed to them despite the fact that it had been set before. "Huh? How did you…"

… because while Chiaki dueled you two once before, I've instead watched you two duel from an outsider's view. And it's always the same.

… predictable.

"Spell Card, The Terminus of the Burning Abyss!" He declared. "I'll fuse Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss on the field with Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss and Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss in my hand!"

"Huh? You're Fusion Summoning too?"

… I learned it a long time ago. Even if I don't know why Fusion Summoning has existed in our world, when it doesn't seem like it should…

I don't really care.

"Woe to you, depraved spirits! Hope not ever to see Heaven. I have come to lead you to the other shore; into eternal darkness; into fire and into ice. And thou, who are there alive, depart thee from these who are dead. Fusion Summon! Dante, Pilgrim of the Burning Abyss!" His Fusion Monster appeared on the field, holding up his golden staff—there was a solemn look on his face.

[Dante, Pilgrim of the Burning Abyss (9*/2800/2500/LIGHT/Fairy/Fusion/Effect)]

"All three of their effects activate. Farfa's effect. I will target your Amazoness Tiger and banish it until the End Phase." Better to just ignore that problem for now… "Then, I'll use Graff's effect. Come from the deck, Barbar!" The demon in the horned helmet appeared on the field too.

[Barbar, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss (3*/1700/1000/DARK/Fiend/Effect)]

"Finally, my Xyz Monster's effect lets me add Burning Abyss Ritual from my graveyard to my hand." Yuji slid the card into his hand. "I control non-"Burning Abyss" monsters, so Barbar destroys himself. And then, since he was sent to the graveyard, I can banish three more of my monsters from the graveyard—Farfa, Graff and Cherubini." He slid out all three cards. "... we burn you for 900 more damage."

Grace & Gloria: 6100 - 300 x 3 = 5200LP

"Dante's effect on the field. I will discard a "Burning Abyss" card and draw a card." He picked up the card—the only card left in his hand.

… no. This doesn't do it. But it's a bit hard for me to mess this up at this point anyway.

Spy has 1600 attack points and an unknown effect. Baby Tiger has 1800 attack points and will come back once they bring out another monster. And Spiritualist has 1400 attack points—Chiaki's clearly telling me to target it. Regardless, we don't know what they'll bring out at all…

Village will call out another monster.

He glanced at the field one more time.

… it's settled.

"Dante," he said. "Attack Amazoness Spiritualist!" The man in the golden robes nodded, raising his staff—a beam of light shot down, incinerating the woman in an instant.

Grace & Gloria: 5200 - 1400 = 3800LP

This feeling…

This feeling, and this feeling alone was one that he'd never quite experienced before. It was something close to adrenaline—and yet he thought he'd never be able to feel it. Was it 'want' for Chiaki's complete victory, exactly the way she'd set it up? Was it 'longing' for his own?

… regardless. Whichever one it was, it could be settled by winning this duel—and then forgotten again.

"Amazoness Village's effect," Grace declared, seeming flustered. "Come from the deck!" A second copy of Baby Tiger appeared on the field in Defense Position, but—

It doesn't change anything this time. We've already won.

"Dogmatika Fleurdelis, the Knighted attacks Amazoness Baby Tiger! And with her effect, all "Dogmatika" monsters on our field permanently gain 500 attack points!"

[Dogmatika Fleurdelis, the Knighted: 2500 + 500 = 3000ATK]

[White Relic of Dogmatika: 500 + 500 = 1000ATK]

Baby Tiger did gain 100 attack points with its effect, but…

[Amazoness Baby Tiger (x2): 1800 + 100 = 1900ATK]

It wasn't enough to stop Fleurdelis cutting straight through it.

Grace & Gloria: 3800 - 1100 = 2700LP

"Damn it!" Gloria muttered, before looking up and freezing… as Empty Abyss Ritual Dragon took to the skies.

"Empty Abyss Ritual Dragon, with 5300 attack points…" Yuji pointed forward. "Attacks Amazoness Spy." The one monster left in Attack Position—they needed exactly three. "Partner. Hellfire Devastation!"

Empty Abyss dove down—

And the bright blaze burned across the field, razing it to the ground.

Grace & Gloria: 2700 - 3700 = 0LP

Winner: Chiaki Katsuya & Yuji Fujita!

Yuji breathed out slowly, letting the tension leave him—

And Chiaki stalked forward. There was no hesitation as she approached the two sisters, collapsed on the ground. Yuji immediately followed her, not sure what she was doing for a split second—

And then it all settled into place, and he was far too sure about what she was about to do.

He opened his mouth. Chiaki, he wanted to say, but nothing left his lips. Wait. The words didn't even make it that far—his body felt like it was turning to stone.

Gloria sat up, staring at Chiaki. And then, she laughed.

"... what's so funny?" Chiaki said, her tone tense.

"What's not funny about this situation?" Gloria waved a hand. "No, no… I really should apologise to you, Chiaki Katsuya. I thought you were a weak-willed, petty girl who thought too highly of herself. But you're not one at all."

She crooked her head up, grinning.

"No. You're just like Grace and I, aren't you? You're a hunter, and you only care about hunting prey!"

Chiaki glowered. "... god. Do you ever stop saying your bullshit?"

"But can you even deny it?" Gloria challenged snidely. "Well? Wanna prove how like us you are?"

Chiaki's fingers twitched over her duel disk.

From nearby, Yugo took a step forward, but Rin grabbed his arm, shaking her head.

"... oh, so if I kill you, I'm the same as you?" Chiaki said sarcastically. "You think that of all things will work? No, you want to be carded, don't you? Because it's more embarrassing to go back empty-handed after acting like you're all that!"

She leaned forward—and stepped on Gloria's foot, driving her heel in.

"Go back in shame and let Academia know that I defeated you," she declared.

Gloria opened her mouth—she didn't seem to know what to say. Grace, however, stood up, glaring at Chiaki—and then turning her gaze to Yuji too.

Yuji didn't look away.

"... it'll be shameful for us," Grace said coldly, "but we'll live. Next time, you won't."

Chiaki snorted. "Come get us then. We'll embarrass you again—right, Yuji?"

Yuji stared at her.

If that's what you want, I'll make it true.

He nodded.

The Tyler Sisters disappeared a while later, and Yuji and Chiaki were joined by the other two. Rin immediately wrapped her arms around Chiaki in a hug.

Yuji and Yugo stared at each other awkwardly. Yuji tried to dismiss his unease about what Chiaki had just done. What should he be doing right now…? Ah.

He raised his hand, awkwardly holding it out. Yugo stared at it, and then shook his head, letting out a bewildered sound. Before Yuji retracted his hand, however, Yugo grabbed it and forced it into a fist, before he smacked his own fist lightly against Yuji's, knuckle to knuckle.

Yuji stared at him, slightly confused.

"Good duel," Yugo said, some pink rising to his cheeks. "But next time, I won't need you to save my ass, okay?"

"... okay," Yuji said. He shrugged. "... stick together for a bit?"

"Sure."

And maybe for a moment, it crossed their minds that things had worked out well.

But then—

---

"Yuji! Chiaki!"

Yuji turned his head—as Kyorin tripped on her way over, he grabbed her wrist to stabilise her. "... Kyorin," he said. "... you're alone?"

"Wasn't Kaname with you?" Yugo said with a frown. "Are you okay? Did she run off and leave you by yourself?" It seemed pretty in character for his sister, even if he probably shouldn't say that…"

"We were both dueling and she disappeared," Kyorin said. "I lost sight of her…"

"... well, my sis is the strongest! So she's probably fine… just still not good with working with people." Yugo grinned. "She'll be fine! Wanna stick with us first?"

"I'm a bit worried about her…" Kyorin seemed ready to reject the offer, which… made Yugo weirdly happy! Huh. "Yeah. I'll keep looking for her! Just in case… none of us should be alone out here."

"... you know you're going to be alone if you run off right now, right?"

"... guess I'm a little hypocritical! But um... I still wanna make sure she's okay..."

"Okay," Chiaki remarked. "Stay safe, yeah?"

"Mm!" Kyorin ran off, and they watched her go.

Well… it wasn't like either Kyorin or Kaname was the type to get into a lot of trouble…

---

Gongenzaka finally finished his duel, letting out a sigh of relief. He watched as his opponents teleported back to Academia, before he turned around and started searching for his partner—she'd been just behind him, but it seemed that after winning, she'd backed off. Still, she really shouldn't have walked off by herself…

As he was walking and looking around, in the midst of all the noise around them, he began to hear a steady stream of noise from nearby—and then, with some alarm, he realised that the noises were coughs. He strode forward, seized by urgency—

Only to be greeted by the sight of Hitoda Makishima lying on the ground, one hand staggered to the side and pressing against the wall as though she'd been trying to push herself up. She was still hacking up a storm—and her entire body was tensed up in pain. Gongenzaka could recognise it from all of his training—the way that Hitoda's body was tensed up right now was exactly the way that someone trying to shut down their pain and ignore it would unconsciously behave.

"Makishima-san—"

Hitoda coughed again, her hand uselessly pressing against the wall. Her other hand was tightly squeezing against her chest.

"Hitoda!" Gongenzaka knelt down next to her. He tried to reach out a hand, but Hitoda weakly smacked it away. She rolled over, still lying on the ground, taking quick but shallow breaths and wincing each time. She didn't seem capable of talking right now.

It took a moment, but after a while, her breathing slowed and went back to something… close to normal.

Hitoda sighed, covering her face with one hand—her other hand was still clenched in a fist against the left side of her chest.

"Mind ignoring that you saw that?" She asked lightly, no trace of pain in her voice at all.

Gongenzaka stared at her, the truth at last dawning on him.

Oh.

This girl…

… has been lying this entire time.

---

OC Cards:

Thieving Shadows of the Burning Abyss

(Trap)

If you control no other Spell/Traps: You can draw 2 cards, but during the End Phase, destroy all Spell/Traps you control. You can banish this card from the GY; Special Summon 1 "Burning Abyss" monster from your GY with its effects negated. You can only activate each effect of "Thieving Shadows of the Burning Abyss" once per turn.

Sins Cast into the Burning Abyss

(Spell/Ritual)

This card can be used to Ritual Summon any DARK Ritual Monster. You must also Tribute monsters from your hand or field whose total Levels exactly equal the Level of the Ritual Monster you Ritual Summon. If your opponent controls a monster Special Summoned from the Extra Deck, and the monster that you are Ritual Summoning with this card's effect is a "Burning Abyss" monster, you can also Tribute 1 "Burning Abyss" monster in your Deck. During the Main Phase, except the turn that this card was sent to the GY: You can banish this card from your GY; add 1 "Burning Abyss" monster from your GY to your hand.

Charon, Ferry Boatman of the Burning Abyss

(7*/2400/2600/DARK/Fiend/Ritual/Effect)

You can Ritual Summon this card with "Sins Cast into the Burning Abyss". If this card is Ritual Summoned: You can target 1 "Burning Abyss" monster in your GY; Special Summon it in Defense Position. If this card battles a Special Summoned monster, during the start of the Damage Step: You can pay 500LP; Send both this card and the monster it is battling to the GY. If this card is sent to the GY: You can add 1 "Burning Abyss" Spell/Trap from your Deck to your hand. You can only activate each effect of "Charon, Ferry Boatman of the Burning Abyss" once per turn.

Amazoness Pet Jaguar

(6*/2000/1800/EARTH/Beast/Fusion/Effect)

2 "Amazoness" monsters, including a Beast monster

If this card is Fusion Summoned: You can target 1 "Amazoness" monster in your GY; banish it, and if you do, Special Summon 1 "Amazoness" monster with a different name from your GY. The monster Summoned by this effect cannot declare an attack on the turn it is Summoned. If this card is destroyed by battle or card effect: You can shuffle this card into the Extra Deck, and if you do, you can place 1 "Amazoness" Continuous Spell/Trap from your Deck face-up in your Spell & Trap Zone. You can only activate each effect of "Amazoness Pet Jaguar" once per turn.

Gate into the Burning Abyss

(Trap)

When an opponent's monster declares an attack: Negate that attack, then you can choose a number from 1 to 3 and excavate that many cards from the top of your Deck, and if you do, send any "Burning Abyss' monsters excavated by this effect to the GY, and if you do, gain LP equal to half the total ATK of the monsters sent to the GY by this effect, then place the rest of the excavated cards on the top of the Deck in any order. During the Main Phase, except the turn this card was sent to the GY: You can banish this card from the GY; all monsters you control gain 300 ATK for each "Burning Abyss" monster in your GY, until the end of this turn. If you control no Spell/Trap cards, you can activate this card from your hand. You can only activate each effect of "Gate into the Burning Abyss" once per turn.

Trivia: This card is built to resemble one of Yuno's Traps—no prizes for guessing why.

Burning Abyss Ritual

(Spell/Ritual)

This card can be used to Ritual Summon any Level 6 or 9 DARK Ritual Monster, or "Empty Abyss Ritual Dragon" from the hand or GY. You must also Tribute monsters from your hand or field whose total Levels equal or exceed the Level of the Ritual Monster you Ritual Summon. If all monsters tributed for this effect were "Burning Abyss" monsters, the Summoned monster is unaffected by your opponent's card effects while it is face-up on the field. If this card is sent to the GY, except from the field: You can Special Summon 1 "Burning Abyss" monster from the GY with its effects negated. You can only activate this effect of "Burning Abyss Ritual" once per turn.

Empty Abyss Ritual Dragon

(7*/2800/2000/DARK/Dragon/Ritual/Effect)

You can reveal this card in your hand while you have 2000 or less LP: Tribute DARK monsters on the field and/or in your hand with a total Level of 7 or more; Special Summon this card from your hand. (This is treated as a Ritual Summon.) If this card is Ritual Summoned: All other Special Summoned monsters on the field have their ATK become 0 until the End Phase. On the turn you activate this effect, while you control this face-up card, no other monsters you control can attack. Once per turn: You can banish 1 Spell/Trap from your GY and target 1 Level 5 or higher monster on the field; destroy that monster. Once per turn, if a card or effect is activated that would destroy this card while you control no other monsters: You can halve your LP and send 1 monster from your hand to the GY; the next time this card would be destroyed by a card effect, it remains on the field.

---

End Notes:

This story started with a Tag Duel between Yuji and Chiaki. They got one in Synchro, but that was mostly filler. So… I do want to do them justice in this duel! :3

There are a few different ways in Japanese to imply that someone is a coward—and obviously, translation is contextual! What Grace calls Yuji is literally 'sick with fear'.

Grace saying that Chiaki is surrounded by pacifists, meanwhile most of the Lancers: "_"

Eleven-year-old Chiaki going "yeah, so Yuji's guardian looks way too different from him" and then describing exactly the fashion sense that Yuji would grow up to have. Also, child Chiaki realising on some level that she has feelings for Yuji but burying them as deep as possible so that she never has to recognise it and 'ruin' everything… heh. Wonder what quote Yuji was thinking about too!

A lot of people predicted that Yuji's dragon would evolve here… but really, even if it's a duel that does make Yuji think a bit more, remember that there's more to evolution than that. After all, someone else tried to force it and failed with a different Yu-boy a while back, didn't they…?

… cough. Blaise does not support codependency. ;3 And trust me, if we're speaking on certain character flaws… I'm very aware of them as I write them.

That being said, I have been sitting here for literal years waiting for when I get to show how Yuji and Chiaki actually first met and got attached to each other… and I still can't do it yet. RIP me, I guess. Gotta wait a bit more… still, Yuji/Chiaki shippers, I hope you got your fill.

As you can probably tell, this isn't the last we're seeing of the Tyler Sisters…

Yes, Gongenzaka. Great realisation. And you're still the one person in the Lancers who's figured it out.

We're not going to be covering everything hinted at so far in the next chapter, but it should be pretty clear what's probably happening next... :D

Review responses!

To TheRealD3lph0xL0v3r, glad you enjoyed it! A big goal of the way I rewrote the Tyler Sisters was to treat them as the villains that they ought to be seen as, not in terms of bashing but rather, just because their shift and change of sides in canon was so... jarring.

To Oresama, mm, hope you enjoyed the duel then.

To maryyassa523, mm! I do try to include real world cultures in different settings in the fic if possible :D

To Infernal Enby, hey, being a good parent in a shonen or seinen anime is a death sentence ;3 I'm glad you were surprised by the result though!

To Bryz0n, well, that one's not happening yet :D Hope you enjoyed anyway!

To T.V. 2000, definitely! I think the Tyler Sisters have potential, but... just weren't used well in canon because of how rushed everything was.

That's all! See you next time :)