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.)

106. The Rosary of Islands

Starting Notes:

Welcome back! This chapter got, uh… long. So I split it in half. It's really fun though, and we finally get a character that we haven't seen in quite some time! Let's go :)

---

Chapter 106: The Rosary of Islands

Three weeks ago:

Shino glanced at the screen next to her—and then, once she was sure that everything was fine, she got up from the position where she had been laying down, moving into a sitting position. "Am I good to go?"

"Are you sure you have everything with you?" Emi fussed—the school nurse had been asked to do a checkup for both of them before they left for their mission, so Shino had come to the office earlier in the day, just to get it done. Emi had checked on her leg, done a quick x-ray to check if there were any damages she'd missed, and in general, she'd just been worried about Shino the entire time.

"I do," Shino said, smiling reassuringly at the brown-haired woman. "Please don't worry about me, Ayukawa-san. I'll be right back."

"I don't doubt your abilities—I only wish you weren't going out there alone." Emi squeezed her hand.

"I'm with the Kaiser," Shino pointed out. "Arguably, that's the safest position in this war."

"But you and I both know that he's being sent with you to execute you if you show signs of disloyalty," Emi said. "Can you handle that?"

"... is he?" Shino said vaguely. She reached out, hugging Emi—it was a little stiff. She carefully moved so that her side wasn't pressing against Emi's, before she let go.. "... I'll be alright, Ayukawa-san."

"Oh, Shino…" Emi walked over to her desk—she dug through some of the items there. She quickly passed Shino a first aid kit, as well as a few other items—all of them were for emergency treatments. "Lilitu is the most dangerous place in all of the Outer Islands. You don't know what will happen…" She then hesitantly held out a card. "Will you take this? Just as a good luck charm, until you get back here."

Shino picked it up, reading the effect. It wasn't necessarily a strong card—in fact, it could only barely be considered a card that fit with her deck. Still…

It was someone else's well wishes. Shino would never disrespect that. So she held onto the card and smiled. "Alright, Ayukawa-san," she said. "I'll hold onto it until I can give it back to you."

"... you can call me Emi."

"... okay," Shino said. "I'll see you, Emi-san." She hesitated. "... about Daitokuji-sensei…"

"... I understand," Emi said. She glanced away. "... he and I were friends once, but if you're saying that, I guess you know already."

"I've heard about it," Shino said vaguely. "... long ago, the two of you, Professor Chronos de Medici and a man named Kabayama were the main teachers here, right? You and Daitokuji-san were friends since you first started school."

"... that's not public information." Emi continued looking away from her. "But I won't question how you know, Shino. You always know more than you should." She shook her head. "Daitokuji and Kabayama left, while Chronos and I stayed… now, Chronos is gone, and I have no clue what happened to Kabayama. Daitokuji and I will always be friends, but… he has plenty of other people who have supported his ideals. He is a man who has made his decisions a long time ago, but you… you may not like it when I call you that, Shino, but you are a child who has no one else to protect you. Of course I would side with you, and say that you should do what it takes to live."

She raised a hand, gently patting Shino on the top of the head.

"I don't want to be another adult that fails you," Emi said. "Not like… your parents, who should have taken care of you. Not like anyone else. So, if you're even thinking about trying to spare Daitokuji to spare my feelings… do not do that , Shino. Or at least, don't go out of your way to complicate things for yourself like this."

"... Emi-san…" Shino couldn't lie. She had been trying to figure a way out—a way to not hurt this woman while still succeeding in this mission. Even so…

Even so, she couldn't see a way out.

It was a strange feeling.

Shino finally nodded. "… I'll do my best," she said, and promised nothing else.

---

The ocean breeze always felt good to Shino—there was something about it that seemed to lift a weight from her chest. Sitting by the docks, she watched the waters.

… what a shame that she hadn't grown up by the ocean. She'd have liked to wake up with this feeling everyday, not the heaviness of dread and the still, stale air of her childhood.

Still…

"Shino."

She turned her head. "Hey," she said. "It's early in the morning… aren't you tired?"

"I couldn't sleep," Yuri said bluntly. He stiffly held out his hand. "... here." In his open palm was a single pink petal—it had clearly been dried, but Shino could still catch its scent—she wondered how strong it had been before he'd so meticulously dried it.

She took the petal from him, lifting it to her nose. Fragrant. She observed it more—pink, red in the middle, white edges. "A lily?" She guessed.

"Stargazer lily," Yuri confirmed. "I plucked it yesterday night." For you , he did not say, but the implications were there. "I dried it so that the scent wouldn't be that strong—it won't give away your presence if someone's around."

To a normal person? Probably. Shino appreciated it—she hadn't expected quite so many well wishes before leaving. She took the petal and carefully tucked it into the pocket of her shirt. "I'll keep it with me then," she said. "I won't be gone for long, okay? Just hold on for me."

"... I don't know what you're talking about," Yuri said with a scoff, glancing away from her. "I can handle myself."

"Of course," Shino said, still smiling. She didn't doubt that. Still, he'd be lonely, wouldn't he? And she couldn't have that.

"I can," he insisted.

"I know, that's what I said." Shino reached out a hand. "Hey, lean down a bit for me?" Yuri's cheeks flushed slightly with embarrassment, but he lowered his head, just so that she could ruffle his hair. "Take care of yourself, okay?"

"I will," Yuri muttered. "… you too."

"I'll stay safe," Shino promised. She watched him walk off, though he snuck a few looks back at her.

… really. And people called him a monster. Shino would never understand that perspective—monsters were made, not born, despite what some might say. Irredeemable people existed in the world, of course, but… Yuri wasn't one of them.

She raised a hand, slowly closing it—flexing her fingers slowly, as though they were in pain. (They were. She'd made a mistake in her sleep last night, and now her ribs and hands hurt—thankfully, it wasn't in a way that Ayukawa-san could have picked up with those scans.)

It was fine.

After a while, Ryo joined her on the beach. He was carrying a rucksack—after all, neither of them knew how long they'd actually be gone for, so they both needed to bring enough essentials for the trip. "You're early," he noted.

"Just feeling the sun!" Shino moved over to him, and he carefully put his hands on the back of the wheelchair, beginning to push her towards the ship. "It's going to be a long trip…"

"That's true." Ryo looked contemplative. "Lilitu's rather far down south… and we don't have a lot of information about this, do we? I read the information given to us, but it was brief at best."

"We'll figure it out," Shino said flippantly. They approached the boat, where a tall, well-built man with brown hair was currently smoking. He glanced over at them, adjusting his hat, and Shino offered him a smile. "Greetings. You must be Admiral Amacis Shima?"

"... you two are the ones they're sending?" The man said sceptically. "Just you two? Well, I say, you do look like one of those up-and-coming young men, but the Professor wants to send a little girl like you?"

Shino continued smiling brilliantly. "I'm sure the Professor knows best," she said with appropriate humility. "Either way, we're just following his orders, aren't we?"

The Admiral scoffed. "I suppose so. Well, get on the boat, I say. Try not to break a nail on the way up, little girl."

Once he turned around and started heading up on the boat, Shino was about to follow—but Ryo's hands were stiff on the handles of the wheelchair.

The Admiral turned back to look at them. "Well? Why aren't you moving?"

Ryo let go of one of the wheelchair handles, stepping forward so that he was next to her instead of beside her. "Perhaps to you, we are just children that you think you can disrespect," he said—his voice cold and formal. "But regardless, you take orders from the Professor, just as we do—and you are not higher in rank than I am, nor are you higher in the Professor's regard. And when you disrespect my partner, who is herself one of the strongest duelists Academia has ever seen, you disrespect me. Be aware of that."

"... hah. Jerkass." The Admiral continued walking up the ship. "Hurry up or we'll leave port without you."

Ryo finally started moving. Shino turned her head back to look at him. "There's no need to make trouble for that, you know," she said. "He's just a rude, prejudiced old man."

"We both know that you hate being treated like that," Ryo returned. "Just because you're too polite to smack him down doesn't mean that I am."

… but you are.

Shino looked away from him.

… you are too polite to point out things. So that's why I'm… confused.

She didn't voice the thought. Instead, she allowed him to push her all the way up onto the ship.

---

The rest of the trip was relatively peaceful. The ship's crew kept to themselves, while the Admiral seemed too offended by Ryo's earlier words to talk to either of them.

The only really interesting thing happened about two hours into the voyage, when Shino was watching the waters from the top of the ship and she felt a few raindrops fall on her, even though the sky was still completely clear and sunny. She watched as rain began to fall, forming dark dots all over the ground. On the lower level of the ship, a few crew members could be seen hurriedly shouting at each other to move their supplies.

Shino moved under the nearby roof, enjoying the sight of the drizzle. After a while, she heard footsteps behind her as Ryo walked up the stairs to the top part of the ship as well. Their gazes met properly—he must have been reading through the provided information for the mission before this, while Shino was enjoying herself up here.

"... what are you doing?" He asked.

Shino pushed her fringe away from her face. Today was all about just relaxing and being interrupted, huh? Well, it wasn't like she minded! "You haven't seen a sunshower before?"

"… I'm asking why you're out in the rain. It's bad for your health."

Shino glanced outwards. "What do you mean? I've taken shelter, haven't I?"

Ryo glanced at her arms—the wind had blown the rain towards her, and there were still obvious drops of rain dotting her skin, especially considering that the female Academia uniform didn't have the long sleeves of the male uniform. (Of course, Shino wasn't wearing the official uniform—once a person got to the higher ranks of Academia, they were allowed to wear slightly modified uniforms. She'd liked the blue, so she'd kept it, she'd just made the blouse a bit more modest.)

"Okay, maybe it's not full cover up here," Shino said. "But sunshowers are always so beautiful and calming, aren't they?"

Ryo sighed. Shino spun her chair around, before moving towards him. Blinking raindrops from her eyes, she glanced up at him with a smile.

"You've never felt like you want to just feel the rain against your skin?" She asked.

"Not particularly."

"That's a shame…" Shino wiped at her face for a moment. Ryo watched her, before sighing.

"... why do you like the rain so much?" He asked, clearly humouring her.

Shino looked at him. For a moment, the real reason squeezed at her heart tightly—it made her feel like she was a child again, helpless against the world. She swept it away, under the rug. "Don't you know?" She said with a laugh. "It's not rain that I like. It's sunshowers specifically!" She spread out her arms. "There's all sorts of myths about them, but their other name is pretty cute. People call it chitsïni no niibichi ." When Ryo raised an eyebrow, Shino paused for a moment, before shaking her head. "Sorry, that's dialect speak, not the common language. Kitsune no yomeiri is probably more accurate."

"A 'fox's wedding'," Ryo said. "I suppose with your last name, you would find that interesting…"

"Isn't it romantic?" Shino said. "People in the past thought that this was all so supernatural—rain with the sun still here, that they thought some kind of witchcraft had to be going on. Two supernatural forces meeting."

"I suppose so." Ryo looked at her. "How long are you planning to stay up here then?"

"I don't know."

A quiet sigh. "... it's getting colder." He looked at her, before shaking his head. "... you could stay up here, continuing to get soaked by the rain. Or you can come down to the ship cabin and change out to something drier, and then you and I can discuss Battle Royale strategies for our decks, and what restrictions either of us should worry about."

Shino looked back at him.

"... yeah," she said. "Okay! Sounds fun."

---

Ryo didn't speak much as they headed down to the ship cabin. The truth was, he probably would have let Shino just stay up there, chalking it all up as another thing that she found joy in, if not for the look that he'd seen on her face when he'd come up—even that morning, when she'd been looking at the sun.

That distant, distant look, clouded with odd indifference.

A mission like this was certainly not the right place to be discussing anything like this though. For now, he just wanted to get her off the roof—and she seemed to be back to her normal self now, cheerfully going on about something else.

Good. On a mission as dangerous as this, it wouldn't do for her to be distracted by other thoughts.

(And, though he wouldn't admit it to himself, the main reason for that was that he would simply rather not see her unhappy.)

The two of them sat there, looking through their cards—Shino shared most of her Extra Deck freely, since 'you already know about their effects anyway, right?'

"I probably won't summon Masquerade if you're around," she said. "There's no reason to sabotage you like that…"

"If you have a way to fuse it off on my turn, or if you go after my turn in a duel, perhaps," he said.

"Mm, yeah. Feel free to take my dragons from the drop if we share a graveyard."

Yeah, their decks fit quite well together, didn't they?

They continued to discuss for a while—talking about dueling was just something that came easily to people as invested as they were. Still, after a moment, Ryo noticed her slowly drifting off—after a moment, her eyes shut and her head hit the back of the wheelchair.

… right. Narcolepsy. Ryo watched her—she looked relaxed, far more relaxed than he'd ever seen her.

… he probably shouldn't wake her up. They had time.

For now…

He pressed his hand against his side.

The duel against Kaname Mizuchi still had its consequences—his body hadn't managed to fully heal from it yet, even with Academia's technology. She would be a dangerous foe in the future, but… Ryo didn't necessarily regret sparing her. The girl reminded him of Shino too much. Even so, it didn't mean that what she'd done hadn't hurt . He just didn't want to let anyone know about it—especially not Shino. If she knew that he was still suffering from the effects of that duel, she would defend him as much as she could—she would want to protect him, no matter what. He couldn't let her know.

Ryo tried to focus on looking through his deck again, but after a moment, he noticed Shino shivering—her clothes were still wet, and she hadn't actually changed out of them yet. She hadn't woken up, but she was clearly cold—and she might get sick.

… sigh.

How irresponsible of her to treat herself like this…

Ryo carefully shrugged off the dark coat that he was wearing, wrapping it around her. However, as he did, he paused for a moment as his fingers brushed past her shoulder—he pushed up the sleeve of her shirt slightly, exposing what he'd already spotted, what the rain had exposed by rumpling up the fabric of her sleeve.

Thin scars, almost surgically precise, cut in lines parallel to each other. They were not old in the slightest—in fact, they looked freshly healed.

Ryo narrowed his eyes. Who had done this to her? He almost wanted to check for more, but… it wasn't appropriate. Not to invade her privacy any more, not to… well. It was inappropriate to touch her without her being awake, anyway. It had already been…

Well. He was uncomfortably aware that the way he'd pulled up her sleeve was not how he should be treating her at all. He'd have to apologise later.

For now…

He simply wrapped the coat around her, and helped her lie back down.

---

When Shino woke up, she shot him a surprised look.

"You didn't take your medicine," Ryo said, glancing at her with narrowed eyes. "Where's your Modafinil?"

"... how far out from Lilitu are we?" Shino said. There was a strange look in her eyes—dark, sharp, it almost looked like… hatred? It faded a moment later as she looked back at him, offering him a smile. "Sorry for falling asleep."

"We're two hours out. Your medicine?"

Shino yawned, turning her head. "Two hours… so I've been sleeping for six? I guess that makes sense…" She shook her head. "Sorry. Modafinil is toxic in high amounts, so I take it an hour before I have to be awake for a while, since I can't take too much of it daily…"

So she wasn't just letting herself fall asleep for no reason? Alright then… "How long can you last?" Ryo asked, belatedly realising that he should have asked this before they'd left in the first place.

"I'm… lighter in weight," Shino explained. "So I can't take that high of a dosage… on average, it stops me from falling asleep suddenly for like. Twelve or so hours? I can only take a pill every two days, too, so I split it in half…"

"I see," Ryo said. "We just need to be careful about that."

Shino seemed to notice the coat around her a moment later. "This…" She adjusted it. "This is yours, isn't it?"

"You were shivering," he said. "And we need to change out of our clothes anyway." He'd already done so in the bathroom while she was asleep. The outfit of the Hell Kaiser stood out too much, and in general, plainer clothing was the way to go if they wanted to navigate Lilitu without being harassed.

"... thanks." Shino sat up, reaching down and grabbing the change of clothes—they were leaving their usual clothes on the ship, and they'd pick it up when the Admiral got their signal on the radio and came back for them.

"Do you need help?" He asked, glancing at her concernedly. "You have to wear pants, right?"

"I appreciate it," Shino said with a laugh. "But um. I don't think you should be helping me with my clothes!" There was a moment of silence, when they looked at each other. "Um. I'll be going in now. Wait for me, okay, Ryo-kun?"

She went in, and Ryo glanced away, trying to remain stoic and stop the blush from creeping onto his cheeks. It'd been a genuine offer, out of worry for a comrade. He hadn't meant it in… any improper way.

… this girl constantly made him stop thinking logically, without even realising it. He had no clue how he was going to last this long alone with her, even if they were on a mission.

(Normal people, when they were interested in someone, would ask them out on a date. Ryo had seen people like that back when he still went home between school semesters—teenagers hanging out at cafes, at restaurants, smiling sweetly and sharing ice creams, going to movies together, spending time with each other as a rest.)

(Ryo Marufuji was not normal. He'd been talented from the beginning, he'd believed in justice as a respite from war, and he still believed in a cause to make the lives of others better, no matter what. But he communicated in terms of fighting and planning, in tactics and war. He had never been inclined to sit with someone and rest, to simply be happy standing still.)

(Normal people had the luxury of going on dates. Ryo Marufuji had the unfortunate privilege of meeting a girl, seeing her strength, disdaining her perceived flippantness, falling for her over the course of three years, and having all of this strange baggage that meant that the two of them would never be able to just talk without allegiances, missions and betrayal hanging over their heads.)

This girl was a schemer, a manipulator and a liar, with the sweetest smile and the nicest words, and the kindest intentions, and Ryo could never trust her, so what was the point of imagining anything more with her?

A mission partner, and never anything else—there was no hope for that.

Shino poked her head out of the door, looking at him. "My wheelchair's stuck on the doorframe," she said, already dressed in the more casual cream-coloured blouse and dark pants. "Could you help me with it?"

"Sure," Ryo said. He stood up, banishing the thoughts and moved to help her. She was smiling at him as he helped her through the doorframe—the smile reminded him of the look that she'd had on her face when she woke up. "By the way… did you have a bad dream earlier?"

Shino blinked, and then she laughed. "I always do," she said glibly. "I'm asleep too much, aren't I?"

---

When they disembarked at Lilitu, the Admiral left without any more acknowledgement of them. Ryo and Shino, dressed in general civilian wear, began heading away from the shore.

Lilitu was still at war, in a way—however, not with anyone but itself any longer. Shino knew that much—the entire landscape was visibly scarred. Crumbling buildings could be seen everywhere, along with broken roads that had cracks everywhere on them—they had clearly been broken for a long time, but no one had bothered to fix them. Why would they, when they knew that someone else would break it again?

Everything here was broken because no one wanted to fix it. There was no government here either—everyone was too busy fighting each other to work together.

This was why it was considered the most dangerous place in the Raelcun Archipelago.

Still, there was no one in sight as they entered the destroyed town by the shoreline. Ryo was pushing her wheelchair, as both of them looked around—if anyone saw them, they'd just be two teenagers in a scavenging town.

But—

"Wait!" Shino pushed back, stopping Ryo from pushing her forward. "... we need to find another path. There's a minefield up ahead."

"Minefield?"

She pointed forward. "The tiles in the street are uneven, but not in the way that would be caused by a bombing. And…" She pointed further ahead. "See the soot around that tile? That's where a mine already went off."

"... got it." He didn't argue with her—after all, she was the one that had actually been in a warzone for an extended period of time. They took a quick right.

The plan was to look around and gather information in the city about the rebellion here. Daitokuji's rebellion, despite being situated here, was not necessarily supported by the people living in Lilitu—he'd probably just found a place close to the shore to settle down, so that any students coming here would also not have to travel the island alone for too long.

So, close to the shore, secretive, It still left any of the destroyed towns around the circumference of the island as possible locations.

Well. Time to start searching.

---

So, for two days straight, all they did was cover more ground and search. They bumped into some inhabitants, but they avoided making eye contact, and they continued making their way through.

"Spotting people is a pretty good sign," Ryo pointed out as they took shelter on the second night. "They need supplies from the city as well—it's impossible for them to be completely hidden, if that's the case. And people would try to rob them for those supplies. So anyone in the town is likely a member of that rebellion too—the group is likely rather large, and if we appear, they might just pretend to be a normal group of citizens in town."

"... I'm sure we'll see signs when we're nearby," Shino said, discarding an MRE by her side—the two of them had brought enough food for two weeks, since that was how long this was expected to take. "But you're right." She had a map of Lilitu in front of her, tapping a pen against her cheek. There were red crosses drawn across the northern coast of the island, where they'd already ruled out locations. "... abandoned, huh. Secretive? Now that I'm thinking about it…"

"Do you have any insight?"

Shino glanced up from where she was sprawled across the ground. "... I'm thinking about the Outer Islands' war," she said. "Now that I'm thinking about it, I suppose there's a town where they might have gone. There was one town that was left completely uninhabited after a bombing, nine to ten years ago."

"Completely uninhabited?" Ryo repeated. "I did a bit of research, but I couldn't find anything about specific casualty counts."

"I got to read military records," Shino said vaguely, though she didn't explain how exactly she'd gotten access to those. "It's the only town of its kind—any survivors fled the town, after it was deemed inhabitable—no crops can be grown there, everything has to be imported." She looked at him, as though expecting him to say something. Ryo… didn't get what she meant. When he didn't say anything, she turned back. "Okashiro. It's down south. We can keep searching on the way, but… Daitokuji-san probably chose to go there."

She had a lot of information. Ryo felt like he was on the verge of realising something , but he had no clue what it was yet. "Then let's do that," he decided. "Why didn't you mention it from the start?"

Shino didn't answer. She turned away. "I'm tired," she said distantly. "I'm going to sleep."

Ryo watched her as she laid down—they took turns going on watch through the night, alternating carefully. The last few days, every time that Shino had woken up, she'd looked more and more… tired. He didn't understand why. It was as though something was tormenting her in her sleep.

Was it new, or… was she always suffering like this every night?

He didn't know. Still…

To be honest, he couldn't hope for a better investigation partner. Fubuki was his best friend, of course, but he was prone to distractibility—meanwhile, once they'd actually started the mission, Shino had been uncannily focused the entire time, suggesting ideas and working carefully.

So, he'd let those things slide.

---

It took them a whole week to travel down south to the town that Shino had identified. It was a very fruitless week—they searched buildings, made sure to leave no stone untouched.

Of course, they didn't exactly go unnoticed for the whole week, but…

… that wasn't much of a problem, when considering who they were. To sum up the situation, there were around four instances of robbers seeing two teenagers walking together and deciding that they would make good targets.

They were very wrong, to put it lightly.

Still, when they got to Okashiro, Ryo was taken aback by the sight. The town was just as devastated as the rest, yes, but its architecture was a bit different—there were the remnants of tall white buildings, ones that got thinner near the top, like pillars.

"Lilitu is the southernmost part of the Raelcun Archipelago," Shino said, clearly sensing Ryo's curiosity. "Some of the southern towns follow the architectural conventions of Wedju as a result."

"Wedju…" She was referring to the desert nation to the south of the archipelago, from what Ryo remembered—he'd never been there though, since most other parts of their world didn't like interacting with the islands.

"Mm." Shino shot him a bright smile. "You'd find buildings like that in the Gol Gonda Desert." They quieted down as they got to the town, just to avoid catching attention—but immediately, Ryo knew that his suspicions were correct. The town had all sorts of people around—it was nothing like the abandoned place that Shino had called it. There were people who turned to look at them—some of them grown adults, some of them very young children. Some people looked at them suspiciously, but no one said anything to them.

Ryo wondered if Shino had already recognised the issue.

If this is Daitokuji's base, then anyone here is complicit.

He watched a small girl tug on her mother's hand, hiding behind her at the sight of strangers.

… anyone here has to be stopped. Academia's principles are to stop anyone that could threaten the utopia we're trying to create—and the exact wording of our mission was to wipe out the rebellion here so that it would never be able to rise up again.

… it was just unfortunate, that was all. Some of them were so young.

Shino leaned back against the back of the wheelchair for a second, before leaning back forward. It was a subtle movement, but it was a signal they'd both agreed on before they'd landed on the island—one that generally meant 'danger spotted', when it wasn't convenient to point it out. Ryo pressed against the back of the wheelchair for a moment, signalling that he'd spotted it too. On the previous street, people had started following them. People trying to stay out of sight, but failing to completely avoid being spotted.

Shino waved a hand, leaning back and whispering. "Keep walking straight?" She murmured. "Make them expose themselves."

"They might be leading us into a trap," Ryo replied quietly. "But I agree. It's the easiest way."

"Let's move towards the edge of the town while doing this then. I don't want to involve more people than necessary."

"Not afraid of getting in a fight?"

"You're right here, aren't you? It'd take more people than they have to take us down."

"... I suppose so." They kept going, pretending not to have spotted the people trailing them. It took a long time—so it was decidedly anticlimactic when one of their pursuers finally decided to show himself—stepping out dramatically and pointing outwards with a single finger.

"It took you long enough!" He declared. "We've been waiting for you, Academia scum."

… crickets chirped.

"It took… us long enough?" Ryo said slowly.

"We've been waiting for you for a while too," Shino chirped. "But thanks for the confirmation! Daitokuji-san's students, right?"

Their opponents exchanged looks. Had they really thought they were subtle? That was just… slightly pathetic.

"A-anyway!" The boy jabbed his finger towards Ryo. "You were dueling people up north, right? That Cyber End Dragon of yours was spotted by one of our people—we saw you coming a mile away!"

"... and?" Ryo said, arching an eyebrow. "So you stayed instead of warning the rest and fleeing?"

"Why would we flee?" The boy barked. "This is our chance to take revenge! You, the Hell Kaiser… and whoever that girl is, you two are going to die here on this island. As Daitokuji-sensei's students, we won't lose to you!"

Ryo surveyed the seven opponents. "… fine," he said. "We wanted to duel anyway."

"Even so," Shino interjected, "even you guys have to admit that seven on two is a bit much, no?" She smiled pleasantly. "Shall we enforce the rule that no one can attack on the first turn, except the last duelist?"

"That's all you're asking for?" The boy laughed. "Where does that confidence come from? Who are you anyway? Does the Kaiser have a secret girlfriend or something? Then carding you in front of him is sweet justice for the rest of us!"

Ryo bristled. Shino just smiled. "… hmm." She waved a hand. "Is that agreement?"

"Sure!"

"Hey—" One of the other defectors there tried to talk him down, but the seeming leader of the group shrugged him off.

"There's seven of us! If we can't beat an asshole and a cripple, then what's the use of us fighting against Academia?" The boy turned back to them. "Let's go!"

"... yeah." Shino turned to Ryo. "Let's do this."

[DUEL!]

Ryo Marufuji: 4000LP

Shino Gitsune: 4000LP

Rebellion Members 1-7: 4000LP

[Turn 1: Rebellion Member 1] [H:5]

The randomisation system handed out the turns—Ryo got the third turn, while Shino got the fifth. It was less than ideal, because it meant that he'd have to deal with three Battle Phases before he could attack.

… still manageable.

"Spell Card, Fusion Sage!" The first student declared. "I'll add the Spell Card, Polymerization, to my hand and activate it! I'll fuse The Big Server and Mystical Shine Ball in my hand! Come! The best tennis player—Duke of Tennis!" A tall man with spiky brown and grey hair landed on the field, waving two rackets through the air as he stomped a foot on the ground.

[Duke of Tennis (7*/2000/0/EARTH/Warrior/Fusion/Effect)]

"Duke of Tennis's effect! When Fusion Summoned, I can excavate the top seven cards of my deck, and if three specific cards are among them, I can set each copy of them to my field!" The boy revealed all seven cards. "There's two copies of Smash Ace, one copy of Receive Ace and one copy of Service Ace!" All four cards appeared on the field, set facedown. "The other cards go to the graveyard!"

"... why is that the strongest sounding card I've ever heard of?" Shino said, sounding like she wanted to laugh. "That's just sending seven cards to the graveyard, huh…"

"But I can't activate Spells this turn, except the ones set by this effect! I'll activate the first! The Spell Card, Smash Ace! I'll reveal the top card of my deck, and if it's a monster, I send it to the graveyard to deal 1000 damage to you!" The boy revealed it. "Needle Ball! So you take 1000 damage—Kaiser!"

The monster on the field raised his racket—before swinging it towards him, a tennis ball shooting out and hitting the ground at Ryo's feet.

Ryo: 4000 - 1000 = 3000LP

"And again! Smash Ace!" The top card of the deck flipped up. "... that's a Deuce. It gets sent to the graveyard, and you don't take damage." The boy reached for the next set card. "Spell Card, Service Ace! I'll banish a card in my hand and you choose a card type—if you choose right, the banished card goes to the graveyard, but if you choose wrong, you take 1500 damage, Kaiser!"

"Spell!" Shino called out.

Ryo didn't hesitate or question her words. "Spell," he repeated.

The boy looked rather sour about it—he flipped the card, revealing that it was another Spell—Deuce again, huh? He slipped it into the graveyard, shooting Shino an annoyed look.

"... you knew because of his effect?" Ryo said, glancing at her.

"He has to run three of his cards to mill them for his Fusion Monster consistently," Shino said, confirming that the two of them were on the same page. "Plus searchers for Polymerization, and maybe for his monster too… it had a good chance of being a Spell, anyway."

"If you two are done, I'd like to use my Duke of Tennis's effect now," the boy said. "I'll end my turn—then, I can Special Summon a Level 3 or lower "Ball" monster from my deck for each of the Ace cards I used this turn! Come! Three copies of Mega Thunderball, in Defense Position!" Three spiked balls appeared on the field, protecting him.

[Mega Thunderball (2*/750/600/WIND/Thunder)]

"... adding four cards, and then summoning three free monsters," Ryo said with a scoff. "What an oddly designed Fusion Monster…" He heard Shino snort. "Something wrong?"

"Nothing, I just…" She was looking at the three new monsters, clearly holding back a laugh. "Uh. Nothing. I just realised I'm more immature than I thought."

[Turn 2: Rebellion Member 2] [H:5]

The next member of the rebellion picked up her card, seeming a bit more timid than the rest. "I'll activate the Spell Card, Polymerization," she said.

"They don't seem to shy away from Fusion, unlike the other rebellions we've heard of…" Ryo said, narrowing his eyes. It seemed that Daitokuji imparted a very different philosophy to the students that followed him.

"I'll fuse Alice the Wandering Doll in my hand with Doll Part Blue… Fusion Summoning, um, Doll Mechanicus." On her field, a large metal doll made of different, disjointed and colourful parts appeared on the field. It perched on uneven, shaking legs.

[Doll Mechanicus (6*/0/0/DARK/Spellcaster/Fusion/Effect)]

It was in Defense Position, huh…

"When Doll Mechanicus is Fusion Summoned, I can Special Summon two "Doll Part" monsters from my deck. Come! Doll Part Gold! Doll Part Pink!" A pair of floating arms and a floating torso appeared on the field, one to either side of Mechanicus.

[Doll Part Gold (1*/0/0/DARK/Spellcaster)]

[Doll Part Pink (1*/0/0/DARK/Spellcaster)]

"But they can't be used as material this turn," the girl continued. "I end my turn."

[Turn 3: Ryo] [H:5]

Ryo stared at the field, before making his move. "I will activate the Continuous Spell, Cyberdark Realm. I can add a "Cyberdark" monster from my deck to my hand. Then, I will activate the effect of Cyberdark Claw in my hand. By sending it from my hand to the graveyard, I will add a "Cyberdark" Spell or Trap from my deck to my hand. I will add Cybernetic Horizon to my hand—a card that is always treated as a "Cyberdark" card—and activate it."

Bright red and blue lines form across the ground in a matrix.

"I can send two "Cyber" Dragon or Machine monsters with different Attributes to the graveyard—one from my hand, and one from my deck." He dropped both cards in the graveyard. "Then, I can add another one of my "Cyber" monsters to my hand, and I can send a "Cyber" Machine Fusion Monster from my Extra Deck to the graveyard." He picked up the card, before revealing one of the cards that he'd sent to the graveyard. "Cyber Dragon Herz's effect. I will add another Cyber Dragon from my deck to my hand."

He reshuffled the cards in his hand—five again.

"I'll activate the effect of Cyberdark Cannon in my hand. I will discard it and add Cyberdark Chimera from my deck to my hand. Now, let's begin. I'll Normal Summon Cyberdark Chimera!" The strange, distorted dark creature made of several sharp blade-shaped pieces of metal appeared.

[Cyberdark Chimera (4*/800/2100/DARK/Machine/Effect)]

"Cyberdark Chimera's effect. I will discard a Spell or Trap from my hand—and then, I can add Power Bond from my deck to my hand." He picked up the card.

"What, gonna burn yourself to death with that card?" The boy from earlier scoffed.

"... Spell Card, One Day of Peace." Ryo revealed the card. "The one I'm choosing is Shino. We both draw a card, and until the end of her next turn, we don't take damage."

Shino glanced at him, letting out a chuckle. "Appreciated!" She picked up the free card.

"I'll activate the effect of Cyber Dragon Nachster in my hand. I will discard my Cyber Dragon to Special Summon it from my hand." The smaller monster appeared on the field next to Chimera. "And then, I can Special Summon Cyber Dragon from my graveyard with Nachster's effect." The original one let out a roar as it emerged through a portal.

[Cyber Dragon Nächster (1*/200/200/LIGHT/Machine/Effect)]

[Cyber Dragon (5*/2100/1600/LIGHT/Machine/Effect)]

"Open, circuit of cybernetic honour! Arrowhead confirmed! The conditions are two Machine monsters, including "Cyber Dragon". I will set Cyber Dragon Nachster and Cyberdark Chimera in the Link Markers. Now, powerful mechanical dragon, present us with the power to push every advancement forward! Let your genius design empower us to reach higher for victory! Circuit Combine! Link Summon! Link 2! Cyber Dragon Sieger!" The silver dragon with glowing blue lights across its body appeared in his Extra Monster Zone.

[Cyber Dragon Sieger (L2/2100/LIGHT/Machine/Link/Effect, ↓, ←)]

"Chimera's effect. I will send a different "Cyberdark" monster from my deck to the graveyard, one with a different name from the ones already in my graveyard. I will send Cyberdark Horn. Then, I will activate the Spell Card, Power Bond. On the turn that I use the effect of Cyberdark Chimera, for one of my Fusion Summons, I can banish monsters from the graveyard as well. I will banish Herz, Nachster and Chimera from the graveyard. Infinity, golden ouroboros swirling in the air. Destiny, burning through the light of the modern world. Now, form the beautiful dragon and descend! Fusion Summon! Level 10! Cyber Eternity Dragon!" The beautiful, spiralling golden-silver dragon appeared, letting out a loud roar, the spikes around its body glowing with bright light.

[Cyber Eternity Dragon (10*/2800/4000/LIGHT/Machine/Fusion/Effect)]

"Cyber Eternity Dragon's attack points are doubled by the effect of Power Bond." And this would be permanent—he wouldn't take damage either, thanks to One Day of Peace.

[Cyber Eternity Dragon: 2800 x 2 = 5600ATK]

"I will set a card and end my turn," Ryo concluded—having used up his entire hand. Still…

He was in the perfect situation to wipe out his opponents on the next turn.

[Turn 4: Rebellion Member 3] [H:5]

"I will activate the effect of Mokey Mokey Adrift in my hand. I will send it from my hand to the graveyard to add the Continuous Spell, Mokey Mokey Adversity from my deck to my hand." The girl put the card down. "I'll activate it. And then, once per turn, during my Main Phase, I can Special Summon a "Mokey Mokey" monster from my graveyard and inflict 500 damage to you—but your One Day of Peace stops it. Come back, Mokey Mokey Adrift." A small blue square-shaped fairy appeared on the field, two tiny yellow wings on the sides of its head like ears—a red question mark floated above its head.

[Mokey Mokey Adrift (1*/300/100/LIGHT/Fairy/Effect)]

"I will activate the Spell Card, Painful Decision. I'll send Mokey Mokey from my deck to the graveyard and add another Mokey Mokey to my hand." She picked up the card. "Spell Card, Polymerization… I'll fuse Mokey Mokey Adrift on my field with Mokey Mokey and Mokey Mokey in my hand… come out. Mokey Mokey King." A monster appeared on the field—but it was just a far larger version of the monster from before, with no other visible differences. It was… mildly funny?

[Mokey Mokey King (6*/300/100/LIGHT/Fairy/Fusion/Effect)]

"Setting a card and ending my turn. During the End Phase, Mokey Mokey Adversity heals me for 500 life points for each "Mokey Mokey" monster on the field and in the graveyard—there are three Mokey Mokeys, one Mokey Mokey Adrift and one Mokey Mokey King, so I gain 2500 life points!"

Rebellion Member 3: 4000 + 500 x 5 = 6500LP

Well, Ryo had something to do during their End Phase too. "Activating the Continuous Trap, Cyber Network," Ryo declared, revealing the card. "Once per turn, I can banish a LIGHT Machine monster from my deck. I will banish Cyber Dragon Core from the deck."

[Turn 5: Shino] [H:6]

"My turn then!" Shino said. She glanced through her hand. "... hmm. Let's do this then. Continuous Spell, Branded Lost! You can't respond to any of my Fusion Summons, or effects that would Fusion Summon. Then, I'll activate the Spell Card, Terraforming. I'll add the Field Spell, Despia, Theater of the Branded to my hand and activate it! Then, I'll immediately use its effect to perform a Fusion Summon. I will fuse Despian Tragedy and Dramaturge of Despia in my hand."

The two monsters flew into the dark portal that formed behind her.

"Darkness sealed within a suit of holy armour, emerge now in the flurry of the rising curtains, and crush them in the emptiness of destruction. Whom do you seek? Fusion Summon! Level 8—Despian Quaeritis!" The corrupted red and black warrior appeared on the field, waving its lance through the air.

[Despian Quaeritis (8*/2500/2500/LIGHT/Fiend/Fusion/Effect)]

"Dramaturge, Tragedy and Lost's effects activate," Shino continued. "Lost lets me add Fallen of Albaz, or a monster that mentions it, from my deck to my hand. Tragedy lets me add another "Despia" monster from my deck to my hand." She picked up the two cards. "And my Dramaturge Special Summons himself." The figure in a white cloak appeared on her field, feathered red wings forming behind him.

[Dramaturge of Despia (8*/3000/1500/DARK/Fairy/Effect)]

"Creepy as fuck," the boy from before muttered. "Those are your monsters?"

Shino winked. "They're cute, I think!" She revealed another card in her hand. "I'll activate the Spell Card, Branded Opening. I'll discard a card from my hand and Special Summon a "Despia" monster from my deck! Come! Aluber the Jester of Despia!" The masked red-haired boy appeared on the field—the third monster to take the stage.

[Aluber the Jester of Despia (4*/1800/0/DARK/Fairy/Effect)]

"Aluber's effect! I'll add a "Branded" Spell or Trap from my deck to my hand." She picked up the card. "Spell Card, Branded Fusion. I'll fuse Fallen of Albaz and—"

And then, Ryo saw her hesitate. She had been reaching for a certain card before—Ryo could recognise it as Albion the Shrouded Dragon. However, a moment later, she picked out another card from her deck.

"Ad Libitum of Despia," she continued. "In my deck."

"A Fusion Summon from the deck?" Their opponent exclaimed.

Ryo narrowed his eyes. The fact that she'd been reaching for Albion before meant that her plan was to Fusion Summon Brigrand, Titaniklad or Lubellion—probably Lubellion, to be honest. Still, Albion would have let her send another one of her Spells or Traps from her deck to the graveyard, so why was she going for Ad Libitum, which couldn't use its effects when used as Fusion Material from deck?

"You who mock the light and deceive the darkness. With the power that you crave, turn into the beastly demon that melts even the firmest of glaciers! Fusion Summon! Level 8! Lubellion the Searing Dragon!" The silver dragon appeared on the field, letting out a loud roar as its wings rose up—they were made of red, leathery scales, and as they cut through the air, they cast lines of bright fire in the air. It landed in her Extra Monster Zone.

[Lubellion the Searing Dragon (8*/2500/3000/LIGHT/Dragon/Fusion/Effect)]

"Lubellion's effect. I'll discard a card and immediately perform a Fusion Summon using materials in my graveyard and banished cards," Shino continued. "I'll return Ad Libitum and Despian Tragedy to my deck." She picked up a card—despite the fact that her stature was currently shorter than anyone else there, she had a certain aura , a certain presence that made her intimidating. "Beautiful masks lie over a hidden darkness. Scarlet dragon, rise up, and with the power of your envious heart, strike down all others like a phantom! Fusion Summon! Level 8! Masquerade the Blazing Dragon!" The black dragon with wings like the curtains on a stage appeared, taking up the fourth Main Monster Zone on Shino's field.

The dragon that appeared was bright red, with wings that looked just like the curtains on a stage. No, wait—its scales were black, it was just covered in a lot of red and white plate armour. It had some long, red, hair-like structures on the top of the dragon's head.

[Masquerade the Blazing Dragon (8*/2500/2000/DARK/Fiend/Fusion/Effect)]

Shino glanced at the one card left in her hand. "Branded Retribution's effect," she said. "I'll banish it from the graveyard and add a "Branded" Spell or Trap from my graveyard to my hand." She picked up the card—it must have been one of the cards that she had discarded this turn. "I'll set a card—I'm about to end my turn, Ryo."

She'd dropped the honorific for him. Still… she knew very well that Cyber Network was an effect that would cost him life points, so she was leaving open the option.

"I'll wait," Ryo said.

"I'll end my turn then!"

[Turn 6: Rebellion Member 4] [H:5]

"I'll—"

"For every effect you activate while I control a Fusion Summoned Masquerade, you must pay 600 life points," Shino said.

"... huh." The boy glanced at his hand. "I'll… uh." He seemed uncertain now. "Spell Card, Polymerization… I'll fuse Chthonian Emperor Dragon and Mefist the Infernal General in my hand." His life points fell as he winced.

Rebellion Member 4: 4000 - 600 = 3400LP

"Fusion Summon! Chthonian Strategist!" A tall general in dark armour appeared on the field, hellfire surrounding his arms and legs as he held up a large broadsword.

[Chthonian Strategist (8*/2500/1000/DARK/Fiend/Fusion/Effect)]

"I'll then Normal Summon Chthonian Soldier." A tanned warrior in grey armour appeared on the field next to the first.

[Chthonian Soldier (4*/1200/1400/DARK/Warrior/Effect)]

"Passing…" He turned to the student next to him. "We have to get rid of that card or she'll burn us to death before they even attack…"

"... I think I can do it for my turn," they said, "but I don't know if I can get rid of it completely."

[Turn 7: Rebellion Member 5] [H:5]

"Activating the Spell Card, Fossil Dig! I'll add a Level 6 or lower Dinosaur monster to my hand!"

"... pay the life points then," Shino said, still smiling.

Rebellion Member 5: 4000 - 600 = 3400LP

"I'll add Duoterion to my hand! And I'll activate the Spell Card, Bonding - D2O!"

Rebellion Member 5: 3400 - 600 = 2800LP

"And I'll send two copies of Duoterion and one copy of Oxygeddon from my hand to the graveyard to summon Water Dragon Cluster from my deck!" An enormous water dragon appeared, with two long heads, its entire body brilliant blue and translucent.

[Water Dragon Cluster (10*/2800/2600/WATER/Sea Serpent/Effect)]

"Water Dragon Cluster's effect! For the rest of this turn, all your Effect Monsters have their attack points become 0, and they cannot activate their effects!"

Rebellion Member 5: 2800 - 600 = 2200LP

Okay, the attack points didn't matter, but… why had he done that?

"Then, I'll activate the Field Spell, Chemical Bonding Lab!"

"… huh." Shino tilted her head. "You know that Masquerade's effect isn't an activated effect, right…?"

Crickets chirped.

"It's not?" Their opponent said, sounding genuinely confused.

"Nope. It's continuous—you're just paying an extra cost."

"… oh."

Rebellion Member 5: 2200 - 600 = 1600LP

"… Chemical Bonding Lab's effect. I'll draw two cards since I control Water Dragon Cluster." The boy numbly picked up the two cards as Masquerade's flames burned him again.

Rebellion Member 5: 1600 - 600 = 1000LP

"… I'll set a card and end my turn."

[Turn 8: Rebellion Member 6] [H:5]

The girl glanced at her hand—next to her, the loud boy from earlier scoffed. "Just take your turn and get rid of that dragon," he muttered.

"It's hard," the girl protested. "I don't have a Battle Phase… my entire deck—"

"So what? It doesn't matter as long as we crush them!"

"… okay, Maeda-san." The girl gulped, reaching for a card in her hand. "Continuous Spell, Interdimensional Matter Forwarder!"

Rebellion Member 6: 4000 - 600 = 3400LP

"I'll use its effect! I'll target a monster on the field, banish it and return it to the field immediately." She pointed at Shino's dragon. "I choose your Masquerade the Blazing Dragon!"

"… and he'll forget that he was Fusion Summoned," Shino said. "… hmm. Okay." Masquerade seemed to blip out of existence for a moment, before returning. Their opponent's life points fell, but that was the last set of life points that would be taken by that particular card. Ryo was honestly somewhat surprised that they'd already managed to counter it.

There were very few cards as troublesome as Shino's dragon, after all—a card that punished you just for making an attempt .

Rebellion Member 6: 3400 - 600 = 2800LP

"I'll Normal Summon White Magician Pikeru," the girl said timidly. On her field, a girl with pink hair appeared, wearing a yellow and white robe.

[White Magician Pikeru (2*/1200/0/LIGHT/Spellcaster/Effect)]

"Then, I'll activate the Field Spell, Protection of the Princesses! Once per turn, when I control a "Pikeru" or "Curran" monster, I can discard a card and Special Summon a monster with one of those conditions, but a different name from my deck, ignoring summoning conditions. Come—Princess Pikeru!" A version of the girl dressed in a poofy white dress landed on the field, letting out a sneeze.

[Princess Pikeru (4*/2000/0/LIGHT/Spellcaster/Effect)]

"Then, I'll activate the Spell Card, Monster Reborn! Come back, Fire Princess!" A woman with ashen grey hair appeared on the field, dressed in red robes.

[Fire Princess (4*/1300/1500/FIRE/Pyro/Effect)]

"I'll end my turn!"

Just like that…? "Cyber Network's effect," Ryo said stoically—their opponent turning off Masquerade's effect at least had some upside for them. "I will banish a copy of Cyber Dragon Zwei."

[Turn 9: Rebellion Member 7] [H:5]

"I'll start my turn!" The loudmouth declared.

"Pikeru's effect activates," the girl who'd taken the previous turn interjected. "Both of them. Usually it only activates during my Standby Phase, but my Field Spell lets it activate during any other Standby Phase as well… I gain 400 life points and 800 life points respectively."

The girl's life points shot up.

Rebellion Member 6: 2800 + 800 + 400 = 4000LP

"Then, Fire Princess will inflict 500 damage to you each time I gain life points!" She pointed at Ryo—fireballs shot past him.

Ryo: 3000 - 500 - 500 = 2000LP

"Good," the boy said. He took a step forward, looking at Ryo. "Hey, Hell Kaiser!" He sneered. "You know, I've been waiting to meet you."

"... who are you?" Ryo said, narrowing his eyes.

"Oh, no one important." The boy shook his head. "No one important at all. Not to you, at least. After all, you probably don't even recognise my name. Maeda ." He stressed his own last name again. "It's a name that belongs to someone else, you know. My cousin. Hayato Maeda. He was a student at Academia once, you know."

Ryo searched his memories. He… didn't remember a person by that name.

"He was a bumbling idiot who got held back a few grades, but he was my cousin, and I loved him." The boy took another step forward. "And he was too kind for his own good! He just wanted to draw cards, not fight! So of course he tried to leave! And do you remember who carded him, Hell Kaiser Ryo Marufuji? Because I sure do!"

… the implication was clear. Ryo still didn't remember who the boy was talking about, but… he believed it, at least. He'd carded several people in Academia's name before, traitors and foes alike.

"So, I've been waiting to avenge him." The boy pointed at him. "Fate saw fit to give me the first Battle Phase—everyone else has set it up so that there's no hope for either of you! I'll crush you now, Hell Kaiser! Spell Card, Obedience Schooled! I'll Special Summon three Level 2 or lower Beast monsters with different names from my deck, but their effects are negated and they are destroyed during the End Phase! Come! Wrecker Panda, Sea Koala, Tree Otter!" On the field, three monsters appeared—all of them were remarkably small and… kind of cute, for such a loudmouth.

[Wrecker Panda (2*/800/800/EARTH/Beast/Effect)]

[Sea Koala (2*/100/1600/EARTH/Beast/Effect)]

[Tree Otter (2*/1200/100/WATER/Beast/Effect)]

"I'll then activate the effect of Alpha, the Master of Beasts in my hand! I'll Special Summon him from my hand, since your monsters have a higher total attack points than mine, Kaiser!" An enormous dark beast with an orange mane appeared on the field, letting out a roar.

[Alpha, the Master of Beasts (8*/3000/2500/EARTH/Beast/Effect)]

"And I will activate—"

"Sadly," Shino said from where she was sitting down, "I'm not going to let you do that." The boy blinked—it seemed that he had completely forgotten that she was sitting there. "Alpha, the Master of Beasts lets you return your Beasts to your hand—so that way you get three more cards in your hand. Then, you can return our monsters to the hand. And you've done your research." Her voice was rather composed—she was still smiling. "Alpha doesn't target, so you think that it'll bypass Cyber Eternity Dragon's protection effect. Right?"

"Who—"

"... but I'll never let you have the chance to activate its effect," Shino continued. "Quickplay Spell, Branded in Red." She revealed her set card. "I will add Fallen of Albaz from my graveyard to my hand. Then, I will Fusion Summon by banishing materials from my hand or field. I will banish Lubellion the Searing Dragon on my field and Fallen of Albaz in my hand!" The two cards vanished from the field.

… there were a few monsters that she could be summoning, but only one that she would be.

"Mirror, mirror, on the wall," Shino declared determinedly. "Cruel ice bleeds into the empty glass. Reflections. Empty fighting. A cold grip. Submerge in the frozen jade, young legend, and forbid entry to the unworthy! Fusion Summon. Level 8! Mirrorjade the Iceblade Dragon!" Her ace appeared on the field—the bright, beautiful dragon of ice crystals and dark, bloody red.

[Mirrorjade the Iceblade Dragon (8*/3000/2500/DARK/Wyrm/Fusion/Effect)]

"So?" The boy said, sounding annoyed. "I—"

"The game state isn't open for you yet," Shino shot back. "Branded Lost's effect! I'll add another monster that lists Albaz from my deck to my hand." She picked up the card. "... now you can have it."

"... whatever. It's not like it changes anything! I'll activate Alpha's effect!"

"... to hear someone explain that they know everything that you're planning on doing, and then think that they don't have a way to counter it," Ryo said. For all that the boy's anger made sense to him, he still wasn't holding back his words. "... how foolish."

"What he said," Shino said. "Tri-Brigade Mercourier's effect! I'll discard it from my hand and negate that effect!" Alpha let out a growl, but its effect fizzled out a moment later.

"... whatever! I'll tribute Sea Koala and Wrecker Panda to Tribute Summon Behemoth the King of All Animals!" A large, snarling pink beast that seemed like a mix of a lot of different animal species landed on the field—it wasn't identifiable as any one animal. It had a thick purple mane.

[Behemoth the King of All Animals (7*/2700/1500/EARTH/Beast/Effect)]

"I'll activate Behemoth's effect! The tributed monsters return to my hand!" He picked up both cards. "Spell Card, Polymerization! I'll fuse Sea Koala in my hand with Tree Otter on the field!" The two monsters vanished from the field. "Come, the great aquatic beast from down under! Fusion Summon! Koalo-Koala!" A large, black furry koala appeared on the field, standing on its hind legs, a bushy otter-like tail behind it.

[Koalo-Koala (6*/2800/200/EARTH/Beast/Fusion/Effect)]

"Spell Card, Fusion Recovery! I'll take back my Polymerization and Sea Koala!" He picked up both cards, giving him three cards in hand. "Spell Card, Graceful Charity! I'll draw three cards and discard Sea Koala and Wrecker Panda! Then, the Spell Card, Sacred Sword of Seven Stars! I'll banish the Level 7 Behemoth on my field and draw two cards."

Ryo narrowed his eyes. He's looking for a specific card—enough to give up a monster already on the field.

… it's a specific fusion material.

"Got it," the boy said with a smirk. "Meet the beast from down under! Spell Card, Polymerization! I'll fuse Big Koala and Des Kangaroo! Fusion Summoning the one, the only—Master of Oz!" An enormous large green beast with red boxing gloves landed on the field.

[Master of Oz (9*/4200/3700/EARTH/Beast/Fusion)]

"This card was my cousin's favourite card, Kaiser Ryo Marufuji! And it'll be the one to bring your downfall! I—"

Shino interjected, chaining her effect to the summon. "When a Fusion, Synchro, Xyz or Link Monster is Special Summoned, Dramaturge of Despia allows me to negate the effects of a monster on the field until the end of this turn! I'll target Koalo-Koala!" The oceanic beast fell to the ground, still snarling.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" The boy demanded. "You're getting in my way!"

"… of course I'm getting in your way," Shino said, as though it was the most natural thing in the world. "What else would I be doing?"

"Didn't you hear what I said? He killed my cousin!"

"… I heard you loud and clear," Shino said. She crossed her arms in front of her on her lap. "… of course you have a right to be upset over your cousin's death. And of course you have a right to be angry at Ryo."

"Then, if you can understand that—"

"But unfortunately for you, I've never been a good person either," Shino continued. "And my priority is always to protect those I love."

Those she loved…

"So, I'm sorry he did that to you. But I cannot, and will not let you have your way."

"... then fine! It's not like your monsters have good attack points anyway!" The boy gritted his teeth. "You're just as horrible as he is! Master of Oz attacks Mirrorjade the Iceblade Dragon!"

"... Mirrorjade's effect. I'll send a Fusion Monster that lists "Fallen of Albaz" as material from my deck to the graveyard." Shino slipped a card in the graveyard, but she specifically didn't say its name—it was her Albion the Branded Dragon.

… interesting.

"Then, I'll banish a monster you control. I'll banish your Master of Oz. Reflection Implosion!"

The monster vanished from the field—and then, the boy, Maeda, laughed.

"Eat shit. When my monster leaves the field by an effect, I can banish Doomstar Ulka from my hand to bring it back!" The large monster reappeared. "Crush that monster!"

"... actually," Shino said, "that's completely fine." The large koala punched her dragon directly, destroying it—Shino's life points fell.

Shino: 4000 - 1200 = 2800LP

… you can defend yourself against that, can't you? So why are you…

"Koalo-Koala attacks Masquerade the Blazing Dragon!"

Why didn't you activate Quaeritis's effect during the Main Phase?

The attack hit, crushing the red dragon—Shino shrugged off the hit.

Shino: 2800 - 100 = 2700LP

"And Alpha, the Master of Beasts attacks Despian Quaeritis!"

"... I'll Special Summon The Golden Swordsoul from my hand and negate that attack." The warrior appeared on the field, holding up his sword to block the hit.

[The Golden Swordsoul (4*/1800/1500/LIGHT/Spellcaster/Tuner/Effect)]

"Then, your monster is destroyed." The large beast shattered to pieces.

"You—"

"... the fact that you swapped targets to me the moment that I stopped you," Shino pointed out, "shows your priorities, right?"

"What the hell does that mean?"

"You're more concerned with shutting people up than actually taking revenge," Shino said. It was far more blunt than Ryo had ever heard her be. "And I'm not easy to keep quiet."

"… screw you," the boy muttered bitterly. "… it's fine. You'll run out of cards. I end my turn."

"During your End Phase, the monster I sent to the graveyard by Mirrorjade's effect activates its effect." Once again, Shino skirted around saying the name. "I will set a "Branded" Spell or Trap from my deck!" A single set card appeared on her field. "And, Ryo…"

"Cyber Network's effect," Ryo added. "I will banish Cyber Dragon Drei from the deck. With its effect, I'll target Cyber Dragon Sieger."

"Banish as many monsters as you want! It won't be enough!" The boy sounded furious. "We'll still cut you two down!"

"… will you?" Shino said. Bright blue crystals of ice formed, orbiting around her. "I could easily have protected Mirrorjade, you know. But I gave him up because I knew Ryo could handle you all—all I have to do is open the way."

"What…?"

"During the End Phase of the turn that Mirrorjade the Iceblade Dragon is sent to the graveyard after being Fusion Summoned," Shino declared, "all monsters on my opponent's field are destroyed. And in a Battle Royale like this—all of you are my opponents!"

"It's like that damned Yuri's card!" One of the other students said, sounding frightened.

"You could say that," Shino said. She was still smiling—but there was something resigned to it. "In this case, mine takes after his." Behind her, the vengeful spirit of Mirrorjade re-emerged, its body translucent. "Sanctuary Shattering Strike!"

Mirrorjade flew up.

"But you're nuking his field too!" One of the girls protested.

"... the monster targeted by Cyber Dragon Drei's effect is immune to battle or effect destruction this turn," Ryo said. "And while I have a Machine Fusion Monster in my graveyard, Cyber Eternity Dragon is immune to targeting and destruction effects."

"I would never pull off a move that would cost my partner anything," Shino said—winking, in a brief moment of levity. "Break this field, Mirrorjade!"

And the dragon roared—it rained down ice crystals. Most of the Fusion Monsters shattered and were destroyed—the Water Dragon card vanished, as did the three princesses, the strange tennis monster, the doll, all the beasts and uh. The strange fairy king.

Only one monster survived the field nuke—Chthonian Strategist. The boy with the monster coughed. "Chthonian Strategist can't be destroyed by battle or card effects," he explained.

On another field, four monsters surfaced. "When Mokey Mokey King is destroyed, I'll Special Summon all Mokey Mokeys from my graveyard," the girl declared—the four fairies dancing around. "Mokey Mokey Adrift counts too…"

[Mokey Mokey (1*/300/100/LIGHT/Fairy/Effect)]

Still…

"That way, her Fire Princess can't keep burning us," Shino concluded.

"... you know, without you, I would have had to play for a far longer duel," Ryo commented. To gather resources, at least.

"Without you? I don't have lethal." Shino smiled at him. "I have your back. It's what you asked me for, right?"

Ryo thought about her earlier words.

"I've never been a good person either."

… the implication, of course, being that she did not think Ryo was a good person at all. Come to think of it, her speaking up and drawing attention to herself… might have been an attempt to divert attention from him.

But…

[Turn 10: Rebellion Member 1] [H:3]

"My turn," the first player—the one with the tennis cards—said, drawing a card. He seemed nervous. "I'll activate Service Ace and banish a card from my hand!"

Ryo watched him evenly. "It's a monster," he said. The card fizzled out.

"H-huh?"

"You all clearly recognise me," he said. "And clearly you know that my Cyber Asterism Dragon deals piercing damage—so you've abandoned the thought of setting a monster to protect yourself. Your set trap, Receive Ace, must then defend against direct attacks without targeting—and likely inflicts effect damage as well. In that case, if you had a Smash Ace in your hand, you would already have used it against me and used Service Ace against Shino instead. You didn't —meaning that you don't have Smash Ace. A monster is useless to you. So—of course that's what you banished. And that's the identity of the last card in your hand as well."

The boy swallowed slowly. "I end my turn," he muttered. Before he did, Ryo banished one more card with Network.

[Turn 11: Rebellion Member 2] [H:3]

"Draw," the girl said. Her Doll Parts had all already been destroyed. "I will activate the Spell Card, Dark Factory of Mass Production, to add Doll Part Pink and Doll Part Gold to my hand… then, I'll use Graceful Charity to draw three cards and discard two!"

So she must have added them back to use them as discard fodder…

"I'll Normal Summon Doll Part Pink again!"

… maybe not.

"I'll activate the Spell Card, Doll Hammer. I'll destroy Doll Part Pink to draw two cards—and change your Cyber Eternity Dragon to Defense Position. This effect doesn't target. Now, I'll activate the Spell Card, Door to Mirrorland. Since I have Alice the Wandering Doll in my graveyard—or at least, Doll Mechanicus, who is treated as her—I can Special Summon Eshila the Lovely Bisque Doll from my deck!" A plain-looking brown haired doll in a pink dress appeared on the field, a dull expression on her face.

[Eshila the Lovely Bisque Doll (2*/1000/300/LIGHT/Spellcaster/Effect)]

"And Eshila gains 1000 attack points since I have four different "Doll Part" monsters in my graveyard!"

[Eshila the Lovely Bisque Doll: 1000 + 1000 = 2000ATK]

… four? She must have discarded the fourth one with Graceful Charity, along with Doll Part Gold.

"I'll then equip Eshila with One-Shot Wand." A golden staff appeared in the girl's left hand. "She gains 800 attack points."

[Eshila the Lovely Bisque Doll: 2000 + 800 = 2800ATK]

"Then, Spell Card, Spellbook of Power. Eshila gains 1000 more attack points."

[Eshila the Lovely Bisque Doll: 2800 + 1000 = 3800ATK]

"Finally, Equip Spell, Shine Palace! Eshila gains 700 more attack points!"

[Eshila the Lovely Bisque Doll: 3800 + 700 = 4500ATK]

"Eshila attacks—"

"Despian Quaeritis's effect," Shino declared. "During the Main Phase, I can force every monster on the field, except Level 8 or higher Fusion Monsters, to change their attack points to 0! Cry of Absolute Despair!"

Quaeritis shrieked —the entire field shook, and the doll flinched, its attack points falling.

[Eshila the Lovely Bisque Doll: 4500 → 0ATK]

[Cyber Dragon Sieger: 2100 → 0ATK]

"Why didn't you…"

"Your friend had Master of Oz," Shino pointed out. "He'd just have attacked Ryo's Cyber Dragon Sieger."

As he'd expected. And that was why she'd been forced to use more resources just to protect Quaeritis—all so she wouldn't be a burden to him.

Because that was the kind of person that Shino was.

The girl ended her turn, still looking upset. As was tradition, Ryo used Cyber Network's effect before starting his turn.

[Turn 12: Ryo] [H:1]

"Draw!"

"Do you have it?" Shino asked.

"… not yet. Though I trust if I do not draw it, you can pick off the scraps," Ryo said, shooting her a nod. "I will activate the Spell Card, Graceful Charity! I will draw three cards—and discard two!"

He looked at the three cards.

There it is.

He kept one of the cards, casting the others into the graveyard.

"Cyber Dragon Herz's effect. Since I sent it to the graveyard—I'll take my Cyber Dragon from my deck." He picked up the card. "Cyber Network's effect. I will banish Cyber Ouroboros from my deck—and then, I can discard a card from my hand and draw a card with Ouroboros's effect."

He glanced at the two cards.

… good.

"I'll use the effect of the Continuous Spell, Cyberdark Realm—to immediately Normal Summon Cyberdark Edge!" A dark bird-like creature appeared on the field.

[Cyberdark Edge (4*/800/800/DARK/Machine/Effect)]

"Edge's effect. I will equip a Level 3 or lower Dragon monster from my graveyard to it. I will equip Cyberdark Claw." He narrowed his eyes. "... then, Field Spell, Cyberdark Inferno. With its effect, I will return Cyberdark Edge to my hand!" He picked up the card—Claw shattered. "Then, I can Normal Summon Edge again." The dark avian machine reappeared. "Claw's effect activates since it was sent to the graveyard while equipped to a monster. I will add it back to my hand." He picked up the card. "Edge's effect. It equips Cannon from the graveyard."

"You're looping it," Shino said appreciatively.

"I'll activate the effect of Claw in my hand! I will discard it and add another "Cyberdark" Spell or Trap from my deck to my hand—I will add another copy of Realm from my deck to my hand and activate it. And Realm will add Cyberdark Cannon to my hand." Ryo gestured forward. "Open, the circuit of cybernetic honour! Arrowhead confirmed! The conditions are a non-Link Machine monster with 1000 or less attack points. I will set Cyberdark Edge in the Link Markers. Knight that brings forth antiquity and imagination, emerge now! Circuit Combine! Link Summon! Link 1! Clockwork Knight!"

A monster that appeared like a toy soldier appeared on the field—gleaming with grey gears all over its otherwise brightly-coloured white, gold and red body.

[Clockwork Knight (L1/500/EARTH/Machine/Link/Effect/)]

"Clockwork Knight and Cyberdark Cannon's effects activate," Ryo continued. "Cannon allows me to draw a card. Then, Knight will send my first Cyberdark Realm to the graveyard—I'll add the Continuous Spell, Clockwork Night to my hand."

He now had three cards in his hand.

"I'll use my proper Normal Summon for Cyber Dragon Core." The far smaller, larva-like version of Cyber Dragon appeared on the field.

[Cyber Dragon Core (2*/400/1500/LIGHT/Machine/Effect)]

"Core's effect. I'll add a "Cyber" Spell or Trap from my deck to my hand!" He flicked the card through the air, briefly revealing it before sliding it into his hand. "Clockwork Knight's effect. By tributing another Machine monster, I can Special Summon a Machine monster with 1000 or less attack points from my graveyard in Defense Position. Tributing Core—return from the graveyard—Cyberdark Chimera!" The strange, messily sharp monster appeared on the field again. "Cyberdark Chimera's effect. I will discard a Spell or Trap—like my Clockwork Night—to the graveyard to add Power Bond from my deck to my hand."

"Ryo…" Shino cast him a worried look.

"... there's nothing to worry about," Ryo said. "Spell Card, Power Bond! With the effect of Cyberdark Chimera, I can fuse using monsters from my graveyard as well. I will banish Cyberdark Edge, Cyberdark Horn and—" He revealed the other card he'd discarded with Graceful Charity this turn. "Cyberdark Keel from the graveyard. Darkness begets the greedy march of perfection! Fusion Summon! Come to me now—Cyberdark Dragon!"

The combined form of the three monsters emerged on the field—an enormous dark dragon of sharp edges.

[Cyberdark Dragon (8*/1000/1000/DARK/Machine/Fusion/Effect)]

"Cyberdark Chimera sends one more copy of Cyberdark Cannon from my deck to the graveyard. Power Bond doubles Cyberdark Dragon's attack points!"

[Cyberdark Dragon: 1000 x 2 = 2000ATK]

"Cyberdark Dragon's effect. It equips a Dragon monster from my graveyard—but since I control Cyberdark Realm, I can take it from my opponent's graveyard instead." He turned to Shino, who was smiling.

"Yup! You want Mirrorjade, right? Here you—"

"No," Ryo said. "That's not what I want."

Shino blinked. "But the only other monster with enough attack points is—" She stopped talking, eyes widening. "Ryo… you can't seriously…"

"Can't seriously what?" He arched an eyebrow. "You think that I of all people can't tell how obviously you're holding yourself back? How much more you could have done on your turn?"

"Ryo—"

"You're holding yourself back because of a name. And I won't allow you to do that—I asked you to give your best, when you're dueling with me."

"It's not your call."

"I know your will has nothing to do with me," Ryo said sternly. "And I'm not asking for permission. Everyone at Academia knows who you are—why does it matter if you have a name here too?"

"This isn't an epithet to throw around lightly!"

"And yet it's an epithet that locks away your strongest strategies because you refuse to show yourself," Ryo said. "I will not let you hide yourself. I will not let you hide your strength. And I will not let you be looked down on as nothing but an accessory to me in this duel, not when you have a name of your own."

"... you're so cruel," Shino murmured. She was looking away from him—her fringe covered her eyes.

"I'm not asking, I'm simply declaring ." Ryo gestured forward. "Cyberdark Dragon's target is Albion the Branded Dragon!"

Shino wordlessly waved a hand in response, even as their opponents gaped at Shino. The red spirit of the dragon formed, floating behind Cyberdark Dragon—its aura surrounded the dark dragon, empowering it.

[Cyberdark Dragon: 2000 + 2500 = 4500ATK]

"Albion?" The boy shouted. "Then—you are—" He took a step forward. The next words that left his lips were ones that Ryo didn't expect. "You're Albion? You came back to Lilitu?"

… came back? As in—

"You're one of us, aren't you?" The boy spat out. "You're Albion, the one who made it out! You're justice and freedom! So why did you come back under Academia's banner?"

Still no answer left Shino's lips.

"Answer me, Albion! How can you work for a filthy place like that? How can you work with a filthy man like that?"

Realisation dawned on Ryo.

"This isn't an epithet to throw around lightly!"

… this is far more complicated of a situation than I thought it was. I thought that she was holding back to avoid incriminating herself, and she was, but it's even more than that.

So this is why you know the terrain this well, this is why you know its history, this is why you know how to survive here.

This is your hometown.

"You—"

"... it's the Kaiser's turn," Shino said distantly.

"Are they controlling you?" The boy demanded. "You can change sides! They say you fight for what's right, fight to protect—you should know that you're on the wrong side!"

"It's been a decade," Shino returned. "Time passes and people can change. I have nothing more to say about that."

The story spread about you throughout the Outer Islands was that you were a monster that tore through armies by yourself. But I suppose that's only one side of history. I suppose that to other kids like you, who grew up in Lilitu…

You must have looked like a hero.

… oh.

Oh. You weren't scared of being found out. You weren't running from your past. You were hiding it because you didn't want to break their hearts.

… as always, I fail to understand your good intentions, Shino Gitsune.

Why is it that I always make this mistake? To assume that your intentions are what they seem to be on the surface level, when I know you're not that simple to understand? I wanted to push you to fight, and I do not regret it, but I've also hurt you with this.

… I apologise. I suppose the best thing that I can do for you is to make this process easier for you.

"I will activate the Spell Card, Overload Fusion. I'll banish two copies of Cyber Dragon from my graveyard, along with Cyber Dragon Herz and Cyber Dragon Core!" The three monsters vanished. "Appear, chimeric paradox! With the destruction that runs through your body, bring me victory! Fusion Summon! Level 5! Chimeratech Rampage Dragon!" The white, fiendish dragon that glowed both green and red appeared on the field with a loud roar, writhing.

[Chimeratech Rampage Dragon (5*/2100/1600/DARK/Machine/Fusion/Effect)]

"Rampage Dragon's effect. I used four materials for its Fusion Summon—thus, I can destroy four Spell or Trap Cards on the field! I will destroy two of your set cards, as well as Chemical Bonding Lab and Mokey Mokey Adversity!" The face-up card, as well as Receive Ace, Chemical Bonding Lab and the Water Dragon duelist's other card shattered. "Then, I will send two more LIGHT Machine monsters from my deck to the graveyard, and Rampage Dragon gains two more attacks this turn!" The dragon roared loudly. "I sent Cyber Dragon Funf to the graveyard with Rampage Dragon's effect. With its effect, I can Special Summon it from the graveyard." A thin white dragon with purple orbs around its body appeared, its eyes glowing with the same purple light.

[Cyber Dragon Funf (4*/1600/2100/LIGHT/Machine/Effect)]

"Finally, I'll send Clockwork Knight, Cyber Dragon Funf and Cyberdark Chimera from my field to the graveyard. Tempestuous dragon that destroys the strongest of defences! Contact Fusion!"

On the field, an enormous purple monster appeared, letting out a roar. Cerulean orbs could be seen embedded in the dragon's body. As it opened its mouth, bright blue light could be seen glowing on the inside of its mouth as it charged up a laser.

"Meet Chimeratech Fortress Dragon," Ryo concluded.

[Chimeratech Fortress Dragon (8*/0/0/DARK/Machine/Fusion/Effect)]

"Fortress Dragon's attack points are equal to 1000 times the number of materials used for its Fusion Summon," Ryo said calmly.

[Chimeratech Fortress Dragon: 0 + 1000 x 3 = 3000ATK]

"Before I enter the Battle Phase..." He turned to Shino. "There's a reason that all my monsters are now Fusion Monsters, save for Sieger. Shino..."

"Despian Quaeritis's effect," Shino said. She still wasn't looking at him. "Your Eshila returns to zero attack points again. Cry of Absolute Despair." The girl with the dolls winced.

Ryo nodded towards Shino in thanks, though she still wasn't looking at him.

"Battle Phase! Cyber Dragon Sieger's effect! Rampage Dragon gains 2100 attack points, but you take no damage from Sieger's attacks this turn!"

[Chimeratech Rampage Dragon: 2100 + 2100 = 4200ATK]

"Chimeratech Rampage Dragon attacks you three directly!" He gestured towards three of their opponents—the one who had played the Pikeru cards, the tennis player and… the boy, Maeda.

… it would be incorrect to say that Ryo did not feel guilty about the boy's cousin. It would be even more incorrect to say that he had taken any pleasure in the act—even if Ryo did not remember who exactly this person was, he had never taken pleasure in carding others.

But…

I am perfectly capable of accepting the sins that I have committed. Naturally, my loyalty is to Academia and this greater goal that the Professor is after.

Killing is never easy, but it is necessary.

Rebellion Member 7: 4000 - 4200 = 0LP

Rebellion Member 6: 4000 - 4200 = 0LP

Rebellion Member 1: 4000 - 4200 = 0LP

"God damn it!" The boy spat out as he was knocked to the ground.

Ryo whirled around, turning to the Chthonian duelist. "Shino's burned you just enough, I believe," he said. "Cyber Eternity Dragon attacks Chthonian Strategist! And even if your monster cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects, you still take the damage!" The silver-gold dragon struck forward—crushing the next opponent.

Rebellion Member 4: 3400 - 3600 = 0LP

"Chimeratech Fortress Dragon!" He gestured to the boy who had previously summoned the large water dragon—he had so few life points left from Shino's burn damage that the weaker monster managed to take him down.

Rebellion Member 5: 1000 - 3000 = 0LP

"And your doll's in Attack Position, so you're open," Ryo concluded, turning back to the girl whose monster had been sabotaged by Quaeritis. "Cyberdark Dragon attacks Eshila!" The dark dragon roared. "It gains 100 attack points for every monster in my graveyard—but even without counting that, it's more than enough to finish you." The dragon's claws slashed through the air, knocking the girl back.

Rebellion Member 2: 4000 - 4500 = 0LP

And then there was one.

… the one with four Mokey Mokeys on the field, though the Continuous Spell was gone.

"... it does appear that I've run out of monsters, haven't I?" Ryo said offhandedly. "... allow me to fix that. Quickplay Spell!" He placed down the card that Cyber Dragon Core had searched out. "Cyberload Fusion! I will Fusion Summon using materials on my field and from my face-up banished cards!"

The face of their last opponent went white . "Your Cyber Network…"

"I'll return two Cyber Dragon Cores, Cyber Dragon Drei, Cyber Ouroboros, Cyberdark Horn, Cyberdark Keel and Cyberdark Edge, two copies of Cyber Dragon Herz, Cyber Valley, two copies of Cyber Dragon and Cyber Pharos to the deck from my graveyard—and to clear out a single space on the field, I'll shuffle Clockwork Knight into the Extra Deck!" The monsters all shot back into the deck—fourteen materials.

"So that has to be… your ace…?"

"Mechanical dragon with the power of the future, descend now, reborn and bathed in starlight. With your three heads that roar in judgement, overcome chaos and instill order! Fusion Summon! Level 10! The beginning and end of evolution—Cyber Asterism Dragon!" Ryo's ace appeared on the field, its silver-grey metal body covered with white stars in patterns—its three heads all stared down at the final opponent. The silver circlet on its head glowed, chains of red gems surrounding the dragon's head as it let out a roar.

[Cyber Asterism Dragon (10*/4000/2800/LIGHT/Machine/Fusion/Effect)]

"With fourteen materials, Cyber Asterism Dragon gains all its effects," Ryo said. "So—once per turn, it can negate a card or effect. It is unaffected by Spells and Traps during the Battle Phase. It gains 1000 attack points for each other Machine monster on the field."

The dragon reared up its head, light glowing from within its mouth.

[Cyber Asterism Dragon: 4000 + 1000 x 5 = 9000ATK]

"And finally," Ryo said, "it deals piercing damage." He pointed towards the Mokey Mokey on the field. "Do it, Cyber Asterism Dragon! Evolving Stellar Burst!"

Asterism Dragon tilted its head all the way up to the sky—and then lowered it sharply, forming a large laser that shot out, obliterating the entire field—

(And beneath the cover of the light, someone ran forward.)

Rebellion Member 3: 6500 - 8900 = 0LP

Winner: Ryo Marufuji & Shino Gitsune!

Ryo sighed, turning his head to say something—after all, he knew he'd wronged Shino somewhat—

Her eyes widened. "Ryo! Watch out!"

Ryo whirled around—as the blade of a knife sunk straight into his abdomen.

"I won't let you card everyone," Maeda sneered. "If I can't beat you that way, I'll do it this way! This knife's got poison on it, Kaiser. You can't hide like that!"

It didn't hurt much, but… Ryo could feel the immediate effects of something creeping through his body. His vision was flickering, and then—

---

Do you really think you can leave your past self behind?

As the trickle of red slipped down the knife, Shino's gaze followed it.

He was bleeding. He was—

The boy was about to pull out the knife. Before he could, Shino's fingers caught his wrist—

Snap .

The boy howled in pain. If Shino was in her right mind, she would wince. (She did not.)

With her index finger, she pressed against a certain spot on his wrist, forcing his fingers open and loosening his grip, forcing him to let go. At the same time, she pulled Ryo close to her—he wasn't moving.

If it's a poison, you can figure it out. It may just be a paralytic. You can fix this if you get away from them.

(Don't panic.)

The boy was drawing back his wrist, a look of absolute terror on his face. He looked like he'd run his wrist straight through a machine—torn skin, distorted muscles that had been shredded under the skin—and Shino had felt the bones in his wrist shatter. Maybe four or five of the smaller bones, and definitely the radius bone. "What the fuck!" He exclaimed.

Shino balanced Ryo over her shoulder, before she pushed the wheelchair backwards, supporting him on her shoulder. She had to check on his wound. She kept her other hand on the knife, making sure that it didn't come out.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I know that to you, the two of us are in the wrong—but I can't let you hurt him either."

… it sucked .

A good person would have defected a long time ago. A loyal person would card every single person in front of her right now.

The Shino of ten years ago would…

No.

When she spoke up, her voice was hoarse with exhaustion, worry and fury. "Don't follow us. If you try to do anything more… I'll have no choice but to fight back."

She glanced at the ruined state of the boy's wrist.

… I didn't want to have to do this again. I thought I could just solve things without laying a hand on another person.

… I'm a fool.

She turned around and left. Behind her, there was the sound of pained cursing—

But in the end, no footsteps trailed behind.

---

OC Cards:

Duke of Tennis

(7*/2000/0/EARTH/Warrior/Fusion/Effect)

"The Big Server" + 1 "Ball" monster

If this card is Fusion Summoned: Excavate the top 7 cards of your Deck, and if you do, set all excavated "Service Ace", "Smash Ace" or "Receive Ace" to your field, and send all other revealed cards to the GY. You cannot activate Spell Cards for the rest of this turn, other than Spells set on your field by this effect. During the End Phase, you can activate this effect: Special Summon Level 3 or lower "Ball" monsters from your Deck, up to the number of "Service Ace", "Smash Ace" and/or "Receive Ace" activated this turn. You can only activate each effect of "Duke of Tennis" once per turn.

Trivia: Obviously a reference to a certain anime name, though I've never watched it, I've just heard the name. 2000 ATK for being released in the 2000s. Intentionally busted as all hell. And… yeah, okay. I'm hysterical over the fact that this guy's entire deck in the anime was tennis cards and balls.

Doll Mechanicus

(6*/0/0/DARK/Spellcaster/Fusion/Effect)

"Alice the Wandering Doll" + 1 "Doll Part" monster

This card's name is treated as "Alice the Wandering Doll" on the field and in the GY. If this card is Fusion Summoned: You can Special Summon 2 "Doll Part" monsters from your Deck in Defense Position, but they cannot be used as materials for a Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, Ritual or Link Summon this turn. While you control this face-up card, if your opponent's monster declares an attack: You can target 1 other face-up monster with lower ATK than that monster on the field; change the attack target to that card, and if you do, "Doll" monsters you control cannot be destroyed by battle for the rest of this turn. You can only activate each effect of "Doll Mechanicus" once per turn.

Mokey Mokey Adversity

(Spell/Continuous)

While you control this card, you take no damage from battles involving "Mokey Mokey" monsters. Once per turn, during your Main Phase: You can Special Summon 1 "Mokey Mokey" monster from your hand or GY, and if you do, you can inflict 500 damage to your opponent. During your End Phase: Gain 500 LP for each "Mokey Mokey" monster on the field or in the GY. You can only activate each effect of "Mokey Mokey Adversity" once per turn.

Trivia: This was around the time when I realised that I was going insane in this duel. :)

Chthonian Strategist

(8*/2500/1000/DARK/Fiend/Fusion/Effect)

2 "Chthonian" monsters

This card cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects, also it cannot declare an attack if you control another FIRE monster. If a "Chthonian" monster on the field is destroyed by battle: You can Special Summon 1 "Chthonian" monster from your Deck or GY, then you can target 1 monster on the field that has declared an attack this turn, and if you do, gain LP equal to its ATK. If a FIRE monster you control declares an attack: You can inflict 1000 damage to your opponent. You can only activate each effect of "Chthonian Strategist" once per turn.

Chemical Bonding Lab

(Spell/Field)

If you control a "Water Dragon" monster: You can draw 2 cards. Once per turn, if a "Water Dragon" monster battles: You can banish 1 "geddon" or "terion" monster from your GY; Special Summon 1 Dinosaur monster from your Deck. You can only activate each effect of "Chemical Bonding Lab" once per turn.

Protection of the Princesses

(Spell/Field)

All effects of "Pikeru" and "Curran" cards you control that activate during your Standby Phase activate during either player's Standby Phase instead. If a "Pikeru" or "Curran" monster you control is targeted for an attack: You can send 1 LIGHT Spellcaster or DARK Spellcaster monster from your Deck to the GY; negate that attack. Once per turn, if you control a "Pikeru" or "Curran" monster: You can discard 1 card; Special Summon 1 "Pikeru" or "Curran" monster from your Deck with a different name from cards on your field, ignoring summoning conditions. You can only activate each effect of "Protection of the Princesses" once per turn.

Cyber Dragon Funf

(4*/1600/2100/LIGHT/Machine/Effect)

This card is treated as "Cyber Dragon" on the field and in the GY. If this card is sent to the GY while you have a banished "Cyber Dragon" monster(s): You can Special Summon this card. (Effects not fully revealed.)

---

Different Card Effects from TCG:

Smash Ace - Anime-only card.

Service Ace - Anime-only card.

Receive Ace - Anime-only card.

The Big Server - Anime-only card.

Alice the Wandering Doll + Doll Part cards - Anime-only cards.

Mefist the Infernal General - Translation issues, but it's a Chthonian card in Japanese.

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End Notes:

Alternate chapter names: Conquershipping the Chapter, Ryo and Shino's Mildly Traumatic Road Trip, Shino Being Cryptic For A Whole Chapter.

The name of this chapter was originally something else, but once I split it, I needed a proper name for it, so— 'The Rosary of Islands' is just a short phrase from Derek Walcott's The Star-Apple Kingdom.

Geography-wise, the Fusion Dimension's geography (at least, the mainland that we see + Academia) is based on Japan, and the Outer Islands are based on the southern islands in Japan. Lilitu is Okinawa. Obviously this isn't meant to be negative about Okinawa—in fact, it's because it was fascinating for me to read about its history (and its relationship with the US) that I based this place on it.

Admiral Amacis is of course the Admiral from GX, just because I thought it'd be a fun reference.

Two people on a ship together, very subtle metaphor, Blaise, wow. :3

Sunshowers are referred to as a "fox's wedding" in the folklore of most cultures. kitsune no yomeiri is standard Japanese for it, while chitsïni no niibichi is a rough Okinawan Ryukuan translation.

The town that Ryo and Shino find Daitokuji in, Okashiro, is a pun on 'okashi' and 'shiro'—okashi being candy, and shiro being white, aka Albion. Fitting of the hometown of Sora and Shino, no? :) The architecture of the town itself (before it was destroyed, anyway) resembles that of Dogmatika Nation's odd pointed buildings.

Gol Gonda Desert is a very dumb joke, I apologise. Wedju Desert, in this universe, is simply a desert city similar to Egypt, which exists south of the archipelago that Academia, the Outer Islands, etc are geographically located, on a different continent entirely. It is named after the Shrine of Wedju in GX's manga.

Originally, this chapter was supposed to have two battle royales where Ryo and Shino kicked the shit out of people. I realised that would get boring, so I cut one out. :) You already know what those duels would look like anyway. I don't know what I was smoking when I gave Fusion Monsters to fodder decks from GX, but… I don't regret it. I hope that duel was just as fun for everyone as it was for me. I gave myself the challenge of only getting to give each character one card to fix their deck (kinda), and to make it as busted as possible, since this is just cameo city. The duel was real fun though! We have Ryo's pure power (lowkey I could have configured that turn to give him enough power to take out like fifteen people, but I held back on that a bit) and Shino shutting down like six consecutive turns by their opponents—they work very well in tandem.

Cutting straight from "Masquerade's continuous?" to the LP counter dropping was lowkey really funny to me.

This chapter really does move back and forth—in the end, because of that and the length, I decided to split it. As a result, the notes are a bit more… vague here than usual, and a lot shorter, since I had to make sure I didn't spoil anything.

Review responses! Reminder to Guests that using a pseudonym is nice for me to identify you and respond to you more easily, especially if there's a lot of Guests.

To Bryz0n, yeah, Nue and Vector was a character dynamic that I was very excited to write! :) Glad you enjoyed!

To TheRealD3lph0xL0v3r, thanks for the review! :)

To Infernal Enby, aww, that's really sweet. I'm genuinely really glad that Tsubaki was a character that you managed to identify with. Gender dysphoria is a horrible feeling, and it's something that always comes back, but it does get better with time. I hope that someday, you'll be more comfortable in your skin! Rooting for you :)

To maryyassa523, it is a rather long fic, huh? I'm glad you like it for that. We still have a long way to go! The Mythrian Numbers don't really have that specific significance in that fic, but otherwise, heh, I do like cameoing them :) Also, I don't generally answer questions about possible future plot points, just because I like to keep things vague. Miharu and Chiaki's 'element of nature' was confirmed very early on in the story already though! :)

To Ben23ten, I'm so glad you enjoyed the chapter! The two centerpiece duels were very much some of the most fun duels I've written in a while :) And yeah, Ponix is broken, but he's also one of my favourite cards.

To the Guest asking what my next project after this is, it's probably going to be continuing both Shadow in the Mist and Twin Dragons. I do intend to do the manga version, either in like a short collection of ficlets or a full fic. I haven't decided yet.

To T.V. 2000, totally understand not being a fan of the Fire Kings! I'm personally just not a fan of Snake-Eye, but unfortunately I love phoenixes too much :) So glad you enjoyed the Vector moments, I wanted to give him some more time on screen!

To phantomdragons, well, gotta do my favourite Arc-V character justice :)

To the Guest talking about Miharu and Kaname, I'm sincerely glad that they helped you :)

To the Guest asking about my favourite summoning method (and I assume, whether I'll write a vanguard story), my fav method changes like every week. Right now, it's Fusion though. And Vanguard is a bit more difficult of a game to script. It's not on my radar right now!

To naruto, I don't take fic requests.

To the Guest asking if I'll ever consider writing a fic of just duels, not really. I like writing stuff with plot a bit too much.

To the final Guest, guest reviews are automatically held for 24h by ffnet unless I actively go and approve them, so that's why they don't appear for a while. And no, the fic is called Six Dimensions for a reason, so there won't be a seventh dimension.

Alright, I'll see you guys next time for the second half of this chapter :) I'm sure I haven't left anyone on a cliffhanger at all!