Starting Notes:
Welcome back to Six Dimensions in 2023! :) To welcome you back, here's a shorter chapter. Why? It's the same issue with Chapters 6 and 7—got too long, so I split it. To start off the year, let's welcome the fandom's favourite character! :) Uh, as a warning, don't get your hopes up. The duel that I mentioned with her got pushed back to next chapter, due to length issues. While there is a duel in this chapter, it's intentionally unsatisfying. Uh, let's get to it!
Chapter 14: A Moonlit Interlude
Everything felt blurry as Yuto slowly opened his eyes.
"Don't move suddenly," a voice chided. Yuto blinked. He had just woken up, and for some reason, he was in a hospital bed. He immediately felt a sharp pain in his right wrist. He slowly lifted it up above the blankets, seeing that there was a wrist brace tight around his hand and wrist.
"You broke your wrist," Nue said as Yuto turned over to her. "Shun was in here all night—he just left to go for the Maiami Championship match, but I'm sure he'll be back soon."
He broke his wrist?
"… what happened?" Yuto asked. His memories of the previous night were a complete blur. He had chased Sora, Yuya had showed up, then Yuno had showed up, and then their Synchro counterpart, Yugo, had shown up and revealed that he wasn't actually the enemy that Yuto had believed he was. Then… had he passed out?
"Do you want the truth?" Nue said, raising an eyebrow. "It might scare you a little."
"... just tell me, Nue," Yuto said.
Nue sighed. "Alright, listen up," she said seriously. "What I know is simply what we saw on the cameras yesterday night. The four of you with the same face met each other… and then, your eyes started glowing, and you started acting far more aggressively."
"My… eyes?" Yuto pressed a hand to his forehead, slightly uneasy.
"Yes. That happened to all four of you at the same time." Nue glanced away from him. "And then you all started a duel. Yuzu Hiiragi and Miharu Kogami showed up halfway through the duel. During the duel, Solid Vision capabilities seemed to be turned up to eleven, though no one at LDS can figure out why. An attack caused you to be thrown back, breaking your wrist."
Yuto touched the wrist brace with the fingers of his left hand gingerly.
"Kogami's bracelet seemed to do… something. It snapped Sugisaki out of whatever was happening to you all, anyway. He defeated Yuya Sakaki, and then, as you and the Synchro boy who shares your face approached him, Yuzu Hiiragi's bracelet teleported you two away. We still don't know where the other one went, but Rinsoka and I found you and brought you back here."
Yuto nodded, contemplating everything. As he reached out for a glass of water reflexively, his wrist jerked again and he winced. Grimacing, Nue held out the glass to him, and he took it with his uninjured hand.
"How long will this take to recover?" He asked.
"Right, you're the lucky kind that hasn't broken a limb before." Nue drummed her fingers on the table. "Six weeks at the minimum usually."
Six weeks.
That felt like a death sentence. Not being able to use his Duel Disk properly for six weeks… how much would he fall behind? Reiji had already mentioned his plans to gather warriors to fight Academia—would Yuto not be able to fight by their side at such a critical juncture?
Nue patted his shoulder, as though understanding what he was thinking about. "Reiji Akaba says that if you still want to duel, he's got some of the LDS engineers trying to create a duel disk that is easier for someone to use without having to exert their other hand too much. However, you won't be able to duel for the next few days."
… well. That wasn't as bad as he thought.
"So you carried me back here?"
"All the way here," Nue said. She raised an eyebrow. "What, do you doubt my arm strength?"
"No, but…" Yuto took a deep breath. "... you must have been worried about me. I apologise—I didn't think that dueling Shiun'in would snowball into such a strange series of events—"
"None of that." Nue looked directly at him. "You're my little brother, Yuto. If there's anyone I want to protect, beyond all else… it's you. You never need to feel guilty about being in danger. At most, if you feel like you should repay me… grow stronger, Yuto. And stay alive." She smiled. "But be yourself. Fight for what you personally believe in. If you do that, I can rest a little easier."
"... yeah."
"Bring smiles through dueling. That's what my teacher told me."
Bring smiles…
"Nue," Yuto said after a moment. "Could you help me call someone over?" He mentioned who he wanted to talk to, and with a reluctant look on her face, Nue left. Yuto glanced back at his wrist.
He still felt injured. He still felt useless. But just because he was going to be injured for the next few months didn't mean that he was going to give up.
"Ruri. No matter whether I'm injured or not, I will never give up on looking for you. So don't give up either."
"You're one of the strongest people I know."
"Yo, Yuya. You're finally awake!"
Yuya blinked rapidly. Yuzu tackled him in a hug—it seemed that his room was filled with people. Yuno's best friend, Miharu, was sitting in the corner of the room, quietly talking to Gongenzaka. However, the two of them had turned over at Yuno's voice, and Yuya received a shock to his system when he realised that Miharu's face was exactly the same as Yuzu's.
"Yeah, we kind of talked about that while you were asleep," Yuno said with a chuckle. "You're a little out of the loop—you've been asleep for almost an entire day. Luckily, your match wasn't today."
"Yuya, you idiot!" Yuzu smacked him across the shoulder. "What were you thinking? Why didn't you call Gongenzaka and I once you found Sora? I was so worried…"
Yuya couldn't help but blush, though he didn't know why. Was it because Yuzu was hugging him? Even so, he patted her back comfortingly.
"Sorry, Yuzu, I… got a bit impulsive."
"That's an understatement," Yuno said. Yuya turned to him. His memories of what had happened before Yugo had shown up and he had blacked out were slowly returning to him. It was odd to see someone smiling back at him with the same face as him.
"Hey, Yuno…"
"Right, right, I promised myself that I would explain everything to you once you knew about the six dimensions." Yuno leaned on the side of Yuya's bed. "Hey, Gongenzaka, Miharu, come over here. You can talk about Link Summoning later." The two came over as well, and Yuya felt mildly crowded by the number of people around him. "So. Where to begin?..."
"My name is Miharu Kogami," Miharu said, even as Yuno continued to contemplate things. "And he's Yuno Sugisaki. We didn't lie about that. However, we're not transfer students from another branch of LDS. We're… 'refugees' from the Link Dimension. A few months ago, the Fusion Dimension sent an emissary to the Grandmaster Council—the governing body of the city we lived in—and they claimed that they needed us for a project of theirs. We ran, and then, Yuno's dragon teleported us here. Reiji Akaba took us in and let us stay at LDS. Hitoda happened to find us a while before that, so she was teleported along with us."
All of that was practically mind-shattering news to Yuya, so he took a moment to just quietly contemplate it.
"You really enjoy making long stories succinct, Miharu," Yuno joked. "But yeah, that's the gist of our story! Yuto already mentioned his, but admittedly, he, Kurosaki and Kamisoka-san are a little more tragic than us…" A light bulb seemed to go off above his head as he snapped his fingers. "Ah, right! You know how we share the same ideology about dueling? It's because I'm essentially the equivalent of an Entertainment Duelist back at home!"
"Huh?"
"Uh, I'm a Charisma Duelist. Essentially, someone who duels under an alias to entertain others! Den City was a pretty modern city, when compared to a lot of the other cities around it." Yuno grinned. "So yeah! I'm already someone who duels to make others smile. I've always been."
"... you're odd, Yuno," Yuya said. He chuckled. "But… if we were really born in different worlds, I'm glad that we got to meet—"
The door was pushed open. Yuya's mum popped her head in, smiling widely. "Yuya! There's a girl here looking for you!"
"A girl?" Yuzu bristled defensively. Then, said girl showed herself behind Yoko, idly messing with her dark braid.
"Kamisoka-san," Yuno called in surprise.
Yuya looked back at Yuno—he didn't know who this was, after all. The girl, 'Kamisoka', looked directly at Yuya.
"Yuto wants to see you," she said after a moment. "So if those legs of yours can move, you should probably come with me. Now."
"Yuto!"
Yuto smiled as Yuya Sakaki came into the room, visibly relaxing at the sight of Yuto, safe and sound. (Well, to some extent, he was.)
"Your sister came to find me at You Show—basically dragged me over."
"Um, I apologise. She's a bit forceful…" Yuto took a deep breath. What he was about to do next felt nerve-wracking, but it also felt like the right thing to do. "I have… a bit of a selfish request, Yuya."
"Huh?" Yuya sat down on the chair by Yuto's hospital bed. "I mean, just ask? It would feel wrong to deny something to a guy who might be in the hospital because of me…"
"It's no one's fault. We still don't know what happened." Yuto had managed to remove the card from his duel disk earlier (with much effort) and so now, he picked it up with his uninjured hand, giving it to Yuya. Yuya took it, looking at the card.
"Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon…?"
"My ace," Yuto said. "If it's possible… just for the next few days, could you put it in your deck?"
"H-huh?"
"My wrist is broken. It'll take at least two months to heal properly, and if I overexert it, it could cause severe problems in the future." Yuto clenched his left fist. "Of course, I don't intend to give up on fighting. But until I can properly duel again… I'd like you to hold Dark Rebellion for me."
"I'd be honoured, but Yuto… I can't Xyz Summon. Why not give it to someone else?"
"No, I would prefer for it to be you." Yuto closed his eyes. "You… want to bring smiles with dueling, don't you?"
Yuya stared at him, stunned.
"I thought of giving Dark Rebellion to Nue or Shun—after all, he'd fit in either of their decks quite well. But the way that the two of them duel… it's the same destructive way that we all learned to duel, back when we were at war." Yuto took Yuya's hand, Dark Rebellion clasped between both of their fingers. "I want Dark Rebellion to have a chance to duel in the way that Ruri wanted us to duel, but I… no longer know how to duel to make another person smile. I am too angry on the inside to do that. So will you do it in my place?"
"Yuto…" Yuya looked touched. "Alright! But uh, I still don't know how to Xyz Summon—"
"An easy fix," Yuto said. "After all—"
The door burst open.
"Shun," Yuto greeted. Shun Kurosaki looked at him, looked at Yuya, and then looked at the card he was giving to Yuya. Yuto took the moment of stunned silence to continue talking. "Mind helping me teach Yuya how to Xyz Summon?"
"... this is abusing our friendship, Yuto," Shun muttered. "He's from Standard. Do you know how long it takes for them to learn the basics?" Still though, he sat down, gesturing for Yuya to take out his deck. "Fine. I'm not going easy on you."
"That's fine," Yuya said. "I want to honour Yuto's intentions."
Yuto saw a look that might have been approval in Shun's eyes. "Well," he said, "don't regret it."
"Um, Miharu…"
"I know. I have the same face as you." Miharu cleared her throat, turning to look at Yuzu. Yuzu smiled back tentatively. "Sorry for… hiding it. Yuno and I were asked not to alarm the public with our likeness to the two of you."
"So it's the two of us, Ruri and…" Yuzu trailed off.
"Supposedly there's someone that looks like us in every dimension," Miharu said. "I'm from Link, you're from Standard, Ruri Kurosaki is from Xyz… and according to Yuno, his Synchro counterpart was searching for somewhat called Rin." She fidgeted with her fingers for a moment. "... a Ritual Dimension resident said that there was someone called Chiaki too."
"I wonder why…" Yuzu smiled. "But… I do want to be friends with you, Miharu! You and all our counterparts, but since you're here, I'm just saying 'you', and um, I'm kind of spiralling a bit here. I guess seeing Yuno and Yuya be such good friends made me wonder about it, so… if that's alright?"
Miharu looked at her. She nodded after a moment. "... I don't think you needed to ask," she said. "Aren't we already friends?" She glanced away. "... maybe I'm a little more used to people that look like me now… and I'm curious about you too."
About all of you.
Even the one that I know nothing about.
In the Fusion Dimension:
Stepping through the corridors cautiously, an indigo-haired girl glanced around. There didn't seem to be anyone there, and so she relaxed slightly, continuing to walk. Hopefully, if she made it out of here without being spotted by someone else, no one would be able to guess her intentions.
Xyz remnants in the Standard Dimension, huh?
She heard a few loud shouts then, and she ducked back, listening to the voices.
"The prisoners in the Eastern Tower have escaped! We require back-up—make sure that the boats are being guarded properly!"
Prisoners? Academia didn't take prisoners, right? What did they mean? Serena quietly followed behind them, confused by their words.
"The one from Synchro has already been caught. Search for the girls with the bracelets!"
Girls with the bracelets? Serena touched the bracelet on her wrist. They clearly didn't mean her, but…
The voices of the Obelisk Force got quieter, and then, Serena heard an unfamiliar voice.
"... they said something about boats. We're on an island then." That was a girl's voice. Serena walked towards it, though she herself was unsure about why.
"But they said that they caught Rin, right? Should we go back—"
"Rin and I already said it, Ruri. If one of us is caught, we're just going to move forward. It does us no good if we're all just—"
Serena crossed the corner, making eye contact with one of the two girls, who froze at the sight of her.
"—caught." The girl that had been speaking turned over, looking at Serena and narrowing her eyes. She had dark red hair, but her face was the exact same as Serena's—she even had a bracelet on her wrist. The other girl was also Serena's lookalike, which was just weird.
"Rin?" The black-haired girl—Ruri—smiled more brightly, before the redhead held out a hand protectively in front of her.
"... look at the clothes. They're the same as the 'students' here. She's not Rin."
"Who are the two of you?" Serena blurted out.
"Academia's kidnapping victims," the redhead said sarcastically. "In fact, both of us were kidnapped by your best friend, so…"
"My best friend…" Yuri? Serena dismissed the thought immediately. "You're lying. Academia doesn't take prisoners. We have a noble cause."
"I think that as the ones who were kidnapped, we would know better than you," the red-haired lookalike replied. "We don't have time to waste here. Come on, Ruri—"
"You're not allowed to go!" Serena pointed out with a finger. "I'll—I'll shout!"
"... what the hell do you want, then?" The red-haired girl glared at her, and Serena was actually slightly intimidated by her.
"... duel me," Serena said. If these two were truly prisoners of Academia… Serena didn't know why they shared her face, but if she defeated them and brought them back, would her father finally acknowledge her? "You win, I lend you my duel disk and you can teleport out of this dimension." She didn't miss the way that the two girls' eyes widened at the information. "You lose, you go back to the Tower!"
"... deal." The red-haired girl stepped forward, before Ruri shook her head and raised her duel disk.
"Chiaki," she said. "She might genuinely not know about why the Professor took us. In that case, as a representative of the Xyz Dimension, which was destroyed by the same school that she is calling 'noble'... let me wake her up to reality."
"Feel free," Chiaki said after a moment. "It is your fight, after all."
Serena raised her duel disk.
She wouldn't allow herself to have doubts. Academia was right. Their goals were noble.
She would not allow a duelist from the Xyz Dimension to change her mind, to make her disloyal to the one place that she belonged!
[DUEL!]
Ruri Kurosaki: 4000LP
Serena Akaba: 4000LP
[Turn 1: Ruri] [H:5]
"I'll start," Ruri said, swiping up the top card of her deck immediately. She had a rather determined look on her face, and she adjusted the red piece of cloth that she had tied around her left wrist. Then, she held out a card from her hand. "I'll Normal Summon Lyrical Luscinia - Celeste Wagtail!" A grey and silver bird girl appeared on her field. "And since I control a Winged Beast monster, I can Special Summon Lyrical Luscinia - Sapphire Swallow and Lyrical Luscinia - Cobalt Sparrow from my hand!"
Two more of the bird girls appeared on Ruri's field, and Ruri herself nodded to her monsters. For a moment, she smiled—just a short moment, before she went back to that resolute expression.
[Lyrical Luscinia - Celeste Wagtail (1*/200/0/WIND/Winged Beast/Effect)]
[Lyrical Luscinia - Sapphire Swallow (1*/100/0/WIND/Winged Beast/Effect)]
[Lyrical Luscinia - Cobalt Sparrow (1*/0/100/WIND/Winged Beast/Effect)]
"I will activate the effect of Lyrical Luscinia - Cobalt Sparrow! I can add another "Lyrical Luscinia" monster from my deck to my hand!" Ruri picked up another card from her deck. "I'll activate the Spell Card, Wing Requital! Since all monsters I control are Winged Beast monsters, and at least two of them have different names, I can pay 600 life points and draw two cards!" She swiped up two more cards from the top of her deck, even as Serena scoffed.
Ruri: 4000 - 600 = 3400LP
"Lowering your life points even though I get the first Battle Phase?"
"If you think you can deal me damage," Ruri said, "I dare you to do so." She revealed another card in her hand. "I will Special Summon Slower Swallow, since I control two monsters with the same Level." A small blue bird appeared, chirping loudly.
[Slower Swallow (1*/100/100/WIND/Winged Beast/Effect)]
"I will then overlay the Level 1 Lyrical Luscinia - Celeste Wagtail, Lyrical Luscinia - Sapphire Swallow, Lyrical Luscinia - Cobalt Sparrow and Slower Swallow! Birds with beautiful wings! Gather on the battlefield and take brilliant flight! Xyz Summon! Dance in the sky! Rank 1! Lyrical Luscinia - Assembly Nightingale!"
A bright, colourful bird appeared on Ruri's field, the colours practically kaleidoscopic—lovely and graceful.
[Lyrical Luscinia - Assembly Nightingale (R1/0/0/WIND/Winged Beast/Xyz/Effect) (OU:4)]
(Lovely and graceful were two things that Serena herself would prefer not to be.)
"Assembly Nightingale gains 200 attack points for each of her Overlay Units!"
[Lyrical Luscinia - Assembly Nightingale: 0 + 200 x 4 = 800ATK]
"I will set a card and end my turn," Ruri said. "Over to you."
[Turn 2: Serena] [H:6]
"Draw!" Serena glanced at the card, before smiling. She would just win—there was no need for any hesitation when she was already in a duel. "I will Normal Summon Moonlight Emerald Bird!" A young female dancer with light green skin appeared, a dark green cloak draped around her shoulders like wings. She was wearing a bronze, metallic half-mask over the right side of her face, a green hat, a frilly blue and orange dress and dark blue boots.
[Moonlight Emerald Bird (4*/1200/1000/DARK/Beast-Warrior/Effect)]
"And when Moonlight Emerald Bird is Normal or Special Summoned, I can send a "Moonlight" card from my hand to the graveyard and draw a card!" She swiped up a card from her deck, before taking another monster from her hand. "I will activate the effect of Moonlight Black Sheep in my hand! By discarding it, I can add the Spell Card, Polymerization, to my hand!"
She didn't miss how both Ruri and Chiaki stiffened up at the name of the card.
"I will activate Polymerization! I can perform a Fusion Summon using materials in my hand and on my field! I will fuse Moonlight Emerald Bird on my field with Moonlight Crimson Fox in my hand! Emerald feathers that shroud the sky! Crimson cunning hiding in the shadows! Spiral into the moon's gravity and become a new power! Fusion Summon! Come to me! Beautiful beast that dances in the moonlight! Moonlight Cat Dancer!"
In front of her, a lovely pink-skinned woman appeared. She was wearing a masquerade-like mask that covered her face, though her smirk was still visible. She was wearing a purple, fan-like hat, that covered the top part of her hair. The rest of her bright pink hair curled through the air behind her, wild and untamed. She was wearing purple dancers' clothes, and cyan ribbons could be seen all around her, attached to her clothing. In her hands, she was holding onto two knives.
[Moonlight Cat Dancer (7*/2400/2000/DARK/Beast-Warrior/Fusion/Effect)]
Serena's ace tilted her head back, nodding to her.
"Since Moonlight Crimson Fox was used for this Fusion Summon, I can reduce your monster's attack points to zero!" Serena called.
"That doesn't work," Ruri said. "Since Cobalt Sparrow was used to Xyz Summon her, Assembly Nightingale cannot be targeted with card effects."
… in that case, her One Turn Kill wouldn't work. That was fine. She still had far stronger monsters.
"And then, since Emerald Bird was used for the Fusion Summon, I can Special Summon a Level 4 or lower "Moonlight" monster that is in my graveyard or banished! I will Special Summon Moonlight Blue Cat from my graveyard!" A blue-skinned dancer appeared in front of her, wearing a gold half-mask with a red eye on it. She had a mischievous smile. Behind her was a long blue tail that flicked through the air. She perched herself on one foot, relaxing in Defense Position.
[Moonlight Blue Cat (4*/1600/1200/DARK/Beast-Warrior/Effect)]
She couldn't use Blue Cat's effect right now, since Emerald Bird negated its effects. However, she didn't need to.
"I will tribute Blue Cat to activate Cat Dancer's effect! She can attack all monsters my opponent controls twice each, and your monster is not destroyed during the first battle! Lunatic Frenzy!" Blue Cat dissolved into blue particles of light, which flew over to Cat Dancer, who let out a loud, haughty laugh. "Moonlight Cat Dancer attacks Lyrical Luscinia - Assembly Nightingale! Full Moon Cresta!"
Cat Dancer leapt forward, knives held firmly in her hands.
"I will activate the effect of Lyrical Luscinia - Assembly Nightingale," Ruri replied calmly. "I will detach an Overlay Unit from her." Assembly Nightingale flew away from Cat Dancer, dodging the attack neatly. "This turn, "Lyrical Luscinia" monsters I control cannot be destroyed by battle or by card effects. Furthermore, I take no battle damage. Feather Barrier!"
[Lyrical Luscinia - Assembly Nightingale: OU:4 - 1 = OU:3]
The attack ended harmlessly. Serena blinked in shock, before she narrowed her eyes. "I'll set a card facedown and end my turn!"
I just need to outlast its Overlay Units… or find a way to defeat it that doesn't involve destroying it.
[Turn 3: Ruri] [H:3]
"Draw," Ruri said. She gestured to her graveyard. "Once per turn, if Celeste Wagtail is in the graveyard, she can attach herself to a monster I control as an Overlay Unit!" Another bright orb materialised, circling Assembly Nightingale. "And her attack points go back to 800 as a result."
[Lyrical Luscinia - Assembly Nightingale: OU:3 + 1 = OU:4; 600 + 200 = 800ATK]
"I will then activate the effect of Lyrical Luscinia - Sapphire Swallow in my hand," Ruri continued. "Since I control a Winged Beast monster, I can Special Summon her and another Level 1 Winged Beast monster from my hand! Come! Lyrical Luscinia - Celeste Wagtail!" She Special Summoned another copy of Celeste Wagtail and Sapphire Swallow to the field.
Her focus was on swarming and Xyz Summoning. As expected of an Xyz remnant…
"I will use Celeste Wagtail's effect to add a "Lyrical Luscinia" Spell or Trap to my hand!" Ruri nodded to her two monsters. "I will overlay the Level 1 Lyrical Luscinia - Sapphire Swallow and the Level 1 Lyrical Luscinia - Celeste Wagtail! Bird of stars that sings in the glowing sunset. Appear before us! Xyz Summon! Rank 1! Lyrical Luscinia - Recite Starling!"
A pale-haired winged woman appeared—she had a remarkably human face, unlike Assembly Nightingale. Midnight blue and lovely black feathers spreaded out, forming her wide wings, with stars dancing around her. Every part of her dark clothing had small accents of gold that stood out—themselves like stars in a dark night.
[Lyrical Luscinia - Recite Starling (R1/0/0/WIND/Winged Beast/Xyz/Effect) (OU:2)]
"When Recite Starling is Xyz Summoned, she gives a face-up monster on the field 300 attack points for each Overlay Unit she has when she's Xyz Summoned!" Ruri declared. "Gift of the Stars!" She obviously targeted Assembly Nightingale, two bright stars shooting over and increasing its attack points.
[Lyrical Luscinia - Assembly Nightingale: 800 + 300 x 2 = 1400ATK]
But even though she was increasing that monster's attack points, it still wasn't enough to defeat Cat Dancer, right?
"Serena Akaba-san," Ruri said. "Other than our faces, it seems that we share one thing in common. We both focus on One Turn Kills." She pointed forward. "Lyrical Luscinia - Assembly Nightingale can attack you directly, and attack once for each of its Overlay Units! Avian Gale!"
What?
"Trap Card, Attack Guidance Armor!" Serena called. She had been planning on using it to force the attack towards Cat Dancer anyway, even before she had known Assembly Nightingale's effects. "This card doesn't target, so I'm free to use its effect and redirect your attack towards Moonlight Cat Dancer!"
Ruri, however, responded immediately.
"I will detach an Overlay Unit from Assembly Nightingale to protect all "Lyrical Luscinia" monsters on the field from destruction this turn, and I don't take battle damage! Feather Barrier!" The bright, kaleidoscopic barrier shielded Ruri from damage, and Assembly Nightingale remained standing.
[Lyrical Luscinia - Assembly Nightingale: OU:4 - 1 = OU:3; 1400 - 200 = 1200ATK]
"And then, she will attack you directly again!"
"On your turn, I can Special Summon Moonlight Sapphire Dolphin from my hand!" Serena called. On her field, a dancer dressed in dark blue silks appeared, holding onto two pretty purple fans. Ribbons were tied in her hair and around her ankles. She was wearing ballet shoes.
[Moonlight Sapphire Dolphin (4*/600/1800/DARK/Beast-Warrior/Effect)]
"And when Sapphire Dolphin is Special Summoned with its own effect, all damage I take this turn is halved!"
"That's fine," Ruri said. "Avian Gale!"
Assembly Nightingale attacked Serena directly thrice, winds and feathers hitting the walls all around them.
Serena: 4000 - 1200 / 2 x 3 = 2200LP
"Attack Cat Dancer, Recite Starling! Starlight Bombardment!"
"Huh?" Well, her monster wouldn't be destroyed and she wouldn't take damage, but Ruri wouldn't gain anything from this either.
"All battle damage I would take from a battle between Recite Starling and another monster is inflicted to my opponent as well," Ruri revealed. "Assembly Nightingale negates it for me, but you still take the damage!" The starry feathers of Recite Starling shot towards Serena, depleting her life points even more.
Serena: 2200 - 2400 / 2 = 1000LP
"I'll end my turn!"
[Turn 4: Serena] [H:2]
"Draw!" Serena glanced at the field. This was a… difficult field to deal with. She would have to try to circumvent Assembly Nightingale's effect—but whatever she did, Ruri could just chain Assembly Nightingale's effect and have it resolve first. "Spell Card, Moon Light Perfume! I can Special Summon a "Moonlight" monster from my graveyard! Return—Moonlight Blue Cat!" The blue warrior reappeared. "I'll use its effect! By targeting Moonlight Cat Dancer, I'll double her attack points!"
[Moonlight Cat Dancer: 2400 x 2 = 4800ATK]
"Your Assembly Nightingale is a powerful defence, but it has one flaw," Serena called. "I will activate the Quickplay Spell, Moonlight Stun Whip! I'll negate the effects of all monsters you control with lower attack points than a monster I control! I will of course choose Cat Dancer! And your monsters cannot activate their effects in response to this spell!"
Both Recite Starling and Assembly Nightingale were pinned down. Assembly Nightingale's attack points fell as well.
[Lyrical Luscinia - Assembly Nightingale: 1200 - 200 x 3 = 600ATK]
"I will then activate Cat Dancer's effect! I will tribute Sapphire Dolphin to give her two attacks on every monster you control this turn! Lunatic Frenzy! And Sapphire Dolphin will add "Polymerization" from my graveyard to my hand." Serena stretched her hand out. "This will finish you! Attack Lyrical Luscinia - Assembly Nightingale! Full Moon Cresta!"
Cat Dancer leapt forward.
"Are the effects permanently negated?" Ruri asked, head lowered.
"Uh. Yes?"
"Trap Card, activate. Lyrical Luscinia - Birds of a Feather." Shadows and feathers floated around Ruri's field. "I will target one "Lyrical Luscinia" monster I control. All monsters my opponent controls become Level or Rank 1, and their attack points become the same as the attack points of the monster I targeted. I will choose Lyrical Luscinia - Recite Starling!"
[Lunalight Cat Dancer: 4800 → 0ATK]
[Lunalight Blue Cat: 1600 → 0ATK]
She… crippled Cat Dancer?
"You have no cards left in hand." Ruri looked directly at Serena. "Your ace will lose here! Counterattack—Avian Gale!"
Cat Dancer clashed with Assembly Nightingale, and the feathered woman won after a brief tussle.
Serena: 1000 - 600 = 400LP
Serena had tried so hard, and yet…
Why was she losing? She was stronger than any Xyz remnant—stronger than any of them! She was strong enough to finally make her father look at her! And then, to fall at the very last step, when she could finally do something for once, trapped in this place—
Out of frustration, she shouted at Ruri. "Your dueling style… it's very cheap. It's very overprotective of your monsters and your life points. Where's your drive to fight your opponents at their best? Where's your need to face off against someone honourably? How can you be a soldier with that attitude? It's—"
"You can take your ideals and stuff it!"
Serena went silent. At Ruri's side, even Chiaki seemed surprised.
"I don't need a member of the world that invaded my homeland to preach to me that my playstyle is to protect!" Ruri, who had still been rather stern and in control of her emotions, now looked like she was close to crying—from anger and frustration, but also from sorrow as well.
Serena didn't know how to react, so she tried to go from a kinder angle. "In the end, as long as you fought hard, it's an honourable loss, isn't it?"
"But I never wanted to fight!" Ruri pressed a hand to her chest. "I didn't want to be a soldier! It's bold of someone who stripped the choice from us to try to preach to me, but it's not true! Nothing that you said is true! If one day, out of the blue, someone just dropped a gigantic bomb on you all and you had no clue what was going on, would you call that honourable? Would the people who died here have died honourably? Would there be any kind of choice that you could make? If the people most important to you were taken away from you because they couldn't fight, would you consider that a justified death, Serena Akaba?!"
Her voice echoed through the corridor, and when she finished, Ruri let out a quiet, barely audible sob.
"I just want to go home," she said. "You say that as long as they could fight, then it was an honourable loss. But what about those that couldn't fight? On the day of the invasion, I saw normal non-duelists get crushed by the buildings that fell from the sky. I saw my boyfriend come back, face ashen, because his parents had been taken from him. I saw children who couldn't fight get bitten by dogs and the screams—"
Chiaki pulled Ruri into a tight hug. Despite how the redhead seemed to be the harsher one, there was something more sympathetic to her eyes now.
"I have almost nothing left," Ruri wept.
"Then stop fighting against Academia and stay here," Serena said. She couldn't keep herself cold—not against these emotions from the girl who shared her face. "The last reports that came in stated that the Xyz Dimension has been wiped clean. There is nothing left there for you. If my father spared your life, then it's good fortune—you can live here, safe from the war—"
"The Xyz Dimension has not been wiped clean," Ruri replied. Despite how tears were still in her eyes, she managed to say those words with confidence. "I know my friends. All of us—we will live no matter what! They would never have lost to Academia! And I want to return home to fight alongside the people that I love!"
And Serena stood there, frozen.
She had been told that Xyz remnants were dangerous, and she had accepted it. She had been told that Xyz remnants were fighting against Academia's goals, and therefore in the wrong, and she had also accepted it. However, standing here, looking at Ruri Kurosaki, a frightened girl…
A frightened girl who was not weak, who was strong, and yet so scarred by Academia's actions…
Serena had no clue what to think at all. This challenged all of her beliefs at the same time.
And then, before she could finish thinking about it, the Obelisk Force showed up.
"... your friend kidnapped us," Chiaki said. She sounded very defiant, despite clearly knowing that she had been caught. Serena frowned. Her friend—Yuri? "And now we're here. And let's not get started on what they're doing to my best friend. I don't give a fuck what you say about this school. Quite frankly—I will never forgive anyone here. Someday, I will escape. And I will destroy everyone that stands with Academia, no matter what they look like."
"Serena-sama," one of the Obelisk Force members said. "Please head back to your room. We're sorry for the disturbance."
Serena wanted to demand answers. But every time she was about to speak up, she heard Ruri Kurosaki's sobs in her mind.
Would I have done better in that duel against you, if I had been able to look at you as someone strong, instead of underestimating you?
She watched them go silently.
… no matter what, whether she could continue to believe in Academia or not (and wasn't that an unimaginable thought?) she still couldn't stand still any longer.
It was never in her character.
"Hey, Sora, stop whining."
Sora, who had still been shouting even after he got out of the machine, calmed down somewhat at the sound of the familiar voice. The two scientists in the room turned around in relief. "Shino-san," one of them greeted. Shino Gitsune looked at them, nodding with a far too bright smile, and she rolled over to Sora in her wheelchair. She glanced at her cousin, who was staring back with wide eyes.
"What say you and I get out of here, and you tell me all about it?" She offered. After all, it seemed that the entertainment she had set up for herself had failed, considering that all three girls had gotten caught before they even got close to leaving the island. She might as well understand why Sora was so upset.
"Uh, Shino-san—"
"Anything else can wait a moment, I'm sure," Shino said, smiling cutely. The scientists gave her a pass, and as Sora stood up and changed behind the curtain, she waited patiently for him to follow her out. "So, Sora! What happened?"
"... in Standard, I got beaten by an Xyz remnant," Sora said. Shino poked the back of his neck in response, causing him to yelp. "What—Shino!"
"Nice try," Shino said. "But I understand you better than that. Your excuse to go back is the Xyz remnants, yes, but what's your actual reason?"
"... I made some friends there." Sora glanced away, twiddling his thumbs and blushing in embarrassment. "... I need to—they still think that I was a victim, somehow. I need to prove them wrong. I don't want them to remember me as some weakling, who just lost to an Xyz user out of nowhere—"
"And so you're going back to terrorise them?"
Sora froze.
Shino wheeled herself in front of him. "Someday, Sora, you need to be consistent with what your heart thinks is right," she said. "Instead of trying to portray yourself as the person you think you should be." She gestured for him to follow. "I have some nice candy that I was saving for you."
Seconds later, Sora recovered from the question that he had asked. He followed after her. "Shino, you're the best."
"Of course I am. That's why I'm following you to Standard, when you ask if you can go."
Sora blinked in surprise.
"What?" Shino chuckled. "Like I say, I know you. I mean, they might reject me…"
"They'd be insane to reject the second best Honor Student in the school," Sora muttered. His cousin chuckled, reaching a hand up and tousling his hair.
"Well, I was pretending to be humble, but yes. I'll go with you, and if they won't let you go, I'll volunteer and bring you along, yeah?" She glanced away. "I'd like to see who you managed to befriend too."
"... uh, Shino." Sora cleared his throat. "That guy from the Link Dimension who you dueled against. He's there too."
Shino's hand came to a still, even as her wheelchair continued rolling forward. A few flashing images emerged and faded from her mind.
"Is that so," she said distantly. "How interesting."
"So, from Sora Shiun'in's memories…" The Professor stared at the images on the screen. "... Miharu Kogami of the Link Dimension is in the Standard Dimension. As is Yuzu Hiiragi, the Standard piece."
The last two pieces that he needed for his project, to bring that person back to his side.
That made their retrieval a priority.
It was, finally, time to make a move on Standard.
Reiji. Himika.
I hope that someday, when I have succeeded, you will understand.
I will have my entire family again, in the world I wish to create.
And I will excise that man from my paradise.
"Let's go," Serena said to Barrett.
And without another moment of consideration, they teleported to Standard.
Duel 1 Summary: Ruri Kurosaki vs Serena Akaba
Turn 1: Ruri Kurosaki
Ruri Normal Summons Lyrical Luscinia - Celeste Wagtail. (1*/200/0) She Special Summons Lyrical Luscinia - Sapphire Swallow (1*/100/0) and Lyrical Luscinia - Cobalt Sparrow (1*/0/100) from her hand with Sapphire Swallow's effect. Using Cobalt Sparrow's effect, she adds a "Lyrical Luscinia" monster from her Deck to her hand. She activates the Spell Card, Wing Requital, paying 600 LP to draw 2 cards. [RK: 4000 - 600 = 3400LP] Ruri Special Summon Slower Swallow (1*/100/100) from her hand since she controls monsters with the same Level. She uses all four monsters to Xyz Summon Lyrical Luscinia - Assembly Nightingale. (R1/0/0/OU:4) Assembly Nightingale gains 200 ATK for each Overlay Unit. (LLAN: 0 + 200 x 4 = 800ATK) Ruri sets Lyrical Luscinia - Birds of a Feather and ends her turn.
Turn 2: Serena Akaba
Serena draws. She Normal Summons Moonlight Emerald Bird. (4*/1200/1000) With its effect, she sends Moonlight Blue Cat (4*/1600/1200) from her hand to the graveyard to draw 1 card. Then, she activates Polymerization, fusing Moonlight Emerald Bird on the field and Moonlight Crimson Fox (4*/1200/1000) in her hand to Fusion Summon Moonlight Cat Dancer (7*/2400/2000) to her field in Attack Position. With the effect of Moonlight Emerald Bird, she revives Moonlight Blue Cat. With the effect of Moonlight Cat Dancer, she tributes Moonlight Blue Cat to grant Cat Dancer two attacks on every monster her opponent controls this turn, but opposing monsters are not destroyed by the first attack. Cat Dancer attacks Assembly Nightingale. Ruri activates the effect of Lyrical Luscinia - Assembly Nightingale, negating the destruction of "Lyrical Luscinia" monsters and preventing her from taking battle damage. Serena sets 1 card facedown and ends her turn.
Turn 3: Ruri Kurosaki
Ruri draws. Using the effect of Celeste Wagtail in the GY, she attaches her to Assembly Nightingale as an Overlay Unit. (LLAN: OU:3 - 4; 600 - 800ATK) She Special Summons another copy of Sapphire Swallow and Celeste Wagtail from her hand, and uses Celeste Wagtail's effect to add a "Lyrical Luscinia" Spell/Trap from her Deck to her hand. She then overlays Celeste Wagtail and Sapphire Swallow to Xyz Summon Lyrical Luscinia - Recite Starling in Attack Position. (R1/0/0/OU:2) With Recite Starling's effect, Ruri gives Assembly Nightingale 300 ATK for each of her Overlay Units. (LLAN: 800 + 300 x 2 = 1400ATK) Assembly Nightingale attacks Serena directly. Serena forces Assembly Nightingale to attack Cat Dancer with her Trap Card, Attack Guidance Armor. Ruri activates Assembly Nightingale's effect, detaching an Overlay Unit and negating the damage, as well as Assembly Nightingale's destruction. (LLAN: OU:4 - 1 = OU:3; 1400 - 200 = 1200ATK) Assembly Nightingale attacks Serena directly. Serena Special Summons Moonlight Sapphire Dolphin from her hand in Defense Position, halving damage until the End Phase. Assembly Nightingale attacks directly thrice in total. [SA: 4000 - 1200 / 2 x 3 = 2200LP] Recite Starling attacks Cat Dancer. Assembly Nightingale's effect negates the damage Ruri takes, and Recite Starling's effect inflicts the damage to Serena. [SA: 2200 - 2400 / 2 = 1000LP] Ruri ends her turn.
Turn 4: Serena Akaba
Serena draws. She activates Moon Light Perfume, reviving Moonlight Blue Cat. Moonlight Blue Cat doubles the attack points of Cat Dancer. (MCD: 2400 x 2 = 4800ATK) She then activates the Spell, Moonlight Stun Whip, negating the effects of Ruri's monsters. Cat Dancer tributes Sapphire Dolphin to attack all monsters Ruri controls twice. Cat Dancer attacks Assembly Nightingale. Ruri activates her Trap Card, Lyrical Luscinia - Birds of a Feather, changing Serena's monsters' ATK to the same as Recite Starling's ATK. (LCD: 4800 - 0ATK) (LSD: 600 - 0ATK) Cat Dancer is destroyed by the attack. [SA: 1000 - 600 = 400LP] The duel is interrupted.
OC Cards:
Moonlight Sapphire Dolphin
(4*/600/1800/DARK/Beast-Warrior/Effect)
Once per turn, during your opponent's turn (Quick Effect): You can Special Summon this card from your hand in Defense Position, and if you do, this turn, all damage you take is halved. If this card is sent to the GY by a card effect: You can add 1 "Moonlight" card or "Polymerization" from your GY to your hand. You can only activate each effect of "Moonlight Sapphire Dolphin" once per turn.
Moonlight Stun Whip
(Spell/Quickplay)
During the Main Phase: You can target 1 monster you control; negate the effects of all monsters your opponent controls with lower ATK than that monster. Your opponent cannot activate the effects of monsters in response to this effect. You can only activate "Moonlight Stun Whip" once per turn.
Different Card Effects from TCG:
Moonlight Cat Dancer - Anime effect. This is like the one Serena card I cannot change, even though I really want to.
Moonlight Black Sheep - Its anime effect adds it back to the hand, but instead, I just gave it its TCG effects, minus the clause where it cannot add itself back to hand, so that I don't interfere with her canon duels but her deck is a little more consistent.
Moonlight Blue Cat - Uses its TCG effect, minus the clause where it can't double its own ATK.
End Notes:
Before you ask why Yuya woke up so fast—he didn't absorb Yuto this time. Therefore, he and Yuto wake up rather fast. As such, they have a little more time to bond as friends too, which I think is a missed opportunity.
We get Serena vs Ruri, because… come on. It's such a missed opportunity that the Xyz counterparts never got to duel the Fusion counterparts. It's a DNF here because I feel like the fandom would destroy me no matter who won, but I do intend for them to have a duel with a result later on. I think the winner of the duel is very clear though. Funnily enough, I do believe that Serena is the strongest of the female canon counterparts, but every other counterpart's deck counters hers completely, and I think that's hilarious. Like, it's not a competition—Lyrilusc owns Lunalights so hard that I went ? trying to write this duel.
And before anyone accuses me of Serena bashing in this chapter, I love Serena's character. One of my top 10 favourite Arc V characters. I especially love how she begins to make her own choices, reject what she was told, and figure out exactly how she wants to duel throughout her screentime (until Arc V dropped the ball and made her a damsel in distress.) I think that character arc is fantastic, but for it to work, I need to establish Serena as a sheltered girl who still wants to do the right thing. Hence, this chapter. Also, Serena vs Ruri. In one of my older stories, I portrayed both of them as the Bracelet Girls with the most drive to win, despite their different personalities. Thus, I really wanted them to face off here. To those who are upset that Serena didn't get to trash people in this chapter—relax. She certainly will get her moments to shine. Be patient :)
Serena's cards also get a small boost—namely, if possible and it doesn't interfere with her canon duels, they get their TCG effects.
Review responses!
To the Guest that asked why Yuji is currently on Academia's side—because it's an interesting plot point? Yuji was intended to be fighting for Academia at the start, from the start. Give it time. Also, I don't want to spoil anything, but if you pay attention to the scenes that Yuji does show up, I'm not sure how you could think Yuji is evil. To the Guest that asked how many arcs this story would have, I'm not sure what you define as an arc, but I guess in my outline, there's seven sections to the story. We're currently still technically in the first arc. I have actually planned the entire story, yes.
To empourer, I went to search up what you were talking about, and unless I come up with a lot of OC cards and contrivances, it is impossible to generate a field like that without Traptrix Sera, and without at least a few turns of set-up. While your thoughts certainly exist, I don't currently have plans to do anything like that until Link Monsters are provided to the Lancers. Plus, I think Nue is quite a different character from Ageha, so the name would be different regardless. That goes for anyone else who wants to see overpowered strategies for now—give it time. Balance is important—everyone has to have room to grow. It's the same reason why currently, most of the characters have parts of their archetypes that I purposely don't give them access to.
That should be it. I am done with Chapter 15 at the point of posting this, but Chapter 16 is giving me a lot of trouble, so it might take a while for 15 to be posted. Chapter 15 is also somewhat Serena-centric. Also, narratively, it made sense to split the chapter here, since Chapter 15 goes back to Standard again.