Starting Notes:
Welcome back! Yet another fun chapter, honestly—but a bit of a break from the last two chapters and their events :) Enjoy!
Chapter 89: Flourishing Graveyard
It was Chiaki who saw him first. (Of course she would be the one to see him first.) That pale figure standing in the middle of a field of ashen grey—it must have been a park once, considering that Chiaki could see some tall, awkwardly-shaped trunks coming out of the ground that just abruptly ended—cut off halfway, ash dusting the top of the wood. The ground was coated with a layer of dark, thick ash that was occasionally swirled up by a breeze—dead grass and leaves that still remained on the ground, rotting.
And of course, Yuji.
Both Serena and Mion had noticed her coming to a stop, and they both turned to look as well—seeing him—
"He definitely doesn't blend in well here," Mion noted—not an insult, just an observation, but Chiaki bristled anyway.
"It looks like they're about to duel," Serena said. "Should we step in?"
Before she could step forward, Chiaki held out a hand, stopping her. "The pin," she said, gesturing to the dark pin on the collar of the woman's blouse. "It's in the shape of a heart, like what Kurosaki said. That's one of the Hearts Branch members, right?"
"Right," Mion said. "There's a chance that they've misunderstood him though—and that we might need to clear things up."
"... I don't think so," Chiaki said, because other people might not be able to tell, but she most certainly could. Yuji… wasn't tense in that way that signified unease right now, meaning that he didn't think that he was in danger. And his opponent, that woman with purple hair, didn't seem hostile either. Whatever reason that they were dueling… Yuji might not even know it either.
But…
"We can interfere if it gets too much," she decided. "But I…"
She didn't know how to explain it.
She wanted to see how Yuji dueled when she wasn't there. Because after she'd come back, they'd stuck together like glue, of course—two pieces fitting back into place. And the Yuji in front of her was still the same Yuji as always, the same Yuji that had been by her side for years. The same Yuji who had suffered the things that made her want to burn Academia down for him.
She wanted to see how Yuji acted without her around.
Was that strange? It might be—but it really was just how they were.
"I want to see the strength of this person before we interfere," she said, putting those thoughts in something that could be better understood by others. "Yuji can handle himself."
"... you know him better," Mion acknowledged. "Alright. But if we sense any danger at all, we're stepping forward and asking about it. Deal, Katsuya-san?"
"... just Chiaki," Chiaki muttered—not used to people just taking her word for it. "Sure. Let's watch."
Yuji glanced at the ground again, before he reached up, brushing his fringe away from his face. As he did so, the metal of the ring on his index finger scraped against his skin—he still wasn't used to it, but it centred him.
… right.
Time to duel. Or whatever.
… he still didn't know what his opponent wanted from him, or what she'd meant when she'd said that dueling him would solve problems, but he couldn't really be bothered to figure it out either.
Just one duel.
Then, he'd be fine to go on his way and find Chiaki.
Hisako had asked for a brief moment to sort some things out—right now, Yuji was watching her take out half of her deck and jam the cards into a separate slot in her duel disk, before replacing them with other cards. It was oddly fascinating—was she changing out her deck right now? That was odd…
"Ready?" Hisako asked. When Yuji nodded, she raised her own duel disk. "Then let's get going, Fujita-kun."
[DUEL!]
Yuji Fujita: 4000LP
Hisako Fuyumori: 4000LP
[Turn 1: Hisako] [H:5]
"I got the first turn?... what a shame." Hisako picked up a card in her hand, revealing it. "Well, I suppose I should get to work. I will activate the effect of Rose Paladin in my hand. By discarding it, I can add a Level 7 or higher Plant monster from my deck to my hand."
She picked up a card from her deck, revealing it.
"My Sylvan Sagequoia. I'll then activate the Spell Card, Sylvan Charity. I can draw three cards. Then, if I have a "Sylvan" card in my hand, I can reveal two cards from my hand, including a "Sylvan" monster, and place them both on top of the deck in any order. If I don't have a "Sylvan" card though, I have to place my entire hand on top of the deck."
Sylvan. Was that her archetype name? And that effect… something like Allure of Darkness, but he'd never heard of one that let the user place cards on the top of their deck.
Hisako calmly drew the three cards, before revealing two cards. "As you might expect, I already had a "Sylvan" card in hand—it does us no good to leave things up to chance, though I know that some of my comrades do enjoy that. I will place Sylvan Bladefender and Sylvan Cherubsprout on top of the deck," she said. "And now, I'll Normal Summon Sylvan Marshalleaf!" A strange green sprite with a brightly-coloured leaf for a head appeared—the leaf had jagged edges, like a blade. It had four arms, consisting of small, purple blooming flowers.
[Sylvan Marshalleaf (3*/1500/1200/WATER/Plant/Effect)]
"When Sylvan Marshalleaf is Normal Summoned, I can excavate the top cards of my deck—either one or two cards. I'll choose two cards, naturally." Hisako picked up the same two cards that she'd just put on the top of her deck. "And then, I can send any excavated Plant monsters to the graveyard." The two cards dropped into the graveyard.
Yuji stared at her. So, she'd set up her cards on the top of her deck, in order to send them to the graveyard for an effect? That was… interesting. He hadn't seen a playstyle like that before.
'Excavate'. That was a word that Yuno had used once or twice, when Yuji had watched his duels. He had a rough idea—it just meant 'check', right?
"Are you okay?" Hisako asked. Yuji raised his head—he wasn't aware that he'd lowered it while he was thinking. "Careful now, it's best not to lose focus in a duel. I'll activate three effects—the effects of the Sylvan Bladefender and Sylvan Cherubsprout that I just sent to the graveyard, and the effect of Sylvan Sagequoia in my hand. Sagequoia will Special Summon itself when a "Sylvan" monster is sent to the graveyard." Around her feet, the holograms summoned up streaks of green—blades of grass. A tall, lush green tree appeared—the wood was a warmer tone, darker brown with something grey to it, yet also something red.
[Sylvan Sagequoia (7*/2600/2100/WIND/Plant/Effect)]
"Bladefender's effect then triggers—when excavated and sent to the graveyard, I can add it back to my hand." She picked it up. "Cherubsprout's effect resolves next. I can Special Summon a Level 1 Plant monster from my deck—I will choose my Sylvan Peaskeeper." Three large green peas in a pod, each with rather large eyes, appeared on the field.
[Sylvan Peaskeeper (1*/400/100/WIND/Plant/Effect)]
The chain ended—but now, Peaskeeper was hopping on the spot.
"Sylvan Peaskeeper's effect," Hisako continued. "When it is Normal or Special Summoned, I can excavate the top card of my deck—and well, I'm sure you know how this goes by now." She flipped over the card. "Sylvan Snapdrassinagon. When excavated and sent to the graveyard, Snapdrassinagon lets me excavate the next card of my deck too."
How many effects had she already used in a row…?
"My Sylvan Hermitree," Hisako said, revealing the card. "Since it was excavated and sent to the graveyard, I can check the top three cards of my deck and arrange them however I wish." She picked up those cards, scanning them. At that moment, there was something sharper and more analytical to her gaze. She placed them back down one by one.
Sagequoia, Peaskeeper and Marshalleaf now—three monsters in a single move. And most of the effects he'd just used came from cards that she was sending to the graveyard as well… she had ended up with five cards in her hand, in the end.
It was similar to his own playstyle, wasn't it?
"I will activate the effect of Sylvan Sagequoia," Hisako said. "I will excavate the top card of my deck and—we both know it's a Plant monster. I will send it to the graveyard." She revealed the card. "The card that was sent to the graveyard was, naturally, my Fengli the Soldrapom. Since it was sent from the deck to the graveyard by the effect of a monster, it Special Summons itself from the graveyard." A small dragon monster that seemed to be based on a pineapple appeared next to Sagequoia.
[Fengli the Soldrapom (1*/800/0/FIRE/Plant/Tuner/Effect)]
"I'll overlay the Level 1 Fengli the Soldrapom and the Level 1 Sylvan Peaskeeper! Perfection is born from the shadows of the cherry blossom petals. With your silent prayer, bring forth your regal authority on this field! Xyz Summon—Rank 1, Sylvan Princessprite!" A green-haired woman appeared, dressed in a formal, long-sleeved green robe. She was wearing a bronze headdress with the yin-yang symbols decorating it—beads swung through the air as the woman turned her head. Around her, cherry blossom petals settled on her robe and in her hair.
[Sylvan Princessprite (R1/1800/100/LIGHT/Plant/Xyz/Effect) (OU:2)]
"I'll activate Princessprite's effect. By detaching an Overlay Unit, I'll excavate the top card of my deck. If it's a Spell or Trap, I can add it to my hand. Otherwise, it's sent to the graveyard. Oracle of Shinra!"
… Hisako had just rearranged the top three cards of her deck.
[Sylvan Princessprite: OU:2 - 1 = OU:1]
The purple-haired woman picked up the top card of her deck, not even bothering to be subtle about the fact that she already knew what it was. "I will add the Field Spell, Mount Sylvania to my hand. And I will activate it." Around them, an aura of dreamy-looking white and grey clouds appeared, a bright aura of light shimmering around it like a veil. It was… holy-looking, in a way. "I will then activate the effect of Sylvan Princessprite. Once per turn, I can send a Plant monster from my hand or field to the graveyard—and I'll Special Summon a "Sylvan" monster from my graveyard." Marshalleaf vanished. "Return to my field, Sylvan Hermitree."
And a large… tree appeared on the field. Really, it was just a tree. Yuji did not know how to describe it. Half its leaves were red, and the other half were green, and it had a face on the front, with some hemp rope around the front of it—but it was really just a big tree.
[Sylvan Hermitree (8*/2700/1800/FIRE/Plant/Effect)]
"Hermitree's effect," Hisako continued. "I will excavate the top card of my deck." She picked up the next card—the third card that Hermitree had set on top of her deck. "It's a Plant monster, so my Sylvan Hermitree lets me send it to the graveyard—and then I draw a card."
She revealed the card.
"And then, Sylvan Flowerknight's effect. I'll place a "Sylvan" card from my deck on the top of my deck." Hisako carefully placed a card on the top of her deck—she had just been calm and composed the entire time, knowing exactly what she was doing, setting things up for the future. "I'll set one card and end my turn—over to you, Fujita-kun."
Yuji reached for the top card of his deck, eyeing his opponent.
… this would be one of the first real duels he'd had since leaving Academia. And it was against a survivor—Yuji knew that much. Survivors were far more likely to persevere, to keep on fighting, no matter what the cost was. And she was clearly the kind of person who thought before she did anything.
… what a bother.
[Turn 2: Yuji] [H:6]
"Draw," Yuji said. He glanced at the cards in his hand, before observing the field.
An Xyz Monster with practically low attack points and two trees. That was it.
… okay. He could work with this.
"Since I control no Spells and Traps, I can Special Summon Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from my hand." In front of Yuji, the demon with hard, coppery red skin appeared, horns emerging from the top of its head. White hair swept through the air behind it like a ponytail.
[Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss (3*/1000/1900/DARK/Fiend/Effect)]
"I will then Normal Summon Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from my hand." The large, black and sooty dog-like demon appeared, brandishing its claws—Yuji's main playmaker, all things considered, which was why he'd chosen to use a Normal Summon on it instead of Special Summoning it like he'd done with Farfa.
[Graff, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss (3*/1000/1500/DARK/Fiend/Effect)]
"In the middle of the journey of our life, I found myself within a dark woods where the straight way was lost. Xyz Summon! Rank 3! Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss!" In front of him, his first and only Xyz Monster appeared with a calm look on his face, brushing back his dark blue fringe.
[Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss (R3/1000/2500/LIGHT/Warrior/Xyz/Effect) (OU:2)]
"I'll detach one Overlay Unit from Dante," Yuji continued. "And then I can send the top three cards of my deck to the graveyard, and Dante gains 500 attack points for each one—Pulled to the Underworld!" One of the orbs flying around Dante turned to dust, descending to the ground. Yuji flipped up the top three cards of his deck, dropping them into the graveyard even as Hisako nodded.
[Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss: OU:2 - 1 = OU:1]
"I will activate four effects," Yuji said. "The effects of my four Malebranches—Graff, Alich, Barbar and Calcab—activate. Graff's effect. I will Special Summon a "Burning Abyss" monster from my deck. Then, Calcab's effect. I can return a set Spell or Trap on the field to its owner's hand—I'll target your set card. Alich's effect will negate the effects of your Sylvan Princessprite. Then, Barbar will banish Calcab and Alich from the graveyard to inflict 300 damage to you for each of them."
"So those effects all meet simultaneous timing? Interesting…" Hisako smiled, nodding her head. "Our playstyles do look rather alike, don't they?" She flipped over her set card. "If your Calcab specifically targets a set card, then if I activate it, it no longer has a target—that's how that ruling works, I believe? So pardon me, but I need to use this card before you stop me, as it were."
… was she going to be talking like that the entire time? Yuji had been on the streets for half his life, and even after that, when he and Chiaki had been adopted, the school that they'd gone to was relatively rural compared to most other places within Domino City. In spaces like that, everyone was generally more informal with each other.
It just felt… odd. He tended to associate that kind of formal speech with people who were more… well-off, who dealt with business and things like that. At the same time, the tattoos… they didn't suit that kind of person.
(If Chiaki was here, she'd say that he was being too judgemental. Maybe he was.)
"Trap Card, Waboku. I take no battle damage this turn, and my monsters cannot be destroyed by battle."
"... my monsters' effects resolve," Yuji said. Barbar fired off its two fireballs, the Xyz Monster had its effects negated, Calcab's effect resolved without… well, effect, and Graff…
"Come—Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss." The burly, purple-skinned demon appeared to the left of Dante, whose attack points also rose.
[Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss (3*/1600/1200/DARK/Fiend/Effect)]
[Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss: 1000 + 500 x 3 = 2500ATK]
Hisako: 4000 - 300 x 2 = 3400LP
With the effect of Waboku, Yuji now had no reason to aim for damage over card advantage this turn. So…
"I'll Special Summon Libic, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from my hand with its own effect," Yuji said. The bipedal, monkey-like demon landed on the field, letting out a howl.
[Libic, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss (3*/1300/700/DARK/Fiend/Effect)]
"Open, circuit of the blazing abyss. Arrowhead confirmed! The conditions are two Level 3 monsters! I will set Libic and Cir in the Link Markers! The heavens, that their beauty not be lessened, have cast them out, nor will deep Hell receive them—even the wicked cannot glory in them. Circuit Combine! Link Summon! Link 2! Cherubini, Ebon Angel of the Burning Abyss!" The bestial demon appeared, flames writhing around its strange body as it floated in the Extra Monster Zone.
[Cherubini, Ebon Angel of the Burning Abyss (L2/500/DARK/Fairy/Link/Effect/↙, ↘)]
And the thing was, Cherubini was a good card. But it perhaps held more significance to Yuji than just being good—
After all, Cherubini was the card that had been born, in some way, because Yuno Sugisaki had believed that he was a good person. That was what the card meant to him. And to be clear, Yuji did not agree with that. He was not a good person. He was barely even able to bring himself to be enough of a person to satisfy other people, most days—
… anyway.
But still. Even if he did not understand his own attachment to the card—even if it was illogical to like the card as much as he did—
Illogical things weren't always terrible. He knew that much. The way that he lived his life wasn't exactly logical either—Chiaki didn't operate on that mindset. They existed outside the norm.
He just knew how he felt about things. Why should he think more about why it mattered to him?
"Cir's effect," Yuji said. He couldn't activate Libic's effect, since it had Special Summoned itself with its own effect—but that was fine. "Since it was sent to the graveyard, I can Special Summon a "Burning Abyss" monster from my graveyard. Come back—Graff." The canine demon reappeared in Defense Position. "And I will activate the effect of Cherubini. I will send Scarm, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss from my deck to the graveyard, and Cherubini gains its attack points until the End Phase."
Though it was… pointless.
[Cherubini, Ebon Angel of the Burning Abyss: 500 + 800 = 1300ATK]
"I'll have Dante attack Princessprite." The attack landed with no effect, but… "Then, since Dante battled this turn, I can change it to Defense Position." The blue-haired man took a resting position.
"So you're getting it into Defense Position to keep it safe for the next turn," Hisako noted.
"I will set two cards and end my turn," Yuji said. "... over to you. During the End Phase, Scarm's effect lets me add a Level 3 DARK Fiend monster from my deck to my hand."
"Economical," Hisako said. She gestured out towards the holographic copy of her Field Spell, still smiling. "Mount Sylvania's effect activates during your End Phase. During your End Phase, I can excavate the top card of my deck and if it's a Plant monster, I can send it to the graveyard. Of course, with Flowerknight's effect, I already know what it is." She flipped it up, showing it to Yuji. "Sylvan Komushroomo. When it is excavated from the top of the deck and sent to the graveyard, I can destroy a Spell or Trap on the field. I will choose your left set card."
Yuji stared at his set card as it was destroyed—a pity. He had been counting on his Fire Lake, just in case.
"But that's all," Hisako continued. "As you can tell, my playstyle is rather simple."
Yuji stared at her. "... who are you fooling?" He asked with genuine curiosity—who are you trying to fool with that attitude? It was obvious even to him that her words were insincere.
Hisako looked at him, and then her smile briefly widened, before it went back to normal. "I guess the answer isn't you," she said lightly—though her tone was somewhat amused, her words still carried that air of formality between them. "But forgive me… sometimes, I do prefer not to draw attention to myself. My turn."
[Turn 3: Hisako] [H:5]
"Draw." Hisako picked up the card, before glancing at her field. "Does Alich's effect end during your End Phase?"
Yuji nodded.
"Then Princessprite's effects are no longer negated. I will first activate the effect of Mount Sylvania—I will send a Plant monster from my hand to the graveyard to place a "Sylvan" card on the top of my deck. So I will send Sylvan Bladefender to the graveyard." She picked up a card, flipping it over. "And the card that I'm placing on top of the deck will be Sylvan Princessprout."
Princessprout… was that related to Princessprite, then?
"Sylvan Hermitree's effect," Hisako continued. "I will excavate the top card of my deck. It's Princessprout, as you might expect, so I will send it to the graveyard and draw a card." She picked up the card delicately, before she gestured forward. "Sylvan Princessprout's effect. Since she was excavated from the deck and sent to the graveyard, I can declare a Level from 1 to 8—and I can Special Summon her from the graveyard as a monster of that Level. I will declare Level 7."
The girl that appeared had light green hair. The similar name to Princessprite clearly wasn't a coincidence—the two monsters resembled each other in appearance, with Princessprout looking like a younger, less mature version of Princessprite. She was dressed in an ornate dress made up of pink, red and green folds, with more layers than anyone could reasonably ever describe. She was wearing a black headdress decorated with gold, and as she tilted her head, she seemed to be dozing off on the spot.
… relatable.
[Sylvan Princessprout (1*/100/100/LIGHT/Plant/Effect)]
[Sylvan Princessprout: 1* → 7*]
Still, the fact that she'd chosen Level 7 could only really mean one thing.
"I'll overlay the Level 7 Sylvan Princessprout and Sylvan Sagequoia." The two monsters shot up, as Yuji had expected, turning into green streaks, before diving back down into the ground. "Noble protector! Now, with your wings of tranquility, create the world of perfect righteousness, and bring forth the future that we desire! Xyz Summon! Rank 7! Orea, the Sylvan High Arbiter!"
A phoenix-like creature emerged, most of its body lush green, formed with leaves and brightly blooming blossoms that decorated its chest and head feathers. It stared down at the field, a judging look on its face—on her face. Red ropes of silk emerged from beneath the feathers on its head, dangling around its body. Its tail cast several shadows on the ground.
[Orea, the Sylvan High Arbiter (R7/2800/2500/DARK/Plant/Xyz/Effect) (OU:2)]
"Then, I will activate the effect of Orea, the Sylvan High Arbiter. I will send the Level 8 Sylvan Hermitree from my hand to the graveyard." The phoenix of flowers spread its wings, letting out a cry. "And then, I can rearrange cards on the top of my deck, up to the Level of the monster I discarded."
So that was… eight cards?
The cards all flew up, and Hisako caught them in the air. A brief glance, and then she dropped them back in the slot on her duel disk.
"And then, Princessprite's effect. I will detach an Overlay Unit from her and excavate the top card of my deck." She revealed it. "The Continuous Spell, Miracle Fertiliser—I'll add it to my hand."
[Sylvan Princessprite: OU:1 - 1 = OU:0]
"I'll then activate the Continuous Spell, Miracle Fertiliser. In exchange for not Normal Summoning this turn, I can Special Summon a Plant monster from my graveyard. Return—Hermitree." A second copy of the large red tree appeared on Hisako's field—so essentially, she now controlled two Xyz Monsters and two trees. Still two trees though. "I will then activate Orea's effect. I can excavate up to three cards from the top of my deck, and all Plant monsters among them are sent to the graveyard. Then, I can return cards from the field to the hand, up to the number of cards sent to the graveyard with this effect!"
[Orea, the Sylvan High Arbiter: OU:2 - 1 = OU:1]
Yuji frowned. "You rearranged…"
"I won't insult your intelligence by playing coy," Hisako said. "The next three cards are Plants." She gestured towards him. "If your set card can fix this, you should give it a try—this effect does not target, and I don't declare what cards I'm returning to the hand with Orea's effect until the effect resolves."
"You talk like a tutor," Yuji commented quietly.
"In a way, I am," Hisako said, before she laughed—she sounded slightly taken aback. "Ah, that's nostalgic. Yuto said that to me once in the past, and I said the same thing… feels like it's been a long time since then. Anyway, does your set card fix this?"
Yuji nodded, and he flipped up his set card. "Trap Card, Needlebug Nest. I'll send the top five cards of my deck to the graveyard."
"So you're gambling," Hisako said. The cards fell into the graveyard. "Fine with me. I will choose Dante, Graff and Cherubini, and return all three of them to your hand. Judgement of the Five-Coloured Blossoms!" Around Orea, flowers bloomed one by one—before they ate through the rotten landscape, covering up ashen, polluted ground. All three of Yuji's monsters were consumed by the colourful petals—Dante and Cherubini went back to the Extra Deck, while Graff actually returned to Yuji's hand.
Yuji glanced at the five cards that had been sent to the graveyard with Needlebug Nest—and of course, Dante's one remaining Overlay Unit, which had been sent to the graveyard once he'd left the field.
"I have turn player priority," Hisako said. "So my monsters' effects are added to the chain first." She revealed the three Plant monsters that she had sent to the graveyard. "Sylvan Peaskeeper. Sylvan Snapdrassinagon. Sylvan Sagequoia. And you?"
"I have four effects to activate," he said.
"Then, by all means."
Yuji raised up the cards. "Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss's effect. I will target your Orea and banish it until the End Phase. Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss's effect. I will Special Summon Libic from my graveyard. Cagna, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss's effect. I'll send a "Burning Abyss" Spell or Trap from my deck to the graveyard. And Alich, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss's effect… I'll negate the effect of your Princessprite."
"Why Princessprite and not Hermitree?"
Yuji glanced at the field. "... you have two of them anyway."
Hisako smiled enigmatically. The seven cards formed a chain.
The effects resolved—Orea vanished, its one remaining Overlay Unit falling in the graveyard again. Libic reappeared in Defense Position on Yuji's field. The other two Burning Abyss monsters resolved as well—and then, Hisako's effects resolved.
"Peaskeeper Special Summons a Level 4 or lower Plant monster from the graveyard," Hisako said. Sylvan Flowerknight reappeared on her field, a knight with a yellow flower hat on the top of his head.
[Sylvan Flowerknight (4*/1800/1000/EARTH/Plant/Effect)]
"Sagequoia then lets me add a "Sylvan" Spell or Trap from my graveyard to my hand. I'll add Sylvan Charity back to my hand. And then, Snapdrassinagon excavates the top card of my deck." She dropped the next card in the graveyard, but strangely enough, she didn't activate an effect from there. "And then, I will activate the effect of my second Hermitree. I will excavate the top card of my deck, and if it's a Plant monster, I can send it to the graveyard and draw a card. No effect." She said it with a smile before she even revealed the top card of her deck, but she clearly knew. And there were still two other cards on the top of her deck that she knew about. "Come. Flowerknight attacks Libic." The dark fiend was destroyed by the lance of the yellow-themed knight, before he returned back to Hisako's side of the field.
"Libic's effect. Since it was sent to the graveyard, I can Special Summon a Level 3 DARK Fiend monster from my hand, but its effects are negated," Yuji said. He put down Graff's card, and the canine demon appeared in front of him in Defense Position, protecting him.
"Alright." Hisako hummed. "Princessprite." The green-haired woman, despite having her effects negated, was still able to attack, so she summoned up a gale, sweeping the dog in the air and destroying it.
"Graff's effect," Yuji said, narrowing his eyes. "I can Special Summon a "Burning Abyss" monster from my deck."
"I see. So you're just going to keep on floating into new monsters… but you've already shown one that summons from the hand, one from the graveyard and one from the deck. Do you have one that summons from the banished cards, perhaps?"
Yuji shook his head. "Scarm," he said. His searcher appeared on the field.
"... Hermitree." The first tree destroyed Scarm, and the second one attacked Yuji directly.
Yuji: 4000 - 2700 = 1300LP
"I'll set a card and end my turn," Hisako said. "Orea comes back to my field. That's your turn, now. Make it count."
Yuji finally understood just what made him feel so uneasy about her. It was the disconnect between her tone and words. The sheer formality of her words, compared to the informal friendliness of her tone.
And so, with that sentence…
"Make it count."
There was a shift in tone there. Something genuine and serious.
… Yuji should probably listen. With Scarm's effect, he added another card to his hand.
"She's good," Chiaki murmured.
"She reminds me a bit of myself," Mion commented. "The big picture of the entire turn ends up more important, she focuses on hand advantage, and mainly she's just trying to keep drawing cards, to set up things to counter her opponent…"
"I never want to play against you," Chiaki muttered halfheartedly. "But no, I was just thinking that Yuji's always been like that. He doesn't like… meticulously planning out things, or whatever. He takes his chances with fate and just tries to figure out how to use what it gives him, good or bad."
"He doesn't think ahead?"
"No. He doesn't. So this person might actually be the opposite of him." Chiaki had never looked away from the duel, not even when she was talking. "Whatever. It's Yuji—he's good because he does things in his own way."
Yuji swiped up the top card of his deck.
[Turn 4: Yuji] [H:3]
"Draw," he said, and he glanced at the field—completely empty, now that Hisako had swept through it with her monster.
… he'd already gotten rid of Orea's other Overlay Unit. So he just had to get rid of her field too…
"I'll banish Good & Evil in the Burning Abyss from the graveyard," he said. "I can send a "Burning Abyss" monster from my hand to the graveyard to add a "Burning Abyss" card from my deck to my hand." He picked up the card. "I sent my Ritual Monster, Charon, Ferry Boatman of the Burning Abyss, to the graveyard—and when it's sent to the graveyard, I can add a "Burning Abyss" Spell or Trap from my deck to my hand."
He picked up the new card as well.
… alright.
"I'll activate the Spell Card, Pre-Preparation of Rites," he said. "I will add a Ritual Spell and a Ritual Monster directly listed in that Ritual Spell's text from my deck to my hand. I will add Burning Abyss Ritual—and Empty Abyss Ritual Dragon from my deck to my hand!"
A Ritual Spell that at least properly listed Empty Abyss, so that he could search it out with Pre-Preparation of Rites… it was a card that at least helped him to be a bit more consistent in bringing out the dragon that was ostensibly his ace. And also… other things.
"I'll then activate the Ritual Spell, Burning Abyss Ritual. I'll tribute Francesca, Noblewoman of the Burning Abyss and Barbar, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss in my hand." That was three of six cards gone—and he was about to use a fourth.
He lifted the card, pressing it to his forehead. It was a soothing gesture.
"Kyorin Rinsoka vouched for you and Chiaki Katsuya long before you showed up again in Standard," Reiji Akaba said. His eyes showed no trace of judgement for the actions that Yuji had performed once he'd ended up in Standard—no regret, no remorse, but no hatred either. At least, Yuji assumed so. "Katsuya-san's deck has changed from what we were told, and thus, we will need more time for her—but these have been ready longer than you think."
Really, it was strange…
He did not know why people continued to believe in him, continued to expect more from him despite his wish to be nothing special. This much was proof of an expectation from this girl who he could reluctantly consider a friend—an expectation that he would want to fight, that he would want to be a hero.
And then he'd shown up in Standard, uncaring of her intentions.
That kind of unconditional belief…
He had not known how to acknowledge it. He'd simply taken it as it was.
"Misery incarnate. Which way shall you fly, in infinite wrath and infinite despair? Dragon serving as the embodiment of hell, sink lower into the infinite abyss, beyond that plane of any mortal comprehension, and return back stronger than before, your feathers stained with demonic intent! Now, devour me as tribute, and let the hell I suffer form a new heaven! Advent. Level 7. Mythical creature slumbering in the depths of the fallen abyss—Empty Abyss Ritual Dragon!" The dragon appeared, its icy blue eyes staring forward, grey feathers drifting around it.
[Empty Abyss Ritual Dragon (7*/2800/2000/DARK/Dragon/Ritual/Effect)]
"Empty Abyss Ritual Dragon," Hisako repeated. "... hmm. What a lovely monster."
Yuji's dragon silently waved out her wings, landing next to Yuji. Affectionately, the feathers of her right wing skimmed the top of his head.
"When Empty Abyss Ritual Dragon is Ritual Summoned," Yuji said, "all other Special Summoned monsters on the field have their attack points become 0 until the End Phase, but for the rest of this turn, only Empty Abyss is permitted to attack. Suppression Decree!" The dragon raised her head, her feathers ruffling as an aura spread across the field—nailing down all of Hisako's monsters.
[Sylvan Hermitree (x2): 2700 → 0ATK]
[Orea, the Sylvan High Arbiter: 2800 → 0ATK]
[Sylvan Princessprite: 1800 → 0ATK]
[Sylvan Flowerknight: 1800 → 0ATK]
"Francesca and Barbar's effects activate," Yuji continued. "Francesca lets me add a "Burning Abyss" Spell or Trap from my graveyard to my hand. I'll add Burning Abyss Ritual from my graveyard to my hand. Then, Barbar lets me banish at least three "Burning Abyss" cards from my graveyard to inflict 300 damage to you for each. I'll choose my Libic, Cagna and Scarm." The three cards left the graveyard, and more fireballs pelted Hisako.
Hisako: 3400 - 300 x 3 = 2500LP
"I'll then activate the Spell Card, Graceful Charity." Yuji drew three cards and discarded two. "Since Burning Abyss Ritual was sent to the graveyard from somewhere except the field, I can Special Summon a "Burning Abyss" monster from the graveyard with its effects negated."
Scarm reappeared in Defense Position, and since its effects were negated, it didn't destroy itself.
"I'll then set two cards facedown," Yuji said quietly. "Empty Abyss attacks your Orea—and the monster Ritual Summoned using Burning Abyss Ritual is unaffected by card effects once it's face-up on the field." It was the reason that he'd used a Ritual Spell instead of Empty Abyss's own effect. He raised a hand, clenching his fist. "Do it, Empty Abyss. Hellfire Devastation."
"Unaffected, you say?" Hisako chuckled. "That certainly is a pickle—and that's why you were burning my life points this entire time, correct? To get them just low enough for your dragon to finish me off…"
Yuji nodded. Empty Abyss flew up, the angelic dragon beginning to fire off blasts of dark flames.
"But I think you know that it won't work. Trap Card, Half Unbreak." Bubbles floated around Orea, who let out another bird-like cry. "Orea can't be destroyed by battle this turn, and I take halved damage from battles involving her. And this affects Orea, not your monster."
The flames collided with the flower phoenix, but nothing happened.
Hisako: 2500 - 2800 / 2 = 1100LP
"... I'll activate Empty Abyss's other effect," Yuji said. "I'll banish the Trap Card, The Traveler and the Burning Abyss from the graveyard—and I can target a Level 5 or higher monster you control and destroy it. I will choose one of your Sylvan Hermitrees. Flames of Judgment." The red tree exploded—and then, Miracle Fertiliser blew up as well.
"That's unfortunate," Hisako said, folding her arms. "When a monster Special Summoned by Miracle Fertiliser leaves the field, it's automatically destroyed."
"I'll end my turn," Yuji said—ending up with Empty Abyss, Scarm and two set cards on the field, against Hermitree and two Xyz Monsters.
… it would have to do.
"During your End Phase, Mount Sylvania's effect activates," Hisako said.
… and of course, there were still two cards on the top of her deck that she knew about.
"I'll excavate the top card of my deck and send it to the graveyard." Hisako revealed the card. "Sylvan Peaskeeper. I can Special Summon a Level 4 or lower Plant monster from my graveyard. Return, Sylvan Cherubsprout." A small, light green dragon-like monster appeared—two leaves, larger than its head, formed its ears, and a long tail swept behind it like a broom, a darker shade of green, cupping the air.
[Sylvan Cherubsprout (1*/100/100/LIGHT/Plant/Effect)]
"Sylvan Cherubsprout's effect," Hisako continued. "When Special Summoned—I can choose to excavate cards from the top of my deck, either one or two—the same deal as Marshalleaf, really. I'll choose two." She looked at both cards, and then, casually, she cast both of them into the graveyard. "Since they are Plant monsters, they are both sent to the graveyard."
And then, she revealed both cards again.
"I will activate the effect of Sylvan Guardioak. I will place another Plant monster from my graveyard on the top of my deck. And Sylvan Bladefender's effect. I will add Bladefender back to my hand."
She reached for the top card of her deck—for the card that she'd just placed there.
"And now, it is my turn."
[Turn 5: Hisako] [H:7]
"Draw." She gestured forward. "I will discard Bladefender from my hand to use Orea's effect. I will rearrange the top four cards of my deck as I see fit." The cards spun around, before floating back to the top of her deck. "I will then activate the effect of Sylvan Hermitree. I will excavate the top card of my deck and well—you know the drill." The card dropped into the graveyard and she drew a card. "Then, Sylvan Sagequoia's effect triggers, Special Summoning it from my hand." The old, lush green tree from earlier reappeared on the field.
She was clearly intending to use the tree's effect to continue manipulating the top of her deck, but…
Yuji flipped up his set card.
"Trap Card, Needle Ceiling," he said. "Since there are at least four monsters on the field, I'll destroy all face-up monsters on the field!"
Long needles rained down, hitting all of the monsters on the field.
"Does that include your own dragon?" Hisako said disapprovingly.
Yuji glanced at Empty Abyss.
Yes.
Because that was how he could survive. (He had enough ways to bring her back. His Ritual Spell could bring her back from the graveyard. It was fine. And if she got to keep all these cards, she could definitely use Princessprite's effect to Special Summon Hermitree from the graveyard for a Rank 8 Xyz Summon. If Hermitree had that many attack points, any monster that she summoned with it would only be stronger, which meant that keeping Empty Abyss just for the sake of sentimentality wouldn't help him.)
She gently brushed her wing against his back—it felt like acceptance.
Needles rained down across the field, destroying each and every single one of the monsters on the field—all of Yuji's own, and Hisako's monsters as well—ruining the field that had taken her so long to set up.
Hisako's smile widened.
"... well, I suppose that it helps you more than me. That's more like it," she said approvingly. "Continuous Spell, Miracle Fertiliser." Another copy of the Spell appeared on the field. "I will use its effect to Special Summon Sylvan Hermitree from the graveyard." The red and green tree reappeared on the field. "I will use its effect to excavate the top card of my deck, send it to the graveyard and draw a card."
… where were the once per turn clauses on her cards? Did they not have any?
"Sylvan Princessprout was excavated and sent to the graveyard," Hisako continued. "As such, I will declare Level 4, and she comes back as a Level 4 monster." The green-haired girl from earlier reappeared on the field.
[Sylvan Princessprout: 1* → 4*]
"I will then send a Plant monster from my hand to the graveyard to Special Summon World Carrotweight Champion from the graveyard." The monster made of carrots appeared on the field—Yuji at least recognised that monster, considering that Miharu Kogami used it rather often.
[World Carrotweight Champion (4*/1900/0/DARK/Plant/Effect)]
"Battle Phase," Hisako said, cracking a smile—why? Was she not going to Xyz Summon now? "Hermitree."
The red tree stretched out its roots towards Yuji.
"Trap Card, Thieving Shadows of the Burning Abyss. Since I control no other Spells or Traps, I can draw two cards." Yuji plucked up the cards from his deck. "Then, by banishing it from the graveyard, I can Special Summon a "Burning Abyss" monster from my graveyard with its effects negated. Come back—Graff."
"Attack Graff then," Hisako said goodnaturedly. The tree crushed Graff with its roots, but since he was in Defense Position, Yuji took no damage.
"Graff's effect," Yuji said. There was effectively only one more attack, with Princessprout's low attack points, so if he wanted to bait her to attack once more… "I'll Special Summon Cir, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss." The final copy of the demon reappeared on the field—in Attack Position.
Hisako gestured forward, taking the bait. "World Carrotweight Champion."
Good.
The warrior sliced straight through Cir, destroying it.
Yuji: 1300 - 300 = 1000LP
"Cir's effect. I will bring back Barbar." And there it was.
Hisako nodded knowingly. "Sacrificing life points to hopefully let you bring back Barbar," she said. "That's why you put it in Attack Position. And therefore, by sending it to the graveyard next turn for one of your other monsters and then bringing it back, you can burn away my life points at the start of next turn, correct?"
Yuji kept a poker face. His plan had been to Fusion Summon, actually—add another copy of Barbar with Scarm and discard it at the start of her next turn to burn her for damage.
But if she knew, was there something else that she wanted to accomplish with that last move?
"Main Phase 2," Hisako said. "I'll overlay the Level 4 Sylvan Princessprout and the Level 4 World Carrotweight Champion." The two monsters turned into dark streaks that flew into the ground. "Sail across the stormy ocean, o' ship that sinks in the dusty sands! Xyz Summon! Rank 4! Number 50: Blackship of Corn!"
And in front of her, an enormous ship appeared, made entirely of black corn. White sails flew forth from above it, with the symbol of '50' painted on them in bloody red. An enormous cannon was protruding from the front of the ship, rather foreboding.
[Number 50: Blackship of Corn (R4/2100/1500/DARK/Plant/Xyz/Effect) (OU:2)]
"I needed you to be sure that you still had a chance to win, so that you would have your monsters float into each other one last time," Hisako explained. "Blackship of Corn's effect. Once per turn, I can detach an Overlay Unit—and I can target a monster you control with less attack points than it. I can send that monster to the graveyard—and then, you take 1000 damage."
Yuji's eyes widened.
"Naturally, Blackship of Corn can't attack on the turn that the effect is used," Hisako provided helpfully. "Which is why I had to attack with Carrotweight Champion first. But manipulating the future is my specialty—they do call me the Flower Oracle for a reason. So—let's bring this to a close, shall we? I don't think my life points can survive another round of Barbar, so pardon me." She gestured forward. "Fire, Blackship of Corn!"
And the large black cannonball, which was literally a single kernel of corn, flew outwards, hitting Barbar—
And as the corn kernel exploded, it blasted away the rest of Yuji's life points—
In a way that seemed perfectly calculated.
Yuji: 1000 - 1000 = 0LP
Winner: Hisako Fuyumori!
At what point, Yuji thought, had her plan to burn away his life points like this started? Had he even noticed, or had he been playing into her hands the whole time? He didn't like the thought of that.
Hisako lowered her duel disk swiftly. Yuji blinked.
"Generally, duel disks aren't raised unless you're fighting," Hisako said. "And I believe we're not fighting anymore, are we?" Her smile was genial. There was still a general disconnect in the way that she was speaking and the words themselves, but…
Yuji watched her.
He had never been motivated to win for the sake of winning. That wasn't what he wanted.
At the same time… losing didn't feel good. No matter how nice the opponent was, losing to someone who had seemingly manipulated him into a perfect loss through his attempt to win… it didn't feel good.
"Well, I did say that as long as you dueled me, it would solve all our problems," Hisako said after a moment. "And it has. I'll uphold my end of the deal and take you back to the Resistance now."
And Yuji wouldn't usually question it, but—
She was the one who had decided to duel him. And yet now, she was still not explaining a single thing.
"Why?" Yuji asked simply. "What did you gain?"
Hisako looked at him.
She briefly, lightly smiled.
"Even if I know you're not the enemy, you're still dangerous," she said. "Particularly with your past affiliations, White Inferno of Academia."
… oh.
"You knew."
"I knew who you were the moment that I saw your monsters," Hisako corrected. "I was simply confused because in the Lancers' roster that we found from our interrogation, you were not there."
Yuji stared at her.
… you did not trust me in the slightest. You thought that I might be lying about being a Lancer.
And then, you gave me a chance to prove myself and my words, rather than assuming…
"It's a long war, you know. Even here, we hear things that Academia thinks are important. Such as the fact that there's a Ritual user that worked for Academia, who had Yuto's face."
"... I don't regret it," Yuji said, because he didn't feel like lying.
"I prefer that honesty," Hisako said. "I suppose that it's good for me to return it. So, if you were asking for my reasons, I'm afraid that I do not have something so simple. First, I wanted to gain more information about who you were, and I thought I could gain it through seeing your deck and the way that you viewed me when set against me as an opponent. Second, I wanted to see your attitude. And your attitude… I believe, as it were, that you're far too laidback and uncaring to be a member of Academia."
A wry smile.
"Third. I wanted to trust you. And so, if I ended up deciding that you were worth trusting, I wanted a reason that would allow the rest of the Resistance to accept you."
"... and what's that reason?"
"You're inquisitive." Hisako fully turned her head away. Yuji realised that she was staring at the fallen tower in the distance. "It'll hurt your pride to hear it, I think."
"I don't have any."
"... no. I don't suppose you do." Hisako didn't turn back. "The simple answer, Yuji Fujita, is that the only reason for them to let you in with no complaints is if I can prove that you're no threat to us—not at all."
Yuji twitched.
"Of course, you're not weak in the slightest. You and I know that. But having defeated you… it makes it easier for me to justify letting you into our base."
There were words trapped in his throat—an accusation, a question—unable to get out.
And then…
"You mean," a voice said sharply, "you just wanted to look down on Yuji?"
And then, Chiaki Katsuya was there, and she spoke the exact words that Yuji had been struggling to say. Her pinkie finger hooked against his for a brief second—a silent question, asking if he was alright. Yuji subtly nodded—of course he was fine. And if he wasn't, they'd work it out.
Chiaki visibly relaxed slightly, but at the same time, she still seemed annoyed as she turned to look at Hisako.
"Yuji's not the kind to talk much, so I'll do it for him. Because I don't care if you wanted to help him or anything like that. It still means you're looking down on him. It still means that you had all these… preconceived notions about him."
"... it seems I've upset you," Hisako said. She was still smiling, though she also seemed perplexed. "I'm sorry, I don't quite understand?"
And—
And, it was sincere.
The pieces clicked into place for Yuji—though maybe he recognised it precisely because he knew his own issues.
Oh.
Oh, you can't talk either.
Maybe there is a little brother with speech problems, but you… you have speech problems too, don't you?
He didn't say it though, because he wasn't certain about it.
(And maybe a part of him still wanted to defer to Chiaki when it came to things that were so confrontational.)
"All of you," Mion muttered from where they had been watching the duel. "You'll give me white hair."
"She's not wrong though," Serena said with a scowl. "Looking down on him like that, treating it as though it's a given that she'll win, she's playing with fire when it comes to both of them." She couldn't stand people like that—people who wouldn't put in their full strength against an opponent that was trying so hard, people who would look down on others. Even if the girl seemed oblivious about it.
"So they got into an argument?"
Serena spun around—a red-haired young woman was standing there, jacket sleeves pulled down to her wrists. She was watching the group along with them. There was something… slightly exasperated to her expression as she looked over. Chiaki was only getting louder, and Hisako just seemed mildly confused.
"They did," Mion said. She stepped forward, holding out a hand. "Kurosaki told us about you—you must be Tsubaki Nagare. I'm the Lancers' second-in-command, Mion Myojin."
Tsubaki looked at Mion and Serena, before she took Mion's hand and shook it. "Pleasure to meet you," she said—her voice didn't carry much emotion to it. "I look forward to working with you. Sorry, I think my comrade's likely been misunderstood again—I need to fix that first." She let go and strode forward towards the group—Mion and Serena followed.
Hisako turned over as they approached—her expression shifted to relief as she saw Tsubaki. "Tsubaki," she said. "I'm not sure I… I don't think I understand…" Her expression was pure, unadulterated confusion—she genuinely didn't seem to get what was going on.
"I'll handle it," Tsubaki said without any hesitation. She turned to Chiaki—the two redheads seemed to size each other up.
After a moment, Chiaki scoffed. "I just want her to apologise for looking down on him."
"She wasn't looking down on him," Tsubaki said bluntly. "Hisako just takes the most efficient route to get to her goal. That's it."
"But it doesn't change the fact that whether or not she meant to, she did." Chiaki said, waving out a hand. "And that just… I can't tolerate that."
Serena side-eyed her. Hadn't Yuji been the one that had hurt Kyorin's feelings in Standard without meaning to? That was rich, coming from the person that seemed determined to defend everything that her best friend did.
"I want to duel her. I want to prove that she can't just look down on my friend like this."
"You want to duel her?" Tsubaki repeated, "And then you're satisfied?"
"... I'd settle for you," Chiaki said after a pause.
"Then there's no problem." Tsubaki folded her arms. "... after we get back to the base."
"I—"
"Or are your comrades less important than your pride?"
Chiaki stared at her, but she dropped the matter.
"Later," Tsubaki said. "Come on. We need to pick up your scattered comrades."
It was so difficult to simply… keep moving after that duel. So the most that Yuto did was move into the shelter of a nearby building. The other two were there as well—all three of them were simply recuperating mentally and emotionally.
It was there that Gongenzaka found them, ten minutes later, an unconscious Hitoda slung over his back.
"What happened?" Yuto exclaimed, springing to his feet—alarm overtaking the sheer terror from earlier. Rin and Kyorin immediately came over to look too.
"The man, Gongenzaka, is not clear about that himself." Gongenzaka gestured to Hitoda, though he took care not to knock her off. "We finished dueling, and she immediately collapsed as she was trying to walk. She is breathing abnormally fast, but she does not seem to be in present danger, from what I can tell?"
"Overexertion…? No, that can't be right." Kyorin touched Hitoda's forehead, from where the green-haired girl's head was lolling on Gongenzaka's shoulder. "… she's burning a high fever, I think. Maybe she caught a cold or something, and was just hiding it."
"I told her to just tell me, and she lied straight to my face," Gongenzaka said, sounding miffed as Kyorin searched her bag and quickly took out one of the pills for fever and pain relief, before grabbing a cup of water and helping Hitoda to take the medicine.
"First time?" Rin said dryly. "No one ever tells the truth when they're sick."
Hopefully it was just a fever then…
"Yuto! Everyone!" That was another voice, and Yuto turned to see Yuya and Yuzu approaching—with Ruri, Allen and Sayaka behind them.
Ruri.
Yuto, on instinct, moved to take her hand.
"... it looks like a lot's happened," Ruri said, her voice as sweet as ever. "Do you… need a moment?"
"... maybe later," Yuto said honestly. "We should get to safety first though. Now that we're back together."
(If both of them noticed the suspicious look that Allen shot them, neither of them commented on it.)
The first thing that Shun Kurosaki said, once reuniting with two of his comrades, was: "What the fuck happened to your nose?" Then, he seemed to remember Reira's presence, and he grimaced.
Sora snorted, his breathing still uneasy. They'd all brought basic first aid kits with them, and apparently Academia taught their students basic first aid, like disinfection and things like that. So Sora had disinfected the wound and then placed a large plaster on top of it—nothing he could do about his nose without an ice pack though. "... some Academia b—officer broke it," he muttered. His voice caught in his throat—there was something else that he had to say, but he didn't want to say it.
And yet, Shun narrowed his eyes. "There's something else," he said. "Right?"
"How'd you guess?" Sora muttered. He fought the urge to bury his head in his hands. "... Tsukikage's gone."
Both Reira and Shun reacted with shock. Reira covered her mouth with both her hands—and Shun clenched his fists.
"Damn it," he muttered. "... damn it!"
"I watched him… right in front of me…" Sora felt the irrational urge to shout at someone, even though no one there could have done anything.
"He's not taking it well," Sawatari muttered—rather unnecessarily. Sora wanted to snap at him—did he have to draw attention to it?
"... no one's going to take it well," Shun muttered. "We need to get to the base. I—" He then tensed up briefly as he saw something behind Sora, before he relaxed. "Ejiri. Good timing."
Sora turned his head. A silver-haired girl was standing there, observing them. "Mm, yeah!" She didn't seem surprised to see them there. "And those are the new comrades you guys brought back to help us, right?"
"You know?"
The girl grinned, putting a finger on her cheek. "We're good at finding out things," she said. She turned to glance at Sora and Sawatari, before her grin widened. "Ah, man. This is pretty interesting—people from other worlds who aren't out to kill us? Fancy that!"
"Who are you?" Sora said, raising an eyebrow, still in a terrible mood.
"Hearts Branch, Mariko Ejiri," Mariko said. "Member of the Resistance, obviously! Anyway, Kurosaki. I've been nice and busy finding your new comrades. Allen and Sayaka got in a bit of a scuffle with them, but Ruri solved things, so they're going back together now. Chris found your leader and one other person… and I think Rio bumped into three of your people, including that guy that Yuto slandered to hell and back!"
"So Ruri's fine and in a group?" Shun was clearly relieved by the thought. "Anyone else?"
"I assume that Tsubaki would have run into some of them as well by now," Mariko said. "But no, I haven't seen anyone else—though including these two, I've already seen a massive group. How did you expect to get to the Resistance unseen again?"
"I was expecting to find you all first," Shun said. "So, no news on Yuto and Nue?"
"No news at all," Mariko said with a shrug. "Though to be honest, the only places I haven't checked are Spade Branch and the surrounding areas—" She paused. "... huh. Maybe…"
"What?"
"Oh, shit," Mariko muttered. "No, she wouldn't, right? She went to all the effort of finding you all—she wouldn't."
"Ejiri," Shun stressed. "What is it?"
Mariko took a deep breath. She glanced at Sora and Sawatari again, before she finally spoke up.
"There was an… incident a while back," she said. "A while after the three of you left. They attacked both of our bases, and shortly afterwards, they crushed the Duel Lodge too, just to make sure that we couldn't move to it as a backup."
"How did they know that the Duel Lodge was our backup?" Shun demanded. "We never—"
"How did they know?" Mariko said, and despite the fact that she was still smiling, there was something wildly, painfully amused in her eyes. "What do you think? It's because—"
Standing in the ruins of Spade Branch, Nue glanced at the figure who had been rifling through some of the boxes, raising an eyebrow. The pink-haired boy turned around and yelped when he saw her.
"Nue-senpai! Uh—"
"What are you doing, Ryoma?" Nue asked.
"I didn't know—wait, when did you get back to Heartland? This is great!" Then, Ryoma Miyama's face fell, as he seemed to recall something. "Um—"
Nue watched him.
"You see, Nue-senpai—"
"—we were betrayed. By an entire group that was supposed to be on our side."
Shun stared at her.
He could only think of one person who might be able to sway an entire group, and just the thought of that person—
"Diamond Branch," he said. "They betrayed us?"
"Every single member that's still alive," Mariko confirmed.
A sinking feeling filled Shun's chest. "And you haven't found Nue," he said. "So she doesn't know this yet."
"... no," Mariko confirmed. "Kurosaki—"
"Take them back to base," Shun said. "Just—please." He glanced at the others. "I'll be right back. But—"
"It kind of feels like they're my people. Yes, they were horrible to me—but teenagers are horrible. That's always the case. I want to do my best to protect them—as many of my people as possible."
If Diamond Branch had betrayed them, and Nue had to fight them—
Sora stared at him. There was something haunted to his eyes. Maybe losing Tsukikage really had hurt him more than anyone could expect. Next to him, Reira, who still seemed to be processing the same shock and grief, looked the same.
"Go," Sora said. "Hurry up, Kurosaki."
And there was no more need for prompting.
Shun turned and ran—
"—we really need your help," Ryoma said.
Nue watched him, her foot lightly tapping the ground.
"Go on," she said.
OC Cards:
Charon, Ferry Boatman of the Burning Abyss
(7*/2400/2600/DARK/Fiend/Ritual/Effect)
You can Ritual Summon this card with "Sins Cast into the Burning Abyss". If this card is Ritual Summoned: You can target 1 "Burning Abyss" monster in your GY; Special Summon it in Defense Position. If this card battles a Special Summoned monster, during the start of the Damage Step: You can pay 500LP; Send both this card and the monster it is battling to the GY. If this card is sent to the GY: You can add 1 "Burning Abyss" Spell/Trap from your Deck to your hand. You can only activate each effect of "Charon, Ferry Boatman of the Burning Abyss" once per turn.
Burning Abyss Ritual
(Spell/Ritual)
This card can be used to Ritual Summon any Level 6 or 9 DARK Ritual Monster, or "Empty Abyss Ritual Dragon" from the hand or GY. You must also Tribute monsters from your hand or field whose total Levels equal or exceed the Level of the Ritual Monster you Ritual Summon. If all monsters tributed for this effect were "Burning Abyss" monsters, the summoned monster is unaffected by your opponent's card effects while it is face-up on the field. If this card is sent to the GY, except from the field: You can Special Summon 1 "Burning Abyss" monster from the GY with its effects negated. You can only activate this effect of "Burning Abyss Ritual" once per turn.
Trivia: Pretty standard, no fanciful names or anything. It's just meant to be searchable off every piece of Ritual/Burning Abyss support known to mankind, since it now specifically lists Yuji's dragon, letting him search out his own ace with Pre-Prep, and it can also be sent to the GY with Cagna so that he can recycle it with Francesca (just this fic) and Preparation of Rites. But yeah, it's kinda busted. :)
Francesca, Noblewoman of the Burning Abyss
(6*/2000/2500/DARK/Spellcaster/Ritual/Effect)
You can Ritual Summon this card with "Sins Cast into the Burning Abyss". Once per turn: You can send the top card of your Deck to the GY; then, if it is a "Burning Abyss" monster, you can target 1 monster on the field; change its battle position, and it loses ATK/DEF equal to the ATK/DEF of the monster sent to the GY to activate this effect. If an effect is activated that would destroy a "Burning Abyss" monster(s) you control: You can negate that effect, and if you do, destroy this card. If this card is sent to the GY: You can add 1 "Burning Abyss" Spell/Trap from your GY to your hand. You can only activate each effect of "Francesca, Noblewoman of the Burning Abyss" once per turn.
Empty Abyss Ritual Dragon
(7*/2800/2000/DARK/Dragon/Ritual/Effect)
You can reveal this card in your hand while you have 2000 or less LP: Tribute DARK monsters on the field and/or in your hand with a total Level of 7 or more; Special Summon this card from your hand. (This is treated as a Ritual Summon.) If this card is Ritual Summoned: All other Special Summoned monsters on the field have their ATK become 0 until the End Phase. On the turn you activate this effect, while you control this face-up card, no other monsters you control can attack. Once per turn: You can banish 1 Spell/Trap from your GY and target 1 Level 5 or higher monster on the field; destroy that monster. Once per turn, if a card or effect is activated that would destroy this card while you control no other monsters: You can halve your LP and send 1 monster from your hand to the GY; the next time this card would be destroyed by a card effect, it remains on the field.
Thieving Shadows of the Burning Abyss
(Trap)
If you control no other Spell/Traps: You can draw 2 cards, but during the End Phase, destroy all Spell/Traps you control. You can banish this card from the GY; Special Summon 1 "Burning Abyss" monster from your GY with its effects negated. You can only activate each effect of "Thieving Shadows of the Burning Abyss" once per turn.
End Notes:
It's nice to have two normal length chapters in a row for once—the natural chapter break fell here :)
Fun fact, every single one of Hisako's excavations was actually randomised, except for the times when she'd already put things on top of her deck—I made a decklist and used a random number generator to grab them. :) That way, I could actually punish her if she chose to leave things to dumb luck—though, as you can tell, she's not the type to do that.
Everyone knows that I like Plant monsters. Sylvans were one of the first decks I played :) So yeah, I'm the most familiar with Plants. And well, I didn't want to pick literally the strongest meta decks just for these four. :D
I will say though that um… please note, when the time is right, that I decided on these decks at the end of 2022. So yeah. I'll talk more about that more when all the decks are revealed in full.
But yeah, back to Sylvans! These guys can actually miss the timing, which is unfortunate—I had to rewrite Hisako's turn like five times while checking SEGOC. But they work well as a foil to Burning Abyss—there's a lot more careful set-up, but both do work by sending their cards to the graveyard. I obviously couldn't give her the Link Monster for it right now, but Sylvans are honestly busted, swarming-wise—if only they had more Xyz Monsters.
I cannot believe that Fengli the Soldrapom was the first Plant monster that I gave to more than one Plant duelist. (Okay, we have Lonefire, but Lonefire is Lonefire, it doesn't count. And World Carrotweight Champion is also just World Carrotweight Champion.)
Also, obviously, since the fic is written in English, the mannerisms of keigo have to be shown through the overly formal language she uses here. :) I did my best. Technically, what Hisako speaks is specifically sonkeigo.
And of course, specific stuff like Waboku and Half-Unbreak is intentionally used by Xyz characters because it can be activated before battle :3 And Half-Unbreak specifically is a reference to ZEXAL.
As a fun fact, Yuji vs Hisako was written in December of last year. The rest of the plot has been heavily broken down and deconstructed over the last three months as I tried to figure it out, but this matchup stayed the same, because—come on. Sylvans. Burning Abyss. Send your monsters to proc them. It's a fun matchup.
"Where were the once per turn clauses on these cards?" You and me both, Yuji.
The irony of Chiaki Katsuya, best friend to Yuji Fujita, king of being misunderstood, saying that a person's actions matter more than their intentions.
And while all of us, me included, want to yell at Yuji for using Needle Ceiling on his own Towers, let's be reminded that technically, his decision is correct from his point of view, and that if he kept Empty Abyss on the field, it has no battle protection. As such, Hisako could have definitely taken it out with a Rank 8 Xyz Summon. Instead, she was forced to resort to baiting him to summon a monster in a different, riskier way. Plus, his new Ritual Spell can Ritual Summon from the graveyard, so it's not as big of a deal, since he can revive Empty Abyss now. Did he misplay in one specific other way? Yes. Was that intentional on my part? Yep. Is it one of those easter eggs that won't be addressed in universe because Yuji has the communication skills of a sponge? Yes. Who do you take me for? :3
Review responses!
To Neo-Warkid4, Eri is intentionally antagonistic in a lot of ways.
To phantomdragons, kill them with kindness indeed. That is indeed one of the reasons that I used Dark World, yeah! :)
To cardfan135, it must have been an experience to read 87 and 88 in a row, haha. You've noticed a lot of good details, but I can't confirm any theories :3
To Bryz0n, yeah, there's a lot of interesting character interactions that come specifically from that scene :) Sorry, your review did end up there, but since review moderation is up so that I can avoid spammers, they don't appear for a bit longer.
To TheRealD3lph0xL0v3r, frankly speaking, I dislike stories where everything always go the protagonist's way, so I can't agree with you on that. Because there is no growth if there's no way to acknowledge that a character is lacking something. Things will work out, but it's sure not going to be neat, because personally, I find that kind of story boring :) No offence intended, of course, we just have different opinions on stories, and that's fine!
To T.V. 2000, yup, it's definitely going to affect all the Lancers a lot.
To Egduardiazsluber, maybe you can write that into your own fic. Also, for future reference, I don't have PM notifications on, but even if I did, I generally don't respond to PMs from accounts I don't know. Personal preference and mental health reasons.
Alright, that's all for this chapter! See you next time :)