King: And we're back to this reality.

Knox: This was fun~

King: You still owe me a rematch for the duel you interrupted just before you lost.

Knox: he he... Right...

Inspiration: Yu-Gi-Oh

/\

Knox and King appeared again, mid-conversation.

Knox floated toward King, "I'm just saying, it's kind of weird when you think about it."

"Anything could be weird if you think about it enough."

"But I mean… It seems excessive."

"I'm not saying it isn't."

"Um…" Jaune looked between the two, "What's going on?"

King sighed. "You weren't there, so this'll be fun to try to explain. You've all seen this reality before, the card game one."

Yang grinned, "Oh yeah! That was awesome!"

"Right. Well, this reality has a certain… quirk. It's called a dimensional overlap. Technically, there's two dimensions in one form." King seemed to swallow up Knox to make his point. "Two worlds bound to one another, the two live in tandem."

Knox popped back out and groaned, "I hate it when you do that."

"Point is, what we saw was one of the worlds, but the other holds some power over the first. The other reality is one occupied by the monsters we see on their cards. The veil between the two worlds is thinnest during duels. With mystical intervention, the veil drops and the game becomes very dangerous for all involved."

"How dangerous, exactly?" Mercury doubted it was all that crazy.

"More often than not, if you lose the game you lose your very immortal soul."

Mercury went quiet for a moment. "Seriously?"

"It's crazy… And it's your next reality for viewing. Have fun with that." King and Knox disappeared, and the screen came to life again.

The first thing they saw was Tyrian Callows, standing in a rocky area in the night. He dressed in a long, dark brown coat with a duel disk that resembled a scorpion, with its tail forming the card 'table.' He leaned forward, almost falling over, with his arms folding up and hands opened in excitement, "Now! Wicked Dreadroot! Attack and unlock the sixth seal!"

A giant behind him looked down toward the camera. It was a huge humanoid being with green skin, large leather wings, and bone armor. It reared its arm back and slammed it into the ground. The shockwave ripped through the ground and over to one of the students of Beacon Duel Academy.

Her red blazer swung in the wind created. Her arms were up to try to shield her face. Her life points counted down to zero.

[Neo – 0 LP]

Neo scoffed and rolled her eyes. Losing to some prick like… Wait a second. Those fireballs were talking about losing souls… Does that mean…?

Neo collapsed onto her knees. But it was a short-lived moment. Tyrian walked over and grabbed a glowing pendant around her neck and lifted it, and her, off the ground. Tyrian laughed as she squirmed and gasped for air. He eventually let her fall to the ground, but put a foot onto her gut, pulling at the string of her pendant until it snapped off and she fell back to the ground again.

The only sound Neo could hear was a constant ringing. Her face fell to the side. She saw Jaune in the distance. He was shouting something she couldn't hear. He slammed his fists in the air and a barrier of mystic fire leapt up from the ground to keep him out. After a few seconds, the barrier fell and Jaune ran over to her. She still couldn't hear him. The world through her eyes went bright before going dark.

The camera returned to the world at large to show Jaune kneeling on the ground. Neo's body had shattered into small balls of light that floated off into nothingness.

Neo went cold. The scene was brutal enough, but to disappear into nothing? That was haunting.

Jaune thought the scene was twisted, but he still had to make sure, "I take it I knew her in this reality…"

Pyrrha nodded. "In this reality, you were both friends. At least, I think so."

Jaune shook in place, eyes locked on the ground where Neo had just been.

Tyrian laughed. "Ooh! Such despair~ I love it!" Tyrian saw a similar pendant around Jaune's neck. He gasped in excitement, "The seventh seal!" He danced around like a madman. "Give me the seal!"

Jaune didn't respond.

"No! No, you're right. The seal needs to be earned in a duel. It's the rules of the mighty gods~ Stand up and duel me!"

No response.

"I stand get up and duel! You've been through this before! You want her back, you have to beat me~!"

Jaune grit his teeth and slowly stood again. He glared toward Tyrian, a face he rarely let form onto his face.

Yang grinned, "Oh ho! He's pissed!"

Tyrian grinned. "Despair becomes hatred~ Do you hate me, boy?"

Jaune placed his deck into his disk and it snapped into form. "You wanted a duel, didn't you?"

"Yes~"

The two shouted in unison, "DUEL!"

[Tyrian – 8000 LP]

[Jaune – 8000 LP]

Tyrian took the first turn. He looked over his cards and smiled. "I'll start off by summoning my monster in face down defense mode and another card face down." Tyrian laughed to himself. "You're turn~"

Weiss scoffed, "An obvious trap."

Blake nodded, "Question is, which card is the trap?"

"What?"

"Each of those cards has a defense value. I'd guess that a card with a lower attack attacks a high defense, there'd be consequences."

Jaune's glare remained as he drew his card.

Tyrian chuckled, "So, which Hero will you send to fight me?"

This caught Jaune off guard, "What?"

A similar reaction fell upon the Jaune in the seats. "What Heroes?"

Nora grinned, "Oh! It was so awesome! Your deck of cards uses these things call Elemental Heroes! They're like comic book super heroes!"

This got Jaune more than a little excited. "Woah!"

"I know all about you and those Hero cards. I want to know which one's first. Sparkman? Avion? Ooh! Maybe it'll be Ocean or Woodsman! No! No! I know! A first turn fusion?!"

Jaune let out a breath and drew his card. He started to think to himself. That Dreadroot is a problem, but he needs three monsters on the field to get it out. I just need to keep that from happening. Jaune picked a card out from his hand and placed it onto his disk. "Sorry, but the Heroes are for games that I like to have fun in. You made the mistake of pissing me off. I summon Mirage Dragon!"

The monster started to form up from the light on the ground. The monster was a Long-style dragon with golden scales like a set of armor around its body. Light blue hair flowed out from the back of its head. Small wings cupped over its limbs to defend them. At the tip of its tail, a scythe blade formed and seemed to shine. Its face seemed more demon-esc than dragon-like. It roared out as its stats appeared. [1600/600].

Jaune was a little disappointed he won't get to see the Hero cards. "Aw man…"

Jaune swung his hand forward, "Mirage Dragon! Attack his monster! And, thanks to his ability, you can't activate trap cards during the battle phase."

The dragon flew forward, attacking the card. As it flipped face up, another copy of the dragon. The defensive copy was sliced in half and burst into pieces.

Tyrian laughed. "Too bad! But I'll still crush you and get my hands on that seal around your neck! With it, my Wicked gods will be unleashed! Freed from their prisons!"

Jaune placed a card into the back area. "I play a card face down and end my turn."

Tyrian chuckled and drew his card. "First things first~ I activate my trap card, Sinister Yorishiro!" The card flipped up to show a picture of three monsters in shadows. "With this, once per turn, I can summon level 5 or higher fiend monsters without needing to tribute summon monsters~ But, I also send Ahrima, the Wicked Warden from my hand to the grave to grab my Lair of Darkness, which I'll play!"

Nora yelled out, "That's no fair! You jerk!"

Jaune was still confused, "What?"

Yang explained it for him, "From what we saw, each monster has a level. Levels 4 and below can just be summoned whenever. Level 5 or 6 needs one tribute. Level 7 and up need two. So, with that card, he has free access to some powerful cards without really needing to."

The field around them reshaped into a dark landscape with ghostly wisps rising up from the ground into haunting faces.

Tyrian laughed again, "Now, all out monsters are dark types~ But more importantly, thanks to my trap card, I can summon Archfiend Emperor, The First Lord of Horror!"

The monster formed as a large humanoid demon with a giant red sword. His bone-like armor seemed tinted purple. He made the dragon on Jaune's field look like a puny worm. It let out a dark breath. [3000/2000].

Ruby shivered, "That's seriously creepy."

"And a problem." Blake's eyes narrowed.

Tyrian licked his lips, "Now! Mighty Emperor! Destroy that puny dragon!"

The giant slowly rose his sword before slamming the blade into the dragon's form. The shockwave ripped out over Jaune as his life points decreased.

[Jaune – 6600 LP]

Jaune growled but remained rather stoic.

Tyrian chuckled to himself. "You're turn again~"

"Right." Jaune drew his card. "By the way, my face down is also Sinister Yorishiro." He snapped his fingers and the card flipped up. So, free high-level monsters all around. But I'm not using it yet." He placed a new card into the disk. I activate Dark Contract with the Swamp King!" The card appeared then morphed into a headstone with a monster made of the grime of the swamp.

Ruby groaned, "Ew…"

Weiss shivered in disgust. "That's just wrong."

"Once per turn, I can fusion summon a fiend monster using monsters from my hand or field. The draw back is that I take 1000 points of damage on my standby phase. Now, I send off D/D Ghost and D/D Pandora!" Both cards appeared for a moment, an amber crystal with a creature inside and a monster that was half lock box. They both flew up and swirled together. "I summon Different Dimension Demon (D/D/D) Oracle King D'Arc!"

A ray of light fell onto the field before turning black. The pillar of darkness shattered apart to reveal a woman in glowing white and gold armor complete with a half mask covering the top half of her face. A pair of wings spread out from her back and another at her head. The demon had blonde hair and a sword of a familiar form. [2800/2000].

Jaune blinked once. Twice. Shock. "What?"

Nora was starry-eyed, "Woah! That looks so cool!"

Tyrian laughed, though. "Your monster is too weak! What do you think you'll do with that?"

Jaune placed a face down. "You'll see soon enough. You're move."

Tyrian laughed a little. "Alright. Draw." He looked over his acquisition and grinned. "I summon Fiendish Rhino Warrior~!"

A bipedal rhino appeared looking like a tribal warrior, complete with a tattooed arm. His spear that looked right at home in people's nightmares. [1400/900].

"Now, my fiends can't be destroyed by effects or battle. Just in case~ Now, Lord of Horror! Attack that measly monster!"

As the Emperor raised his sword, Jaune sprung his trap. "I activate Dark Contract with the Witch!" A white feather with strange lettering appeared on the field. "Just like the other contract, I take 1000 points of damage for it, but all my fiend monsters gain 1000 attack points on your turn. Making my Oracle King a 3800 monster."

The Oracle King parried the larger blade and the Emperor's blade reared back. Jaune's monster flew up and ran along the massive blade before leaping onto its enemy's head and ran its sword into the Emperor's forehead. Thanks to the Rhino, it wasn't destroyed, but Tyrian still took the damage.

[Tyrian – 7200 LP]

Ruby's fist flew up in cheer, "Yes!"

Penny chuckled, "That was a rather good play."

"There's just one problem." Tai sighed. "Those cards take points away from him each turn."

Tyrian chuckled. "Fine. You're turn then~" He grinned as Jaune drew his card, waiting to see the points fall.

[Jaune – 8600 LP]

Tyrian's eye twitched. "WHAT?!"

"What?!" The sentiment was echoed through the room.

Jaune grinned. "My Oracle King's ability switches any effect damage into a life point gain instead."

Penny blinked. "I take it back. It was an amazing play."

Tyrian shook in frustration. "Damn it! Damn you!"

"Just wait, it's about to get worse for you. Oracle King D'Arc! Attack the Fiendish Rhino!" The King flew forward and destroyed the Rhino, which wasn't protected by its own ability.

[Tyrian – 5800 LP]

Jaune's glare never faded. "You're turn."

Tyrian drew a card and looked toward his hand again. "I'll place two cards face down." He couldn't attack with the Dark Contract with the Witch still boosting Jaune's monster. "You're turn."

Jaune nodded and drew his card. "Draw!"

Tyrian's face suddenly formed into a grin. "I activate my trap card! Darklight! I tribute a Dark monster and destroy all the special summoned monsters are destroyed! But, with Lair of Darkness on the field, I can use your monster instead of one of my own~!"

"What?!" Jaune's monster convulsed before shattering apart.

Jaune felt like he'd seen himself shatter instead. It was a weird feeling, honestly.

"And without it, you lose those life points again~"

[Jaune – 6600 LP]

Ruby groaned, "Come on! He can still win this!"

Jaune growled and looked over his hand. "Fine."

"Oh! And just in case, I activate Fires of Doom. A quick play spell that gives me two Doom tokens in defense mode." Two one-eyed wisp demons appeared on his field. He laughed again. "You're move~"

Jaune took a breath and took two cards from his hand. "I place D/D Savant Copernicus and D/D Savant Newton to set the Pendulum Scales!"

Copernicus appeared like a gyroscope with a sun forming the center. Kepler looked like an engine with an off shoot with a set of Newton balls on the side. The two formed and a pair of numbers appeared being 1 and 10 respectively.

"With the scales between 1 and 10, I can summon D/D/D Oblivion King Abyss Ragnarok!"

Now, Jaune had his own monster sitting in a throne. His was a demon covered in horns and in a dark steel coat. His coat flared out and up with spikes latched to the ends. [2200/3000].

"Nice!" Nora grinned. "Big move!"

Neo remembered back to her appearance. She used a similar style of summoning. It was interesting to see it with a different style.

"Now, I can use his ability to summon a D/D/D monster in graveyard to the field! Return, Oracle King D'Arc!" The familiar winged knight appeared from the ground.

Yang grinned, "Nice!"

"But they aren't strong enough to do anything." Roman finally spoke. He was silent since seeing Neo shatter like that. He wanted this kid to get his revenge by proxy.

Jaune's glare went from anger to fury. "Now! I fuse my Kings with the Contract to the Swamp King! I fuse them together to form a new, more powerful lord!" The two began to morph together. "King of Devastation and Lord of Healing! Come together and unleash the unholy might of the end! I summon D/D/D Super Doom King Purple Armageddon!"

Nora and Ruby giggled a little at how ridiculous the name was.

The monster formed before them. It was a giant monster astride a purple dragon. It was a simple creature in form, but it seemed like a king despite it. A purple orb made up most of the body and gold and white armor-like form wrapped around it. A pair of large purple wings sprouted out from its back. [3500/3000].

"Now, for his effect. Once per turn, I can pick a monster on your field in attack mode and I can destroy it, dealing you half its attack points to your life points."

Tyrian went stiff as the Purple Armageddon released a glowing purple light, destroying his monster.

[Tyrian – 4300 LP]

"And my monster can get rid of one of those tokens on top of that." Jaune's monster unleashed a purple flame and destroyed one of the tokens. "Just in case you got any funny ideas about a big tribute."

Cinder, of all people, had to admit, she was enjoying this. Seeing Tyrian pushed like this was a welcome change.

Tyrian drew his next card on his turn. "I play a card face down and my Sinister Dragon."

A dark green and black dragon formed and roared. [2000/0]/

Tyrian growled, "You're move."

Jaune drew his card. At my standby phase, I take my 2000 points of damage.

[Jaune – 4600 LP]

Ruby was getting a bit nervous, "This is way too close."

Tyrian grinned again and swung his arm to the side. "I activate my trap card! Crush Card Virus! I sacrifice a Dark monster on my field with 500 or less attack points, like my token, and destroy every monster on your field with more than 1500 attack!"

The Purple Armageddon erupted into cloud of destruction.

"If it makes you feel better, you can send three more to your graveyard."

Weiss growled, "How would that make it better?"

Jaune grabbed three cards and sent them off. Then, he was allowed to make a move. "I summon D/D Nighthowl!" A creature like a mouth with two wisps for eyes appeared with a loud howling. "His effect allows me to grab a D/D monster from my graveyard and summoning it to the field, but its effects are negated. You actually let me pull this off with your trap, so thanks for that."

Weiss blinked. "Okay then… I suppose that's understandable then…" She was still a bit confused by the events.

"I return D/D/D Chaos King Apocalypse!" A creature appeared as a torso, the lower half being only a purple crystal. The upper half was almost mechanical with a demonic form. "And now, I'll tune them both together, taking 1000 damage thanks to Nighthowl's effect, but that's fine."

The two monsters rose up and Nighthowl became a set of three circles, encasing the Chaos King, who became seven bright stars.

[Jaune – 3600 LP]

"I summon D/D/D Gust High King Alexander!"

The creature that appeared this time was a giant man in armor with a bright green cape that flared out like a pair of wings. Its armor shone like the Lair of Darkness didn't exist on the field. [3000/2500].

"Woah." Everyone was on the same page here. This card was like a shining knight, ready to bring justice down on Tyrian.

Jaune glared toward Tyrian. "And my Scales are still set, which lets me re-summon Ragnarok and Purple Armageddon!" Both monsters reappeared on the field. "And! Alexander allows me to summon 1 D/D monster from my graveyard when I summon another D/D monster to the field! Return to me my Oracle King!" Jaune now had four big monsters on the field. "One more thing. When there's at least 3 D/D/D monsters on my field, Alexander gains 3000 attack points.

Alexander seemed to glow as his attack power raised. [6000/2500].

"Do it!" Roman called out. "Put this asshole down!"

"Alexander! Attack and destroy his monster!"

Alexander raised his sword and sliced the dragon in half.

[Tyrian – 300 LP]

Tyrian roared in pain and annoyance. "No! No! No! I'm supposed to summon my Wicked Dreadroot and back you into a corner!"

"Sorry, but this isn't some cartoon. You and your cronies were bad enough, and I have every reason to hate you. Each time you take a friend, I take them back. That's all there is to it." Jaune raised his hand and his Oracle King swung its blade upward. "Now! Oracle King! End him and his life points!" The Oracle King swung its blade back and lunged forward, impaling Tyrian.

[Tyrian – 0 LP]

Everyone cheered in their own ways. Some boisterous, some reserved, all in cheer. Except one. Neo. She was still watching to see if she really would return.

Tyrian groaned. "D-damn it…" He fell to his knees. "Damn it…"

Jaune walked toward the man, his eyes filled with anger.

Tyrian chuckled, a bit of blood falling from his lip. He looked up and grinned toward Jaune. "I hope you can live with killing me~"

Jaune raised his foot and pushed Tyrian back. When his back hit the ground, his body shattered into dark stars. As he turned back around, he found Neo lying on the ground. Just like with the others, they were brought back if you could defeat the one who took them. He let out a breath. "I can live with that." He walked back to Neo and picked her off the ground, carrying her back to the Academy nearby. The world ended as the sun rose on the horizon.

Jaune sighed, "Well… that was intense."

Nora nodded, "Yeah! But did you see those monsters?! They were so awesome!"

Jaune grinned and sighed. "Yeah. I guess they were."