# The Lower Streets — Crossroad Alleyways
Celina, Yume, and Sawatari ignited their Duel Disks in unison.
"If you don't have the guts to stand your ground, then keep your mouth shut!" Celina commanded, stepping directly in front of Yuya with her eyes fixed on the approaching Security squad. "I will handle them myself!"
"Hold on!" Yuya scrambled to the front, taking care of Riley. Spreading his arms wide to block her path. "Just wait a second! We don't need to fight!"
Before Celina could push him aside, Yuya threw his hands into the air with a bright, performative flourish. The tense atmosphere shifted instantly as he took a dramatic bow right in front of the stern, heavy-booted officers.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Esteemed officers of the law!" Yuya announced, his voice echoing loudly against the damp brick walls. "There's no need for restrains or harsh words today! Every great show starts with a proper conversation!"
He launched into a quick, lightfooted routine—ducking, dodging, and weaving around the startled officers while dazzling them with exaggerated gestures and sleek footwork. He transformed what should have been a violent clash into an improved entertainment performance, confusing the squad long enough to stall their advance.
Yet, even after the overwhelmed officers stumbled back from Yuya's distraction, more sirens blared in the distance. Reinforcements began swarming from both ends of the narrow alleyway, ready to surround the five travelers.
BRRRRRRR-VROOOOM!
The deep, guttural roar of high-performance engines suddenly shattered the silence.
A fleet of motorbikes burst into the alleyway at breakneck speeds. The riders pulled sharp drifts, spinning their rear tires against the concrete and kicking up a thick, impenetrable screen of white tire smoke and burning rubber.
"Grab on if you want to keep your freedom!" A loud voice shouted through the haze.
Before Security could blink, strong hands reached out from the passing bikes, hauling Yuya, Celina, Riley, Sawatari, and Yume onto the back seats. By the time the blinding smoke cleared and the officers stopped coughing, the street was entirely empty—save for the lingering scent of burning tires.
# The Orphanage — Early Morning
Golden morning sunlight filtered through the cracked windows of the orphanage's side storage shed. Yugo crouched beside his sleek, black-and-white vehicle, a socket wrench in hand, carefully tuning the internal motor casing.
The shed door creaked open. Yuzu stepped inside, her hair damp from a fresh morning bath, dressed in a simple tunic and shorts borrowed from the house's closet.
"Yugo? What are you doing up so early?" She asked, leaning against the doorframe.
Yugo turned his head at the sound of her voice. The sight of her in those familiar clothes sent a sudden shock straight through his system.
"Rin!" Yugo yelled, springing to his feet by pure impulse.
Before he could leap forward, Yuzu's hand blurred. A tightly folded paper fan materialized in her grip, cocked back and ready to strike.
Yugo halted mid-stride, holding up both hands defensively as a nervous sweatdrop formed on his temple. "Of course... of course you're not Rin! Right! I know, I know!" He swallowed his extra words, clearing his throat awkwardly before crouching back down beside his D-Wheel.
Yuzu lowered the fan, her gaze softening as she watched him run his grease-stained fingers along the polished frame. There was a quiet seriousness in his posture—a lingering, quiet expression behind his usual brash exterior.
"Yugo," Yuzu asked softly, curiosity taking over. "Is that bike really that important to you? It looks fine to me."
"It's not a bike," Yugo replied in a quiet, grounded voice, not looking up from his work. "It's a D-Wheel. Rin and I built this together from absolute scratch. Every screw, every piece of scrap metal... it's the physical form of our dream."
Yuzu swallowed hard. She wanted to ask more about their past, but a heavier weight pressed on her mind.
"Yugo... can you help me with something?"
"What is it? Just tell me."
"I want to warn the people of this dimension," Yuzu said, her eyes burning with quite resolve. "We need to tell them about the war, and the terrible things Academia is doing."
Yugo paused, his wrench hovering over the engine bay. "Academia... that's the place you mentioned, right? The Fusion Dimension? Where Rin might be?"
"Yeah."
"After all this time, I finally have a clue about where she might be, but I can't even get there," Yugo muttered under his breath, his eyes darkening slightly as he stared at his reflection in the metallic hull. "I can't even force Clear Wing to jump dimensions whenever I want... And you..."
"Yugo?"
"Ah, it's nothing!" Yugo shook his head, snapping back to reality. "What were you saying? Warning people about a war?"
"Yes! Let's go somewhere Security won't spot us," Yuzu urged, taking a step closer. "If we stay out of their sight, we can talk to people directly without getting chased off!"
Yugo scratched the back of his neck, letting out a long sigh. "Look, Yuzu... do you honestly think anyone's gonna believe us? I had a hard enough time wrapping my head around it myself. If Rin hadn't been kidnapped right in front of me, I wouldn't have believed a word of it either."
"We still have to try!" Yuzu argued, her hands clenching into fists. "Even if only a few people believe us at first, it's a start! They can tell their families, and those families can tell others. People can prepare! They can get somewhere safe!"
Yugo didn't particularly care about the city's affairs—finding Rin was his sole mission right now. But the people walking the lower streets were fellow Commons. He didn't want innocent people getting caught in a war if Academia crossed over, even if he didn't care much for the high-and-mighty Tops living in the sky city.
He glanced over the wall, his eyes landing on a poster taped on it.
"Alright," Yugo sighed, a small grin breaking through. "If you're that set on it, let's do it. Better than sitting around doing nothing, I guess."
Yuzu beamed, nodding vigorously. "Right!"
...
Inside the main dining hall of the house, Sister was plating simple and small breakfast portions for the children gathered around the wooden table. Cracks on it.
"Where did Yugo and Yuzu go?" Sister asked, noticing absence of those two.
"They both went out super early," a young girl replied, her bedhead hair sticking out in every direction as she reached for a piece of bread.
"Out?" Sister frowned slightly, placing a jug of water on the table. "But aren't they being tracked by Security after what happened last night?"
"We told them the exact same thing," one of the boys mumbled. "But Yuzu said they were going somewhere Security wouldn't spot them. Oh, and Yugo told us if any of us tried to touch his D-Wheel while he's gone, we all won't get food for a week. So don't worry, he'll be back soon. He only left because Yuzu dragged him along."
Sister paused, letting out a soft, fond laugh. "My goodness... she really doesn't just look like Rin, does she? She knows how to push Yugo around just as well."
# The City Slums
"Thank you for saving us back there," Yuya said, bowing respectfully as his feet touched the creaking floorboards.
"Don't sweat it," Crow replied, throwing his helmet onto a nearby table. "I already told you—around here, we look out for people being chased down by Security and people who take care of their friends."
"Crow is the absolute best!" One of the younger children cheered, rushing over to tear into the plastic bags of food Crow had hauled inside.
Yume sat down on an aged wooden sofa, leaning forward with a serious expression. "Hey, Crow... why were those police officers calling Yuya, Celina, and the rest of us 'Commons scums'? What does 'Commons' even mean?"
Crow paused, he looked around at the blank expressions on the Lancers' faces. "Are you guys serious? You really don't know anything about this city?"
"We aren't from around here," Sawatari muttered, trying to dust off their origin.
"Really?" Crow grunted, taking a seat opposite them. "Alright, listen up. I will tell all of you in detail."
For the next few minutes, Crow laid out the harsh reality of the City (Synchro Dimension.) He explained the absolute divide between the Tops—the wealthy elite who occupied ninety-nine percent of the city's wealth atop the floating metropolis—and the Commons, the remaining percent of the population forced to live in the damp, polluted slums beneath the structural pillars, serving as cheap labor and living under constant police surveillance.
By the time he finished, the room had fallen into a heavy silence.
"Unbelievable!" Celina spat, her fists clenched tightly. "What kind of twisted system is this?!"
"Unbelievable..." Sawatari thought to himself, though his inner monologue took a vastly different turn. "If I had been born in this dimension, I definitely would've been a Topsider!"
"What right do they have to separate people like this?" Yume said, his eyes narrowing into a sharp glare as his thoughts drifted toward figures like Reiji Akaba and Ryo. "There's always someone at the top looking down on everyone else..."
Yuya remained silent, his heart aching as he looked over at Riley, who was trembling quietly near the corner of sofa. Yuya moved over, placing a comforting hand on the young boy's shoulder.
As Crow watched their visceral reactions, he thought to himself, "They really had no idea... They aren't lying."
The door creaked open, and Shinji walked in, carrying another bundle of supplies and snacks.
"Crow, I brought some extra," Shinji announced.
Crow gave a quick introduction, and the kids cheered as even more food was laid out on the table. Shinji noticed Riley sitting isolated in the corner, staring at his knees in silence, holding the dool. Crouching down to Riley's level, Shinji offered a gentle smile and handed him a chocolate bar.
Riley flinched, looking very, very nervous for a moment, but Shinji's patient smile didn't break. Slowly, trembling, Riley accepted the chocolate, taking a tiny bite. A faint, rare smile touched the young boy's lips. Shinji chuckled warmly, patting Riley's head as the room filled with brief comfort.
The peaceful moment was broken when the door banged open again. Another one of Crow's allies walked in, shoving two young boys inside.
"Hey! You two again?!" Crow stood up immediately, crossing his arms with a stern glare. "How many times have I told you not to sneak out to steal food?! Do you have any idea what Security does to kids like you if you get caught?!"
The two boys hung their heads, taking the earful from Crow. They argued that Crow and others does this to help us so we also wanted to help. But it only made the argument from Crow more strern.
But as Crow continued lecturing them, one of the boys nudged his friend, pointing toward Yuya and Celina.
"Wait a second..." the boy whispered loudly. "Why are there two of them?!"
Crow stopped mid-sentence, blinking. "What? What are you talking about?"
"Those two!" The boy pointed straight at Yuya, Yume and Celina. "We saw a guy and a girl who looked exactly like them down by the higher markets! They were shouting about some huge war coming from another dimension! How did you guys change clothes and get here so fast?! And why are here two niisans?!"
Yuya shot up from his seat, his heart pounding in his chest. "That must be Yuzu!"
"The other must be Synchro Dimension's..." Riley thought.
"We have to go find them right now!" Celina declared, heading straight for the door. "Thank you for the help!"
"Hold on!" Crow called out, stepping in front of the exit. "You can't just run out there! Security must had set up all over the lower blocks right now looking for your faces."
"But my friend is out there alone!" Yuya pleaded.
Crow looked at Yuya's desperate but resolute eyes, then glanced at the children eating happily behind them. A warm smile broke across his face.
"I told you—you guys are our friends now," Crow said cleanly. "We'll help you find your friends. My comrades knows every alleyway, hidden pipe, and shortcut of this city."
Crow immediately sent word out through his network of street contacts, passing along the description of a boy and a girl. Yuya let out a massive breath of relief, offering Crow his deepest thanks.
Crow also went out to search for them. Leaving the kids in Yuya and other's care.
# Church — Latter On
"See? I told you no one would believe us," Yugo said, sitting beside his D-Wheel while adjusting a cable. "We spent so much time talking, and everyone just looked at us like we escaped from some psych ward."
"Yeah... but we can't just give up," Yuzu insisted, pacing back and forth on the corner. "The way they reacted... they're just going to forget everything we said by tomorrow morning."
"Can't be helped. We did our best."
Yuzu stopped pacing, her eyes lighting up as an idea struck her. "Yugo?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you have paper here? Like... paper to write, a lot of paper? Or pens, markers? And glue?"
Yugo looked up, scratching his head. "We have some blank papers for basic study materials for the kids at the house, but not a huge stockpile. If you need a bit more of it, Rin and I havd savings fund stashed away in."
"Thank goodness!" Yuzu clasped her hands together. "We're going to make posters! We'll write down the truth about Academia and war and stick them on every wall, alley, and pole across the district! That way, people will read them every day and won't forget! We need to put them up everywhere!"
Yugo stared at her, searching her face for any sign of hesitation. Seeing nothing but pure, unshakeable determination, he let out a long, defeatist sigh. But there was a small smile on the corner of his mouth.
"Alright, fine," Yugo said. "If you're willing to go that far, I'm in.
# Underground Arena
"Right this way, gentlemen! This is the place!" Announced a man dressed in elaborate, flowing white robes and absurdly high-fashion accessories, gesturing grandly toward a massive set of reinforced steel doors.
Razz let out an appreciative whistle as the heavy doors hissed open, revealing a colossal, subterranean stadium covering a round road. Packed with hundreds of shouting spectators. "Now this looks amazing! Just as I thought—this city's got a real dark, gritty underworld!"
"What? No, no, no!" The robed man said, waving his hands defensively. "Don't make it sound so sinister! It's just... slightly unregistered. We don't exactly have official permits for high-stakes D-Wheel dueling down here, that's all!"
"Yeah, which is literally the definition of an illegal underground ring."
Dennis stepped forward, maintaining a charming smile. "And why exactly did you bring the four of us down to your secret little paradise?"
"To duel, of course!" The man cheered, sweeping his arms toward the roaring crowd. "As I said, you four did such an action early. Magnificent talent! And you won't be dueling for free—win your matches, advance through the rounds, and you walk away with.cash. It's a win-win! Look at these fans—they're dying for a real show!"
Gongenzaka crossed his heavy arms, his brow furrowed in disapproval. He wanted to decline immediately—not just because the event was illegal, but because participating in underground gambling matches did nothing to help them find Yuya, Yuzu, or the rest of their scattered comrades.
Yet, looking at Dennis and Razz, both of whom seemed strangely eager, Gongenzaka leaned in toward Vance.
"I know what you're thinking, Gongenzaka..." Vance whispered, keeping his eyes while speaking. "Can I just call you Gongenzaka, by the way? Skip the titles?"
"I, the man Gongenzaka, do not mind," Gongenzaka whispered back sternly. "I shall address you simply as Vance as well. But tell me—what do you make of this?"
"This guy took a massive risk bringing four complete strangers down into an illegal arena," Vance noted, his eyes narrowing. "There has to be a specific reason he targeted us."
Before Gongenzaka could analyze the situation further, a deafening roar erupted from the crowd.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Speak of the devil, here comes our reigning champion!" The man shouted into a microphone.
VROOOOOM!
A sleek, dark-purple D-Wheel launched out of a high access tunnel, soaring through the air before slamming onto the stadium road. The rider sat tall in the saddle, a red scarf fluttering on his neck.
"That boy right there uses the same x, y, z summoning as you lot," the man grinned maliciously, pointing at the newcomer. "I knew you guys had to be connected somehow. So, what do you say? Let's give the audience what they paid for!"