"This place is shady... You can't trust beef bowl shops located between buildings that aren't in Shibuya, dude. This is how you lose a kidney." Karim said, looking over at Sakuya, who was grinning.

"Because you understand alot about kidneys." Sakuya laughed. "C'mon, this is my usual beef bowl place, I assure you you won't lose a kidney. If you're gonna lose a kidney, then lose it the right way."

"Selling it illegally for pieces of collective cardboard." Gin said.

"Exactament!" Sakuya said with a thick french accent. "Come on, just follow me inside! Get ready to be served the best beef bowl in your life! The secret is how they use yakisoba noodles instead of rice!" He explained as he dragged Karim and Gin into the small restaurant.

"That's questionable. Hell, yakisoba noodles suck." Gin sighed. "But fine, I'm not refusing free protein. Whatever makes me punch harder."

"Yeah- Wait did you say free protein instead of free food?" Karim blinked.

"I know what I said." Gin chuckled as the three sat alongside the front counter. "Still, can't believe the rest of the gang didn't come with us."

"Well it was Lia who hurried us to get lost." Sakuya shrugged. "No one told Taishi be a playboy and date both her and Yukina at the same time. Those two have been together since little, they're pratically sisters. Can't say I can't see this end without Yukino and Lia kicked Taishi's balls."

"The saddest part is how the nerdiest looking guy of the group snagged the two girls of said group before any of us got any girlfriends..." Karim cried. "Ah man, this sucks! When will I enter my popular phase?!"

"The day you drop Deletors." Sakuya snickered.

"In no time, little Mayuri's gonna nab himself a girl faster than you!" Gin laughed. "Not only is Danny getting more support than your alien tentacle rape deck but your younger brother is gonna get lucky before you."

"It sucks to suck, ah ah ah!" Gin and Sakuya said in unisson.

"You two are the worst..." Karim sulked. 

"Hey hey hey, get psyched, dude!" Sakuya laughed. "I finally managed to score a fight with our school's King, the tale of Sakuya the Stud is gonna skyrockt from here on out!"

"Imagine calling yourself a stud, what cringe." Gin cringed.

"Alright, Mr. Almighty Card Game Player, then answer me this." Karim said as he grabbed his beef bowl. "What if you do high octane monkey brain gameplay and go 'I don't need friendship, I have power!' mode like every shounen villain ever?"

"What? Not all shounen villains are like that."

"Yes they are, that's why I began reading that shogi shounen manga instead of the typical stuff. It's a good series, not goona lie. Hell, I'll bring you the first volume tomorrow, keep it until you read it." Gin said.

"You know what? Fair enough. If that ever happens, just look at me with the fattest determinted glare you can, like you're about to slay a thot, and say 'Sakuya! Im going to bring you back so that we can have some beef bowls together!'!"

Karim and Gin's eyes widened at the sheer lameness in Sakuya's words. It wasn't long until the two began luaghing while Sakuya looked at his beef bowl sulking.

"C'mon, it wasn't that bad..."

"Karim!" Gin exclaimed. "I will bring you back with some grilled beef bowls!"

"Gin! I will break your evil with some roasted strips of meat over rice!" Karim laughed.

"You two... That's it, because of that, you two have to eat that thing you both hate!" Sakuya spoke up. "You own me that much! Grab yourselves some bread loafs, open 'em up and stuff the yakisoba noodles of the beef bowls in 'em! Time to taste the brilliant things that are yakisoba buns, you uncultured swines!!"

"Imagine liking yakisoba buns." Karim said as he followed Sakuya's instructions.

"Yeah. Hard to believe anyone can enjoy the monstrosity that are fried noodles stuffed in bread." Gin laughed.

(Opening)

"You you four..." Homura muttered, a dark glare in her eyes as she looked down. "What are you four idiots doing?"

Once again at the maid cafe Arsene, Ryuuga, Kaido, Masato and Gin sat around the usual table, though this time throwing face down cards onto the table's surface as they awaited for their orders to arrive.

"A bet." Kaido said.

"Something that can change the world." Masato nodded.

"A fantastic way to leave the cafe with a bone busted." Gin commented.

"Something that will be more amazing that my romantic skills." Ryuuga chuckled.

"Even the rat we found on the kitchen last year can do that." Homura sighed.

"And once again, a rat has more game than me..." Ryuuga sulked. "Wait, last year?"

"This isn't my first summer working on Arsene. Being a maid during summer is a great way to make money for future Vanguard products. I may be the daughter of a card shop owner but I still pay for my cards. I have to make sure the business doesn't go under. My Narukami deck was paid with this job." Homura said.

"And that's the best part." Ryuuga said, pointing at Homura with finger guns.

"Hey look, joke about maid and being the best part, haven't seen one of those in years." Kaido said with a sarcastic laugh. "Only gets beaten by a homeroom professor and that being the best part. Moving on, this is the game of our lives, gentlemen. This pull will decide our fate!"

"The true definition of a hit or miss, were we might all miss, all hit or hit or miss!" Gin exclaimed.

"And now the idea of Gin dressed at the hit or miss girl is gonna haunt me to the grave..." Masato sighed. "I fold, I need a good beating to forget that thought."

"B-beating...?!" Homura asked, her face turning slightly red.

"Relax." Ryuuga chuckled. "We haven't decided to who's gonna drive to the Magallanica branch today, so in order to decide, we shuffled our decks and placed down a random card from each. The one with the highest grade will drive, the rest has to swear the moment they see Hanae." He explained.

"In another words... You four are being dumbasses?" Homura asked.

"When you put that it, it makes us sound like dumbasses." Masato commented. "Anyway, draw! Ah, I got Blond Ezel! Get cucked by my many grade 3s!"

"Your ratios are bad." Gin said as he turned his card face up. "Would you look at that, I scored myself Altmile! Looks like we're in the a draw!"

"I got Cocytus, so you know what this means." Kaido said as he and the other boys looked at Ryuuga with malicious grins.

"Yup, figures..." Ryuuga sighed. He reached out for his card, looking down with saddened eyes, but suddenly looked up with a wide grin. "Figures that you three are screwed!" He slammed his card face up and laughed. "Get, Chronodragon Nextage! I main deck grade 4s, you losers have nothing on me! I'm driving!"

"Masters, I have returned with your food!" Hanae giggled as she walked into the main hall of the cafe, carrying two trays filled with food. "Hm? What's up with the sad looks on your faces, masters?"

"On three..." Kaido murmured. "One, two... Three!"

"Shit shit fuck!" Kaido, Gin and Masato yelled as they rushed for the cafe's door.

"Hm, I see." Hanae placed the trays down on the nearest table and pulled a wooden shinai from underneath her skirt. She swung the iron bar around and charged forward, arriving at the door before the male trio.

While the trio was paralyzed in it's place, Hanae concealed her weapon under he skirt once agin and proceeded to deliver the food to the table. After everything was set down, Hanae boowed before Ryuuga.

"Enjoy your meal, president!" Hanae giggled. She looked back at the stopped in time trio with her cold and death eyes and snapped her fingers. "You can react now, garbage."

The three boys came to their senses and winced in pain before falling to the ground. Gin held onto his knees, Masato onto his torso and Kaido held his crotch, but all groaned in pain. Kaido lifted his head and reached out for Gin, the one closest to him.

"G-gin... Gin listen to me, Gin... She whacked me in the schlong, Gin... It was the hardest working ding dong in GEN Academy and it got whacked by a maid wielding an iron bar, Gin..." Kaido coughed out.

"Sucks... To suck, ha ha... Ha..." Gin murmured.

"Thank you for the food!" Ryuuga said with a cheerful smile. As he ate his omurice while Homura watched, he nodded. "Ah yes, the groans of suffering of your best friends really can make for the best seasoning of any meal, be it the milk and cereal of the morning or the omurice before an event. It feels good to not be the one getting his shizzle given to him by the maid in his classroom for once."

"You four... Are really monkey brains." Homura sighed.

"It's called high octane monkey brain gameplay, actually..." Gin spoke up.

"You're a danger to the yourself and the people of the world..." Masato muttered, arms and legs spread out on the floor in front of th Magallanica branch headquarters. "How did they even give you a license...?"

"I don't see anything wrong with it." Ryuuga shrugged, spinning the keys of Kaido's card on the tip of his finger with a smirk. "Besides, we got here fast. I say it was a wild dandy ride, baby!"

"Fuck you and your existence, you're on my shitlist now." Kaido said, snatching the keys off his friend's hands with a glare. "Touch my car again and I'll get a restraining order on you."

"Ah, restraining order..." Masato muttered. "Where's Gin...?"

"You guys go on ahead, I'll meet you inside..." Gin muttered, grabbing onto a trash can for dear life and with his head stuck inside it. "Oh god, I can feel it crawl up my throat again... L-LOOK AWAY!"

"That's gonna be a yikes from me, dawg." Ryuuga deadpanned. 

"Indeed." Kaido nodded.

The headquarters of the Magallanica branch were nothing in particular when compared to it's five counterparts, taking the form of a standard building with offices and whatnot. It was the inside which was the most surpring, filled with ocean-themed decoration and even having a professional stage in it's entrance hall.

"Wow, this is generic as hell! Hard to believe it was this branch that shat out Colombard!" Masato commented.

"You know what? As a Granblue player, I agree." Kaido nodded with a smirk.

"Of course you agree, you play Colombard like a degenerate." Ryuuga deadpanned.

"You mean like an actual good player. Get with the times or be forever stuck as weak sauce, Ryuuga." Kaido chuckled. "You have to be of an amazing caliber to even be able to stand at the same level as yours truly, and seeing as it's yours truly who got Colombard, I'm alot of levels above!"

"Oh god, there he goes..." Masato sighed.

"Kaido's the sleep paralysis demon of the collective consciousness." Ryuuga shook his head.

"REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE YOU DAMN PROTAGONIST WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE REEEEEEEEEEEE?!"

"Speaking of sleep paralysis demon..." Ryuuga looked back to face an approaching Taira alongside the likes of Hinata, Kaminari and Hisano. "The hell are you doing here? I didn't knew you were entering the Dream Team Challenge."

"Entering the whole thing? Pffffft, what a casual. I'm entering the Magallanica stage only to prove that I can become it's branch manager one day, REEEEEEEEEEE!" Taira exclaimed.

"That's... And extremely flawed plan!" Ryuuga replied.

"You're an extremely flawed plan, I think it's great. Whatever makes cards like Colombard exist." Kaido shrugged.

"Hey Kaminari... Ahah..." Masato chuckled as he looked at the glaring Kaminari. "S-so, have you recovered yet or-"

"Here." Kaminari handed out a piece of paper to Masato.

"Hm? What is- HOLY SHIT IT'S AN ACTUAL RESTRAINING ORDER, WHAT THE HELL?!"

"It actually isn't but Kaminari's dad works on the police department so he managed to snag us a copy for this joke, you should have seen your reaction!" Hisano laughed.

"Yes, it was truly enjoyable. True gravel can't tell fake documents from real ones, what foolish gravel!" Hinata giggled.

"Hey wait a sec, aren't I older than you though..." Masato deadpanned.

"Anyway, I'll REEEEEEEEEEEEEE you on the war field and slay you once and for all for the second time, you damn protagonist!!" Taira yelled as him and his group walked away.

"Lovely..." Ryuuga sweatdropped. "I think I'd rather gobble down the Death Burger than go through that again..."

"Sheesh, that was a hard one to throw out. Maybe letting Ryuuga drive truly is a bad choice." Gin chuckled to himself. 

After moments of throwing up his previous meal thanks to Ryuuga's self-proclaimed brilliant driving skills, Gin finally got off the ground and began heading towards the building ahead of him, but in doing so, he crashed against somone else, a boy of equal height and only slightly less muscular, with short white hair and a black face mask covered the lower half of his face, and eyes that he kept close almost all the time.

"S-sakuya... So it's true, isn't it?" Gin asked.

"Hm..." 

"Dammit, answer me!" Gin demanded, gritting his teeth. "Even if you acted like a piece of crap back then, you still are amazing fighter! Wasting your skills being some sort of rented fighter isn't for you!"

"Stop talking like you got any right to choose what is and isn't for me." Sakuya spoke up, finally opening his eyes. "You don't know anything, so stop talking like it's up to you to do it." With a sigh, Sakuya placed his hands in the pockets of his black jeans and began heading towards the building.

"What about what you said all those years ago?! About saying all we needed was some shitty line about eating food together again in case things went south? This is the time for that! I already said I'd forgive you so-!"

"The world doesn't spin around your dumb skull, Gin Fuchigami." Sakuya said. "You forgiving me or not doesn't change my every day life. And for crying out loud, get your head out of your ass. I meant what I did those years ago. I discarded you like trash because you were trash, and you still are, so stop acting like it was just something done in the heat of the moment. Every word that left my mouth on that day was because I wanted to say it. You were just some annoying guy, a parasyte to an already established friend group, you got all giddy because I found some scars cool. Even if everyone else left, it's all the same. I'm still strong, I don't need annoyances like you or the others."

"Sheesh, when the hell's Gin gonna be done with his throwing up?" Ryuuga asked to himself.

"The Boss will be done when the Boss is done, you loser."

"Since when did you start calling Gin by 'Boss', Kaido?" Ryuuga asked as he looked back. Shocked by what he saw, he took a step back. "Oh god why you?!"

"Because me and my older bro came to cheer on the Boss, you loser!" Mayuri laughed. "Also, Danny got support so screw you!"

"Yeah, where the hell's Gin?" Karim asked, standing next to Mayuri.

"Iunno, last time I saw him was outside." Masato shrugged. "Wait a sec, did one of you say older bro?"

"Yeah, Karim's my older brother. How do you think a japanese middle schooler like me got into the Arcana?" Mayuri asked.

"You you guys never considered we were family considering we share the same last name? Y'know, Karim Maruki, Mayuri Maruki, anything?"

"You guys had last names? I thought you were just Karim and just Mayuri." Ryuuga wondered.

"That's mean!" Karim huffed.

"Wasn't there some other loser on the team? I know there was Ryuuscum, Cheesysato, Boss and then-"

"You..." Kaido growled, looking down on Mayuri.

"Eek... H-hey Mr. Mikazuchi, w-what's up...?" Mayuri asked, trembling.

"The hell's happening?" Ryuuga asked.

"You know how Rose and Iris are just a year older then Mayuri? Well, he tried to get himself some Rose-senpai, if you catch my drift." Karim deadpanned.

"You stay away from my daughter!" Kaido yelled, chasing Mayuri around the hall.

"She isn't your daughter, I've met her real father back in New York!" Mayuri explained.

"I AM HER REAL FATHER!"

"Anyway..." Karim chuckled. "Where's Gin?"

"Outside, probably still throwing up." Ryuuga shrugged.

"I see... Well then, I guess this is a time better than ever to say this. Knowing Gin, he won't say it until the last minute. Well, we met with Sakuya the other day."

"Wait holy shit, you did?!" Ryuuga asked.

"Yeah. Now how do I put it... It didn't go very well. It wasn't great ...it was a dumpster fire. I guess for things to make sense, let me lay the groundwork for the explanation."

"And he just had to pull the lay the groundwork thing." Masato pouted.

"Back when I met Gin, my friend group was composed of myself, Sakuya and three other friends, Lia, Yukino and Taishiro. I think this part even you knew, Ryuuga. You probably already know about how the other part happened. The whole ascension of Sakuya to the Royalty and whatnot. Well, when I returned to Tokyo after the Arcana war, I met up with Taishiro and the girls again and we talked things out. Apparently even them had a fallout with Sakuya over time. Up to about two days ago, I had been trying my best to figure out anything regarding Sakuya. He moved out of his folks' house after he graduated from high school and he wasn't part of any Royalty, not even in those belonging to colleges around. It was a tough chase but I managed to snag something, a comment on an online forum regarding a fighter renting service."

"Rent-a-fighter? I prefer the girlfriend counterpart." Masato shrugged.

"Shut up, you horny mutt." Ryuuga deadpanned.

"After some more digging around, I managed to finally get something on Sakuya. He's working for one of those services, basically selling his fighting skills to teams that want to win events. Hell, he's the best fighter out of the bunch even, it costed me a pretty penny to rent him just to talk to him- Anyway, back to the matter at hand. About yesterday or so, me and Gin went to meet with him near this beef bowl shop outside Chibuya where we used to go during high school and that's when things really went south. On one side, you had Gin, who kept saying he forgave Sakuya over and over again, and then Sakuya, who did the same by saying he didn't want his forgiveness and that he's fine with his current situation, even cracking a joke about how this job makes it easy to pay for college. I honestly thought they were about to throw hands or something. And another thing Sakuya said was that one of the teams that rented him would be in the Magallanica event today, so me and Mayuri came to watch. We also did something more but that's a secret for later."

"Hey wait a sec, wasn't it Gin's idea to come to this event today?" Masato asked.

"Now that you mention it, the discussion to come here began with Gin." Ryuuga said. "I see. Thanks alot, Karim."

"Hi hi, wlecome everyone to the Magallanica Dream Team event! I'm your host for today, Riku, and today I'll be stepping outside my position as teacher to guide you all through today's challenge!" Riku announced to the crowd of teams standing in front of the stage. "Here with me is one of the top students at Gakuto Law Academy, one of Japan's best law schools, the third year student Rouga Mikazuki!"

"That bastard." Kaido muttered with a smirk.

"I play Genesis so I'm surprised to be invited to the water nation." Rouga joked. "Then again, Magallanica is a nation very tied to the concept of law and order. One one hand, you have the protectors of the laws of the sea, Aqua Force, and on the other, the crooked bandits of Granblue." He explained.

"Hm? What about Bermuds Triangle?" Riku asked.

"Oh that one is tied to law because do you really think any unit that isn't a Grade 3 or higher is of the legal age of consent? Yes everyone, I'm studying to become the FBI agent leading the SWAT team that'll break into your house after you finish downloading your two gigabytes worth of loli hentai but I shouldn't be exposing the way this branch doesn't go bankrupt, I should be explaining today's event." Rouga looked back at the descending screen. "You all will begin in the building's basement, where a maze has been built. For the next hour, all teams will traverse the maze and make their way to the finishing line, and after the time ends, all the teams will ascend to the battle stage!"

"However!" Riku spoke up. "Don't think it'll be that easy! Everyone is able to challenge anyone for a death match, and the loser will have to leave the maze and hand out whatever special items that could help him find the exit to the winner! But beating people in a cardfight isn't the only way to win because three special weapons have been implemented into the maze!"

"W-weapons...?" Ryuuga asked.

"From the Aqua Force clan, we brought a high-powered water blasting cannon!"

"How is that safe for children...?!"

"Oooooooh, I wanna use that on E Class scrubs!" Kaido exclaimed.

"From Granblue, the same but with airsoft cannon balls!"

"Airsoft cannon balls?! Is that even possible?!"

"I can see it, Takanori and Kazuraba as my targets!"

"And from Bermuda Triangle, a sound system so powerful that a single yell will take down all your foes!"

"HOW IS THAT SAFE?!"

"I WANNA BUY IT AND TAKE IT TO GEN REEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Kaido exclaimed.

Already half a hour into the journey across the maze, the members of Hanabi are already splitten up, under Ryuuga's idea of how it'd boost their chances of finding the way out of the maze and maybe even gather items with hints. 

Kaido wondered one of the central hallways by himself, hands in his pockets and a trail of defeated fighters behind him. Though suddenly, he was intercepted by a girl with long purple hair and in her school uniform.

"So we finally meet again, my lovely Kaido." The girl chuckled.

"Ah huh..." 'Oh geez, who's this one now...' "Let me guess, you wanna fight, right? Alright then, let's-"

"Non non non, mon cher Kaido."

"Huh?" 'Holy crap, she's speaking that one european language!'

"Years ago, in middle school, you said you'd date me if I learned french, but now I see you're dating an italian girl... Espèce de lowlife, vous prononcez un être humain dégoûtant, les ordures sont meilleures que vous! Tu m'as promis l'amour, je pensais que tu serais le père de mes enfants et pourtant tu m'as écarté au moment où une salope italienne t'a montré ses lasagnes!"

'Shit, I don't understand a single word she's saying, I only did basic french with the intent of looking cool before Emma... Alright Kaido, you know what to do.' Kaido nodded and smile. "Oui oui!"

"You..." The girl grit her teeth. "J'ai vu comment vous intimidez ceux qui sont plus faibles que vous, vous n'êtes rien de plus qu'un clown triste et triste qui pense que ses mots sont tout et qui peut s'en tirer avec tout et n'importe quoi simplement en marchant autour de votre gros portefeuille, et vous savez qui est aussi son graisse? La salope que tu as choisie à ma place, qu'est-ce qu'elle a que je n'ai pas, j'ai de gros seins sur lesquels tu pourrais dormir toute ta vie et une porte dérobée que je te laisserais utiliser même dans mes pires humeurs mais tu quand même a choisi quelqu'un d'autre, tu as choisi cette salope!"

"Ahah, exactement."

"You dare to mock me...? You litte-"

"Kaido-senpai, let me handle this from now on."

"Huh?"

Kaido looked back to meet the one who'd save him from the foreign language assault that he was suffering. It was a boy, two years younger, an underclassmen of his school, known for his delinquent appearance and killing pompadour, which someone maintained his threatning appearance despite the pink shirt he wore on that day and did everything for those he considered his bros.

"W-who are...?" Kaido asked.

"Me? I'm the villain to the great hero you are, senpai. I also beat up Takanori so I know that's a plus in your eyes. Just call me Mikitaka." Mikitaka said. "Now, about this girl insulting the great Kaido-senpai..." Mikitaka cleared his throat and looked down on the girl. "Je parie que ton petit cul de pute pensait que tu faisais quelque chose de génial et de cool, mais tu étais et tu n'es toujours qu'un triste sac de baise, qui ne mérite même pas de regarder dans la direction de l'incroyable Kaido-senpai! Vous donnez une belle apparence à la Classe E, ce qui est à la fois incroyable et terrible à faire!"

"C-classe E?!"

"You tell her, Mikitaka!"

"Même ce bon à rien Takanori est plus cool que vous et vos cheveux violets sont stupides! Ne dirigez plus jamais vos mots ou vos pensées vers l'incroyable Kaido-senpai ou sa charmante future épouse Miss Emma, elle est un meilleur choix d'épouse que vous ne le serez jamais! De plus, vous venez de vous faire baiser en français par un mec qui agit comme un délinquant et qui fait étudier ses copains délinquants en envahissant la bibliothèque alors là, vous avez été servi!"

"I-impossible!" The girl gasped.

"Hell yeah, you go Mikitaka!"

"Senpai, I got it from here on out. Go meet your friends, my friends are already taking care of helpin' 'em out."

"Goddamn, why is my day being ruined by taking lefts?!" Gin exclaimed to himself as he ran away from a crowd of fighters chasing after him. "I won't think twice about throwing hands with you all if you keep coming after me!"

"ROCKING!"

"What the-?!" Gin stopped and looked back. The crowd that chased him was gone, and was now running away from something else, from a man holding nothing but his guitar.

"You go on, Gin-san! For the sake of my Mikitaka-aniki and your sake, I'll take care of things here!" Joshu exclaimed.

"Shit man, this is a shit way to lose..." Masato growled, backed into a dead end by some fighters.

Suddenly, the light that shined upon Masato and the fighters was clouded and a shadow in the shape of something cylindrical was cast down upon them.

"What the- Hey yo, who's using their dick to make shadow puppets?" One of the fighters asked.

"Descend!" A voice called out. The man that casted the shadow down upon the rest, who was standing on top of one of the maze's walls, jumped down from his place and landed between Masato and the fighters. "I'll take it from here, monsieur Masato."

"Wait a sec, you're- Jean Pierra Arcand?!" Masato asked.

"Oui, je suis!" Arcand announced. "And the flags this french will be waving today won't be white, but instead your hametsu no flags!" He exclaimed as he charged at the fighters.

Meanwhile, in another corner of the maze, Ryuuga was backed into a wall but a single fighter, who held his FiCa was ready to shoot Ryuuga with a challenge.

"Draw!" The fighter exclaimed, aiming his FiCa at Ryuuga, but the challenge he sent was intercepted.

"What the hell just happened..." Ryuuga muttered, looking at the FiCa in front of his chest. "This isn't mine.

"Now you dun' worry about nothin', I'll make sure this fella learns how to wait for his time, aight?"

"This reallh came out of nowhere but I finally get when Karim meant with extra help." Ryuuga chuckled and his shocked face changed into a smirk. "Thank you alot, Dallas!"

"Like I said, you just worry about reachin' the end with your pals, Ryuuga." Dallas, the one who held the intercepting FiCa, chuckled. "Now go, I'll show this fella who's the quickest critical trigger drawer of the west."

"A joke about cowboys coming from a cowboy looking guy? Finally!" Ryuuga exclaimed as he ran away.

After teams falling at the hands of Izuru's team using the airsoft cannonballs and Dallas' team using the high pressure water blasters, what remained of those hunting for the members of Hanabi had all gathered into a clusters of people, including Taira after his fellow teammates were defeated, that chased the four idiots to a dead end, where the giant speaker system mentioned by the announcers was present.

Ryuuga, with sound-cancelling headphones on his ears, swung his hand down. 

"Let those assholes have it!" He commanded.

In front of the microphone connected to the sound system, Kaido and Masato shared a grin and nodded.

"LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!" Masato yelled from the top of his lungs.

"EMMA MARRY MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!" Kaido yelled aswell.

Soon, fighters began falling one after the other under the outright stupidly loud sounds that the system blasted at them, and by the time Masato and Kaido took a break, already tired from the shouting and hurt by not having headphones on. 

However, amongst the defeated fighters, one rose before the rest.

"Not yet... NOT YET REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!" Taira yelled.

"Impossible! To carry such determination that even this balls to the wall sound blast couldn't keep him down! This must the work of an amazing man!" Gin exclaimed, having his headphones on.

"You idiot, you're giving him too much credit! Kaido, Masato, louder!" Ryuuga commanded.

"We can't handle much more, Ryuuga..." Masato coughed.

"We're only humans afterall..." Kaido muttered.

"Leave it to me." Gin said. He began walking forward, towards Taira. "Your love with Hinata is truly something beautiful. It shows how truth in a relationship is what truly matters."

"Move it Rocky, I have a protagonist so slay!"

"However-!" Gin stared down at Taira with his dark red eyes. "I hear Hisano is just her second name."

"No... That is not true, that's impossible!"

"Correct. Hit it boys!"

"LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"MARRY MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

"Oh crap-!" Taira muttered before being blasted away by the sound.

Gin tossed away his headphones and threw the knocked out Kaido and Masato over his shoulders. "Let's haul ass!"

"Right!" Ryuuga said with a nod.

When the time for crossing the maze ended, only two teams had passed, those being that had rented Sakuya's cardfighting skills and Hanabi. As for Dallas' and Izuru's, they were still deep in the maze when the time ended due to each other, with Mikitaka and Joshu combining their skills to take down Tate and Dobe, Arcand dealing with Minami and Izuru soloing almost the whole team after his teammates left, with Arcand escaping defeat at the hands of a middle schooler by two seconds.

On the fighting stage on the second floor, while everything was being prepared for the fight between the two teams, Gin watched his enemies from Hanabi's side of the stage. Upon seeing a trio of loser-looking guys give Sakuya some money, he grit his teeth.

Ryuuga sat by Gin's side, unable to get up after Hinata's unleashed the tip of her heels on his right foot, even though it wasn't him who lied to Taira about her name. Upon seeing the reaction of his friend, Ryuuga sighed.

"I saw in anime that physical stimuli will help someone who's spacing out get a grip of reality. Don't you agree?"

"I live that anime..." Kaido muttered, still sleeping after falling due to his and Masato's yelling.

"You aren't listening so..." Ryuuga pulled Kaido closer to him and searched through the pockets of his jacket, finding the vial with the hot sauce from the previous day. After flicking the cork off the vial, he waved it under Gin's nose. "Here you go, I'm not tickling you unless you were cute anime girl who pays me lunch."

Gin's nose prked up and he looked down. "What the fuck- Oh that's disgusting!" He coughed onto his forearm, looking away from the vial.

"There we go. I guess this proves this baby can kick any loser back into reality. The more you know." Ryuuga shrugged, slamming the cork back onto the vial. "Are you better now?"

"You're a real piece of shit, you know that?" Gin chuckled, composing himself after his little out of character moment. "How haven't we been penalized for swearing yet? Was that a Star Gate thing only?"

"I think it was made up by Maverick to teach Kaido a thing or two about not swearing. I heard he has never swore around his cousin. Hard to believe Maverick's daughter really exists."

"Hard to believe a bomb like that came from him."

"I guess Maverick's muscle size got transfered to her boobs- Wait that's not the point here!" Ryuuga sighed. "Look, Kaido and Masato are out of commission because yelling and Hinata used his heel to stab my foot so you have to go and fight whoever the team sents." He showed Gin a brief smug. "That's totally the only reason why you have to be the one fighting today. Totally just that."

"Eh, that's alot of bullcrap in such a tiny body." Gin said, getting up. "Alright, leave this up to me."

"Go get 'em, tiger. Go fix some bonds like no one has ever fixed before." Ryuuga chuckled. "Dear god, I'm becoming as cheesy as Masato, jesus christ."

"Stealing 30k from the american guy was the coolest thing someone like you ever did..." Kaido murmured.

"What the hell are you even dreaming about?!"

"Still a loser..."

"Can you not insult the poor guy in your dreams... This guy must have Kaido as his sleep paralysis demon too." Ryuuga sighed.

Standing across one another with a single fighting table between the two, Gin and Sakuya shuffled their decks silently, with Gin occasionally lifting his eyes to see Sakuya, and Sakuya not opening his.

"I want to ask you something before we start." Gin said, drawing his five cards and returning two.

"What is it this time?" Sakuya sighed, shuffling back just one card.

"You know we want you back with us, and we know everything you said on that day was bullcrap, then why are you so dead set on pretending like what you said is true?"

"It's not my fault your little booboo lead to you becoming an ignorant dumbskull."

"Damn it, just drop the act!" Gin demanded, gritting his teeth. "Drop that higher than god attitude and get serious, none of us is fooling around! We all screwed up and we all have moved on since that day, we genuily don't care about what you said and did anymore, what's so hard for you to understand?! Is it because it's cool acting like you don't care? You became a loner since then on your own accord, you don't have to continue being a loner!"

"You're... Really annoying." Sakuya clicked his tongue. "How about you stop talking about things no one gives a damn about and focus on what's really important?"

"You... Fine, I'll talk to you the only way you'll hear! Stand up, vanguard! Shining Knight, Millius! (6000)" 

"Stand up, vanguard. Werfleder Ordonnaz. (6000)"

"Draw! I ride Laurel Knight, Sicilus! (8000) Millius' skill, I draw, and then Sicilus', I check the top five and add Aerial Divine Knight to my hand, then drop one. Turn end!"

Gin
Hand: 6
Damage: 0
OXO
OOO

Sakuya
Hand: 5
Damage: 0
Soul: 0
OXO
OOO

"So that's the so called Sakuya. His skill have been on the back of my mind ever since I heard about Gin's story. I guess the part of him being a meta sheep is true." Kaido commented.

"When the hell did you wake up..." Ryuuga deadpanned.

"Draw. Ride, Yellow Bolt. (8000) Ordonnaz's skill, I draw one and get a Quick Shield. I call Variants Killertail. (6000) Attack. (7000>>13000)"

"No guard!"

"(No Life King, Death Anchor)"

"(Knight of Determination, Lamorak)"

"Pass."

Gin
Hand: 6
Damage: 1
OXO
OOO

Sakuya
Hand: 7
Damage: 0
Soul: 1
OXO
OXO

"Stand and draw! I ride Counteroffensive Knight, Suleiman! (10000) His skill, I check the top seven cards of my deck for an Altmile and superior call it. Call, Blue Sky Knight, Altmile! (13000) I also call Flourishing Knight, Edith! (8000) Suleiman attacks! (10000)"

"Blitz Order, Quick Shield. (13000)"

"(Absolute Blade Knight, Suleiman) No trigger! Boosted by Edith, Altmile! (13000>>21000)"

"No guard. (Demonic Deep Phantasm Emperor, Brufas)"

"Edeith's skill! At the end of the battle where she boosted a grade 3 rear-guard, by putting that rear-guard into the soul, I return her to my hand! Turn end!" 

Gin
Hand: 7
Damage: 1
OXO
OOO

Sakuya
Hand: 6
Damage: 1
Soul: 1
OXO
OOO

"Stand and draw. Ride, Emblem Master. (9000) Counterblast, three Killertails go from the deck into the soul. Yellow Bolt's skill. Soulcharge two. A trigger was put into the soul, so I draw one. Killertail's skill. I rest her and put Brufas into the soul, then put the top card of my deck face down in the damage zone. With three Killertails in my soul, Killertail stands and I countercharge. Attack. (9000>>15000)"

"No guard!"

"(Liquid Fencer - Critical) Vanguard. (15000>>25000/2)"

"Damage check! (Laurel Knight, Sicilius) (Flash Shield, Iseult - Draw) A draw trigger! All to my vanguard and draw! (20000)"

"Pass."

Gin
Hand: 8
Damage: 3
OXO
OOO

Sakuya
Hand: 8
Damage: 1
Soul: 8
OXO
OXO

"Stand and draw! Twin blades that pierce the sky, shine even brighter in the dawn of this new tomorrow! Ride the vanguard! Aerial Divine Knight, Altmile! (13000)"

"And he even has that sweet sweet promo that got him a grade 3 in soul. You three got lucky with the new stuff your clans got, I'm still in the dumps." Masato sulked.

"Yeah yeah, play a better deck or quit ya bitching." Kaido replied.

"Imaginary Gift, Force I! I place it on my vanguard circle! (13000>>23000) Altmile's skill! Counterblast, soulblast, I superior call a grade 2 unit from both the drop and the deck! From the drop zone, Suleiman (10000) and from the deck, Starlight Violinist! (10000) From hand, I call Edith (8000) and Livarot! (10000) Since placed from hand, I use Livarot's skill to counterblast one and superior call Lamorak from the deck! (10000) And with more than five unit son my field, I counterblast one to give Lamorak 10k! (10000>>20000) No card in my damage zone is face up, so Altmile will give all my grade 2 units 10k power and shield, and thanks to the Altmile in my soul, an extra critical! (20000>>30000/2) (10000>>20000/2) (10000>>20000/2) (10000>>20000/2) Violinist makes my grade 2 units able to boost and intercept, so boosted by Violinist, Altmile attacks! (23000>>43000) Zero Gale Slash!"

"No guard."

"Twin drive! (Counteroffensive Knight, Suleiman) (Amulet Eagle - Critical) Critical trigger! I give the critical to my vanguard and the power to Lamorak! (43000>>43000/2) (30000>>40000)"

"(Demonted Executioner) (Enigmatic Assassin)"

"Sakuya! We're talking your language now, so spill it out! Why don't you return?! Lamorak! (40000>>48000/2)"

"(Cursed Doctor - Heal) Heal, vanguard. (19000) (Yellow Bolt)"

Gin grit his teeth. "Livarot, Suleiman! (20000>>40000/2)"

"Complete guard."

"Why won't you just talk to us?! We're trying our best dammit!"

"Just shut up and end your turn." Sakuya sighed.

"Everything is fine, everyone is fine! Taishiro, Lia, Yukino, even me and Karim, we all agreed on making it water under the bridge!"

"Shut up, end your turn..."

"Sakuya-!"

"Dammit, shut your mouth, you filthy pig!" Sakuya exclaimed, slamming his fist down on the table. "You're done with your turn, aren't you? Good." He said, opening his eyes.

Gin
Hand: 8
Damage: 3
XXX
XXX

Sakuya
Hand: 6
Damage: 4
Soul: 8
OXO
OXO

"All you've been saying was 'we forgive you this', 'we forgive you that', but you don't get it, you don't get anything... For once in your pathetic life, get your head out of your ass!"

"Sakuya... What are you-"

"I'm not finished, you piece of crap! The world doesn't spin around you or the rest, it isn't just because you idiots say something that that something will come to be. Have you considered my thoughts on the matter? Do you think I want to get back to a bunch of losers like you lot? Please, don't pair me up like a bunch of losers like yourselves!" Sakuya laughed.

"You're lying. I already heard all of this before, you wer elying then, and you're lying now."

"Oh why can't you just learn something for once." Sakuya sighed sarcastically. "Oh well, time to throw the trash out a second time. Stand and draw. Ride, No Life King, Death Anchor. (12000) Imaginary Gift, Protect I. Death Anchor's skill, soulcharge. Now, liberating the Generation Zone!"

(Play the media)

"Millions of years of evolution, leading to a point where the self proclaimed superior race only wishes to be put to rest, controlled and live in blissful ignorance. Your wish became a reality. Revert this weak trash back to it's apathetic state! Generation Stride! Evil God Pontiff, Gastille Daimonas! (27000)"

Ryuuga clicked his tongue. "Hang in there, Gin."

"Gastille Daimonas' skill. Counterblast,  turn a G Unit face up, I take Death Anchor and Decadent Succubus from the deck and put them into the soul. Gastille Daimonas gains their skills, and when a card is put into my soul, Gastille gives the front row 3k. (27000>>33000) I call Doreen. (6000) Skill acquired from Dacadent Succubus, soulcharge. Since a card was put into the soul, Doreen gets 5k, and then my front row powers up thanks to Gastille. (6000>>11000>>14000) (33000>>36000) Call, Demonted Executioner. (9000) Soulcharge. (9000>>12000) (36000>>39000) (14000>>17000>>22000) Executioner's skill. Counterblast, soulcharge three. Since a trigger was soulcharged, I draw one. (14000>>23000) (39000>>48000) (22000>>31000>>46000)"

"Tch, the numbers just keep getting bigger..." Gin muttered throught grit teeth.

"Killetail's skill. I put Enigmatic Assassin into the soul. (23000>26000) (48000>>51000) (46000>>49000>>54000) Call, Monochrome of Nightmareland. (4000) Soulcharge. (26000>>29000) (51000>>54000) (54000>>57000>>62000) By shuffling Monochrome back into the deck, I soulcharge, countercharge and draw one. (29000>>32000) (54000>>57000) (62000>>65000>>70000) I call a second Monochrome. (4000) Soulcharge. (32000>>35000) (57000>>60000) (65000>>68000>>73000) Skill. (35000>>38000) (60000>>63000) (73000>>76000>>81000) Yellow Bolt. (8000) Soulcharge. (38000>>41000) (63000>>66000) (81000>>84000>>89000) And call, Demonted Executioner. (9000) Soulcharge. (41000>>44000) (66000>>69000) (89000>>92000>>97000) Counterblast, soulcharge three. (44000>>53000) (69000>>78000) (97000>>106000>>121000) Yes, that seems enough. Boosted by Killertail, Gastille attacks the vanguard. (78000>>83000) Night Fire Execution!"

"N-no guard..." 'Shit...'

"Triple drive. (Liquid Fencer - Critical) I give the power to Executioner, and the critical to Doreen. (53000>>63000) (121000>>121000/2) (Master of the Fifth Element) (Decadent Succubus)"

"So that's why he didn't give Gastille the critical." Ryuuga muttered.

"Damage check...! (Blue Sky Knight, Altmile)"

"Skill acquired by Death Anchor. Counterblast, a card from my hand and the units in my backrow go into the soul. Ride from the soul, with a critical, Master of the Fifth Element! (12000) Imaginary Gift, Protect I. And of course, Doreen's skill. (121000>>141000) Executioner attacks. (63000) Darkness. Call from the soul, Enigmatic Assassin. (5000>>20000)"

"No guard! (Healing Pegasus - Heal) Heal trigger! I give the power to my vanguard and heal a face up damage! (23000)"

"That's right, you have some skill that would be a good defense in this case. Doreen, attack. (141000/2)"

"Perfect guard!"

"Boosted by Enigmatic Assassin, Master of the Fifth Element attacks the vanguard. (12000>>32000/2) With my soul having more than fifteen cards, I put all cards in my soul and hand into the drop zone to restand all units on my field."

"Tch, Generation Guard! Vivid Sacred Staff, Andragius! (38000) With more than two grade 2s on my field, add 10k to the shield! (48000)"

"Two trigger then? Twin drive. (Deep Demonic Phantasm Emperor, Brufas) (Emblem Master) No trigger. Doreen attacks. (141000/2)"

"Again, perfect guard!"

"If everything works out, he might just survive this turn..." Kaido muttered.

"Annoying. Executioner. (63000)"

"No guard! (Blue Sky Knight, Altmile)"

"However..."

"Master of the Fifth Element. (12000>>32000/2)"

"Guard! Amulet Eagle, Sicilus, Edith! (58000) No pass!"

"You should read cards better. (No Life King, Death Anchor) You're banking too much on the chance of me not revealing this card. (Monochrome of Nightmareland - Stand) Stand trigger. Doreen. (141000>>145000) Attack. (145000/2)"

"Tch, no guard... (Aerial Divine Knight, Altmile)"

"I'm worth my pay." Sakuya said, turning his back to Gin and procceding to walk away from the table.

"I just want to know... Why?!" Gin yelled, slamming his hands down. "Why won't you return?!"

"You won't shut up about it, will you? Fine then. Whatever gets you to shut up." Sakuya looked back, and under his cold gaze, he spoke words that destroyed his old friend. "I spite everything about you. From the very beginning, I thought of you as nothing more than a parasyte of my group. The Royalty wasn't big enough for us six, so you had take one of the team and go screw yourself. You bite the first bone anyone threw at you, but did you ever stopped to think about what the rest of us wanted? They might say different now, but I'll say the truth. I never wanted you around. You were nothing more than a pain in my ass. Some famous high school boxer who's also good at Vanguard? Good thing I took care of you before you had the chance to surpass me. My world is only big enough for one of us, so get lost and disappear from my life once and for all, you piece of good for nothing garbage."

Speechless, Gin fell to his knees.

"You're lying..." He muttered. "You're lying!" 

Gin raised his fist, ready to slam it down on the table, but at the last second, he was stopped. Through his shaking vision, he saw Sakuya leave.

"Come on. He's not worth it." Ryuuga said, letting go of Gin's wrist and helping him up. "Dinner's on me."

"You still won't come clean, will you? It's not that hard to tell him the truth." Karim said.

Outside the building, Karim walked a few steps behind Sakuya with his arms crossed.

"Just leave me alone already." Sakuya sighed. "What I said is true. I hated him then, I hate him now."

"I saw your eyes back then. If you hated Gin, then my name isn't Karim. You genuiely cared for him, so why this? Why all these lies?"

"You know why, you shitbag." Sakuya pulled his mask down and looked back at Karim with his eyes open. "No good will come from being near me. I destroy all bonds I make, no matter how hard I try to not do it. At my core, I'm the same condescending asshole I was back then. People might change, but I didn't. It's my nature. After I destroyed everything, all I had left was this strength that gave me nothing good. I'm better off being some winning item at the eyes of people than disappointing you all again. So just stop knocking on my door and telling me you guys want me back, I don't want to go back. I already had to go through screwing everything up once, I don't want to do it again. And as for Gin, well, he's better hating me than anything. Maybe that way he'll move on and leave me be."

Karim sighed and silently watched as Sakuya walking away from the building, carrying in his hands the most recent volume of a popular manga series related to shogi.

"This tastes like buttcheeks..." Ryuuga, Kaido and Masato muttered, each holding in their hands a yakisoba bun filled with the squid ink noodles Gin wanted to try recently.

"I'm never touching pasta in a bread loaf again..." Masato coughed.

"My drained rice tasted better..." Kaido sighed.

"Don't drain your rice then!" Ryuuga exclaimed. Looking over at Gin, who hadn't touched his yakisoba bun yet, he sighed. "C'mon, I paid good money for this bread and pasta, least you can do is it."

"Hm...? Oh, I... Ah, I'll see you guys tomorrow." Gin placed down his untouched yakisoba bun and walked out of the Hanabi office.

"So not even this managed to lift his spirits, huh?" Kaido asked under his breath.

"Hey stranger danger. Lovely full moon we're having, isn't it?"

"Hm?"

Nighttime, in a park near where the office was. under the gleaming full moon, Gin sat by himself on a bench, silently, until Fujiko sat by his side and broke the silence.

"The moon. It's huge today."

"I guess so..."

"Y'know... Last time we sat on a bench together, you flew me out to New York. Actually, I think Ryuuga got blueballed on this bench." Fujiko giggled.

"Is that so?" Gin chuckled briefly.

"Think so. Say stranger danger, are you feeling better?"

"Why're you calling me that?"

"Because last time we sat on a bench together, New York happened." Fujiko said with a smile. "Meeting the real you made me understand something about myself. I've always expected too much from people."

"I can't see how that's positive, but I share the feeling. I expected too much from myself. I really believed I could fix everything."

"There's bound to be one rotten egg on the batch or one black sheep amongst the herd, but I don't think it's a bad thing. Today happened, there's no denying that, and what that Sakuya guy said was horrible to every degree, but you shouldn't be blaming yourself for his words. Grab your rage and make it your ultimate strength!"

"That's... Super odd to hear coming out of your mouth, how did you even end in that conclusion?!" Gin laughed.

"Well because... Because... Shut up, I read it on a manga!" Fujiko pouted. "My point is, you're a fighter! So get off your ass and kept throwing punches! You won't put this sucker down if all you do is hang out on the corner so get your ass out there and punch that bitch!"

"You'd be a really good manager one day." Gin said sarcastically.

"Hell yeah I would!"

"You know what? Sure, I'll make you my manager if I ever go pro one day."

"Swear?" Fujiko asking, lifting his right pinky.

"Geez, you really are a kid." Gin chuckling, grabbing her pinky with his.

"That's the best part." Fujiko smiled.

"Yeah... Wait a sec-"

"Hello hello, FBI?" Fujiko said, holding her phone near her ear. 

"YOU TRICKED ME, THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT!"

(Ending)

Next Week:

#49: The Strongest Rival

--------------------------------------------------

MINI SOUL: "Driving with Ryuuga"

Ryuuga: *driving* See? Told you nothing bad would happen.

Masato: Hey Ryuuga? The branch's the other-

Ryuuga: *suddenly turns the car around*

Gin: *perks his head out of the window and begins lifting his middle finger at random drivers* GET SHITTED ON, BITCH! GO BACK TO LEARNING HOW TO DRIVE!

Masato: *pulls his belt* AHHHHHHHHHHHHH I'M NOT READY TO DIE LIKE, I WANTED TO SCORE A DATE WITH HANAE AND THEN FLEX ON JOE AND YURI, AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Kaido: *gets his phone out* Hello, is this the Takanori residence? Is Yuuto there? Thank you, I'll wait.

Ryuzaki: And Ryuuga never touched Kaido's car ever again.

-----

Kaido: You're a dnager to public safety.

Masato: HOW DID YOU EVER GET YOUR LICENSE BEFORE ME?!

Gin: I don't see the issue.

Ryuuga: Exactly. Also what do you mean it was Sakuya who got into yakisoba? You telling me I've been hammered with something that came from that bastard?

Sakuya: You're welcome. I even read the same shogi manga as you.

Ryuuga: Ah, come on!

Ryuuga: Imagine getting beaten up by the miad because you don't main deck grade 4s.

Hanae: Imagine getting beaten up by the maid for swearing within the miad cafe she manages.

Homura: I'm surrounded by freaking idiots...

Hey there, Shida here for another A/N. I hope you liked seeing metasheep Sakuya being a metasheep. Moving on to more improtant matters, I've finally began watching You-zitsu and it didn't took three months so get ready for jokes slightly related to that, one of which so Ryuuga wanking it to an anime girl with glasses two chapters ago. That's what we call a joke getting edited into a chapter two days before being published. Kushida is a waste of ink, Albert is the true heroine, I'd simp for Sakura and lunch paying sugar mommy Horikita and Kouhei's bald head shines brighter than Yuuto's future.

Kaido: True.

My name is Shida, thanks for reading and I will see you later. Bye bye!

Ryuuga: I woulnd't mind having a sugar mommy that paid me lunch.

Homura: I make your lunch when you come to the cafe...

Ryuuga: Wait does that mean sugar moomy status? Hmmmmm.

Homura: SHUT UP!

Kaido: And it next week's chapters, my very first rival. Let's see how much of a downgrade Ryuuga and Yuuto are.