Time: 7 a.m. the next morning.
Using her deep familiarity with the base, Serena slipped past the minimal patrols with ease and quietly made her way back to her assigned room.
The moment she got inside, she quickly gathered all her spare cards that she'd left behind, changed into a Fusion Military uniform, and, following the plan she and Ruri had prepared, packed an extra uniform as backup. Only after putting on a cap to hide her face did she step back out into the hallway.
After all… she had spent most of her life being trained inside the Fusion Military.
No matter how twisted the place was, she still remembered every password, every clearance code, every routine.
She had worked so hard, too hard, because she wanted to prove her worth, to make her father proud, to earn even a single genuine smile from Akaba Leo.
But…
Ever since meeting people outside this world, ever since seeing what the world was really like…
She finally understood: that "love," that "family," that "purpose" she devoted herself to, was never real.
And because she managed to escape…
She refused to let her sisters suffer the same fate she did.
Step by step, Serena made her way to the laboratory sector.
There, she saw them: Four cylindrical stasis pods.
Like four pillars.
If it had been the old Serena, she might've looked at them without thinking anything unusual.
Now?
The truth hit her instantly.
"He… he's going to imprison all four of us!"
Fury rose in her chest.
She rushed up and tapped on one of the pods.
"Ruri, it's me!"
Inside the stasis chamber, Ruri's eyes, previously motionless, trembled.
Slowly, painfully, they opened.
Serena!
"I overheard some things these past few days. That switch right there can release you."
"Got it—!"
Serena immediately deactivated the life-support lock and opened the pod.
Ruri's body spasmed at the sudden exposure, and she toppled forward.
Serena tried to catch her, but instead Ruri collapsed right on top of her, both of them falling to the ground.
At least they didn't make much noise.
Ruri gritted her teeth, using the machinery beside her to brace herself as she stood.
Her body was weak, far too weak. Even with the machines maintaining her life, she'd been left immobile for too long.
And then;
WEE-OOO WEE-OOO WEE-OOO!
The alarms flashed crimson.
"What happened!?"
"Did a priority containment unit fail!?"
Voices and rushed footsteps echoed from the corridors.Serena tried to lift Ruri, activating her 'Strong Serena' muscle training instinct, and prepared to run, but Ruri grabbed her wrist.
"Wait."
Ruri staggered to another pod, opened its lower drawer, and retrieved her deck, along with several other cards stored nearby.
She couldn't escape without it.
After grabbing everything, she pulled Serena toward a large equipment locker.
The two squeezed inside, closing the door behind them.
Heavy footsteps thundered closer.
Ruri clamped a hand over Serena's mouth to keep her quiet.
"It's Ruri! Ruri escaped!"
"How!? She shouldn't even be conscious!"
The remaining guards panicked.
"Notify Yuri!"
"Notify Yuri? Who's going t..."
"Are you crazy!? If Yuri finds out we screwed up, he'll kill us!"
"Then hurry up and catch her before he notices!"
No one dared question it. The soldiers scattered, some to search, others to check surveillance.
Once most of them were gone, Serena exploded out of the locker, kicked one soldier straight to the ground, and hurled two small chemical vials that burst into thick smoke.
"You're so smart, Ruri!"
"Ah… l-let's just run for now."
Ruri blushed, embarrassed at being praised.
The only reason Serena dared to infiltrate the Fusion Military alone, was because she wasn't reckless at all.
In truth, Serena and Ruri had been planning this for days.Ruri had been quietly observing the situation in this dimension and sharing her thoughts with Serena whenever she had the chance.
A few days earlier, she noticed that most of the soldiers had been dispatched to other dimensions.
To her, that meant only one thing:
A perfect opportunity.
So she pieced together a workable escape plan.
She stole the helmet from one of the guards stationed here, disguised herself, and slipped into Serena's spare Fusion Military uniform.
Ruri and Serena didn't just look identical, their body types matched perfectly too, so the uniform fit without issue.
After all the preparations were complete, the two began their escape.
Serena carried the device she had prepared to reroute a dimensional gateway's destination. As long as they reached the teleportation room successfully, everything would be fine.
And at first, everything went well.
Serena was a little reckless, yes, but thanks to Ruri's carefully crafted plan, nothing spiraled out of control, and the two reached the Fusion Military transfer sector smoothly.
But, luck never lasts forever.
9:15 AM
Serena and Ruri entered the second checkpoint areaonly to find a crowd of soldiers blocking the path.
This was the only place from which one could leave the dimension, so a group of soldiers was stationed to restrict unauthorized usage of the dimensional gates.
Another group was trying to use the gateway to transfer elsewhere, so the two sides were loudly arguing.
From the argument alone, Serena and Ruri could confirm:
The Fusion Military's main forces truly weren't here.
But, just as they thought they could slip through unnoticed…
One soldier turned his head, caught sight of Serena, froze for a second, and spoke:
"Miss Serena?"
Serena's eyes went wide.
'An instructor!?'
It was the instructor who had once trained her in dueling techniques, someone who remembered her very clearly.
The surrounding soldiers all reacted instantly to the name.
Miss Serena?
The professor's daughter? She actually came back to the Fusion Military today?
But then they realized…
Why are there two of her!?
Before they could process anything, Serena moved faster than her brain could think, she launched a kick straight into a nearby soldier.
At the same time, Ruri decisively slid a card into her Duel Disk.
A roaring gust of wind burst out, kicking up a violent breeze that blinded every soldier nearby.
Even so, they instinctively rushed to stop the intruders.
But Serena had already slammed her hand onto the dimensional gate controls.
It didn't matter where the gate was originally aimed, as long as she adjusted the final coordinates, everything would be fine!
The thought alone filled her chest with adrenaline.
After all this time…
She could finally perform a "heroic rescue" all on her own, without needing her teacher or her seniors to bail her out.
A brilliant flash burst out, and the dimensional gate's color shifted into green.
Just one more moment, and they would return to Duel Academy!
Ruri finally let out a breath of relief.
It looked like she really could escape this place with Serena using her own strength.
But;
In that tiny sliver of time when both girls were relaxed…
A purple glow suddenly pulsed.
Along with several soldiers' screams, the dimensional gate's color twisted again.
Serena's eyes went wide, and then her whole body dropped downward as gravity vanished beneath her.
When she looked up…
What appeared before her was a spiraling city twisting upwards into the sky!
Meanwhile, back in the Fusion Military main base.
Yuri walked forward with his usual unsettling smile. The moment the soldiers saw him, they instantly bowed in terror, even the "instructor" couldn't help lowering his head.
Several Duel Monsters cards drifted down from above,each card printed with the terror-stricken faces of Fusion Military soldiers, the final expressions they ever made in their lives.
Yuri crouched down casually and picked the cards up with one hand.
"Forgive us, Representative Yuri… we weren't able to..."
The soldier assigned to watch the experimental sector tried to explain himself, hoping desperately that he could make his actions sound reasonable.
After all, from the looks of it, the dimensional gate had probably sent both girls toward S-Dimension.
Maybe that could be counted as making up for their failure.
If so, then;
He never finished the thought.
Yuri had already pressed a button on his Duel Disk.
In a chorus of screams, the soldiers instantly turned into cards and scattered across the floor.
Then Yuri looked toward the instructor.
"Representative Yuri… what should we do next?"
The instructor asked hesitantly.
"Miss Ruri was taken by Miss Serena. Shall I pursue?"
"The professor told me to stay here and guard."
Yuri replied with a pleasant smile, but the utter indifference in his tone made his lack of interest painfully obvious.
"As for what happens here…you can be the one to explain it to the professor."
Being left behind to stand watch instead of going out to duelleft him completely unmotivated.
Fanning himself with the soldier-cards, as if they were playing cards, Yuri turned around and walked off, not caring in the slightest about anything that had just happened.