Ryo and Riley stepped through the gate of rooftop. As they opened it they saw tall men in white uniforms and long ceremonial hats were already waiting.
Riley pressed close to Ryo's side, the old fear creeping back into his shoulders. He glanced around for Tsukikage out of habit, but the shadow had already melted back into stillness.
"These are the people who will take us to this world's government," Ryo said quietly. "Don't be afraid of them, Riley."
He caught Riley's eye for just a moment — a small, private signal neither of the tall men noticed. Riley nodded, some of the tension easing out of him.
They were led to a long white car after exiting the building, and for nearly ten minutes it carried them past towering structures and gleaming buildings, the city unfolding in layers of glass and steel, until it finally slowed before a massive parliament building — white and shining under the afternoon sun, the kind of building that would glow just as brightly once night fell.
# The Council Chamber
Past the gate, through a series of turns down polished halls, they were brought into a vast circular room.
Tall stone columns ringed the chamber, and atop each one stood a single robed figure, looking down over the floor like judges seated above a courtroom. At the center of it all, elevated higher than the rest, sat an old man in a flowing white robe — the Chairman, his presence calm and unreadable despite his age.
Riley gasped. Not at the columns or the robed figures. He gasped at the lone youth standing in the center of the chamber floor.
"Nii-sama...!" He broke into a run before anyone could stop him.
Reiji didn't say a word. He simply rested a hand on Riley's head, gentle despite the stiffness in his posture.
"It seems you've recovered your brother," said a short man in a red robe, seated on one of the columns.
"Now, let us hear the rest of your story," an old woman added from another.
"We haven't recovered everyone," Reiji said. "Several of our people are still unaccounted for."
"We've already told you our men are searching," the short man said. "But first we need to understand exactly what you people are, where you've come from, and what threat you have come to warn us."
Silence pressed over the chamber.
Ryo glanced at Reiji. His brother's expression gave nothing away, but Ryo understood the calculation running underneath it — say too much about the dimensions, and the Council might use the Lancers as leverage instead of allies. Say too little, and there would be no cooperation at all.
"Some people took them!" Riley burst out suddenly, unable to hold it in any longer. "Unknown people came and took Yuya and the others away!"
Every head atop every column turned toward him. Riley shrank back behind Reiji, small under the weight of so many eyes.
"I see," one of the council members said. "But how did your comrades avoid capture, with Security patrolling everywhere?"
Riley's mouth opened, but no sound came.
"T-they... Crow and the others helped us," he finally managed.
"Commons," one of them muttered, the word carrying a weight.
Reiji and Ryo exchanged a glance, weighing exactly how much to say next.
"They must be at the Facility, then. Right, Chairman?" A tall council member looked at top.
"Yes,"
"What is this Facility you keep referring to?" Reiji asked, keeping the conversation moving.
"A place where lawbreakers are held, and made to work off what they owe this city and to help it." One of them said.
"Then bring them here please," Reiji said simply.
"Tell us of the threat you've been warning us about first," the short man cut in. "They can be brought later."
"Bring them here first," Reiji said, adjusting his glasses without raising his voice. "We can speak after that."
Several council members closed their eyes, visibly displeased, but no one voiced further objection.
Riley looked worried, and Reiji spot it.
"Bring Crow and his people as well," Reiji added. "They helped us. We intend to help them in return."
"That, we cannot do," the tall member said. "They are outlaws. Other than your comrades, they have disrupted this city more than once. Isn't that right, Chairman?"
"Yes. That's correct."
"B-but—" Riley started.
"Riley." Ryo met his eyes directly. "Would Yuya and the others want us to leave them behind? Are they good people?"
"Y-yes! They're good people." Riley said, without a moment's hesitation.
Ryo closed his eyes briefly, then turned his gaze back up toward the columns.
"Then that settles it," Reiji said. "They come as well. We'll continue this conversation after."
Frustration passed silently across several faces above, but one by one, they agreed.
"Summon Roget," the short man in red said.
"We will send our own guards, and a vehicle to retrieve them directly," the Chairman said. "No interference from anyone else. And do not inform Roget of this beforehand."
"Chairman?"
The man in white continued. "We'll proceed this way. But there is one condition."
Reiji's brow tightened at that. And Ryo was speechless for a moment.
# The Prison Facility
"These are the mimics, sir," a guard said, standing before a desk.
"You may go," the man behind it replied, not looking up.
The door shut. The man rose from his chair, one hand curling through his thick mustache as he settled a prison-issue hat onto his head.
"Now. Tell me which one of you is the fake."
"Neither of us is fake," said the boy with deep teal-blue hair, the sharp white streaks along its sides catching the harsh overhead light.
"If you ask me, rats, I'd say you're both fakes." The man's eyes narrowed. "I saw the real one myself. I know exactly what kind of man he was. And looking at the two of you, I don't see the same fire in either of your eyes."
"What are you talking about?" The boy with red-and-green hair demanded. "Who came through here that looked like me?"
Both of them sat with their wrists cuffed behind their backs.
"However you want to sum it up, you two look like him," the man said. "I don't even know his real name. Are you covering for him? Must be good friends, the kind that go through the trouble of bringing two look-alikes along." He laughed.
"He's this world's person who looks like me," Yuya said. "That's all."
"Enough with the 'this world, that world' nonsense. What are your names?"
"Yuya."
"Yume."
Both answered with the same unyielding steadiness.
"Name's Armstrong," the man said with a slow chuckle.
"For a man so proud of his manliness," Yume said flatly, "that fractured arm of yours doesn't exactly help the image."
"Yume—!" Yuya hissed, trying too late to shut him up.
Armstrong only reached over and rubbed his own fractured right arm, a wide grin spreading across his face. "Yeah. A gift, courtesy of your friend. Still can't quite believe it happened.
"I've always had a gift myself," he continued. "I can read a person just from their eyes. So when I first saw the one who looks like the two of you, I clocked him immediately — a scared little rabbit who couldn't bring himself to actually hurt anyone, no matter how far I pushed him." His grin faded into something more thoughtful. "But right at the very end, just before we hauled him off, I caught one last look at his face. Wondering what kind of expression he'd wear." He paused. "What I saw in that moment was something else entirely. A rage. A storm this whole Facility wasn't built to stop."
# The Rooftop
"Where are you going?" Reiji asked, watching Ryo head for the door.
"Fresh air," Ryo said. "The roof."
He stepped out of the shared suite the Council had arranged for them — separate rooms, but close enough for the three of them to meet privately whenever needed. Knowing full well the government would be listening to every word spoken indoors, Reiji and Ryo had long since worked out a private language of glances and small gestures, one only the two of them and Riley could follow.
Ryo rode the single lift to the top floor, then climbed the last flight by stairs.
He pushed the rooftop door open. "Tsukikage."
A shadow appeared, dropping to one knee before him.
"Tsukikage. Reiji and I have reached a decision. You'll be watching over the Facility — monitoring it, learning exactly what's happening to the Lancers inside, however they are. Report back to us regularly. I have already send you the map to go to Facility in your Duel Disk."
"Ryo-dono, may I ask how you determined they were being held there?"
"Once Riley told us about the people who took them, the Council recognized it as Security's work — which meant the Facility. Me and Reiji cross-referenced logs of Duel Disks from the last two days and confirmed the whole team had been brought in. Council already made us look at the list that had people who were sent there in these two days, but we couldn't blindly believe them."
"Forgive me, but if this world's government is willing to help us, why not simply order their release?"
"They attached a condition. Even I wasn't prepared for it. It was absurd."
Tsukikage considered this in silence.
"They want the Lancers to break out of the Facility on their own strength. With no outside intervention."
"Why?"
"Because as far as the Council is concerned, if we can't break out of their highest-security prison ourselves, we aren't strong enough to be worth fighting alongside. Once the people inside break free under their own power, the government's cooperation follows.
"They have announced seven days to break free from that Facility. The Lancers in there have to do this in this time."
Tsukikage inclined his head slightly. "Understood. I'll remain and observe them." A pause. "One more question, Ryo-dono. How did you and Reiji-dono make contact with this government at all, let alone earn their trust? We were separated these past days — I haven't kept pace with how quickly all of this has unfolded."
"I understand the question. I'll explain properly, later."
"...Understood." Tsukikage vanished in an instant, faster than the eye could track.
Ryo looked up. Clouds were beginning to gather, slowly swallowing the stars, the moon dimming behind.
"It's time," Ryo said, not turning around. "Come out. I can sense you. You're right on schedule."
"No," a voice answered from behind him. "You're simply very good at predicting what happens next."
Yuto stepped out from the deeper shadows near the stairwell.
"I'm impressed your friend didn't notice me," Yuto said. "I was worried he might."
"That's because we told him to watch the surrounding buildings, not the people in this building." Ryo glanced back at him. "I'm the one who's impressed. You managed to stay hidden this entire time without anyone catching sight of you."
There was nothing but darkness where Yuto stood — no light source anywhere near him — and yet his eyes were still visible, not because they caught any light, but because they were darker than the darkness surrounding them.
"I was there," Yuto said quietly. "At the prison you were just discussing."
"You say that like you don't like it."
"Because even I didn't know, how much darkness was in me. How much destruction I was still capable of."