The apartment in the Tops was even better than Kiryu had imagined. And it was his. He lived in this top quality place with his parents- actual parents. He wasn't alone, he might have been adopted in this world, but they'd raised him since he was a toddler, so it seemed he knew nothing else. Chiyo and Sammy sat him on the sofa. He was a little dizzy now he came to think about it.

"What happened to you?" came an exasperated voice from behind him.

He turned. A woman with long blonde hair stood in the doorway. She sighed and smiled, looking down at him. Her bright blue eyes glimmered in the light, full of concern. Was she his mother?

"Where you lot duelling with autopilot off again?" she laughed.

"Something snagged the wheels," Rua said quickly. "They all went down. It was something on the track."

"He's right," Sammy agreed. "We would have been gone down if autopilot was on."

"Probably would have been worse, since we managed to avoid crashing," Chiyo added. "But, Kiryu has some sort of amnesia."

"Aw, sweetie," she said softly, kneeling down to look into his eyes. "Honey, do you think you need to go to the doctors?"

"No, I think I'm ok. Some things are just a bit blurry, I'm getting it all back together again," Kiryu replied.

"Good," she said gently.

"Are you and Kiryu coming over for dinner with the others, Mrs Atlas?" Chiyo asked quietly.

Atlas? That got Kiryu's attention. He'd gathered he'd been adopted but by Jack's parents? And where on earth was Jack? Although, a mark had been mentioned. Was it possible the Mark of the Dragon was the one that everyone was talking about? He remembered that in the life he knew, Jack had his mark since he was born. Maybe he was in the Satellite too.

"Of course I am, Chiyo," she said brightly. "Everyone else will be there, and so will we."

"Great, just make sure that Kiryu remembers."

Once they'd left Kiryu found his way to his room. It was becoming more and more natural the longer he stayed in this world. The last thing he remembered was duelling Yusei, and seeing that strange dragon… Saviour Dragon. But after that it was all fuzzy. Was it possible he'd lost and this was his afterlife? It was better than the Underworld he'd seen between dying and returning as a Dark Signer. If this was his afterlife it was pretty good, Jack and Yusei were in lock down in the Satellite; Crow- the one who was easy to control even if his name was Sammy now- was at his side and Chiyo was alive. It was like he was supposed to be happy for once.

Although Kiryu was a enjoying living the high life, it was a normal life and that was something he wasn't used to. For one, he had a wardrobe full of expensive clothes, and he kind of missed his old red top and jeans. And of course, his mother, Charlene he'd found her name was, had insisted that for the dinner he wore a shirt and tie. Not his favourite attire. Sitting down for dinner with a large group of his apparent friends and family in Rua and Ruka's home wasn't something he was used to either.

Around the table was incredibly noise. It kind of reminded Kiryu of dinner back in the day, when Crow's bunch of orphans would make a racket. But Kiryu had quickly got used to it, and figured out who everyone was. Mrs Barton was Rua and Ruka's governess, and was cooking and serving. Jonathan was his adoptive father, a bulky man who could have been Jack- only taller if that was possible- with brown hair and he worked for the city council, pretty high up as well he gathered.

Sammy was there with his own adoptive parents. It seemed that they weren't completely disaster free. Dr. Madeline Dee was Chiyo's mother- again not by blood- and apparently had been dating Rudger- Rudger Godwin of all people- who had taken in Sammy when he was a child. Kiryu just figured that it was fashionable for the rich upperclass who were always in the public view to take in orphans and raise them as their own. Good publicity and all. Rex was there too, only he didn't have a child. Jack's old assistant- Mikage, or something- was there, bustling around after Sammy, who it turned out was King, which really amused him.

But what really got to Kiryu, surprisingly, was Professor Fudo. He'd yet to get his first name, everyone either called him Professor or Fudo. But he did look so sad. Hannah Fudo, who it turned out was from Australia originally, was rather happy, chatting freely with the others, but Kiryu felt sorry for Fudo. He knew how it felt to lose his parents when he was a kid, but he hadn't been alone, they'd all gone through that. Losing your child, to have your child locked up as dangerous was something else.

"How's your head, Master Atlas?" Mikage said.

It was a moment before Kiryu realised she was talking to him. Atlas wasn't his name, how was he supposed to put up with that?

"Err… it's not so bad thanks," he said quietly, lowering his gaze.

The dinner was brilliant, but Kiryu couldn't shake his slight awkwardness. This was really not his comfort zone. He'd far rather be having a death duel than having to be so polite and considerate. It really wasn't his thing. He was alone on the terrace on the roof, gazing at his reflection in the swimming pool. His eyes were still that golden hazel and there was no marker on his cheek. He was completely normal.

"Something wrong, Kiryu?" Kiryu turned and Professor Fudo was behind him, smiling gently. "You seem troubled."

"No. I'm ok, I guess. Are you ok? You look really sad," Kiryu replied.

"I think we both know why that is, don't we?" he laughed bitterly. "I hear this bump to the head has you thinking you were in a parallel universe?" He sighed and nodded. "Kiryu… there was a strange energy spike at roughly the time that you had your accident and from what I've seen, it could well have killed you, believe me, I watched the CCTV."

"Oh. Wait what are you saying?"

"I'm saying is it possible it wasn't a dream?"

"It didn't feel like a dream."

"Then is it possible you died in that world?"

"Yes, I guess. Yu- I mean, the duel I was in, if you lost you were turned to dust and sent to the Underworld. The person I was against had just summoned a new monster I never even knew he had from a deck that was pretty much the same old on he's always had."

"The reading on Stardust Dragon went sky high."

"It was using Stardust and some Saviour Dragon that the dumb Crimson Dragon gave him."

"So you did almost say Yusei."

"No. I didn't mean- I just-"

"Was my son the owner of Stardust Dragon or not?"

"He was…"

Professor Fudo sighed and closed his eyes. He looked exactly his son, just older and more rugged, and a little more tanned. He looked so pained talking about his lost son. It did cross Kiryu's mind that they could have easily had another child but he decided not to say it.

"Kiryu, I've noticed how uncomfortable you seem tonight. It's possible, and this is just a theory, I could just be jumping to conclusions, that perhaps you could have died at the same time as you died in this world and somehow ended up here rather than in some sort of afterlife." Kiryu nodded. It would make sense… kind of. "Tell me, in that other world…"

"Yusei?" Kiryu guessed. He nodded. "He was my friend once. He's surrounded by friends, Jack, Crow, all those others."

"So it's better in that world?"

"Not after Zero Reverse. The reactor went into negative rotation and went off, everything went up in smoke. Half the city broke off, loads of people died and loads of kids were orphaned. And of course, we banded together, Crow Jack and Yusei were raised by Mather, while me and Chiyo raised ourselves."

"You don't sound very fond of them."

"I was once, but Chiyo died, Jack and Crow left and then Yusei betrayed me. I was locked up for fighting for our right to duel and sentenced to execution."

"No wonder you were in a death duel. And he won?" Kiryu growled and nodded. "He blames you, you know?"

"Huh?"

"I've been to see him a few times, to let him know that he's not alone, but he's changed so much." The professor sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Since it was you who was there when he was found and taken away, he blames you, he thinks that you turned him in."

"I don't think I did."

"No you probably didn't. You and Yusei were incredibly close, that's why he hates thinking you'd betrayed him. Kiryu, perhaps you can help him. Would you like to come and see him with me?"

"I'm not sure," Kiryu muttered. "I don't know if I could face him."

"I think it would help you both."

"I'll think about it."

"I'm going to see him again tomorrow, come to the lab at eleven tomorrow if you want to come. I'll leave at half past. I hope you do decide to come and see him, I'm sure it'll help."

"Hey," Chiyo called, running out with the others following her. She had a camera and tripod. "Come on, I want a picture of everyone in their best."

Every gathered in around Kiryu and Professor Fudo while she set up the camera before squeezing in between Sammy and Kiryu, wrapping her arms around their neck and shoulders as the camera went off.

"Have you seen you've got a visitor tomorrow, Yusei?"

Yusei looked up slowly from his book. The tall blonde in the doorway gazed down at him with those violent, burning amethyst eyes. Yusei's lips tugged in a slight smile, the most the could be expected from the situation. Jack Atlas knew him better then he knew himself half the time.

"My father?" Yusei said quietly. Jack nodded. "Big surprise. He spent all his time working when I was around and now I'm gone he wants to ignore his work and spend time with me."

"Too bad," he laughed. He slammed the door and sat on the bed. "Stop complaining and get a grip. This time, tell him to get lost." His pale fingers closed around Yusei's darker ones, and Yusei lowered his head, letting his fringe hang over his eyes. "You don't need him. You don't need any of them. We're your family, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember. We need each other."

"Besides, if you weren't here, you'd be dead, right? You'd be given the death sentence because you're too dangerous. They see people like us as nothing more than animals, rabid dogs who've bitten someone, ready to be put down. Your father has disowned you and your best friend turned you in. But I'd never betray you."

"No," Yusei whispered as Jack took his book and lay in on the bedside table. "We're the same, you and I, and no one else understands that. They call us freaks, but it's their own fault."

Yusei let Jack's arms wrap around his shoulders and draw him in. He'd been sharing the room with Jack since he'd been turned in. Divine had led him in here to see the blonde sitting there looking furious. He'd been warned that Jack was a loner, often violent and cruel and so full of pride. But somehow they'd bonded and their friendship was unexpectedly strong.

He'd been quite surprised to learn Jack was the son of two people he'd known all his life and yet he'd never known about him. Charlene and Jonathan had never mentioned that they had a son of their own, not adopted like Kiryu. Perhaps if Jack had been there instead of Kiryu… No. He refused to think about that. He simply relaxed against Jack's chest as the blonde switched off the light, letting the gentle red glow of their cursed marks fill the room.