This chapter picks up between episodes 93 and 94 of 5D's, for those of you who like to keep track of such things.

II. Future Past

Neo Domino City was much like the last time Paradox had been there, but still he couldn't resist the opportunity to look around and admire the view. As always, his admiration was accompanied by a stab of anger; these people didn't appreciate what they had. No one ever appreciated it until it was too late. He had been no better at the time.

He shook his head quickly and squashed the feeling just in time to face Yusei.

"If you hurt any of my friends, I swear you'll wish you died in that duel."

Paradox resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Did Yusei actually expect him to do something as detrimental to his plans as that? For now, he and his friends were necessary. Making an enemy out of them would just be stupid.

"You already said that, and I already told you my answer."

"Right." Yusei said. He looked very tired, and Paradox couldn't even blame him. Even though it was barely two in Neo Domino, both of them had been up for a very long time. "Follow me."

Yusei parked his D-Wheel and locked it carefully. Unnecessary. Paradox intended to keep every promise he'd made.

"Yusei!" came a happy shout, and a young woman with dark red hair ran towards them, followed by five — no, four — people. When they saw Paradox, they all stopped so quickly that they almost collided with each other. Paradox suppressed a grin. People were so easy to scare.

"Yusei, is that—" the tall man asked. Jack Atlas, Paradox remembered. Another Signer. In fact, they were all here, including the kid who hadn't become one yet.

"Yeah, that's Paradox," Yusei said, and added, "We won, it's fine," when he saw the panic on his friends' faces. "He'll just be staying here for a while."

"How long is a while?" Jack asked. Yusei slumped.

"I have no idea. His future got destroyed and Yugi-san, Judai-san and I decided to help him."

"By bringing him here?" Jack didn't look convinced. None of them did.

"The Crimson Dragon says it's okay," Yusei said. "Everyone, Paradox. Paradox, this is Jack, Crow, Aki, Rua, Ruka — Guys, where's Bruno?"

"He's asleep. Said he wasn't feeling well," Crow replied, and Paradox frowned along with Yusei. He quickly schooled his expression before anyone noticed. "He started getting headaches when everything fell apart." Crow glared at Paradox, who gave him an impassive look in return, more concerned with Antinomy than whatever these people thought of him. Of course Antinomy would suffer from seeing a city crumble. Frankly, Paradox was surprised it hadn't triggered any memories.

If he were very honest, he was disappointed as well.

But Z-one had told him about Antinomy's task. He had to stay here, and for now he had to forget everything. He'd never be able to get close to Yusei if his loyalties were divided. Until Paradox got the chance to talk to Z-one, Antinomy would have to remain without his memories. It was a small sacrifice to make.

"The Crimson Dragon really said it was okay?" the small girl – Ruka – asked. Yusei nodded and she frowned, deep in thought. "If it really said so, then I think it's fine," she said eventually.

"We'll talk about it inside," Yusei said, suppressing a yawn. They all trudged inside, Paradox flanked by Crow and Jack, who were both eyeing him suspiciously. It was getting old. He really wasn't going to attack them the moment they had their backs turned.

What passed for a kitchen was actually too small to seat seven people, but somehow they managed. By unspoken agreement, Aki and Crow had moved in front of the two children in a protective gesture. Maybe it would've been easier if he'd gone with Judai. At least Judai had been easy enough to manipulate. Whatever it had been that made him feel sorry for Paradox, it would've been really useful now. But it wasn't what he needed. If he was going to accomplish anything at all, he had to be in this time period. He also needed to contact Z-one, but it didn't look like they were going to let him out of sight anytime soon.

"Yusei, what exactly happened?" Aki asked.

"Did you really meet Mutou Yugi?" Rua asked, earlier suspicion forgotten in favor of enthusiasm. Yusei smiled.

"Yes, I did. I also met Yuki Judai. Paradox had been stealing monsters all over time to kill Pegasus."

"You dueled him?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, we won."

"Obviously," Paradox interrupted. "Do you really think either of us would've been here if you hadn't?"

It got him five glares and a sigh from Yusei. "Yes, I know that. Would you rather tell the story?"

"And get them to listen? No, I'll pass. Once was enough."

Yusei sighed again and continued his story, giving a shorter version of everything that had happened after the duel. At the end of it, reactions were divided. Jack and Rua were still eyeing him with distrust, but Crow and Aki looked uncertain. Ruka even looked almost concerned.

"How can Momentum go out of control like that?" Crow asked. "There's a failsafe for that, isn't there?"

"There is," Paradox and Yusei said at the same time.

"It didn't work," Paradox added when all eyes turned to him. "It should've shut down, but it didn't. I don't know the exact details myself. Everything I learned about it, I learned afterwards."

"How?" Jack asked sharply.

"Other people told me. Did you really think I was the only survivor?"

Yusei was looking more tired every second. "Can we just leave the arguing for tomorrow?" he interrupted. "I'd really love to get some sleep now."

Paradox would too, but he wasn't going to get it yet.

"Yusei?" another, all too familiar voice said. Paradox almost smiled when Antinomy tried to enter the kitchen, rubbing his eyes and looking a little worse for wear. "You're back? Great! I—" He paused when he noticed Paradox. "Oh, hi."

"Hello," said Paradox.

"Feeling better?" Crow asked. Antinomy nodded.

"A bit. So everything's okay now?" he asked, looking at Yusei. "What's going on?"

Yusei sighed, obviously not relishing in having to tell the entire tale again. "After Stardust got stolen, the Crimson Dragon took me into the past and I met—"

"They beat me, then decided to help me out, and I came here," Paradox cut him off.

"Um, yeah, more or less." Yusei eyed him suspiciously. "That's how it went, yeah."

Antinomy was looking at him, eyebrows furrowed lightly, his face going through a whole range of emotions – anger, confusion, recognition maybe? Paradox knew he shouldn't be hoping for it. Too early.

A phone rang, and Antinomy blinked and looked away quickly. Paradox relaxed as Aki fumbled with her phone. By the time she managed to get it out of her pocket, the call had already gone to voicemail, and she listened to the message with an air of resignation.

"I have to go," she said when the message ended. "My parents just called."

"Do they remember what happened?" Yusei asked.

Aki shot Paradox a dirty look. "No, I don't think so, but I want to make sure they're okay. I'll come back tonight."

"We'll see you then," Yusei said, getting up as Aki left the room, the twin children trailing after her. "Guys, sorry, I need to sleep. I don't even know how long I've been up anymore."

"What about him?" Jack pointed at Paradox. Yusei hesitated in the doorway.

"We can't leave him in the garage, not with our D-Wheels there," Crow said. Too bad, Paradox thought. He had no intention of stealing anything, but some access to technology would be useful.

"He can have the sofa. I don't mind," Antinomy said, but his suggestion was immediately shot down.

"Out of the question," Yusei said. "You're not feeling well. You need a place to sleep and we're not giving it to him."

Surprising how much venom Fudou Yusei could inject in one word. Still, Paradox agreed. Antinomy didn't look well and he needed to rest. He'd have to be careful with triggers, because Antinomy was very close to remembering him, and that was one thing Paradox didn't have a plan for yet.

"I've slept everywhere," he said, cutting the discussion short. "I can easily sleep on the floor."

"It'll have to do. We'll find a spare futon or something," Crow said, ushering Yusei towards the stairs, then pushing Antinomy out of the kitchen. "You two will sleep." He glanced back at Paradox. "And you too, I suppose."

"Don't think we're leaving you in here alone," Jack warned. Paradox shrugged. Even if he did leave the house, where was he supposed to go? Aporia? He wouldn't be of any use right now. No, first sleep, then talk to Z-one as soon as he could. He just needed them to leave him alone for five minutes.

When Paradox came into the living room, Antinomy was sitting on the sofa he apparently slept on. Better than they were used to. Paradox found a spot on the floor behind the sofa and laid down onto his back, arms folded behind his head. He'd have to find a more comfortable position soon if he didn't want to end up with sore arms when he woke up, but he'd had far worse.

"Do you want my blanket?" Antinomy asked.

"Keep it."

Antinomy shrugged and disappeared from view. Crow came back only seconds later and tossed Paradox a blanket, then sat down abruptly in a nearby chair.

"We'll find you a futon tomorrow," he said. "I'm staying here, so don't try anything."

Paradox closed his eyes and pretended not to hear him. Seriously, was that all they could think about? He felt insulted. Did they really think he was stupid enough to attack them?

He rolled over so his back was turned towards Crow and pulled the blanket over him. It only took him a few minutes to fall asleep. Years of sleeping whenever he got the chance had taught him that.

When he woke up, it had already long gone dark, and Crow had been replaced by Jack, who leveled him with a glare but didn't say anything. Antinomy was still asleep, so Paradox spent several minutes staring at the ceiling and contemplating what to do next. Contacting Z-one was still the most important thing. In the meantime, he supposed he could try to find out more about these people. Maybe win their trust, however hard that would be.

He hadn't expected to be able to sleep more, and he was right. Somewhere around midnight he was still staring at the ceiling. Jack had fallen asleep and Antinomy had woken up. He hadn't gotten up yet, but he clearly wasn't asleep, not with the way he wasn't moving at all. Antinomy moved in his sleep, always had. Paradox had been woken by him moving around more times than he cared to remember.

Eventually Antinomy gave up on sleeping and leaned over the back of the sofa to look down at Paradox. He seemed a little taken aback when he saw that Paradox was awake, but didn't move away.

"Can I ask you a question?" he asked with a furtive glance at Jack. Their guard was still fast asleep.

"Sure," Paradox said.

Antinomy brushed a stray lock of hair out of his face. "This is going to sound really stupid, but have we met before?"

Paradox swallowed. "No," he said.

"Oh." Antinomy visibly deflated. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked. It's just that I feel like I should know you and… Never mind."

"You lost your memory," Paradox said. No need to make it a question when he knew more than Antinomy himself.

"Yeah… Security can't find anything and I can't remember a single thing about my past. Sometimes it's like I just came out of nowhere."

Paradox hid a wince. Not true, but close enough. "You don't remember anything at all?"

"My name and duel mechanics. Sometimes I have nightmares but—" He laughed sadly. "Sorry, I shouldn't be bothering you with this."

"I don't mind."

"I should be angry with you, you know. Yusei is my best friend and you tried to kill him."

Paradox found a spot on the wall that looked remarkably interesting. "Your best friend?"

"I know I'm not his best friend. He has Jack and Crow and everyone else." Antinomy sounded wistful and Paradox wanted to curse Fudou Yusei's name. "Still, he's my best friend even if I'm not his."

"I'm sure you have good friends who miss you."

Antinomy let himself fall back down onto the sofa. "That's nice of you, but you don't need to comfort me."

Jack stirred, and they both fell silent until it was clear that he wasn't going to wake up anytime soon. Only then did Antinomy speak again.

"I shouldn't be telling you this," he said, so quietly that it was clear the reproach in his voice was meant for himself, not Paradox.

Paradox said nothing.

"At first I thought I felt sorry for you, but I don't."

"Then what?" Paradox asked carefully.

Antinomy hesitated, tried to start a sentence, but didn't find the right words. "It's like… Sympathy," he said after several aborted attempts, "but not just because your world sounds awful. I feel like I know what it's like. Really know."

Too close, far too close. Paradox scrambled for a way to change the topic before Antinomy actually managed to recall all the memories Z-one had buried.

"But I can't have. Don't pay attention to me. It's not important." Antinomy said with a self-effacing laugh. Paradox was too busy feeling relieved to even think about correcting him.

"Do you still have a headache?" he asked. It seemed like a safe enough topic.

"Yeah, it's just not going away. In fact—" Antinomy stopped talking abruptly. "No, nothing."

"In fact what?"

"It's nothing, don't bother."

"It got worse when I got here," Paradox deduced with a resigned sigh. He'd expected little else.

"I'm sorry, it's nothing personal, I just don't—" Antinomy was rambling. Paradox cut him off.

"A— Bruno, it's fine. You can't help it." He looked at the back of the sofa. "Just go to sleep. Maybe you'll feel better in the morning."

"Yeah, maybe. Thanks, Paradox." Paradox didn't need to see his face to know he was smiling. "Sleep tight."

"Feel better," Paradox said, and then, far too quiet for anyone to hear, "Goodnight, Antinomy."

oOoOo

It took them until the following afternoon to discuss their next move. Aki had come by, but the twins hadn't, and Crow was secretly glad for it. He knew they should be kept in the loop, but he wanted to have a proper plan first. With Bruno on guard duty, it was just the four of them sitting around the kitchen table.

"We shouldn't let anyone in the house as long as he's here," Crow said. He glanced at Jack. "Definitely not Carly, you know what she's like."

"I know." Jack's smile was fond. "I'm not getting her involved in this. I'll go over to hers."

"Not Mikage or Ushio either. Bruno can go to Security for his check-ups, shouldn't be too much of a problem."

They all glanced at the living room, where Bruno and Paradox appeared to be deep in conversation. Yusei frowned. Crow didn't much like it either.

"You said he wasn't lying, right?" Jack asked.

Yusei nodded, tearing his eyes away from the living room. "The Crimson Dragon and Judai-san both said so."

"He could still be deceiving us," Aki said. They all nodded. There was an art to deceiving people without lying, and every Satellite kid had mastered it before they turned eight. Yusei had recounted Paradox's promise to them, and none of them had been able to spot any obvious half-truths, but they had to be there. It was only a matter of spotting them as fast as possible. Preferably before Paradox started using whatever loopholes he'd created.

"So we don't trust him, but that's a given," Crow said. "How do we keep him under control? Will the Crimson Dragon's power be enough?"

The Crimson Dragon seemed amused by that. Crow ignored it. However rare it was for the dragon to give its input on anything, right now it wasn't particularly helpful.

"We never leave him alone and we never let him anywhere near anything important," Yusei decided. "I think that's the best we can do. He gave his word."

"Then we just trust him to keep it?" Jack asked, eyes narrowed. Crow disliked the idea as much as he did, but like Yusei had said, they didn't really have any other options.

"Maybe we could get Security," Aki suggested. "I know it's not done anymore these days, but if he had a criminal marker—"

"No," said Yusei.

"Out of the question," Jack said.

"Not a chance in hell," Crow said. He told himself he shouldn't blame her. She didn't know what it'd been like.

Aki crossed her arms. "It's the most convenient way."

"I said no!" Yusei told her with unusual vehemence. She flinched and Yusei gentled his tone. "Look, you didn't grow up in Satellite. You don't know what it's like."

"You don't need to belittle me. It's not because I'm younger than you that I don't know what it's like to have an awful life!"

She was just lashing out now. Crow put a hand on her arm. She pulled it back.

"This isn't the life you had, Aki. Look," he glanced at Jack and Yusei, "can we talk for a second?"

Aki was glaring at the three of them, but when Crow got up, she followed. He waited for her to enter the hallway and closed the door behind them.

"Yusei and me are never going to get rid of these," he said without preamble. Aki studied the marks on his face carefully. He let her.

"I don't mind," she said. "You don't look like you without them."

Oh, how had she managed to grow up this naive? Crow laughed bitterly. "I know you don't mind. Everyone else does."

"The City was reunited with—"

Crow waved a hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah, all good and well. Do you know why I always ask Jack or Bruno to buy groceries? I don't do that because I enjoy watching Jack spend money on stuff we can't afford."

Aki didn't reply.

"The last time I went grocery shopping, the store owner called Security. I was lucky that it was Ushio who came, and he wasn't happy with the store, but still. That's what it's like for us. We have a criminal marker, so we're never going to be trusted. It's not as bad for Yusei, because he won the Fortune Cup. Me, I'm a nobody with several markers. Do you see now?"

Aki had her arms crossed in front of her stomach. "That's not right."

"Of course it's not." Crow shrugged. "What do you want to do about it? People don't change their way of thinking just because we ask nicely. I was lucky to get a job at all."

"There's got to be a way to change it," Aki said, some of her stubbornness shining through. Crow almost smiled. She was still an idealist at heart.

"We try. The WRGP is a chance to redeem ourselves. Show the world that Satelliters aren't criminals." He took a deep breath, thought of all the kids he'd seen marked. Would they ever be able to have a normal life? "That's why we won't mark Paradox. Maybe he deserves it, but I don't know that and frankly I don't care. Criminal markers can ruin your life forever, and I don't wish that on anyone. There are kids out there right now who will never have a proper education, never find a proper job, just because they got caught once while stealing to stay alive."

Aki seemed to shrink. "I see," she whispered.

"Yeah." Crow leaned back against the wall, eyes closed. "Does that answer your questions?"

"I— yes." She hesitated for several seconds. "Crow, can I ask you something personal?"

"Depends. What's the question?"

"When did you— How did you get your markers?"

For a second, Crow seriously contemplated not replying at all. But they'd been honest with each other so far, and she was a good friend. It was only fair that she got to know.

"The first one was this one." He touched the M-shaped marker on his forehead. "I was ten— Oh, don't look so shocked. That was old for a gang kid like me. Most of us had been marked by the time we were seven."

That didn't exactly remove the shocked look from Aki's face.

"Anyway, I'd been trying to break into a Security building. I'd done it a hundred times before, and I just got careless." Crow shrugged. He'd been so furious with himself at the time, but it had taught him a valuable lesson: even the stupidest people will update their alarm system when the old one gets bypassed one too many times.

"I got caught a few times after that, but I guess they thought one marker was enough at the time. When I was in Team Satisfaction, Security usually let us be. We were doing part of their job for them, so they just let us do whatever we wanted. It was only after…" He swallowed. Oh Kiryu. "It was after, when I had my kids to take care of. It can't have been long before Yusei left Satellite. We were running out of food, so I was planning to break into one of the storage buildings and get food for my kids. Maybe for Martha too, if I could manage. Obviously they'd tightened security but I'd learned my lesson. It should've been easy."

Crow paused. Easy, yes. He knew how Security thought and knew the best ways to get around them. But him knowing hadn't been enough.

"Taiga followed me. He thought that we'd be better off with two – more hands to carry whatever we could find." He was speaking in short bursts now, trying to tell the story without reliving the entire memory. "He'd seen me do it with other people and thought he could do the same. It was the first time he ever came along and— Of all the times he could've picked!"

Crow clenched his fists as all the frustration from that day returned in one massive wave. He took a deep breath and unclenched them again slowly. It was over. Done.

Aki took a hesitant step towards him. "Crow, what happened?"

"Security found him before I did. When I noticed they were chasing him, I had to interfere. Couldn't let them take him, especially since he was still so young. So I knocked out a few people and we hid in a building nearby."

Hiding, trying to distract Security, Taiga paralyzed with fear, babbling apologies until Crow told him to shut up, he was making too much noise, he was going to give them away. More apologies, interrupted by flashlights illuminating the street. Telling Taiga to stay where he was and not come out no matter what.

"I gave myself up. Convinced them that I'd been the person they'd been chasing all along."

"Did that work?"

"Not really. They knew there was someone else with me, but they were too happy to have caught me. I was kind of infamous, y'know." He tried to grin. It didn't work.

"They marked you."

"I was in a lot of trouble. The guys I'd knocked out… Well, apparently I'd knocked them out harder than I'd planned because I injured a couple of them. They don't like it when you do that." Understatement. It had earned him both of his other markers, just because they liked watching him suffer. "Thieves usually get out after two weeks or so, but that time I stayed locked up until after the Fortune Cup."

Aki had paled.

"You okay?"

"I should be the one asking that," she said. "Was Taiga…"

"He got out fine." Crow smiled. "He took the rest of the kids to Martha and they made it through without me. He's actually really clever."

"I didn't know."

She wasn't talking about Taiga. "You couldn't have," said Crow.

"So that's why Yusei was so vehement about it."

"Yusei managed to keep away from Security for a long time, but he still grew up with us. He saw it all happen. Same for Jack. Really, you won't find a Satelliter anywhere who's in favor of criminal markers." Crow took a deep breath. "That's why we don't want to give Paradox a marker. The Crimson Dragon can keep him in line, so we'll just have to trust it and make sure we never leave Paradox alone."

"All right," Aki said. She glanced back at the door that separated them from the living room and lowered her voice. "What do you think of him?"

"Paradox? Even if what he did was the only way for him to achieve his goals, I can't agree with it. And I don't believe for a second that he isn't planning something now. He has something in mind and it involves us, because if it didn't, he wouldn't agree to stay here. But I think that makes us safe."

"He needs us."

"Exactly. For now we're useful, so he won't try to hurt us."

Aki smiled wryly. "We just need to know when we stop being useful."

Her words gave Crow pause. No, surely that wouldn't work. But maybe it was worth a try.

"What if we get him to trust us? Trust one of us, at least," he said. Aki didn't look convinced.

"What do you mean? Get him to reveal his secrets?"

Crow hadn't really thought about that. "Something like that. But if he trusts us, we'll get a lot more done, and we won't have to worry about becoming a liability to him. Frankly I don't want to spend the rest of my life sleeping with one eye open."

"So we need someone he'll trust…" Aki mused. They looked at each other.

"Bruno," they said at the same time. It had only been a day, but it was remarkable how polite Paradox was when Bruno was around. No one else got that treatment, and Crow had no idea what made Bruno so different. Still, they could most definitely use it to their advantage.

"I'll talk to him," he said. The least they could do was have a few aces up their sleeves. They were supposed to be in charge, yet he still felt like Paradox had all the power, and he didn't like it one bit.

Aki checked the time. "It's getting late, but… Thanks for telling me."

"No problem." Crow grinned at her. "We're friends, right? Why shouldn't I tell you?"

Was it his imagination, or did Aki look a little taken aback? Had she really expected him not to trust her?

"Thanks," she said again.

"We'll figure this out," he told her. "We've beaten underworld abominations. We're not gonna be stopped by some guy just because he can travel through time."

Aki laughed, and Crow smiled back. She really should laugh more, he decided. She had a very pretty laugh.

oOoOo

Contacting Z-one proved to be far harder than he'd expected, and after a week, Paradox was getting frustrated. His captors hadn't left him alone for a minute, no matter how docile he pretended to be. Perhaps he should be happy that the people in this time appeared to possess at least a modicum of intelligence, but he really wished his plans weren't the victim of it. Whatever help Yugi and Judai had promised, it wasn't coming through, and everyone seemed far too busy with the WRGP to pay much attention to what Paradox knew was coming. He needed to talk to Z-one, and fast.

He had to wait several more days until he got his chance, when a wild goose chase involving Crow's D-Wheel and some people from his past left Paradox alone with Antinomy. Antinomy was still complaining about headaches, and that particular day had him feeling almost as bad as the day Paradox had arrived. He'd made a half-hearted effort at trying to figure out what was wrong with Crow's D-Wheel, but when the group had left he'd begged off on coming along, insisted that he could keep an eye on Paradox, then taken a painkiller and sat down on the sofa. He hadn't moved since. Paradox knew he was awake, but also knew that he really shouldn't be.

"You should sleep," he told Antinomy, leaning over the back of the sofa. Antinomy shook his head, eyes closed.

"Can't. Gotta watch you, make sure you don't kill me in my sleep or something."

Paradox snorted, and even Antinomy cracked a smile.

"I could be holding a knife right now for all you know."

Antinomy didn't open his eyes. "Yeah, you could be."

"Clearly you're terrified."

"Absolutely."

Paradox smiled, but quickly sobered again. "You really should sleep, though. How bad is it?" he asked.

"It'll pass. The painkillers will start working soon enough," Antinomy said. For a moment neither of them said anything. It would take a long while for everyone else to get back, and Paradox doubted Antinomy would stay awake that long. He just needed convincing.

"I promise I won't murder you in your sleep, how's that?"

"I can't let you go outside either."

"You're not in any condition to keep me from leaving," Paradox pointed out. Antinomy considered that and grudgingly nodded.

"The Crimson Dragon will stop you anyway," he reasoned. Paradox bit the inside of his cheek. The one flaw in his plan. He technically wasn't planning on breaking any of the promises he'd made, but the dragon probably wouldn't see it that way. Still, Antinomy was convincing himself to sleep. That was good.

"Exactly. Nothing to be afraid of."

"Yusei won't be happy if I fall asleep," Antinomy said, and Paradox rolled his eyes in disgust. Screw Yusei.

"If you're not awake before they get back, I'll wake you up."

"I— Alright." Antinomy admitted defeat a little too easily. Paradox wondered if he could get him to take another painkiller. His motives might not be entirely altruistic, but he still didn't want to see any of his friends in pain, especially when he could do something about it for once.

He watched as Antinomy stretched out on the sofa, never even opening his eyes in the process, and waited until his breathing had evened out, then waited another fifteen minutes just to be sure. Only then, when he was absolutely convinced that Antinomy was asleep, did he leave the room and make his way over to one of the computers found everywhere around the house. They were password-protected, of course, and breaking into something secured by both Fudou Yusei and Antinomy would require a lot of time he didn't have. Fortunately for him, he didn't need to. He shuffled through his deck until he found the card he needed, slipped it into a card reader he found lying around, and waited the few seconds it took for him to get access to Z-one's realm.

He didn't spot Z-one right away, which was more disconcerting than he wanted to admit. On the other hand, the Crimson Dragon had made no attempt to stop him. Weird, but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Paradox. What brings you here?" Z-one appeared in front of him. Paradox let out a relieved sigh.

"Did you see what happened?"

"No." Z-one sounded rather unsettled by that. "I thought you were working at Domino University in 2009."

The him who was this Z-one's relative contemporary had been. Paradox told him so.

"So then you're from the future. My future."

Paradox took a deep breath. "Yeah."

"And since you are here and not with my future self—"

"You died," Paradox blurted out. "You and Antinomy and Aporia all died." And then, because he might as well get it all out, "The Ark will fail. We need to change our plans."

"Our deaths are a minor sacrifice," Z-one said in clipped tones. "Don't tell me you're backing out."

"It's only a minor sacrifice if we actually manage to save our world. We didn't."

He couldn't see Z-one's face, but he was sure he was frowning. "Did the Ark Cradle fall?"

"No."

Z-one fell silent for a long time, long enough for Paradox to start getting nervous. Time didn't quite pass in the same way here as it did in the world he'd just left behind, but he still needed to be careful. If Antinomy woke up, or worse, if everyone else came back, he'd be in a lot of trouble.

"Why are you here?" Z-one asked at long last. Paradox bristled.

"I was supposed to be back-up, wasn't I? This is me being back-up."

"So the Circuit was completed, but the Ark Cradle did not fall. Why is that?"

"I don't know what happened inside, only that when the Ark disappeared, none of you were alive." That was almost a year ago for Paradox himself, even though it hadn't happened yet for any of the people here. Too much had happened since then, and so far, nothing had worked out. They needed a change of plans, and convincing Z-one of that was his main priority.

So he talked. He told Z-one about the Fortune project, about his own attempts to influence it and lead the scientists working on it onto the right track. It had failed quite spectacularly, leaving him with little other choice than go straight to the root of the problem: Duel Monsters. Yet the game was a constant, and no amount of effort on his part managed to destroy it. All of it had led to him being here, right now, trying to prevent a repeat.

"This is… Intriguing information," Z-one said at long last. "It is unfortunate that you do not know more."

Paradox swallowed his instinctive response to that. "What should we do?"

"For now, you better stay where you are. We'll continue with our plans."

This time Paradox didn't hold back. "Are you kidding me? It didn't work the first time. What makes you think it's gonna work now?"

"The Ark Cradle didn't fall. This time we will make sure it does."

Paradox didn't even want to begin to count how many things could go wrong with that. It was far too close to the original plan to work. His arrival hadn't truly changed anything yet, which meant that whatever had happened in the Ark would surely repeat itself. The Ark plan itself wasn't a bad one, but he needed something that would drastically change the status-quo. Despite their promises, Yusei and his group would never trust him enough to cooperate with him, but there had to be a way to turn things in their favor—

"What about Antinomy?"

"He will stay where he is as well. Don't worry," Z-one said gently. "His memories won't be triggered just by you being around. It'll take more than that."

Paradox kept his face carefully neutral.

"Stay back for now. You're still our back-up. I will inform Aporia of your presence, but it's probably best if you don't contact him."

At least that was one thing they could agree on. Talking to Aporia certainly wouldn't help him gain anyone's trust. As for the rest of Z-one's plans though, Paradox had absolutely no intention of going along with them.

"You seriously think this is the best way. Just let everything play out like it did before."

"We have prepared for this for a long time. With your knowledge, our plan won't fail again," Z-one said dismissively. Was he really sending him away already? Wasn't his word worth anything at all?

"I will keep you updated in case anything changes. For now, try not to get involved."

"Alright." Paradox gritted out. He saw no use in prolonging the conversation if Z-one wasn't going to listen anyway. "I'll see you around."

He left in another flash of light that left him momentarily blinded. He blinked furiously to clear his vision. The house was still quiet. Good. He took back the card and shut down the computer, making sure that he left no traces of his presence, and went back to where Antinomy was still asleep. Not much time had passed since he'd left, so he still had a lot of time to kill before anyone came back. That was good. He desperately needed time to think.

Sticking to the status quo had never been Paradox's strongest point. The Ark Cradle was still their best shot, but it couldn't happen like it had last time. Something had to change. Something that would completely shake up everything and force everyone to revise their plans.

He looked down at the sleeping Antinomy. Sometimes the most obvious method really was the best one.

Next chapter: Bruno does some soul-searching