Miyuki tumbled and landed face first into a pile of trash bags. Christina landed fine on another pile nearby and sighed at the struggling Miyuki and helped her out of the garbage pile. Miyuki shook and dusted herself off before looking around with wide eyes. "Where...Where are we?" she asked, Christina also looking around with interest. Isabel climbed out of the trash bin. "If the duel disk is correct, we are about 25, 30 years in the future." Isabel jumped out of the bin. She walked out to the entrance of the alley. "I can safely presume we're in Domino."
Christina's eyes widened. "25 to 30 years in the future!?" she said, looking around at the city. It had definitely changed a lot throughout the years much to the girl's surprise. She would be an old woman by now, probably living somewhere else besides Domino, same went for Miyuki and the others. The girls followed Isabel out of the alleyway and grew even more wide-eyed as they went on. Somewhere in the distance cheering and applauding was heard. "Wonder what that is all about?" Miyuki asked in wonder.
"Probably a tournament, by my guess," Isabel replied, still staring at something at the distance. She was staring distastefully at the Kaiba building, which has transformed over time. "Of course my ex's ego would withstand the trails and sands of time..." She sarcastically commented louder than she intended to. Christina looked to where Isabel was looking at the Kaiba building and heard her say something about an ex and stood in thought and put two and two together. "Wait... What...!?" She said in shock to the girl, "You... You dated my boss?"
Isabel looked to Christina, looking a little calmer. "Yes, but it was a long time ago," Isabel replied. "We started dating after battle city, but broke up shortly after Dartz tried to take over the world." Christina looked at her with sad eyes and in a serious manner said, "I'm sorry for any harm my boss has done to you. I... I know he isn't much of a people person." She said then gave a small smile, "Actually, I'm surprised he even was in a relationship to begin with. He must have really liked you."
Isabel laughed weakly. "Yes, well... He did until he thought he loved someone else..." She said in a lower voice. But she shook her head and turned towards the arena. "Come on, Dartz is probably in the arena looking for his next victim or minion." Christina looked at her puzzled before snapping out of it and agreed on heading towards the arena. Miyuki followed as they headed towards the large arena where a tournament had indeed been taking place.
As the girl's approached the arena where the tournament was taking place, screens on the outside showed a girl with long dusty blonde hair tied to a loose braid and purple eyes driving a sky blue and white motorcycle down what looked like a race track. Miyuki stared as she spotted what looked like a duel disk imbedded in the bike. "My turn! I play Command Knight in attack mode!" she said, her voice holding a slight British accent as a feather armored girl warrior appeared above her bike.
Next to her were two more motorcycles, a bulky green and black one, and a red and black Harley Davidson type one, and two boy riders on them. One of the boys had black hair with green dyed in streaks wearing gothic black cloths and wearing a green and black striped scarf. The other had spiky red hair and wore punk like clothing, a black Chinese dragon tattoo on his face. "We got your back Kristen!" shouted the green and black haired boy to his partner.
Isabel and the girls were watching the duel with awe. Dueling on motorcycles! For Isabel, this combined her love for dueling and the thrill of riding her motorcycle with her cousins.
The duel ended with Kristen's team winning, showing off her favorite monster, Colossal Fighter, James and his Ice Dragon of the Ice Barrier, and Aku and his Dark End Dragon. Kristen took off her pilot goggles and let them sit on her neck as James and Aku took off their visors. Giving each other high fives, they laughed as the crowd cheered them on and the announcer said, "Team Warrior has done it again! Is there anything Kristen Atlas and her team can't do?" The three walked their cycles to a garage nearby and walked out to take a break.
"We did it! Man, did you see that guy's face when Dark End took him out? It was awesome!" said Aku, doing a pumped up pose, fire in his eyes about the duel. James chuckled. "I don't know, he almost had you there, Aku." he said, and Aku immediately glared at him. "You want to start something emo boy?" he growled. Kristen sighed and with a chuckle and separated the two with a roll in her amethyst eyes. "Alright you two, knock it off." she smiled. As much as Isabel wanted to join the crowd in cheering for the champions, she had to keep an eye out for Dartz.
Elsewhere in the stadium, Dartz walked down to the pit crew area, finding the next duelist ready to go on the track, whether the schedule wanted her or not. "I see you're ready for your big entrance, my dear butterfly," Dartz spoke up to the beautiful duelist. The lavender haired girl gave a grin as she stood in the shadows, her eyes on the arena and the unsuspecting audience. "I'll be sure to put on a great show..." She chuckled darkly, stepping out into the open right when the announcer was about to introduce the next team. Dartz smirked as she stepped out onto the field. He waited to see where this would go, then make his offer.
The audience gasped, unsure who this mysterious girl was who had a symbol of a purple butterfly glowing on her head. "Hello hello. Sorry to ruin your little games but there is a far more important show about to take place." The girl announced, standing in the middle of the arena.
As the lavender haired girl started talking to the audience, Kristen and James were about to go to their break rooms when suddenly a blue marking in the shape of a wing appeared on James arm, glowing rather brightly. It was then the televisions on the outside of the arena were focused on the strange butterfly girl as she announced, "I've come here to tell you all that now is the time for the world to end!" And with that she started to glow, and beasts made from darkness started forming and attacking the stands, sending people into a panic as they rushed outside. James and Kristen looked at the glow with shock then, hearing the screams coming from in the arena, they rushed in to see the monsters before them.
Unlike most normal people, Isabel started running towards the girl instead of away. "Get everyone out safely!" She yelled to Christina and Miyuki. 'Isabel, be careful,' a voice spoke in Isabel's mind. An older woman with long straight brown hair appeared next to her, unseen to almost everyone. 'This girl is not to be underestimated.' "Gotcha, Nanu!" Isabel responded, moving past security and a group of duelist with a "5Ds" logo on their suits. Miyuki nodded and stared wide-eyed as she saw the long haired spirit appear next to Isabel but decided she would ask about it later since getting everyone to safety was first priority. She and Christina ran off to the stands, one going left and one going right.
Before Isabel could reach the butterfly girl, a familiar foe appeared from the massive chaos. Fierce golden eyes struck out from the dust and a scowl was shown on a young girl's face. "Well if it isn't the time traveler.." the Queen growled, not pleased to meet the girl who had given her a bruise on her cheek, but was thirsty for revenge. "Oh, hello psycho, how's the fan fiction going?" Isabel replied. "You know what, your highness, I don't think I properly asked you what do you get out of all this?" Isabel questioned, ready to fight. The Queen glared even more, though she had no idea what fan fictions were. "Look here, we have our last member in the palm of our hands and we're not letting you mess this up. Especially when I'm so close to getting my King back." she said, answering the question in her own way as she didn't care if the girl knew her plan. "As soon as he is back we will begin to rule our world the way we did before. And there is nothing my foolish light self or his light self can do about it." she continued, a smirk on her face as she came charging once more at the girl.
Meanwhile Kristen and James had entered the arena and went wide-eyed at the site of the monsters that were roaming around and making a mess of things. Kristen spotted two girls helping everyone evacuate and another girl getting into a fight with a strange dark girl. Unsure what to do, she stood and watched, ready to help when needed. Isabel looked around at the monsters, some starting towards the stands. She pulled out her cards and summoned most of them. "Protect the people," Isabel told them. As they flew off, she turned her sights on the queen. "All for a man? I think you need your head reexamined."
The girl's eyes sparked in anger. "He is no ordinary man. He is the Supreme King and he is the ruler of this world and the world of ruins! And I am his Queen, forever by his side." as she said this she struck out with her claws in a swipe, darkness enveloping them as her anger grew. "So if this supreme king loves you like you claim he does, then let me all you this: why are you going out of your way to impress him?" Isabel questioned, trying to look into her mind. But looking into the queen's mind was like trying to look through dark fog with a lightning storm going, only flashes of truth and fantasies tinting through. "Because if he loves you like he claims, then you shouldn't have to impress him to love you." The Queen had no answer for this one, as it made her think a bit on it. But as they would say, love was blind, and her obsessive love for the King knew no bounds. It was what she was born to do, to serve the King forever no matter what. Born from the darkness poured into the sweet angel's heart, taking her small crush on a certain red coat wearing boy and turning it to the extreme.
She once was a part of that girl, was just a spirit inhabiting her body. But now she was separate, and soon her King would be as well unlike before. All she wanted was to stay with him, and she would take down anyone who stood in her way. "I will serve him no matter what." she hissed and darkness surrounded her entirely, blanketing her out to the point where only her glowing eyes could be seen, and with a snap the shadows lashed out at Isabel. Isabel narrowly dodged the first attack, but definitely got hit the second time, her right arm sliced with a deep wound. 'Isabel, let me take over-' Nanu called out. 'No, I got this!' Isabel replied. Her left arm started to glow gold as she spun away from the queen's attack. But while spinning, something seemed to be coming it of her arm. When she stood before the engaged written, a sword was in the guardian's right hand, and she blocked the darkness.
The darkness bounced from the sword and hit the Queen in the chest, knocking her over. She growled and slowly tried to get up when out of nowhere the butterfly girl from before appeared in front of her. "Let me take care of this." She said, sticking her arm out to block the Supreme Queen. She then noticed that the girl didn't have the markings she was looking for, but gave off a very powerful vibe. This made her smile. "Hmm, interesting. You are not the one I am after, but your power.." she turned a duel disk that was on her arm, "I would like to see what it is like."
Before Isabel could respond, Dartz stepped between them. "That'll have to wait, my dear," he interrupted. Suddenly, dark clouds surrounded them, and they began to vanish. Isabel tried to follow them, but they disappeared before she had the chance.
Dartz and the three girls reappeared in an office across town from the stadium. He turned to the butterfly signer. "You are daring, my dear, but it would be a shame to show your hand too soon to the enemy." He smiled. "Allow me to introduce myself: my name is Dartz." The butterfly looked the man over and noticed the Queen who was busy tending to her wounds and Rin who was standing against a wall, her eyes in a blank state. She brushed her hair back before speaking. "Well, I have never seen you before. You definitely are not a dark signer. My name is Lucrecia. What is it you wish to speak to me about?" She asked in a polite manner, crossing her arms as she looked at him with strange colored eyes. Dartz smiled. "To help fulfill you're declaration back at the stadium... To end the world."
Isabel looked around; the stadium was free of the monsters and all of the audience seemed to evacuate safely. She could see Miyuki and Christina heading down to her. 'Well, this is bad...'Isabel thought. 'Isabel, are you alright?' Nanu asked. 'I'll be okay. But locating Dartz and his harem is more important than my arm. Time to use the ring's power to find them.' Isabel's stomach started to glow in the shape of the millennium ring when suddenly, a girl with blonde hair pulled back in a braid that laid on her shoulder walked towards her and pulled Isabel on the shoulder. "Sorry to bug you, but what in the world is going on?" She asked, James right behind her, his glowing arm dimming down at the disappearance of the dark signer.
Christina and Miyuki ran over after everything had disappeared and looked at Kristen and James with curiosity. Christina spoke first after hearing Kristen's remark. "It.. it's a little hard to explain." She said slowly, giving a nervous smile as she knew this was obviously going to sound crazy to a stranger. "We traveled here from the past to chase after an evil man who has captured and possessed a friend of mine, resurrected an evil spirit that was born from the darkness of this girl's heart," with that she pointed to Miyuki who looked just as lost as the blonde girl in front of them started to look, "and apparently he took on yet another female who we haven't seen before who seems to have come from tour time period."
This all made Kristen even more confused than she already was as she looked to Isabel. "Just who are you people?" She exclaimed, letting go of Liz's shoulder and just standing wide eyed along with James. Isabel shrugged sheepishly. "I'm Isabel Corazon," she started. "Everything my friend here said is true. They're from 30 years from the past, I'm from even further from the past. That man is collecting followers to assist him with a mission to end the world." While talking to Kristen, her eyes locked on James, more specifically, his arm. She suddenly walked past Kristen to James. "May I see your arm?"
James, who had been quiet for some time, suddenly blinked in awareness when the girl asked for his arm. "S-sure." he said, looking confused. Meanwhile Kristen was standing in shock from the explanation as she slowly turned to Isabel and James.
When she touched James' arm, his signer marking started glowing brighter. Isabel's markings glowed as well, both markings reacting to each other. "Interesting..." Isabel whispered, her left eye glowing brighter than the rest, observing his magic more intently. James was frozen in shock at this at first but tried to calm down in order to think it through exactly what this symbol meant. "To be honest, I have no idea what it is or where it came from. All I know is-" he said when out of the blue Aku came stumbling towards them looking kind of tired and bumped into James before standing in the middle of the group.
"Yo, what did I miss? Man, this place is deserted and.. Wait is your arm glowing? And that chick.. she's glowing too!?" he exclaimed when the sign on his cheek starting glowing, it's symbol a blue dragon claw. "What.. What is going on?" he shouted, freaked out by everything. Kristen sighed and gave him a playful bap on the head. "Magic, that's what." she said, finally gaining her composure though she still had a ton of questions to ask, which now was the time to do so. "Er, Isabel. I am still finding it hard to believe that you guys time traveled from the past, but seeing those monsters and your markings, maybe I can believe. If James is involved in this, I want to help. Oh, and I should probably introduce myself." she gave a grin as she went to stand by James.
"My name is Kristen Atlas. This is my friend James with the weird mark on his arm, and that one-" she pointed to Aku who was rubbing his head, a small blush on face at his embarrassing reaction in front of cute girls, "is Aku." Isabel stopped glowing when Aku entered. "Hey," she smiled sweetly. "Sorry about that, Kristen, I noticed James markings and how similar it was to that woman from earlier. Your marking... It's pure. Pure in the sense of it's good, it's good magic, unlike that girl from earlier, who's essence was twisted and corrupted. I'm sorry, how rude of me to go all crazy examiner." Isabel let go of James. "I'm just surprise on how different the magic us here, different destiny and all. I'm so use to the magic Yugi and I typically deal with-" Isabel stopped when she noticed the strange looks she was receiving from everyone.
Kristen fell back into shock. The talk of magic, forever she lived a pretty normal life. And then this happened. She had no idea about the Signers and that her own brother was one, but at the moment that wasn't important. She laughed it off, after all that was the best she could do and looked to the others. "Alright so who are you guys?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips, her goggles swinging gently on her neck. Miyuki grinned as Happy Lover came out and sat in her arms. "My name is Miyuki Tenshi, I come from the past where there is a school that teaches people how to Duel. And this is my duel spirit, Happy Lover." she said. "Oh, as for dueling I fight with angels and the card Sanctuary in the sky!" she added, a twinkling coming to her eyes at the thought of the card.
If the time traveling and magic wasn't enough to fry Kristen's brain, this just added to her list of things that she once thought were impossible. "You have an Angel deck too?" Isabel questioned happily. Miyuki blinked. "You mean.. You duel with one too?" she asked, tilting her head as Happy Lover squealed playfully. This made Christina grin. "Her deck wasn't completed until a certain someone gave her the card Sanctuary in the sky." she grinned, wrapping her arm around her friend who immediately blushed and shouted out, "Christina!" Isabel chuckled a little bit, but then winched in pain was she grabbed her wounded arm. It was still bleeding pretty badly.
It was then the others noticed the wound. Christina gasped and looked to Kristen. "Kristen, do you know where some first aid is?" She asked. Kristen nodded but before she could speak about where it was Miyuki suddenly said, "Wait! I can handle it!" Everyone looked at her confused and she grinned. "Happy lover here knows how to cure wounds. She's healed cuts on me before." She said like it was a normal every day thing. Happy Lover flew over to the arm and its wings started to glow and gold sparkles came out over the wound. The blood stopped and the cut sealed completely. Happy Lover gave a happy squeal as it flew back into Miyuki's arms. Everyone who was watching, mostly Kristen, James, and Aku, were shocked.
Isabel smiled. "Thank you very much, Happy Lover, Miyuki," Isabel thanked. She then turned to the confused group of friends. "Seeing magic first hand is always a shocker. I was the same way when I first experienced magic for myself." Miyuki grinned at the compliment as Christina's face turned to thought. "Now that I think about it, we just traveled with you to the future but we.. We don't really know you that well. Who exactly are you anyway? We know you were the champion of America way back when, and you mentioned knowing Yugi." She said, her arms crossed and her brow raised in curiosity, an interested look on her face.
Isabel sweat dropped in embarrassment. "Oops, sorry. I didn't want to lose track of Dartz that I really didn't properly introduce myself-" Isabel suddenly looked nervous. "And we can't lose track of him now! He's hidden somewhere in the city, we need to find him or he'll cause more damage." Isabel closed her eyes and resumed her search for Dartz. Her stomach glowed once again, only one of the needless was pointing this time. She looked up to a tall building that rivaled that of Kaiba corp. "If my magic is right, then he should be in that building." Isabel pointed out the building in question.
Christina at first was confused why the girl didn't explain herself but shrugged it off when she mentioned Dartz. It was true, now was not the time to get cozy and chat. Kristen saw where she was pointing and looked to James. "We may not know who you all are or what entirely is going on, but whatever it is sounds dangerous. We will help you get out as much as we can." She said and James nodded. He looked to his arm in wonder. "Especially if I'm involved, I want to help prevent any disaster that may come our way." He added. Aku stared at the both of them. "What about me? I have the weird symbol too!" Aku protested, "Plus I can hang with all the cute girls-I mean help out everyone."
"I won't stop anyone who wants to help, but just be warned that you're going to be putting yourself in a lot of danger. I'm not forcing anyone to come if they don't want to." Isabel warned. "Well, who's ready to go stop Dartz at the... Um..." Isabel squinted her eyes to try to read the name of the building. "What is that building?" Kristen squinted as well at the building Liz was pointing to. "I can't tell from here, but if that is where he is, we can take you there." she said. She turned to Aku who was giving her sad puppy eyes which made her sigh. "Aku, we need someone to stay here and keep an eye on things. If you see my brother tell him something big is going on and I'm leaving with James to investigate. I promise we'll be back soon." she said. Aku grinned. "No problem, leave things to me. You guys don't do anything crazy ok?" he chuckled.
Kristen and James turned to the others. "Wait here for a second while we grab our D-Wheels." she said and the two ran off towards the garage. Miyuki looked to Christina. "What's a D-Wheel?" she asked with a tilt of her head when suddenly they heard a loud revving sound and two bikes, a sky blue and white and a black and green one, drive up to them, Kristen on the white one, James on the back. Kristen smiled at them through her tan pilot goggles. "Hop on, we can take two people each."
Miyuki with much shyness hopped on with James while Christina hopped on with Kristen. "Man, fancy motorcycles, this world is pretty cool." she said. Kristen laughed. "Oh, they are no ordinary motorcycles." she said and popped out her duel disk to show. "In this world, we duel on these. Everybody in Neo Domino has one." she explained. Christina blinked. "Neo..Domino?" she stuttered, "Where I come from, it was just Domino City."
"With the turn of time comes changes," Isabel commented add she joined Miyuki and James. "Unless I'm mistaken, your guy's school is on Pegasus' old private island. I only went there once for a party." Isabel looked at the bikes with awe. "Man, Marik would flip is he saw this," she commented. Christina head shot to the girl's direction. "Did.. Did you say Marik?" she asked after Kristen and James blinked at the comment about the Academy. Neither of them have been there yet but they knew about it. Before Christina could get her answer, Kristen and James turned on their motorcycles and took off towards the buildings. Miyuki gave a yelp of fright as she had never rode on a motorcycle before and clutched onto James who blushed and coughed at being grabbed rather hard around the stomach. Christina held on to Kristen who was grinning, the feel of the wind and speed a feeling she had always loved.
Isabel smiled at Miyuki. "Don't worry, if you feel like you're going to fall, you won't. I'll catch you." Isabel smiled at the rush, the speed of the bike. She loved going riding with Marik, it was something they shared since becoming a family. It helped him cope with the regrets of battle city, the regrets in Egypt. But it helped that his siblings were supporting him every step of the way. Isabel then began to wonder if he was somehow still alive in this timeline. Was he a grandparent or a great grandparent? But those thoughts had to be put on hold to ensure there would still be a future to look forward to. She looked down to scared little Miyuki. "So, that card you mentioned earlier, did Jaden give it to you?"
Hearing Jaden's name immediately made the girl stop burying her head in James back side. Her face turned a dark red before she could stop it. But how did the girl know his name? Then again she was there when the villains took the Supreme King from his soul. "Y-Yeah...How did you know?" she asked shyly, turning her head to Liz as James was busy driving. Isabel pointed to her left eye. "One of my markings allows me to read peoples mind. It likes to randomly flash me images from other people's minds without my control. And I saw the boy in the red jacket you introduced me to back in your timeline. You have a crush on him, don't you?" Isabel smiled sweetly to her.
Miyuki's face lit up in a blush again and her eyes widened. "I..I.." she stuttered. Despite her shyness, she knew she could trust the girl, besides, she didn't come from her time period. "Yeah.. I like him." she admitted with a small smile. After all, she became Supreme Queen trying to save him, if that didn't mean anything she didn't know what did. The thought of how she became Supreme Queen made the girl's smile fade a bit. Isabel noticed her smile fade. "What's the matter?"
Miyuki sighed. "It's just, the Supreme Queen, the one who most likely caused that gash on your arm. She was born from me being foolish enough to try and free Jaden from the Supreme King, an evil that inhabited his body a long time ago." she said, her heart sad and in fear that now the Queen was on the lose again, and the King would be back as well, "I was captured and he poured the same darkness that was in Jaden's body into mine and the Supreme Queen was born. She tried to hurt my friends, and I was helpless to save them or Jaden."
Isabel squeezed her shoulder. 'This poor girl...' Isabel thought. "Miyuki, dear, you can't blame yourself for that. If you did, you would never truly heal. I've seen what regret can do to a soul, and it can destroy like wild fire. Yes, sometimes our good intentions don't work out as we hope, but you can't let it cripple you from helping others. Trust me when I say this: the Supreme Queen may have been born in you, but she did not define you." Miyuki began to smile again. "You're right. It's no use beating myself up for that. And this time.. This time we'll take her down once and for all." she grinned back, "Besides, I have my friends beside me to help me." "That's the spirit," Isabel encouraged. "Now, back to the subject of Jaden: does he know how you feel for him?"
Miyuki's face went back to red. If she wasn't holding on for dear life onto James, she would have poked her fingers together. "I.. I haven't. It's just, I'm kind of shy around him, not to mention the school will laugh if they see an Obelisk and a Slifer together. Slifers are considered slackers while Obelisks are the highest rank and Ra is in the middle. I'm an Obelisk, Jaden is a Slifer." she explained, deciding to keep her crazy plan of telling everyone she was in love with a teacher to hide the fact she liked Jaden, a secret.
Isabel sighed, chuckling too. "Leave it to Seto to build a school for dueling and have class division at the same time..." Isabel muttered frustratingly. She looked to Miyuki. "Listen very carefully to me: tell him how you feel." "I.. I kind of want to, but...but.." the thought of telling Jaden how she felt and the possibility he may like her back sent the girl's mind in a fluster, her face was entirely red, eyes in swirls. "Calm yourself, Miyuki," Isabel patted her head. "If you don't tell him how you feel, it may be too late. After all, life is too short: if you don't tell him, or even try to, you may never will. Don't worry about what anyone else thinks. Just do it. You may find out it was for the best."
Miyuki slowly calmed down and gave a smile. "Y-Yeah.. Maybe I should." she said, "Thanks for listening to me and giving me advice. You're a nice person." With this she gave a big grin as the building they were looking for began to pull into view. Meanwhile on Kristen's end, Christina was asking all sorts of questions. "So, this is what future Domino looks like eh? Pretty nifty." she said as she looked around then went back to Kristen. "I wonder if everyone I knew in Battle City is still alive. Man, it's probably been years." the brunette chuckled as Kristen pulled over to the building along with James. They stepped off along with Christina and Miyuki and when they saw the name of the building, their eyes went wide. "Oh no, I don't think we can go in there, at least not easily." Kristen said, sliding her goggles off her face and letting them hang around her neck.
Isabel, getting off the bike, looked up at the building. "What's the problem?" she questioned.
The two looked at her, then remembered the others mentioning she was from America and by the look of things not of Japanese descent. "It's.. It's a police building." Kristen said and everyone stared up at it in awe. "I bet the police might have evacuated already, or are trying to stop the ones inside, but I don't think we can just go busting in there." she explained.
"Oooh..." Isabel replied. "Sorry, I have a little trouble reading Japanese sometimes. I can speak it just fine, but reading it is a different story..." Isabel looked through some of the windows. It was all peaceful... "I don't think anyone is aware that intruders are in the building. It's all... Business as usual. Well, let's go." Isabel stated to walk forward, but Kristen grabbed her arm. "Wait, are you crazy? We can't just bust in there and tell them there are three magical psychopaths in their building, they would never believe us!" she said, and looked around. What if they snuck in? Though if they caused a ruckus and were caught they would never be able to explain, especially if the villains left before them. What do to.. "We need a plan." said James as if reading Kristen's thoughts, "All of us should find a way in without causing too much of a ruckus."
Kristen looked to James with concern. "But James, if they catch you and see your mark..." James hesitated. "I know, but things are different now. Satellite and Neo Domino are together again, it shouldn't make a difference if I was an escapee or not." he replied, looking down at the ground in thought. Kristen smiled at him softly. "I'll cover for you no matter what. After all I'm Jack Atlas' sister, remember? There is no way they would question me if I told them to let you go." she replied with a grin. James smiled back weakly. Isabel looked at James and Kristen, and it didn't take rocket science for her to put two and two together. "Well, there's more than one way around a situation. I have an idea, but none of you are going to like it. All of you hide in that alley way," Isabel pointed. As they hid, she walked into the police station.
The group started talking amongst each other as they hid in the alleyway. "What do you think she is doing?" Whispered Kristen. "Hopefully something not reckless though from the time we have been with this girl..." Christina said with a chuckle. "Who is Jack Atlas anyway?" Miyuki asked with curiosity. "My older brother and former champion of Turbo Dueling. He is well known throughout all these parts. I.. I didn't really enjoy the fame he did and for a while pretended I wasn't his sister to gain a name for myself. But I was being silly." She looked to James who smiled at her, "I learned I should just be myself and not care who I am related to and the fame that comes with it."
Suddenly, ringing started through the whole building, and police officers started evacuating the building quickly. "What the hell happened?!" A big, tall officer with guide eyebrows questioned.
"The fire alarm went off, officer Trudge, sir!" A smaller officer replied. The doors began to start sealing themselves. Happy lover stated nudging the group towards the entrance.
"Huh, guess that works. Alright let's go!" Exclaimed Christina and the whole group looked out for any police officers and rushed inside. They went looking for Isabel and upon finding her Kristen said with a grin, "Nice job." Isabel, who was standing by the stair case, was smirking. "Good news: I got the officers out. But news, Dartz and his harem are now going to be expecting us. Don't worry, we can handle them." She started walking up the stairs. "Now, let's go stop some bad guys."
The group grinned and followed her up the stairs, ready to duel, fight, or whatever they had to do to stop the bad guys from destroying their time lines. Christina got up front near Isabel. "So, what's the plan? We have three baddies and Rin up there waiting for us. For all we know it could be a trap." She said, her face serious and determined. "I know for myself, I want to free Rin first. The Supreme Queen and the new girl can be dealt with later but Rin, she is like a hostage right now." "I'm aware of that..." Isabel replied. "Rin has been completely consumed by Dartz's new magic, which has bothered me from the beginning..."
Christina nodded in agreement. She had to admit she thought of it too, that Dartz power was different than before; being able to revive the Queen's spirit, taking the spirits from Jaden and Jesse, and time traveling. She knew the Orichalcos did not have that kind of power. "Now that I think about it, you mentioned seeing Rin before, in Domino city. I was there, looking for Rin myself on Kaiba's orders. I find it strange I didn't run into you. Then again the city is rather big." She said with a sweatdrop.
"During that time, I was in the States with Yugi and our friends. Seto was on his way over when Rin and I dueled. I don't know how she made her way over, but Dartz sent her over with a purpose. She and I dueled and I lost, but I didn't lose my soul. Someone else paid that price for me..." Isabel looked sad for a moment. "Five months."
Christina looked at her with a raised brow. "Five months? What do you mean someone paid the price for you?" She asked, her eyes a bit wide. "Seto and I dated for five months. Well, if you count the whole orichalcos fiasco, more like seven. I know you wanted to ask about me when your boss and I dated."
Christina's eyes went even wider. "So, you were dating him while I was working for him? He never mentioned you.. Then again he doesn't really tell me anything about his personal life." She said with a sweatdrop. And now they were exs? Of course Seto wouldn't have mentioned it to her later. "Sorry for any heart break he might have caused you, he can be a little...cold at times." The girl said with an even bigger sweatdrop, "You must have warmed his heart somehow though for him to want to date you."
"It was nice for a while. However... I was blind to one big blaring problem. He was only dating to me get to someone else. I didn't find this out until after I lost my duel with Rin."
Christina looked sad. "I'm.. I'm so sorry." She gave a sigh. "It took me until the end of the Orichalcos incident to find Rin. By then it was too late. Yes, everyone was saved and came back. But that girl, she had the look of total horror when I found her. She told me she never could forgive herself for the hurt she caused and ran away before I could stop her. I'm glad she came to Duel Academy in Miyuki's time to try and live her life right but it seems she still felt that regret. And now Dartz has her again. To think I would fail to save her twice." At first Christina was angry then she calmed down again, "I know though that no one was expecting Dartz to come back the way he did. There was no way I could have known he would show up and take Rin again."
"I thought he was dead, but this isn't the same Dartz. That magic flowing through his veins now... Has magic that's from the source as mine." Isabel's eyes narrowed at finally putting her fears into words. "That'll make him harder to defeat. But one thing bothers me: how did he come back and is this all just to revive Atlantis and his demonic pet again?" Christina listened to her words and began wondering the same thing. "To gain allies from different time periods, all who are evil in blood, it doesn't seem like the same old plan. No, he wouldn't have come back for that. Not to mention I doubt he alone has the power to revive himself and others. Someone else has to be pulling the strings. Question is who?" She said while scratching her chin. "On the note of stopping him, I'm sure we will find a way. You may be the only one with magical powers but we will help in any way we can."
Isabel smiled. "I never doubted you guys for a minute. After all, we're gonna be okay."
Christina smiled back then stopped a moment as she felt like she heard someone say that to her before. "Odd, I have this feeling someone said those exact words to me before, in battle city." she said and went to thought, thinking hard on who she might have seen that would of said that.
"Well, you know what they say, it's a smal-" Isabel stopped mid-sentence as they were turning the corner of the 6th floor. Isabel quickly pushed Christina out of the way as a metal blade came for them. A robotic angel floated above the group, and two more flights up was Rin. The angel moved to strike again, but Isabel pulled her sword out and started to fend it off. "Go ahead, I'll catch up!" Isabel shouted back to the group.
Christina stared up at Rin, seeing the girl in a blank state and nodded and looked to the others who were frightened a bit. "Come on, let's go!" She said and everybody rushed past, Miyuki looking back in worry to Isabel. They rushed past Rin, looking for the other enemies.
Isabel pushed the angel off herself and pulled out a card from her deck. "Aquios, I summon thee!" Water poured out of the card like a river and reformed in the shape of a woman.
"I will handle this, my lady," the card replied. "Go and stop this darkness from polluting the timeline any further!"
"Thanks, Aquios," Isabel smiled, catching up to the others. Once everyone was together again and out of the danger, Christina began looking around. Realizing they had no idea where the others were and her thoughts drifting on seeing Rin, she got an idea. "Why don't we split up to look for the others. I'm going back for Rin, I'm sure the Queen and Dartz and the new girl are close by." she said and took off back to Rin. She had to stop her, to save her somehow. James looked to Kristen. "We will go searching for the butterfly woman. I'm sure my sign will lead the way." he said, his mark softly glowing as the girl was indeed close. Miyuki, a bit nervous from it all, said quietly "Leave the Queen to me."
Isabel ran up the stairs to find Rin waiting for her. "Rin!" The American called out to her.
When Christina heard Isabel cry out Rin's name, she immediately turned around and ran for her.
Rin turned towards Isabel slowly, her eyes still in a blank state. Then her expression turned to serious and she put her hand over her duel disk. "Barrel Dragon, I summon you!" she said and the green symbol of the Orichalcos appeared underneath her, but she also had black clouds surround her. A giant two headed dragon with two machine guns strapped to its back appeared and gave a ferocious roar. A tear slid down Rin's cheek from the sight of her favorite card, the card he had given her, but this didn't stop her from making it go after Isabel, its machine guns lit ablaze. "Oh snap." Isabel whispered. She jumped out of the way, as the two bullets shot passed her. Isabel used her sword to dodge more attacks came at her. "Rin, listen to me! You don't have to do this! You don't have to obey Dartz!" Rin started to falter but the spell put on her was very powerful. For those who could see magic, there was an aura around her that was a mix of green and black. Barrel Dragon continued its assault, staying near Rin to protect her from any harm.
Christina had run the wrong direction. "Of course I wouldn't know where to go in this police building." she muttered to herself when gunshots suddenly shot out from the walls beside her. Eyes wide she ran again towards the gun shots, a small smile on her face. "Haven't felt this pumped up in a long time. Don't worry Rin, I'll save you!" Isabel got up and her weapon transformed from a sword into a scythe. This dragon needed to go down before she could get to Rin. "Rin, please, I'm trying to help you," she whispered. She then charged forward to the two of them. Christina stepped in right when she saw Isabel charging. Worried the girl was going to kill Rin, she ran and jumped in front of her. "No, don't!" she shouted.
Startled by the scythe and the sudden appearance of Christina, the Barrel Dragon disappeared and Rin suddenly took off. Christina stood panting, arms outstretched. "Please, I can't let you kill her!" she said, eyes wide at the thought. She caught a glimpse of Rin running off and cursed about it in her head but knew it was for the best. Isabel stopped and stared at Christina. "What did you do that for?!" Isabel questioned frustrated. Christina stared back. "I... I'm sorry. I remembered you mentioning you were attacked and almost had your soul taken by her. I.. I thought you were acting out of revenge for what she did. I had to protect her." she explained, looking worried for Isabel and for Rin.
Isabel looked mortified. "No, I wasn't going to hurt her; I was trying to get to her so I could save her. That dragon was in the way and I had to take it down to get the chance to talk to get and tell her I forgive her." Christina looked at her in amazement then gave a smile. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't of charged recklessly like that without knowing you were such a forgiving person. Come on, let's go after her, she couldn't have gone far in this building." She said and walked a bit towards where Rin was heading, "Nice scythe by the way." She added with a bigger grin. Isabel smiled, spinning the scythe in her hand. "Thanks. Nice thing about transforming weapons. Come on, let's go find her before she does more damage."
Miyuki had been wandering in a totally different part of the building when she suddenly stopped with wide eyes to see the Queen stumbling through the hall. The Queen's golden eyes set upon the angel and immediately lowered in a glare. Miyuki at first gulped but stepped forward, knowing she had to face the Queen sooner or later. "So, if it isn't the little angel." the Queen grumbled. Obviously she was more irritated then usual, though Miyuki could almost see, concern? This confused the girl as she took more steps towards her evil half. "What are you guys planning? Why are you time traveling everywhere?" she said, holding on to Happy Lover who was glaring at the Queen.
The Queen suddenly smirked. "Wouldn't you like to know?" she shouted and charged at the girl and threw a punch. Happy Lover disappeared and Miyuki quickly blocked it. Suddenly she felt an odd sensation and appearing in her mind was a vision of the Queen talking to Dartz. The Queen had the same odd sensation and in her mind was a visual of Isabel time traveling using a card. Miyuki saw Dartz towering over the queen, anger storming his unnatural eyes. "What were you thinking back there?" Dartz demanded. "You almost killed the guardian!" The Queen at first was unshaken. "So what, she is a threat that must be eliminated." she said in her own tone of anger and also ignorance as the girl had no idea what he was so angry about.
"Stupid woman!" Dartz yelled. His raised voice shook everyone in the room. "You could have ruined everything we are working for. You cannot kill the Guardian, for if you do, her most dangerous power will be unleashed! She can seal away and destroy evil in her death." The Queen's eyes widened as she fell to the floor from the shock and scooted to a corner. For her to be frightened was definitely surprising. "So.. So how do we stop her?" she managed to say, her voice shaking. "Carefully, my queen, for she could destroy any chance of reviving your beloved King. Now," Dartz continued, picking up the Queen. "Do as I say and I will make sure your empire expands. If you don't, I can take all you powers away." As he spoke, the Queen could feel her powers being drained from her.
The Queen became more frightened than ever. To lose her King would be the end of everything she had fought for. She gave a shiver and a scream at the power being drained from her and slowly turned to him, eyes half lowered. "I'll do whatever you ask." she said, her voice low and in understanding the consequence if she didn't obey. He smiled as and he returned the power given to her. Lucrecia smirked, intrigued with the man's power. She looked at the scene with her arms crossed, a smile at her face at the immense power that she could feel coming from Dartz. "Alright, you have me there. I will join this team of yours with the promise you will help me end this world." she said with a smirk. Dartz smiled at her. "A wise decision, my dear. Now, here's what we'll-" suddenly, the fire alarm went off, interrupting the vision.
James and Kristen were searching high and low together to find the Dark Signer when suddenly the fire alarm went off along with some sprinklers, raining down upon them. Kristen gasped at the cold as well as James when suddenly he spotted something out of the shadows. Purple lines went past his vision as he was suddenly kicked in the stomach and sent backwards. He managed to land on his feet coughing and by accident had touched his duel disk that was on his arm Suddenly icicles sprouted from the ground, missing Kristen but hitting something that was in the shadows. What sounded like a woman crying out in pain was heard as Lucrecia was hit and sent to the ground. James mark was glowing madly as he stared at the icicles with wide eyes. "Never expected this." he said as Kristen stood still in shock at the sudden icicles.
Lucrecia got up slowly and charged for the boy. He touched his deck again and this time sent out large icicles from his hands which rained down on the butterfly. She managed to dodge right in front of Kristen. Seeing the girl she suddenly got an idea. Before Kristen could fight back the Butterfly flew at her and tackled her to the ground, holding her tightly. Her markings glowed bright as she smirked to James. "One more step and I kill the girl." she said with a grin. Isabel started to run up the stairs when she suddenly gasped for breadth like she couldn't breath.
Images flashed through Liz's head, Miyuki fighting the queen and Kristen pinned by Lucrecria. "The others are in danger..." Liz gasped painfully. Christina's eyes widened. She had been sort of shocked by the fire alarm though she knew what had caused it, her hair dripping wet from the sprinklers. "Let's go, we can help them I'm sure of it!" she said and raced on.
Miyuki gave a gasp as the alarm and the sprinklers broke her from her vision. She stared at the Queen who looked just as surprised. Unsure what to do, she ran off, knowing what she had seen from Miyuki needed to be told to Dartz. Miyuki went after her though the sprinklers everywhere made her vision blurry, like being in a rain storm. James was instantly stuck, the thought of losing Kristen leaving his mind in a panic. With the thought of how much he wanted to save her, his markings glowed even stronger and suddenly a single card in his deck glowed, and out of nowhere appeared Brionac, dragon of the Ice Barrier, his Signer dragon. Startled by this, Lucrecia let go of Kristen just enough for the girl to flip over and kick her off and scramble over to James. The dragon floated before the butterfly, giving a roar that was equivalent to a hard blizzard blowing which pushed Lucrecia back.
Isabel started up the stairs as she began to get soaked by the water. "Go help Miyuki, I'll go help James and Kristen. They need our help." She closed her eyes and Estrella appeared by Christina. "Lead her to Miyuki, and protect them!" Estrella nodded and stared to lead Christina to her friend. Isabel resumed composure and headed up the stairs to find James. Christina nodded and ran with Estrella to where Miyuki might be. She found her rather quickly as the girl had been wandering the place, shivering and a confused expression on her face. "What, what happened?" Christina asked, running up to her. Miyuki smiled weakly and looked up to notice the sprinklers had stopped finally. She turned back to Christina. "I ran into the Queen, she tried to hurt me but I blocked it and something strange happened. I... I saw into her mind." she said, her voice sounding very confused about the ordeal.
The older brunette stared with wide eyes, thought about it, then realized something. "Well, you are still connected to her despite the fact she is now a separate being from you. What exactly did you see in her mind?" she asked, crossing her arms and tilting her head in interest. Miyuki began to explain about the vision she saw of the Queen fighting with Dartz, but left out the part why they were fighting. She made up a reason saying it was because the Queen had let them get away, though Christina was only half convinced but decided not to press further. "I don't want them to know what I've discovered, it would worry all of them." she thought, though it was a silly thought as the young girl herself was worried about her new friend from the past.
Meanwhile Kristen and James were facing off against Lucrecia. James dragon was giving off an extreme coldness in the air, making it easy for anyone to find them just by seeing and feeling the cold. Lucrecia who had regained her composure, laughed. "I see you brought your Signer dragon out, but that won't help you. You see, my power is vastly superior to that of you normal Signers." she said and her markings began to glow, her eyes filling with black and some yellow lines. She looked menacing as a giant purple butterfly appeared behind her. With another chuckle, the butterfly began to slowly flap its wings and what looked like sonic purple waves began to appear. A strange sound, like that of computerized bells was heard, and James and Kristen began to feel strange.
"Come here little girl, the one who stole my beloved. Let's see how he feels when his love is taken from him forever." she said, her voice sweet sounding but with a touch of anger. Kristen's eyes turned blank as she slowly started walking towards Lucrecia, James frozen in place by the hypnotism.
Suddenly, a chain wrapped around Lucrecia's arm, and yanked her to the ground, disrupting her hypnotic powers. If it were not for the dark signer's natural toughness, that attack would have probably broken her arm. Walking towards the scene, a tall, longhaired brunette with a beautiful, more mature face stepped before Lucrecia. "I think that's enough of that, don't you think?" Nanu questioned, pulling the mad woman away from Kirsten and James. With the hypnosis broken, Kristen collapsed and fell unconscious but not before an awakened James caught her. The Signer dragon had disappeared when James was put under the spell making the temperature of the area normal again. He looked to Lucrecia with a glare but then turned his attention to the girl who looked familiar but seemed like a totally different person. Lucrecia was surprised by the sudden chain and the appearance of the stranger but kept her cool. This girl had easily broken through her spell that meant she was more powerful than the Signer and the other girl.
"And just who do we have here? The Guardian herself, ah but you don't look or sound much like her." She said with a smile, the butterfly behind her glowing as bright as her marks. Lucrecia may have had her arm in a bind, but the butterfly Dark Signer knew she could still attack easily despite her powers not being effective. "I am Nanu, the guardian before this child," Nanu responded in a stern voice. Her dark blue eyes were piercing, as if she was looking down at your very soul, your very core. Nanu yanked the chain harder. "You have made a great mistake, choosing to side with that man. Should you continue to blindly follow him, you shall pay a great price for your foolishness," Nanu spoke.
Lucrecia fell to her knees from the pull and looked at the woman standing in front of her. Her eyes made her freeze up a bit, but the fact she sensed a great power inside her didn't scare her, in fact it excited her. "I'm not sure who exactly you are, but I only follow that man because he has power, and nothing attracts me more than power." she smiled wickedly. "Since you have power, you interest me. Let's have some fun." she added and suddenly got back on her feet and rushed rather quickly towards Nanu with a swing kick. Nanu dodged with ease and grace. The chain suddenly slipped off Lucrecia's arm and transformed into twin Egyptian daggers. Nanu swung her knife upward, missing the dark singer by inches, or so it first appeared.
Lucrecia was impressed by the woman's smooth movements that were like she was a dancer performing in a show. Seeing the daggers caught her a bit off guard as they materialized from the chain but smirked when the girl missed. "You fight with such grace but that will not help you if you miss your target." she said and went for another higher kick. Nanu blocked her kick worth her forearm, one of the blades turned into a metal arm band. "Did I miss, or did your pride blind you to the cut on your pretty face?" Nanu asked flatly. As she spoke, blood started to trickle down from the cut that appeared under her eye, some strands of hair fell in front of her eyes. Nanu then grand her leg and threw her to the side, slamming her against the wall.
Lucrecia coughed a bit as she was thrown against the wall and wiped the blood off her face. Still she held no temper, but knew she was dealing with someone far more powerful than the Signer boy and the girl. Smiling at the words of the woman about her pride she slowly stood up. "If you think pride is what drives me you are a foolish woman." she said, holding her aching side. She knew she had to retreat or she would certainly meet her end here, but she wouldn't leave without taking a little something. Her eyes wavered to Kristen as James glared at the woman and stood up. The wing mark on his arm glowed brightly as he tried to attack the woman, but she already knew what he was about to do and knocked him back with a swift kick in the ribs and into a wall. Within seconds she grabbed the still unconscious Kristen and ran but not before leaving a cyborg looking psychic monster (Hyper Psychic Blaster) behind who glowed a lavender color and begun firing upon Nanu and James.
Nanu dodged the attack and ran after Lucrecia to save Kristen. She turned her blades into chains again to try to retrieve the future girl, but then a portal appeared and the two were gone. Nanu froze in shock; she was that second too late. James managed to dodge the attack of the monster but out of the corner of his eye saw Lucrecia disappear with Kristen in a portal, Nanu being too late to stop them. He froze in shock, the monster luckily disappearing now that it's master had disappeared successfully. His could feel his heart almost stopping. Christina and Miyuki, who had no success of finding the Queen, found them finally and were about to relay the news when they saw the look on James face and the fact Kristen wasn't around them.