The Dragon Boys stood there, in complete shock. They had realized that the cause of Zarc's want for anger and destruction, was all because of Ray, the very person who defeated him before?

"What do you mean? What really happened all those years ago?" Yuya asked.

Ray remained silent.

"Come, now." Yuri said. "We unknowingly went to the trouble of gathering all four of us to resurrect Zarc, so you may as well tell us his story."

Ray remained silent, taking in a breath.

"…There's just so much to talk about…"

The four counterparts looked up at the spirit, who had her head down, before looking up at Zarc's components. "…But, if I must, I should start from the beginning. It all started many years ago…"

Flashback, Original Dimension

A young boy, approximately the age of 8, wearing dark brown jeans, and a hoodie to cover his face, ran through the gargantuan amount of people in the crowd, with packs of cards being concealed in his sleeves. Behind the boy, two grown men were chasing him, very pissed off at that.

"Hey kid! Stop!" One of the men chasing him ordered.

"You pay first! Then you get the cards!" The other shouted.

The boy grabbed another person, throwing him in front of the men. "Caught you! Now you're gon-" the man stopped, as he pulled the hoodie off the child. The boy had brown hair, shaped in a bowl-cut, and blue eyes. Ultimately, he wasn't the boy that they were looking for.

"What did I do? I was just pushed to the ground by this other boy…" the boy sniffled.

"Tch! Kid, did you see where the other boy went?" the man asked.

Meanwhile, in a nearby alleyway…

The young boy had hidden from the men, who were chasing him, because he had "borrowed", well, stole, some cards that were worth a fortune, according to the shop owner. He eyed the cards for a bit, before deciding to take the cards for himself. The boy took off his hood, revealing his silver hair, with green highlights, for some reason, and yellow eyes.

"Heh. That was way too easy!" The boy said, smirking to himself. He reached into his pocket, pulling out a card. "Hear that, Odd-Eyes? You could have a new friend soon!"

The boy tore open the first pack, revealing 5 cards. He skimmed through the pack, seeing nothing of value, except one monster.

"Oh wow! It's a ritual monster!" Looking at the card, which read 'Cyberclone Radius (RAH-dee-us)' the boy read its effects, one of which said, "Can also be used as a tuner monster…. Oh, man! I don't even have any Synchros to use it with! Oh, well. Maybe I'll get lucky with the next few packs."

3 Packs Later…

"Dammit! I can't believe I didn't get any Synchros in these packs!" the young boy groaned, as a plurge of Normal Monsters, Level 2 Effect Monsters, and Trap Cards littered the ground. He looked to the final pack, with a look of pure callousness. "Well, maybe the last one'll have something worthwhile." The boy picked up the pack, saying, "Alright, one more, woo-hoo." In the most deadpan on voices. He opened it, to see…

…

…

…

…"Holy…"

"YES!" The boy screamed out, so loud, that everyone in the vicinity could hear his jump for joy.

EVERYONE.

"OhmygoodnessIcan'tbelievethatIactuallygotaSynchroMonstereveryone'sgonnabesojealousofmethatI'llbeadoredandidolizedandimmoratalized-"

"There he is!" the boy snapped out of this ecstasy, to realize that he had alerted the people that were chasing him earlier.

"…Crap!" the boy tucked the 2 cards away in his sleeves, making a break for it, but this time, they had another person at the end of the alleyway.

"End of the line, kid." One of the men said, grabbing the child.

The boy huffed, not even resisting, knowing that the gig was up.

"…Stealing cards without paying, running away from elders, ruining a perfectly good fruit stand, making babies cry," the police listed off, as the boy and his caretaker sat there, looking at the ground, and all around. "It's safe to say that you've gotten yourself into a huge pile, which you can't find your way out of.

"We're extremely sorry, officer, it's just that, I want to buy cards for him, but our orphanage just doesn't have those type of funds, and this little one's such a troublemaker, you know?" the caretaker nervously chuckled.

"Hmph. Shut up, stupid hippie." The boy mumbled.

"What?!" The caretaker grabbed the boy by the throat. "I ought to-"

"Ahem." The officer grunted, raising an eyebrow, reminding them where they were. The caretaker let him go, patting him on the head. "Well, since the cards you… borrowed, as you said? Anyways, they weren't valuable in any way, shape, or form."

The boy's mouth fell open. "Oh… dammit…"

"But, you still stole them, regardless of their value." The Officer said, walking behind the boy. "However, I think that we can work something out."

"The boy's gonna have to work in this card shop, until he can pay off all of the cards that he stole." The officer said, handing the boy a mop.

"Don't worry! He'll be a loyal, law-abiding citizen soon enough! Isn't that right, boy?" His caretaker asked.

The boy merely scoffed, as the police officer scratched his head. "Alrighty, then. You stay out of trouble, you hear?"

"No promises." The boy replied. At that time, a man with dark skin, walked into the shop, his hand held behind him.

"Watch this." The shopkeeper whispered to the boy. "Ah, Leo! Are you here for a new deck? Or could I interest you in some-"

"I'm not here to buy for myself. I'm here for her." The man, who was named Leo, stated. He pulled out a young girl, around the age of 8, from behind him, who was holding his hand, whose maroon-red hair was tied in a ponytail, and wearing a purple dress, styled in a type of galaxy. And on the bridge of her nose, blue framed glasses rested on her face.

"This is my daughter, Ray. She wants to start dueling, but I want to give her a deck to start off with. Isn't that right?" Leo explained, gesturing to his daughter.

Ray adjusted her glasses. "That's right! I wanna put my place in history, alongside the greats! Like Yugi Muto, Jaden Yuki, and Yusei Fudo! Then I'll be forever known as the queen of games, and everyone will worship me!" Ray had sparkles in her eyes, wondering about her future.

"You won't do that." The boy suddenly spoke, as everyone looked to his direction. "Just because you're an awesome duelist, won't mean anything to everyone. You're just a little fish, with the biggest of egos, and if you put yourself on a pedestal like that," The boy looked directly at the girl. "You're going to be knocked down, and crack your head hard on the way down."

"Who do you think you are, speaking to my daughter like that?!" Leo yelled at the boy.

"It's the truth. The girl has way too many expectations." The boy replied.

Ray immediately got in his face. Who did this boy think he was, and who was he to judge her future goals? "You have some nerve, kid! I'm going to mop the floor with you, and show you why I'm the future queen of games!" Ray took the deck, loading it in her duel disk.

"Wait, Ray!" Leo objected.

"I'll be fine, father!" Ray interjected.

The boy loaded his deck in his disk as well. "Alright then, if this really is your first duel, then this'll be a piece of cake!"

"DUEL!"

Ray LP: 4000
Hand: 5

V.S.

Boy LP: 4000
Hand: 5

A WHILE LATER…

Ray LP: 4000 – WIN

Boy LP: 0

Ray put away her duel gear, as she walked towards the boy, extending his hand to him, which he accepted. "You were really strong, you know!" the boy complimented.

"You weren't any slouch, either." Ray complimented back, smiling.

The shop owner then interjected, saying, "I take it that you like that deck, right? Well, since you dueled so wonderfully with it, I'll give you that deck for free!" Ray's eyes lit up with happiness when he said that.

Leo smiled at his daughter, taking her hand. "Come on, Ray, let's go." The pair turned towards the door, before they heard:

"Wait!" the boy shouted, as he bolted in front of them, blocking the door. "I really want to duel you again! Please! You're really, really good, but I know that I can beat you! Honestly!"

Ray was taken aback by this, as this request was sudden, and out of the blue, but she sighed, saying, "Okay, fine. I'll duel you again." The boy's eyes lit up at her answer. "But just know this: no matter how many times we duel, the result will always be the same! I'll win, and you'll keep asking to duel me again and again… uh…" Ray scratched her head, thinking. "Sorry, but I didn't catch your name."

"Me?" The boy smirked. "You can call me Zarc! The man who's gonna be the strongest duelist in the world!" he proclaimed, pointing his thumb to his chest, as an anime explosion went off behind him.

…Dead silence.

"Is he serious?" Ray mentally sweatdropped.