We both arrived at Martha's cottage. One of the kids staying there ran inside to tell her about us.
I took off my helmet. "Well, here we are."
Alice grabbed her helmet, and after a moment of struggle, crossed her arms irritably. "I'm stuck."
I smiled. "Keep trying."
She sighed and started to try again. I looked back at the house to see Martha coming out of the door. "Yusei? Is that you?"
"Yep, though there is a bit of a problem."
"Let me guess, another magical adventure that might destroy the world?"
"Not sure yet. The only thing we've figured out is that all of the signers have become ten years younger."
"And who is your friend?" Martha asked, watching Alice struggle.
Her helmet finally came off. "Yes, I got it!"
Martha looked shocked. "She looks just like you."
"Martha, this is my twin sister Alice."
"You never told me that you had a twin."
"We didn't know until about three-thirty last night."
Alice walked over, admiring the house. "Wow. Quite the place you got here. Are you Martha?"
"I am. Yusei came to me as a baby. Where did you grow up?"
"I was raised by some adults over on the other side of Satellite. They were the ones who taught me about duel runners. They were all taken to the facility when Sector Security discovered the duel runner they had been making."
"Did they ever get out?" Martha said, concerned.
"Oh, yeah, there fine. I come by every once and a while."
"Well that's nice. Would you two like to come in and eat?"
"Sure." We followed her into the house and to the dining room. She got us each a bowl of soup. "So besides the fact that you're both ten years younger, is anything else wrong?"
"Not really. We did a small check of New Domino City, and nothing had changed."
"Well, I must say I somewhat envy you. How I would love to lose ten years."
We all heard another duel runner approach the house. "Crow's here!" One of the children said.
We all went outside to see Crow take his helmet off. He, like us, was ten years younger. "Hey, Yusei, Martha!"
"Ah, Crow, so nice to see you again," Martha said, giving him a hug.
Crow looked at Alice. "Who's the Yusei doppelganger?"
"Crow, this is my twin Alice," I said.
"Twin? Since when did you have a twin?"
"What, do you find it freaky to have more than one Yusei?" She said, putting her arm around me.
"Honestly, yes."
"He's freaked out too," she said, smiling at me. "You would think after you people save the world nothing would surprise you, but one long lost relative shows up and you're completely thrown off."
"Martha, has anyone else shown up yet?" I asked her.
"No. Are the others coming?"
"Yep. Once they all get here we'll try to figure out what's going on."
"Yusei!"
We turned to see Jack flying towards us on his duel runner. Carly was on it behind him. They too were ten years younger.
He skidded to a halt. "You want to explain what's going on?"
"Want to, yes," Alice said, "Can we? No."
He stared. "Who are you?"
"Alice. Twin sister of Yusei. Explain later."
He blinked. "Well all right then."
Carly got off the runner. "I know you people say I turbo dueled Jack, but duel runners freak me out."
"Are Akiza, Luna, and Leo here yet?" Jack asked.
"Not yet. They'll be the last ones," I said.
That's when we heard the next duel runner. Akiza, with Leo in front of her and Luna behind her, came riding up. It had happened to them too. "So does anyone have a clue what's going on?" Akiza asked once she reached us.
"Nope, but since we're all here, we might be able to find out," I said.
"Um, Yusei," Luna said, "why is there a girl version of you?"
"Why don't we all go inside to talk?" Martha suggested.
We all followed Martha back to the dining room. "You all go ahead and start your meeting. I'll start making some more food."
"Okay, first off, why don't you explain your sister?" Jack suggested.
"Wait, this is your sister?" Akiza said, shocked.
"Well, twin, if you want to be specific," Alice said. "I'm Alice."
Everyone leaned forward and looked at us. "Does anyone see any major differences besides the basics?" Crow asked.
"Her face is a little softer," Carly noted.
"The mark on her face is on the opposite side," Leo said.
"Other than that, nothing," Jack said.
I looked at Alice, and she looked at me. "Hey, what do you know, our marks do look the same," Alice said.
"I didn't really pay attention. You went to the facility?"
"Yeah, I kind of stole a Sector Security duel runner."
"Before we launch into that fascinating story," Jack said, "does anyone have any clue whatsoever as to what's going on?"
"I don't know," Luna said, "but there's something wrong with the Spirit World."
"Spirit World?" Alice asked.
"Luna is able to communicate with duel spirits," I explained.
"Wait, Luna, didn't something like this happen when you went to save Ancient Fairy Dragon?" Leo asked. "You know, the whole de-aging thing?"
"Yes, but that isn't what's wrong."
"Then what is?" Akiza asked.
"I'm not completely sure, but it has something to do with the Divine Beasts."
"The what?" I asked.
"You mean you haven't heard of them?" Alice said. "They're more commonly known as the Egyptian God Cards."
"That name I know."
"So your saying something is wrong with them?" Carly said.
"Yep," Luna said. "I've been trying to figure out what, but very few duel spirits ever see them."
Martha came back in with a bunch of children. They were all carrying loads of food. "Dinner's ready."
We all thanked her and started to eat. She looked out the window. "It looks like it's going to rain."
Right after she said that, a downpour started to happen. "Odd," Alice said. "Did the weather call for rain today?"
"Since when are the weathermen right?" Leo asked.
Some of the younger children started to look scared. "It'll be fine, children," Martha reassured them.
"Yeah, rain is a good thing," Alice said. "In fact," she pulled an ipod out of her pocket. "I know a song about rain that deals with a duel monsters legend. A legend of the greatest turbo duelist ever, and the duel spirit that was his partner."
Alice launched into the story, eventually turning on her ipod, where a slow, sad song had started to play.
"She's a sweet girl," Martha said. "You're lucky to have her as a sister." I smiled, and nodded.
Luna frowned for a moment. "What is it, Kuribon?" She paused for a moment, then her eyes widened. "That's not an ordinary storm! That's two duel monsters!"