---The Tops---

WHAM!

She got up, throwing the sheets aside and grabbed her night robe. She stormed down the stairs and pounded the light switch.

"Seriously! Zen, can't you be more quiet?!"

He stood up, laughing lightly. "Sorry. Did I wake you again?"

"It's five in the morning. When did you go to sleep?"

"Three yesterday afternoon." Zen gave a crooked smile, pulling his hair back into it's ribbon. "Besides, this Runner's almost up! I've got it to the point where it runs, but I dropped a wrench on it, heh." He held up the Monkey Wrench. "I was trying to get the tools off it and I dropped it."

Lez sighed and ruffled her hair a bit before she sat on the only chair. "Do you ever give up on dreams like these?"

"It's these kinds of dreams that got us this far." Zen suddenly covered his mouth. "No! I'm sorry!"

Lez's eyes were watering. She looked at her hands before she let her fists relax. Tears started coming. "These.... dreams?"

Zen jumped the stairs and knelt just below her. "No, Lez, don't cry. I didn't mean that. The dreams you had are much different, but I always dreamed of being with my best friend." He gently kissed her forehead. "You're not where you belong, I understand that. I'm sorry to say what I said."

Lez's crying slowed, but she was still shaking, holding herself. "I wish.... I wish someone could stop this shaking." She clutched her arm tighter. It was as if she were trying to forget a long forgotten memory, but Zen knew better. Lez was trying to forget the man she'd loved and how harsh his hands were. She was trying to forget her father and her boyfriend.

Zen sighed and then picked her up. "I'll take you on a ride with my Duel Runner. Let's go see the rest of New Domino." He carried her down the steps.

Despite their differences, Lez and Zen acted more like twins than anything else. Zen, looking so feminine for a man, loved to play Duel Monsters and had a thing for building stuff from scrap. Lez, looking like a run-way model rather than a girl, wasn't a great Duelist and had a knack for the arts. The two of them made a make-shift family for each other. It was hard, but they'd went from scraps in the Satellite to a paid job to a place in New Domino to the Tops. The life they had wasn't sweet.

Lez still woke, screaming in the night, crying for an angel, a saving grace to come and rescue her from her nightmares.

It was a constant in their lives. Now, nearly a year after they joined the privileged, Lez discovered she had a brain tumor that was killing her, slowly. If she could find a way to get it removed, she would. But the constant was her nightmares, making things worse. Lez was obviously dying, and you could see it in her eyes.

But tonight, Zen took her out for a long drive in the night. The cool air rocked her to her own slumber. But just as he was turning to head home, the mark on his neck inflamed and he could see, on the road, the green glow of his seal. He looked back at Lez, and she was clutching her right shoulder. The pains weren't dying and Zen felt horrible, dragging Lez back, into battle. He was about to ignore it when he spotted Kururu.

He was hard to miss. He had blond hair streaked with blue. He always wore his favorite yellow jacket. That made him hard to miss.

Zen stopped the Runner. "Must we? She's not feeling well."

"It's not for the Signers. The Dark Signers have summoned us. We can't ignore that. Once we find an opening, we must take them down. Time to don the wings and halo, guys." Kururu pushed off the wall and stood tall. "This is going to be our chance to stop this." He reached down and touched the top of Lez's head. "We'll find your angel soon. I promised each of you something, now, I'm going to find him. You, go with Zen and the others and get the job done."

Lez held a fist behind her back. "R-right."

---Jack's apartment---

He watched the little blond guy walk right up to Yusei. He'd just let the guy in, without asking a question. It was like he'd known this guy was coming.

"What do you want?" Yusei asked.

The blond guy held out his hand, the glint from his glasses making it impossible to see his eyes. "There's someone I would like you to save. She's not quite dying, but her heart has certainly died." He didn't say a word, he just waited for a long five minutes. "Fudo, you may not realize it now, but you've seen her, twice, now. I saw you react to her eyes. Maybe, if she keeps saving you, you'll end up in her debt, rather than the other way around." He lowered his hand. "It takes a man to know his weakness. But a woman can't admit her feelings all the time. That's what makes her weak."

The man was heading for the door when Rex asked the question that hung in the air.

"My name?" The man smiled and his glasses slid down his nose to reveal bright red eyes. "My name is Kururu. I'm a Guardian. ja ne." He waved as he left.

Jack just watched him leave. As the door finally clicked, the air was suddenly charged, like energy was running through everyone. It felt like Leo stood in the middle of the room. It was like his joy and enthusiasm was charging everyone. Leo seemed to be right there and then nowhere.

"There's something up," Luna said. "We have to know what he means by 'I am a Guardian'!"

Rex bit his thumb nail as he looked out the dark windows. He knew something and Jack jumped at it.