Thanks goes to PLSAC and Eunice Pacheco for reviewing the last chapter, and 4fireking for reviewing the prologue.

**So, despite the fact that I got less sleep this past weekend than the one before, I have managed to write this chapter! It has a rather… evil ending, by the way. Just setting up the stage for all of the Dark Signers to be, well, Dark Signers**

Warning: Violence, definitely. And death. Quite a bit of death.

Chapter 8

"WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT?!" I shout in disbelief. No… There's no way Crow would ever become a Dark Signer. Nope, no chance at all. And yet… That just happened. I take a deep breath and sit back down. "Why… Why would he…?"

"You'll learn why when the time comes for the Duel between the other you and Crow," Goodwin replies.

"Figures," I mutter. "You know, if something like this happens to Yusei, I'm going to break something."

"So you would prefer your brother staying dead for good?"

I widen my eyes in realization. "Yes… No… I don't know! I guess I don't want Yusei having to suffer through something like being a Dark Signer. I've seen Misty, Kalin, and Devak since after they came back. They weren't the same." I think about that for a second. "Carly doesn't count, she doesn't remember what happened."

"Hmm," he hums and nods in agreement. "Well, you would like to see the outcome of the Duel, correct?"

"Not that I haven't already guessed how it plays out, but yeah. It'll get me closer to the answers I want."

XXX

"I activate my Field Spell Fenix Colosseum! Its effect lets me send a Fenix monster from my Deck to the Graveyard during each of my End Phases. I'll end my turn with two face-down cards," the Dark Signer finishes, the holograms of two cards showing up in front of him. The entire field also surrounds itself in a fiery version of the Roman Colosseum. "This lets me send Fenix-Mistral the Crimson Shield to the Graveyard."

"My turn!" Kalin declares. He draws his card and smiles. "I just got Infernity Archfiend and because I have no cards in my hand, I can activate his ability! This lets me Special Summon him, and because he was Special Summoned, I can add another Infernity card from my Deck to my hand."

Infernity Archfiend ATK: 1800, DEF: 1200, Level 4

The monster that appears has orange hair that sticks straight up to a point over his light purple face. A darker shade of purple makes up the creature's clothing, and a blue cage-like structure that loops around in the back rests in the air around the monster's chest.

"I'm choosing to add Infernity Destroyer to my hand," Kalin continues, a card coming out of his Deck and into his hand. A faint glow appears, and the cards that he had banished with the effect of Phantom Hand return. "Now I'll release Infernity Archfiend to Summon Infernity Destroyer!"

Infernity Destroyer ATK: 2300, DEF: 1000, Level 6

A large monster in black armor appears. There is some white covering on parts of the armor, with an intricate orange design sticking out, one on each side of the monster.

"I activate my Continuous Spell Infernity Launcher! This lets me discard an Infernity monster once per turn, and when I have no cards in my hand, I can destroy it and Special Summon two Infernity monsters from my Graveyard," he explains. "I'm using the first effect right now, and discarding Infernity Beetle."

With one card in his hand, he can't activate the second effect. But… "I'll activate the effect of Phantom Hand again, making my hand zero again, and I can activate the second effect of my Spell! I send it to the Graveyard and revive Infernity Archfiend and Infernity Beetle!"

Infernity Beetle ATK: 1200, DEF: 0, Level 2

The two monsters appear in a flash of light. "This triggers Archfiend's ability, and I add a Spell, Infernity Blast, to my hand. But it won't be there for long, because I'm going to activate it! I still have no cards in my hand, and this card inflicts 300 points of damage to you for every Infernity monster on my field," Kalin explains with a grin.

Crow snarls as the blast hits him and his dragon loses most of its extra power. "You'll pay for that!"

Crow's Life Points: 2800; Black Fenix Dragon ATK and DEF: 1900

"Infernity Destroyer, attack Black Fenix Dragon!" Kalin orders.

The armored monster starts to charge up a beam and shoots a pulse of black at the dragon. An explosion envelops the monster and Crow, but when it vanishes both Crow and his dragon are still standing, and something small and red hits Kalin, hard.

Crow's Life Points: 2400; Kalin's Life Points: 1700; Black Fenix Dragon ATK and DEF: 2200

'What could that have been?' Sky thinks. Kalin's attack should have gone off without fail, and what damaged him?

Crow dusts off his outfit. "Hmph, I activated the effect of Fenix-Jetstream the Amber Sky. By discarding it, I saved my dragon from destruction and you took 1500 points of damage for your troubles."

"Next time, then," Kalin says. "And next time won't be much longer, because I Tune my Level 2 Infernity Beetle with my Level 6 Infernity Destroyer! The dead and the living… The moment they meet at zero, above the cage of eternity, the demonic dragon comes out! Synchro Summon! Come forth, Infernity Doom Dragon!"

Infernity Doom Dragon ATK: 3000, DEF: 2400, Level 8

A grotesque black dragon appears, its wings much more frayed than the one already on the field. The dragon's two main arms end with pincers for hands, and there is a smaller arm underneath the right one. On the top of the monster's head, there appears to be what looks like a mop minus the handle.

"Since I Summoned Infernity Doom Dragon after the Battle Phase, that still fulfils the requirements of its effect-it can't have declared battle this turn, and I have to have zero cards in my hand. Then I get to destroy a monster you control, and you take damage equal to half its Attack Points," Kalin continues.

The grotesque dragon lets loose a powerful blast that strikes Crow's dragon, continues through it, and envelops Crow in a blast of light.

Crow's Life Points: 1300

"Crow!" Sky shouts, still worried for her friend despite the fact that right now, he's her enemy.

The ginger stands up and glares at Sky. "Like you care about what happens to me! You're the one that made me like this! You killed me just so you could try and kill Kalin!"

"Crow… I… I still care!" Sky protests. She stops and shakes her head. "You're one to talk… Now you're trying to do what I apparently couldn't."

He curls his hand into a fist. "This is different! I activate the effect of my Black Fenix Dragon! When it's destroyed, I can add a certain card from my Deck to my hand!"

A card comes out of the Deck, and Sky shivers as Crow takes it. 'Is that card what I think it is?'

"Now I activate my Trap Fenix Revenge! This card forces the end of turn when a Fenix monster is destroyed, and it lets me Special Summon two Fenix Tokens to replace the monster that was destroyed."

Fenix Token (x2) ATK: 0, DEF: 0, Level 1

Two small flames in the shape of birds appear next to Crow. "It's too bad for you, Kalin, 'cause that was your last turn!" The Dark Signer draws his card and grins.

"What makes you so sure about that?" Kalin demands.

"Oh, because the card I added to my hand is this! I release my two tokens and... After five thousand years of slumber in the flames, it is time for you to return and plunge this world into darkness! Advent, Earthbound Immortal Kurai Fenikkusu!"

The purple flames seem to glow brighter, and above the center of the mark appears a giant stone shaped like a heart. The stone heart appears to beat once, twice, three times, each time a pulse vibrating through the air. Black smoke starts to gather into the rock, until it beats one more time. A flash of light envelops the rock in a huge column, and the monster that comes out of it is a black bird, about 80 feet tall, with a hooked beak, its tail like flames, and red-orange lines all over its body.

Earthbound Immortal Kurai Fenikkusu ATK: 2700, DEF: 3000, Level 10

Sky takes in a deep breath and steps back, holding her arm with the Mark of the Dragon on it. The mark hurts worse than before, now that one of the Earthbound Immortals has shown itself. 'That could have been me, controlling one of those monsters.'

"See this card Kalin? This is your end! And once I'm allowed to Duel you, it'll be your end as well, Sky!" Crow shouts and laughs maniacally. "Earthbound Immortal Kurai Fenikkusu is immune to all Spell and Trap cards you control, and it can attack you directly!"

'But that means…!' Sky thinks, realizing what will happen. "Kalin, no!"

"Kurai Fenikkusu, attack him directly with Netherworld Flames!" Crow orders.

The giant bird screeches, and a large ball of purple flames appears in the sky, right above the icy-blue haired man. The fireball falls to earth… and Kalin disappears inside of it.

Sky starts to run towards Kalin, but both Jack and Shoshan hold her back. "No! No! I can't lose another friend!" she shouts, struggling to get free. "KALIN!"

Kalin's Life Points: 0. Winner: Crow Hogan (Goodwin).

She jerks free from their arms and runs at the same time a shadow passes over the two Duelists. It goes away, and both Crow and Kalin are gone. "Kalin…"

XXX

I sigh and rub my forehead. Yep, the outcome of the Duel was exactly what I expected. But that Earthbound Immortal is definitely new. "Hey, why is that… Kurai Fenikkusu was it? Why is that thing an Earthbound Immortal in the other world, and yet not in ours?"

For a second, Rex doesn't say anything. Then he says, "There, ah, there was a Dark Signer for Kurai Fenikkusu. He didn't agree with being a Dark Signer and, well… Forced Kalin to Duel him. And lost."

"Do I know this person?"

"You do."

"But you're not going to tell me who it is, are you?"

"I'm not allowed to," Goodwin replies.

I groan again. "Great," I say sarcastically. "I really don't like this…"

XXX

Why Kalin? Why did one of the Earthbound Immortals have to choose him? And why did they also have to choose Crow? Did they want her to have a nervous breakdown? She really can't take much more of this…

Sky, Jack, and Shoshan are back in Neo Domino after the Shadow Duel. Her father was slightly upset, but happy that she is safe. And, in the middle of telling them exactly what happened, Sky stops and screams. Her vision fades to black for a second. It returns in a place she doesn't recognize until…

~XXX~

Carly took good care of her car. And she was naturally a safe drive. However, 'naturally safe' doesn't cover if someone riding a Duel Runner randomly darts in front of her while on the highway. The impact was really loud, but only really damaged the Duel Runner and its rider.

She sits there for a few moments, trying to digest what just happened. Then common sense kicks in, and she calls Sector Security. When someone answers, she immediately starts panicking. "Oh my gosh, I just hit someone! They darted in front of me for no apparent reason, and the crash made a really awful sound…"

"Ma'am," a male voice says from the other end, "calm down. Can you see if the driver of the other vehicle is alright?"

"Mhmm." She gets out of her car—thank goodness it's late at night and not likely for any cars to come past—and walks over to the crashed Duel Runner. Its rider was thrown several feet away, and lay face-down on the pavement. His outfit, though, makes Carly have to hold back the comment of 'Geez, is it Halloween or something?' It's this weird black robe with blue lines on it. She bends down and rolls the guy over. His helmet obscures most of his face. "Hey, are you alright?" she asks.

Part of the mystery man's face that is still visible is his mouth, and it curves up into an evil grin. "Oh, I'm perfectly fine. Can't say the same about you, though." Something flashes in his hand, and Carly barely has time to realize it's a knife before the guy plunges it into her chest.

~XXX~

"CARLY!" Sky screams. "Not again, not another one. Why does it have to be everyone I care about?!"

"What are you talking about?" Jack demands.

Sky looks down. "The Dark Signers have claimed her…"

To be continued…

Me: Why must my muses do stuff like this?

Sky: I don't know, but I really wish they didn't.

Me: Same here! Especially after how well last weekend went… It was my band director's birthday, and my band got first in everything in our class except for Drum Major. I wish we could have gotten like, third overall, but since my band is 2A, and rather outnumbered by the sheer amount of people in the 3A, 4A, 5A, and sometimes 6A bands, it's not really possible. Still, we got a lot of awards.

Sky: Good for you, then. But that doesn't explain why your muses would come up with something like this! *Waves her arms at my computer screen*

Me: *Shrugs* I dunno. I do know that they like reviews, especially when someone who hasn't already reviewed leaves one. But they also like returning reviewers. Also, as long as you're signed in, I try to respond to any questions you might have as long as it doesn't involve spoilers. Just gotta keep you guys hanging. So, if you loved it, hated it, or need some clarification on something, please leave a review! They are my friendly friends!