TWO POINT ZERO

AN: Ok… Here's chapter ten…Now, I don't know how long I'm gonna do this "Neo Darkness" arc, but hopefully it'll be for a good few chapters before I can do some fillers. Anyway, here's what's up… Looks like we now know that Serena was duelling her mother all along. Maybe because of this, she lost, and now she's on the side of the bad guys… So, it's the same disclaimer as always. HERE WE GO!

Chapter 10: Storm Clouds Gather

"Well done, Sandy." The leader said. "Your daughter will make an excellent soldier for the Neo Darkness."

"I'll make sure of that myself, my lord." Sandy replied. "Right now, I wanna know who the next target is."

"Hm… How about one of the boys she happens to like?" the leader asked. "How about the one in the dark jacket? He'll be perfect for us."

"It will be done… Serena will win." Sandy answered.

"For soon, darkness will reign…" The leader said, with a laugh.

Back at Duel Academy, Rick tried to stretch out, but his back was too painful from hitting a wall twice. "Oh man… my back's killing me!" He said.

"No duh." Eric replied. "You've got thrown into a wall twice in one day!"

"Yeah, private." Ray said as he walked in. "You should be lucky you aren't paralyzed!" Of course, with his dad being an army type, he had inherited the same mannerisms. "So, how are we gonna rescue Serena?"

"I've been asking myself the same thing." Rick replied. "Heck, I just might go in there myself."

"No way, no how, private." Ray said. "If you even get caught by a night watchman, you'll be expelled."

"Chance I'm willing to take, dude." Rick replied as Ray left.

Meanwhile, at the blue dorm, Tim was thinking about the events that happened. 'The Serena I know wouldn't have thrown Rick into a wall or talk to her friends that way.' It was then that ojama yellow showed up.

"What are you thinking about boss?" He asked.

"What I'm thinking about is a way to get in the hideout of the neo darkness and rescuing Serena." Tim answered.

"Easier said than done, boss!" Ojama green replied. "That fortress over there is scary and well-guarded!"

"You think I don't know that guys?!" Tim yelled, a little bit agitated. "I know my dad said that you guys were annoying, but you guys are annoying times three! Now go back into the deck and don't come out for a long while!" He said as he thought, 'I don't even know why my dad would give me this deck if he knew how annoying you guys were.' He then checked to see if Steve and Pauly were asleep, changed into some black clothing and grabbed his duel disk and deck among other things. He then snuck out of the dorms.

Meanwhile, Rick changed into some dark clothing of his own, tied a black headband around his head and grabbed his duel disk and deck. He put a folded piece of paper that said, "Eric" on the nightstand near the beds, and then walked out. It was a few feet away from the Neo Darkness base that he bumped into Tim.

"Geez, moneybags! What are you doing here?" Rick asked.

"More like 'what are YOU doing here?'" Tim replied. "Well?"

"Trying to rescue Serena, what does it look like?" Rick said.

"That's funny. It's more like you wanna get captured, and then have ME rescue Serena." Tim replied.

"Back off, richie rich." Rick said.

"Hey, you wanna get caught because you said too much, fine." Tim replied, before he got serious. "But I think we'll have a much better chance to rescue Serena if we work together. Besides, I know a little bit of ninjutsu."

"You know ninjutsu?" Rick asked. He never thought of Tim as a ninja before.

"Yeah." Tim answered. "You remember that martial arts camp before Duel Academy, right?" he asked.

"I remember." Rick answered. "You dragged me, Eric and Adriana to it. Why weren't you at the post-camp party?"

"Got myself kicked out because I got caught during a panty raid with some of the other ninjutsu freaks. Camp master gave me an ultimatum: Tell us who was behind this, and you'll get off easy. I kept quiet, and I got expelled." He explained as the two snuck into the fortress.

Rick then had a vision of Tim as a ninja trying to steal panties from Bobbi or Serena. Shuddering, he shook it off, and followed him. "But what if we get caught, Mr. panty-stealing-ninja-wannabe?" He asked.

"Then we duel our way to where they're keeping Serena." Tim answered as he brandished his duel disk.

"Now there's a martial art I'd master in a heartbeat." Rick said as he put on his duel disk. "But still, if you lose and become a member of this travelling circus and sideshow, I won't be rescuing you."

"I wouldn't expect it, guy." Tim replied as a sentry heard their footsteps. Tim found a dark corner, and they waited for the guard to pass. "In fact, if I do get tangled up in a duel, get out of here, and find the others."

"Nice to see you're actually stepping out of your shell, pal." Rick said.

Meanwhile, Eric woke up, and saw the bed beside him was empty. He saw the note, and said to himself, "Oh no." He changed into his gear, grabbed his duel disk, and knocked on Adriana's door.

Adriana woke up, and not caring that she was still in a negligee, opened the door. "Eric, what's up with the after hours meeting?"

Eric just looked at her, agape, but shook it off, and gave Adriana the letter. "Oh no, Michelle's gonna be pissed." She went back into the room to get Michelle and told her everything.

"Rick went to the Neo Darkness base to try and rescue Serena." Adriana explained.

"WHAT?" Michelle yelled.

"Rick went to the Neo Darkness base to rescue Serena." Adriana repeated.

"Oh great. I gotta get my little brother out of another mess?" Michelle said, agitated. Eric waited outside as the girls changed. Then the three went to the bluff where the Neo Darkness headquarters were. Along the way, they were stopped by Steve.

"Oy mates. Any of you know by any chance where Tim is?" Steve asked.

"He's off trying to rescue Serena with my brother." Michelle answered.

"Oh boy. Probably won't go so well." Steve replied. "Come on." He said as the rest of the crew followed him.

Meanwhile, both boys saw Sandy walk out of a room, and Rick said, "This could be it."

"Ya sure?" Tim asked.

"Definitely." Rick answered.

"All right. I'll get the door." Tim answered.

"We do this together." Rick replied. "On three. One, two… THREE!" Both boys charged at the door, shoulder first, and Serena saw them.

"Ah… you say you're here to rescue me." Serena said.

"That's right." Tim replied.

"What if I don't want to be rescued?" Serena asked.

"Then we'll duel you." Rick answered, and brandished his disk, but Tim stopped him.

"Don't." Tim said. "I'll handle this. Get out of here, and find the others."

"But…" Rick replied.

"No buts." Tim fired back. "Go!" Rick just nodded and ran the opposite direction. He then turned to Serena. "I don't want to do this… you don't want to do this."

"I don't have a choice in the matter." Serena said as both their disks activated. "Neither do you, Timothy."

"I'll save you… No matter what you say!" Tim yelled.

"We'll see about that." Serena replied.

END CHAPTER

Well… It looks like the girl that Tim's been crushing on is his opponent… how will this end? R&R!