"How did you get behind us?" Tasha demanded.

"I'd heard there were some vermin scurrying around that no one else could be bothered to deal with, so I decided to act as pest control." The man replied.

"That didn't answer my question at all." Tasha growled.

"Oh, you're more interested in the how than the why. Well, with my abilities it was child's play." The man replied, holding up a copy of Emergency Teleport.

"So, you're acting as 'pest control'?" Tasha asked.

"I do believe I just said that, yes."

"Well… if I defeat you in a duel, will you let us go?" Tasha asked.

"Now why in the world would I do something like that?" The copper haired man chuckled.

"Any honorable duelist would agree to a proposal like that." Tasha countered.

"What makes you think I care about honor? Honestly, I'm surprised I haven't sent you into the void already." The glasses wearing man laughed.

"The void?" Travis asked.

"I don't know if it really is a void or if it's a field of flowers, but that's what we call it when we… 'remove' people using cards like Dimensional Prison and Dark Core. We don't know where those people go and we have no desire to find out." The copper-haired man explained while shrugging his shoulders.

"Well… you wouldn't have anything to lose by dueling me. It could at least kill some time for you." Tasha offered, desperate to find a way to stall this guy while she thought of a plan.

"Hmm… I have been rather bored, and everyone else has been occupied recently. I can still just get rid of you after the duel anyway. Very well, I shall indulge you in your final request for a duel." The copper-haired man said, activating his duel disk. "My name is Shawn Kujima. You need not bother telling me your name Tasha, I already know it."

"…How?" Tasha asked, lowering her duel disk carrying arm slightly.

"Do not underestimate my power; I will caution you against that right now." Shawn smirked, adjusting his glasses slightly.

"Uh… let's just duel already." Tasha grumbled, raising her arm again.

"Very well."

"Duel!"

[Tasha: 8000 / Shawn: 8000]

"I'll start things off!" Tasha growled, looking through her opening hand. "I set one monster face-down, and two cards face-down and pass it off to you." Tasha finished.

"Draw." Shawn paused for a few moments and stared at Tasha's three reversed cards, then at the girl herself. A small smirk crossed his face as he slid a card onto his duel disk. "I summon Serene Psychic Witch." Shawn stated.

A woman wearing white headphones with pink hair and a pink outfit appeared in front of the copper-haired man. The woman held a strange pinkish device in both of her hands that were connected to each other by a thin pink wire. [ATK: 1400]

"Serene Psychic Witch attacks your set Gusto Gulldo." Shawn ordered.

Her set card exploded, revealing a small teal bird wearing a brown helmet. The bird flapped weakly, and then faded from sight.

"When Gusto Gulldo was sent from the field to the graveyard, I can special summon a level two or lower Gusto monster from my deck. I'll summon Gusto Egul in defense position." Tasha explained.

A small hunter green bird appeared in Gulldo's place, folding its wings over its face and turning blue. [DEF: 400]

"How did you know my set card was Gulldo?" Tasha asked.

"Call it a lucky guess." Shawn chuckled. "I set one card face-down and end my turn."

Wait… he uses Psychic monsters, and he's with the Arcadia Movement… what if he has some actual Psychic abilities? Tasha wondered. She saw Shawn smirk slightly and grimaced, thinking that just might have been the case. But she had to continue anyway.

"I summon Musto, Oracle of Gusto!" Tasha declared.

A small breeze blew through the hallway and the green-robed Musto silently appeared. Musto held a wooden staff with a green jewel on the top, surrounded by leaves. The man had short green hair and a matching beard, which framed his stern face nicely. [ATK: 1800]

"Musto, attack Serene Psychic Witch!" Tasha ordered.

Musto raised his hand and held the palm towards the Psychic monster. Instantly, a powerful blast of wind struck the pink witch and sent her flying all the way into the wall at the end of the hallway, where her hologram exploded.

[Tasha: 8000 / Shawn: 7600]

"Hmph, so the first blood went to you. It doesn't matter. When Serene Psychic Witch is destroyed, I can remove one Psychic-type monster with 2000 or less attack points from my deck, and then special summon it during my Standby Phase." Shawn explained, smiling slightly.

"I end my turn." Tasha finished.

"Draw. Now, during my Standby Phase, I can special summon the removed Silent Psychic Wizard."

A black portal formed in front of Shawn, and from it emerged Silent Psychic Wizard. The wizard had a large, light blue triangular helmet with his chest and arms being the same color. Strange green markings ran along the wizard's body, and it used both of its hands to hold a strange staff-like weapon. [ATK: 1900]

"But don't concern yourself with him, since I'm going to tribute him to summon Overdrive Teleporter." Shawn continued.

Silent Psychic Wizard was replaced by a lightly taller human. This one had red hair that was almost purple, and had a set of white-and-gold headphones on its ears that held a green visor over the Psychic's eyes. It wore a white cloak, with odd golden marks running along it. [ATK: 2100]

"Now, this is the fun part. By paying 2000 life points, I can special summon two level three Psychic monsters from my deck. The catch is that this effect can only be used once while he's face-up on the field, and that he can't be special summoned." Shawn explained as a red aura surrounded him.

[Tasha: 8000 / Shawn: 5600]

"Come forth, Psychic Commander! Hushed Psychic Cleric!"

Overdrive Teleporter raised both of its arms and a set of green portals appeared on either side of him. From the first emerged a soldier in pale green clothes with a black visor over its four eyes who piloted a floating tank. [ATK: 1400] From the other emerged Hushed Psychic Cleric. The man had very short grey hair, and a matching beard. The man's eyes were covered by a strange white device with golden markings on it, and its robe was almost identical to the one worn by Overdrive Teleporter. [ATK: 0]

"Now, Hushed Psychic Cleric's effect. By sending one card from my hand to the graveyard, I can remove one Psychic-type monster in my graveyard from play. Then, when Hushed Psychic Cleric is sent to the graveyard I can special summon a monster removed by this effect." Shawn explained. The copper-haired man sent a card from his hand to the graveyard, then immediately removed that same card from play.

"If he destroys Egul, she can get Winda, who can get Gulldo. She has three copies of each in her deck, so she can protect herself from up to eight attacks with that loop, and then one additional from whatever one is destroyed last." Travis noted as he saw Shawn's monster count rising.

"What if she runs out of recruiters?" Kali asked.

"Heh, you don't know how the Gusto play do you? Most of their card effects involve refilling your deck with cards from your graveyard. Heck, she could've put Gulldo back into the deck with Musto if she'd felt like it." Travis chuckled. Kali merely nodded in response.

"Now, I tune my level three Hushed Psychic Cleric to my level three Psychic Commander!" Shawn called as the two monsters rose into the air. "The discord of frenzied thoughts shall give you life! Feed on them and grow! Synchro Summon! Consume, Psychic Nightmare!"

Nightmare was the perfect word to describe the new monster. It had a purple body, with a set of large wings behind its spiked shoulders. It flexed its clawed hands while quietly laughing to itself, its wild green hair releasing a few strange sparks. [ATK: 2400]

"Now, since Hushed Psychic Cleric has left the field I can special summon the Master Gig I removed." The glasses wearer smirked.

A black portal formed to the left of Overdrive Teleporter. From it came an odd looking, egg-shaped creature with a white mask-like face. The creature's upper-body was black, and the lower part was dark grey with a green crystal in the middle of its chest. Several white spikes jutted out of the creature's body around the crystal, forming a circle around Gig's body. [ATK: 2800]

"Master Gig has an effect that lets me destroy monsters you control equal to the number of face-up Psychic monsters on my field." Shawn explained.

"So you can't actually use it then…" Kali said quietly.

"Sharp. Since the card says 'equal to' not 'up to', I have to destroy three monsters. No more, no less. But I can remedy that by discarding Time Escaper, who lets me remove one Psychic-type monster I control from play until my next Standby Phase." The copper-haired duelist explained, pushing his glasses farther up his nose.

A black portal formed behind Overdrive Teleporter, who turned and entered it with the portal closing behind him immediately. With two monsters on both side of the field, the mask like face of Master Gig seemed to smile slightly.

"Now, at the cost of 1000 life points… Master Gig, destroy her monsters!" Shawn ordered, pointing towards the green creatures.

The red eyes of the Master began to glow, and three bolts of green lightning fell from above. Two struck the Gusto monsters, while the final one hit Gig's controller, who didn't seem fazed in the slightest.

[Tasha: 8000 / Shawn: 4600]

"Now, Psychic Nightmare's effect. I can select one random card in your hand and guess if it is a monster, spell or trap. If I guess correctly, Psychic Nightmare gains 1000 attack points until your End Phase," Shawn began. The Psychic duelist raised a finger and pointed towards Tasha. "The card on the left. It's Reeze, Whirlwind of Gusto."

A hologram of the card appeared, revealing that it was in fact, Reeze. Travis, Tasha and Kali gasped as Psychic Nightmare absorbed the cards image, growing significantly in size. [ATK: 2400 - 3400]

"You're cheating! You knew what my set card was, and you can see the cards in my hand!" Tasha shouted.

"Oh come on now, we both know you know what's going on here." Shawn scoffed.

"You-" Tasha paused. You… can read my mind? She wondered in an attempt to confirm her theory. In response, Shawn nodded.

"I'm not cheating. To me, it's as if I'm just listening to you list off the cards in your hand and on the field as you draw or play them." Shawn explained.

"Tasha, what's he going on about?" Travis asked.

"This guy… can read minds… he's a literal psychic duelist…" Tasha said quietly.

"No way…" Travis mumbled in disbelief.

"So he'll know what every card she draws is… she won't be able to plan out an effective strategy like this…" Kali said quietly.

"Yes, yes, I can read minds. Moving on." Shawn said impatiently. "I activate my set Pinpoint Shot. I can declare one card name, and if it's in your hand or face-down on the field, it is destroyed. I declare Liberty at Last." Shawn explained, pointing towards the reversed card on Tasha's right.

"You got it right…" Tasha grumbled. Her set card exploded into shimmering holographic fragments, leaving her with one set card left.

"I figured between that and Limit Reverse, it was the greater of two evils. Especially since Limit Reverse requires you to summon the monster in attack position." Shawn chuckled.

"This isn't fair… she's at a clear disadvantage. Her opponent isn't just going to wander into a trap since he knows it's coming." Travis complained.

"Whoever said I was fair? I told you earlier, I don't care much for honor," Shawn laughed. "Now, Psychic Nightmare! Attack her directly! …Or rather, force her to activate Limit Reverse."

Psychic Nightmare charged forward, but as the Psychic monster did Limit Reverse rose up and Gusto Egul blocked the demonic creatures approach. [ATK: 200] With a swift strike from Psychic Nightmare's claws, Egul was destroyed.

[Tasha: 4800 / Shawn: 4600]

"Since Egul was destroyed, I can special summon one level four or lower non-Tuner Gusto monster from my deck. Come forth, Winda!" Tasha called.

Another light breeze blew and a woman dressed in a brown coat with a white shirt underneath appeared. She had green hair that was vaguely resembled Tasha's in color, and held a green staff in one hand. [DEF: 400]

"Gig, get rid of it." Shawn continued.

Gig's eyes flashed and another bolt of green lightning fell from above, striking and destroying Winda. But in the girls place appeared none other than Gusto Gulldo. The teal bird folded its wings over its face and crouched low, taking a defensive stance. [DEF: 500]

"Since Winda was destroyed by my opponents attacking monster, I can special summon a Gusto Tuner from my deck." Tasha explained.

"What a nuisance." Shawn groaned. "I set one card and end my turn."

"Draw! I-"

"I activate Mind Crush! This lets me declare one card name, and if it's in your hand, all copies of it go to the graveyard. If I'm wrong however, I must discard one card." Shawn explained. "But I don't see myself being wrong about this. I already saw that you have Reeze in your hand, and nothing else in your hand is a threat to me. So discard Reeze."

"Fine." Tasha grumbled as she slotted the only monster in her hand to the graveyard. "I'll set three cards face-down and end my turn."

"Psychic Tuning, Battle Mania and Alchemy Cycle… I see… you're going to use Battle Mania to force me to attack, then draw using Alchemy Cycle." Shawn noted.

"You can just see through everything, can't you?" Tasha said with an exasperated sigh.

"Indeed I can. Now, during my Standby Phase Overdrive Teleporter returns." Shawn reminded her.

A black portal opened and the white-robed form of Overdrive Teleporter stepped back out onto the field. [ATK: 2100]

"Wait, I thought Overdrive Teleporter couldn't be special summoned?" Kali asked.

"Oh, that." Shawn said flatly. "Don't pay any mind to it. The wording of Time Escaper doesn't say 'special summon the removed monster' it says 'banish until'. It never says anything about summoning, so Overdrive Teleporter just sort of… appears." Shawn shrugged.

"So since it isn't a Summon the opponent can't use cards like Torrential Tribute… that's pretty helpful, actually." Travis noted.

"Anyway, I move into my Main Phase and you lose the window to activate Battle Mania." Shawn continued. "Now, since he left and then returned, I activate the effect of Overdrive Teleporter! For 2000 life points, I can special summon another two level three Psychic monsters! Come out, Psychic Commander, Mind Protector!" Shawn called as another red aura surrounded him.

[Tasha: 4800 / Shawn: 2600]

Two more portals appeared on the field. From the first came the familiar form of Psychic Commander who appeared on the field wearing a large grin on his face. [ATK: 1400] A golden robot with two objects that resembled gemstones in its palms came out of the second. It had red eyes and light bulbs on the sides of its head. [ATK: 0]

"He's getting pretty low on life points… maybe Tasha can capitalize on this." Travis wondered aloud.

"Now, I tune the level six Overdrive Teleporter to the level three Psychic Commander!" Shawn grinned. "Thoughts of destruction shall rule your mind and fuel your anger! Synchro Summon! Annihilate, Hyper Psychic Blaster!"

A white-and-gold cyborg burst forth from the Synchro gates and landed next to Psychic Nightmare. Hyper Psychic Blaster was tall; at least eight feet. It held one black gun and one white gun, and it raised both of them as it focused on Gulldo with its one, green eye. [ATK: 3000]

"Now, I summon Krebons!" Shawn continued.

A purple and green juggler took the field, laughing quietly as it juggled several transparent green cubes. [ATK: 1200]

"Now, I tune the level three Mind Protector to the level two Krebons!" Shawn grinned as two more of his monsters rose up into the air. "The serenity of a calm mind will sublime your form! Synchro Summon! Restore, Magical Android!"

Magical Android had long red hair and wore an elaborate robe of many different shades of greens and blues. Attached to her shoulders was a blue ring with several green orbs on it. In one hand she held a strange staff and on her other arm was an even stranger blue circular device. [ATK: 2400]

"Now, Hyper Psychic Blaster! Attack Gusto Gulldo!" Shawn declared. "When Hyper Psychic Blaster battles a defense position monster, it inflicts piercing damage! Then, I gain life points equal to that damage!"

The black blaster went off, firing a red stream of energy which vaporized Gulldo and then continued forward to strike Tasha.

[Tasha: 2300 / Shawn: 2600]

Immediately after, the white gun began to suck in a pale green light, which began increasing Shawn's life points. The copper-haired man had a triumphant look on his face, which quickly turned to agitation when he saw the familiar form of Egul appear in Gulldo's place. [DEF: 400]

[Tasha: 2300 / Shawn: 5100]

"I attack with the rest of my monsters!" Shawn snarled.

Psychic Nightmare struck down Egul, but Winda immediately appeared in the birds place. When Magical Android took down Winda, Gulldo appeared. Then when Master Gig brought down a bolt of green lightning that shatter Gulldo's hologram, they returned back to start as new monster, Gusto Grif, a large green griffin wearing armor appeared in Gulldo's place. [DEF: 300]

"What pests." Shawn complained. "I end my turn. Magical Android's effect kicks in now, giving me 600 life points for each Psychic-type monster I control. I have 4, so that's 2400 more life points." Shawn explained as he glowed with a vibrant green aura, a smirk on his face as he adjusted his glasses.

[Tasha: 2300 / Shawn: 7500]

"Still think she can capitalize on my lack of life points?" Shawn laughed as he looked in Travis's direction.

"You've already lost." Tasha smirked.

"What are you going on about?" Shawn growled.

"I activate my face-down Psychic Tuning to special summon the Psychic-type Musto, Oracle of Gusto from my graveyard and treat him as a Tuner." Tasha began.

The tall form of Musto reappeared on the field, another cold wind blowing to signal his presence. [ATK: 1800]

"You're going to Synchro Summon Daigusto Sphreez…" Shawn said slowly as he read Tasha's mind. His eyes widened and he quickly scanned the cards he had left in his hand.

"Bingo! I tune my level four Musto to my level two Gusto Grif!" Tasha announced. "Serene gales will soothe the raging souls! Synchro Summon! Pacify, Daigusto Sphreez!"

As Sphreez's hologram came into being, a powerful gust began to blow through the hallway. Shawn grumbled something to himself as he looked at Sphreez, learning about its effect from Tasha's mind. Sphreez had light green hair that ended in orange tips, much like Reeze's hair. She wore a green-and-teal chest plate and held onto a slim wooden staff that was topped with a green crystal. [ATK: 2000]

"Don't forget the drawback to Psychic Tuning. Since the monster you summoned with it left the field, you take damage equal to its level times 400, for an overall loss of 2000 life points." Shawn reminded her. Tasha grimaced as a red aura surrounded her, leaving her with very few life points left. But to her, it didn't even matter anymore.

[Tasha: 700 / Shawn: 7500]

"Now, for Sphreez's effect. When she is Synchro summoned, I can add one Gusto to my hand. I'll pick Gusto Egul. Now then… I'll end my turn there." Tasha finished.

"Draw!" Shawn declared, growing desperate to find an out to this situation.

"I activate Battle Mania, so all of your monsters are forced to attack this turn!" Tasha declared. "But not only that, I activate Alchemy Cycle to reduce Sphreez's attack points to zero!"

Sphreez began to glow with a violent red aura, falling down to one knee as all of her energy left her body. [ATK: 2000 - 0]

"Damn it!" Shawn cursed.

"What's going on?" Kali asked, unaware of Sphreez's effect.

"My guess is he read Tasha's mind and realized he's done for. You see, Sphreez can't be destroyed by battle. But only that, while she's on the field any battle damage taken involving a Gusto monster is dealt to the opponent instead. He filled up his field with so many powerful monsters, that there's no way he'll make it through the turn." Travis smiled.

"No…" Shawn whispered as looked at his hand. He held Time Escaper, Reinforced Human Borg and Brain Research Lab. Nothing that could get him out of this. Even if he used Time Escaper to remove one monster, between any combinations of the remaining three he still had enough attacking strength to deal over 7500 damage to himself. With Battle Mania, he couldn't even skip his Battle Phase. That left only one option. Weakly, he rose his hand and pointed towards Sphreez. "Attack." He said with a defeated tone.

"Yes! She did it!" Kali cheered.

"Don't get too happy. I told you, I don't have any of this 'duelist pride'. The second my life points hit zero, you're all done for." Shawn said, a slight smile crossing his face.

Hyper Psychic Blaster fired his black blaster towards Sphreez, unleashing a powerful beam of red energy. Gig's eyes glowed, lightning descending from on high towards the Daigusto monster. Psychic Nightmare unleashed a deafening scream, sending sound waves towards the 0-attack point monster. Finally, Magical Android sent a stream of green energy towards the creature.

Sphreez began to twirl her staff, a barrier forming around her. As all the attacks hit it, the barrier grew brighter and brighter. Finally, after all the attacks had hit the barrier, Sphreez thrust her staff forward and unleashed all the stored up energy. It tore across the hallway, destroying all four of Shawn's monster at once and dropping the copper-haired man's life points to zero. But that wasn't all, as the wave of energy traveled down the hallway Tasha followed closely behind it.

[Tasha: 700 / Shawn: 0]

"What a pity. Oh well, no point in dwelling on it." Shawn sighed once his last life point was gone. As he pulled the Dimensional Prison card from his pocket, he looked up and saw Tasha was running towards him.

"Call the elevator!" Tasha shouted. Using her momentum to her advantage, she slammed her fist into Shawn's stomach. The copper-haired man grunted in pain and leaned forward, but Tasha, fearful this wasn't enough to stop him, continued on.

She grabbed the glasses off of Shawn's face and tossed them over his shoulder. She continued by ripping the Dimensional Prison card from his hand and finally, she shoved him to the ground. Shawn cursed loudly and reached around feebly for is glasses. In the background, the elevator dinged.

"It's here!" Travis shouted.

Tasha turned and bolted, running into the elevator and pushing the button for the lobby just as Shawn located his glasses. Shawn shouted something, but Tasha was slamming the 'Close Door' button too feverishly to notice. Shawn began to run forward but the doors closed and shut him out, allowing the group to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Wait… he got to us by using Emergency Teleport… what'll stop him from doing that again?" Kali asked.

"Hello." Shawn said, appearing in the elevator as if on cue.

Travis turned his body and slammed his fist into Shawn's face. Shawn's head hit the wall and then the copper-haired man slumped down, unconscious. Travis turned with a triumphant smile to the shocked faces of Tasha and Kali.

"What? ...He was going to kill us!" Travis protested.

"…True. Anyway, he's just going to come after us again after he wakes up. Since this guy doesn't seem to care about duelist pride I won't feel bad about doing this.…" Tasha began, her voice trailing off as she kneeled over Shawn. She removed his deck and extra deck, shuffling through them and pocketing a number of cards.

Outside the building…

Jared, Everest and Demetri continued their mad dash towards the door, which gradually slowed to a stop at the bottom of the stairs as a single member of the Arcadia Movement exited the door and stood in front of it. Jared was panting heavily as he looked up at the robed woman, who just raised a curious eyebrow.

"What's the hurry, Jared?" The woman asked.

"I… I need to see Rugal…" Jared said with an edge of hostility.

"Uhh… you can see if he's in his office. He might've already gone to the roof with Alyssa and Jehan though." The robed female replied. "Who are these two behind you?"

"…I've appeared to have developed some powers of my own. I was able to get these two over to our side using Change of Heart, but it won't last much longer so I need to see the boss as soon as possible." Jared lied. He was quickly realizing that maybe news that they'd defected hadn't spread beyond Rugal. He had left not wearing his uniform, so him not wearing on right now made sense. He had to play this off right, despite the fact his mind was jumping at the possibility of seeing Alyssa again, he had to keep cool.

"Oh, that's wonderful! You can go on in, I'll just radio up to him that you're on your way." The robed woman smiled.

Jared nodded and ran in, Everest and Demetri in tow. He slammed on the call elevator button as he looked out the glass windows at the front of the lobby. The doors opened and the trio ran in, just as the woman started to shout something.

As they entered, Jared immediately covered the mouth of the first person he saw in the elevator, Everest catching on and doing the same. Demetri meanwhile selected and pushed the highest available number on from the selection.

"Mmmmppf!"

"Hey… wait a minute… This guy was in the Fortune Cup…I know Cain and that other guy were part of Arcadia, but him too? Damn, they have people everywhere." Everest muttered to himself as he looked into Travis's eyes.

"Nope. Look." Demetri said, attempting to use as few words as possibly as he pointed to the unconscious Arcadia member slumped against the wall.

"Huh?" Everest and Jared said in unison. They released their grip on the three and took a step back, trying to give everyone some space in the already packed elevator.

"Yeah! You two geniuses ruined everything! We were about to escape through the lobby, but you three just went ahead and ruined everything!" Tasha shouted, throwing her arms up.

"You wouldn't've gotten far. They have guards outside," Jared started. "So who exactly are you?"

Outside…

"What's gotten you in huff?" Mura asked as the guard as he and Michael ascended the steps towards the building.

"Turns out I just let a traitor into the building. He had two accomplices no less. He took the elevator and I even told him where Rugal was." The woman sighed.

"Jared?" Mura guessed.

"Mhmm."

"I figured as much. We'll handle it." Mura nodded. He stepped up his pace and entered the lobby, immediately turning to the elevator. He whipped out his cellphone and dialed a number, watching the floor number change as he did so. "Hey, stop the elevators. We got some intruders inside." Mura snapped.

The number above the number changed from twenty to twenty-one, and then ceased to increase. Mura smiled and continued to speak. "We'll go deal with them. When I give you the word, send them up to floor twenty-five." Mura said, snapping his phone shut before the voice on the other end could reply. "Well, looks like we have some unexpected visitors. Follow me." Mura said. Michal nodded and the two rushed into the stairwell and began their ascent.

Inside the elevator…

The trio quickly exchanged names and motives among themselves. Kali seemed disheartened at the news of what happened to Michael, but took some solace in the fact that he'd found Jared and his friend was trying to help him. Tasha and Travis were visibly worried about what was going on the city, the two of them having family there. The elevator jolted suddenly and stopped.

"Hmm… they're onto us." Jared murmured, looking at the number of floors. Twenty-one wasn't the top floor, so obviously some outside force had influenced the stop of the elevator.

"You're one of these Arcadia guys. Why can't you just teleport us out of here?" Tasha asked.

"I… don't actually have any powers." Jared mumbled.

"Then why are you-"

"What happened Michael happened to me… and should have happened to me again." Jared said quietly, hanging his head in shame.

"So he's really on their side?" Kali asked.

"Unfortunately. He can still think and possibly talk freely, but he'll do anything they ask him to." Jared answered.

"So… what do you think will happen when they finally decide to 'deal' with us?" Travis asked.

"I'm guessing they'll send us to that 'void' this guy was talking about." Tasha sighed, kicking Shawn's leg.

"Void?" Everest asked.

"Consider it the removed from play zone of real life." Jared said sadly.

The six duelists all fell silent and looked at the ground. The elevator jolted, and resumed its ascent. All eyes watched as the numbers began to climb, before stopping at twenty-five.

"If this is the end, I just want to remind you I love you." Travis said. Tasha smiled and two embraced as the doors slowly opened.

"Welcome!" A voice boomed.

The six stepped out of the elevator, leaving Shawn behind as the doors closed behind them. The floor consisted of one giant room with several duel fields, with two people aside from themselves it. One with black hair and… Michael.

"Just like any good fable, the rag-tag band of heroes makes a final stand against an impossible power. I think it's only sporting to you this chance." Mura smiled.

"Michael!" Jared called, taking a few steps forward.

"Oh, so you're going to be the first to fall?" Mura chuckled. Wordlessly, Michael activated his duel disk.

"You don't have to do this!" Jared protested.

"Oh come now Jared, you know he does. After all, you've been through the same thing." Mura reminded him.

"Alright, since there's no talking you out of this…" Jared growled, activating his own duel disk.

"Wait!"

Jared watched as Kali passed him, taking a place on the field and activating her duel disk.

"Please, let me give this a try." Kali asked.

"Ergh…" Jared looked conflicted as he glanced between the two.

"Oh come on, you only profit from this. If she loses, you get your chance, and if she wins, well then you can fight me." Mura smiled.

"…Go for it." Jared mumbled, taking a few steps backwards and clearing the field.

"I haven't seen you in since I became King." Michael mused.

"Last time we dueled, you may have won. But this time… I swear there'll be a different outcome!" Kali declared.

"Haha… Kali, I'm the absolute last person you should face with that deck." Michael chuckled softly. "But I do appreciate the effort."

"So… are you actually talking to me, or is it your puppeteer?" Kali asked after a moment.

"It's me." Michael said with a small smile.

"Enough talk! Michael, why don't you start this duel off?" Mura asked.

"Well, I hope you were serious about that different outcome. I think you have an idea of what this guy will do to the loser." Michael muttered, nodding in Mura's direction as he drew his opening hand.

"Now… give us a show." Mura chuckled.

So if you're still with me on this, you have my thanks. Originally this took a while because I had NO idea how Gusto or Banished Psychics play. But in the end, I'm actually pretty proud of this duel, so I hope you enjoyed it.

To end off my summer, I've decided that I'm going to try to finish this story. Considering my updates haven't been terribly reliable, you might not want to hold your breath. But please know that I am trying, if only to prove to myself I can actually prove to myself that I can finish a project. With any luck, you'll actually see a few more chapters this month. Until then, have yourselves a fine day~