And I'm back! This chapter is considerably longer than the others- not the longest, though, but still pretty long- so I hope that makes up somewhat for how long I was gone. I don't know as much about Arc-V or Zexal as I do about the others, so just bear with me on those ones! Let me know if I did something wrong or got any characters wrong, it'd be appreciated so I can fix it. Anyway, reviews, advice, and ideas, suggestions, etc. are appreciated! Enjoy chapter 21!

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal, Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V, or Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS. However, I do own this story.

The Crimson Dragon's Call Chapter 21

"Stupid Slifer slacker," a rather frustrated boy muttered, dragging his feet and kicking stones as he walked. He had been beaten yet again, and of course she had to walk in at the exact time the finishing blow was dealt. The world always seemed to be in the brunet's favor, and he didn't know what to do about it. He'd rebuilt his deck time and time again. It was never enough, even when his opponent didn't change. He just wasn't good enough!

He let out a frustrated yell at the sky.

"Hey Chazz! Whatcha doin'?"

Oh my God, are you kidding me?

"What?" Chazz asked irritably, turning to face the very same Slifer slacker that all of his problems stemmed from. Jaden Yuki. He was currently standing a few feet away from the raven-haired boy, that annoying lopsided smile on his face and his brown eyes simply curious.

"Syrus and Chumley are going to help me practice. Wanna come?"

"No."

"Oh, and I think Alexis might be coming too."

Chazz hesitated, but ultimately his answer was the same. "No."

"Aw! Well, we'll be…" Jaden frowned as he tried to think exactly where they were going to be. "We'll be in one of the duel arenas if you decide to join us!" he finished brightly. "See ya!" He turned to go, but before he could take a step away from his rival he was blown backward, bowling said boy over as the wind suddenly picked up to a speed that Jaden couldn't even stand in. The skies turned dark, previously a bright and beautiful spring day.

Chazz gave yell of surprise and pain as the storm slammed him and Jaden into a tree. The hyper brunet tried to push himself up, looking through half-closed eyes and his mouth set in a determined grimace. But he would have never expected what he did see. A massive shadow was taking up most of his vision, the black of an abyss.

"What is that?" he asked in horror as the thing came closer. It had a dragon shape, but high above atop its head there seemed to be a human figure. The dragon lowered its head, and as the figure came closer Jaden could make out two small items in its hands. They glinted like crystals.

Behind Jaden, Chazz screamed. A crystal flashed and disappeared. Chazz himself was gone along with it, and the wind smacked Jaden's head against the tree trunk. Dazed, he could only watch as the remaining crystal was held out to him. Pain suddenly racked his body. He let out a yell similar to the one that only moments ago had come out of Chazz's mouth. And then he was gone.

…..

I do believe that it would have been beneficial to study for that test instead of challenging Shark again.

"Shut up, Astral."

Your grade, at the very least, might've been higher than D.

"Shut up, Astral!"

And your grandmother might've let you go to the movies with Tori and Bronk.

"ASTRAL SHUT UP!"

I am merely stating that you should learn from your mistakes.

Yuma settled for sending the spirit a death glare instead of responding. Astral only looked at him in that frustratingly calm way, his arms loosely folded across his chest. The boy threw up his hands in annoyance, stalking off.

Where are you going?

"Away from you."

You cannot. I am bound to you by that key around your neck.

"Don't remind me," Yuma grumbled as Astral trailed after him.

The sky went nearly black as the wind picked up in a sudden gust. Yuma gave a shriek of surprise as he was tossed backwards into the side of the school. A shadow filled the sky, landing in front of the duelist. Terrified, Yuma looked up at it. He was trapped.

"Astral?"

The spirit was about to reply, but instead gave a gasp, turning wide eyes on the silhouette before he was gone. The last thing Yuma saw was the vague outline of a figure on the shadow's head before the world went black.

….

"And that's how it's done!" Yuya crowed, dancing a little jig of victory as Zuzu's life points dropped to zero.

"You got lucky with that hit, Yuya," she grumbled. "If I could Pendulum Summon…"

"You still wouldn't beat me!" Yuya stuck his tongue out, causing the girl to roll her eyes. The two headed back to where Zuzu's father was checking up on the Solid Vision system. Zuzu hadn't broken this one yet.

"Go on home, kids," he said when he saw them. "It's purring like a kitten!"

Yuya grinned, and Zuzu waved as the two of them started the walk home. When they stepped out the door, it immediately slammed shut as they were thrown back into it, the wind whipping up their hair, throwing debris like leaves and twigs at them.

"It wasn't like this half a second ago!" Zuzu shrieked, hands up to protect her face.

"Is that natural?!" Yuya ducked, a twig catching his cheek. But it wasn't the storm they had to worry about. It was what caused it.

The ground shook as a massive beast landed in front of them. They were trapped. They couldn't go back inside; the storm was too strong for them to even attempt to open the doors. They couldn't go anywhere else, because this beast blocked the way.

Zuzu screamed, and then right before Yuya's very eyes, she disappeared. Gone, just like that.

"ZUZU!"

Yuya Sakaki. Your pendulum should make an interesting addition.

The last he heard was an eerie laugh before everything went dark.

….

"I'm so happy! Look! I got my body program back from Revolver!"

Yusaku ignored Ignis, instead trying to find anything he could on Revolver or his father and Hanoi. He couldn't find much beyond what he had known before.

"LOOK AT ME!"

Yusaku finally glanced down at the AI. "What?"

"Look! I'm more than just an eye now! I'm beautiful!"

Yusaku frowned at the tiny creature standing on his duel disk. Instead of responding, he went back to hacking, eventually changing tactics and quickly checking in on Aoi through the hospital's cameras. Akira was still by his sister's side.

"Ooh, checking on your girlfriend?" Ignis grinned.

A howl of laughter reached the two as the door to the trailer shut. Kusanagi was back, having just seen if he could collect anything about the Knights of Hanoi from the news.

"Yusaku? With a girlfriend? Yeah, that's likely!" He doubled over laughing, accompanied by Ignis' raucous shouts.

Yusaku made a little irritated noise in the back of his throat, frowning at the duo. "Aoi is not my girlfriend."

"You saved her life, risking your own in the process!" Ignis pointed out. "True love!"

"One: It was my fault she was in a coma in the first place. Two: I can't remember most of my life, and Revolver might've had the answers. Three: It would be a major blow to Hanoi if I defeated Revolver."

"Come on, Yusaku! You know you did it for her!" Kusanagi waggled his eyebrows.

"Besides, your drive for revenge against Hanoi could be for her as well!" Ignis said with glee.

Yusaku glared at them.

"Okay, you win. Let's go get smoothies." Kusanagi managed, with some effort, to control his laughter.

"He stays here." Yusaku pointed to Ignis.

"What? I want to come! See the world! And wouldn't the world want to see how I look now, too? I'm amazing!"

Yusaku shoved him in a drawer. And locked it.

Yusaku and Kusanagi didn't get far before the storm hit. One second blue skies and warm sun, the next driving rain and black clouds.

"Think it could be Hanoi?" Kusanagi yelled over the wind, stumbling back a few steps.

"If it is, I'm surprised they could strike back so fast," Yusaku responded. Unless they've figured out that I'm Playmaker, he added silently to himself. If they had, they'd caught him at a time when he was practically powerless.

A massive shadow overtook them. The wind picked up, driving them both into the side of a building.

Yusaku shielded his eyes, but he couldn't see anything past the rain. Just a shadow, bigger than any monster he'd ever seen. Bigger than Borreload Dragon. Bigger than Firewall Dragon. Much bigger.

Something glinted high above. Kusanagi gave a short cry, before he faded. He disappeared, right in front of a horrified Yusaku.

"Kusanagi?!"

A wrenching pain made the young duelist gasp, and then he felt nothing.

….

Seto had been missing for over a week now. Mokuba had no idea where he could've gone or why he didn't say anything first. He would've written it off as one of his brother's impromptu business trips if Yugi and all of his friends hadn't disappeared as well. All at the same time and not a trace of them since. Mokuba himself was rather uneasy as he walked the halls of the Kaiba mansion alone. What could just take them all like that? It wasn't normal, that was for sure. Maybe it was something to do with the Millennium Items again.

Usually I'm the one getting kidnapped, he thought with a wry grin. The disappearances had been all over the news, but nobody had gotten farther in the mystery than 'they're gone.' He was scared for them, what had happened to them. It couldn't be good.

Mokuba walked past the giant double doors just as someone knocked loudly. He froze. It wasn't his brother. Seto never knocked. He raced up the stairs, peering down from a balcony at the visitor. It wasn't anyone he recognized, but he didn't look much older than Seto. From Mokuba's view, he couldn't see his face, but he wore all black with black combat boots. The top of his head was covered by a thick sheaf of dark hair, and when he raised his fist to knock again Mokuba saw that his skin had a slight tan. He paused, seeming to sense that someone was watching him. Mokuba was too late. The strange man met his gaze, one eye honey-gold and the other blue. Mokuba found himself frozen by the intensity of his stare, but even when shadows pooled in his palms, even when darkness spread around his feet, even when the evil came for him, he couldn't move, no matter how hard he tried. He couldn't move until he was engulfed, where his last thought was, and for once I thought I wouldn't get kidnapped.

….

Yusei sped around the corner with Bruno in tow, trying not to jostle Yugi too much as they raced through the hallways, trying to find wherever the crystals were before it was too late.

"I doubt they're just going to be lying around in some room," Bruno panted. "They're going to be hidden well, if Merzol gets his power from them. He wouldn't want anyone stumbling onto them by accident."

Yusei reached the edge of the pit, and was about to go sprinting down another hallway when something caught his eye. The swirling portal of black fire in the middle, where the shadow creatures were marching through. It had the same evil, pulsing sheen that the crystals did.

"What?" Bruno asked, doubled over as he tried to catch his breath.

Wordlessly, Yusei pointed downwards. Bruno peered over the edge, eyes widening when he realized what the head Signer had.

"…oh. That could be a problem," he managed. "How do we get them?"

Yusei shrugged. "We have to go down there and figure it out."

"It's surrounded by shadow creatures."

"Not completely. See there? Nothing's walking there, so that could be a good place to start."

Bruno frowned. "You know, there's a high probability that we'll die."

"We'll just have to risk it if we want to save everyone else," Yusei responded. He glanced up at the monsters hovering above the entrance to the pit.

"I wonder…" Yusei knew that he had thought Yugi would be safer with them than with the monsters, because the dragons would draw more attention, but he knew that the unconscious high schooler couldn't go with them to the portal. He'd slow them down and they'd be putting his life in danger. So the head Signer called Goyo Guardian to him.

"What are you doing? I doubt Trudge would be happy if we got his monster destroyed," Bruno said, rather confused.

"I'm not bringing Goyo Guardian with us," Yusei responded. He slipped Yugi off of his shoulder, giving him to the Duel Monster instead.

"Oh… smart." Bruno placed a hand on Yusei's shoulder. "Ready?"

Yusei nodded. "Let's go."

They ended up giving up in their search for an easy path to the bottom and began to climb down. The rock was uneven, ledges jutting out here and there. It wasn't too hard to find hand and footholds once they started. The only trouble was keeping that grip the whole (very, very long) way down. They had each slipped a number of times, either catching themselves just in time or the other helping them find their balance.

Bruno gave a yelp of surprise, a ledge crumbling under his weight. He slid the final six or so feet, landing in an ungraceful heap at the bottom. Yusei leaped down a second later, landing on his feet. They were just feet from the swirling black fire, pressed against the wall.

"So… now what?" Bruno asked, wincing and rubbing his shoulder.

"Get to that open spot. Once we see it up close, we can decide what to do." Yusei began to walk, careful about where he put his feet to avoid stepping on a loose stone and being sent flying into the portal. Bruno followed, one hand steadied on the wall beside them. They wove through the crowd of shadow creatures, the beasts themselves paying the two no mind. They were wary all the same.

The avoided area was about five feet in width. The crowd of shadow creatures parted like the Red Sea a good distance away from it, as if it would burn them if they got too close. Which left Yusei and Bruno plenty of room to inspect, looking for any way at all to weaken Merzol. The black fire covered their view of anything that might be beneath it.

Bruno sat back with a frustrated groan. "We can't get to the crystals, even if they were there!"

Yusei frowned as he looked at the fire. It was a portal, not like regular fire. "I wonder…" Tentatively, he reached out a hand. He couldn't feel any heat as he grew closer. More confident now, he let the dark flames lick his fingertips. It didn't burn from the heat, but it was so cold that he felt like it did. He let out a small grunt of surprise, but he didn't pull his hand out, not yet. Steeling himself, he plunged in further, until his searching fingers scraped something smooth yet hard, ringing the edge. Yusei pulled back his hand, shaking it out to try and get some warmth back into it.

"What'd you find?"

"The crystals are there. The question is, how to break them?" Yusei frowned. "It seems too easy."

Bruno peered into the flame. A moment later, he leaned back and lashed out with both feet. Crystals shattered with a satisfying crunch, shards falling into the portal to New Domino.

"Like that," the mechanic said with some satisfaction.

"Bruno!" Yusei yanked the teen back, just in time to avoid a shadow creature's claws.

"Whoa!" Bruno stumbled to his feet, eyes wide. "Got your wish, Yusei. It's not easy anymore."

The broken part of the ring of crystals sputtered, crackling with electricity before fading out.

"What was that?" Yusei ducked another beast, kicking it away.

"Remember when none of the runners would work? He must've been using the energy from that to power himself up before he could collect souls or do anything about the Shadow World," Bruno realized. "Breaking the crystals must release whatever's in them."

"Right now I think we should worry about not dying." Yusei grabbed Bruno's jacket, unceremoniously throwing him to the ground to avoid another creature. The crowd was slowly realizing what was happening, turning on the two teens. They backed up, but they were trapped, pressed against the wall with no way to escape. The dragons above dived for them, with every intention to help, but the shadows pushed them back, leaving them hovering above amid roars of frustration.

Yusei glanced at his cards. If he couldn't summon, they were done for. He had to try. No matter what happened to Yugi, if they could get his crystal, they could save him. The thought returned some of Yusei's old confidence. He could still save the young duelist and the pharaoh. If he didn't succeed here, the others would die as well. Bruno, Jack, Crow, Leo, Luna, Trudge, Kaiba, Joey, Mai, Tristan, Téa… and Akiza. Yusei's hand flew to his deck, a familiar white-bordered card resting at the top. The head Signer looked down at the monster in his hand and let out a breath. If he didn't summon now… no, he wouldn't think about that. He had to.

And chapter 21 is done! Let me know what you thought, if I got the GX, Zexal, Arc-V, and anything else right or wrong. I appreciate reviews! I'll be back as soon as possible, probably in a week. I don't think there will be too many chapters after this one... *cries*. Anyway, see you soon and The Crimson Dragon's Call will be back!