Roman glared at his candelabra. "Devack has failed us. But where one falls another may rise." He stood, taking the candelabra with him. "Time to pay our prisoner a little visit."

A door creaked and Roman stared down at the prisoner. "Stand up. Your time has come, Greiger."

The enormous man obliged and followed Roman out to a large ledge.

"The moment you attacked Goodwin at the Fortune Cup, I knew I liked you. I couldn't let you be sent away to some maximum security cell, so I had you freed and brought here so that you may come face to face with your true destiny."

Greiger stared uneasily at the swirling light vortex below them. Normally light would be comforting, but this light gave off a more sinister feeling. "What is all this?"

"We stand above the gateway to the Netherworld. The doorway to the shadows."

"And why have you brought me here?" Greiger demanded.

"To help you, Greiger. I brought you here to give you power like you've never known in your life. You're going to become a Dark Signer."

"And what is that?"

"Tell me something, Greiger. Now that you have had some time to sit on it, have you forgiven Goodwin? Have you found it in your heart to forgive him for what he did to your village? To your family?" Roman pressed, relishing the answer he already knew would be given.

"Are you kidding? I'm as angry as I was that day at the goddamn tournament. I will never forgive Goodwin for what he did!"

"Which is why you must become a Dark Signer," Roman explained patiently. He stepped away from the ledge Greiger stood on. "Embrace your anger. You're going to need it."

The floor beneath Greiger gave way. He began to fall, screaming, but a spider Roman had upon the ceiling spit thread that encircled Greiger's neck. Although his fall had stopped, he was still being choked to death.

Roman sneered wickedly. "The shadows will consume the man you once were, Greiger, sparing only your thirst for revenge! You will lose yourself and become your anger! This will give you the power to defeat Goodwin and his precious Crimson Dragon. Now the path of vengeance begins with the one who first stood in your way! The one who stopped you from destroying Goodwin when you had the chance! For your brother and sister, for your village, taken from you by the Crimson Dragon you must finish what you started, and you must start with Yusei Fudo! Greiger, I give you new life as a Dark Signer!"

The light from below rose up and engulfed Greiger in its folds. His eyes closed and opened to reveal black where brown had been.

Roman laughed maniacally. "Go out and destroy Yusei Fudo! Send his soul to the Netherworld, and from the cold, dead fingers of his corpse tear my daughter away, and bring her to me! That is your mission!"

Crow pulled up to his hangout beside the Daedalus Bridge, with Fish close behind. It was eerily quiet. They had decided to check to see if everyone was all right before going patrolling.

"I dunno, Crow," Fish said sadly. "It looks just as deserted as the streets."

"We gotta try," Crow responded. He pulled the curtains that concealed his hideout out of his way. "Hello? Anyone here? It's me, Crow! Guys? Fish is here too!"

"Crow?" a small voice said. "Is it really you?"

"We're all over here!"

"Hey!"

"Did you say Crow?"

"And a girl too! Crow's got a girlfriend!"

The group of kids appeared from their hiding spots. Crow beamed as they rushed for both teenagers.

"Uh, Crow?" Fish said.

Crow knelt down to hug them. "I was so worried about you guys."

"We're so glad you're back!" one of the girls cried. She jumped, meaning to throw her arms around Crow, but before she could make it, she completely disappeared.

The next girl did the same. The three boys still coming did the same. There really was no one there. The wind blew through the area, tossing up dust.

"They've all disappeared! They're gone!" Crow slammed his fist into the ground in anguish.

"They were never there, Crow. They must have been swallowed up by that dark cloud like everyone else. I'm sorry, Crow," Fish said sympathetically. She placed a comforting hand on his back.

"The Dark Signers," Crow grit his teeth and stood, "are going to pay for this!" He ran outside, mounted his runner, and gunned the engine, tearing away as fast as he could go.

"Wait up!" Fish shouted. She summoned her surfboard and flew after him.

Greiger cruised full throttle for his target. He was so concentrated and focused he didn't realize he was being followed. Crow was able to jump over him and land right in his path. Both duelists braked hard. Fish hovered beside Crow, watching carefully.

"Get out of my way!" Greiger seethed.

"Sorry, but you're not going anywhere." Crow paused. "Hey, I know you. You're Greiger. Hang on a sec, you're a Dark Signer?"

"I'm looking for Yusei."

"Yeah, well you found Crow. You're not going anywhere until we duel," Crow challenged.

"You're challenging me? Get real," Greiger scoffed.

"I don't think this is the best idea, Crow," Fish said.

Crow ignored her. "The only thing that matters is that you're a Dark Signer, and that means you're gonna pay for what you did. And the only currency I accept is bitter defeat."

"What're you talking about? I didn't do anything."

"Don't play dumb with me. You and your freaky monster and dark fog have taken everyone from Satellite. That includes the orphans I was taking care of. They were just innocent kids! They didn't do anything to you, but I guess that's how you guys operate."

"You speak of vengeance." Greiger spoke carefully. "I am on my own path to revenge, and it does not involve you. My fight is with Goodwin, but before I deal with him, I'm going to deal with his puppet, Yusei Fudo."

"I'm afraid I've got some bad news for you. If you wanna get to Yusei, you're gonna have to go through me!"

"You don't get it. You aren't a Signer. You aren't worthy of a battle with me."

"And you're a Dark Signer," Fish chimed in. "So you aren't worthy of my fist in your face, but I'm strongly considering it right now!"

"I had a feeling you wouldn't accept my challenge," Crow sighed and pulled out a small ovular devise. Numbers were on its face, counting down from five minutes. "So I brought a little insurance. It's an EMP. When it goes off, that duel runner of yours is history. And if you think you can get away in time you haven't seen me ride."

"That's a bold move," Greiger smiled. "Since you're so determined to destroy yourself, I guess I'll oblige. Perhaps by dueling you, I can lure Yusei right into my hands."

Crow smirked. Fish rolled her eyes, but stayed close. At least if he got into serious trouble, she'd be there to bail his sorry ass out of it.

Greiger led the three of them to a clear path. He and Crow got ready to go.

"There's no backing out once you start, Crow. Are you sure about this?" Fish asked him. She searched his face for anything resembling fear or regret, and found none.

"I'm sure. I'll be okay, I promise," he said, offering a thumbs-up.

"You ready, Crow?" Greiger asked.

"Born ready, and no crap, okay? We do this off autopilot, and no holds barred."

"How is that 'no crap'?" Fish muttered.

The duel was set to begin. Purple walls of flame erupted, surrounding the three of them. A whale-like glyph appeared in the sky as well as Satellite's surface.

"Is that a whale?" Luna asked, pointing.

"I don't remember Meena mentioning any Dark Signers with a whale mark," Trudge mused.

"That's because there isn't one," Lise remarked. Her eyes narrowed as she flew and mulled over the purpose of this new chess piece. "Or wasn't one, at least."

"They must've made someone new into a Dark Signer," Yusei realized. "And he's probably dueling Crow."

"That's okay, right?" Leo asked.

Lise nodded. "Crow's a good duelist. He can hold his own against a Dark Signer."

"We have to get there!" Without waiting for the others to agree, Yusei gunned his engine and turned towards the epicenter of the whale marking.

"Wait, Yusei, what about Kalin?" Lise yelled, but he was already too far away to hear her. Her hands clenched into fists. "Damnit, I'm gonna kill him!"

"We'd better follow him," Trudge said grudgingly.

"Oh we are, but he's gonna wish we didn't," Lise growled.

Crow tossed his timing device to the side. "We'll use this as a countdown. Don't worry; it's just the alarm clock from my bedroom."

Greiger stared at Crow for a second and then burst into laughter. "Well played. Hopefully your game is as good as your bluffs."

"Stop!" Yusei interrupted. He did a jump over the purple flames, using his runner to block the two duelists from proceeding. "Crow, you can't duel him. Let me do it. It's too dangerous."

"Well that's half of my mission right there," Greiger remarked. He watched carefully for what would happen next.

Fish appeared to be watching too, but she seemed more amused than interested.

"I can't back down now, Yusei," Crow told him. "You're not gonna stop me either."

"But…" Yusei searched his mind for a viable excuse.

Fish flicked his cheek. "Look, it's Mr. Hero, always willing to take the brunt of the attack. Can't you let other people do things for once? You should be focusing on finding Kalin. Stop wasting time! I'll step in if Crow screws up. You're just wasting time and effort.

At that moment, Trudge's car pulled up on the opposite side of the purple fire wall. "Incoming," the officer warned gravely.

"Yeah, we can see that, Trudge!" Fish yelled.

Lise set herself down directly between Crow, Greiger and Yusei. She waved at Fish and then addressed the boys. "Hi yeah sorry, could you excuse us for a moment?"

Crow's eyes widened. "Yeah sure, go ahead!" He could see the dragon girl was furious and wanted to be nowhere near her path of fury. At the same time, he really wanted to watch this.

"Thanks," Lise turned to focus her fierce glare on Yusei. She proceeded to remove his helmet, further confusing everyone. In a swift motion she smacked Yusei's bewildered look straight off his face. "What the hell were you thinking, you idiot? What if it was a trap? You can't just go charging into everything like a selfish, pig-headed, moron!"

"Would you stop hitting me?!" Yusei glared at Lise. "Why're you acting so weird all of a sudden?! What do you mean, selfish?"

Lise's face was livid as she stared down at him. "I'm not acting weird. I'm keeping our goal in mind. I don't like Crow fighting Greiger any more than you do, but we don't have time to stay here and help everyone out. Your goal, and mine unfortunately, is for you to find Kalin and duel him first. I want to stay, too, but we can't. We've gotta go and get this done before sunset or everyone's in trouble, and we can't waste any time. I'm leaving in five minutes and you better come with me or I will knock you out and drag you there myself." She turned and started to walk away to wait.

"So you don't care if something happens to Crow and Fish? You don't care if everyone thinks you're being heartless?" Yusei seethed. He was too mad to consider his words.

The dragon girl stopped immediately and turned her head. Her gaze froze Yusei to the spot. "I care very much for my friends, and I don't want anything to happen to them. But I trust in them and I think they can do this job while we can do ours. We need to get going. That's how we can help them—by doing our job." She paused and regained her hateful look. Her fists clenched at her sides. "It's not being heartless. It's being responsible."

It was deathly quiet. Fish and Greiger seemed amused. Crow sighed exasperatedly.

"Lise is really scary when she's mad," Leo whimpered.

Fish leaned over. "You think that's mad? You should see her when she's really pissed."

Yusei stared at Lise's retreating back until he couldn't see it anymore. He gritted his teeth and slammed his fist into his runner. "Damnit… Why? Why am I so stupid?"

"Hey Greiger, do you mind if I take a time out?" Crow said pleasantly, dismounting his runner and striding over to Yusei with Fish right behind him. "We need to talk for a few minutes."

Greiger rolled his eyes and shrugged. "Fine by me, but we will duel, Crow."

"Count on it," Crow saluted the colossal duelist and approached the edge of the purple fire. He beckoned to Yusei, crossed his arms and sighed again at his friend. "Well, based on that display, I'm guessing you guys haven't fixed things nor have you told Lise how you feel?"

"How did you know about that?"

Fish and Crow rolled their eyes at the same time. "I told him, duh," Fish said.

"Oh…"

"Dude, what's the big deal? What's the problem? You wiped the floor with all your opponents in the Fortune Cup and you can't tell one person how you feel?"

"To be honest, I'd really rather go through the tournament all over again than tell Lise…ya know," Yusei admitted dragging his hand down his face. "Besides she hates me right now. Maybe it's better this way?"

"Why are you asking us? I loathe you exponentially, but I can tolerate you." Fish stormed. "Just because it's hard for you to admit your feelings you're willing to give up. Usually the harder things are worth keeping, ya know. You're starting to disgust me. I can't talk to you anymore." She turned her back and left.

Crow reached out as if to place a hand on Yusei's shoulder, then thought better of it. "Look at it this way, man, we're gonna get through this. I know we can, all of us, and what'll happen afterwards? Lise is a really awesome girl and she's gonna go out into that world and some other guy is gonna realize that he thinks she's awesome too. And maybe that other guy that isn't you is gonna have the courage to tell her that he likes her. Would you really be okay with that? Lise being with another guy?"

Yusei thought about it for a minute, imagining the scenario. He stared at his hands and groaned, as if the very idea had inflicted pain on him. "No, no I wouldn't be okay with it. I… I'd always wonder… But I don't know what to do! I just… I'm really bad at talking to her, and I can't make her listen or make her do anything."

"No, you can't. Because it isn't all about what you want. But you can listen to her and trust her more," Crow suggested. "I can't tell you much more past that. I don't really understand girls all that much either. Right now you need to catch up with Lise and go defeat Kalin. Fish and I will be fine here, and that's a promise." He flashed Yusei a grin and gave him a thumbs up.

"It's a start," Yusei agreed, he headed back to his runner. "I should go."

"Yep, and good luck."

"You too."

"We going now?" Leo asked.

"Yeah, we're leaving. Where's Lise?"

Luna pointed as Trudge took off behind Yusei. Lise quickly came into view, sitting on an elevated piece of broken road.

"Hey Lise!" the twins shouted.

She turned and waved. "I guess you're ready then." Lise stood and threw herself off of her seat, somersaulting in the air, and flying like a rocket beside her friends. "Glad you came to your senses," she commented when she flew close to Yusei.

"Next time could you do it without slapping me?" Yusei asked.

Lise opened her mouth and closed it quickly, biting her lip. She seemed to be considering something. "We'll see."

"Ready to duel!" Crow announced when he returned, remounting his runner, and activating his Speed World field spell. "Since it's freestyle, the duelist who gets around the corner first gets to go first."

"You two ready?" Fish said.

"Born ready," Greiger smirked.

"You bet."

"Three…Two…One…GO!" Fish shouted. She waited until both duelists had passed her before she followed them on her surfboard.

Crow: 4000

Greiger: 4000

Both boys poured on the speed. Crow lagged behind a tad. Greiger sneered and laughed.

Crow grinned as he and Greiger started to pull around the corner. Greiger banked hard to the right in order to make the turn. With the help of his sleeker runner, Crow was able to breeze past Greiger and his large runner with ease. "WHOOHOO!"

"You wanted me to take that corner as fast as I could, didn't you?" Greiger roared angrily.

"Well duh! With a big frame like that, I knew you'd slide out to the edge and leave me the room I needed to get me through first. That means I get the first move, Greiger! I draw, and from my hand I summon Blackwing Shura the Blue Flame!"

(Shura the Blue Flame: Atk: 1800 Def: 1200)

"I place one card facedown and end my turn."

"It's my move," Greiger announced, drawing his card, and smirking. "First, I'm summoning Trap Reactor Wifi from my hand. Next I activate Diving Exploder's special ability!"

(Diving Exploder: Atk: 0000 Def: 0000)

"Face it, Crow, you can't possibly defeat a Dark Signer. Go, Diving Exploder!"

Crow watched helplessly as his bird's attack points and Trap Reactor's switched.

"Trap Reactor, attack!"

"Off to a wobbly start," Crow remarked, gritting his teeth and staying on course the best he could.

Crow: 3400

Greiger: 4000

"I'm coming at you with everything I've got, so prepare yourself, Greiger," Crow challenged. "First off I'll be activating my Speed Spell Angel Baton, and as long as I have two speed counters I get to draw two cards. It's not looking good for you, Greiger. I discard one card and summon my Blackwing Mistral the Silver Shield in defense mode!"

(Blackwing Mistral the Silver Shield: Atk: 100 Def: 1800)

The new Blackwing was small, but with silver armor. Its eyes were narrowed and its talons were sharp and ready for a fight.

"And since I already have a Blackwing on my field, I can now summon out Blackwing Bora the Spear! And these birds of prey are about to pounce on you."

"Bring it on. I can bring both those birds back to earth," Greiger bragged.

"Are you two going to duel, or just throw cheesy puns back and forth?" Fish called over the motors. Crow laughed.

"Blackwing, take apart his Wifi!" Crow's bird dove for the Reactor, slicing clean through it.

Damage from the attack rained down around Greiger, forcing him to maneuver away from potential damage to his physical body.

"All right! Nice moves!" Fish cheered, grinning.

Crow: 3400

Greiger: 3100

But Trap Reactor was still on the field. Greiger looked a bit pissed off, but was still going strong. "See Crow, before you attacked I activated this: the trap card Fake Explosion. So not only is my Wifi still flying high, but I get to summon another monster which will even up the playing field, and who better to call for backup than Summon Reactor SK! What's the matter Crow? End your turn so I can end your misery!"

"Bring it on!"

"It's my turn, and this is gonna be the last turn I need!" Greiger promised. "I summon Spell Reactor RE! Now I can activate the special ability of Summon Reactor SK. So by sending it, Spell Reactor and Trap Reactor to the Graveyard, I get to summon out my favorite monster: Flying Fortress Skyfire!"

"That's not a monster! That's World War Four!" Crow exclaimed.

"Whatever happened to World War Three?" Fish joked weakly. Inside, she cursed. Crow wasn't dueling like he usually did; whether it was because his cards weren't cooperating, or some other reason, Greiger shouldn't have been able to summon such a powerful monster on his second turn.

"You think he's scary now? Just you wait. Because if I send a card to the Graveyard at the end of my turn, I get to destroy any one of the cards on your field. And first up is your Silver Shield!" Greiger smiled evilly as his monster shot Silver Shield to death. "And now for Skyfire's main attack; target that Blackwing Spear. Let's lock and load!"

Skyfire's missiles hit Bora head on. Crow sped ahead to avoid the real damage, and Fish was forced to swerve greatly.

"Silver Shield may be destroyed, but that doesn't stop its special ability!" Crow countered. "As soon as you took it out, all the damage I would've taken drops to zero."

"You've just prolonged your pain. Now which one of your little birds is gonna swoop in and save you?" Greiger taunted.

Crow mashed his teeth together. He knew he was stuck. I wish I knew. His Skyfire looks unstoppable. Not only can its special ability destroy any one of my cards, but if I take one direct hit from that metal monster it's gonna be bye bye, birdie. If I wanna win this, I better do it fast. That means it all comes down to this draw! "Here we go!" Crow frowned, contemplating his next play. Another Blackwing! Not what I was hoping for. But… maybe my deck's trying to tell me something? If I can't stop Skyfire's ability, maybe I should just roll with it. As much as I hate to lose a monster, that might be just the thing that saves me. "I play this in defense mode: Blackwing Vayu the Emblem of Honor!"

(Vayu the Emblem of Honor: Atk: 800 Def: 0000)

Vayu was a small bird as well. Its feathers were white with a large mop of red feathers over the head. It wore a black jacket as well as wooden sandals.

"What a waste. I was hoping to destroy something of value this turn. Your Blackwing Vayu is about as threatening as a rubber duck," Greiger insulted, and in spite of herself, Fish chuckled. "I can't wait to hear the squeak it makes when my Skyfire takes it and your lifepoints out! I have to say, I'm disappointed. I thought you might be more of a challenge!"

The missiles fired, destroying Vayu and sending Crow flying.

"Crow!" Fish shouted.

Thinking and acting quickly, Crow engaged his wings and used them to right himself. He'd narrowly avoided a nasty wipeout. "I'm okay, Fish! No need to worry, right?"

Crow: 2600

Greiger: 3100

"Perhaps if you spent less time reassuring your little girlfriend, you could focus on our duel," Greiger said. Crow simply glared over his shoulder.

"Ready to take this duel up a notch?"

"Sure I am, but your field's running on empty," Greiger reminded Crow, unfazed at the fact that Crow had nearly crashed. Fish, meanwhile, tried to ignore the fact that Crow hadn't corrected Greiger's statement.

"Well, I'm about to fill her up, Greiger. I activate Vayu's special ability, so by removing him and another monster in my graveyard from play, I'm now allowed to Synchro Summon!"

"But your monsters are all in the graveyard!"

"Then consider this a message from the great beyond. I choose Blackwing Elfen the Raven and Vayu the Emblem of Honor. I synchro summon Blackwing Armor Master! And as another bonus I get to summon a second Blackwing monster, as long as there's already one on my field. This lucky bird is Blackwing Gale the Whirlwind!"

"You got two monsters for the price of nothing. Perhaps I did underestimate your little birds, but you have to realize that this duel isn't about believing in your cards or gaining freebies. It's what I call a numbers game, and after taking a look at your monster's attack points I can see your strategy is for the birds."

"Again with the puns?" Fish shouted. "If you're gonna make them, then make them good!"

Crow ignored Greiger's jeers and continued. "Now, Blackwing Armor Master, attack Flying Fortress Skyfire!"

"What're you trying to pull? Armor Master doesn't have a chance against Skyfire."

"We'll see. Now attack with Black Hurricane!" Crow's monster reared back and punched Skyfire in the chest. A wall of smoke erupted between both monsters.

The smoke cleared revealing both monsters, unharmed.

"What gives? Why is Armor Master still around?" Greiger complained.

"Hasn't anyone told you? Life's full of disappointments, Greiger," Crow smirked. "And here's another; I don't take any damage."

"Then why attack? It was all just a waste."

"Look again, cuz my monster just made a bulls-eye!"

"Ready, aim, fire! Now we're getting somewhere!" Fish approved enthusiastically.

"What're you two babbling about?"

"Let's just say it was Armor Master's special ability. See he's got these nifty little things called Arrow Counters, and I used one of them on your Skyfire. Now for the rest of the turn both Skyfire's attack and defense points are stuck at zero!"

"My Skyfire!"

"Blackwing Whirlwind, why don't you take advantage of the situation?" Crow suggested. Whirlwind spread its wings and sent a small hurricane hurtling into Skyfire. That giant bucket of bolts was going down the hard way.

"NO!" Greiger yelled as he careened in circles from the explosion, slamming into a support beam for an overhead bridge. Fish winced.

"Is he done for?" Crow peered back.

Fish scowled thoughtfully. "One can only hope. It'd be nice considering the circumstances."

Unfortunately, Greiger was even madder now. He jumped clear out of the wreckage, landing once again in the street.

Crow: 2600

Greiger: 1800

"You're going down, Crow!" Greiger growled, outraged.

"Well, you've gotta catch me first, and since you lost a speed counter for that thousand points of damage it doesn't look like that's gonna happen anytime soon. I'll end my turn with a facedown. Let's see what you got."

"Oh you'll do more than see it since this duel is full contact. Just watch me!" Greiger began his next turn. "With Skyfire out of the way, my field is completely empty, which means I can summon Dark Tuner Doom Submarine! Like your birds, he was in the graveyard, but now he's ready to surface."

(Dark Tuner Doom Submarine: Atk: 0000 Def: 0000)

Doom Submarine looked like a rather dark and disturbing sub. Arms sprouted from the top and made the strange part a tad on the ridiculous side.

"Nice monster, but I think its attack points got deep-sixed on the way up!" Crow joked.

Greiger was no longer in a joking mood. "It's a good thing that it won't be out there alone for long. I summon Dark Sea Rescue in attack mode!"

(Dark Sea Rescue: Atk: 000 Def: 0000)

The Rescue looked more like what happened to the dead bodies that bobbed in the water after the Titanic sank. Two creepy-looking dark monsters paddled the orange and green blow up raft with three zombies aboard their vessel.

"Now I dark-tune my Doom Submarine and Dark Sea Rescue in order to Synchro Summon Dark Flat Top! When the shadows are devoured by even darker shadows, the curtain pulls back and reveals… a world without light!" Greiger chanted malevolently, awaiting his new monster.

(Dark Flat Top: Atk: 0000 Def: 3000)

"What is that thing?" Crow asked, wide-eyed.

"It's huge!" Fish gasped.

Greiger laughed despicably. "It's your doom!"